Sewing again!

 I have completed 30  blocks of 16 patches.  The fall colors look great.  I am on a stand still waiting for my mojo to resize the acorn pattern.  The printer would not cooperate. 

The goal was to have all 16 squares be different fabrics.  And of course, my photo shows one with a duplicate.  

Additionally, I have been working on a version of a log cabin having just 1/4 of it  at a 14 inch size to share the pattern with friends.  I am working with red, white and blue colors for a summer picnic quilt. 

The free pattern is Ventanas by Timeless Treasures,  but I started playing around with the numbers. 

Good news, though, I found a bag of red, white and blue reproduction fat quarters. Woo Hoo!

And while watching my television, I have been stitching away at my cross stitch.  It is coming along nicely.  Although yesterday, I had to tear our rows and made many mistakes.  I guess it was just not my day. 

I like using the even weave cross stitch fabric.  But my old eyes have a hard time counting sometimes. Or, I end up crossing the stitches the wrong way. Mistakes happen, as in life  Ugh.  

Off to see Mom this weekend. Our drive will be pretty. 

Back home again

 My spouse and I took a trip back to Louisiana to see the grandkids and their parents.  The weather, of course, was 20 degrees warmer than we are used to in Wisconsin being in the 80s. 

We love their fall weather enjoying the falling leaves and decorations while being so wonderfully warm. Now I get why businesses sell short sleeved shirts for fall; up here we add sweaters and flannels for layers. 

It was great to share time with the kids as well as their dad, whom we miss so much.  Boys are not ones who like to chat. Even the littles are not great on the phone and will just frankly say they are done.  (aka  I am not as interesting as their computer games.) 

We had a great time.  My son is a goood cook and has a great grill. We spent wonderful time outdoors. Kayaking was the highlight for the old guys, my husband and son.  Hiking was the highlight for the little boys.  The oldest just absolutely loves observing all the plants and finding them along the way. 

This is at the Cane River in Natchitoches.

This is at Kisatchie National Forest.

The boys and I

And it was so warm, they played with the sprinkler and water balloons. 

Family is everything. 

The only stitching I did was cross stitch on the plane. 

But after I got home I started some new projects.

I am making patchwork acorns for a basket for each care giver for my Mom. 

26 blocks 16 patches 1 and 1/2 inches each.

This is pattern a friend and I are going to complete together. I even purchased some backgrounds I was going for some wovens but in tans which suits my house. 

             

All for now.  This month I still have more traveling to go.

Quilt for Daughter in Law

 I am glad to share a finish with you!  I had purchased the kit and pattern after seeing it in a store in Missouri.  I had shown  the photo to my daughter in law knowing she would probably like it.  This is Hello Boo fabric line by Lella Boutique. The pattern had a dark and light version.  I chose the black which has spider webs in the design.  I think the borders are what make it, especially the black and white stripe. I have made that my binding as well.  It was easy to assemble and I liked the colors together as I worked on them, not usual combinations for my taste.

Close ups of a couple of the panel blocks

The back is a minky kind of fabric and the quilting is a swirly design with spider webs and spiders hanging periodically. My long armer helped asI needed it to be done, so that I can take it down south when I visit my grandkids. 

So I am working on hand stitching the binding down. 

Cross stitch and Pumpkins

 In the evenings, I enjoy handwork like bindings or applique. And lately, I have found some small designs to cross stitch.

I have pushed myself to finish up these little ones last week: 

Both of these are from Pinker n Punkin. She has such cute seasonal designs. But these befuddled me. I worked on evenweave with 2 strands on 2 squares.  But I really NEED a higher power of readers although I already use 3. 5s and a bright light beside me. 

And this last one, I experimented with painting the canvas with acrylic paints added with Textile Medium, 2 to 1 ratio is suggested online. To highlight and brighten it and give it a mottled look, I added additional yellow paint to give a mottled look. I like how it turned out. 

It was easier to stitch and I used 2 strands over 2 squares. It went fast. 

I don't remember where I located this pattern. 

Lastly, I have been quilting: I have a Fig Tree pattern that has both an orange and white pumpkin version. I chose the grayish brown background I already had and a layer cake of Fig Tree's fabric from last year. I am altering it to make it fit a space on my wall. 

This is the lay out.  All that is needed is sashing and pieced horizontal borders between the rows.

Over the weekend I took a trip to Indianapolis to visit my sister and Mom. 

Diane had found my mother's wedding album from 1952. We looked at the black and white photos with her. Mom's memory of the event wasn't very clear. We were fortunate to have a newspaper article detailing the people including attendants and grandmothers as well as details of the apparel and flowers. 

Not bad for a 92 year old lady with Alzheimer's