Happy March Y’all!

I am just giddy that March is here… I have enjoyed winter … but Spring… OH MY!!!!

You see we are still seeing THIS …..

 SNOW!!!!

 A look back toward where the above pic was taken… Rick is doing this on the golf cart to test out how it handles on snow…

This tree we call the “popsicle tree”… not sure of it’s type but it held this wet snow well!

 Here is a photo Rick took of the flag in front of our home…

We loved this photo of the flag flying…

 Even the cabin we keep an eye on for the owner got a scenic view!!!!

We even made a video of Rick doing donuts in the yard… on our golf cart that actually traveled on the snow quite nicely!!!!  I tried to add the video here but Blogger doesn’t like it! lol

So besides enjoying Mother Nature’s last hurrah of winter…. I have done some journal keeping and quite a bit of sewing too ❤

working on the base stitching layer of the crochet blocks to be…

Sew when I have the chocolate and purple block done… there is just 1 more block and then I can look in the bag and dig in the closet to find the rest!!!  I can’t remember if I have more ready 😀  I play these games though so that I will see FIRST if I can stay consistent with a project…

Today I may focus on these little squares.  I may ALSO spend some time at my frame though too!!!

Look at this cool shot I took as I stitched this week….

And >> I rolled Appalachian Delight yesterday… I took this photo before rolling to share my progress…

and this close up…

 And this view here looks GREAT rolled down some doesn’t it ❤

The snow made it very bright through the windows so I cropped most of that brightness out! lol
Linking this rolling progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching gang HERE <<<  Come visit her blog and see all the benefits hand stitching can do for you too ❤

I am also pondering a new quilt … it won’t be ready for quilting for a while!

Here is the layout….

 It has 72 snowballed blocks and 71 pieced blocks… all the white centers will be ivory…

I am going to you 2 layer cakes… I need to get 1 but have the other…

The one I have is this one here…

 The one I think I want to add for it’s medium tones is this in a layer cake….

 The great news is after some quick calculations I did buy enough of the background fabric… 6 yards and I need 5 for this quilt! whew!!!!

So I won’t be starting this yet… but you will see the Shelbyville~Lancaster Quilt starting soon here 🙂

I have straightened my sewing room so that I could use the cutting mat and cut out & made some reusable cloth dish towels made to be used in place of paper towels… I like them but don’t love the way I made them… I will make some this week and share that photo… but me and Jannessa bought some toweling and now I need to make some proper used rags from it that coordinate with our kitchen and look presentable too.  I will say what I made cleans and washes well though!

Molly has adopted this chair with this quilt in it to nap on when we are in the kitchen… she is soo cute!

 Here is a great shot of sweet Ellie….

 Here is some placemats that I desperately need a plan for quilting…

And now I bid you adieu… I hope you have a great first week of March and don’t forget….

Have a blessed week… Lion or Lamb 😀

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Busy Week Here ~ Sew Much to Share !!!

Have you ever stopped to realize how easy a smile spreads when you share one???

Look at this sweet smile… tell me she doesn’t make you wanna grin right back!!!

 Her parents also sent this sweet photo of her with the quilt I made for your play with….

 Later this week Molly got snuggling with her squirrel gifted to her by her boyfriend Max at Christmas….

She loves this toy more than any of her others… it is sooo sweet!  And yes… this is a hand quilted quilt she is snuggling in… it is one I made for her  and my honey to enjoy together!

Due to the weather Jannessa didn’t get to come over for her birthday celebrating until Tuesday the 18th (her birthday was a week earlier !!!).  She had said she preferred chocolate chip cookies for her birthday so I made her a big cookie for her birthday as a surprise and she loved it!!  Then she got her scissor fob too… once home she shared her fob in place…

After she took home her cookie leftovers… we made more cookies  ~ normal sized!!! 😀

This is a shot on our new plates and showing off Jannessa’s great fmq on this table runner in our kitchen!!!!

Here is my journal for this week… it was a VERY busy week for us.. it all didn’t get captured here though!!!! lol

I spent most of my brain power pondering the wallet….

 Above is the beginning of card slots and below you can see those card slots on the interior of the wallet…

 After 2 play dates Jannessa and I each have a wallet to enjoy that is complete!

 I used Tula Pink Squirrels on the outside of mine with black and lavender trims…

 And here it is hanging with my keys… ready for an adventure…

And here are a couple photos of Jannessa’s finished wallet… she made hers able to be a cross body bag instead of a wristlet strap that mine has…..

 
If you are interested in finding out about this wallet/purse check out THIS link for the pattern 🙂

Next up we are making this briefcase by my favorite bag designer Sew Sweetness!!

 And we have each pulled fabrics.  Here are mine….

 We need a few more bits so this will go on the books for mid March to make.

When making bags or wallets USE YOUR IMAGINATION though… look at this example I saw in the Sew Sweetness facebook group …

She took a plain fronted bag and added some amazing fmq details on this and a fancy strap too!

Thursday we had snow… I loved just watching it fall as I quilted and sewed on different projects on my list….

It never accumulated to anything so that made the falling snow all day even more fun to watch!

I have completed 1 of these crochet squares with buttonhole stitching and started on another…

 I am very pleased with how the Appalachian Delight quilting progress is going…

 Here is a close up of one of the bear in the cabin blocks complete on the bottom half of the block (as far as I can reach 🙂  )

 This is the 3rd block over and where I will be working today….

I am linking this progress with my favorite Sunday Stop >>> Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Linky Party right HERE <<<<  Come on over and see all the different kinds of handwork being shared today!!!

 Here are a last couple of facebook finds with significant meaning to me ….

 What is your love language??? 

Mine is quality time I think… although I love being spoiled with any of the above ways of showing love 💖

In closing I want you to read this remember life is short… live it with zest!

Have a blessed week ahead and thanks for stopping into my little spot from the mountains of North Carolina!!!  I hope you share your fave love language in the comments below 😍

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…

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 !!!

Welcoming 2020 and Filling up the Empty Quilt Frame!

Finally got to see my bestie on January 1, 2020!!!!

But before I get into that… let’s back up to Sunday the 29th….

I spent all day Sunday Slow stitching and early Monday morning finished it all up!!!

Leaving my frame empty!

 I made Connie and her daughters and grands these cute little mug rugs too!  She liked them 😀

 I used Messenger photo app to take this cute photo on New Years Eve….

And snapped one last photo of our Christmas tree from this year…

and fell asleep long before midnight… excited for the trip the next day!!!

I think we are both equally excited!!!

 My honey got the “fish vendor cart” we had bid on in a silent auction in the town where Connie lives… but the auction wasn’t over until the Friday after we left last fall… so she has been taking good care of this cute item my honey and I were totally enamored with 🙂

Above are photos of it in our kitchen with and without the canopy… which do you like???

Below is a close up of it with a puzzle we use as framed art behind it 🙂  It has rubber tires and a real chain and moving the pedals moves the wheels.. very unique and exquisite we think!!!

Now back from the trip it was time to make the BIG DECISION!!!!

Do I try to load a quilt I have started from the center (for followers this is the Garden Bouquet Wholecloth Quilt) that could well take 6 months to finish or do I load a quilt I finished this past summer that has been waiting in line with everything in the house I needed to load said quilt…

 The above quilt I donned the name Appalachian Delight quilt… using blocks called Bear in the Cabin that I did a tutorial on last year if you are interested in those bear claw variation blocks…

 Above is a close up of the stencils I plan to use throughout this quilt… and below is a wide shot showing how wide the outer border is and those beautiful mitered corners too!

 This is the pattern that goes on that wide boder… fits perfect and that was NOT planned 🙂

 The backing is shown here and is wideback I purchased from an online company that went with the vibe of the front…

 Here is my first corner to finish up close…

 And here is all I have gotten stitched as I have enjoyed getting into a routine with this one…

 My initials and the date are done in navy perle cotton in chain stitching… the rest is in burgundy hand quilting on the taupe and white fabric.

Linking this exciting chain of slow stitching events to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<
She is not feeling great today so come give her a visit and leave a healing comment for her!  No fun being sick.  She is also sharing some cool stories on her post plus there are other linkers sharing their stories too!!!

Then yesterday as I stitched… IT SNOWED here!!!!

 We got a couple inches … covering all that grass in the end… and a mud slide occurred too on the road not far from our home… salt trucks were out last night and this morning the grass was visible through the snow so no issues should be found… just joy with the snow!!!

I started sewing on some curtains for our bedroom and my good bloggy friend Jill has lent her help to aid me  along the way!  The excitement of a new quilt on the frame leaves me not much to show but that they are ready to sew together 😀 lol!

 I have been using my 2 week organizer almost every day since I started and am really loving the accountability of it… are you organizing your days for 2020???

 Check out my new blog header and closing … and have a blessed 2020!