Plugging away

 Plugging away at the machine during the day and cross stitch at night in front of the tv with my hubby. 

I was delighted to get my applique project together. It only needs the borders. ( my least favorite part.) I even found some red fabric in my stash for the back. Woot woot.  Just trying to use up that stash. 

Full size

Close up for the top

Close up for the bottom

And after being so successful with my borders on the previous quilt, I got my original quilt out that had the design. It is an old, old project.  ( The book is Log Cabin quilts or something by Judy Martin.) So I cut appropriate  bars and pieces. Each strip requires 4 fabrics and each 10 inch length requires 5 different sizes. The really good part was that I had lots of the original fabrics cut into strips with a box of 1 1/2 inch brown and off white squares. It is tedious, but making progress.

I made my monthly Stash Bee block. Easy peasy lemon squeezy. 12 inch block

And while choosing fabrics, I started selecting some old prints to give away.  And in the process I found 18 completed blocks from a Pat Speth ( Nickel Quilts) workshop.  The book is dated 2002.  So it is DATED and made from Thimbleberries fabrics. I pulled it out and started making 7 blocks to complete a 5 by 5 setting. A simple setting to donate. 

Close up to see the colors.   Funny how our taste in fabrics change.  I had a whole tub of these and made lots of wall hangings, table runners and quilts from them. 

And so lots of progress. Quilting is indeed my pleasure and my treasure.!

Back in the Saddle

 Sorry for being away for a while.  Fortunately, there is nothing amiss here. I did spend much of a week assisting a friend after her shoulder surgery. I enjoyed her company and got a lot of cross stitch completed while being there. 

I have gotten back to sewing a bit. First I completed the last 2 project bags from my Lori Holt kit.  All 8 are now made. 

I was procrastinating a bit.  My goal was to keep finishing quilts. I did not want to start anything new. But I was just hung up on how to get my borders to fit on the Rainbow Log Cabins.  So I finally just picked it up attacked the project.  Ugh!  I still don't understand how I avoided it. 

And It is DONE ! And looks amazing.  Even better than I had expected.  So very glad to have it off the pile. 

I also have been working on my Little America blocks.  I am still behind a few. 

But no progress on Dear Jane all month.  

Happy Mother's Day for all the mothers, grandmothers, and other assorted titles that give so much to younger ones. 

Return from Louisiana

 Spring break for the grandkids means a trip from me, well and Grandpa as well.  I can't express what a joy to see them grow and spend quality time with the 2 boys. I can't believe the oldest is already up to my chin. He had his long hair cut and has really grown and grown this year. So unbelievable. I love them so.  It is truly good for my soul and infuses me with energy and job.  But at the same time, it can be exhausting.

We took them to Dallas to Legoland and a hotel ( for swimming, of course)  

What fun things to do and inspiration.  For those of you with boys, I found 2 products for creativity and purchased them through Amazon. Both are about 10 dollars each. 

This one has several different yhemes: animals, nature, and more.

While in Dallas, I was amazed at the different buildings in the downtown: modern and old as well as kinds of constructions. We did go to one of the neighborhoods and found an awesome barbeque restaurant and perused the different shops. 

I did a lot of cross stitching especially in the flight delays. We had to stay overnight in Charlotte due to inability to make a connection vouchered by the airline. 

Prior to leaving, I also did an upcycle of a men's shirt purchased at Goodwill. : Here is the back as a side view:  I used acrylic paint added with fabric medium. And then free motioned the flower designs 

I think I will try another. 

Also completed another Stashbee block:

I will not be able to sew on my machine in the next week or so as I help a friend convalesce at her home after shoulder surgery. 

Long time away..

I am remiss in not posting for a while... partially due to the hackers. Who knows; it may happen again? 

But I do not stop quilting...

Latest completions for my Dear Jane blocks. 

Total of 35 blocks made. 

And

And ti go with the log cabin circles, I have made these puts borders:

All that is needed is the corners and a couple extra piano keys for each one. Judy Martin sure makes good patterns. 

Additionally, I have a few more Little America blocks.

Plugging away... 

Blizzard here!

 What a storm!   I haven't seen anything like it in a while.  It rained and rained at first, and I doubted the weatherman. We even had mini puddles in the backyard. But then the wind came and the temperature dropped.  We had a half inch as I went to bed Sunday.  Not bad, I was thinking. So why close the library and school already?

But then I woke up to lots of snow swirling everywhere. And nothing is going anywhere: no traffic at all. And white and more white snow over the ground, over the streets and blowing like crazy. It didn't stop till the afternoon.

Funny thing though, the birds were busy in the backyard eating seeds from the birdfeeders. All except the robins who were fluffed trying to stay warm.  They at least at the leftover berries on the crabapple tree.

The remainder left from the storm is surprising to see. With all the drifting, it is hard to determine how many inches of that white stuff. At least it isn't 31inches like a couple hours north of here.  Interstate 94 was closed with accidents and people stranded in the daytime over 5 hours or more.  

So I have done a little sewing:

And I do have some cross stitch to share.  I keep at it each night with my hubby in front of the television.  This has been about 2 weeks worth. The leprechaun is from Not Forgotten Farms.

I think he is the cutest leprechaun! I few back stitches to finish!

The stitch below is a reprint from the Prairie Schooler. 

Little America 3 inch  blocks: 

Site refreshed and grateful!

 I was hacked as many of you have probably discovered. I have absolutely NO idea how it had happened. 

What a time for it!  I am eternally grateful for my daughter's intervention and searching of my site to get it rectified and then approved for release of  " dangerous site" label. Hooray!

What a relief that she was able to take care of it.  Funny thing, she used ChatGBT for help with diagnostic work on the site.  Technology is amazing and sometimes scary.

So since I have been " absent"  what has been going on in my life. 

Firstly I had a retreat where I had unadulterated sewing time.

And the biggest completion was this quilt top  which only finished at 73 inches square.  It has been an ongoing project for several years and started out as a Rainbow Scrap Challenge making the curved log cabins. 

Before and after photos.

Since then I have been working on since 2021, not as far back as I thought! 

So now I am painfully assembling the border.  It is a Judy Martin design which I started on an even earlier quilt and I still CAN'T find the dang book. But a friend kindly sent photos of the appropriate pages. 

18 sections completed out of 28 plus  the additional corners.

Additionally, I did assemble 2 of Lori Holt's project bags.  With all the quilting, it took longer than I had hoped. 

And I started a quilted jacket using a sweatshirt. It is currently waiting its turn. No photos, sorry.

But I also made a few of the Little America quilt blocks. Yeah, those 3 inch little buggers that are paper pieced. 

And I caught a lovely head cold which put me out of commission for a week more or less. All I did was cross stitch and sleep. 

Better now and as good as my blog site.  Hooray!

HACKED

 I have been hacked and flagged by Google.

I am awaiting intervention from my tech guys. ( My kids)  or a hired helper. 

Time ...time....time....  Out of my control

Little blocks and more little blocks

 As part of my New Year's goals I am working on Dear Jane blocks.  I even purchased a 2nd edition of the Brenda Papadakis book.  (Block drawings are the same; photos are a little blurry.)  

Here are this week's 5 inch blocks:  

Easy one

Tricky one which required some patience. First I made plastic templates. Then I  traced the template outline on the block pieces.  The combination worked. 

Secondly, I had not started any of my Little America blocks from Sentimental Stitches in Michigan which sends a weekly paper pieced  pattern.  I finally made 2 of the 3 inch blocks.

Showing also first botched attempt, cutting on the sewing line .Ugh!

Another UFO bites the dust!

Several years ago (2022) I had purchased at a resale table 9 block kits from Quilts Plus which was a quilt store in northern Indianapolis.  ( My first quilt shop way back in 1978.)  Each block had 5 different pieces of fabric and the pattern to make the blocks. I love, love, love to make a block in a couple of hours. ( like for my Stash Bee, or the BOM at guild, or even the Blockheads or Sewcialites. ( FYI the new one starts tomorrow on Fat Quarter Shop.)

So I made the reproduction blocks and devised a setting and found a reproduction border print. 

I layered it and quilted the outlines of the blocks and lattice. And it SAT and SAT for for years! 

I pulled it off my pile and started my quilted  to finish it.  I first did some straight line quilting in the pieced blocks. And then I even added more. 

I needed a plan for the solid alternating blocks. I searched for a stencil template as I didn't want to do my circular feathers again. I ordered it from Linda's Electric needle and it came.  I then marked and quilted it all in one night. Fortunately, I had a great water soluble marker that worked very well. ( Getting it out is another story.)

But it is gorgeous and DONE!

Close ups of some stitching:

48 inches square!