Swooning about the final row AND a Surprise!!!

Happy Christmas Week Y’all!

It has been a busy week around here… how about you?  Stay focused on my post today… at the end there is a SURPRISE!!!

First I must tell ya I have spent all week hoping this present would get there and it finally did yesterday!!!  I shared this pic last week…

 Now I can share these photos too!!!

And inside I added a specially bought label for this bag for my darling daughter… and as you can see in the photo to the left… I put feet on the bottom.. she loved it ALL!!!

I finally finished the machine quilting with a walking foot on the wall hanging…

 I sewed the binding to the front and spent a good bit of the week hand stitching it down to the back using a ladder stitch.  Then washed it and dried it and….  Tah Dah!!!!

 Here is a view of what you can’t see because of the tree…

 And a look at the sentiment on the bottom …

I really enjoyed making this and this is probably what I look forward to most in next years indoor decorations 😀  It makes me think of the generosity of my friend Jannessa who gifted this fabric to me then supported me as I did my least favorite quilting … that by machine and guided me in learning some patience with that way of quilting too ❤

My son sent me this photo of him and his girlfriend at a family event they went to…

Here are some mug rugs I made… 1 for Jannessa and 1 for her granddaughter Addi 🙂

 Our new business cards came in…

 I picked up a couple books I had ordered through the library system…

 I got a nice sized baby quilt for future use…

 And a layer cake I plan to use for a quilt for me and my honey in 2020…

The actual layer cake is on the left… I ordered from Hancock’s Paducah off eBay and they mailed it flat… LOVE THAT!  To the right is all the fabrics in this layer cake… LOOKS LIKE hardly NO REPEATS!!!

Here are the 2 blocks I will make into a quilt for us I think…

 Here is a Christmas funny for ya…

I also worked hard all week at making progress on the Swoon quilt and finally got this to show!  The final row is all that is showing now!!!!

 I finished the left border and made my way into the first swoon top…

 Y’all this is SEW EXCITING for me… unfortunately my bestie who this is for is working a crazy schedule at the moment… so she is unsure when we can meet!  So I will finish but the above photo is the last one that will be taken until we meet for her to get it!  Saving the best row for last too !!!

I am linking this hand quilting glory to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday HERE <<

And to my HQAL sisters too this week !!
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, Emma, Tracy, Deb, Susan,  Nanette,  Edith, Sharon, Karrin, Gretchen, Kathi,  Bella, Daisy and Connie

Finally for the Christmas SURPRISE!!!  I am offering a giveaway!!!!  

A great book of quilt patterns “Romantic Quilts”… a pattern by Poor House Designs that is complete… a fat quarter of polka dots fabric by Tula Pink and Free Spirit fabrics…. and a blue water soluble marker (my favorite kind) for marking your quilt ~ useful for machine or hand quilting !!!

Leave a comment…
Share your favorite topic of all my December posts… I have been busy this month so there is LOTS to choose from!!!  Leave your response in the comments below INCLUDING YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS!!!!  I need a way to contact the winner!!!  This has been a problem for me in the past so that is a requirement of this giveaway… no email address in your reply then no entry.  I will draw the winner Wednesday morning for my Christmas day delight!!!

So scan my December posts and leave me a comment on this post for an entry to WIN 🙂
This giveaway closes on Christmas Day, December 25, 2019 at noon EST – 
USA only for this giveaway due to weight of the giveaway items all together 🙂

 ~ Merry Christmas!!! 

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Happy Christmas Eve Eve ~ December 23 !!

Hope you are having a wonderful December and are all ready for Christmas! 

My bloggy friend Kathy who blogs HERE and has my favorite Sunday linky each week is hosting today as well with a giveaway open for all that link up !!!  

She is preparing for Christmas and so am I… making MY stocking finally!!!!  All my snow girl was done with hand stitching…

The buttons that make up the face and the tatted pink lace wreath  came from my friend Connie.  The thick watercolor paper with my name on it I harvested from my friend Debbie’s Christmas card backing! lol  I think that is my bag with 2 straps made of green DMC floss 🙂

I stuffed each section as I “built” this snow girl… even giving her silvery grey hair like me!!!  She has 2 jingle bells on her neck scarf too!  The hair bow, gloves and neck scarf ends are all 3D in make.  I hope to show this better once it is finished and hanging 🙂  I am hoping to fashion this stocking front into a full stocking later today… so it can go with the other two I have hanging already…

Kinda like Santa over there who is quilting away to finish a project…   

Do you have any projects you are still working on this Christmas?!!

Otherwise all our Christmas making and shopping is DONE!  We are loving enjoying this holiday season too!!!  Here is the cool waterpaper cardstock card my friend Debbie made me (that I harvested the backside paper from for my bag on my stocking)!

It came with a big box of fabric scraps (and big chunks too) that Debbie no longer wanted to keep around.  So I am her recipient of choice 😀  I love being that for her as well as GREAT friends!!!!

I have made some progress on Stars Among Usthis week… Here is an overhead view… showing my phone holder on the right side of my frame too…

Here is a view from the side that I liked better…. where my green thumb thimble is … is my spot to start back at when I focus on this later today for Sunday’s stitching time!

And here is my view from a bit further away… when I stitch early in the mornings I put on those head phones to keep things quiet for my honey and our pup.  I get up very early most of the time and don’t want to wake others up during my quiet morning stitching time 😀 

Of course I am thinking of THEM and not my own selfish need for quiet quilting time! lol

We got freshly redesigned (since we moved almost a year ago… haha) business cards finally!

 Using this cool shot!

I gathered 2 machines from our collection and some accessories we use for decor items these days… plus our latest item we are selling and most possibly the coolest machine we have ever had the honor of owning temporarily.  Here is our sale at for eBay…

The link to our ad is HERE…. if you would like to see all the photos we took and read more about this 1900 Victorian era chain stitching sewing machine that WORKS!!!

I made 4 bibs for our post office dude’s baby girl who is 8 months old… They loved them he says 🙂

 I made one more dog socking for my best friend Debbie to celebrate the season with her poodle dog Ma-lady.  I checked how I did the spelling with her and she sent the fabric in the BIG box 🙂  I sent her back the stocking already but likely mail is running slow and she will get it after Christmas.

 Our favorite thrift store ran a sale on their purses and bags… I harvested these 3 for under $7 all together!

 I am excited about the possibilities of each one too!

I also got some fabric as part of a attachments bartered for fabric trade a customer offered me.  This is many yards of quilt shop quality quilt fabric from her expansive stash I picked out and she mailed to me for a cool vintage set of attachments in a cool tin we mailed to her!  We are BOTH happy with this 🙂

Here is a table my honey is making from pieces and parts harvested at Lowe’s and put together to look like a big spool (wire holder)…. 

Here is it with red mahogany stain on it waiting to dry then be varnished several times…. it will match my desk and shelves and coordinate with his recliner which is where it will be… we love the rubber wheels it is on too !!!

And then Rick also got some tools he had been wanting that were on sale while we were there… then when we got home I ordered him this hat from our eBay PayPal funds remaining 😀 

He is mega excited to get this Australian Akubra hat by new years or so eBay says…  He tried one on when we were shopping and we both fell in love with it on him and it is waterproof make of European rabbit fur in a 6 week process (yes he found a YouTube vid on the process of making this hat type!).  It is sooo soft and not furry… this picture is from eBay so next week I hope to have a pic of him wearing it! 😉  We shall see as he is definitely camera shy!

Many of you know he has been dealing with severe severe right hip pain.  He finally got a steroid shot as a step before surgical intervention and he is feeling relief in his overall pain … now he is back to whistling and singing again 🙂

Well, I got a stocking to finish and a few things around the house to do so I am signing off for now… Hope you leave me a comment about your holiday plans and what you have left to do before Christmas.

Don’t forget the real meaning of Christmas… Sing Happy Birthday to Jesus on your 25th!!!  God sent us such a massive gift for this Season 🙂  And remember to …

A busy and festive time of year !

As December deepens and the end of 2018 looms closer each day I feel an urgency to complete a few things that have been on my “to do list” through the year and just haven’t gotten done for one reason or another… do you do this … feel like that???   So today I am focusing on slowing it down… and even though it is gloomy and cold outside I am going to follow a good friends advice…

That friend also requested to send me a parcel and start a penpal relationship of sorts 🙂  I said yes!

She lives in Tasmania, Australia and travels avidly as well as gardens and sews as well.  She sent me this lovely package of fabrics and a rain hat and a button and a card of interesting things from her area down under.  I am now curating a package for her in return… this is SO FUN!!!  I love enhancing friendships and learning more about others cultures and ways of being as well 😀

At the start of the week I was very focused on bringing Cleo into the fold of my machines.  I shared the waiting for her with you last week…

 And here is my first photo of her… before her paint got touched up and she got a nice once over and polish by my honey….

Cleo is short for Cleopatra… such a dramatic name… and one I want to research more but Cleo she is for certain!   I went onto Singer’s website and found the W beginning serial #’s… and there she was… one of 1.5 million made in 1954.  I also read there were 1500 workers in this Connecticut plant of Singer’s … it was originally a Wheeler & Wilson sewing machine making plant!  Sew interesting!!! 

My honey rewired her as she had had that done wrong… changed the pedal to one I requested … cleaned off excess oil and oiled places he found that had been missed and greased the cam stack she has in place… ooooh … she is soo awesome!!!  We got some automotive paint in gloss black and he touched up a few boo boo spots too!!!  I am soooo blessed y’all!!!!

Here is her first photo with her in her new dress… a trapezoid Singer case…

 And a view of her top half and her excellent decals…  the decals led me to naming her too ❤

 And because she is a 3/4 machine she is a few inches short of fitting.. so my honey took some wood and make a little shelf in there… it is the perfect place to store her bobbins and a pin cushion 🙂

 I rearranged my sewing room as well before she was brought in… my honey helped me as he is really the decorating sense between us… and I am slowly moving some decor on the walls around as well…

And here is a photo I plan to hang in the blank spot over Cleo….  the 2 that got together to surprise me with this smooth stitching machine !!!! 

Here is the back of the finished wall quilt I machine quilted on Zena as her final act of service for me.

She is now stored safely in a closet of our home waiting for her next purpose in life… helping my daughter learn to create when she is ready!!!

The binding is the diagonal striped fabric I shared a swatch of  last week.  It came one day and this little quilt was hanging the next day!  Here is the photo of it hanging behind our little Christmas tree 🙂

 And a few photos of our Christmas tree…

 And a final side photo to show off the trapuntoed quilting I did on the wall hanging.

 Now before I move on… let me tell you… if you ever get a chance to sew on a Singer 319w… DO IT!  This is the most powerful yet gentle and even keeled sewing machine I have ever stitched on!!!  One stitch as a time or fast and furious… she can do it all!  Thick or thin… I love it ❤

Her next job will be to make my honey a new wallet as the wallet I made him a few weeks back is going somewhere else to be re-homed… he requested a few revisions for his personal taste… so I will accommodate those requests on my new Christmas present Cleo!!!

We added some new ornaments to our stash of Christmas displayed ornaments this year… the star at the top is new as well!

We got a Santa glass blown ornament with glitter accents from the year we got together…

And if you look to the bottom right of Santa you will see a small daisy painted ornament.  There are 6 of these in the set and these are in memory of my honey’s sister who died of heart problems too early in her life.. she holds a dear place in his heart and memories!  So these commemorate her 🙂

Finally are my 2 favorite shots… lights on … and lights off on the right… I love Christmas twinkle lights for sure!!! ❤

I got several rounds of fabric in this past week as well… here is some fabric for replenishing my Christmas stash a bit…

 All of that is vintage and it is various designers before designing fabric was trendy.  Here is a photo of things I want to make this month before Christmas….

And here is my first focused work…

 And once they are sewn and turned right side out with different threads and ribbons pulled to go along side this little wall hanging tree creation…

 Buttons pulled from my stash to adorn it…

 Stuffing each triangle is a slow and steady process… I then hand sewed all the openings closed…

 And then hand sewed all the junctions together where the triangles meet….

Now I am to sewing the buttons on over the junctions… and this is my hand sewing focus today… so I am linking this slow stitching progress to Kathy’s Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching HERE!  Kathy is quilting on a many year old ufo with great pleasure today!  She and her grand dog are 😀  Go check out her blog post and other linkers posts too!!!

I have made some other slow stitching progress earlier this week but due to lots of things the end of the week no slow stitching on the quilt Stars Among Us has happened… Monday starts a new week though 😀

Here is a close up of my progress this week… I went from the border to the mid point of this row…

 Meanwhile… our pup Molly went from this….

 To THIS!!!!

 In one day!!!!  Tomorrow she will celebrate 6 months old too !!!

 I have a pair on gingher pinking shears up for sale… they are like new and are $25 to include shipping in the USA.. nothing wrong with them as you see the cutting in the photo 🙂

I acquired these things this week…

 The fabric, Best Press, and small rotary blades were a great sale Craftsy was having and I ordered through my friend Karen’s affiliate link you can find at the bottom of THIS blog post.

Here is a close up of the 40 different fat quarters I picked up for about $33 all together

 They fill gaps in my stash just right too… the top one is fun prints and the bottom one is tone on tones 🙂

And our Christmas cactus we picked up earlier in the week is doing GREAT!!  It gets good sun in the sewing room window 🙂

 I got this new shirt… Mountain Mama… and a long sleeved winter shirt too

 And a hair cut myself as well!!!

So it has definitely been a BUSY week at Daisy Meadows 🙂

How about you… have you been busy this week and if you have is it because it is December and you are tying up loose ends or because you have just been busy  or has it been holiday related???!!!  Inquiring minds want to know!!! lol

For now I wish you a Happy Holiday season and a very Merry Christmas to come.  Thanks for visiting ❤

Slow and Loving Stitches Here!!!

Happy Sunday Y’all!!!

 This week I have had a very busy week to be slow stitching… but I find the beginning of a project busy as I gather supplies and make final design decisions on the hand quilting…  So I have been to the beach a few times!

We also were celebrating here more this week… my honey celebrated his birthday this week!  This was a pic I posted on facebook 🙂

 My bestie Connie took a couple of good shots of us when she was here… nice to have an ocean background as that is our fave place of late!

There is NOTHING to me besides hand quilting that equals beach visits for therapy of the soul!!!

Speaking of stitching let me show you the progress I have made slow stitching on this beauty Amethyst Stars…

I shared this planned stencil to use on the outer border…

 Here is where I marked it with Pounce Chalk… and enhanced those markings as I went along with a chalk pen I have…

 Here is the right side stitched up…

 Here is the joined area… this is a directional stencil… so because of that at the center of the sides, top and bottom I have a “join” area to deal with… which I prefer actually so it is all good…

 And here is that joined area stitched and cleaned and dry 😀

 Here is a fun photo I caught in the early morning one day this week too…

 Thought you would enjoy that shot! I love catching the stitching in different light.

Here is the inner border in the design I had planned… and argyl-esque look with 2 colors of perle cotton in use here…

Here is a shot of the “Argyling” I did… it looks oh so cool in real life.. I hope that is captured in these photos taken with my iPhone though! lol

Now I have rolled the quilt yet again (yep that is twice in a week!!!) and have ordered some stencils… I get stencils from 2 different places… The Stencil Company and Quilting Stencils International.  Both can be google searched and ship in the USA as well as overseas for a price I think!  I had exhausted the fun charm square sized stencils from the first place so I checked out the second place… I am now patiently… NOT… waiting for my stencils to arrive via mail.

I do wish there were local hand quilting outlets… I live 1 hour from a big city but there is no hand quilting shops near me … so most of my shopping is done online.  So I wait PATIENTLY! lol

As I wait I am using the stencils I had in my stash/or had ordered from the first mentioned place anticipating my need for charm sized stencil designs.  In this shot you can see my markings from a stencil to the far right charm square…

 And in this shot you can see that charm square is now stitched … as are the 3 stars …

So how many different threads am I using on this quilt all together you may wonder??! hahaha… let me share this shot with you then…

Yep, I am using Aurifil 28/2, YLI 40/3, Valdani 12 wt perle I get from the Rusty Crow online shop, and DMC 12 wt perle cotton too!!!  Each different brand has it’s own texture though so just like using lots of fabrics can make a quilt scrappy.. using lots of different types of threads can make it more scrappy in it’s finish too… I only bought a couple of these for this quilt… the rest if from stash!  I LOVE THREAD!!! lol

And here is my Pounce marking pad…

It comes in white, blue and pink … there is a good video on YouTube by Leah Day showing how to properly use a pounce marker… there is a definite learning curve to this way of marking… and when you “charge ” it to use you have to whack it against something pretty firmly and it makes a startling noise to others around who may not be expecting it! lol  So if you need a quiet environment or quilt with others in the room work out a communication for when you are charging your pad to mark is my advice 😀

I have a Facebook group that I started several years ago… it hums along usually but of late has been languishing… so I am trying to resuscitate it…

 Here is the group name and the Facebook header I just put up this morning 🙂  I have been so preoccupied with my honey and his health and my own health concerns… I am just getting back to keeping up with things I enjoy like this Facebook group ❤  If you are interested in quilty talk and sharing in a small group setting… as to join in this group if you like!  Would love to get to know you each better… if you aren't already in my group that is.

Also to add to my productivity this week I straightened my sewing room quite a bit…

 The top shot is my 401a (on the left) ~ Zena, and my 301a ~ Gloria ready for action… you can see my design wall and ironing surface there too… then below to the left is my cutting surface and it is MUCH tidier.

My bestie gave me that cool wood ruler organizer/holder over a month ago… I finally made a space for it and put a note she left me LAST summer on it along with my small cutting mat and my most commonly used rulers 🙂

To the bottom right is a collage I made of my next project coming up to piece and thus the reason my sewing room needed this tidy.  I now have all the major cuts made to this Christmas wall hanging… you can see the red and green and white with grey fabrics I am using… this will be a wall hanging for the foyer when the season arrives I am hoping!  While I was ordering the white/grey fabric during a clearance sale online… I found some remnant pieces I felt needed to be added to my existing stash to enhance it! lol  They will be used on a future quilt I am planning also!

Here is a closer up shot of my 401a… Zena… with the cool pin cushion my bestie gifted me for my birthday… I sent it to the lady on etsy that fashioned it from vintage stuff … and filled it at my request with walnut shells!  It is weighty and useful… I LOVE LOVE LOVE it ❤

Here is a cool way to use art to decorate and say something meaningful too that I found on Pinterest I think.  I sent it to my daughter but it has spoken to me also…

 I haven’t heard from my daughter since the 4th of July (my birthday) .. hoping all is well with her and helping her to see a silver lining if life isn’t working out as she thought it might!

For now I encourage you to each …

Stitch and enjoy… come over to Kathy’s Quilts to see what others are slow stitching this week too… that is where I will be posting this too!!   HERE is a direct link to make it easy for ya! 🙂  She has a fun interpretation of this too… this is just mine because it has the ocean in it!!!💕

Y’all … there is PLENTY of meanness in our world of late… please be the change in your area… I will be in mine by showing my love to others… won’t you try it too?!!!  

Have a blessed Sunday and a great upcoming week and grab the opportunity to make a difference around you!

Quilty Acquisitions and Progress!!!

Welcome to my blog this Sunday morning!

I am linking this totally quilty post to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching linky HERE!  Come see what other slow stitchers of all types are posting!!!

I have had several quilty acquisitions since I last blogged.. and I am loving being an empty nester… no kids to divert funds to!!! hahaha 🙂

Last week I sold a computer locally .. I had bought it last year for my daughter but she turned her nose up to it and told me finally I should just sell it.. so I did! lol  Turned out the lady who bought it is a QUILTER!!!  She admired my hand quilted wall hangings and the quilt on my frame waiting to be quilted…. then a couple days later I found this lovely Christmas bag filled with Vintage Quilting Goodies!!!

 The boxes are heavy duty with vintage Singer sewing machines on them… I love the stripe too!  They are all 3 the same and they nest… it was fun to open them up and keep discovering another round box!!!

Inside each box is a divided top section that is removable and leaves a nice area for a project.

Then there was the sign… all these items quickly found a place in our home…

 Above is the Sewing Room sign proudly hanging over the sewing room 🙂  I just love it!!!

And below is 2 of the 3 boxes… they have found a home on the bar.. the smallest one found a place near CJ’s toys so he can figure out how it works! 🙂

 Also above, you will notice some other fun items… well the lady who bought the computer and gifted me the items I have shared had a garage sale yesterday… I went and came back with this cool project bag you can see better below…

 It is a Laurel Burch if you were unsure.. .it is a DOG print… appropriate with our Daisy always on our minds when we aren’t home! lol  I figure this will be a fun tote for a project like the little angel money holder I plan to make for a Christmas present ….

Or one of the million other ideas I have in my head currently! lol  The above fall fabric is 2 yards !!!  I plan to make placemats out of these!  The other 2 fabrics are fat quarters and I fell in love with both.. all together I spent $10 on these goodies  YIPEEE!!!!

Then I also ordered a fat quarter lot from a range of fabrics called “Button Tree Lane” by Henry Glass…

 I especially love all the sayings on the center fabrics… from a distance it looks like whisical colorful paisley… but when you look closely they are all quilty /sewing related wordings in the paisley print!  LOVE!!!

So I am currently feeling very pleased with my acquisitions… I spent just under $30 total on everything and the garage sale will have NEW fabrics being shown next weekend… I was invited back by my new friend before the sale starts to look around :D!  Yippeeee!!!

So as my honey enjoys seeing me happy with these new acquisitions he wonders how I will utilize these new things when I have several projects going already… well I found this quote and I think maybe it will help him understand that for a relatively small amount of outlay in cash I have lots and lots of inspiration and happiness now!

And a growing new friendship to enjoy also!

My main focus in quilting has been hand quilting to finish Starlight … Starbright!

I finished the 7th block….

 And turned the quilt to start the 8th block….

 And I already am making a good start today on this 8th block!  I hope to be ready to bind this beauty in about a month.. I know it sounds far away.. but this stitching takes time and life isn’t slowing down much lately to give me good quilting time really.

Follow me on facebook if you like to see more frequent progress than I show on my blog… you can find me as “Kathi B. Clower”… my profile pic is a pic of me and this quilt in the background too! lol
To keep things honest please comment here if you plan to friend me there … that way I know there is a connection without having to look at how we know each other! lol

Thanks for stopping in… make sure this happy day to …