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…

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Happy Mother’s Day 2019!

Hope for all the mom’s of people and pets you are having a celebratory Sunday today 💞

It has been a busy week here at Daisy Meadows…

 Our birdhouse we had used in Florida that my dad had built long ago got a rebuild to stregthen it… Florida has left it loose all over and it got a fresh bottom piece too…  Now it is shining proudly in our side yard ready to greet 6 new bird families in the future 😀

Also last Sunday we actually caught some of the crew heading back south on the train tracks from doing their yearly train track maintenance ….

That was quite exciting!!!

Monday kicked off teacher’s week and nurses week… I celebrated both and posted this on my wall in honor of my RN career in the past…

But more nurses do teaching so it was a celebration to both areas of my life 😀

I did finish this block Sunday amidst all the hubbub of activity we had! lol

 Then Monday I rolled the frame to start the week off with Elliana’s name

 I marked out what I thougth I may do but not having losts of experience with appliqued quilting…

I was feeling my way once the crosshatch was marked!!!

Well look how good it is looking this weekend now 🙂

Progress is slow as I have a sore thumb and my thimble rubs it so I am only able to quilt a bit at a time … then a break is required.

Linking this fun slow progress to Slow Stitching Sunday at Kathy’s HERE!
and Wendy’s Peacock Party HERE!

If only my fingers didn’t get sore! lol

I finished the bag for my customer this week 😀  She is very pleased with the end result my daughter said and I had fun making it for her so it was a win/win!

Here is a collage showing the inside and the back as well of this Oriole Bag by SewSweetness Patterns!!!

 I included a key fob and 3 different pockets per her request.  The focus fabric elephants were her choice too ❤  I am sharing this finish over at The Crafty Quilter with Julie HERE <<< this has all the makings of a quilt but it is a usable bag lol!

Besides the roses I opened my post with (picked for me by my honey while it was raining!!!)

We recently realized we have some pink azalea bushes here by the front of our yard 😀  Makes me happy to have a bit of pink!

 And we cleaned some of the algae from the pond and I love the reflection pics I take… so I thought I would share this one with you all…

Have a blessed Sunday friends…. thanks for visiting!  I am back to slow stitching after this is posted … how about you??!!

A Flimsy Story… with a Happy Ending!

First I would like to wish all you moms, grandmas, and great grands too a Happy Mother’s Day!!!

I am excited to join my fellow slow stitchers today at Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday HERE… if you do ANY hand work at all come on over there and get inspired at her LINKY PARTY!

I have a Flimsy Story to share and it has such a happy ending I can’t wait to get there!!! lol

Once upon a time there was a bunch of beautiful fabrics and a pattern all cut out and ready to sew!

Slowly and surely with the help of Gloria my vintage Singer 301a I sewed a few of the pieced together… 

And got one red and one blue background star… then I got sew excited a made 59 more!!!

And my new design wall was FULL!!!  Now time to sash them all together in diagonal rows to make a proper center…

Then add some fabrics for borders…

Don’t forget to miter a few times too!!!

And some finesse of leftover bits for the outer border…

And before you know it there is a flimsy!!!

Hanover Stars is born into a quilt top that is 104″ square… since it isn’t yet loaded on my hand quilting frame it is a flimsy… but here is where the happy ending starts coming into play!

Add a wide backing fabric I just love with the era of this quilt…

 Add a bit more batting when the front runs a bit short 😮

 Whip stitch it on with love and care!!

And a quilt is ready for hand quilting!!!!

I will share better photos of my view next Sunday… but for now know that this is where you will find me in our new home finally back to hand quilting at my Hinterberg frame!!!  A different chair (repurposed to my spot) and a new table … occasionally a glass of wine for relaxation and clarification… and I am ready to go!!!

Hope you liked that happy ending! I surely did 😀

Meanwhile my honey has been getting his man cave up and running and organized too!

He straightened out the garage so we could get both vehicles in it… and built a cool workbench and shelf above… he also has a view of the grist mill from his man cave heaven!!!

Here is a view of the outside a few months ago…about 500 square feet big… he is ecstatic!!! 

Here is a view of our neat and tidy garage… our second vehicle on the left is a golf cart we use all around our property!!! 😀

 Here are some flowers we planted below the flag pole this week ….

 And a nice shot of our healthy and growing corkscrew willow in the front yard…

 Out past the pond in the back yard is a garden and we have about 50 strawberry plants left to us by the previous owners!!! WOW 50 plants!!!! 

 They are starting to produce strawberries though and we had a early ripe one this week… soooo sweet and yummy!

Then my honey found me a cool 4 leaf clover in the garden too…

 Wowee!! Do I feel blessed 😀

Finally this quote and this quilting inspired me this week.. I find it sew true!!!

Take time to enjoy the beauty that is all around you… and make time to use your hands to make something amazing this week!  Happy Mom’s Day and happy Sunday y’all… thanks for visiting!

P. S.  My Blog Anniversary is coming up next weekend…7 years y’all!  Come back next Sunday to see how I am celebrating 🙂  You won’t wan’t to miss it!!!

So much to share from this week! My frame is LOADED!!!!

So happy to be here to share with you all this week… I want to start out with happy wishes to all my Mom readers…

Seems this may be an international holiday too!  Canada, Australia and the US all celebrate today!

I am linking this post to my Canadian bloggy friend Kathy for Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<
     PLEASE take a look at her awesome blocks she is constructing presently and showing off progress on her blog today 🙂  I really am enjoying watching this project come to life!!!

I have an updated pic of my grandkids to share on this day also!!!!

Here is Kaydence at 11 months old… her mother is in the background too 🙂

Aren’t they both just beauties!!!??  She is an awesome mom and DIL also!

Kaydence turns 1 year old on the last day of May !!!!  She lives in Tennessee where we are all from… so I doubt I will be seeing her before she turns one… but I love finding shots of her!!! lol

And here is a cool shot I found from March 2016 of CJ with his dad… my oldest son DL 😀

CJ will be 2 years old on June 6… so less than a month! 🙂  I am very excited about this as he lives near me and I may be seeing him around then also!  They will honor him on this birthday with his first HAIRCUT! lol

And here he is playing with the little wagon in our Florida room 🙂  xxoo

As for me??!!!  I have been sooo busy!

First some update shots of Brandi’s Starlight ~ Starbright Quilt I am working on in my PVC frame 🙂  Last week I was almost 1/2 way through the 4th block of 9 on this quilt…

and I shared the photo above as my progress to be… well by Tuesday I had moved the quilt in the frame…

Today I took this shot…

I have taken off some time from hand quilting this to work on finalizing my Spiral Log Cabin Flimsy and get it ready for hand quilting…

Here is the whole framed up part for you to see on this 4th block progress…

So if you can tell I am in the bottom left hand corner presently… and should make it about halfway across today… as this quilt will now be my focus… my daughter’s 18th birthday is end of July and I want this done when she returns from a summertime trip she is taking! 🙂

These blocks are each 28″ so it is hard to get bored or tired of this quilting… if you love hand quilting… and taking time to share pics with you helps me chart my progress too!  Halfway through the 5th block will be halfway… I am anxious to see that come about sooner than later! 🙂

So what has been keeping me away from quilting on Starlight ~ Starbright??

First I cut and shared my starting progress on a flying geese border for this quilt center to get adorned with…

 Here were my flying geese in production…

 I used the Easy Angle ruler and Companion angle ruler to cut these and all turned out PERFECT!!!!

 Above are the 40 flying geese I needed… and below is how I set them on this quilt center…

 Then I used the “neutral fabric” from the flying geeese and cut borders for the quilt… this took a couple days as it went on fairly easy but lots of seams for sure to mind while sewing….

I must say I love the end wall hanging for our living room though!!!

And this flimsy will be the first to adorn my newly finished Hinterberg Hand Quilting Frame my honey & I finished this week!!!!

Last week I shared the frame shots while it was being made… but this week I am sharing it adorned with the flimsy above!!!

First though… I want to share the quilting frame in place… it is 10 feet long and that can be a no go for some quilters as space is an issue for something this long… but check it out!!!

Here you can see our living room… I am standing in the dining room/kitchen area to get this shot…

 And can you see the frame peeking out over our mussed up sofa?? lol

 Here it is!!!  Waiting on the poles to come on payday! lol

 And with the metal poles in place (it is electrical conduit… very stiff and unbending really!)

Here is a shot from the day after the leader fabric arrived and was washed, dried, ironed, torn to length for a nice square piece of fabric… then divided per the directions that came with the frame into 3 pieces….

 I chose a horizontal stripe fabric as a suggestion from a bloggy friend with a similar style frame… she said hers came with it and it helps her pin it straight… I am sooo HAPPY I DID THIS also!!!!

I also marked the center of the fabric “leaders” on each pole with a permanent marker to mark the centerpoint… you use this to mount everything and not have it cattiwaumpus on there! lol

 Finally… after several tries and then a good nights sleep and a good pressing of my flimsy and this was ready to go back on the frame without any wrinkles or lack of tension… it just flowed on when I was fresh and took my time! lol

So remember this if you try something new like this… try it really when you are at your most astute…

I do want to give a HUGE SHOUT OUT in this post to my friend Wendy!  Find her blog here where she is currently showing her BOM for May.. a very cool block… including directions for assembly of this “Puss in the corner” block! >>>>> HERE <<<<<<

You see this frame wouldn’t have been on my radar and I would have still been using a hoop only for these bigger quilts had it not been for her encouragement and the way she is soooo versatile with her frame too!  She has a Hinterberg frame built from a kit like mine is… and the company just recently had some kits made up for sale… I got this one just about 6 weeks ago and look at me now!

Wendy has encouraged me and my honey along in this process and shared pics and info about her frame and how she uses it best with all she has learned over the years… I am blessed to call her my friend for sure!!!

And before I let you go… check out what my daughter found last week at a neighborhood yard sale!!!!

 this little foot stool fits neatly under the chair it now sits at… but isn’t this doxie life like on the tapestry!!!!  I fell in love.. now this shot was taken after a good washing (years of dirt on this one when it was brought into the house!) and it had dried overnight.

But check out Daisy now next to that doxie foot stool!

 I thought she was looking like a model sitting next to her likeness!  We showed it to her and she barked at it! lol  Wonder what dogs really think.. how they interpret what they see with lack of some colours??!!

Enough pondering with you for today I think.. Have a blessed Mother’s Day wherever you are and remember no matter what…