Whooping a NEW BEGINNING!!!

Hey there from my sweet grandkids…
From my home… here is CJ at 14 months old….

 And via Facebook and Tennessee here is sweet Kaydence I have yet to focus my camera or kisses on yet! lol  She is 2 months already too!!!

It has been a while since I have had a post that made me wanna whoop really… at least around a Friday! lol  Cue Sarah at Confessions of a Febric Addicts Friday linky party… check her out HERE!

So what am I whooping besides the worlds cutest grandkids a Grammy could ask for??? lol

My new beginning quilt I showed you here last week

… and in this shot I was ready to quilt on my new desk my honey made me too!

Well…. I love the quilt and I love Love LOVE the desk!!!  It rolls and it is a nice large 16″ x 42″ top… my honey picked out all the wood special for this project and the casters work great on the tile floor too!  It has a shelf on the bottom for current supplies and for a place or me to prop my feet when I am in depth quilting 🙂

Superb is my review of having a desk to set my hoop on and use to work off of! 🙂  Love it for my style!  Home Run Honey 😀

As far as my progress… it has been stellar too…

Here is the center block… about 16″ x 24″ background block size… it is a rabbit jumper from when Kimber’s daughter was about 18 months old…

 Here you can see some of the blue lines I haven’t sprintzed out but you can see the design better this way… all lines are gone now though ! lol  This tshirt was one of Kimber’s favorites… she said her daughter was truly a little chatterbox! 🙂

 And here is how I start each outfit… with a picture and add drawing on my iPad.. not sure i I endorse any program for this topic yet… Do you have a fave one that draws easily on photos… and lets you type in a title like I have done here????

This dress above is one of Kaylie’s baby dresses.. note we were able to leave the buttons on the dress front during piecing and my quilting plan includes accentuating them.  See… 🙂

Also this week I tried my first paper pieced block…

Yes, it turned out nice.. but boy is it a waste if you are tight on fabric! lol

Also it took me over 2 hours to produce this block after watching a long vid by Carol Doak.

I do like her reasoning and methods.. but it isn’t fun like I like quilting to be for me… I have 3 more blocks to do like this but different “bird” colors…. lol!  We shall see how long that takes 🙂

Another Whoop to share during this last week was that my recent finish wall hanging was featured as the header of one of my facebook hand quilting groups… I don’t frequent it much anymore as it has gotten large and more impersonal.. but I enjoy the eye candy… 

 Imagine how amazed I was to be the giver of the candy for 24 hours of show!  Whoop!

In closing… here is one more pic I found of Kaydence.. taken by a photographer…

 Doesn’t this shot just make you want to smile! 🙂  It sure does me !!!

Have a blessed weekend and until my next post…

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A stopping place… and a FRESH start :)

Yesterday morning I put the final stitches in this hoop of flowers on my colorful whole cloth quilt…

I think this is between 1/4 and 1/3 done now.  I looked back and this quilt was started on March 19, 2015…

And here is a nice texture shot showing a bit more of the flowers…

So with that at a good stopping place with June 8 being the beginning of my rest break…  I have turned my focus to 2 newer projects 🙂

First is to mark for hand quilting and sew buttons to the center of each circle on this Bulls Eye flimsy…

The center was made by my bestie Connie… I added the borders with fabric I found for the backing and had plenty to throw the needed borders on it…

it will measure about 36″ square I think once washed… but that is a bit ahead…

Today I will mark it for hand quilting… add those buttons… then layer it and pin it! 🙂

I am very excited as this smaller project (about 40″ square now) will pin easily and be a pretty quick stitch too I think.. so sooner we will enjoy this deliciously textured finish I have planned!

Also I have been doing some design work on a UFO I have had for a couple years and actually had forgotten about it! lol

Here is what I have currently completed…

 And here is a mock up I made of what I plan to add to call this one a flimsy….

So the flying geese on either side of the center are paper pieced… that will be my first on this project.

The black border shown will actually be a dark grey Moda fabric left over from the Bulls Eye Wall Hanging 😉  I will also bind it in that same fabric I think!

So lots of work yet to go on this… it may wait for more attention until Connie comes in just a few weeks time now…

Hope this week finds you being productive and happy about it!

Until my next post…

Sunday Slow Down…

Sunday mornings I love getting up early (my regular time is about 4 am.. lol) and enjoying the peace and quiet of a quilty Sunday morning… here is my view today 🙂

Not too much progress since I moved the hoop yet… I am hoping today will change that!

I am linking this to Kathy’s Quilts for her Slow Sunday Stitching.. as that is where I hope to be today 🙂  Stitching slowly and loving it!!!

I hope you check out Kathy’s post today too.. she is chatting about beading and embroidery and quilting all together.. very fun post for sure!

I have also made a few design decisions on the wall hanging..

I will take this block and use it in 2 vertically pieced halves on either side of it…

It is a free paper pieced pattern with instructions I found on the internet via Goggle and was directed to a lovely blog post with lots of photos too!  Yippee 🙂

Then I have a nice sewing festive fabric for sashing and borders!  So this may come together… we will see how my “3 little geese” block turns out.. I doubt it will be as nice as this one but I will make it fun anyway! lol

Also, I found out my bestie Connie is making huge strides on a wall hanging for my home.. here are the parts all stacked up… she will mix them up and assemble into a flimsy and send to me for quilting!!!

It is made mainly with homespuns and is machine pieced.  I will quilt it with big stitch quilting using dark grey perle 8 cotton …

VERY EXCITED about this project coming up!

Otherwise this week we have sold a featherweight..

Here is my honey caught during his photo shooting… lol

And he also took shots of my scrapbook cabinet..

It is now for sale on eBay 🙂

Then yesterday my daughter got “fixed up” to go to a birthday & slumber party and allowed me a photo shoot!  What mom can resist that from their almost 17 year old!!!  Check her out !!!

The center one is my fave.. but she liked the smaller shots too.. so I combined them and used Picasa on my computer to make the collage 🙂

And I got a little something special for Kaydence… it will go in a package with other things I am collecting to send for after she is born…

 Check out a close up of my cousin’s embroidery …

She has an Etsy shop too!  She made this custom for me and I am very pleased with it!

So you can see some of why stitching just hasn’t been happening… here’s hoping we all get some hand stitches in today!!

Happy NTT Thursday!

NTT??  Yep… Kelly hosts a fun and quilty linky on Thursdays called NTT (Needle & Thread Thursday)… I love her linky… check out the other linkers HERE!

Today I am sharing some whole cloth tips… many are inspired to try this type of design for hand quilting as it looks deceptively easy…

Here is where I started Sunday…

And Monday I got the stems and flowers done…

And did that ribbon as well on Tuesday…

Then by Wednesday night I had finished the cross hatching background 🙂

Tah Dah!!!!

I am really enjoying this.. but it is a slow process.  And understanding the hand quilting basics leaned with patchwork stitching definitely helps.

When you stitch a wholecloth you are making all the design on a piece of fabric… all the lines I am stitching on now will be washed away when I am finished leaving only my colorful thread and the natural color of my whole cloth.

I would love to answer any whole cloth questions you have.. please comment with questions 🙂  I answer every comment personally!

While I have been stitching on this my honey is adding wainscoting to our living room and hall.  We had it in the foyer and dining room… he did that there as well!  It is labor intensive for sure and pics will come in a future post.

Also… I have had company while stitching…

CJ came to play yesterday!!!  Yippee 🙂 

CJ is my handsome grandson if you haven’t met him here yet!

Finally I have a request… I need HELP finishing this wall hanging. 

I plan to tea dye the middle embroidered square to help it match the off white vintage fabric I used for my background color of the spools.  But I need filler on each side of the embroidered square… would you put little stars or small spools or flying geese??? So many ideas I have… do you have any suggestions???

Thanks for stopping in!!! 

Until next time remember to…

Pincushion Reveal & Whole Cloth Update :)

Thanks to all of you that voted for your favorite Pin Cushion design for the little cast iron truck.  This will be a much used pin cushion.. so I wanted it to look fun and be functional…

What do you think???

I also ordered some ultra fine pins for it & for my future quilt piecing adventures

and I think I will love them!  They also have glass heads so they are ironable! Yipee!!!

Linking this cute pin cushion idea to Karen at Sew Many Ways linky party HERE!

While we were running errands this week we say the funnest thing ever…

Yep… if you see that dog… on the Hog… you are right!!!  Wouldn’t you love to be that dog!!! 🙂

Also this week I got to visit with my oldest son DL and CJ too!

CJ loves his Papa… and his Papa loves him 🙂  And we found a steal on a play pen for nap times here too!  And you know me… pediatric nurse.. I had to get him a few age appropriate toys too…

So next time they call for a babysitter we will be ready without them having to bring half their house with him 🙂  Yippee again!  And aren’t his cute baby cheeks just so kissable in this shot??!!! lol

Now on to the best stuff of the week.. 

My progress with the colorful Whole Cloth quilt… amidst my busy week I am learning to balance a bit more and have made so much progress I am ready to move my hoop now 🙂

Here are a couple close ups of my work for you to enjoy…

 The heavier blue areas in the top of these shots is where I needed to see the stitching lines better… some of them are quite faded from sunlight and time… remember this was a estate sale find for $8… so I will be happy to mark some along the way when necessary!  I am so blessed my friend Connie found and got this for me 🙂

I love the texture created when a section is all quilted.. it feels sooo cool too!  Very soft and supple for sure!!!

I have a couple secret projects coming up

.. and I have resurrected my Spools quilt top and will be finishing it…

would love your feedback on what I should use on the sides???  flying geese maybe…

should it have a small outer border??? 

I am also planning to tea dye the center piece so it matches the antique white of the spool blocks..

So quite a busy week ahead!  For today though I will happily be moving my hoop and working on secret projects! lol  And I will be linking this post with Kathy at Kathy’s Quilts.  She is talking about having a project tote.. I have 2 actually that I use all the time but have no shots of them.. Check out her slow stitching linky party HERE!

Hope whatever you do today you find time to…

Whooping Progress on Friday!!

I have been super busy this week quilting, cleaning, and selling 🙂

On the quilting front…

I have only 2 1/2 blocks left before I bind this baby I call for now THE MAN quilt… and finish the final quilting on it 🙂  I am Whooping Excited about THAT!

But even more exciting is my new craft studio… it isn’t new .. just cleaned… decluttered… and organized… 🙂

Here is how cluttered it was when I started…

And here is how peaceful it is now 🙂

Don’t you love that WHOOP!!!

Also we have paid that big bill that needed paying and I am soooo WHOOPING about that!

So now it is time to get back to selling as we have more stuff to list… and we have new vintage sewing machine on it’s way to us for refurbishing!  Yipee and WHOOP!

Thanks for visiting me today and hope you will share what you are Whooping about this Friday!

Also look forward to an upcoming Linky Party … starting the end of THIS month & the end of every month… a time to set goals and show off goals met.. adjust goals as needed and do our own celebrating!  Follow me so you can stay in the loop on that!

Before closing I wanted to share some cute quilty embroidered inspiration I found while surfing this week a bit on the internet… it is from this great book of “Patchwork and Embroidery”

I saved this pic to share with you and to inspire myself on the applique/embroidery section of the Spools & Tools QAL I finished the spools on in this post 🙂

Have a blessed weekend!

Linking this Whoop to Confessions of a Fabric Addict HERE! ~ she has Seinfeld doing a happy dance at the end of her post just before the linky party 🙂

Ripping out and Starting over = SUCCESS!

Hello my bloggy friends… I have been uber busy this week with other things … but have managed to get a bit of stitching time in since Sunday… mainly on these beauties 🙂

6 almost perfectly pieced blocks… my best piecing work ever!  🙂

All but the last block required some amount of ripping out and starting over… I thought you might light a short tute on how to make ripping out or “frogging” I have heard it called… a little easier…

First snip every 3rd or 4th (if on a flat area) thread from the top if you know which is the top of your piece (chain piecing can cause you to get confused I think! lol) to remove thread from…

Once you have done this across the entire seam then gently PULL the pieces apart.. now they will have little stings (and a long one on the back side from your bobbin thread)

Clean up all the strings … if you have a long seam use a rolled piece of sticky tape to catch on those little pieces in a snap too!

You are ready for another try at that perfect pieced block now 🙂  Yahoo!

In reviewing my last block post I found the pic of this QAL did not show up so let me show you the example of this pattern and kinda what mine will look like…

but only the same basic layout on mine… the spool blocks and borders will be similar but I plan to feature My Fiona in the center!  Fiona is my main sewing machine I use for piecing and she and I are really getting along 🙂  I love sewing vintage too!  The hum is like no other type of machine!

Here are some close ups of each block in the order I did them 😉

The very last block was the first one cut and last one pieced and is the most special piece of fabric… each piece in this quilt has some meaning to me for the spool insides.. but this was a cover my friend Joyce made for my gypsy… now that I am selling my gypsy I repurposed the bag into 2 blocks… the one above… and this one a little smaller that I did with my friend Wendy!

I love that polka dot white fabric but wanted plain for my wall hanging so my hand quilting would show more 🙂  This “test” block for my learning was a perfect place to add the white polka dot fabric don’t you think?!

I plan to do something special with this block and am pondering it.. it measures 6 1/2″ now and finished at 6″ .. ideas anyone??  I could applique is to my quilt center section… that is a thought on that redesign.  A sewing machine with a spool and a cute pair of scissors ??

The MAN QUILT will be getting some attention today from me.  Right now I am about 1/2 way through this feather now 🙂

I have 3 feathers, 1 cornerstone and 2 blocks to do in this grouping… no goal setting for this as Ebay selling has to remain center stage in my life this week… that is what has been keeping me so busy ..

I am selling all my craft room and will have an advertisement posted on my blog this afternoon for everything I am selling on eBay.. it is sad but necessary and I don’t use the stuff anymore so it should go to someone who will love and appreciate it for what it is!  Wonderful paper crafting tools and accessories to make masterpieces possible!

I am also trying to sell personally my Cricut Gypsy and wanted to offer it first to my paper crafting followers and their friends… are you or do you know anyone interested in a Cricut GYPSY???

If you know anyone with a Cricut that doesn’t have one (works with all Cricut’s no matter if small or large, old or new).  I am selling this to the first person that contacts me 🙂  If you are interested just contact me here!

Thanks for bearing with me through these times… more quilty fun to come!

Linking up this tutorial to Sew Fresh Quilts Let’s Bee Social here where she is sharing who is most inspiring person in her life… her mom!  For me it is my honey, my best friend, and my kids 🙂  Who inspires you to succeed in your life dreams ??!!

Happy Stitchin’ Sunday :)

Hope you are having a blessed and beautiful weekend where ever you are 🙂  We had cloudy cool weather yesterday … today the sun is shining and I am back in Florida! lol

I want to show off my fave and expensive and extravagant tool I use nearly every day in response to a question by Kathy over at Slow Sunday Stitching HERE today!

The scissors were gifted to me by my best friend and the charm I put on it is a twin to her charm that is pink with the same heart bead!  The lobster claw was too small for the scissors and so I added a silver split jump ring to join it all together!

I love this bit of extravagance and that is why I do pose them a lot in shots.. today I am giving this special tool top billing on my post 🙂

Before I started slow stitching the feather today I decided to try out my piecing skills that I have been seriously working on…

I am HAPPY to report I got 1 row of the QAL done 🙂

And this is all thanks to my friend Wendy who has a wonderful post up today on her blog 🙂

QAL Pattern guide

If you recall I did all 6 of these blocks with strips… unfortunately they were all wonky and wouldn’t even think about going together… Wendy rescued those blocks in a way from being quilted as they were… my intention! ha 🙂  By insisting on teaching me… from Australia and only via fb chat.. how to piece properly… many messages later and I had a block made and felt so happy!  But it was too small for this project… so I decided instead of fixing the bad ones (I had trimmed the backs some so the blocks were no longer truly square anyway anymore… I have these 3 beauties 🙂  The other 3 are cut out and waiting for morning again … Yippee!

We are also being very successful with Ebay sales this week!  Happily those taxes may get paid soon 🙂  Right now we have vintage sewing machines and a Cricut die cutting machine among other things !  We are having fun and spending time together and that is important!

Now I must return to some slow stitching as my fingers are itching to feel fabric in only a way hand quilting can offer..

Do you have an extravagant purchase/tool that you have for quilting that you resist using because it is expensive or sentimental or both??  I would love to hear from you!

My spool blocks for the QAL :)

I was so inspired by Edyta Sitar’s spool block that I decided to make my own to fit this pattern for the QAL I am doing…

The pattern calls for 6 spools… but didn’t give a finished ready to sew size for anything but the spool part… it is a Quilt in a Day pattern and wants to make it easy … but when you change the pattern it just makes it more challenging… so let me share what I did 🙂

Here is just 1 block ~ I made 3 of this color way…

Here is a different color way I did 3 more to total the 6 needed 🙂

The recipe I figured out to make it the same size as the pattern needed to be with less waste than their way called for (mitered corners) is right here!

 I do hope this pattern makes sense… but if you would like a little step by step I DID take pics 🙂

First I made the spools by cutting creatively a 1 7/8″ strip from 3 coordinating (to me! ha) fat quarters or scraps… you will need each scrap to be 4″ long times the number of strips you want in that specific fabric 🙂  For me I used fat quarters then fussy cut that 1 strip of 1 7/8″ to 3 ~ 4″ strips I liked :).  That gave me a ready to piece raw edged piece that was the specified pattern size of 4 x 4 1/2″ tall.

Next I marked all the C2 blocks with a diagonal pencil line…

Then I laid out my 9 patch of sorts like this…

Next I started sewing with the left middle white piece to the center stripped piece…

Next up I chain pieced the rest of the block by sewing the corners diagonally on the line drawn heading like I have them laid out here… RIGHT sides together … my white blocks look the same on both sides so I didn’t have to watch that 🙂

Once you have chain pieced this all together and are left with only the middle left block remaining you can pull that one from your chain to add it!  Easy 🙂

Because these blocks go together so easy and because I was fussy cutting and just having fun with this I also took time to save bonus triangles for hst later 🙂  Do you ever save and sew our bonus triangles into hst’s ??  Interested in knowing more about that… comment below and tell me… 🙂

And before I knew it I was done!  Tadaaah!

All 6 in the order I think they will go together 🙂

What are you up to this Saturday ?

Have a blessed weekend!

Linking this post in a big WHOOP to Confessions of a Fabric Addict 🙂
       and a crafty link with Karen at Sew Many Ways 🙂

Slow and Steady Wins the Race :)

Happy Wednesday!

As I slow stitch… I think about so much stuff… upcoming projects… prayers for those around me and in my world virtually too!  So much going on in the world as well to think and pray on…

Here is my 16th block… when I finish this block I will be 2/3 done with the quilting on this beauty!

 

Currently I am about 1/4 done with this block 🙂  Slow and steady wins the race though! lol

As I slow stitch my honey is working on the cabinet to the 1928 White Rotary electric machine I shared with you on my last post.  He is refinishing the original and more recently varnished finishes from this beautiful red mahogany wood cabinet (we think that is the kind of wood it is! )

Here is my honey putting on CitriStrip…

The legs in the foreground are stripped now and the background legs are in stages of stripping…

gooey old stuff coming OFF!  Yay 🙂

A pic I found of what this cabinet should look like when we are done with it :)… sorta! lol

 So our goal was to strip and return it to it’s original beauty … like the stock photo I found above of this cabinet called a “Martha Washington” and it even has a brass plate I will show you later on the right side door that says “Martha Washington” on it!  Very cool piece…

Here is my honey’s stripper he LOVES and I will attest no bad smell or bad fumes from the stuff like I have experienced when rehabbing furniture myself in the past…

It does not work as fast as chemical stripper but it does a great job as you can see in the pics… must be patient and do multiple applications to get the results we got… and then a good sanding is in order so we did purchase some sandpaper too… so far we have the varnish and stain… so we are out $12.00 for the stripper and about $5.00 for various grades of sandpaper!  SCORE!!!

Here is a cool brass oil can we found in the cabinet!  Isn’t is cool 🙂  I love finding treasures like this oil can that even has a place to be in the cabinet… again pics of that later 🙂

Here is a pic my kids LET ME TAKE that is awesome I think… I love a good pic with good lighting… and love to show off my kids too… these are my 2 youngest… 19 and 15 🙂

 This is a plan I have for a quilt along we are doing over at Patchwork Friends fb page here

We are a small group of quilty friends… you are welcome to request entry as it is a closed group… but I am the admin who allows entry 🙂  Send me a PM there with a request to enter and Whallah… come Quilt Along with us as we make our own variations on this pattern!

by Wendy Gilbert & Quilt in a day this little wall hanging will be my first time to try applique… but it starts with the spools… I am thinking how Edyta Sitar did hers above in a now out of print recipe is the best inspiration for my spools…

So that is what is going on in my slow and steady week… what is going on in yours???  Would love to hear from you!

Thinking of doing a giveaway soon… any ideas on a fun gift to GET???  Or share your fave winning from a blog or other online hosted giveaway!  I have a great book I got for card making I am thinking of offering  HUGE resource book any papercrafter would love to have on their shelf… or a half yard of Halloweeny fabric… but is it too early for some Halloweeny fabric??? lol  Great LQS fabric I got in Murfreesboro TN and didn’t use!

So if you haven’t figured it out I want to hear from YOU my lovely readers… tell me what you want.. what you are up to.. and what you love about my blog the most!  I blog for me .. but I blog to entertain you too!  And inspire you I hope 🙂

Much bloggy Love!

Linking to Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation 🙂