Appalachian Delight Progress!!!

I saw the above image on Facebook.. she looks like me as a child before I grew up, had kids, and turned silver haired! lol  In all actuality I did hand work as a child starting with counted cross stitch from age 6 or 7 I think! I had ever the nice collection then of dmc threads to do my cross stitch with.  I didn’t find quilting until 2011!!! 

How about you? 
When did you start hand crafting and what was your first way to craft??

I am having so much fun keeping track of my crafty and quilty adventures in my journal… and the pre-assembled pages… soon I will have it all in my journal book… that is the goal anyway

For instance because of my list of started but not focused on projects on my list above… was the crochet quilt… I worked on this block this week and finished the button hole stitch up on this one and pulled out another to work on…

 Then it was Valentine’s Day!  Happy Valentine’s to all you that celebrate such a holiday 🙂

 We celebrated with sweet little gifts.. and a trip to Franklin, NC.  I made Rick this shirt he had been patiently waiting for me to make…

 Here is a close up of the v neck and pocket detail I added with Cleopatra my 319w Singer.

 I got me a couple new shirts on a clearance sale… the one in the back is actually embroidered!!!!

 While in Franklin we went into a thrift shop and found 10 plates we really loved…

 Here is the label on the back of the plates we found…

In looking to see if we could buy others like these plates to have a full set we found they were a bit pricey to buy otherwise! lol  So if we ever need money we could sell our new china!!!  We paid $5 for these 10 plates!!!!  lol

I worked all week and rolled the quilt on Thursday morning…

 I marked the outer border on the left side…

 Soon that was filled with dark burgundy perle 12 cotton thread & the lines were spritzed away!

 Here is my focus on the 2nd area of 6 areas across I will be quilting…

 And here you can see the overview of my quilting progress and where I will be today … happily slow sitching…

 And with that I will link this content of this post to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<  Come see the wonderful pattern she is working on today and even an Australian link as to where to buy  the pattern too ❤

I hope your tribe, like mine, is secure for you!  I hope that you know you are awesome too ❤  Ellie received her quilt later this past week and loves it already her parents say!  I am sew blessed 😀

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Last minute stitching continues along with a whole lotta FUN!

Happy Sunday Y’all!  Did everyone make it through Friday the 13th with no issues?  Are you superstitious???  I had a great Friday getting lots of things finished up here … also did a bit of perusing online!!!

 Aurifil shared this sentiment… and this has been a lot of my week!  While perusing online though I also found some free patterns to take into the new year with me…

 This Idaho Lily I think is also similar to a Carolina Lily… the directions seem very straight forward!!!  I am excited about this.

Here is the quilt that grabbed my attention…

 and

So I will make this and Jannessa may make it too..  we are hoping to use our stashes…and I already see hand quilting ideas !!!

2020 is also going to be a time I focus on a embroidery panel that will make into a little quilt once the embroidery is complete… more on my Miss Jane Doll Quilt I plan to make in the new year 🙂

Molly got a much needed trim.. she doesn’t like to be long haired she enjoys getting groomed too!  Funny girl that she is Jannessa and her daughter Whitney do a GREAT job with her though 😀

My daughter Brandi… wanted a backpack purse for Christmas so me and Jannessa each made a Savannah Backpack Purse from a pattern I found online… I can’t say it was the easiest to follow but it did come together in about 5 2 hour visits together!!!

I am accustomed to Sew Sweetness patterns with an accompanying video I think…  It is definitely not a pattern for a new bag maker in my humble opinion though… but they are made and are very sturdy… Jannessa is showing hers on on the right… I will share the front when it has been received … probably by next weekend!

I added a book to my hand quilting library of ideas for hand quilting….
I plan to make a snowball block quilt alternating with a second block to give an overall secondary design to a quilt and use this book for ideas for the snowball blocks and the alternate blocks to show off my hand quilting flourishes 😀  I am sew excited about this project… but I can’t go further until Swoon is done…

We found this cute little machine in complete and appearing able to sew chain stitches condition at a cute new shop to us this week….

I love vintage pink sewing machines… even just the color is delightful!  It sold quickly! lol

I finished putting together a wall hanging for the kitchen behind the Christmas tree… we still have our turkey wall hanging up! hahaha 

 This beautiful panel and coordinating fabric was given to me by Jannessa… she loved it when she bought it but has too much Christmas stuff now and wanted to know if I wanted it … well YES!!!!  So now I am working into making it a machine quilted and hand quilted finish 🙂

I had to add a bit to the back because it was only 1″ wider than the front … so I pieced in a diamond and added some green fabric for a festive look!

 Soon I was layering, marking and pinning the quilt …

 Organic lines using registration lines to keep me mostly straight happened across the panel…

 I use garden gloves from Dollar General that come 3 pair for some small amount of $.  They fit loose and make me sit back every 10 minutes or so to readjust everything but that is good!  Those organic lines went quick and look great I think for this wall hanging…

 Being silly I sent a shout out to some of my fellow vintage quilters in a couple facebook groups… they liked the trio of photos 😀

 I took the quilt out of the machine and worked on finishing those bag straps … I also used this time to chat in depth with Jannessa who loves to machine quilt… on how my path should go to quilt this and it look it’s best.

With her words echoing in my head… this morning I got us and took a shower and hit the sewing… I am making great progress but I am going slow and steady this time so as not to overshoot where I want to be….

Here you can see my morning spot as I enjoyed a cup of coffee and walking foot quilting….

The other place I was prior to this quilting time was enjoying a slow quiet wake up stitching on the swoon quilt… let’s see what I have to share this week with you!!!

Last Sunday after blogging I came here and worked….

 Soon I was into the border…

 Before I knew it… It was time to ROLL!!!!!

 Y’all … I started this Swoon Quilt in June of this year and have worked on it fairly steady most every week….  Now it is about to be complete… it will take a bit of my heart with it!!!

 Here is my start on the left side border on the middle row of swoon blocks…

 Now here is the center of the swoon itself getting quilted….

 And when I complete this blog writing and visiting time… I will go back to the center flower and finish stitching it and mark the lines in the right side of the swoon block and finish it next 🙂  I love this quilt and quilting it for Connie!

 This is all that is left now… surreal!

I got 3 different homespun type plaid fabric lots in 1 sale on eBay!  Giddy to get it I washed it and pressed it then prepared it for cutting my honey out a new scrub shirt…

 I made a fresh pattern… the other was out of size now and was crumply… it needed replacing… to do this I iron roll type of Freezer paper wrong side to right side and it sticks… not a hard hold but good enough 🙂  Cut out your pattern then add tape if needed…

 I was blessed to win these handmade pattern weights from Virginia Lindsey of Gingercake Designs on Youtube… you can see the video where she makes these exact ones HERE <<<

 In early October … Jannessa found an all wood table on Marketplace and her daughter and sil went and picked it up for her because it was large and hard to carry….

You can see in these photos the top is a yellow color wood and the sides and legs are wood painted white … a farmhouse look.

Jannessa wanted it to house her 2 most used big sewing machines though… she asked Rick to do this for her… it took him a bit but it is just waiting on varnish now… several coats but the design and construction is complete!!!

Here is the table now… new legs… beefed up table top with 2 drop downs for her machines and it is all 1 color now!!!!

 She brought her machines over for a “final fitting”  and all passed with flying colors…

 That is Jannessa and her grand that came over with her.

And down below is a beauty shot she took of her machines in their new homes…

 I saw this meme early one morning and grabbed it… do you have a time of day you call “your own”???

Mornings is that for me… my honey goes to bed late and sleeps in late because of that.   I enjoy flitting from one project to another watching progress happen on house chores or sewing or organizing… whatever I am doing so this spoke volumes to me… and I do love sunrises!!!

I don’t talk outside crafting  and creating much… but I wanted you to know that I do believe… do you?

Thanks for visiting my blog today… for more hand stitched things and for all the random hand stitching I have done and shared from this week I link to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitchers crew HERE <<<>>>

Meanwhile come back next week.. there is bound to be a surprise on Sunday!!!!

Feeling better is an AMAZING feeling y’all!!!

Well… being totally under the weather for over a week is NOT anything I have experienced in a very long time… so yesterday I turned the corner for sure and today I woke early and happy and healthy 😀

This is how I feel today!!!  And I have been busy too!!!

While I was sick I organized my blocks for the crochet quilt… here are the 3 blocks Connie did for me to figure out my pattern…

Here are 10 of the blocks I have sewn and marked for blanket stitching by hand with the crochet thread…

 I love that this sweet little bird on a patriotic nest pin cushion and wonderclips and a sharp needle with just the right color thread on a bobbin fit nicely in the container that the bird sits on top of…

 I use this to close the opening from turning the blocks 🙂

On the left are the next 10 pairs of blocks and batting … when needed… and while I was at it I checked all my blocks… my friend Jannessa has some of my favorite kind of fabrics in a similar genre in her stash … so with HER HELP I will be making this a charm quilt !!!!

I am sew excited about this too ❤  All together I needed 80 block pairs… Jannessa will be supplying 30 block pairs in that mix to make it a charm quilt with NO DUPLICATES 🙂

So now that I figured that out I have a zip lock baggie with my 10 blocks in it and 10 lengths of crochet cotton thread with each and a needle that works well!  This project that is now a hand project mainly will be linked to Wendy’s Quilts and More Peacock Party HERE <<

This will be a long term project and I will learn to crochet like those first 3 blocks is the goal 🙂  First I need to get all the blocks done and blanket stitched though!

Earlier this week I finished the second scrub shirt of late for my honey …

 This fabric was given to us by Jannessa and then coffee stained to darken it a bit as it was BRIGHT white and navy blue.. now it looks black and cream… he really likes this one!

This arrangement of blocks on my design wall… (from my Kaleidoscope Krazy Quilt I decided to refocus)

Got sewn together this morning on my 301 – Julius… he did a great job … I haven’t seen the finish yet but I just need to press it and check all the seams then will share further steps in next weeks post 🙂

In teaching a friend the fine points and secrets of successful hand quilting I sat back down at my frame….

 And I got this done… which meant I was ready to roll the quilt on the frame 🙂

 I tried to take a wider angle of the whole frame.. it is a very sturdy Hinterberg brand frame.

 And this will be my focus today….

I am linking this slow stitching progress I am way excited to be back in the thick of to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Linky >>> HERE   Check out her blog post today too… she has some interesting information on her blog!  You will find yourself intrigued if you indulge 😀

Here is a train engine BIRDHOUSE my honey designed out of cedar and hardwoods to withstand the elements for many years…  it is 18″ long and 6″ wide and about 12″ tall…  He designed it to sit on a 4 x 4 post !

 Here is a close up… as it ages it will gain patina as only cedar can do… the wheels and smoke stack will be sealed as they are hardwood but not as durable as cedar is very durable for the elements outdoors… we will have an ad for these coming out soon but if you are interested … email me HERE to find out more…

Price will be $99 to include shipping in the USA.  Payment via Paypal Invoice 🙂
It does have a 1 1/2″ opening for birds that fit that size or smaller … and it does have a clean out on the back side of the train.

Here is a silly pic of Ellie looking darling…  she turned 3 months old this week!

 Here is a tattoo my daughter designed from a meme I sent her and her beau is a tattooer .. so he did the black work first… next time he will add the color.

I hope you can be someone’s Sunshine when their skies are gray!!!!

Here is to hoping no more illness falls on this house or it’s inhabitants again for a while… I am tired of spending so much time sleeping in bed! lol

Thanks or visiting and have a GREAT week!

Busy week behind and ahead…

I found the below quote on Facebook this week and have enjoyed ruminating over it as I have accomplished different things 🙂

We have butterflies and hummingbirds all over our front yard right now enjoying our different flowering bushes and such!

HQAL is this weekend… this is a time to share what I have been up to specifically hand quilting… I am working on the last part of the middle row of swoon here… I also have a bit in the border to do so next time I share this quilt… I will be on the top portion somewhere of these big swoon blocks (they are 24″ square!!!

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 and Kathi

For Slow Stitching Sunday HERE I am sharing my binding on Jasper’s toddler quilt…

 I just rounded the 3rd corner of the binding 😀

I think he will love this one too!!!  Check out Kathy’s post today as she shows the sweetest pillow she finished so uniquely… it will open in a new tab too I think 🙂

And for Wendy’s Peacock Party HERE I am crowing about a scrub shirt I made for my honey this week!  She has some awesome eye candy too so go visit!!

It was a 90″ length of woven plaid fabric we found on ebay for cheap… I washed and fashioned this shirt below!!!

My honey loves it… if you want info on making  a shirt like this check out THIS blog post of mine.  It is not as good as some of my quilting tutorials but it gives you an idea on how to make one yourself 🙂

When I was a nurse I made most all my scrub shirts … so I am now remembering what I had forgotten from so many years ago (10 years!!!).

Linking this Glorious Finish for a completed WIP with Julie Cefalu’s Crafty Quilter Blog Link Up HERE <<<

I have been planning a future quilt for our guest bedroom…  This will be the center of the quilt

 Here is the pattern… all those 4 blocks… those will each be an orange peel…

 Kind of like this… I found a layer cake of all newsprint backgrounds… I will use 2 of them to make the orange peel foundations like the photo below…

Except our orange peels will coordinate with the room and the center of the quilt too 🙂

My new friend Jannessa came over this week … we pin basted a quilt for her and she picked up her PVC quilt frame my honey made her…

 She also picked up her cell phone cradle my honey designed for us to use…

 Here is how her pvc frame looks… we are trying to source boxes to ship them affordable… right now they are pick up only though….

 My sweet grand daughter Ellie… with her mom Heather… SWEET!!!!

 Molly looking cute for her favorite visitor’s birthday wish to send via text….

 Our neighbor who harvested our strawberries this year found 2 more packs of them… so I have been enjoying a belated sweet strawberry shortcake again 😀 YUMMMY~!!!!

 Here is a cool pattern I watched a Donna Jordan video on this week HERE… It looks like a fun quilt to make and is called Beads!

 I coffee stained some navy and white plaid woven fabric Jannessa gave me… and cut out another shirt for Rick…

 You can see the right side is white while the left side took the coffee staining better… most of it looks like the left.. this was one of the only areas I found a white area remaining…

So then I decided to get fancy on the pocket with my Singer 319w Cleopatra and used a cam with this design on it…

 This is gonna be a fun shirt to make this week 🙂

Well … I am a bit under the weather this weekend… feeling achy and just “not right” … so I am saying chat more next weekend when I will again be blogging… feel free to leave comments or ask questions if I wasn’t clear in any of my explanations…. and remember to live your life carefully… it is the only chance you have to leave a positive mark on the world 😀

The Making of a Scrub Shirt !

Want to make your own scrub shirt??  I used to work as a nurse in pediatrics and it was FUN to make my own scrub shirts… recently my honey found he enjoyed scrub shirt wearing and I knew this was something I could make for him from fabric we chose.  So this post is all about scrub shirt making using cotton fabric 🙂

First have a good understanding of basic clothes making.  THIS video by the Crafty Gemini helped refresh me prior to making this shirt.

What you will need:

• Scrub shirt that you can use as a pattern with a v-neck
• Sewing machine with zig zag capability or serger for raw side and shoulder seams
• Iron with steam on and off function
• 2 + yards of  quilting weight 100% cotton fabric in a design you like
• Freezer paper roll (I prefer the name brand)
• Paper scissors
• Marker
• Fabric scissors

First start by washing your scrub shirt you plan to use for a pattern as well as you 2 plus yards of fabric.  When clothes making ALWAYS PREWASH your fabric before cutting it out!!!  Give both of these a quick iron when clean and dry.

Fold your scrub shirt in half lengthwise and lay the fold on the long edge of a yard or longer length of freezer paper.  Write on the dull side of the freezer paper for all your marking.  I used a 1/2″ seam allowance but 5/8″ is standard in the US… you choose as this is your pattern.  Outline the scrub shirt two times… the first time will be a mock of the back neck.  The second time will be a mock of the front v neck.  This will take trial and error to be exact if you have never made a garment before but scrub shirts are fairly forgiving.

Label each pattern piece you make… for my honey he only wanted a chest pocket… so I made a 1 pocket scrub shirt… but I used to make 2 pockets at the bottom instead for my personal use… the pocket design was a bit different on those and if you are interested shoot me a comment about those.  Meanwhile we will just use a basic pocket for this scrub shirt.

Then you have to also make a back neck binding/facing and a v neck piece too… both of these should be cut on the bias instead of the straight of grain…. the shirt front and back and pocket should be cut out lengthwise along the fabric… make sure if you are using a directional print that you lay it out right though! lol

Give all your cut out fabric pieces a good steamy press… serge or zig zag stitch the edge of the fabric on the front and back pieces … specifically the side seams (not the bottom vents if you have those though) and the shoulder seams.  These edges will be raw and would unravel a lot if not zig zagged.  Now fold the top of your pocket down an 1 1/4″ or more to make a decorative finish across it.  First fold down the amount desired and iron in place… then fold the raw edge under and press to hold in place while you iron.  For my scrub shirt I decided to double straight stitch all the seams as a design and durability hallmark.  You can leave a single row of stitching if you prefer though.

You are done zig zagging/serging now so get your straight stitch machine ready for the rest of the assembly.

First add a stay stitching line at 3/8″ in the “V” neck opening on the front panel. Snip the fabric at the V to almost to this line with a single snip to give it ease in the finished garment.  Fold your V neck piece you cut in  half lengthwise then fold the raw edges inside and press so that the front is a scant amount less showing.  This ensures when you sew the v-neck in place that you catch the back edge too.  Now sew this neck in place holding the garment front straight at the V.  Once this V neck is sewn on press well and adjust until the fold is flat on your ironing surface.. stitch a diamond or triangle to hold this in place… you may decide to also stitch the edge of your v neck as well.. this would be your design decision.

Next add the pocket… Line up the pocket to the right of the V neck bottom edge at the position desired.  Fold under the raw edges 1 time 1/4″ on 3 sides (you should have already decoratively stitched that top edge).  Stitch 1/8″ in from the edge around the 3 sides ensuring the raw edges don’t show from the front top edges… run a second row of stitches around this to enclose your 1/4″ seam at 3/8″ from the edge or 1/4″ from your first row of stitching… pockets get lots of wear! lol

Now add the back neck facing… fold in half and each side in half again and press… sew to seam facing area of shirt back.  Press out any puckers.

Assembling the garment is easy now… start with shoulder seams.  Pin right sides together and stitch 1/2″ in on both shoulders.  Then stitch each side seam to the vented area on the bottom part of each side.

Hem the arm holes by folding under 1/2″ then fold the raw edge in again and sew.  Repeat this with the hem across the bottom on the front and back if you are leaving vents … or all around the bottom if you aren’t.

Sew the vents by ironing in place then folding in again to avoid raw edges.  Sew in place and tahdah!!!

Now even though you washed your fabric before cutting into it… wash it all again as a garment and press it well by laying it just like this on your ironing surface and press with a steamy iron.

Enjoy and feel free to contact me personally here if these instructions are just as clear as mud to you … I am happy to help in any way I can!