July is a time for Winning!!!

As July comes into the mountains… and I turned 54 yesterday too!  We are enjoying summertime in our own yard!

I took some selfies of an app on my phone that features me on my birthday…

And I took some selfies of me too and made a collage… all early in the morning on the 4th… the house was MINE!

 I spent my birthday hearing from ALL my kids… including watching sweet little Ellie play and be sooo cute on video chat time!

 Some of my birthday wishes included:

Can you guess what the last trait I have is inside this card??? <<<

NOW IT IS YOUR TIME TO GET SOMETHING!!!!

Tell me in a comment below if you are interested in having a MINI QUILT PATTERN

I HAVE 2 to give away 😀

>>> Thanks to my bestie Connie for this birthday month giveaway! <<<

Giveaway limited to USA at this moment >>> 

MAKE SURE I HAVE YOUR EMAIL TO CONTACT YOU IF YOU WON TO GET MAILING INFO 🙂

 Amaryllis watch is coming to an end…

On the left was the beginning of the week and by the end of the week the one on the left was fully bloomed and earlier blooms were already fading a bit!

We will cover it well in winter and see if it blooms again in the future after such a beautiful show this season!!!!

I have NOT spent any time at the frame this week…  But next week that will change 😀

 Instead I was sewing on Julius my black 301… a wall hanging for my son and his bride-to-be. 

My son Michael and his bride to be ~ Kristen… called me early yesterday morning before celebrating HER birthday with her visiting family.. Her birthday is actually July 5 and I sent her a sweet card and sewing kit for their new home (my son gave me the green light for this home sweet home gift).

Michael & Kristen Due to marry April 11, 2021

 I did take time to press these seams open as I sewed together all these little pieces…

 Until soon I had the bottom half together…

 I also sewed the top half strips all together making sure to stagger the seams so they weren’t all in one spot.  I woke up early on my birthday to figure out the writing I will HAND EMBROIDER on the white stripe of the picture above…  you can see below close up …

 Here I am deciding exactly how I will be hand embroidering in different threads I have and have on order…. and writing on the quilt area with a pencil my intentions…

Here is a sneak peek of my quilting plan too…

 only single vertical lines are in the final as they seemed more modern.. My goal is to make them a keepsake wall hanging they will always enjoy over the years.

As July was ringing into being… I found I was a winner in a facebook group I am in for Color Street nails….

 Have you ever done your own manicure and used dry nail polish products like this???  Let me know if you are interested in knowing more… I can hook you with my nail stylist!!!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner for me…

 I won a foot massager & should get it this week!!!

Here is a darling idea for dressing up a house plant for the patriotic holiday… make your country’s flag…

 Here is a quilt pattern I am currently lusting over and got my honey’s agreement that he likes it too…

I can only find it on an Etsy shop atm… my LQS doesn’t own it.

Will you be a winner this week ??!!Did you miss the pattern giveaway I offered above???

I am excited to get back to hand work this week and getting things done 🙂  How about you???
Linking this post to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE… I will be embroidering today on the wedding wall hanging!!!!

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Happy July y’all and a stencil tutorial !!

What a Historic Month we are in now!!!

July 4 is actually my birthday 💖…

and when we celebrate our Independence as a Nation here in the USA so….

Today… July 6 is also my Gaga’s birthday… she passed away in 2004 but is fondly remembered each July 6… just 2 days after mine!  I like to think we look a bit alike too 😀

Here is a Birthday wish someone left me on Facebook… 

for me and my Gaga and you if you have a July birthday too!!!!

Isn’t this a cool mix of applique 😀

Here are a few of my birthday goodies I got…

First from my LQS…

Then I woke on the 4th to find this from my honey 🙂 

 My post for my facebook friends from a photo I took on our property 🙂

And if you look close.. there is a flag waving far off… that is our post office!!! lol

Here is a current photo of me… with a tag I added on Facebook 😀 

And HERE …. I   I   I   I

                       V  V  V  V

are the photos of the divided caddy I made for my friend Debbie I told you about in my last blog post…She received this yesterday in the mail so I was so excited to share it with you!

It has pockets added to each end for keys and cell phone when she is on the move with her stuff!  She loves bright colors and pink and yellow are faves as well as green… I used from my stash only for this … the handles are black wide ribbon from my stash too!!!  The insides are also covered in matte vinyl fuse like the one I made for my honey to use for his shaving gear… this one is a bit bigger and much more sturdy though in it’s construction 😀  I am well pleased… this is made by a video on YouTube by Sewspire 😀  Andrea makes making this very easy to understand too!  

Before the tutorial… I want to share my progress on the quilt I am hand quilting!!!!  I am linking this hand quilting goodness on Sunday to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday post … HERE (had computer issues so didn’t link up until 5:30 pm EST USA … sorry!)  Go see Kathy and Congratulate her as she enters her 7th year as a Sunday slow stitch linky boss 😀

I am about 57% completed with the hand quilting in these photos…

 And  here you can see what I am doing in the star blocks with the chalk lines I follow then spritz away the residue of chalk when I have stitched the wavy lines ….

Above you can also see how I am big stitching the swirlies in the sashings…. using a black perle cotton 12 wt.

The swirlies are from a stancil that is a bit LONGER than the space I had to fill … soooooo

This is how you make a stencil fit YOUR space <<< TUTORIAL

Here is my stencil over the sashing… see how the sashing is about 1/4″ shorter on each end than the stencil?? 

While in the above position… mark the center parts of the stencil… but not the outer parts of the swirlie or whatever your design is… that way the center parts are centered!

Then below you will move each end to the desired spot and line up with the lines already marked… I am using a water soluble marker for my marking…

Here is a closer up view… I am marking the other end now… the stencil does not have to stay straight on the sashing but the end you are marking must be right in place!  mark carefully 😀 

 Now that all parts of the stencil are marked… it is time to fill in the “legs”… the legs are the parts where the stencil is held to the base and left gaps in your swirlie! 🙂

 Now you can see my swirlie marked well… downsized to fit my sashing with legs filled in too!

Feel free to click on any of these photos to enlarge them to see those blue lines more clearly… and scroll back up to see the stitched and spritzed away markings of my sashings… 

Another consideration I realized after marking the first row of this stencil was the orientation of the swirlies… so I put the center loops facing my blue blocks on all my swirlie designs for consistency… just a thought for your stencil marking too 😀

Now a look at our Lazy Daisy homestead and future and present harvesting…

First here are some not yet ready peach, apple, grape, and blueberry!

And here are some ready to enjoy squash and tomatoes from our garden 😀 

Here is a crane we have seen several days recently…

And a closer up view of the sandhill crane… native to this area a friend who lives here told us 🙂

 Love these vibrant fuscia / purple conical blooms on this bush!

 And a corkscrew willow in full glory!

A look back at our home sweet home… 

And the grist mill and edge of the pond where we often stand to feed the fish their high protein floating food 🙂 

And a look from the other side of the pond toward the back of our home… 

And the back porch with the blooming hostas all in a row! 

We finally finally got a North Carolina tag for our Cassie… she is legal and so are we… now true North Carolinians and happy to be that! 

And in closing…

A bit of patriotic quilty inspiration I saw online this week!!! 

A Very inspirational saying to add to your thought process today as you leave this post and do your own thing… 

A wish from me and my honey to you and your household ❤ 

Thanks for visiting !!! Have a blessed weekend 🙂

Happy Birthday America… and me too!

Happy Birthday America!!!

And to me too!!!!

Today I turn 50 years young!!!

Here is a birthday cake my best friend Wendy who lives in Australia sent me this morning too!!!

and here is the truth…

Although arthritis may make me start replacing parts with built ones.. currently I am still all original! 🙂 lol

Now I need your attention for a minute or two…

Take a listen to this acapella version of this song… very cool!!!!  Especially if you are wearing headphones/earbuds! lol
CLICK HERE to open the video in a new tab please 😉  I can’t get the link to show up in the published blog post

Isn’t that just an amazing rendition of a classic American song!!!  I just love it and uploaded it to my phone so I could listen with headphones… I got some for my birthday!!! lol

Today I am focusing today on 2 projects…

My daughter’s quilt here…

On the top right is a birthday card from my 97 year young Nanny!

She is my only remaining living grandparent and she has many grandchildren and great grands.. but always remembers our birthdays with a card and a few words of wisdom along with well wishes!  I love getting a card from her on my birthday!!!!

Also I am making a machine quilted table cover for my honey to use posing his featherweights on that we sell…

I found 3 yards of white on white fabric for a low price on eBay because it had a mark on it that easily washed out! 🙂  I want it reversible and the same on both sides so decided a nice 2″ cross hatch would work best on the whole cloth quilting…

 I used a long ruler and my faithful blue wash away marker.  First I found the center of one side and marked it.. then I took a second ruler with a 45 degree angle on it and marked right and left from that center edge at 45 degrees.. after a few sessions of marking to give my back a break.. I had it marked and layered and ready to pin …

 Above it is ready for pinning.. I placed pins ever 3 squares all over the quilt… you can see in my pic below how I placed them for a stable whole cloth to quilt…

Fiona is a Morse 600 1950’s sewing machine made by Toyota and she is a great quilter to me!!! 🙂

I also am hoping to get back to piecing an upcoming quilt to hand quilt… Singing the Blues is it’s tentative name… no pics of that on my phone presently though… once I get back to it I will share some 🙂

Meanwhile my honey has been making some changes in our kitchen….

We are beefing up and changing the top to a more usable surface on the bar in the kitchen.. here is the cardboard template laying in place…

and here is the plywood countertop base piece in place!!!!

There is some beefing up that needs to take place and my honey is doing a stellar job.. I will show pics in my next post of his hard work and skill on this project 🙂

Hope you enjoyed the song and have a blessed special day for America… if you are in another country I hope you enjoyed the acoustics in the song!

I will leave you with this photo of one of my calendars I use.. made for me by my sweet daughter in law!!!!  Featuring my grandson CJ, me, Brandi, Kayla, and DL… plus some fireworks too!

My Faves ~ July Edition :)

My Faves ~ July 2015

Recent Pictures…

Great friends!

Great Memories!

and Great Looking! lol

 We did it together…

Matching Tshirts

Pedicures… she went back for a mani before leaving too! lol

A pic I worked on as a sweet memory of her short beach time this trip

Birthday Memories…

Yep, I am a firecracker!  Born on the 4th of July 🙂  So we celebrated and had dessert..

Such a yummy dessert we got for our birthday celebration at a local restaurant 🙂

It didn’t last long.. there were 4 of us celebrating birthdays in July! lol

My dd made me red velvet brownies too!  Yummm 🙂

And I was blessed with lots of loot… My daughter painted me a special large canvas in a cool way…

My honey really spoiled me this year though!

I got my fave chocolates.. in mini size!!

And this pattern on the left is a BOM style pattern of a quilt I want to make.. I will share more on that later… and the fat quarter bundle on the right is the fabric to make it with that I had already picked out!!!!

I can’t believe how generous he has been to me for a birthday too!

 Now what to do for him!!???  His birthday is coming on the 20th

I also got a host of cards and other gifts… Connie had given me a wall hanging to quilt, and the matching t-shirts to wear during her visit!  My favorite card was from my grandmother who is 96 years young and never forgets my birthday or to send me a card on my day 🙂  That means sooo much!

I certainly feel loved this year for sure on my special day.  Do you enjoy your special day each year??

 

Quilting Accomplishments…

I am so excited about this part of my week I am linking with Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday on Sunday morning… that is my fave spot to read on Sunday’s and my fave thing to do!!! lol   Today she shows her hand embroidery and talks about how good closure on a project feels! 

So come on now and check out how well my week has gone…

Got this quilt layered and pin basted ready for hand quilting…

Close up of the center block 🙂

 This block measures about 16 x 22 inches and is a little 18 month old jumper.  I only need to quilt every 8″ with this particular batting (it says how close/far you need to stitch or the batting to remain secure within the quilt on the batting packing or insert if getting off a roll) but I want this to feel cozy.

My friend Wendy suggested something like this and I LOVE this more interpretive quilting idea…

I plan to stitch in white YLI 40/3 thread to keep it super sturdy for years of snuggles too!

And in the meantime I have been working on my Bulls Eye wall hanging…

 I am now on the 11th of 16 bulls eyes.. hope to make better progress on this before my next report to you! lol

And finally choosing which of those luscious fabrics from the fat quarter bundle and which from my own stash to put together for the pattern I received for my birthday…

Although the official pattern is called “Journey of a Quilter” by Leanne Beasley… I will be calling mine “Kathi’s Friendship Journey” quilt… It will hold my first embroidered patchwork done from scratch  and my first applique… needleturn or otherwise.. will be my firsts!Yay!  Do you have quilts you enjoy that are full of firsts too?  I love to see my first hand quilting too!  I sleep under still every night! 🙂

So that is what is up with me… hope you enjoyed the ride today!

Thanks for visiting 🙂

Birthday Loot Rocks!

Turning 48 this year was a bit sad for me… and that was unexpected!  I got lots of love and lots of attention…

Birthday Loot!

But it was a day I just wanted to be quiet and let it pass… but friends and family had other ideas! lol

And besides the birthday loot above I got tons of facebook wishes and personal calls and emails.. the puzzle I showed yesterday was what I finally settled on doing and my bestie Connie finished it up late in the night…

I awoke to the puzzle finished and my bestie up and ready to visit! 

That was awesome 🙂  It was also then that I took time to appreciate every tangible gift I got as well… let me show you a few!

My honey gave me my fave tangible thing that I asked for …

A iron from the 1940’s that WORKS!  I can use this for piecing as I quit using any steam and it dramatically helped my piecing… and notice the cord minder???…. that is from my friend Wendy… she made me 2… both are in use 🙂

My fave tangible thing that was a surprise for me…

This beautiful dishcloth made just for me by my friend Brandy… isn’t it beautiful!  When my honey builds the frame for the puzzle we made… he will make a shadow box for this “dishcloth” I refuse to use but want to adore!  So I decided as soon as I saw it … it wouldn’t get stained and it would be enjoyed for it’s handmade beauty by making it a home.  My honey agreed and will make a special home for this cloth!  Yay for me 🙂

My fave thing that I needed and anticipated happening for my birthday was…

Taking this mess and …

And organizing it!  More on this project coming up in a post on Friday 🙂  Do you follow me?

Another ANTICIPATED thing that happened to make it in time for my birthday was a set of coasters !!!  We use them every day all the time for our drinks on the glass top table I sit at.  Wonderful and a luxury item I didn’t realize I needed til I got them… thanks Wendy!

Another SURPRISE was the portable design wall my bestie made each of us from my idea!  More on that coming up Sunday!  Yippee for slow Sunday stitching!

I got an updated pic of me and my bestie for our yearly photo op 🙂

Very nice to have a beachy background as our natural backdrop! lol

So in the end.. I love all the stuff I got… but most of all I loved the love & adoration I received intangibly!  And today… a few days after my birthday… I am happy to be 48 years old now.  No regrets and no turning back!

How do you handle birthdays as you get older?  Do you enjoy them or hope they pass quietly???

Have a blessed week and I look forward to sharing more with you from my birthday vaca week as my personal time allows me to blog about it! ha 😀

Return from a short vaca!

So much to share with you…

Happy 4th of July… if you Celebrate 🙂

First of all I want to congratulate Penny for winning 2 fat quarters and a small bit of matching thread too  🙂  She simply wrote a post and linked up to my linky party!  It is sooo much fun!!!

Be ready for July’s Linky Party ..

JULY 25, 26, 27 will be our next time to Link up and there will be a fun Give away too! So stay tuned and follow me if you don’t already so you can List, Tick and Party with us!  And we can with you!  Motivation Mayhem Monthly Muster is the long of it… I just like M4 for short!

I love learning and reading others ideas about making goals and meeting them.. readjusting to meet them.. what to do when I don’t meet them.. and I just love a good blog Party!!!! lol

So a short vaca I forgot to tell you about 😉

My bestie Connie came for a visit… and as usual I went mostly off grid!  I loved it 🙂

We organized..

 And created…

 and just relaxed a bit too…

It is hand pieced… but not a real quilt… this is a puzzle!

I also celebrated my 48th birthday this week!

This pic was sent to me from my friend Wendy in Australia… isn’t it cute!

So stay tuned this week for lots of great info here!

As for today… I will be unstitching and reworking the outer border on Oh My Stars… so pics will come on that once I decide and get a bit done on my outer border…

Linking this post up with Kathy’s Quilts.. Slow Sunday Stitching here!  She has a super cool vid of up hand piecing a block in space by a astronaut on the space station… leave a little bloggy love while you are there too!  🙂 

Have a blessed Sunday my friends!