Welcoming June 2019 Y’all!

These beautiful flowers were given to us as a parting gift from a visiting neighbor when she left to return to Florida 🙂

We have windows open for the first time since early in May and it is soooo invigorating to feel the fresh air moving through the house AND the birds singing their late spring songs 😀

Another neighbor is brave about snakes that live in this region and braved the garden to harvest our returning strawberries and then was kind enough to share a bit of his bounty… so I have been enjoying early morning strawberries with a bit of whipped cream on them too… no sugar needed they are naturally sweet!

You can see roses from the never ending giving bush of roses outside our bedroom window my honey harvested for me when he trimmed off the dead blooms to get fresh ones a place to sprout out… and I finished and washed and we are actively using the table runner as a table runner and a place mat built for 2!!!  We love it 😀

My favorite Bonnie-ism lately…

Remember this on the tough days friends 😀  Life is short… savor every moment and the best is yet to come >>> STAY EXCITED!!!

I made this collage this Friday 🙂

I have this completed now…

And have just this little bit to go before I am ready to add the label and the binding to this quilt …

YAAAAY!

Linking this most awesome progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<  Kathy celebrates 7 years of linky party happiness this month 😀  Congrats to her!

Also linking to Wendy’s Peacock Party HERE <<< She has a chocked full post and a great tutorial shown on the following day's post too… talking about on point layout and design!

I will not show Elliana’s quilt again until it has been gifted for several reasons so just enjoy these photos and be ready for a fun reveal in a couple weeks!

I mentioned labeling her quilt…  HERE are some fun label ideas too! 

I will be using THIS pen…

 And making a label like this…

the pen I am using writes heavier and stays better wash after wash and dry after dry than the pen used in the photo above… I am very pleased with it… you may can find it local but you can also find it via Amazon 🙂

I will border with a bit of ribbon for a bit of whimsy across that diagonal top edge to avoid showing stitches… although with the ladder stitch it doesn’t show but this will be more durable I think too!

Next up I will be making a bag for my daughter…

 And a PAIR of these pillow shams I am designing this week …

once the quilt is in the binding / labeling / completing for gifting process 😀

The pillow shams will coordinate with this quilt I hand quilted for my daughter’s high school graduation a few years ago… but she left high school to experience life.

So I finished Star Light ~ Star Bright quilt before we left Florida.  I washed it and have used it on the guest bed as a “carrot” for her … she would get it when she completed her high school education or got her GED.

Well folks!!!!  SHE GOT HER GED >>>>> FRIDAY!!!!! YAY !!!!

She doesn’t want it mailed… she is coming for a visit soon… so she will get it then… I am giddy for her to receive it and the pillow shams are for all her hard work and perseverance in the “growing up” department… she is really getting the hand of adulting now 😀 lol!

Inspiration for the pillow sham design came for the left antique quilt … and the right similar basket design as well since it has a video to show how to put it together on point… however none are the size I need them to be… so I will use graph paper and Math Skills and make my own design for her and her boyfriend (who loves my handmade things)… we also have pillows for the pillow shams so they will be set!!!

Molly likes to lay on her “house” which is a crate where she stays when we leave and at night when we all sleep… we cover it with that quilt I made many moons ago with learning piecing skills and stitching skills… and as of late she has learned this is a comfy spot to chill and watch me quilt!

 She loves it and doesn’t hurt it so all is good 😀  Isn’t she cute up there watching me quilt !

So for now I will let you go check out the links I left you in this post… but please take a moment to appreciate your life… it is worth your time !

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One finished & another ALMOST finished too!

Hello my bloggy friends… Hope that October is treating you well!

Now that you have seen THIS SEASONAL side of me… How about this side too 😀

Can’t help but be a bit silly!!!  I am finishing up now my SECOND finish since my last post y’all!!!

It didn’t take long last Sunday until I finished all that hand stitching of the binding and got to this point!!!!

 I wash my freshly finished quilts on cool or cold with some regular soap liquid.  I bought the washer I have now just because it has this HUGE tub to soak my quilts in too… so I add a 30 minute soak now to new quilts in that cool water!!!  I will follow that with a drying session but find NEW big quilts need a second wash on warm if they will tolerate it based on colors used and a nice hard dry the second time to get the crinkly effect we love !!!  I use 80% cotton and 20% wool batting by Hobb’s Tuscany from Connecting Threads in all my bed quilts… We love it ❤

While it was washing I picked up the pillow top I am hand quilting to add to the bed. 

 My honey likes a snuggly little 16″ cotton fluffy pillow to sleep with but has very oily skin.  So he goes through pillows about one every couple years… this is the same pattern we have on the bed presently on his snuggle pillow but the other one is batik greys which clash with this civil war / reproduction style quilt colors we are going to now.

Once my honey was up and Molly, our shih poo puppy who will soon celebrate 4 months old, was being watched by him… I decided it was time to go back in the sewing room for a bit… while the washing and drying was going on for the second round and work on Roberta’s commissioned quilt project!!!

 Above I am outlining the completely machine quilted center… have I said how much I do not like machine quilting myself ??  I won’t accept any more big machine quilting projects…I don’t mind doing things for my Etsy shop… they are FUN!!!  But this.. was PURE struggle to quilt via machine… I am made for hand quilting personally. lol!  At least I now KNOW this about myself ❤

Soon enough I had to take a break… or several as I fluffed the quilt in the dryer because it is soooo big… 105″ square it finished up here…

 Here is a photo of the center….

 And here is my show photo!!!!

 And finally y’all!  I can share these photos of it on our bed 😀

 The pillow shams look great in their own design with the quilt too we think!!!  And the backing is AWESOME and COZY too 😍

I am linking this FUN FINISH to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday Linky Party HERE my friends… come see what others are sharing too in the slow stitching arena!!!  Kathy is located in Canada… while the USA commemorates Columbus Day tomorrow… they will be celebrating Thanksgiving there ❤  Share what you are thankful for no matter where you live!

What I am thankful for is the project I am sharing now… I am in the home stretch and may finish it today… or tomorrow!!!  It should be presented to the owner later this coming week I am hoping too!

This commissioned project I took on as a good deed for a sweet couple.  He is a Vietnam Veteran and she was in dire need for someone to quilt this flimsy into a quilt to snuggle or hang on the wall in her home… she can’t decide which it will be! lol 

So here it is with the edges basted and trimmed as I took this photo to decide how to quilt those outside borders …

 Soon I had an idea and got to work making straight lines coming out from the inner border using beige thread on top to match this outer border… I had used a very light grey on the center to match that… it was really almost a silvery white in the Aurifil 50 wt realm 🙂

During a quilting break I did this…

Then when I got home I finished the machine quilting of that border and while my muscles enjoyed the break out of the house… it was time to sew on the binding!!!  YIPPEE!!!

 Y’all… I have never been THIS CLOSE on a binding….

 That is only 1/4″… I had more of the fabric available to use … but when I made the binding up I thought I had left PLENTY of binding to have 6″ or more!  Was I WRONG!!!

So as I write this…

And here is the official label I will add backing fabric to and sew onto the back bottom of the quilt itself…

 Here it is rinsed and ready to press and sew then wash and dry whenever the quilt is finished and washed….

So today I will finish the long left side of this quilt binding… then focus on getting the label on and measure for and make the hanging sleeve for it using THIS YouTube tutorial from Bonnie Browning of AQS.  Then I can wash it ONCE  on warm with a towel in with it to make sure it gets good and clean (smaller quilts I always add a towel to the washing and drying to keep it from knotting up).  And dry it well.  Come back next week to see if I got this delivered… I will try to convince Roberta to let me take her photo with it ❤

Also I got my first ever “award” on one of my most often visited Facebook groups this morning…

 I got this from showing the photos under recent… but mainly my overabundance of love SHOWN TO ME on my photos of Hanover Stars completion during the week.

I did see this in this same facebook group as the focus on this weeks show and share was hand quilted quilts you had flying geese in… I would LOVE to make a bear paw with fun borders on it like this one is done!!!

 This is a cute pumpkin and that bird I have liked in florals … looks awesome in solid reading fabrics too ❤

 Here is my quilting label idea for Hanover Stars…

Maybe I will get that done this week using the same fabric I printed Roberta’s quilt label with now that my printer ink arrived yesterday (I was out of black!!).

We have several items up for sale right now in the vintage sewing world of goodies… do you sew vintage??? Feel free to PM me on Facebook or email me HERE if you need any advice or items for your particular vintage machine (1930’s to 1960’s) 🙂

We have bobbins of all kinds too in our stash of stuff…

Whilst I have been doing all this stitching by hand.. I have gotten back to Bluprint by Craftsy… Hoping to make this in the not too distant future and thoroughly enjoyed this class 😀

 Here is a nice example too made by a class member!

Here is a cute Christmas ornament idea if you are trying to get into the holiday season already too…

Overall I think this is what we really need… not more time watching tv or listening to music or even pondering things like politics… but time being positive & kind!

Did my opening photo make you chuckle a bit???  I hope so !!!

What are you thankful for as Canada prepares for all things Thanksgiving tomorrow and here in North Carolina USA we are watching the leaves start to change and some are already falling…

Share what you are grateful for… what kind deed happened to you or that what positive domino effect you were part of!!!  For me I will say finishing this quilt is a blessing and the kindest deed I have ever sacrificed over!!! hahaha.. sounds funny but it has been a struggle for sure y’all ❤  Now it is your turn to leave me a comment. 

Spread the kindness contagion and…

Butterfly Woven Quilt for Kaydence is ALL DONE !!!

After sharing so much in my last post about HOW I quilted this quilt… I have kept my nose to grind stone and finished the quilting of it 💗

I had lots of fun making this a special quilt for my granddaughter Kaydence… with her first and last initial on the left side of the quilt…

I couldn’t let KC be the only thing on this to identify who it was for though… so I used the nickname her dad and stepmom had given her across the top as well!

I had to draw it all out several times before I was satisfied… but what do you think below now! 🙂

I found that quilting “Bubbles” with back stitches turned out well for both sides of the quilt also… I wasn’t sure before I did it though! lol

And above the label and tag are now on her quilt… I love the finishing though!

Then into the wash and dryer it went… finally ready to show off 🙂

I used a permenent pen and heat set it… and since I didn’t have exactly the right shade of pink to sew down the label… I added a bit of found lace instead!!!

The hearts on the back side of this quilt came to be on Valentine’s day… when the front was complete and needed a backing just a bit wider than this fabric was… so I expanded it from the center and used fabric from my stash and the hearts from leftovers from the front for sweet Bubbles to enjoy and remember her 2 year old present from her Grammy!!! ❤

Linking this slow stitching accomplishment to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday Linky ❤  HERE!

I would also like to wish you all a Happy Quilting Weekend… this is a fun weekend to take time to sew and I am doing just that myself as you can see above!!!

Thanks for visiting and take time to….

Fun Sunday Stitching … How about you??

Are you doing any fun Sunday stitching??  Maybe a tad of slow stitching today to enjoy ?!!  Well I surely am 🙂  And I am linking this post to Kathy’s Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching post HERE!

Kathy talks about taking time on Sunday to relax and recuperate… I am planning on focusing on this today… and maybe a guilty pleasure Netflix watching too! lol

I woke early this morning as I went to bed a bit early last night… but I have had several VERY productive days and I am excited to share lots of stuff with you today! 🙂

While waking up today I finished the maple leaf quilting 🙂  This quilts makes me happy!  I am looking forward to this coming fall to show it off for sure!

 And once I finish these 4 blocks I will have about 30 blocks done.. that is HALF the center of the quilt… and the borders will be fun and go quickly as well! 🙂

I really thought I would put this down once we were ready to focus on my daughters quilt she got for Christmas… the stencils came late Saturday afternoon and she is happy with them so that is good… 1 she chose and 1 I chose… pics to come next Sunday 🙂 lol!

And I have all the thread and the batting I want to use for this quilt… I am very excited to start it but it is a big quilt and requires a LOT of marking!  My daughter and I were chatting yesterday over the stencils that came in… she is VERY excited for me to start work on it and she wants to HELP!!! 🙂

Yep.. you heard right.. I will teach my daughter of 17 1/2 years old how to hand quilt this year!!!!  Yay 🙂

I will teach her on this beauty we found on eBay already a flimsy with a border and all!

I was already excited to start on this quilt… but to know she will carry this through highs and lows as she learns how to be an adult she is proud of and to teach her how to hand quilt on this quilt… makes it even more special to work on for sure!!!

So more on that next Sunday too! lol  In the meantime me and my daughter will mark at least the center today and this week… maybe the for little stars around he center wheel/star too! 🙂

Remember me asking about this tshirt my daughter can’t wear but wants to keep ??!!!

Well after pondering it with my daughter.. we are gonna make it a pillow with black fabric surrounding the Superman symbol! 🙂

Okay… now life is sounding busy in this post.. and I surely didn’t plan that.. and there is even more going on I haven’t shared yet!!!

Here is 1 of the 2 BOM’s I am doing this year…

It isn’t sewn yet… just cut and waiting for me on my ironing board… but so happy to have chosen the fabrics as I sorted fabrics… the white fabric with little light pink hearts as well as the center square of this 9 patch block is in memory of Kimber’s memory quilt which was my big project last year… the blue “cornerstones” and a fabric I couldn’t work into her quilt but had pulled and just loved it so before storing it away in my fabric chest… I cut 4 squares of it for my first BOM!!!!  Want to know more about this BOM??  Not to late to join.. the goal is to pull fabric from your stash too!  Check out Wendy’s link about it HERE if interested… she is an excellent teacher and I can’t wait to see what all the year holds in the fun BoM!

The other BOM I am planning will start on the 19th… so I will have more to share on that next Sunday 🙂

I got my new labels in on Friday… I had just ordered them from Etsy HERE on Wednesday with my personalized choices she shows in her shop ad… and they came ready for 30 more quilted items to be branded forever with my name… I usually will add the year to the tag as well with a permanent marker and set with my hot iron 🙂

Hope you check out her shop!  She has excellent customer service and labeling your quilt is so easy when you add this while sewing on the binding 🙂

Saturday’s mail brought not only stencils for Brandi’s quilt I told you about but another surprises too!  I got this cool pin and my membership card from AQS!!!! (American Quilters Society)

 I shared in my last post that I joined AQS to get the magazine and discounts on my class and entry for me and my honey to the quilt show and vendors…  Well in 3 days they managed to send to me all my welcome stuff… and membership INCLUDES 10% VIP discount card good at Joanne’s!!!!  How fun.. so you get a magazine every other month (6 issues a year)… this cool pin…

and discounts on all they sell/do!  I am liking this money spent .. I was hoping I was spending money wisely.. I surely think I have.. and the quilt show isn’t til the end of NEXT month! lol  So much for PATIENTLY waiting ! lol

I have more to share but that will include some finishes too… so I will save that all for another day… Here is a pic my son James posted of his “Bubbles” … we know her as Kaydence but he loves her nickname a LOT!

and check out what is laying out in the floor behind and to the left in this shot!!!!  Yipeee 🙂  The quilt I made her is getting used!!!!

I love seeing my work in action!  Do you like seeing your quilts caught in shots or in real life being enjoyed??

Until my next action filled post remember…

Life is Precious &

Catch up and back to slow stitching! Yippee!

 This week has been a whirlwind of activity as we have been doing lots of eBaying

One of our items we are proud of currently for sale on eBay 🙂

and I have been doing lots of quilting and straightening of things.

My honey has been keeping up the house and working on his things… however, we are both delighted this week to see Sunday roll around… a day we keep to ourselves and relax and reflect on the week behind us and focus on the week ahead!  I love that about us 🙂

But I am most excited about the progress made on THE MAN quilt!

 On Friday I was looking at this last block on the left…
And yesterday I sewed on the binding there on the right…

Now I am hand stitching down the binding!  Yahoo!  Such a glorious job to do on a Sunday as well!

I don’t use a thimble but already have my electrical tape out to cut into unique shapes to fit my middle “binding” finger… last large quilt I bound it wore a hole in my fingernail… so I have been taking my calcium.. using cream occasionally made to condition my skin and nails… and have trimmed my nails last week in preparation for this binding… we shall see how my hands hold up…

Using my new “binding clips” aka Wonder Clips… love them 🙂

May be that I will buy a leather thimble to use just for binding… but we shall see.. I hope not really!

Also yesterday I got the border added to the Aida cloth label my bestie Connie made for this quilt… isn’t it lovely!  It is the only part my honey hasn’t seen and won’t see til the end! lol  His decision to have a surprise 🙂

And since I needed a place to “park” my needles while I machine sewed the binding yesterday and this morning… I found a bit of batting and put in the top of the bottle that holds my thread and threader!  AWESOME 🙂  Excited to do multiple needles now by prethreading several then just picking one out at a time.. more on that when I get back to quilting as I will be using more needles too 🙂

Now I want to share something VERY SPECIAL! 

 I will be chatting more about it this week but be following me here…. you won’t miss an update!  Next weekend we are sponsoring a linky with GIVEAWAY for all to enjoy and enter in.

& my friend
Wendy

The idea is you write a blog post with goals you have made… short or long term.. and that you met this month… then share what you plan to accomplish the following month… you have your blog post to keep you honest and each of us reading your goals met as well as your goals set!  Sound fun??

We call it M4.. but that is just short for Motivation Mayhem Monthly Muster blog 🙂

Finally… I have some very exciting news personally this week… as I was cleaning things out I found my old nursing license and had a sad feeling that I hadn’t kept up my license… just to have it.. not that I may use it again but I worked hard to get it and used it professionally … so it was important to maintain it… I thought it had lapsed…

Well according to the State of Tennessee it is still good and Active til my birthday!!!!

I will have to call them and register my new addy so I get an update to renew.. once renewed I will move my licensure to Florida.  But that is in the future…

Thanks for sharing in all my little victories this week!  Would love to hear about yours … please feel free to leave a comment!  I respond to every one that isn’t spam-a-licious! lol

Linking this slow stitch binding post to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching here! 

Have a blessed Sunday!