Giddy with Progress this Week!

Ya’ll I couldn’t come up with a better label for this week’s post… I am simply GIDDY with the progress I have made around here since last Sunday’s post!

And I have also continued to give thanks for all the good in my life at this moment…

How about you?

Last week I had sooo much happening I didn’t share that I got 2 new little cutting mats.  But I did share this project I was interested in…

 Made possible by my friend Jannessa who gifted me this Winterlude fabric and pattern… but if you recall I shared how my bar in the kitchen needed a longer and skinnier table runner so I used their blocks and made up a different plan…

 First…
I decided the center would be the blue blocks with vanilla polkadotted center spots…

Now on the left or right you can see the ruby Olfa rotary cutter I won along with the pink floss and true blue Olfa cutting mats!  What better way to give them a test run but with this project!!!!

I used Julius for the piecing of the 3″ finished blocks…

 And soon I had the 12 center blocks done…

 Low time to add the outer triangles for the square in a square like the pattern called for 😀

 Soon that was done and sewn into a long strip and I cut red and green from this same Winterlude line to make all the little squares around the outside of the blue ones…

 Like this…

 Soon it was ready to get the float border done and then add these 42 squares… all have the cream portions for centers.

 Finally I got it ALL pieced this morning …

 And here is a close up of the right side of the table runner….

I love it!  Jannessa is going to fmq the center and I will add organic straight lines and a flange binding I will try to manage on my own by machine 100%!!!!!  Oh my!!! I have never done this binding… Jannessa has shared her favorite tutorial on this topic…

DO YOU HAVE A FAVE PIPED / Flange BINDING????  

Please tell me how to find it in the comments below so I can be ready!  

I have also been making stellar progress on my Swoon hand quilting…

Here I had finished the first swoon block and was working on the sashing where we had marked a medallion but it was so light it needed a re-marking… so I did!

 Soon that was done and I outlined each segment of the top of the second swoon and prepared it for the big stitch filling in…

 Finally … with all this cold weather that is way colder than usual… by Thursday morning as it was teens outside when I woke to quilt… I turned on the fireplace and enjoyed a bit of a fire to keep me warm… mmmmm

 And I made it to halfway that morning filling in the second swoon block top…

 Soon I was to the second sashing … after the second swoon and before the 3rd…

 I love how we decided to quilt these medallions … they are really gonna show off the negative space on this quilt when Connie has it displayed on her bed!!!

Finally to the 3rd Swoon top block…

 Morning… nooon… and night I hand quilt on this frame…. I really enjoy it too.. it IS my sanity…

 After going around each section with regular hand quilting thread…

 I fill in the lines about 1″ apart with big 12 wt thread… looks sew nice on these busy blocks!

 And this is where I am this morning… working on these 2 pinwheels and the outer border as well as edge basting to be done!!!

 I am linking this wonderful progress to Kathy’s Quilts HERE <<<< Go see what others are linking and check out Kathy's finish this week… ALL by hand instead of machine pieced like mine are!!!

And our Christmas cactus started to bloom this week… sew many blooms!!! ❤

 I was lamenting to Connie about being stuck on a secret project I am working on for a special Christmas something for someone …
I sent her the fabrics on the left along with some other fun things I had collected for her since our last meeting… and she is now sending me the gorgeous Hexi Flowers on the right!!!!  SCORE!!!!

Then yesterday Jannessa came over and remembered her wall hanging… so my honey snapped this shot for us…

 I am definitely Thankful, Grateful & Blessed to have her and Connie in my life.. as well as my honey of course! lol

We are almost done with our backpack purses we have been working on .  I think she is using hers herself and I am sending the one on the left ot my daughter….  it has been an arduous but interesting bag to make! lol

I let sweet Cleopatra (Singer 319w) do this heavy duty job… Jannessa used a Singer 301 for hers 🙂

How has your week been?  

My honey has mulched and vacuumed the yard again this week…The cold encouraged leaf dropping from several of our trees…along with new growth!  Hoping they hibernate well and re-bloom next year okay!!!  We also experienced difficulties with the inflow and outflow with the freezes affecting the pond … so my honey worked on that too.

Our car is running as it should and drives great since getting new front tie rods put in.  So with 2 trips to Asheville under our belt this month.. I sure hope nothing else happens 😀

Have a blessed week!

Advertisement

Hand Quilting Celebrations!

This week I have sooo much to celebrate related to hand work!!!

If  you are seeing my hand written label then….

 It is finished… washed and dried and ready to hang!!!

 And here it is from an angle…

 And straight on… in the quilt holder my bestie Connie gifted us when we moved into this home 🙂

I am linking this finish to Julie’s UFO & WIP Challenge…. this WIP is in the books and out to be enjoyed now YAHOOOOOO !!! >> HERE  Come see the finishes others are sharing for the chance at a prize link your own too!

I am also linking this major finish to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching post … she is asking what we use for hand pain relief… I liberally use Bag Balm as shown here…

 And rub it in really good over 2 or 3 minutes massaging it in.. then I let it soak in another 5 minutes or so before doing anything with my hands as it is a bit sticky originally … but I have terrible arthritis and this helps IMMENSELY !!!  What do you like to use after a busy hand quilting day???

This morning with fresh hands I finally got to sit down to my quilting frame and the beautiful swoon quilt I have loaded there ….

I finished the first swoon this morning and am ready for the second and third later on today …

Linking all this hand quilty goodness to Kathy’s Quilts Sunday post HERE <<<  Now go see what everyone else is linking up 🙂

My Sewing Room got a new paint job this week…

Here is the cutting in section and filling ALL THE HOLES left from removing old screws left by previous owners…

 And here you can see the color difference… the left side is all painted with 2 coats of rolling and 3 coats of cutting in !!!  Wow … the brown in that existing paint was tough to cover!!!!

 We also emptied out most everything in the room to finish the painting… Once finished and reloaded NEATLY…  It looks fabulous I think!!!

 Here is a collage of sorts … the before… during and painted walls after…

 That is what I posted on facebook 🙂  Many said my room wasn’t messy to start with … BUT IT WAS Y’ALL!!!!  I found sooo many fun things in my sewing room and organized it so I can find it next time I need it!!!

Then I laid out these fabrics as my first project to start in my renewed sewing room…

 It will be a backpack purse for my daughter 🙂

So this week I will enjoy the autumn designs in the kitchen area I made for years to come to enjoy.  I will look forward to finishing the prep on the bag for my daughter and make it with Jannessa later this week… and focus on giving the Swoon quilt some attention 🙂  How about you… on Sunday I like to plan goals for the week… do you ever do that???

Have a wonderful week y’all!! Also, keep our country in your thoughts and prayers please!  The USA needs it!!!

I’m so glad to live in a world where there are Octobers!

~ Happy Sunday and Welcome to my Blog ~

We certainly enjoyed this sunset getting captured this week!!!  I even made it my facebook backdrop 😀  My honey took this awesome photo overlooking our front yard and wowsers did he rock it!!!
 October is finally here and for the northern hemisphere this means cool and crisp nights and bright and shining days… we are even getting some much needed rain intermittently too!

Meanwhile I have been focused on a different project this week… the turkey couple wall hanging!!!

I am working on this project at my desk so Molly and my honey are close by!  I like this 🙂 

Here is a shot I took while using a cool old thimble I keep close to the desk for bindings…

And that thimble worked great for the center straight lines…

 But after machine stitching the inner border ditches for stability and the desired look I wanted… back to hand stitching I am … with my regular thimbles and hemostats to get that needle out of tight spots !!! lol

 Several have asked about the stencil I used and it is here on the right… I may have gotten it online for sure but whether it was Quilt Stencils International or The Stencil Company I am unsure but I love it!!!!

I am marked this quilt before layering and pin basting this quilt.  I used a Leonis water soluble pen that come 10 in a pack most economically on Amazon… spritzes away with water or when you wash it … just don’t press or iron it or leave it in a hot car .. that can set it! lol

This happy progress this week is being linked to my fave Sunday Stop to see what my “tribe” is up to… Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching group HERE <<<  Check out Kathy's new header on her blog post and visit the participants now that you have stopped here 🙂

Also linking to my HQAL friends >>>  Hand Quilt Along Links

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

If you have a couple more minutes now please keep on viewing my blog and reading along… I got a surprise this week!  YAY ME!!!!!

I got a cutting table… ok it is a buffet but it is ALL OAK and in excellent condition… we estimate it to be about from the 70’s from the workmanship but it is NICE!!!

 Here it is just slid into my room where I envisioned it when we harvested it from the thrift store in town…

 Here was my sewing room before…

 Here is a pic I clicked just to adore the space it was in… I quickly changed things around and put that black chevron crate in the cabinet door! lol…

 So now my sewing room kind of looks like this…

 It is waiting on a cleansing coat of paint and some organization before redecorating in a much more enjoyable manner with the help of my honey this time!!!  YAY!!!!

Molly didn’t escape the changes… she got a much needed bath! lol

 I love love love this saying this week… no more disappointments from expectations tossed for me!  I recently experienced this with someone near and dear and don’t wanna be there again…

 OH!  Sometime while hand stitching was going on I decided to use the fabric that came in for napkins… these are thick and absorbent … so after making this test piece into a bow I left the edges frayed on the fabric…

 And it really ads to the bowl Connie crocheted us that we keep our daily meds in.

I got 8 napkins all together out of that amount… 9″ x 18″ and the fold in forths so nicely 🙂

 Zig Zag with a 3 step zig zag stitch to keep them from fraying away from us…

 And Wah lah!  They are excellent to use… now if I could just get Rick to use his! lol

 I am doing a commissioned job for another banner… here is a little tidbit for that recipient… a 4″ square will be in her banner 🙂  Sew Excited to see it coming together !!!

 So as I spend time hand stitching today on this never ending border on my fall wall hanging…

 I pray!  For this world and my family and friends! 

Have a wonderful Sunday and thanks for stopping in no matter what day it is.. hope you have found solace and encouragement here!

Sew Happy Fall is Here!!

Welcome Y’all!

Grab a coke or a coffee and come see what all has been going on with me and mine 😀

We took a long planned on trip the first part of October… it was meant to be 3 days and 2 nights and a quick visit with my 3 of my kids during the visit too!  Well I got to see 2 of my kids in the end… but that isn’t all!!!

My honey worked on making a shed into a she shed… the conversion started!!!  Yippee!!!

My bestie Connie had relocated and added electricity and stabilization to the building… now it was time for my honey to work his magic.

This visit he changed the shed doors into a regular door that seals the building and locks 🙂

And he is able to accomplish all that during our 4 days and 3 nights…

Yep that is right we had to stay and extra day and Rick and I were completely drained and exhausted from the trip and all that was involved in our first trip of many to come for this job  🙂

What was the first thing that greeted me the following day when we finally made it to the post office to retrieve our mail…   I WAS A WINNER!!!

check out Virginia on Youtube HERE  ~ or Etsy HERE <<<

I follow her on Youtube and the above link will take you to the episode where I won these hand made pattern weights for bag making!!!  Both links will open in a new tab too btw 😀

I love these pattern weights though and had planned to make some… when I found some extra time 😀  I love her choices of fabrics too!!!

As I suggested above … we don’t travel much since we moved… in fact since we moved into Daisy Meadows (the name of our little slice of heaven) the only 2 nights out were when my honey had his hip replaced in Asheville and that was exhausting and overwhelming also!!!

The hotel my friend found for us was AMAZING!  Only the size of the refrigerator in room was a disappointment… my name was even on the television when we would first turn it on!!!

During our stay in the hotel Connie presented us with this basket she had fashioned from tshirt made yarn… into a canister to hold snacks for our room .

We love that she chose our colors too…

It has the sole purpose now at home of sitting on the bar and holding our daily med boxes and bottles of vitamins that we take! lol  We truly love it… from the bits she has left over she plans to make us a trivet too… I must make sure this is cotton tshirts though!!! lol

While thrift shopping one day in Tennessee …we came across this wreath !!!  I fell in love and my honey found the perfect place to hang it when we got home too 😀

 While we were with Connie she shared the finished EPP rooster she finished for me (this is what she did for me quilting her quilt… she offered to applique it to the black background… but I kinda want to do this part…

Do you know of a video tutorial for adding a dark fabric behind a light fabric without a lot of shadowing???  

 >> Ideas anyone?? <<

I plan to add a thinner black border to stabilize the piece then add a brown mitered corner border like a picture frame around that to look like wood!

I got some fabric here… the burgandy and tan plaid woven.. to make napkins out of!  Now to find time for something that simple!!!

 I haven’t touched the quilting of the boy turkey yet either…

 But if you noticed… I did do some decorating around my 319 where I will be sitting to do this drasted machine quilting part… soon I will be to the hand quilting in the border!!!

I even bought a small 14″ PVC square frame to put together for the border…

 That inexpensive put together frame… will be the answer to getting to the outer borders instead of my round hoop I think… Connie has one and it works well for her too!

Jannessa finished her wall hanging to a flimsy…
and she has done all the machine quilting and is working on her hand quilting of fall leaves down each side!!!  She is quick and smart ❤

Finally, I was commissioned to make a bunting or 2 for a good friend… well  you don’t necessarily take $$ for things.. instead my good friend decided to gift me with 2 charm packs that match my kitchen… I fell in love with this 1/2 yard of fabric and it came in this week too…

 Doesn’t it look great together… I need a 60 x 20 table topper and a fairly large coordinating wall hanging .. Ideas are brewing for this… more on those buntings in another post!

Finally… while in Lebanon me and my honey went to a DIFFERENT thrift shop than where I found the wreath… and they were having a silent auction on this cool piece… and this shot does NOT do this fish wagon justice… We will get to have it during the next passing (probably January when Rick will do the electrical sockets and pre wire for lighting and add ceiling joists etc….)

 We added our silent auction bid… and then Connie went back and bid on it for us again … then Connie missed sleep after a long night at work to win this for us and gifted it to Rick for all the hard work he accomplished giving her a new front and door to her evolving She Shed!!!!  WOWEEE!!!!!

Seeing 2 of my 4 children (all are grown and have special people in their lives now)  I am blessed for sure!!!

So here is a cool collage I made to share with you all!

Finally, I got lessons on how to crochet around these little blocks I have been sewing and blanket stitching by hand!!!!

 and I am finally on the last round of my FIRST BLOCK! hahahahahaha  …

But I am enjoying it… and life is about enjoying the journey for sure!!!!

Speaking of enjoyment… during all this craziness… I finished the bottom of the 3rd row of swoons….

 And rolled the quilt down….

  Now I am happily making great progress on the middle of the 3rd row of swoons 😀

 If you listen to Virginia Lindsay’s video she mentions Skill Share… it is a Bluprint Like service for beginning teachers as well as accomplished teachers of all kinds of arts and crafts… they encourage newbies and have “classes” you can watch to learn how to become an online teacher of your fave craft!  Check out the link in Virginia’s youtube video … 2 months free I think too to try it out ❤

 That is what I am doing 😀

Got any old wool sweaters with holes in them you want to donate to me??? lol!

Brandi sent me this photo of her graduation quilt on her bed with the pillows and shams too… They LOVE them 😀

 I saw this on facebook this week…  Wouldn’t this be cool in a bedroom or library to display extra quilts 😀

 Here is a bag I will be making for my daughter for her Christmas …

 I will be using purple and gold though!!!  Ordered the hardware this week too 😀

Molly is 16 months old now!  And while we were in Tennessee…

 She stayed with my great friend Jannessa… I am blessed in the great friend department y’all!

 And Jannessa has Max (below)…

 and they love to play together !!!  Molly learned how to play like a dog with a dog during our 4 days away!!! YAY 😀

She and Max are great buddies… it is nice to have a quilty friend who has a playmate to share too!!!

Jannessa gave me an early Christmas present… the 2019 Hallmark sewing related ornament is a treadle!!!

 Can you see that little treadle on the shelf left of our old sewing machine and Raggedy Ann ??

 The 3 of us are planning a get together in April hopefully (when Connie gets a break from working ) to make barn quilts together!!!!  Here is one I find enticing …

 Here is your Bonnie-ism.. first one in a while too I guess…

She is getting revved up for a visit to Kenya, Africa with a travel company and others who enjoy exotic traveling!!!

So I hope you have enjoyed the catch up post.  I will add a link the Slow Stitching Sunday with Kathy and getting the low down on her retreat HERE <<<<

Have a blessed week y’all… be happy or be busy seeking it!!! ❤

Swooning Progress & MORE ~ Lots of Links in this Post !!!

Welcome Y’all!  Happy Fall and almost time to say Hello to October!!!

Here is a wonderful applique and embroidery I pulled off of facebook from a friend with no history on who did this or where they were from.. so just enjoy and Do It >>> Say Something Kind to Someone Today 💖

I am linking to Kathy’s Quilts Slow Sunday Stitching HERE today <<<  Go check out her blog and the gorgeousness everyone is linking from their talented hands!!!!

My hands have been very busy this week as well!!!  Last week I shared Swoon Progress from my quilting frame and left you with this photo…

I have a Hinterberg hand quilting frame we bought from a kit and added our own wood and metal dowels available at big box home improvement stores… as well as leader fabric to each pole!

I am now able to load up to large queen quilts 105″ wide and as long as I care to quilt in this permanent piece of furniture… my honey built it and stained and top coated it to be a piece of furniture as well.  Best of all … no pin basting needed once you pin the quilt top and bottom (all layers are pinned) to the leaders or the backing or the batting and backing 😀  Directions come with it and there is LOTS of support from this family owned company as well.  Buy new though… don’t buy a used one unless you know the one who built it!!! 

So Sunday and Monday I spent time on the outer border… here is a close up of this 3rd row of swoon blocks out of 4 rows of swoon blocks total in this quilt.  This is what I love MOST about hand quilting.. you can really customize your designs and make them accurate and make the quilt pop when the quilting is done!

 See this photo from Tuesday through Friday’s work… I finished the bottom 1/3 of the swoon block (they are 24″ tall and I can only reach the 1/3 at a time all the way across) and the sashing before the second swoon block….

 Then yesterday and early this morning I got this far on the second swoon block…

 This Swoon pattern is easily found in varied sizes now in pattern form where cutting directions of this fat quarter friendly pattern are mapped out by the author.  This quilt was pieced by my best friend Connie and will be her main quilt on her bed once it is finished and bound and washed and dried… we are both very very excited with each progress photo. 

I hope to have this done within the next couple months for a Christmas delivery too!!!  We shall see but at the pace I am able to go at the moment she should have it!!!!

This hand quilting portion of my quilt is dedicated to HQAL (Hand Quilt A Long) Group I joined a few months back after seeing this group mentioned on a friends blog post… I enjoy sharing my hand work … which is a mainstay to my sanity 😀

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

>>>  And here is a challenge for you this week! 
Each day this coming week as we say goodbye to September and Hello to October… go outside and do this….

Make it a different time each day of this coming week… lets report back to each other next week on how this may have changed our appreciation for living and for life itself… sooo much beauty in the sky and surroundings… what do you see… what do you hear… what do you smell <<<

No matter what part of this wonderful world you live in … this is an awesome challenge to be a part of!

A few weeks back on my Sunday posts I shared a sneak peek of this cute hummingbird wall hanging!  Well the FREE pattern is out now and available with a video on How to do something similar to mine HERE… Information on how I did this is available with a heart design on a previous blog post HERE.  Check out both links… they will open in a separate window so you don’t lose your reading place 😀

Check out some of Lisa’s other videos if you like… she has a wide variety of fun stuff on her Youtube Channel!  She uses thinned glue for her technique and I use Steam a Seam 2 for mine… what will you use I wonder… let me know if you try this what you use to make it stick until you can fmq it through the tulle!  I added hand quilting around my edges and a binding that is machine applied then hand sewed down too 🙂

Next I want to share the progress I have made on my turkey wall hanging…  Last week I shared the layout and the Missouri Star Quilt Company video… HERE is it’s link again for ya <<<

I am doing this project with my great friend Jannessa.  She will be visible in a few more pics down…

First we picked out some flannel for our boy turkeys….  I laid mine out to get a feel of how I wanted the lights and darks to play on each other…

Then from more feminine quilting cotton (not heavy flannel) we chose fabrics we liked for the girl turkey…

 Following the MSQC video with Jenny Doan for how to cut and sew the dredens to make the turkey feathers we then pressed them all in one direction and used Elmer’s School Washable Glue to hold down the side edges on the right and left ends of the feathers 🙂

Here is Jannessa pressing her turkey feathers…

 After using Steam a Seam 2 (me ) and Soft Fuse (Jannessa) to fuse our turkeys to our background piece… we had made lots of progress and my honey snapped this shot for us…

 I cut borders based on our plan and our likes and avoiding our dislikes and while I did all that cutting …. Jannessa straightened off my cutting table which was A HUGE MESS !!!!  Look at it now 😀

Why I hadn’t looked at this before I don’t know but after Jannessa left I looked at my calendar topper for September….

Isn’t that appropriate for how blessed I am to not have just 1 but SEVERAL great friends in this life 😀

So once Jannessa left I got back to hand quilting to chill and relax… but the next day I was ready to start the machine applique process…

 I will say Jenny mentions to have tiny pieces of your fusible between the feathers and the backing for better stability during applique and SHE IS RIGHT!!!  Pins would not be enough… I also added a stabilizer (tear away) to the back of this thin quilting cotton background fabric so I wouldn’t get puckers 🙂  All that made this go quick and easy ….

 I used a zig zag stitch set to medium width and length.  Then I started on the boy turkey…

 My boy and girl represent me and my honey so since my honey is sooo handy… he chose a saw to hold in this wall hanging.  While my girl is holding a quilt… my fave hobby and some cute cute cute fabric Jannessa had found in her stash… I just sewed a backing to it right sides together turned it and top stitched that turning opening closed and wha – la 😀  For my honey Jannessa brought wool and felt for us to use… her honey is a vintage gun collector so she added a vintage rifle in his hands but I didn’t get a photo of it up close 😦  Sorry! 

 We are to get together sometime this week and I will get a close up of her chosen quilt and his fashioned vintage gun too! 

After appliqueing the turkeys I added the inner border longer sides first then shorter sides so it doesn’t look so long and skinny… then I added the wide outer border with this stencil in mind for finally using it somewhere appropriate….

 I plan to stitch this stencil with dark burgundy perle 12 cotton to coordinate with the inner border and the binding I am looking at as well (you can see the binding is brownish burgundy with beige flowers on it above.

To miter the borders I really have my own methods I have taken from several Youtube videos … but my favorite is HERE from The Stitch TV Youtube channel.  Here I am with my uber long boders on the opposing corners and stitching them down leaving a backstitched area just 1/4″ from the end… my scissors are pointing to that…

 I planned this quilt to have the 2 mitered borders so I didn’t have to match my quilting design in that outer boder … I also plan to hand quilt 1/4″ inside each side of the inner border too for extra pop and stability of the quilting overall as well 🙂 

Below you can see the binding I am planning to use… small print brownish fabric.

 With the flimsy together (flimsy is a finished quilt top not yet layered up so it is more fragile or “a flimsy”) … I was ready to mark my outer border and decide what to quilt behind the turkeys on that backing fabric….

 Here is my outer quilt design marked…  I use pens I get on Amazon that are water soluble markers and more affordable and more fine pointed that Dritz or any other brand I have tried… I love these 🙂

 Now it is pin basted pretty heavy so no shifting occurs and I decided below you can see… to add double lines to the backing of the quilt center !!!  My batting is simply a lot of little pieces of the same batting type all sewn together to make a piece big enough… I call this “frank-en-batting” 😀 lol!

 Finally time to quilt… center on my machine… sweet Cleopatra is up for the challenge for sure too!

 I hope to get this done to take with us as a side project while we take a trip the end of the week where I may get to see most all my children !!!  We shall see when and how that works out … more on that next Sunday when we are back home.

So as we head into some possibly tumultuous times ahead in this country of ours… remember how lovely it is to be like a tree in the fall and let go of what you can’t control.

Now if you have made it this far …. and whether you are a resident of the US or another country… please pray for the US right now… we desperately need it… if you don’t pray … send out healing thoughts to our uproariously serious issues our country is in at this moment!!! ~ Thank You All!!!

In closing I want to thank you for visiting my corner of blogville… Have a blessed day and here is hoping October is cooler… it has been a hot and humid summer here for us 🙂

Finally… I am pondering a embroidery only sewing machine… do you have one… do you have a fave that is affordable ???  Do you have a fave video about your fave machine???  Please send it to me HERE!  Or leave me info on how to find it in a comment below 🙂

Happy Fall Y’all!

Swooning Downhill Now and Sew Much More!!!

Happy Sunday to you and thanks for visiting my blog today!

I am swooning with progress on the Swoon Quilt in my frame… so I would like to start this post by linking to Kathy’s Quilts where she is welcoming anyone in the Ontario, Canada region to come share her first annual play day with her and other “hand-ee” friends 😀  Follow THIS link to find out how you can participate !!!

Slow Stitching this week started out with sewing binding which I will share in just a bit.. it also included getting over the 50% completed part of the quilt in my frame…

 Here is a close up  of the border just past the medallion I finished above…

 And here you can see both areas better… I can’t quite reach the top of the medallion piece so I save that last bit for the next pass over the quilt…

 Like this… once rolled down! …

This is such a fun quilt to quilt… and because it was pieced by Connie … aka my bestie… I am honored to do this … I work on it some most every day too!

I had more hand work in my week this week though…

 It started when I gathered all the supplies to get this quilt layered together… I had to piece some batting scraps together but it worked!!!!

And soon I machine quilted the center… thinking I would do the outer border by hand…

 But before I knew what I had done I had pulled out the decorative stitching cams on my Singer vintage 319w and added them to the border… did a victory lap of basting stitches around the outer edge… then added the binding that Jannessa had donated along with the fabric for the outer border 😀

 The backing is a autumn scene I pieced at the center where it wouldn’t be too noticeable… and look at that rich binding fabric.. looks great no matter which side is up!!!!

 Almost sewn on.. I spend early Monday morning using my new iPhone caddy to hold my phone at the perfect angle while watching and stitching.. put on my  headphones so as not to wake the house and had a cup of coffee to enjoy as I finished the stitching of the binding in short bursts of activity!

 Finally I finished… I was astonished that it took me most of the day to finish the binding.. but quick and into the washer it went!!!

 And before long it had been washed twice and dried well and was ready to adorn our bar in the kitchen!  This serves as a double place mat of sorts for us and decor to brighten up the room too for each season 😀 

Linking this to Julie’s WIP & UFO Challenge the end of October  HERE 🙂  Go check out what other finishes people are linking or link one up yourself 😀

 Here is a direct on view too…

The final and perfect size is 18″ wide by 60″ long 🙂  I will aim for this size for future table runners… this pattern was offered free last fall by Jordan Fabrics… they have a youtube video I linked to in last Sunday’s post too 🙂

So this Sunday I want to encourage you to watch THIS VIDEO if this photo interests you at all…

Jannessa and I are planning to make a boy and girl themed turkey couple using the larger turkey’s as our model…

Then surround it with this fun and intricate design I have in a stencil… I have been dying to use it and this will be 32 x 46 or so … perfect to hang in our homes this fall… I will share more on this project next Sunday too!

In a couple of weeks we are planning to take a trip to Tennessee and see our kids and help out Connie realize her she shed dreams… in planning for that I decided we needed bags to keep our medications organized while away from our normal routines.

Here is the one I made for Rick from some gorgeous fabric Jannessa let me us of her stash…

 Then … with Cleopatra completely installed in the cabinet now by my honey with the hinges successfully in place thanks to Lowe’s having the specific sized bit he needed to drill the exact type of partial hole for it… I got a swiveling sewing machine again so I can safely change bobbins and service my sweet machine too ❤

 I made this cute bag for my medications too!

 Here is my gorgeous and favorite daughter (she is my only daughter! lol)  Who not so long ago said hello to 21.  I am looking forward to seeing her in just a couple weeks too and meeting her boyfriend too!

 I fixed my wallet wristlet I made several months back but I put the handle on the wrong end… it let my credit cards and such slide out if it wasn’t full with my phone and such in it… so I removed it from the wrong side.. closed that hole and opened a hole on the other side and stitched it into place.. works PERFECT now 🙂

 And here are more pics of my sweet granddaughter at 4 months old.  She is the child of my son James and dil Heather… Ellie is such a sweetie.. I have a whole evening set aside to see them and play with her 😀

Well, I hope you have enjoyed hearing about my busy week and seeing some of my family I am getting more excited about seeing every day as our trip nears.

Take care and be ready to welcome in autumn tomorrow… we have had our windows open at night here lately… sooo ready for a break in the heat outside and air conditioning inside!