Quilts in Progress make the BEST Backdrops Y’all!

Happy Sunday from North Carolina Y’all!

Last Sunday I got this cute triptych of photos from my daughter in law… that my son James had taken!

Didn’t he do a great job of catching her first bit of watermelon for the day!!!!

Ellie is growing big and strong isn’t she??!!! 🙂

Mike, my middle child, is doing great working from home at the moment and he has picked up a side hustle … reading books for Audible!!!!

I am not recommending this book with this big picture… I just wanted you to see his name at the bottom of the screen on my phone though… His voice sounds excellent reading these authors’ words!

I took off the lavender iridescent nail polish this week… using the clips and polish remover that is good but works without acetone to dry out my nail beds…

I get that at Amazon… with all my Mineral Fusion nail products 🙂

And here is my new mani on the right hand!  Took me less than an hour to remove the old polish … clean my nails well, and put fresh strips on them all 🙂  I 💖 this product!  So mess free!!!!

And sharing all these quilted squares in a photo for my Facebook cover…

Then last night was the end of Shark Week in Holli Jo’s nail group (AND today on TV it wraps up)… so her and her husband had shark hats on for their whole LIVE event on facebook!  They are so loving & funny & endearing too 🙂

If you wanna join a fun and uplifting group let me know… I am happy to invite you 🙂  

Each week starts on Monday and finishes with a big party on Saturday nights!!!  I won a very nice foot massager in a live event just like this.. it has jets and heat and is awesome!!!!  AND I have won free nail sets too!  She hosts Bingo, Show & Sell, and Random Grand Prize Drawing names from the week of game playing in the group too for the big winner!

Or if you just wanna try this dry nail strip product by Colorstreet

Let me know and I will get her to snail mail you some … and you won’t be disappointed!

I want to share how my new tattoo has healed as well!!!

At 3 weeks old all the scabbing and flaking is done… mine was small and detailed.. Ricks ying yang was bigger and finished healing before mine… however we are BOTH happy with our new tattoos 🙂

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

I am ALMOST halfway through the heart of this quilted wall hanging now… Here is hoping next Sunday I have more of the heart center to share with you all ❤

 

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Forward Progress Happening Here :)

So happy to have some positive progress here this week to share at Kathy’s.. for Slow Stitching Sunday 🙂  And this is where you will find me today too!!!

Yep… I rolled the quilt on the frame again… now on row #7 of 15 rows total to do so ALMOST HALFWAY y’all!!!

I am sooo excited with this progress… here is a close up of the beginnings of row 7…

I am really enjoying the border and planning out the motifs for the charm blocks too… it is all quite fun for me 😀  Linking this post to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching come SEE!!!  HERE <<< and praying this is gifted by Christmas!!!

I can’t stitch all the time though… I am not as handy with thimbles as I could be so my fingernails break off frequently… thus I have also been working on some machined projects while increasing my use and ability to stitch with thimbles! lol

I completed this cool table topper…

If you are interested in my thoughts on the pattern I purchased and the overall construction of it in more detail look at my post from yesterday right HERE!

Earlier this week my kids met up in Tennessee and I got these photos sent to me…

 Above is James and his wife Heather with my son Mike… and below is Mike with my dd Brandi 🙂  So nice that they all keep in contact with each other!! 💗

Meanwhile I have been thinking of upcoming holidays and treated myself to an early Christmas present in the form of the new Quiltfolk magazine… focusing on middle and eastern Tennessee!!!

This is a completely ad FREE magazine that is 170 pages of vintage and historic quilts in pics.. plus a few newly constructed too… but the focus is on quilt history in each state.. this quarter it was focused in Tennessee … where I am from!!  They cost $22/each or $75/year subscription and there is no postage fees and it came well wrapped for safe transport via USPS… I hope to order more interesting ones in the future as I find them quite pleasing to enjoy on my back porch as the weather cools a bit.

Also on the Countdown to Christmas in my mind has been making some placemats for our dinner table… and I found a youtube tutorial I felt inspired by… here is the photo that inspired me…

And here is my fabric choices for MY placemats…

 Here I am actually doing it.. see the negative fussy cutting template I made at the top of this pic below??  A first for me … just made from cardstock though 🙂  I got 4 of these 6″ x 10″ hexi images from a fat quarter!!! PERFECT 😀

 Then I had the inner border on…

 Then the outer border and a good pressing was had!! lol

 Finally a look at my completed idea after re-auditioning bindings… not sure about the backing yet… should I go with plain fabric or make them multi seasonal with some print on the back that would also look nice with a black binding…

Well I made 2 of the 4 I need so far and now will ponder this quandary as I slow stitch this Sunday away 😀  These measure now 12″ x 17″ so that is a good size for us.. we use smaller sized lunch plates anyway 🙂

Are you making any crafts for your home for Christmas??

Finally… my honey has been making me a built in office in our bedroom… and he has painted the wall a soft gray color!!!

 Now here it is once all had dried well and I could move back in to this space 😀  I LOVE IT!!!

 I especially like the little shelves above… holding my overflow, a pic of my bestie and me from last summer’s visit and some decore items…

 We continue to ponder a move in the springtime… please keep us in your thoughts and prayers… anyone near Graham, NC?  This is in the center of the state … would love to get some pics from you if you live near this part of the world!!

Thanks for stopping by to see what I am up to… I would LOVE to hear from you as well!  Please leave a comment and have a blessed day my friend!  And don’t forget to follow the link I left for you to see what all hand work others are up to on this fine Sunday!!

Make sure to also ….

Christmas 2015 Review….

On Christmas Eve we celebrated Christmas with 3 of my 4 kids.  It was a total BLAST and a SUCCESS!!!

Then the next 2 days we just laid around! lol >>> Even Daisy Mae got worn out from all the Christmas Eve excitement!

My nephew and nieces got their Christmas presents and sent this cute shot of them getting it! 🙂

They sent me a Starbuck’s card and my daughter an iTunes card… but she doesn’t use iTunes and I don’t use Starbuck’s much these days… so we traded… we each got a $25 gift card now to enjoy and USE!!!!

Here is a candid shot of my oldest son DL.. with Kayla and CJ 🙂

It is such a precious shot to me I wanted to share it… fun family times with a toddler giving kisses is sooo sweet!

DL made me a dimensional canvas with my 2016 theme featured on it…

And I LOVE It!!!!  He is very creative and rarely does he use those skills these days … so I was happy to know the creative spirit hasn’t left him! 🙂

This is what I sent him to inspire something completely different

 but featuring teal and orange my fave colours 🙂

Then Kayla presented me with a wrapped booklet of some sort… what could it be???

A personalized (made just for me!!!!) calendar she made using pics of all of CJ’s life… and those in his life too!

On July she even featured me for my birthday !!!!  I will be 50 this year folks 🙂

Grammy K is me!!!  I love this page the most…

And this cool calendar has found a place for now in my sewing room… maybe I will mount both items in there… hmmmm  Probably yes.. but must consort with my honey over this decorating plan and just how to lay it out on the wall to look most visually appealing 🙂

Here are a couple shots of my youngest 2 kids… while they were celebrating with family on Christmas Day 🙂

Mike is 21… he is quite the jokester in the family and hammed it up on this second photo! 🙂

He and Brandi have a great relationship though and for that I am very happy !!!

He lives not far from us and stays busy with work.. and just being an independent young man!

Now many things I “got” for Christmas were timed with when they were needed… like the wonderful computer I upgraded to in August of this year… my honey bought this for me from his featherweight sales profits…

Dell has EXCELLENT customer service and support… I have been most pleased with this purchase as well… but my honey didn’t stop there! lol

He also got me a cool wireless Bose speaker to go with the new computer!!!!

It is little as you can tell by the paperback book posed with it… that is my current FAVE READ!!!  I love learning more about Australian culture too… this book shares a bit of that and a great adventure too!

It was wonderful to have most of my kids with me for Christmas Eve .. and to have Christmas Day as a nice quiet relaxing day to appreciate the birth of our Savior.  Maybe this will be our new “tradition”???

I didn’t get to see James or Kaydence… they remained in Tennessee and James’ work is very taxing so a trip either way just wasn’t working out!  But Kaydence did get her quilt and her parents LOVE IT!!!!  I will post more about that soon 😉

I have lots of fun projects coming up … ending this year with some UFO finishes and starting some fun new projects as well!  Hope you will take time to sign up and follow along with me… 

As always your comments to my posts are definitely desired!!! 🙂

I do hope however long you get to enjoy Season you make sure to also….

Slow and Steady Wins the Race :)

Happy Wednesday!

As I slow stitch… I think about so much stuff… upcoming projects… prayers for those around me and in my world virtually too!  So much going on in the world as well to think and pray on…

Here is my 16th block… when I finish this block I will be 2/3 done with the quilting on this beauty!

 

Currently I am about 1/4 done with this block 🙂  Slow and steady wins the race though! lol

As I slow stitch my honey is working on the cabinet to the 1928 White Rotary electric machine I shared with you on my last post.  He is refinishing the original and more recently varnished finishes from this beautiful red mahogany wood cabinet (we think that is the kind of wood it is! )

Here is my honey putting on CitriStrip…

The legs in the foreground are stripped now and the background legs are in stages of stripping…

gooey old stuff coming OFF!  Yay 🙂

A pic I found of what this cabinet should look like when we are done with it :)… sorta! lol

 So our goal was to strip and return it to it’s original beauty … like the stock photo I found above of this cabinet called a “Martha Washington” and it even has a brass plate I will show you later on the right side door that says “Martha Washington” on it!  Very cool piece…

Here is my honey’s stripper he LOVES and I will attest no bad smell or bad fumes from the stuff like I have experienced when rehabbing furniture myself in the past…

It does not work as fast as chemical stripper but it does a great job as you can see in the pics… must be patient and do multiple applications to get the results we got… and then a good sanding is in order so we did purchase some sandpaper too… so far we have the varnish and stain… so we are out $12.00 for the stripper and about $5.00 for various grades of sandpaper!  SCORE!!!

Here is a cool brass oil can we found in the cabinet!  Isn’t is cool 🙂  I love finding treasures like this oil can that even has a place to be in the cabinet… again pics of that later 🙂

Here is a pic my kids LET ME TAKE that is awesome I think… I love a good pic with good lighting… and love to show off my kids too… these are my 2 youngest… 19 and 15 🙂

 This is a plan I have for a quilt along we are doing over at Patchwork Friends fb page here

We are a small group of quilty friends… you are welcome to request entry as it is a closed group… but I am the admin who allows entry 🙂  Send me a PM there with a request to enter and Whallah… come Quilt Along with us as we make our own variations on this pattern!

by Wendy Gilbert & Quilt in a day this little wall hanging will be my first time to try applique… but it starts with the spools… I am thinking how Edyta Sitar did hers above in a now out of print recipe is the best inspiration for my spools…

So that is what is going on in my slow and steady week… what is going on in yours???  Would love to hear from you!

Thinking of doing a giveaway soon… any ideas on a fun gift to GET???  Or share your fave winning from a blog or other online hosted giveaway!  I have a great book I got for card making I am thinking of offering  HUGE resource book any papercrafter would love to have on their shelf… or a half yard of Halloweeny fabric… but is it too early for some Halloweeny fabric??? lol  Great LQS fabric I got in Murfreesboro TN and didn’t use!

So if you haven’t figured it out I want to hear from YOU my lovely readers… tell me what you want.. what you are up to.. and what you love about my blog the most!  I blog for me .. but I blog to entertain you too!  And inspire you I hope 🙂

Much bloggy Love!

Linking to Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation 🙂

A busy week then an afternoon in the park :)

This week has been crazy busy… sorry I have been a few days in writing 🙂

My son Mike got his Florida license on Monday then flew back to TN to work on getting himself a car with his brother’s help 🙂

Tuesday morning he bought a 2000 Mustang… his first car!

I have been steadily working on the quilt so much so that I have finished the quilting…

and started the binding…

with a little help along the way…

Then after a doctor’s appointment for my daughter… we stopped by the park and remembered the reason we moved to Florida!  The Great Outdoors 🙂

Brandi on a topsy turvy ride… yep I tried it too 🙂

showing off her walk the plank skills!

Driving us… she wishes!!!

But the hit of the park was all the carved wood sculptures and how pristine and peaceful the park was!  Here is Brandi with a tortoise…

Here is a real turtle running away from the park area because kids came in and started messing with him!

Sea horse

Sea Turtle

Pirate… maybe Captain Hook???

Dophin

Where I hope to marry my honey some day!

So hope you enjoyed this little pic heavy post… just wanted to share some of the stuff going on and the beauty all around too!

Have a blessed day!

Kathi

Blog Candy Winner!!!

Happy November… I will be announcing the blog candy winner at the end of this post… first a more personal blog post for you today… because this is our last holiday to enjoy in this home God has provided for us through this time in our lives… we had a blessed Halloween….

My bff Brandy Dalton and her family came over and we had a really fun time… we carved a pumpkin… here I am giving you the “pumpkin eye”!  lol

But first my daughter pulled up her sleeves and cleaned out the pumpkin!  Go Brandi!!!

My honey dressed up for the occasion thanks to a great shirt and vest Brandy Dalton made and brought over… my daughter also is wearing a dress Brandy made!

Daisy enjoyed her first birthday party on Halloween but wasn’t too sure about daddy’s mask!

My oldest … Rick AKA Dick… made himself dizzy twirling around in his shirt Brandy Dalton had made as well!

Brandy Dalton and her husband posed for a few shots…

As did their 2 sons who came over… Dylan and Ryan 😉

Check out his wristbands… he calls them bracers… and those are real swords!  They love anything renaissance and were the hit of the party!!!

We roasted pumpkin seeds and had jumbalaya for dinner… it was sooo yummy!  And the best part is I just participated where and when I wanted and everyone else did too so it was a fun family time 🙂

Brandi in her full dress!  She loved the cape… all sparkley yet sheer 🙂

 We all had a fun time all in all!  Missing is my son Mike who was not home during our party and could use your prayers 🙂  What did you and yours do for halloween?  Did you have trick or treaters???  We had lines of them coming by and gave away tons of candy!!!

Speaking of CANDY!!!  How about winning some blog candy now 🙂

The winner of this blog candy… by drawing from a jar by my daughter is….Sassy Cricut Crafting!!!

Please contact me here via my yahoo email addy to claim your prize!  I need your name and address and phone number to call and congratulate you!

In closing here is an update on my cross stitch project…

Hope your family times coming up or past are as fun as this was for us… hope you enjoyed a personal touch with this post and all the pics 🙂  We had fun making them for you!

Kathi