Sew much to share this week y’all!

Welcome All!  Hope you have had as fun a week as we have had here at Daisy Meadows!!!

I saw this wood sticker with this saying on it and isn’t life just like this I thought!!!  I feel like this is me … wandering around life and finally finding the right direction to go in.  Finally!

 Last week a sweet lady sent me the complete and uncut pattern for several sizes of raggedy Ann & Andy!  I was thrilled to receive such a sweet offering from one sewist to another !!!
I purchased raggedy fabrics then too!!!  We have some rick rack but needed some inspiration… We is me and Jannessa.. she is a doll maker already and making Raggedy’s is something we think we can rock for our grands to enjoy!!! YAY 😀

I found the PERFECT no bleed pen at my local Dollar General for under $2!  I was so stoked 🙂

 So here is all I have gathered from stash and buying for this little bullet journal experiment and can it keep me more organized that I already am and will I use it ???

 Remember this sweet pair of stork scissors I shared last week??? 

Well I commissioned my scissor dangle friend on Etsy to make me a new dangle or fob for these little scissors…

 I could not be MORE pleased!!!!  she did an awesome job… Amethysts are special to me anyway and the smooth purple beads are charoite she said & then she threw in some swarovski crystals… delightful!!!!  😀

I saw this panel for sale on a facebook sales page… someone was offering it for sale.  I did research but it was gone by the time I decided it would have been a good deal with the coordinating fabrics added in…

 After doing further research this panel is 24 x 36… that is big for a wall hanging… my honey is pure and true a John Deere fan but he doesn’t use blankets and quilts except at bedtime… so I couldn’t make it into anything I can think of besides a wall hanging… we have no real estate in his outdoor spaces for this fabric type item… any ideas ??? 

Then I saw this cute idea… a large picture frame with chicken wire in it…

 How awesome!!!!!

That got me in a decorating mood…

 I updated this photo of me and Connie to the one we took last month… and put it on my collage wall my honey fixed me 🙂

 As for the Beads Table Runner placemat …

WE LOVE IT!!!!  Taking almost a week to sew that binding on was ridiculous but worth every minute of work … this one is now OUR FAVORITE!!!

Since I was on sabbatical from hand quilting over the last couple weeks… I decided Ellie needed to get her a Play Quilt… Her parents had asked for one feeling the baby quilt I made her was too precious to be a play quilt I asked last week for some ideas with this fabric bundle…
 Here the fat quarter bundle laid out to see…

 And here is the lattice quilt design that stole my heart as I was searching for something fun and fast…

 I made my squares 8 1/2″ and made my sashings 2″ wide and about 14″ long to be long enough…

 I pinned judiciously middle and each end to keep the bias from stretching as I sewed the blocks…

 And look how nice!  This technique was seen on the blog I photoed above but I went to the MSQC tutorial for key points on construction of the quilt…

 I made mine 6 across and 6 down and bordered with a bit thinner white floater border…

 Then I pin basted it to some white polar fleece… it ended up about 53″ square for me before washing!

Then I left Julius my 301 and went to Cleopatra my 319W for machine quilting…

 Cleopatra has a nice big harp and made this job fun once the pattern was decided on… thanks Connie!

 In just over a day of machine quilting (fast for me!!!) I was making the victory lap of basting around the edges… I wanted to add the binding to the back and wrap to the front and zig zag it onto the front…

 And I did it!!!! YAY 😀

 Here is Elliana’s Play Quilt in under a week to complete!  It is now boxed up to ship to her parents this week!!!

 Here is the label I wrote with a Pentel Gel Fabric Pen I got from Amazon.

Along with my label too ❤

All the while I was quilting we have had quite the weather here in sw North Carolina!  SNOW…

 And look at this pic my honey got!!!!

 I started the week entering a pic in my journal…

And ended the week with a page in my journal outlining the steps of this quilt project… not all are the same though!  I hope to streamline this process through bullet journaling 🙂

 Finally, yesterday afternoon my sabbatical completed and I returned to the quilt frame!!!!

Here is a close up of my stitching in the ditch around each half square triagle down there…

 And here is a backed off view.. I plan to finish this block today and move to the last block bottom in this row…. Linking this slow stitching return to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Link Up HERE <<<  she has some interesting conversation going on over there today!

 Are you all my kind of crazy I wonder??? lol 

I bet you are if you made it this far in this post 😀

Until next Sunday…

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Lots of Progress to share on this last Sunday of January 2020!

Lots to share today y’all!  Starting out … I spied this pic of my sweet grand daughter on Facebook on Friday as Elliana celebrated 8 months old!!!!

 And Saturday we woke up to SNOW!!!!!

 Yes it was also overcast most all day until afternoon… we live near the Nantahala National Forest.  Nantahala is Native American and means “land of the midday sun” well that is most usually true for us… the afternoons get sunny …. not always the morning times! lol

I worked on the curtains a bit this week for our bedroom.  I am using this fabric seen close up and sideways from how it hangs in the pics below for the cafe curtain…

 And here it is on the window…

 Here is a better view of it without competing with the bit of light coming in the window too…

 I also started early in the week on cutting out the black border fabric from the backing with some special scissors I borrowed from my friend Jannessa… I will be getting me my own pair now that I have used them though! lol

 So now the rooster still needs the eye put on before layering but will soon be in my PVC hoop to hand quilt!  I am planning to quilt it all by hand now that I have spent more time with him.  Any ideas for the rooster itself???  Color of thread or design is greatly appreciated!

 I found this vintage pattern online but can’t find a reasonably priced pattern to buy.  However the pic may work to decide how to make my raggedy Ann a new dress to match the deep blue of the pants her new mate Andy is wearing!

Here are my Raggedy Couple….

I am most proud of my hand quilting progress this week though… I am linking this progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitchers HERE <<<  Take time today to slow down and do something fun  you enjoy with no pressure!!!   

Monday I rolled the Appalachian Delight quilt after finishing the stitching on the outer border on Sunday evening…

 I quickly filled in the quilting to the right of the first block shown here…

 And focused on quilting in the ditch on the HST inner border and the sashing and cornerstones too…

 All this close quarters stitching is made possible with my awesome thimbles!!!  The metal one is a Clover brand one that is open and adjustable but stays sized as desired.  And the green one has a small bit of stretch to it to stretch onto my thumb… it is made by Dritz…

Both are available at Amazon if big box stores are not near you 🙂

I thought I would be marking this design in the wide sashing with chalk so I had purchased a new Allary brand Chalk Cartridge with chalk for under $10 at Amazon… instead my handy blue wash away markers showed up on the burgundy fabric!!!! YAY 😀

 Here is a close up of the bear in the cabin block I designed … a variation of the bear claw.  I am excited to roll the quilt later this week and start stitching on these blocks… I have so many ideas floating around about HOW to stitch on them to enhance the design best… I don’t know what will wind up happening… if you recall I had thought I would use a stencil but in the ditch surrounding each bear claw has won out… now to decide on inside the bear claw blocks!

 You can see better in this photo… I am halfway across the quilt already… so if I have a low key week otherwise… I should be rolling mid week or so…

In Kathy’s post she shows how she binds her minky backed quilts… I love  her technique… I will be binding a minky backed quilt for Jannessa later this week or next week… I am excited to work on this for her and to experience minky as I have shied away from using it!  It may be fun though!!!!

I had a check up with my doctors this week and got good reports from both of them!  Yippee !!!

February I will be starting an official bullet journal for sewing and quilting and other creative adventures I have thoughts of in 2020… I am loving these sheets I am making…

But want to take it further.  So we will see!

My thought this week is to be real… be genuine … BE YOURSELF … others may be more willing to be themselves around you too!

So until next week when February will finally be here and the long month of January will be behind us… take care !!!

Happy Sunday January 2020 ~ Ringing in a New Week!

January is an odd month… comes on quick but last a looong time as you adjust your vision to include new things or jump start lost habits.  As for us… we buy a fresh bulb flower in January…

This past week was a real roller coaster but we made it through and my honey even surprised me and bought a miniature daffodil plant to enjoy for now and plant later… AND he bought the Raggedy Ann an Andy partner that looks like he is from the same era she is from … mid 1960’s !!!

I really needed these boosts this week… now to give sweet Ann a new outfit and some new striped socks too… those will be a project you see coming up in the future… Andy is a smart dresser so Ann needs to step up her game a bit and get a rejuvenation session … Jannessa will help me she promises!!! ❤

Last Sunday I enjoyed slow stitching alternating with block making for the Beads table runner I planned to make…

 Here is a close up of 1 block… made with strip sets is how Donna Jordan shows it made… I didn’t use her sizes but made mine smaller blocks to make a more desirable sized finish for my needs…

 And for the table in our kitchen… a couple of smaller placemats were pieced.

 By working through the week when not slow stitching… I got all but 1 seam and the final border completed…

Friday I had it all together & handed this flimsy runner with batting and backing to Jannessa.  She is going to fmq it for us to enjoy ❤

 I will use that deep burgundy for the binding… our kitchen is mainly the barn red and creamy tan colors… but we have a quilt in there (my spiral log cabin quilt) that this will look perfect close to.

Friday when Jannessa came over to pick up the table runner we took time to let her pup Max visit with Molly… we also made coordinating bracelets pooling our resources of glass and nicer plastic beads!!!

My honey had found the 2 silver hearts (one in each of our bracelets) in the fish vendor cart when  we got it home.  Jannessa loved them as much as I did so we made them a stand out on our bracelets 😀

I am definitely blessed with good friends… my blog prize winner from December was Penny or as other readers may know her as Little Penpen.  She loved the winnings and then proceeded to make me this sweet thank you gift….

 I received it on Saturday and promptly called and thanked her and caught up with her too ❤  It is a pattern by Kathy Schmidt and is a Hare and Needle… so stinking cute y'all!!!

I then signed it for her with initials and year… and sewed circles to the back for hanging…

 Look how beautiful it looks in my room !!!!

 Thank you Penny for making my day with your sweet hand stitches just for me!!!!!

Molly got a groom and a photo shoot earlier in the week while we ran to Asheville for doctor appointments at the VA for my honey….

She looks so great scissor trimmed and nails ground short.  She is so good for the groomer too we are told!!!

Most every day I wake early and spend the early morning hours hand quilting… this is my zen and my fave place to be… I enjoy machine projects intermittently and it gives my hands something different to do as well.. but I never get bored hand quilting!!!  Appalachian Delight is no different!!!

 Pictures I took this week as a spritzed away the blue markings once quilted and let it dry… giving this great texture to the outer border of this quilt…

 Here is where I will be today… getting the corner done…

 Here is a look back at where I have been….

 And a close up of THIS MORNING….

 And my set up that lets me tiptoe around in the mornings without waking anyone as I stitch with my headphones on…

 this week I finished this book on audio books from the local library.

 I thought since the service is free I could listen and quit if I didn’t like it… so I did and you know what… Michelle Obama is a wonderful speaker and had lots of great info to share in this basically nonpartisan look at what it was like to live life in her shoes.  And what an interesting life she has lived thus far y’all! 

I have kept up with my calendar this week… I am planning to switch to bullet journaling in February when I can get myself a dot paged book that is small enough to not take up much room to keep handy.  Or maybe I should keep printing these sheets and put them in a notebook… 

Any calendar fanatics out there have a preference????

At Jannessa’s request I joined a 9 patch a day club on facebook.. it is quite an international group and has me pondering 9 patch variations like this one for a possible future quilt …

 Hoping to find the pattern for this one but look at that quilt closely.. the light and medium blues give you an awesomely intricate background pattern in the quilt… friendship stars… churn dashes… all kinds of patterns within patterns and basically it is 9 patches with some hst’s and solid squares too to make it come out so mind bendingly cool!!!

I did one of those silly things on facebook yesterday… it is like reading a horoscope or something 😀  This hits quite close to home for me though!!!!

This has been a chatty post .. hope you have enjoyed it … so much hand work here I am linking it to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching… my fave blog to visit on Sundays >> right HERE <<

I will chat more next Sunday… for now I sing cheers for a cap on a very busy week and a hope that the coming week that looks busy will be relatively quiet in reality.

Next Sunday I should be into the next phase of quilting … the blocks !!! Come back then!!!!

A Productive Week Behind means a Happy Sunday is here!!

Happy Sunday Y’all!

Look at what my honey is making from cedar as birdhouses to sell to those interested in owning 1 or a pair!!!  This pair is for our yard and they will be what the template is made for future ones…. I love them!!!

Earlier in the week I got on a bib making kick for Ellie and Jannessa’s grandson Liam so I made bibs… on Cleopatra my 319w

 After applying the velcro on opposite sides and sewing them together with a thin batting inside… I trimmed it all down with my pinking shears….

 Pushed out all the little edge bits with my special tool …

 And before I knew it … Molly was photo bombing a pic…

And I had finished 7 bibs… 5 for little Ellie and 2 for Liam 🙂

 With those then successfully mailed on Tuesday I focused on my slow stitching progress…

Soon I had finished these green loopdy loops…

And I was ready for the medallion… good thing I take photos!  I had to go back in my photo collection and see what I did on the previous medallions! lol

Soon that medallion was done… and the loopdy loops again were completed with no problems! 🙂 

Today I am linking this slow stitching progress to Kathy’s Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching HERE… Making progress quilting a medallion & marking a quilt top with chalk are my 2 handy goals today!

My quilt top that needs marking looked like this on Wednesday…

 This is the planning phase… then I went for Julius to help me with all these hst’s 🙂

 Soon we had the 5 fall leaves… I did change the order once I took the first photo though…

It didn’t take much to sew them together and press the whole thing then it was time to mark and sew the smaller squares from the free pattern for this table runner.

 And before I knew it I was making the zig zag border come to life with it’s hst’s and my ideas…

Finally early this morning I got the batting fluffed and 2 pieces sewn into 1 long piece, a piece of backing decided on and pieced together for length, and the table runner top finished too … even the binding is ready to attach 🙂 

This fall table runner is a pattern offered free on Jordan Fabrics website of free patterns… Mine measures about 18 x 60 … next week I hope to share a finish here on our bar! 🙂

Thursday we had to go to the VA… So Molly got her first real groom done that we liked and came home feeling overstimulated by the visit but feeling pretty too ❤  Jannessa's daughter did a wonderful job grooming Molly too 😀

Here she is the next morning relaxing with her daddy…

Then Friday I got these photos … they had received and LOVED the bibs I sent to my sweet grand daughter…

I was beyond thrilled.

Also on Thursday while in Asheville to go to the doctor… we looked and bought this desk from the 1930’s era….

Here is the collage of it’s transformation into a sewing cabinet…

And soon Julius and Cleopatra will have matching dust covers made of this fabric 🙂

 I neglected to share this a couple weeks ago when I received her back… but here is the Raggedy Ann I had as a young child made by a distant but loving aunt.  She needed repair and Jannessa knows how to do this so she took her and fixed her all up!!!!  Now she hangs out proudly with our oldest sewing machine we own and some other favorite items we have…

 I hope you each have a blessed and busy week ahead…