Sew Much Hand Quilting Fun ~ Ellie’s Quilt Reveal and Connie’s Swoon too!

Happy Sunday Y’all!  And Happy Father’s Day to you that have a Father in the House too ❤

Here is sweet Molly, who just turned 1 year old!!!, modeling my new fave spot to be in when I am NOT hand quilting at my frame 🙂  We also found this fun fern when shopping for just $5!!!  what a deal !!

In my view has been this most interesting flowering bush… it is a hydrangea in pink, blue and purple with a bit a white even all in one bush!!!!

 How does that happen when the color of the flowers is due to the acid in the soil… or so I thought… maybe a hybrid??  But it didn’t come up last year …. hmmmm!

Then next to the front door we have this mammoth hosta plant that dies back each winter and comes back stronger and more brilliant the following year!!!

 This year our neighbor (who harvested the strawberries from our garden space) says we will have some Muscadine Grapes to make jam with… he says he will teach me 😀

 We have 3 or 4 peach trees all FULL of peaches…

 And a GRAND old Willow that needs a good trim down low but has been here longer than we have been inhabiting this land I think… or so we are told that !

 We celebrated Flag Day this past Friday here in the US…  in keeping with that we had found this cool heart shaped flag theme wall hanging that found a home under a flag that adorns our wall….

 I haven’t been spending too much time at the sewing machine this week but Thursday was …

And here is a photo I sent to my bestie … she works full time plus some… I have all day to stitch by hand or machine… she doesn’t…

So where have I been spending my time???  Well Ellie and her parents got her quilt… waiting patiently for a picture of her with her quilt and afghan…

These are both hand done… the quilt I designed just for little Elliana… it is machine applique for durability… but all hand quilted including the binding 😀

The afghan was a gift to little Ellie from my bestie Connie!  See she included a label she had made too ❤

I enjoyed making that collage… but lets take a closer look at the quilt I spent so much time on in recent times…

I started working on this quilt March 15, 2019… I completed and mailed it on June 8, 2019… just shy of 3 months of work!  🙂  It finished at about 50″ x 60″.  It is all cotton and soft and snuggly after washing and drying as seen in these photos 🙂

To the left you can see how I added the label and framed it in the corner of the quilt… right bottom is my fave spot for a label … 

Here is the fabric marker I used for the label…

 I got this in a 2 pack on Amazon.

Here you can see all the cool texture the hand quilting created on the back side.

It was loved upon receiving it and they called to gush over how happy they were with not just the quilt but also the afghan too… the afghan is about 36″ square and perfect for discreet breastfeeding or bundling up in the car seat too ❤

With that mailed off I spent a few days catching up on housework and doing a bit of piecing with Julius my new to me 301 vintage Singer.  Soon this empty frame was calling me back though 🙂

 Here is the backing fabric I pressed completely … it is a wideback fabric designed by Lori Holt and it divine for stitching.. not as heavy as some widebacks I have used !!!  She got this at Fabric . com I think and it was definitely worth it… I will ponder my next quilt backing purchase better after feeling this AND quilting it too!!!

Soon I had my Hinterberg quilt frame loaded with the backing in the front 2 rollers…

 And after a nice overnight break from frustration during loading the top and batting… I remember what I had forgotten to do … and woke up and loaded it all by myself 🙂

I made this spammed photo for sharing on facebook 🙂  And to help me remember when I started this project.

 The pattern is called “Swoon” and these are the original 24″ finished size… they now have other sizes available… my bestie pieces so perfectly it is such a pleasure to stitch on her piecing.

When she came early in the spring to drop off the quilt top and backing and batting… we premarked most of it using the blue water soluble markers we had on hand… but since that time I have found a different brand that I get quickly from Amazon… a link to Amazon USA site is HERE!

They are quite affordable at $15 for 10 markers and each one lasts a good amount of time… even if they are small in size they hold a good bit of very water soluble ink!

Soon… after several on phone consultations and several photos exchanged … I had this photo that we both liked…

 Then this much…

 And finally made it to the sashing 😀

 Today I am working on finishing the second swoon block quilting…

 And here is a view from above for you all to enjoy 🙂

I am linking this hand quilting extravaganza post to:
Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday group HERE
and to Wendy’s Peacock Party HERE

But most excited for my latest group to join that only requires hand quilting progress to post every 3 weeks!

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

I did a quiz on facebook this week and got this result… I found it fun and humorous 🙂

I am complex, quirky, imaginative and experimental… all very true about me 🙂

 Here is a photo I took in my front yard of me… and a black and white of my darling daughter and her man…

Here is a cool old Singer we sold this week too…

I hope you enjoyed this long winded post and I hope you will visit all the links… and enjoy the hand done creativity each shares!!! 

Have a blessed week ahead… it is just 2 more weekends before it is JULY !!!
CRAZY HOW TIME FLIES!!!!  So don’t waste a MINUTE of it ….

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Crazy Busy Week Y’all ~ Come Read All About It!

June is being crazy busy for us !!!

Sunday evening I finished up the hand quilting on Elliana’s quilt!!!  YAY 🙂  I was promptly exhausted and Molly was promptly excited to see I was cutting it off the frame 🙂  She is soooo cute I had to snap a photo of her on the quilt as I cut it loose! lol

Monday I sewed on the binding , made the label and sewed it on … and Tuesday I got a new do for summer time 😀

Y’all it is SHORT back there… but I totally love that she left the front long enough to do something with still 😀  I am not due to have it trimmed again until September but I am already contemplating late July to keep it up a bit better! lol

And look how beautiful the daisies are looking this week with the rain on them … we started getting rain mid week !!!  YAY  (Our pond is back to getting water to it again.. our river was very low from lack of rain here in the mountains!)

 I took a better photo of the table runner showing the machine quilting on it… I really like this piece in our kitchen decor now too 😀

 Look at this heart shaped flag piece we found when thrift shopping Monday… found a home real quick in our decor!

 And we got a 5′ x 7′ rug that Molly has promptly decided is her play area 😀

 I wish you could see her… she brings all her toys and treats here now to enjoy them and rolls around on the carpet to rub her back and play for her toys… she loves it!  Sew funny to watch!!

She turns 1 year old Monday the 10th !! YIPPEE 🙂

And look at this quote I found this week…

Then look how proud my darling daughter looks with her GED certificate in hand here…

Here is her official diploma she shared with me …

I am so proud and excited for her!!!!

She also starts a job now next week at the school where she took her GED classes… she passed above the expectations of the course too… and had fun teaching some of her classmates math … her favorite subject 😀

 I won Julie Cefalu’s giveaway for May y’all!  I am MEGA EXCITED about this ❤

 The Crafty Quilter… aka Julie…(HERE is the blog post she posted after contacting me<<<) contacted me early in the week and by yesterday I was looking at all these goodies 😀  I am stoked !!!  I never win anything I enter but my hard work and perseverance paid off here… look at my winning lot!

 Julie has her own stationary and she wrote me a very personalized not for winning… she did substitute for the Moda  2019 hand towel this cool label fabric and a spool of 50 wt Aurifil (my fave thread ya know) … I love this substitution… the other fabrics are 1/2 yard but mostly I am excited for the Ruby red Olfa 45 mm rotary cutter!!!!

 I am a July born baby and ruby is my birthstone and me and my honey’s fave color together too ❤

So to celebrate winning we finally bit the bullet and ordered a “bistro set” … a couple of cozy oversized chairs that swivel and a table that is glass top but not see through and larger than we expected…

 Here you can see our front yard a bit better and how it sits near our flag pole on a concrete slab that was there when we bought the house… we used it for a burn pit for paper trash… now that is moved to near the river for burning purposes where it is more safe anyway and we have claimed this space to enjoy sitting (when it stops raining )…

No complaints about the rain but I will be glad to enjoy this newly claimed spot!

I am not showing any more of the quilt but little snippets until next weeks post when they have received the quilt… but look at the cute label I made here…

 And here is the 3rd corner as I rounded each one during the week and busy stuff was happening…

 Finally Friday nite I placed the last pins and stitched all the binding down using my favorite new stitch the ladder stitch I shared a while back in a picture tutorial here…

Linking my slow stitching finish that mailed out yesterday to it’s new home to: 

Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday HERE <<< where she is sharing some hand embroidery and other linkers are busy sharing hand stitching of all kinds too!!!

& to

Wendy’s Peacock Party HERE <<< where she is sharing all sorts of goodness and close ups of a Lucy Boston quilt I LOVE!!!

 This week I ordered fabrics and made a proper pattern for the basket themed pillow shams to coordinate with my daughter’s graduation quilt she will be coming to get sometime end of July around her birthday she says 😀

To the left is the pattern I fleshed out when I wasn’t able to sleep one night…

To the right is the fabric that I didn’t let myself near until the quilt for Elliana was done 😀  I love torturing myself but I loved more playing with the new fabrics!!!

Going through my stash I knew I had a bit of nice white fabric for the flying geese … and some more grey in the steel color I bought… but the colors are a tad off on the grey… so I may make the grey fabric I had be part of the back of the pillow shame and keep the new grey fabric to be the pieced front part of the pillow sham 🙂  

I am enjoying this project more now that I have started it too!!!  Playing with my latest gift from my honey, Julius, is amazing too !!!

 And before I knew it my other new rotary (Clover green 45 mm rotary) along with the 28 mm with a fresh blade (great for trimming to size all those hst’s)… had this top part of the basket laid out 🙂

 Molly got a new toy this week… she got filthy dirty in the dirt and rain by the river that runs through our yard… so she got a bath and brush out… she looked so good I had to grab a photo of her and her new ball toy too on the rug 😀

 And here is Ellie at 2 weeks old… they will call Elliana that I think 🙂 

Isn’t this the cutest photo of a baby!!!!  LOL I am sew in love with her… I think we will be going there first part of July for my birthday!!!

In closing, I want to share that my honey went to the hospital with low oxygen levels this week too… We loved the EMS crew that took him on oxygen to the hospital but our local small hospital pales in comparison to his regular VA experience 2 hours drive away when he had his hip replaced and where he sees his regular doctors…  His oxygen levels are still NOT stellar but not as low as they were either… please keep him in your thoughts and prayers this week that the doctors can figure out what is going on with him and provide him with medication/technology to help it get better… for now he has increased his oxygen level he receives when he sleeps.  We are hoping he doesn’t need oxygen during the day though!!!  Take care and remember…

Daisy Meadows is Numbered and Great Sewing Progress too!

It has been such a roller coaster week here at Daisy Meadows (that is what we finally decided to name our property here in North Carolina) !!  It fits better than the Lazy Daisy homestead as you can’t be lazy here though it is relaxing for sure 🙂  Do you have a name for your home whether owned or rented??
Our home rests in a meadow of this mountain in the photo below….

And Daisy… who just celebrated being 7 years old was our doxie dog for nearly that long before she went to live with our best friend and Molly entered our life… a puppy full of energy !!! lol  So Daisy Meadows in memory of our first born together is how we roll!

Here is Rick putting up our more substantial house numbers we bought as naked pine wood and he stained and mounted and is here screwing to the house…

 And here it is with the old numbers that were way whimpy all gone and our nice big numbers ready to represent us…

Don’t know if you can see it but we also mounted the bell on the column in front of the numbers this week!  We have been busy and shipping has been quick with USPS as well 🙂

I absentee vote … in Florida that meant signing the outside of the envelope after sealing it across the seal… well in North Carolina that now means having 2 witnesses or a notary public witness your signature on the back of the envelope!!  So I called the local office and was told I could bring it in and they would witness… so I did and once found it was EASY to do 😀

 I love to absentee vote because I can look up stuff about each candidate and vote for the ones I think will do the best job… let’s see how I did as time goes by now.

This morning as I waited for the coffee to brew I freshed up my flower vases my honey made me last week….

There is one on my computer desk… and one by my quilting frame.  Both needed a freshening up and removing of the old… I leave the adding of the new to my honey … all that is left are the white chrysanthemums in the yard now though… deep fall and cool temps are setting in for us … color changing trees are all around us too!  I LOVE IT!!!

 This week my honey saw his primary doctor for a regular visit and she scheduled him for tests prior to him seeing the orthopedic doctor to get scheduled for his hip replacement… she also gave him some pain medication to add to his regime and THAT has helped him tremendously be more active like getting the numbers on the house 🙂  It is good to see him busy.

While he was seeing the doctor and going to the pharmacy I waited and stitched…

This pillow top has been in my go bag for a WHILE!!!!  I think next week when he has the test and sees the orthopedist it may get done though!  Then I can remove the pencil markings and make it into a pillow top for my honey.  My best friend Connie is also fashioning a couple pillow tops for him!  We can cycle through them so he doesn’t go through them quite so fast anymore 😀

When we are home I have been working on what will be the next quilt for our bed….

And although the borders on this sketch for Appalachian Delight remain blank except for the half square triangle border to be… I have been busy working on the 16 center blocks…

 And with feedback from my friends on facebook….

I decided to call this block I have invented…

 And I wrote a tutorial on how to construct this cool block starting with the log cabinish centers HERE!  So check out that post for sure and let me know if you decide to try one!!! 

I personally LOVE this block and am so glad I decided to make the quilt… it will be next up in the frame… once I can focus on Stars Among Us quilt top in the frame at the moment!!!

My slow stitching progress has been overshadowed by selling on facebook, running to doctor appointments and post office runs as well…. and sewing these addictive blocks! lol  But Stars Among Us .. like that pillow top… is getting some work on it each week… I had this done last week when I shared the loading I believe…

 This week I have focused on this…

 And today I plan to relax and enjoy my Sunday working on this portion and hopefully soon rolling the frame to a fresh “canvas”…

Here is a cool wood and metal art my friend made… I thought it was way cute and hope to make something similar to hang in our Daisy Meadows home this winter with fabric instead of metal and wood… we shall see 🙂

 My daughter sent me this cool reminder just yesterday… reminding me to relax and unwind….
Well I do have the flip flop state of mind intact still…

Even though I wear warm shoes outside… flip flops remain my shoe of choice when around the house  🙂

My friend Kathy… at Kathy Quilts HERE is blogging about adorning a fabric bowl she made this week… it is similar to this coaster I bought from Etsy and wished I could make but don’t know where to get the core cording to add the scrap fabrics too… maybe she will share the pattern, book, or innate knowledge she has on the process as I love this coaster set and would love to put my sewing machine that zig zags to use making a few more of these for my home 🙂

So that is all that is happening around here… going to make some leisurely slow stitches now and I look forward to responding if you decide to leave a comment and a way to respond 🙂

For now and always…

And have a safe Halloween if you are the USA !!!!  BOOOOOOOO 😀

Welcoming Miss Molly and MORE stitching done too!

Welcome to my blog and welcome Miss Molly to our family!!!

Molly  is a Shihpoo that came to us weighing a bit over 3 pounds!!!!  She is 11 weeks old today and will grow to about 8 or 10 pounds eventually!  These photos all show her cute little face well…

We drove to west of Huntsville Alabama to get her… quite a haul for us but worth it… she was dirty when we picked her up at 10 weeks old exactly !!!  

Soon as we got home she used the grass outside had a bite to eat … had a bit of a rest on a quilt I made that was clean and ready for her then into the bath she went for a good scrub down!

 Soon after this she was making herself at home in my scrap basket of fabric and finding some batting/backing for the Star quilt top on my design wall waiting to be layered up… she was running and jumping into the batting and it was soo fun watching her!!!!

Daisy Mae… had to be rehomed to my best friend Connie.  Rick was recently diagnosed with asthma and is allergic (we believe) to Daisy’s dander and shedding hair… none of this was helping so we dehaired the house as best we could… sent her to Connie as you can see below (with all her pillows and cage and stairs and bowls) and got a pup with no shedding /dander issues or at least minimal.. and I will do all her grooming/bathing whereas he did all of Daisy’s.

Daisy leaving with Connie at the “meet up spot”.  It was about halfway to our new pups destination and about halfway between our homes that we met.
Then a pic of Connie with Daisy Dog at her new home as Daisy Dog Combs!!!
She loves that she has people around all the time now and is rarely alone too 🙂

I am over 1/3 done with the machine quilting now….

 I marked my lines in a beige pencil on this photo… they aren’t straight in the center and in real life they are… they are wavy along the sides… maybe you can see better in this photo below!

Most of my quilting time has been working on HAND QUILTING though….

I am now about 80% complete with the quilting on this quilt… on row 11 of 13 rows in all!!!  SEW EXCITING … soon I will be seeing all the top !!!!

Linking this awesome quilty progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE where my tribe of hand stitchers link… come see what everyone is up to… and as for Molly….

She found a home in a box Rick made a few years back for me to use…

Now it is being used to snuggle her as I quilt… she has become used to climbing into the box whenever I am over here at my frame which is daily for sure!!!

I am keeping my stencils under the box so she can’t get to them… she likes nibbling them and teething on them… so they underneath the box to avoid nibbles! lol

Here is where my Sunday will be spent … working on the right side of the quilt…. and potty training Molly and enjoying my honey too ❤

When my honey is able… still dealing with sciatic nerve pains down is right leg… he will be in his new recliner… the quilt you see on the floor is Molly’s for now until I get her a girlie cushion made!

 This Bonnie-ism best describes how I am feeling these days!!!

I will be slow stitching intermittently today and try to drag myself to faster stitching on the machine tomorrow… but mainly I will appreciate this home we live in and this life we are creating day by day for ourselves… how about you??!!

Slow stitching by hand and machine and MORE…

It has been a busy couple of weeks around here … since my last post 🙂  Unfortunately the sewing and stitching side of things is going slow… but still going so that is good!

For my slow stitching progress on Hanover Stars…

 Which makes my total progress…

 Above the photo shows the set in triangle stencil design drawn on…once I roll a bit down I can do that part… but first I need to get row #11 going 🙂

Here are some of my favorite notions for this job… and YES I use by Bose speaker!!! lol

 Here was the last blue block of row 10 marked prior to finishing that stitching too…

 Linking all this fun slow stitching to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Linky Party HERE… this is MY tribe!  Follow that link to see why I say that!!!

Also happening in the background when I can drag myself there is some machine quilting…

 I love this space and I love sewing on Zena … my 401a.  But I just don’t like wagging this 23 Psalm quilt around to stitch how I wanna stich… so this is happening very slow and just bits at a time….

I am about 1/3 or a bit more done with the stitching on this one.  This is my charity project for 2018…

Meanwhile my honey has been even more busy!!!

 Above he built me a ramp to get in and out of the garage door… he built it over the existing concrete stops and it works wonderful with a gradual incline only !!!  I need double knee replacements and am trying to hold off as I am only 52 years young… knees last about 15 years and I hope to only do this once in my life… also I am trying to take off some excess pounds prior to surgery … my doctor is awesome in helping support me in this journey 😀

Anyway,  Daisy loves sunning herself and supervised the building of the ramp for me 🙂

 Then my honey found this cool bakers rack on Marketplace for cheap and he decorated it with often used items….

 Then we had the teapot clock that didn’t keep time well… so when we couldn’t find clockworks to fit it we decided to add an inspirational saying for it….

 And this IS our Happy Place of all the places we have lived prior to here!!!!

Opposite of that is our cool secretary and bulletin board… with some cool decor items my honey hand picked to make it all cozy….

 Then we finally found a place for our stainless trash can!

And here is a view of the kitchen as a whole from the living room….

 NOW FOR THE BIGGEST NEWS!!!!

Our Daisy Mae is moving to Nashville to live with Connie… my bestie!

My honey recently was diagnosed with asthma… and I have lung disease as well…. Daisy’s dander is causing us both a bit of respiratory distress that is not getting better as she gets older but getting worse… so after long convos between my honey and I we decided we needed to rehome her and get a breed that doesn’t shed or have dander… so with the quilts I machine quilted a couple years ago here that got rehomed to Connie….

also goes also our Daisy Mae and all her stuff that is full of her dander…and her fave reclining chair she shared with my honey will be rehomed to the garage until we can find a pet friendly home that wants a nice recliner for CHEAP!

So what will we do for companionship besides drive each other bat crazy nuts???!!!

Get a dander free and hopefully shed free pup… Shihpoo is the designer breed (mix of poodle and shih tzu) we are looking at and this one that is just 10 weeks old tomorrow is our choice first….

 No name is picked out for HER yet… she is just weaned from mom so may be some crying to deal with initially as we bond with our new addition… thus the reason for this post… LOTS to share and Sunday we will be on the road to first drop off our Daisy at a halfway spot for Connie and us… then to go on to Alabama where this little one lives outside Huntsville.  Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers that we will survive house breaking and bonding with this sweet bundle of love and that we don’t have shedding / dander issues with her.  She is currently a bit over 3 pounds and may top out at 10 pounds or so.  Naming will also happen once we get to know her and her personality a bit!  Mollie has been discussed but nothing is set in stone there yet.

Until I catch up with y’all again…

Stitching… Sewing… Traveling… Shopping >>> We are home!

This last week has been a bit on the crazy side!

My sewing room… as well as most of the house was a MESS!  And we needed to take a trip back to our hometown.  We had LOTS of loose ends and we both have health issues to address prior to and during the upcoming trip as well!

First things First… Clean up around here a bit!!!  Because I needed Gloria for a very important project!!!

With Gloria now ready for the task at hand… I cut out the pattern Sara Lawson wrote for this cross body bag in Large 🙂 … and Small for later use too!  But this was to be a surprise “big purse” requested by my dd for her 20th birthday celebration when we take our trip!

First I printed the FREE PDF pattern for this awesome bag HERE and used her accompanying video HERE and started cutting out pieces and parts … fabrics and interfacing… hoping what I was imagining would come into being in a cool way!  Sara also posts twice weekly shows on youtube and has a fun facebook group 😀

I used the last of the fabrics from a quilt I made my dd and some others from my stash that coordinated.

There is a handy 1 page list of necessities Sara provides to make this cool cross body bag come to life in either size so I took that shopping and started my gathering collection of bag making supplies! lol

Soon I was to my arch nemesis… the zipper!

 SCORE!!!!

Then the purse hardware called a twist lock… I ordered this one from a super fast shipping Etsy shop too ❤

 And sooner than expected… but just in time for our trip to Tennessee… I had the purse complete!

Here is a photo I like the best before getting photos with the recipient!

Meanwhile my honey was in an organizing frenzy in his man cave and in the kitchen!  Check this room out now!!!

It still has some decorating to go… a bit of clutter here and there.. but boy is it looking so much nicer now in our kitchen!!!

Then he got a surge of energy thanks to some medicine helping his back and hip pain and started working OUTSIDE on the bushes!  Here you can see from our front door to the right side of the Lazy Daisy…

 Just beyond these huge shrubs he is trimming is the Valley river and our land continues on above and beyond that until you get to some railroad tracks… they are only used occasionally these days tho!

 If you look at this close up you can see the building up in the top left of the photo… that is our post office for the town we live in… just below that is the rail road tracks and our property is this side of that then! 🙂

You can always hear the rushing of the river on the Lazy Daisy… we love that !!!

Then we got the new hard drive we ordered in the mail… for the one that became corrupted in the Dell laptop… we ordered a faster and more efficient one we thought… but not sure how fast… so it was time to switch them out…

Well let me just say Windows website and chat people were the most helpful place we went for help for free … we are neither one tech savvy… but together with their help and instruction we were able to download Windows 10 and upload it via a USB drive to the new hard drive.  I got frustrated at one section of it and walked away… but Rick persisted and soon he had a NEW and super fast working computer !!!

 It is faster than my new desktop in some ways even!!!

 So here we sit now side by side… his oil cans and our favorite lighthouse wood carving adorning our spots… yep still lots of clutter here too but that is okay… we  will find neat and tidy homes for all our “stuff” 😀

With ALL of this done you would think surely we would rest the day before our trip but no… Rick worked on MORE projects and I made my dd (darling daughter) Brandi a “snap bag” from THIS tutorial I found on youtube by Riley Blake designs.. but I rounded my edges and didn’t use the tape she suggests as I didn’t need it….

This cute bag stays closed unless you pull it open with the prairie points!  UBER CUTE and fast and easy to make.. I quilted this one and boxed the bottom corners too!  Each side of the bag is fussy cut for sea turtle cuteness ❤

Finally it was Friday morning… Rick had cut down Daisy’s big crate to make it Daisy sized and we loaded all we need for an overnight trip to central Tennessee…

And soon we were all at the hotel together and she finally could see all our hard work via iPad photos and vids… and then it was time to open her goodies we brought!

Soon our night was over.. but we did enjoy all waking in the middle of the night for some giggles… Rick is a real jokester and Brandi and I enjoyed his humor … esp at 2 am!!!

The hotel provided a nice breakfast then off to the airport so Brandi could meet with what she believes her destiny is in New York state!!!  So far away but she is 20 now and it is time for her to carve her own life.  I love you my dd!! ❤

We then visited for a good bit with my bestie Connie who came by the hotel after working all night!  It was sooo good to get a great big hug from her 😀

Then we were off to trek back to our home state of North Carolina.. and even though we had only been gone a day we missed it terribly!

We did pick up this cool tall skinny shelf to the left of the TV and quickly filled it up with vintage goodies….

 We found a light oak bread box too…

 and an oak and black shelf…

 That is sitting on our mantle for the time being….

 We also found a few clothes while we were thrift shopping our way home… and this cool quote on wood…

 Finally… to share my handwork during all this busy time I am halfway through the 10th row of 13 rows all together y’all!  I have also been working on Rick’s new pillow top too in the car and in the hotel 😀

 So that is what has been happening here and why I have been so quiet… My sewing room is straightened up once again and ready for the next cool project to pick up on again!  What will it be???Focus on the hand quilting I do believe!!!  lol

For now have a blessed rest of your week and a HAPPY HUMP DAY!!!!  And enjoy all the youtube links and pdf link I left you…

Tops are being seen Everywhere here… so much excitement to share!

Can you believe it is just 2 days until AUGUST!!!  Wow… this year is flying by for us… how about you?

This week I worked on some swirly bits here…

 And finished up a spool of DMC perle 12 cotton I was using to big stitch them…

 I finished up that much all the way across … rolled the quilt down just a bit and look at my view at 71% completed now!!!

I am now ready to star ditch stitching the upper part and adding in the wavy lines in the blue blocks… then when they are done just TWO that is 2 more lines of blocks to do on this quilt!!!  We will be sleeping under it before Fall is officially here I do believe!  Sew EXCITING 😀

Better late that not at all.. I am linking this great slow and enjoyable stitching progress to Kathy’s Slow stitching Sunday post HERE as I did work on this on and off all last week and this past weekend too ❤

I also have another top with progress…

Daisy’s Stars is a quilt for our pup Daisy to sleep under that will coordinate a bit with the some of the same fabrics I used in the quilt I am hand quilting for our bed… she sleeps at the foot of our bed and under a quilt I made early in my quilty career.. it is getting threadbare now and ready for trips and other jobs… not the foot of our bed! lol 
I know there are some that don’t understand why you would make a quilt for a dog… but our doxie is our kid and we love having her on top of the covers at the foot of our bed… but she loves to snuggle quilts too… just like us… so this will now waiting to be quilted.  I have some batting I found in my stash and a backing I found in my stash… the border was in my stash as was the center parts too… so it is a scrap lovers dream! 🙂

But let me share what I am most EXCITED about this past week to share with you…

 Above… my honey got the computer back up… long enough for me to pull ALL of my pics and documents off the hard drive… he just kept on messing with it on and off until he got that folder opened!!!  I was soooo excited.  Now we have ordered a new hard drive for this laptop to get it back up and running!  ((Hope we can get it installed and Windows 10 back on it!!!))

And then to make the week even more exciting … he decided I needed a sound bar just for my new computer!!!

So above is my set up now… he hung the sound bar with little bunge cords and some black chain he had in his stash as well as some cup hooks that go into the shelf above it all hangs from so no vibration as the bunge cords are rubber and absorb any vibration… it is an LG and was under $80 so a good buy… now my desktop has great sound for listening to Craftsy aka Bluprint and as seen here more Sara at SewSweetness here where I am learning to make bags… like this one I am about to make for my dd Brandi!

This is the Oriole Bag and the directions are via pdf with a pattern for free and a youtube instruction as well.. I will be adding an inside zipper pocket to the one for Brandi and I have a cute front open lock I ordered from Etsy.  Can’t wait to share this finish with y’all!  Then a great friend of mine wants one in the smaller size… so I will learn with Brandi’s and make one for my friend Debbie when her fabric choices arrive next!  Wowee 🙂 

 I saw this cute shirt on facebook this week…

I loved the layout of it… and it kept me up and sewing for sure!

I also saw this sweet memory bear… remember I bought a bear pattern a while back… well a friend wants some made… I may use some of these ideas… a pic of him on one foot.. his dates on the other foot and a sweet saying on the belly.  These are just ideas though… nothing firm yet… but wanted to share with you all here 😀

 And we had some neighbors come fish in our pond… and look what Johnny caught…

 This is about a 20 pound fighting … brown trout!  How he caught him we aren’t sure since he is so big!!! lol  All that daily or near daily feeding of high protein food and not many fishing our pond … makes for big healthy fish!!!

 My honey took him back to his house with his son and his magnanimous fish and watched Johnny clean and prepare the fish in the river for cooking… he wrapped it once prepared in aluminum foil for dinner that same night!  Uber cool we say!!!

I saw this little meme on Facebook this week and though how apropos it was to me and my honey:

 What are your adult goals!???

And a favorite Bonnie Hunter saying I saw just the other day… really TRUE!!!!

 Well that catches me up with each of you for this week.  Hope you have a blessed week.  If you made it this far please take time to say hello in a message below!  I love hearing from each of you ❤

Happy July y’all and a stencil tutorial !!

What a Historic Month we are in now!!!

July 4 is actually my birthday 💖…

and when we celebrate our Independence as a Nation here in the USA so….

Today… July 6 is also my Gaga’s birthday… she passed away in 2004 but is fondly remembered each July 6… just 2 days after mine!  I like to think we look a bit alike too 😀

Here is a Birthday wish someone left me on Facebook… 

for me and my Gaga and you if you have a July birthday too!!!!

Isn’t this a cool mix of applique 😀

Here are a few of my birthday goodies I got…

First from my LQS…

Then I woke on the 4th to find this from my honey 🙂 

 My post for my facebook friends from a photo I took on our property 🙂

And if you look close.. there is a flag waving far off… that is our post office!!! lol

Here is a current photo of me… with a tag I added on Facebook 😀 

And HERE …. I   I   I   I

                       V  V  V  V

are the photos of the divided caddy I made for my friend Debbie I told you about in my last blog post…She received this yesterday in the mail so I was so excited to share it with you!

It has pockets added to each end for keys and cell phone when she is on the move with her stuff!  She loves bright colors and pink and yellow are faves as well as green… I used from my stash only for this … the handles are black wide ribbon from my stash too!!!  The insides are also covered in matte vinyl fuse like the one I made for my honey to use for his shaving gear… this one is a bit bigger and much more sturdy though in it’s construction 😀  I am well pleased… this is made by a video on YouTube by Sewspire 😀  Andrea makes making this very easy to understand too!  

Before the tutorial… I want to share my progress on the quilt I am hand quilting!!!!  I am linking this hand quilting goodness on Sunday to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday post … HERE (had computer issues so didn’t link up until 5:30 pm EST USA … sorry!)  Go see Kathy and Congratulate her as she enters her 7th year as a Sunday slow stitch linky boss 😀

I am about 57% completed with the hand quilting in these photos…

 And  here you can see what I am doing in the star blocks with the chalk lines I follow then spritz away the residue of chalk when I have stitched the wavy lines ….

Above you can also see how I am big stitching the swirlies in the sashings…. using a black perle cotton 12 wt.

The swirlies are from a stancil that is a bit LONGER than the space I had to fill … soooooo

This is how you make a stencil fit YOUR space <<< TUTORIAL

Here is my stencil over the sashing… see how the sashing is about 1/4″ shorter on each end than the stencil?? 

While in the above position… mark the center parts of the stencil… but not the outer parts of the swirlie or whatever your design is… that way the center parts are centered!

Then below you will move each end to the desired spot and line up with the lines already marked… I am using a water soluble marker for my marking…

Here is a closer up view… I am marking the other end now… the stencil does not have to stay straight on the sashing but the end you are marking must be right in place!  mark carefully 😀 

 Now that all parts of the stencil are marked… it is time to fill in the “legs”… the legs are the parts where the stencil is held to the base and left gaps in your swirlie! 🙂

 Now you can see my swirlie marked well… downsized to fit my sashing with legs filled in too!

Feel free to click on any of these photos to enlarge them to see those blue lines more clearly… and scroll back up to see the stitched and spritzed away markings of my sashings… 

Another consideration I realized after marking the first row of this stencil was the orientation of the swirlies… so I put the center loops facing my blue blocks on all my swirlie designs for consistency… just a thought for your stencil marking too 😀

Now a look at our Lazy Daisy homestead and future and present harvesting…

First here are some not yet ready peach, apple, grape, and blueberry!

And here are some ready to enjoy squash and tomatoes from our garden 😀 

Here is a crane we have seen several days recently…

And a closer up view of the sandhill crane… native to this area a friend who lives here told us 🙂

 Love these vibrant fuscia / purple conical blooms on this bush!

 And a corkscrew willow in full glory!

A look back at our home sweet home… 

And the grist mill and edge of the pond where we often stand to feed the fish their high protein floating food 🙂 

And a look from the other side of the pond toward the back of our home… 

And the back porch with the blooming hostas all in a row! 

We finally finally got a North Carolina tag for our Cassie… she is legal and so are we… now true North Carolinians and happy to be that! 

And in closing…

A bit of patriotic quilty inspiration I saw online this week!!! 

A Very inspirational saying to add to your thought process today as you leave this post and do your own thing… 

A wish from me and my honey to you and your household ❤ 

Thanks for visiting !!! Have a blessed weekend 🙂

6 Rows out of 13 :) And more!!!

It has been a productive week here in the mountains of North Carolina!

Hope you have had a nice week too 🙂

We have mowed, built, quilted, sewed and rolled this week!  Quite a productive week all in all at the Lazy Daisy 😀

First I would like to share my hand quilting progress because I am soooo excited !!!!

This was LAST week when I rolled to the 5th row I saw this midpoint in the outer border….

 Then just this past week I shared some close ups of my quilty progress…

 With all the different threads I am using on their area for fun!

 You can see in those photos how I mix up regular quilting threads with big stitch quilting threads…

Then just now I took a couple photos… showing how the midpoint is moving down ….

 And an overall view of the quilt as a whole!  This is about 44% completed now on row 6 of 13 to go total 😀

 It is sooo exciting to see this photo... sharing this shot with my friends at Kathy’s Quilts Slow Stitching Sunday Linky Party right HERE!  Come see what she and here friends are slow stitching this weekend!

Earlier this week I finally pulled out the ironing board and starched lightly and ironed slowly and methodically the backing and the front of this quilt top I agreed to quilt…

I used pool noodles with a wooden dowel down the center for stability of each pool noodle to roll these up then unroll slowly in layers together to pin baste on the big island in our kitchen… worked perfect but left me tired for a day! lol  My knees and low back just can’t handle pin basting like they used to… I have gotten spoiled with my big frame!!! hahaha 😀

And my honey… not to be outdone has fashioned us a charging station in the living room where there was a plug when we moved in at switch height….

 We switched out the plug for a USB and plug duo from our local Lowe’s… and used wood that matched my desk to make the shelf with shelf brackets below in black.  I love being able to charge my headphones without waiting for a plug… and now Rick can charge his phone and iPad as well as his weedeater and drill batteries safely and at a comfortable height!  Here is a close up of the plug in use…

Here is a view of our back yard and the edge of our pond…

 And here are some blooming hostas all in a row…. you can see the pergola and picnic table in the distance 😀  Such a fun place to hang out when I am not busy inside!

 This month on Sewspire.com’s newsletter my divided caddy that I shared last week was featured ….

You can find her on youtube for easy tutorials for all things sewing and organizing… and on her website for more information.. Andrea is a creative genius herself and even has a group she is building of other creative geniuses wanting to make a go of Etsy… her story is amazing if you have time to find her on youtube and give her a listen!  Quite intriguing 😀

Also this week….

I got an email from an old friend I don’t chat with much anymore but she shared THIS blog post with me…. on how to get blogger to send your comments to my inbox again!!!!

Do you have this problem still like me??? Well I have used this magic fix and think I can once again respond to your messages privately as I prefer to… and I will know WHEN you respond to me as well!!!!

Getting comments in my inbox is definitely a Happiness and a Successful moment mixed together!  But I do believe in this saying and LOVE the quilt in the background as well… reminds me that my 4th of July birthday is coming up quick!  SOOOO EXCITING!!!!  No matter how old I get… I LOVE BIRTHDAY times!

I will miss sharing it with my bestie in person this year though… she just bought a new home and has yet to move in… there was lots of things to do before moving in… now she is waiting for the movers to have time to move them and moving fragile items on her own… of which she has a lot! 

This week I hope to work on making this into a wall hanging….

 I did make the second divided caddy but until it is gifted I can’t share it publicly.  Hope you understand!

I am excited for August and trying my first BOM by Jacquelynn Steves…

 She has the fabric requirements out for her layout… I am planning something a bit different… you can read last weeks post for that info if you are interested in signing up for it… YOU MUST SIGN UP she says!!!!

I saw this on facebook this week and though how simple and sweet it was to make a wall hanging for yourself or for a gift…

 And this would be a fun throw to make.. I love how they changed it from square to rectangular in final shape too… it enhances the cute doxie pieced center more too 🙂

 Finally I found a FREE tutorial on this block…

Here is a quilt made from pink, red, and white in this pattern too…..

You can find the info at THIS LINK!!!!! Called a Scrappy Log Cabin Heart quilt block 😀

So for now I will close and wish you all make time to…

7 Years Blogging … and WOW look what I am quilting this week!

I want this to be a spectacular 7th anniversary celebration and giveaway for all of you that read my blog each week 🙂  I have a stack of goodies for a giveaway planned for this week… then life stepped in and my week got uber busy!  

An unplanned trip to Asheville and some unexpected other stuff… well we will do the official celebration next weekend if y’all don’t mind!!!

I have made significant stitching progress this week between all the busyness though!!!  It really helps me manage stress QUITE effectively I find 😀 

So I have been getting up early and stitching in the mornings each day. I am linking this progress with other slow stitchers of all kinds at Kathy’s Quilts Linky Party HERE!  Come check out what all the slow stitching gang are up to and add your link if you blog about slow stitching of ANY kind!  We have cross stitchers, knitters, all kinds of hand stitching goes on and sooo much inspiration to be had from all over the globe too!  As for me… I am a recent transplant to a small town in far southwestern North Carolina USA 😀  I LOVE LOVE LOVE living here!

As does my honey of 7 plus years and our pup Daisy Mae of almost 7 years 😀  Here she is above enjoying the sunshine on our driveway !

Here is where my week started with this quilt last Sunday… laying out stencils… gathering a marking pen I could see on my fabrics that would also work with the stencils and making my plan ….

 After doing the marking and picking out some threads… a mix of big stitch and regular stitches… I was ready to begin!!!

 Don’t forget the proper lighting and a good rolling chair if you use a frame… much more ergonomic and effective to get in those strange positions to make even stitches if you have a rolling chair instead of a stationary one…

 Soon I had the first stitches in and spritzed away the blue marking lines to show off this wonderful texture!!!

 Then I remembered this Needle Keeper I had purchased and hadn’t even unwrapped yet so out it came to join my other one on the frame… it stands up off the quilt top enough to hold my hemostats that double as a needle puller when I get too many stitches on the needle or get in a tight spot and need the extra umph to get that needle through thick seams or something… invaluable tool!

Another basic and invaluable tool I use besides a regular thimble (took me AGES to learn to wear one but my fingers and finger nails love me for it! lol) is making a fashioned thimble from white electrical tape from a hardware store!  

Black gums up and leaves residue… they come in lots of colors too … I have found white leaves NO residue and no gumming up either!  So I make a thimble for my thumb from that and it HELPS SOOOO MUCH!!!

 If you are interested in a tutorial on how I make my thumble … just leave me a comment and I can add that to next weeks post 😉

Here is a look from the halfway point back to the beginning mid week….

 And here is a look when I was working on the end of the row….

Excuse my wet spot on the burgandy cornerstone.. I had just spritzed off my marks and wasn’t patient enough to let it dry before snagging this shot for you all… I was ready to roll!!! lol

I rolled on Friday I think…. marking only about 1/6 of the quilt where I planned to quilt at a time as it is humid out and we keep our windows open a LOT here… the weather is GLORIOUS!!!  But that can make all those marks disappear as humidity is a water like thing.  So be careful if you are in a rainy spot of the world and use the spritz away marking pens.  Mark only what you think you will get to in 2 or 3 days is my recommendation. 

So finally rolled soo I was looking at this this morning!!!

 But when I looked closely at this part here… where the burgandy corner meets the sashing… I knew this wavering edge was NOT what I wanted in this quilt forever…

So I went to my threads I had pulled for this quilt from my thread stash and decided on a big stitch outer line to stabilize AND be a design element on the quilt!

 What do you think??? 

I could have stitched in the ditch with a regular hand quilting weight thread too… but I decided this was just what this quilt needed to me 😀  Hope my honey likes this design decision when he wakes… otherwise I will take out this bit and stitch in the ditch for stabilization in an invisible way once washed…. I have done the ditch stitching on the black thin border using black thread on either side of that black line and it disappears when you look at it.

Next up is a setting triangle motif and swirls and hearts in this cool YLI blue variegated thread! My bestie Connie sent me the stencils from her collection above and below as well as the wavy lines in the outermost border … the rest are from my own stencil stash I have grown over my quilting career!

So if you are new to hand quilting… think about your quilting friends and see if any are willing to “share” their stash with you … likewise think if you would be willing to share  your stash with them!!!  Returning stencils when you are done is very important too!!  Stencils can be readily bought at some LQS’s and online at Quilting Stencils International and also The Stencil Company… I like the layout of The Stencil Company best and prices at both are similar.  I had picked out the same stencils that I borrowed from Connie actually… we both found that quite funny that what I picked out for wanting on this quilt she had in her stash already!!!

I mentioned earlier that we had to go to Asheville unexpectedly this week… Rick needed to visit the VA after he had called them about something so to Asheville we went on short notice… so I grabbed a project I have had lurking in the background but haven’t worked on in ages!!!

 This is a little wall hanging… not sure of it’s measurements but less than 24″ square I would bet… I had layered it with wool batting it looks like and a backing of leftover plaid fabric from my stash… you can see even though it is dark fabri it doesn’t darken the light grey background on the center part though… or dull the yellow of the outer border 😀  Experiment with fabrics you have in your stash for backings… you never know what will work for a project til you experiment!

Here it is just popped out of my 17″ frame as whilst in Asheville waiting I finished outlining the flowers and now need to outline the flower centers and the center star with black variegated thread. then mark and quilt the inner border and outer border after that !  A few more trips to Asheville and I will have this one done… how exciting to make progress on this slow stitching project… thus far I have just stitched with grey thread around the center flowers as I mentioned above so nothing to show a close up of… I have left it out of the hoop to relax from living in the hoop for a year or more already! YIKES … NOT ideal at all!!!

Lucky for me this is wool batting that wants to be puffy and not retain a crease from the hoop I use… my hoop is a heavy plastic hoop that is 17″ across… I LOVE IT… you can purchase one like it affordably at Joann’s online if you are interested… it is large but when I use it I just turn it and work on one side at a time 😀

My bloggy friend Karen wanted me to share photos of a project I am languishing on… my wholecloth!

So here are a couple shots of that project… I am on the second photo working my way from right to left filling in the dark green leaves when inspiration for this project I had worked on a lot until then left me… I got busy piecing and prepping for the quilt I shared at the beginning of this post “Hanover Stars” and quit hand quilting all together for a bit.

While it was nice to give my hands a rest… they are eager and happy to be back to hand quilting… Hand quilting is therapeutic in a way I can’t explain for me… I LOVE IT more than any other hand craft I have done before… I listen to music or watch learning videos on youtube or Craftsy… I splurged and got Craftsy Unlimited 2 months ago right after moving in here and LOVE LOVE LOVE all I can learn whilst stitching away … sometimes I do more watching… sometimes I have to rewind as I have gotten caught up in my stitching progress! lol  It is all good because you can rewatch all you want and LEARN soo many cool things… if you are interested in giving Craftsy Unlimited a try go to my friend Karen’s blog here and click on her Craftsy link and then click on Craftsy Unlimited… I think they may have a free trial but I can’t see any of those things right now… TOTALLY WORTH the monthly or yearly fee though!

In closing… the first photo I shared of the rose comes from this bush…

 Which is right outside my bedroom window….

 My honey brought that bud into me in a little glass with water to keep it thriving next to my frame as I quilt 😀

Then out the kitchen window we watch these flowers as they take root and are starting to bloom again from being planted a couple weekends ago….

 And here is a collage of mother nature’s symphony of beauty all around our little acre and a half….

That center shot shows an ancient weeping willow that stands just north of our garden and fruit trees… it is said a bald eagle comes and watches for fish to swim close to the top in our pond so he can swoop down for a feast of fish… but we haven’t seen him yet ourselves.

We have about 50 strawberry plants about ready to start bringing us mature strawberries, we have grape vines with baby grapes, more rose bushes, peach and apple trees, and blueberry bushes in abundance… so exciting to take ride abouts and walk abouts on our land and see the abundance of goodness we will soon be enjoying by hand!!!

OOOh… another thing I learned from a Craftsy Unlimited class by Debbie Caffrey (Cut to It – Designs for Smarter Cutting) and designed myself from that instruction and encouragement were these pillow sham fronts….

I plan to machine quilt them from a walking foot class by Jacquie Gering I also watched on Craftsy Unlimited this weekend!  We will see when and how that turns out 😀

Have a blessed weekend and see ya next weekend for a very fun giveaway I have planned… I will have a shorter post I hope then too! lol  For now please remember to always …