Busy Week Here ~ Sew Much to Share !!!

Have you ever stopped to realize how easy a smile spreads when you share one???

Look at this sweet smile… tell me she doesn’t make you wanna grin right back!!!

 Her parents also sent this sweet photo of her with the quilt I made for your play with….

 Later this week Molly got snuggling with her squirrel gifted to her by her boyfriend Max at Christmas….

She loves this toy more than any of her others… it is sooo sweet!  And yes… this is a hand quilted quilt she is snuggling in… it is one I made for her  and my honey to enjoy together!

Due to the weather Jannessa didn’t get to come over for her birthday celebrating until Tuesday the 18th (her birthday was a week earlier !!!).  She had said she preferred chocolate chip cookies for her birthday so I made her a big cookie for her birthday as a surprise and she loved it!!  Then she got her scissor fob too… once home she shared her fob in place…

After she took home her cookie leftovers… we made more cookies  ~ normal sized!!! 😀

This is a shot on our new plates and showing off Jannessa’s great fmq on this table runner in our kitchen!!!!

Here is my journal for this week… it was a VERY busy week for us.. it all didn’t get captured here though!!!! lol

I spent most of my brain power pondering the wallet….

 Above is the beginning of card slots and below you can see those card slots on the interior of the wallet…

 After 2 play dates Jannessa and I each have a wallet to enjoy that is complete!

 I used Tula Pink Squirrels on the outside of mine with black and lavender trims…

 And here it is hanging with my keys… ready for an adventure…

And here are a couple photos of Jannessa’s finished wallet… she made hers able to be a cross body bag instead of a wristlet strap that mine has…..

 
If you are interested in finding out about this wallet/purse check out THIS link for the pattern 🙂

Next up we are making this briefcase by my favorite bag designer Sew Sweetness!!

 And we have each pulled fabrics.  Here are mine….

 We need a few more bits so this will go on the books for mid March to make.

When making bags or wallets USE YOUR IMAGINATION though… look at this example I saw in the Sew Sweetness facebook group …

She took a plain fronted bag and added some amazing fmq details on this and a fancy strap too!

Thursday we had snow… I loved just watching it fall as I quilted and sewed on different projects on my list….

It never accumulated to anything so that made the falling snow all day even more fun to watch!

I have completed 1 of these crochet squares with buttonhole stitching and started on another…

 I am very pleased with how the Appalachian Delight quilting progress is going…

 Here is a close up of one of the bear in the cabin blocks complete on the bottom half of the block (as far as I can reach 🙂  )

 This is the 3rd block over and where I will be working today….

I am linking this progress with my favorite Sunday Stop >>> Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Linky Party right HERE <<<<  Come on over and see all the different kinds of handwork being shared today!!!

 Here are a last couple of facebook finds with significant meaning to me ….

 What is your love language??? 

Mine is quality time I think… although I love being spoiled with any of the above ways of showing love 💖

In closing I want you to read this remember life is short… live it with zest!

Have a blessed week ahead and thanks for stopping into my little spot from the mountains of North Carolina!!!  I hope you share your fave love language in the comments below 😍

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Surgery a success & LOTS more to share!

Hello to March 2019!!!  Here is a snapshot of my calendar this month….

“Journey through life happily and full of joy”

I turned the calendar soon after we returned home from my honey’s right hip replacement surgery.  Before I get to that though… look what I completed before we left to go to Asheville for his surgery!!!

 Not only are the colored bins below all organized and put away neatly as possible but almost all my wrapped fabrics are organized too..

It took some finagling to get the fabric and the scraps all organized in the closet of my sewing room but I did!

All that is left is to address the elephant in the room now… my cutting table with all my civil war fabrics from the last 2 quilts on it… not ready to organize them yet because I have pillow shams to fashion for Appalachian Delight that I am adding borders to this morning! 🙂

I put this quilt up for sale this week… 

 The fall wall hanging quilt sold last week….  this is the only one I still want to destash.. it is a lovely quilt but just doesn’t fit our mountain decor here … so hopefully it will fit someone else’s decor and find a fitting home.  The fall wall hanging got glowing feedback when the person received it.

Also before we left for our journey to surgery… I started cutting out and assembling the Diamond Clutch Wallet that I planned to make into a wristlet!

So Sunday and Monday were busy days… I doubt I touched the hand quilting on the wall hanging but the sorting did take a front seat and that is hand work of sorts… so I feel I accomplished a lot getting my sewing room in order before we left Tuesday to drop Molly at the groomers for a trim and boarding too… and then on the Asheville as the VA was putting us up in a motel before surgery to be close by for a 6 am arrival time.

 We found the motel and spent a sleepless night awaiting a 4 am wake up call from the automated motel system.  The VA was only 15 or less from our motel though so that was a definite blessing.  We also found parking close to the front doors to go to the pre op waiting room and Rick was changed and ready for surgery by 6 am as scheduled!!! yay 😀

Here is a photo I took the morning after surgery… for our best friend Connie.  He was so happy to be able to be out of the bed and up in the chair under his own steam with leadership from a great occupational therapist and physical therapist too… the day of surgery was rough all around but the next day was GREAT… and soon he was actually being discharged!

While he was running laps around the surgical unit I spent the night at a great place called the Rathbun Center… think Ronald McDonald house for adults.  It was a beautiful hideaway behind a subdivision of Asheville and is monitored 24 hours a day… your stay is free or they accept donations and they provide some basic food stuffs but you can cook and store food in their kitchen… watch tv in public spots… use a computer in the library or relax in your private room with bathroom.. very nice… here is a photo of this sweet spot…

It was ramp accessible which made it a perfect fit for me… so when Rick has to have his left hip replaced (near future we think) I may try to get an appointment to stay there again as I only stayed 1 night and thought it would be 2 or 3!!!  My honey just did GREAT though 😀

We got home Thursday evening and within 1 hour of getting home we had the car unloaded and Rick had switched walkers to one more keen for outdoors and walked along the flat path to his man cave outside… he loves that spot… and he enjoyed the fact he could walk there by himself too!  This was unexpected for us pre operatively!

Thursday night… as it turns out was his best sleeping night of all our nights home yet.  We each slept in shifts as he couldn’t settle and I was exhausted… so I slept first and deep and good… then woke to catch up on missed hand quilting time… He took a round of medicine for pain and I got him cozy in the bed and he slept with me just checking in on him until 4 hours passed and it was time for more medications… we used the bathroom and we re-positioned him and off to sleep he was again!  lol  He slept another 4 hours and woke to get up and work on little projects around the house he had on his mind… moving around and adding pull bars in the bathrooms… packing something we sold while he was in the hospital… and going to run errands with me in the afternoon  🙂

Saturday I decided it was time to finish the wallet I had started before his surgery…

 Working on the zipper… had to remove metal teeth to shorten it and move the stops to where the teeth were removed required some tools my honey donated to my bag making stash from his tool stash 🙂  I love that we share passions in some ways too!

Tah dah….

 Here is a betting photo of the whole Diamond Clutch Wristlet Wallet I made from a pattern that was very well written with photos and a video for a few parts too…

In the light peach change pocket I added a swivel clasp to hold car keys so they don’t run off on me 🙂  I also put one of my Handcrafted label sin this wallet you will see 😀  I learned a lot making it and think there will be another in the far future for me to make for myself but all together I don’t think the pattern directions could be improved upon !

This weekend has gone so well… last night I sat down and figured and measured and CUT the borders for Appalachian Delight!  This morning I attached the freshly pressed borders and am now planning to lay them out on our kitchen bar to figure the mitering that needs to happen…

 Isn’t this lovely!!!  The center I pieced measures 80″ square and the outer border is an additional 13″ of top quality quilt shop quality fabric I bought for a song in bulk from a quilt shop closing and advertising their remaining things on eBay over a month ago.

Yesterday I also rolled the quilt and will now be going right across the center of the quilt and that top border is noticeable!!!

This morning I have already put in some baptist fan stitches and have 2 of the 8 needed fans complete… I am pointing to my current spot where I will spend this day stitching below with my finger…

Linking this progress to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday Party HERE << see her applique!!

and 

The Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilt and More HERE << where Wendy is showing a Giraffe stitchery by Kim McLean that is very cool!

Here is a photo of Molly.. freshly groomed and looking cute and our freshly pre-op organized living room… you can see Fiona behind the sofa now and my quilt frame beyond that…

 Here is a close up of my Fiona… she is a straight stitching Morse and she began this drive to own only vintage machines… we bought here without the beautiful case my honey bestowed on her … for $15 as found on Craigslist… she took a bit of work but she is a fave of mine and will always hold a special place in my heart 🙂

Someone posted this on facebook this week… so I will leave you with this thought… if you Rise … why not Shine too 🙂

Well … off to be busy hand quilting and pressing Appalachian Delight and figure out those miters for the 4 corners… this quilt will be neatly folded once finished as I focus on finishing the wall hanging on the frame and wait for Connie to find time to finish a quilt she wanted me to hand quilt for her bed 🙂  I also am planning a couple toddler quilts for my daughter’s best friends kids…  No rest for the weary… sleep will happen eventually! lol  For now I am just glad we are in love with our life here in NC… every minute of it!!!

Full on Fall In North Carolina and LOTS of Progress to Share too !!

Do you do this where you live??  If you do did you remember??

I enjoyed an extra 1.5 hours of sleep this morning.. did you??? lol

I want to open this post with our drive yesterday… we went from Robbinsville, NC to Franklin, NC using the scenic (and scary to drive on) route so I could share some photos… I drove and my honey took LOTS of photos… so sit back and enjoy this show first and then I will share some quilty progress too!

 Our views as we left Robbinsville, North Carolina…

 And here we are going to the Wayah Road not from from our home going beside the Nantahala River… it is where LOTS of people will fish for rainbow trout and white water raft and kayak as well!

 This begins the end of our photo taking as the road got more windy and narrow.. but this is the Nantahala Lake!  It is made a lake by a man made dam that provides power as well to this area 🙂

 I hope you enjoyed the show like we did!
After all the beauty we saw yesterday I felt this was a cool meme too…

Mother Nature is full of surprises and she does have the best box of crayons for sure!!!

And Speaking of Crayons… I have some watercolor pencils I pulled out to use for the 1st time this past week!!!

 I finally figured out how I wanted to finish my borders on this Appalachian Delight quilt…

 Here is my piecing plan so I know what size units to make….

 In that photo 1 square = 2″  So this quilt top will finish a bit over 100″ square … PERFECT!!!!

Here is an example of the fabrics you will see used…

The burgandy red is the sashing…
The HST border is being produced as I make each block
The next border will have larger hst’s that have the solid olive green on one side and neutral strings on the opposite side….
The burgandy red and cream herringbone fabric will go around that and be the final binding and
A wide (7″) border of the goldenrod yellow will have an uber cool stencil design on it in blackberry thread big stitch style.

Can you tell I am excited about this quilt???  It will be hand quilted … so this progress… while being pieced on my vintage 301 Gloria… will be a slow stitched finish!!!

Last week I shared progress to the left of needle nanny you see at the top of the photo below…

 So I spent some time with this over the last week and got finished with what was marked in pink and marked MORE from my crazy looking stencil…

 Above in my “Path to a finish” picture I am showing how I have found is best to quilt this stencil and not get lost or have to break thread and start somewhere else… I am loving this design… and the pink I am using WILL come out in the end! lol  For those that are wondering… it is chalk plain chalk.

Here is a photo of my space and set up… I LOVE IT!!!

 The table to the right of my chair has casters added to it so it rolls so nice and smooth and is where I park my drink and all my quilting supplies and accessories.  The chair I sit in has arms and rollers on it as well.  The lamp is able to move easily… the other 2 lamps behind the frame I only use occasionally… but look how bright the light is with the ambient light and the lamp to the left of my chair using a daylight fluorescent bulb is usually good enough 🙂

Linking my hand quilting progress to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday gang of funloving slow stitchers HERE!  Between fixing a few things and helping my honey with a few household things… I will be making progress on this triangle pattern on my quilt!

I found this cool mini ironing board on facebook Marketplace this week and Friday we arranged to buy it for $8!!!  What a steal this vintage wood and metal hinged dual sided board is.  Probably for the 1950’s or 60’s too!!!

 So above is some heavier weight quilting cotton I had used as a backing on the whole cloth quilt I still have in progress… so I fashioned 2 covers and replaced the old hard batting there with 2 layers of new cotton/wool batting to use when I make bags or wallets.

 Yesterday we went to Franklin on our drive through the mountains and I picked up some needed elastic to redo the smaller board to make it fit better… excited to get that project in the books.

Friday I received these 2 pillow fronts hand quilted by my bestie Connie!!!!  Yay!!!

 I picked out some backing fabrics from my stash that would coordinate with the quilt we are using now and the quilt I am making… this fabric fit the bill…

 Here is the one my honey will use now with the pillow form in it….

 Here is the other pillow with the backing on it… and to the right you can see how I used those coordinating fabrics together to make an envelope backing 🙂

Here is the oatmeal fabric one on our bed this morning… I believe Connie bought both of the tops at “The Stencil Company”

 I soaked them in the sink in plain cold water for a few hours then washed them in cold water with some clothes for a good scrubbing in laundry detergent and cold water wash and rinse…. then dried them lightly in the dryer before fashioning them into pillows…

I washed them a second time once they were made into pillows in cool water with a cold water rinse and laundry detergent and some towels then needed washing this time… so they got a second wash and dried hard in the dryer this time and no marks remain that I can see 🙂  LOVE THEM!!!!

I am planning to make myself a wristlet wallet soon… so I have pulled fabric for that ….

 I found a great youtube tutorial for the wallet of my choice I can add the wristlet with donated hardward from my current wristlet wallet… and I bought a new phone case that now allows me to push all the buttons much easier than the leather one that was way past it’s usefulness did…  this photo is from eBay where I found this sweet swanky case for under $5 including free shipping and it came FAST too 😀

 My favorite stretchy bracelet with beads on it broke the other night… so I have been looking for elastic string to string it… I thought I had some but haven’t located it just yet! lol
So I found this one for $1.50 in Robbinsville yesterday at a Thrift Shop we enjoy going to every now and then. Right is a close up of it on my wrist… it is a very light pink.. 🙂

Well… it has come to an end now… time to cloase but as you can see I take my own advice and am truly finally Living a Life I love!!  Are you???