Come on in and see all I have been up to this month! Happy June 2020 :)

Hope YOU are Having a Happy

Last Sunday I made lots of progress on Appalachian Delight on my frame…

 So this week … I marked and quilted the right border and working into the right side of the quilt into the first square top to finish ….

I didn’t quilt as much as I thought because…

I got a new chair for my quilting frame and loved it soooo much I ordered another and am sitting in it as I type to you 🙂  It is from Staples in the USA and is named Sonada… this is their brand of chair and very sturdy and a 7 year warranty !!

This week I did make a bit of progress on the red work piece I am stitching…

I love this rooster and there is one on this panel that faces the other way… 🙂

I had to use Cleo and a walking foot to add the binding to the front…

 I found a perfect piece of white fabric … to make a label on the back of this table runner…

 I used a Pentel Fabric Marking Pen in black to do the writing and set it with a hot iron no steam.

Then it was time to start working on sewing down the back side of the table runner with the binding…

 You can see I use a few wonder clips when I sew bind on a quilted item…

 Here is a closer look… between the picture above and the one below I hope you can see the cool quilting that Jannessa did for us to enjoy!!!

 Oh I hope I can get this finished and washed and in use before next weekend 🙂

I am linking this handy progress to 2 different places this week as it is HQAL time HERE….

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi,  Bella, Daisy, Connie, Monica and Sherrie

Secondly I would like you to take a minute and visit Kathy’s Quilts for more fun Hand-y Ideas right HERE <<<<

This week has been a tough one in US History for sure 😪

I am happy to chat with you each privately about your thoughts on the topic… And because Mr. Floyd was originally born in North Carolina… we celebrated his life and reminded ourselves it could have been us too… with a half raised flag for the day Saturday during his Memorial in NC, USA …

 We did this because we believe Black Lives Matter… as do ALL LIVES <<<<  But this meme says it best… feel free to copy and paste it for your own use if you like!

But I hope to wish you all well this week.  Our Covid 19 numbers continue to rise here in the USA.. this is also a topic I won’t bring deep into my blog post today but can chat offline all you care about this…  

We did plant our Amaryllis that is starting to sprout in it’s container in the dark on Saturday… right here.. 

 So here to the left is the front of our home… and tothe right in the center of the picture you will see a sprite of green in the center… that is an amaryllis trying to sprout but it was root bound in it’s container so we are experimenting with this…. planting it in the ground where we can watch it 🙂

I now belong to a bird group on facebook… we have some bluebird families living in our bird houses but this is a great shot by someone in that group… caught as the blue bird parent is coming to feed the blue bird baby.  Sew sweet!

Here are some flowers from our yard to end this post…

I hope they bring a smile to your face 🙂

Stay healthy my friends ~

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Happy End of May 2020 !

Welcome and come on in!  I have this cozy chair for you to enjoy as you read 🙂

It has been a busy week around here this week… and I have never been so glad to see a month pass… how about you all!!!  Tomorrow is June 2020!!!!  Wonder what it will be like??

Ellie got her frog…Penelope

 Earlier that expected via the USPS….

They said she rolled around the floor with Penelope and loved on her 💖  Makes this Grammy happy for sure!!!!

I had hoped to clean up my sewing room this week… but it remains looking like this…

Hopefully June will give me some energy for straightening and cleaning too ❤  As it went… I mainly spent time with 2 projects in my crafty time…

Appalachian Delight is moving right along…

 Once I finish this section on the right outer border…

 I will be ready to roll and finish the top of the bear in the cabin blocks on this row …

And I will have reached the center of the quilt too then ❤

I have also been focusing some crafty time on embroidering this red work project…

 Here I am with the coffee pot stitched over but trying to decide on the outer ring… should it be buttonhole stitched????

 Or chain stitched ???

 Chain stitching won out … and I added a heart of steam coming out of this coffee pot too !!!

 Next up is the rooster here…

 I found a red work instruction sheet online and printed it off… I like the book I showed last week best still for deciding on all the embroidery stitches…

 Here is a close up of my stem stitching on the roosters wing….

While I have been doing handwork… Connie my bestie has been too ❤

 Here are some of her squares with a different pattern of lace she is crocheting around them 💕

Linking all this hand done fun to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching gang HERE <<<< come see what everyone is doing with their very creative hands 🙂

Our neighbor checked the strawberry patch we had planted 3 years ago and found some fresh and yummy berries for us to eat…

 I put mine on warm cheese danish… and the berries were chilled then… yummmm y’all!

My honey’s new mower… getting washed…

In closing I hope you will choose to be as kind as possible…

 Our world needs it!

Lots of Hand Stitching this Week !

Memorial Day is a hard weekend for me for many reasons… 

 So when I found this Bonnie Hunter ism… I knew it needed to be my opening reminder… in case some of you have a tough time and need a lift out 🙂

Early last week I had all the pieces of the stuffy I was making for my sweet Ellie for her 1st birthday…

 This kind of pattern comes with LOTS of hand stitching in the beginning…..

 I was happy to have such a great strong machine though.. as this stuffy was thick and needed a heavy duty machine like Cleopatra my Singer 319w!!!

 I did also spend a bit of time on my red work…..

 And the second bear paw over is where I stopped last night on Appalachian Delight…

 In my search for a more comprehensive yet smaller sized book on embroidery….

 I unearthed this in my stash ….  And it is hard backed but has spiral binding inside…

 And it comes with such a fun way of chatting…

Linking all this hand stitching fun to Kathy and the crew at Kathy’s Quilts link up HERE <<<

 Lori Holt has come out with a new pattern…
 I love what she is using as a bed runner as a baseline idea for flowers for a spring table runner next spring!!!

Remember the meaning for those in the USA for Memorial Day… I time to remember those that gave the ultimate sacrifice to maintain our freedoms we have come to expect in the USA.

So as I close… and let this weekend slide away into next week … stay well and safe <<<  People are still dying from Covid 19 here in the US as we begin to return to a new normal.  What does it look like where you live?  Do you see lots of masks on others when you go out.. do you wear a mask when you go out around others???

We have some masks seen in this part of North Carolina but not enough for me yet!

Have a blessed week and thanks for stopping in!

May is a Marvelous Month!

Happy Sunday!  Today – May 17, 2020 – marks 3 years now we have owned our Cassie (Nissan Rogue)… and later this week I will celebrate 9 years as a blogger here too!!!

So smile and grab a cuppa and see what all has been going on around here this week 💖

Last weekend after blogging and reflecting I quilted on Appalachian Delight… I will share that in just a bit 🙂

First I wanna share photos I got last Sunday from a couple of my kids…

Brandi – My Darling Daughter

Mike (my youngest son) with his fiance Kristen

I am soooo happy to have heard from these 2 precious people!!!

And I finished this version of a table runner that day… but I couldn’t leave it as such … while still in flimsy form..

 So I used my new seam ripper from Holli Jo and…

Removed the top piano key border and repinned each intersection and sewed it back on….

Ta dah!!!!  Now it is off to Jannessa’s to be quilted with her talent. 🙂  I will bind it in the dark red I used for the diamonds… all this was an old kit Jannessa was destashing… so I took … SCORE!!!

I managed to get the right outer border done after rolling the quilt last weekend…

 Here is another sashing picture…

 And a cool view I caught for all of us to enjoy…

 Time to Roll!!!!

 And progress is being made from the left side of the quilt to the right side now!!

 Left outer border and inner border are done… and a sashing is done too!

 And this is what waits for me today to work on….

I am linking this great progress on slow stitching this week to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Linky Party HERE… come see what I am talking about if you haven’t visited Kathy before!!!!

I am also linking with my HQAL group that has some new members since my last posting with them 3 weeks ago…

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another.  If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi,  Bella, Daisy, Connie, Monica and Sherrie

One thing I enjoy doing while slow stitching all those stitches is listen to audio books and boy did I just finish a GREAT book that kept me on the edge of my seat… And it has a twist at the end… giving it a unexpected happy ending too ❤  I love that!

Look into a audio book service called Chirp… it is an app for your phone, pad, or tablet..  They run sales all the time on audio books so you can get great books for inexpensive then … and you OWN them!

I did buy a paperback book on embroidery stitches… to expand my use on the red work I am working on … while I was perusing my purchase my honey brought in some fresh roses from our yard and presented them to me with water and a sweet vase my bestie gifted me in the past…

Here is a pic I took of Julius … my handsome 301!

 Flanked by my magnetic pin dish… my newest addition a felt and wool pin cushion Jannessa made me… my snip scissors with fob I love… and that awesome sharp and easy to use seam ripper!!!!

Thanks to my super sweet friend Holli Jo… I got an infusion of fabric this week…

Yes there are a couple fabrics in here as shirts for my honey and some for my stash… some for upcoming projects and some I am turning into reusable cloth napkins for our new table runner 🙂

I spent most of the day yesterday figuring out how to cut out the fabric to make this rag animal…

 It is for my grand on her upcoming 1st birthday so I need figure this out 🙂  Have you ever made a rag animal like this?? I can’t find any help online for the process and patterns like this are much different from quilting patterns for sure!!!

During our separation from others we have….

Loved on Molly…

Took a fun selfie…

Planted flowers at the base of our flag pole…

 And repotted the daisy we bought… with 4 or  blooms showing…

 Look how pretty they look post planting…

 Above you can see that rock building… that is our local post office! 🙂  Between us and the post office is a river and a railroad tracks too!!!

Here is a photo of that Gerber Daisy showing 7 or 8 blooms now… I took this yesterday using portait mode on my camera and love the colors better I think! 🙂

How are you spending your days as we isolate more to let the virus die down??  I would love to hear… in the mean time try this in the mornings…

And remember… life is what you choose to make of it ❤  Make it GREAT! 

And I hope you enjoy the blog header and colors I went with for this coming blog writing year 🙂

Mother’s Day 2020 – Lots of Progress to Share!

I hope if you are a mom of human or pet… you are celebrating!!!

If you are a dude I hope you make the mom in your life feel special!

It has been a crazy week full here at Daisy Meadows!!!  Come on in and relax and read and see what I have been up to 🙂

Four years ago this week my honey finished building, staining and sealing my Hinterberg quilt frame (built from a kit we got at Hinterberg dot com… you can call them too… based in the USA).

This picture is at our home in Florida 4 years ago!!!

Now this week in our North Carolina home…

 I rolled the quilt in the frame and started working my way from the right side over to the left side now in the wide sashing ….

That frame is probably even better than when it was brand new as it still had to be broken in a bit then 🙂  I love this frame and all the love that went into making it for me… like we enjoy seeing quilts we have made wrapping our loved ones too!

Here is a photo that came across my vision this week so I saved it to share with y’all!
My first quilt… machine pieces and hand quilted with the guidance only my bestie Connie could give!!!

 We no longer have that bed … or mattress set! lol  But we do sleep under a hand quilted quilt always.  This quilt I use on my feet now.. and I have used some of it for pillows too 🙂

Last week I got this cool red work panel in the mail… I found it on eBay … it is made by Marcus Brothers…

 I am planning to cut each square I use in this wall hanging for our kitchen … but first I will redwork them all!  Starting with this percolating coffee pot here…

 I found some vanilla fabric in my stash with no selvage but 100% cotton and a nice weave for stitching through… to use as a stabilizer and to hide any dark red that may show through each block…

 See now how opaque the background is and how nice the coffee pot shows off…

 The thread was a welcomed gift from my BFF Jannessa… I am sew blessed with 2 of the bestest friends a girl can imagine!!!!  This is DMC 498 …

(you can see that I didn’t have that stabilizing fabric in the photo above!)

 And here is how far I got this week since just starting mid week or so…

Linking this post to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Linky HERE <<<<

Speaking of great friends… I have yet another great friend who remembered me for Mother’s Day….

 Yes… Holli Jo sent me a seam ripper made by her cousin’s family and picked out to be similar to hers with the North Carolina flower… dogwood… on the handle.  Isn’t this amazing artwork to make a seam ripper from such?  HERE IS A LINK to her Etsy shop too if you are interested in adding something like this to your sewing notions… it is SHARP too!  The link will open in a new window too so you don’t lose your place here 😀

When I saw it come out of the package I knew it was from Holli Jo… I am sew blessed Y’all!  Her cousin included a sweet note in the well packed gift and a sweet little bag to hold them both 😀  I felt so special to receive this item!!!

Then I have been doing some piecing on some flying geese for a future quilt and also turning a quilt kit that was just started to cut and not finished… into a 62″ x 18″ table runner for my kitchen….

Above is my ideas … I have gotten farther but you’ll have to come back next week to see the flimsy I will hand off to Jannessa for fmq… my honey loves her fmq-ing on our bar table runner because drinks don’t tip easily and it stays nice and flat because she is GREAT with her fmq!!!!

Look at this quilt that inspired my friend Connie… I love it so thought I would share it here…

And here inspiring me… is a Gerber Daisy we picked up when we lucked out and found a little place open selling flowers… we got some cheddary orange colored flowers for around our flag pole… we got a pot for the Daisy and when the freezes are over and they are planted I will share a photo with you >>> Yes it froze the last 2 nights below 30 degrees here!!! CRAZINESS!!!!  And our sweet Molly … freshly brushed … she loves looking pretty!!!

Here is a meme I found… PLEASE when you can’t social distance… WEAR A MASK!!!

 So what is the joy in the story you are now living??? What is a new normal thing you have learned to love that you didn’t initially…

I have learned to love being alone with my honey and our pooch… she is a joy and he is a hoot… I am definitely more blessed than I realized to be quarantined with the crew I am with!!!

I have had to learn to balance time that I listen to news though.. my honey needs more news info than I can deal with so headphones are a blessing at times!

Hope to hear from you below in the comments…

From Muddling to Magnificent >> Hand Quilting Has Started Back Ya’ll!

Happy Sunday Y’all!  Magnificent is sew much nicer than muddling!!!

These birds are photos from facebook eastern North American bird types Jannessa sent me… we thought they would make a cute opener for my post today and cheer you each up!!!

I have spent the last month muddling through… sewing masks…

Til I am soooo tired of them… I think this is a breaking time for me as all my friends family and locals have a mask … I think! lol

This Corona virus – Covid19 is a wicked virus for sure!  But it is maddening … esp here in the US opening early or refusing to wear masks in public places and refusing to adhere to 6′ distance in shops… is sad really!!!!  There are some folks even rushing the state government buildings with no masks as a method of protest for the governors not opening their state quite yet… Just Sad!!!

After listening to a quilting related fiction book as an escape from all this.. I decided I wanted to see a Garden Maze setting ….

 Above is a setting like that… I bought a Marcus Brothers panel on eBay and it came in this week…

 I will be hand stitching in dark red all the 20 blocks… then using this pattern here to do the most traditional type of garden maze setting…

I have a photo of these blocks put together but it is VERY busy… so I will make mine look more like the first photo I showed you with this pattern for how to piece it most historically with the switchover squares in place.  I can be more precise with this NEXT Sunday once the fabric I ordered arrives.

Molly wanted to pose for a photo here… on a quilt she loves that I hand quilted …

 My honey and I celebrated 9 years together with filet minion, baked potato, and broccoli …..

It was completely yummy…. then the next day my honey talked to our neighbor who had mentioned selling a John Deere mower almost new… so he dove in and offered him a cash price he couldn’t refuse… we got stimulated this week as well so that is what our $$$$ went to 🙂  We are passing along the good deal by selling our older mower to a friends kids for less than it is worth 😀

What comes around goes around … the motto we live by… we got a deal so we are passing one on!

Do you have a motto you & yours live by?

Here is a great family idea… let each person in your family choose a different color paper and trace their hand… you might have to get a bit creative to have this outcome but isn’t this a great way to remember this “time together” as a family unit???!!

Here I am … multiple times in the month of April I sat in my chair and looked out the windows at the view and viewed my hand quilting progress but just didn’t have any desire to pick up my needle and thread and make stitches….
Well thanks to a challenge from a very nice friend I am hand quilting!!!

I had 3 different sewing sessions to hand quilt this area of the quilt I am on…. I also finished that right sashing but the light isn’t out to get a nice photo for you all…. more next week!!!!

Jannessa started on the Miss Jane’s Best miniature quilt pattern that is embroidery heavy this week …

She got these 3 blocks all done… she is going to trace some for me on this same thick doll making muslin when she has hers made (for me to use to stitch with)!!! 

It is a group project I guess… I let her use my pattern that had been a gift to me (I will make it when she is done),  Connie is sending her 30’s repro fabric from her stash, and Jannessa is using DMC floss from her stash and mine to do the embroidery…  How FUN for Pandemic Relief Efforts!!!!

Linking all this hand stitching and my renewed hand quilting to Kathy’s Quilts Linky HERE <<<  Come see all Kathy is up to and all the rest of the linkers too ❤

Even when I haven’t felt like it I have blogged every Sunday morning…. I appreciate your kindness for leaving a comment when you visit my blog too 🙂

So continue being Kind and Wearing Masks when in public places please!