Whooping it up on a Friday!!! ;)

I am very happy to see Friday roll around this week..

it has been a wonderful (but long) week around here! lol

First I want to wish you each a happy change of Season!  My Australian & New Zealand friends are welcoming Spring… and above the equator we are heralding in Fall… with warm weather in most of the US still!!!

So with fans going I have been stitching on Starlight… Starbright.  I want to link this progress and all my Friday Whoops below to Sarah’s Confessions of a Fabric Addict blog linky HERE >> Come see what other quilty fun is being whooped about over there!

So sometime beginning of this month I started Block 8 of this queen sized quilt for my daughter to be gifted when she graduates high school in the spring…

And because this week has been a bit stressful and I have been hopped up on steroids to get rid of some bronchitis… I have been quilting and watching Netflix on my honey’s iPad!!!!

 Above you can see where I have had to remark most all of the stippling… I am using a blue water based marker that just spritzes away when the stitching in that section is complete 🙂

And below you can see that area is now complete and I am moving on to the right of the pic working on some straight lines in the wheel part…

We shall see how quickly I can progress on this today… I finally will be decreasing my dose of steroids today but doubt my high energy level they leave as a result will wan until tomorrow or later… so I will harness this energy for ironing a bit and hand quilting A LOT!!! lol

While on the subject of hand quilting… check out these 2 beautiful quilts by my best friend Wendy!!!

Here is Anniversary Blooms… her design from drunkards path beginnings… with gorgeous fabrics too!

 …. and Lollipop Drops.. a more modern quilt and all hand quilted as well!!!  Totally her design here using a Creative Grids specialty shape ruler 🙂

She has entered these quilts in Amy’s Quilters Blog Festival this season!!!

Viewers favorites are currently being voted on… Please take a minute to follow THIS LINK to her blog post that will open in a new window and will explain how to vote either or BOTH of these quilts as your fave quilt shown… you get 3 choices!!! and there are many quilts to choose from… go take a gander if you would!  Wendy would appreciate your votes too as would I !!

My Nanny turned 98 years young yesterday too y’all!!!  I am sooo glad to still have her around !!

She lives with one of her daughters and has had a very full life already… I had chatted with her just the previous week… she was concerned that her life was going on so long when she feels useless… yet she gave me lots of great advice (as she always does!)… so I plan to call her again next week and see how her celebration went when she has relaxed some from all the parties the family has planned for her.  My grandfather died many years ago of cancer… she never remarried and has had a very full life… please pray (if you do) that she will find value in her days/weeks/months/years remaining!!!  Thanks y’all!!

Also I got a photo sent to me by my son James!

He is almost 26 now!!  He had a tooth break off and this big grin ( really a big grin for him!!! lol) is because thanks to his local dentist he has great teeth now 😀  Yippee!!!

His daughter, Kaydence is also walking and getting chatty now at almost 16 month old… hoping to make a roadtrip to see them in late spring next year… but will have to see how things work out.. she recently had to get tubes put in her ears for recurring infections… and made it though with flying colors they said 🙂  Whoop!!!

So as we all take turns Whooping it up today… let us remember…

How do you score in this area?  I know I have room to improve my internal thoughts that form how I save memories and what memories are saved!!!

My hope is that each will take a little time over this weekend to…

Life is short.. live it with gusto!!!

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Sharing a Little LOVE!

So now that Valentine’s and the long weekend are over it is time to show you a bit of what I have been up to!

For Valentine’s my honey finds a card and a certain kind of boxed chocolate for me 🙂  I get giddy every year for this tradition!!!

And I got him a card…

and made him some oven mitts for our kitchen 🙂  He loved them both!!

Wendy, sent me this photo and I put it in a frame until I can shop for the “perfect” frame…

 Wendy lives just outside Melbourne, Australia…

Yep, almost 10,000 miles away as the crow flies!  Wowee… we have been good friends for a couple years now and I love this latest photo she sent me.. don’t you??

In my next post I will give you a full reveal of my just finished wall quilt.. “Tennessee Fall” I have named it!

So until my next post remember…

A little of Australia in my home :)

Saturday I received a long awaited for parcel.. from my bestie in Australia … Wendy !!!

Oops … I got so excited I didn’t get a shot of the parcel… only the contents! lol

I wish I had gotten a shot of it thought when it was packed as Wendy did an excellent job of compacting all this great stuff… let me show you around this lovely stuff a bit..

Above are a couple packages for Kaydence… for after the fire .. I will be forwarding those on to Keashia and Kaydence today 🙂

Also above is a Historical Calendar of the town Wendy lives in … in Australia… very cool to see things she gets to see in some form or fashion today in her town !  Love this calendar… plus now I can keep track of those Australian holidays and time changes… maybe! lol

Also above is a can of Milo… a drink mix they use in Australia that tastes similar to a malted hot chocolate if mixed in warm milk.. that is how I love it anyway 🙂  As well as a tube of Vegemite… I plan to try that on some toast with butter today.. Wendy says that is the best way to enjoy it 🙂

Wendy included 2 magazines from down under as well.. one is all about stitchery stuff for my Journey of a Quilter/Friendship Journey quilt I will be starting soon… and the other magazine came with these hexi templates… they are nice acrylic for making hexi’s!  I didn’t have any of these either 🙂  Perfect!!!!

Wendy also included some Weaveline.. a stabilizer we don’t have here in the USA.. I will use that to stabilize any embroidery I do on that same quilt with it 🙂  Yipeee !!!

Wendy also send this cool bookmark…

It is made of a very thin wood and is quite substantial as thin as it is… I love using it with the book she also sent called “The Dressmaker”… this recently came out at the movie theaters… so I will hope to catch it there or later on Netflix when I finish reading the book on it 🙂

Then to give me some fun Aussie whimsy to share with my grands she sent these two books…

I have a few books my bestie Connie sent me leftover from her grands earlier years.. now I can start a little library… I have signed inside of these though so I don’t forget when I got them and how precious these books are as an addition to my new library for little ones 🙂

She included something she had made years ago that had not found a home yet… for my honey to enjoy … he loves old trains… and this focus fabric and how this works is just so cool!

We are planning to eventually change over the calendar to a Train Schedule!  I think that will be cool but the specifics are not planned out yet! lol  Right now we are just enjoying it in our kitchen which also houses my honey’s vintage train collection for decor purposes.

She made me a bunting from vintage doilies….

 And I wanted it where I could enjoy it lots… so I had my honey center it over my design board… it looks so awesome up there… here is a close up of the center doily…

 The craftsmanship on the Australian doilies is amazing.. and they are vintage .. so they really fit our theme!

Next she also included an ornament for our Christmas tree…

 A fabric christmas tree with a big fun blingy vintage looking button for a star on the top!!!

I love this ornament.. and placed it near the top of the tree where no one is sure to miss it 🙂

She also included a really fun gold glitter Christmas Card ….

We don’t get a lot of Christmas cards by snail mail.. so we display those on our Christmas tree as well…  Isn’t it lovely!!!

Wow!!! See what a lot of stuff she sent me ??!!!!  I am sooo blessed!!!!

Later on Saturday we picked up my daughters best friend since preschool.. Tanisha… She will be staying with us over the holiday 🙂

So far I only caught a shot of them in Brandi’s room.. isn’t her Christmas tree she fashioned on the wall with push pins and strings of lights cool!  I will try to catch a dark shot of it too.. with the lights on.. very cool for sure!

So with Tanisha here… I am considering 2 for Christmas… I made a questionnaire for each of them to fill out… and from that I am making them each a stocking with a few of their faves in… here is the plan for Tanisha’s stocking…

 Here is Tanisha’s list… her fave colour is purple so I am copying her handwriting to a larger size and spacing for hand embroidery in this shot….

 And here is Tanisha’s name getting embroidered on the stocking top before the quilting officially begins on this project 🙂

I still have lots of decision to make before this stocking is completed.. and I also am thinking about HOW to construct Brandi’s front of her stocking… here is my plan…

See her “panel” is vertical instead of Horizontal in orientation.. Tanisha’s was the Christmas tree panel I added….

So that is what I am up to just a few days until Christmas Eve Party 2015 is to happen too.. much planning still to do!!!!

Until my next post … I hope you are finding something positive to focus on this Christmas and please….

Stencils and Hand Quilting with them ~ Tutorial

Today on facebook I posted this picture of hand quilting I am currently working on …

It spawned several comments and questions.. so I thought I would do a blog post all about it to share with you all 🙂

This is the stencil I am using.. I bought it at JoAnne’s in their miniscule quilting section I think…

As you can tell it is a string of butterflies.. 🙂  I needed a stencil 3″ wide for this wider sashing on a quilt I am working on…

So try to choose a Continuous line stencil .. most are made that way these days anyway! lol

You can view and purchase templates online and Stencil Company or Stencils International company… or you may find some at Joanne’s and occasionally in quilt shops… but I rarely find anything but most common there unfortunately…

So decide what you are marking with and trace it out on a sheet of paper if the path you should go to make it “continuous” is not obvious…

So above is this stencil traced out with my blue Mark-Be-Gone water soluble pen… with the stencil laying beside it…

See these openings where I didn’t draw??

Those are “legs” and keep the template in 1 piece with giving you the ending of a continuous stitch design…

Here is a close up of the stencil.. check out those Legs! lol

I have only highlighted some of the legs here… but notice the black arrow in BOTH of the above shots.. that makes this one tricky to figure out… so do this..

After you trace your stencil go back with the same device for marking you already used and fill in the “legs”..

Above are my quilting lines to keep it continuous and avoid traveling 🙂

This tutorial was made for some of my fave fb groups… because it was popular there I am sharing with…
Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation.. Needle and Thread Thursday AKA NTT… Here🙂
Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict (and she really is!!! lol)….  HERE 🙂
and Happy Thanksgiving Canada at Kathy’s Quilts… Slow Sunday Stitching … HERE 🙂

Here is a cutie I found in an Australian’s fb page I follow…

You see it is Spring “Down Under”.. their seasons are opposite ours 😉

“Charm Dance” ~ Designed and Quilted by Wendy Gontier

Speaking of Australian Best Friends… I have the best one!!! And she recently did a YOUTUBE video about hand sewing down the binding on a quilt… GO HERE >>>> Wendy Gontier  <<<<<  To watch it… leave a comment or hit the thumbs up and subscribe to her channel if you like it.. she is an EXCELLENT teacher too!!!
But I loved it and wanted to share it with you all… I do hope the ups and downs of daily life… are mainly with needle and thread this season 🙂

Until my next post.. PINK POST STILL IN THE WORKS!!!! lol

My Faves ~ July Edition :)

My Faves ~ July 2015

Recent Pictures…

Great friends!

Great Memories!

and Great Looking! lol

 We did it together…

Matching Tshirts

Pedicures… she went back for a mani before leaving too! lol

A pic I worked on as a sweet memory of her short beach time this trip

Birthday Memories…

Yep, I am a firecracker!  Born on the 4th of July 🙂  So we celebrated and had dessert..

Such a yummy dessert we got for our birthday celebration at a local restaurant 🙂

It didn’t last long.. there were 4 of us celebrating birthdays in July! lol

My dd made me red velvet brownies too!  Yummm 🙂

And I was blessed with lots of loot… My daughter painted me a special large canvas in a cool way…

My honey really spoiled me this year though!

I got my fave chocolates.. in mini size!!

And this pattern on the left is a BOM style pattern of a quilt I want to make.. I will share more on that later… and the fat quarter bundle on the right is the fabric to make it with that I had already picked out!!!!

I can’t believe how generous he has been to me for a birthday too!

 Now what to do for him!!???  His birthday is coming on the 20th

I also got a host of cards and other gifts… Connie had given me a wall hanging to quilt, and the matching t-shirts to wear during her visit!  My favorite card was from my grandmother who is 96 years young and never forgets my birthday or to send me a card on my day 🙂  That means sooo much!

I certainly feel loved this year for sure on my special day.  Do you enjoy your special day each year??

 

Quilting Accomplishments…

I am so excited about this part of my week I am linking with Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday on Sunday morning… that is my fave spot to read on Sunday’s and my fave thing to do!!! lol   Today she shows her hand embroidery and talks about how good closure on a project feels! 

So come on now and check out how well my week has gone…

Got this quilt layered and pin basted ready for hand quilting…

Close up of the center block 🙂

 This block measures about 16 x 22 inches and is a little 18 month old jumper.  I only need to quilt every 8″ with this particular batting (it says how close/far you need to stitch or the batting to remain secure within the quilt on the batting packing or insert if getting off a roll) but I want this to feel cozy.

My friend Wendy suggested something like this and I LOVE this more interpretive quilting idea…

I plan to stitch in white YLI 40/3 thread to keep it super sturdy for years of snuggles too!

And in the meantime I have been working on my Bulls Eye wall hanging…

 I am now on the 11th of 16 bulls eyes.. hope to make better progress on this before my next report to you! lol

And finally choosing which of those luscious fabrics from the fat quarter bundle and which from my own stash to put together for the pattern I received for my birthday…

Although the official pattern is called “Journey of a Quilter” by Leanne Beasley… I will be calling mine “Kathi’s Friendship Journey” quilt… It will hold my first embroidered patchwork done from scratch  and my first applique… needleturn or otherwise.. will be my firsts!Yay!  Do you have quilts you enjoy that are full of firsts too?  I love to see my first hand quilting too!  I sleep under still every night! 🙂

So that is what is up with me… hope you enjoyed the ride today!

Thanks for visiting 🙂

Feeling Grateful :)

Happy Monday my bloggy friends!

After a rough week last week (thanks for all your supportive messages!  They each meant so much!) and not much handquilting in the may-lay … I have picked up my hoop over the weekend and this morning too!

So that quilt is moving along… and other projects are moving along in needing to get done!!!  So I hope this week has less stress…

I also want to thank each of you for your thoughts and prayers for me last week.. I could feel them… the problems are with my almost 17 year old daughter… and this is something I came across.. thought I would share here…

if only teenagers could grasp the truthfulness in needing to compare a future mate to the ideal mate for them!

So in the meantime I have been enjoying some great photos from my best friends and wanted to share it with you too…

This hand quilted baby quilt as made by my bestie Connie!

The pic on the left shows the hand quilted detail while the quilt on the right shows personalization stitched by hand and an excellent wrapping job 🙂

And here is sweet baby Emily born just a couple weeks ago and had her first professional photos taken on it…

 Then my other best friend Wendy celebrated the 2015 Patone color …

And made this flimsy…

That she then quilted and posed with a couple of fun bears for the blog show associated with the blog party!

The texture shows up some in this pic but it is astounding with all the shots she has sent me as this quilt was in production… it also is all hand quilted in Wendy’s own freehand style… she is VERY talented 🙂  This quilt also won her Viewer’s Choice award which came with a credit to a fabric shop here in the states.. she can’t wait to cash it in as she loves their fabric selections!

Here was Wendy’s second Pantone entry… 

It is a great table runner for a friend… and she had the border fabric in her stash already!!!

Wendy has a blog you can check out more on these 2 projects HERE!

May is a month that has many bittersweet memories for me and my daughter… please continue to keep us in your thoughts and prayers… Tony died in 2008 and we still miss him every day.. Sunday was his birthday so we are trying a new tradition and celebrating only his birthday this year….

With one of his fave breakfasts… blueberry muffins… but these were gourmet style and completely by scratch.. I will have to get the recipe from my dd if interested… but it includes yogurt and lots of blueberries too! lol

My honey has the flu (:( BOO!) currently, and my daughter is giving me gray hair (almost 17!)… but today I am ready to see my little buddy CJ…

And continue putting in some more hand stitches & taking time to share my gratefulness with all of you!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!  Have a blessed week!  Until next time…