June update

 Well, the weather is certainly a headliner this year.  Cool, cool temperatures to start the month and now quite the opposite with record breaking HOT temperatures. 

My husband and I flew to Louisiana to see the dear grandboys. They are both growing so tall and are always a welcome addition to my lap. Lots and lots of snuggles and kisses. I do love them so. ( Not that I wasn't happy to see their parents, as well.)

Of course lots of computers and video games. 

   Caterpillar from their tomato plants. It is amazing how much can be eaten in a day.

The weather was a 20 degree contrast to Wisconsin, and not exactly favorable to be outside. But we enjoyed books, puzzles, games and more. Additionally, we took them to Houston to expose them to some tourist sites. Of course, they really liked swimming in pools. Go figure! But they are becoming better and better swimmers. 

We toured the NASA site.  Such wonders to remember from my past many years ago. I remember watching so many launches and landings on the TV as a teenager. And we got to see an  an actual Saturn rocket that would have carried a later Apollo mission but was canned while there. A full football field long on its side.( housed inside a building). There were many buildings on the site for all kinds of engineering including the upcoming Artemis missions first to the moon and then on to Mars. The first rocket is already build and being tested yesterday for fuel success. The boys did well for all the activities we saw: movie, tram ride, hands on experiments, and many beautiful replicas. 

Rockets on the end of stage 1  of Saturn

Short trip to the moon, no spacesuits needed.

On top of tower overlooking the 747 that carried the Space Shuttle

Next, we went to the Museum of Natural Science which also included a planetarium and butterfly exhibit. Dinosaurs and dinosaurs, shells, minerals and gems. Such a lot to take in for one day.

And lastly we went to Galveston Beach. A contrast to others as Hurricane Katrina devastated it and now all the silt from the Mississippi empties around it making the water a brown color. The day we were there it was windy with higher waves. The boys learned how to jump and dive through them and of course, dug into the sand.

                           

The trip was marred by the medical news that my daughter in law needs a kidney/pancreas transplant and is going on dialysis. This has been an ongoing struggle as she has Type 1 Diabetes and had kidney struggles with her 2nd pregnancy 6 years ago.  We hold her in our thoughts and prayers. And maybe a 2nd trip to assist with the boys is in the cards for  me.   

Unfortunately, no sewing of any kind was completed for the trip nor did I have any fabric shopping.  Oh well.

But I have worked on a few things in between:    This is a quick baby quilt  using a charm pack.  It's nice to use up some of the stash, but I did need to buy the yellow. 

These are the latest Moda Blockheads 4 blocks making my total to about 10

                         

                                                   

All for now. Hoping you are having a good summer as well. 

May doings

 I may have taken a leave from blogging.  And that has been because I have now taken 2 trips this month of May.

First, my husband and I drove to Kansas City, Kansas to the great 100th birthday celebration of his aunt. It was absolutely wonderful to see his cousins and their families. Aunt Dorothy had 7 kids and was married to a World War II vet who had been captured and was in a prison camp for the last 6 months of the war. Over the many years we have had several reunions. Always a fun time. 

This is my husband and his sister with us spouses and dear Aunt Dorothy.

Aunt Dorothy was still very intelligent and perceptive and well liked in her church community. We were so blessed to enjoy her company and know that she has left a lasting presence in the world. She and her belated husband donated land on 87th street in Lenexa for the Sar-Ko-Par Park. 

Always love the Canadian Mounted Moose

Then, my sister was available and we took a trip together to visit our mother in Canada northeast of Toronto in the Kawarthas. It was a long, busy but very fruitful trip. Mom who has Alzheimers and is in a nursing home was able to communicate with us remembering us still and we recalled many wonderful times and relatives together. Not bad for a dear wonderful 90 year old. We even tried a zoom call with her sister and our cousins.

                        

In between I have done lots of little things: 

I finished the wool applique for this piece.  Now I just want to get it framed, instead of quilting it.

And that was May,  mostly. 

Will update for June shortly,  I am currently in Louisiana visiting the grandkids.

Happy 100th birthday!

 Yes, there is a BIG birthday to be celebrated this week.  NO, it is not me. My husband's aunt is turning 100. Yeah Aunt Dorothy!   Longevity runs in the family. Her sister, my mother in law lived to be 100 as well.  And their mother lived to be 95.  

So a special celebration deserves a special birthday banner:

Most of this was created from a panel.  The words, the candles and the border at the top. 

I adapted a pattern for a cake and added the rows of candles: lots of little cutting.

I free motion quilted it last night.  My monofilament threads did not work on my machine. 

Glory knows I tried.  I bent /broke 3 needles. 2 of them ended up shaped like a U.

The machine had just been cleaned and home from the fix up shop.

So I switched to regular thread as I have been quilting the last week. And it was fine. 

Finished!

Celebrate!

 

Blocks and a banner

 I have been keeping up with Blockheads 4  and am enjoying the playing with fabrics and piecing the blocks.  It is nice to have small projects to do. 

This is block 6   and one of the extra blocks.  

Here is my first version which I liked.  However, it did not play well with the others.

So I dismantled it, and added my background for the diagonal squares. 

Here are all the blocks thus far on my ironing station. 

Latest project is to make a banner for a big birthday. 

My husband's aunt is turning 100 this weekend and there is a big family get together.

And so I utilized some of the leftover fabric from my daughter's table runner to make the banner.

This was an awesome border printed fabric. 

And I sliced up what I had left, made the cake and added the candles and wording.

I made the 100th figures on google docs increasing the font to the proper size ( 150) 

Oh, and another row of candles goes at the bottom.

I need to assemble the 3 sections, layer and quilt it.  Hooray!  

Healing Hearts quilt.

 It is the time of year that I finish my donation quilt for Healing Hearts.  Healing Hearts is a support program for families with grief and I began this past year being a facilitator with my husband who has done it for several years. We work with different age levels with weekly meetings where parents and kids are separate. And this year after the tragic parade here in Waukesha, the organization has been called on for many small group events. 

There is a big fund raiser next month and this is the 3rd year I have made a quilt. 

I found this wonderful quilt and pattern at a quilt show this year. Two big Waahoos!

This is where I left it last week.  So now I  have been working  on the quilting. The background is showing up tan in the photo but is actually the back of a gray grunge. The white spots took away from the rest of the colors. 

I found this great print for an extra wide back the dots are about an inch each.

It was at Missouri Star Quilting. 

And while I did a lot of stitch in the ditch for the pieced star, I had these large corners that I wanted to do something special.  I also had a variegated thread that I hope will show up.

I toyed with different methods of transfer from my quilting design books.  First I used Golden Threads papers and punched the design with a dull needle for multiple layers. But the paper was to brittle. Then I tried Pounce which worked well as the white chalk on the gray, but it wore off quickly.  So then I just used the Frixion pen and traced the dots of the design through the Golden Threads paper.  Success. 

Here is the 48 inch quilt finished.  The motifs are in the center and the 4 corners with some framing around them.

And the back looks great with it.  The binding is of the same polka dot print. 

Ta Da!!

Another UFO

 Halloween is not just around the corner.  But this cute cat with its borders was completed last fall.

The fabric line and panel was Kitty Corn.  Very cute and I purchased it online last fall. It gives that old time feel with some softer colors.  It is also about 36 inches squared. 

Again, I need to finish these!!!!!!

And so I did.  

Here is the back.  the quilting is hard to see as it was done in black.  But I outlined the center panel and all the stars in off white.  That is the light designs you can sort of see. I had to change the bobbin to the same color.  I was not going to adjust the tension.  I just got it back from the repair spa and want it to continue its good luck trend.  The old girl is only 37 years old. I have to treat her with a little kindness.

The back was a piece in my stash.  Not a great piece of fabric, but it worked out well with the colors. 

Here is the center of the panel to give you a look at the details.  I outlined all the big and little shapes. 

And another one bites the dust!

Sweet dream finish!

 Another UFO bites the dust: 

I really enjoyed the piecing of Sweet Dreams from Pat Sloan.  And when she got to combining these blocks for the center, I liked it and decided I would quit there.  I had already purchased the blue to put around the border and the print which ended up going on the back.  And I knew I didn't have enough to make the larger size.

I altered it by adding the sashing between the 9 inch blocks. I kept thinking of how to add another setting strip around it, but the half square triangles would not come out even. 

I also made the binding out of the same blue print. 

So I did a lot of straight line quilting to finish the quilt with my walking foot. As it is just a stash buster and not destined for any competition, I stopped.  

I did add a rod pocket and I will give it to the sweetheart who has the matching quilt.

So what to do with the rest of the scraps?????????

Wonderful World of Color

 First I would like to say thanks to Joan of Moosestash Quilting for hosting this blog hop and allowing me to participate.   

Color, color, color.  As quilters, we can't get enough of it.  And while color for dye in fabric is much different than color for paint, we love it just the same.  

Now The Quilt Show has been doing a Saturday Sampler of color by Dee Christopher. And it is not just color theory of how the color wheel works.( I love how good she is at piecing and having such wonderful methods to teach.) And the one thing I learned very quickly from her is that we all have a color preference. And of course that preference influences our choice of fabric for making quilts. 

There are different styles of fabric from batiks to reproductions, seasonal, and interests such as dinsosaurs or gardening. And then different styles to compliment or use those fabrics with large prints, backgrounds, and more

Generally,  I like more muted tones to quilt with for around my home. This is an example of a scrap quilt using these tones of color.  It was from the Rainbow Scrap Challenge of 2017.

But this is about COLOR.  

And I do love to use color for holidays, and well, my daughter and daughter in law. 

Some of my recent quilts from last year highlight those values: 

This was a combination of bright beautiful batiks. 

This was a great bundle of Tula Pink mixed with some Kaffe Fassett and a bright orange print 

                                  

And each of the past 2 years, I have made a bright quilt for donation to  Healing Hearts, an organization which works with grief in families. And I love making something very bright and happy. 

And this year is no different,  And instead of a white background, I am using a grayish grunge background. The charm packs I chose for this are from Laurel Burch and another one, yet to find the name. 

Anyway wonderfully bright colors and prints. 

Here it is as I laid out the center.  

The book has many patterns in it by Melissa Corry using charm packs.  Normally, I don't buy books, but I saw a few others I want to do to use up some fabric hanging around. 

And the big finish!  Well the top anyway.  I hope to get it quilted this week. 

Size at this point about 48 inches square. 

The colors aren't as bright as in person being it is an evening photo session and we have SNOW outside.

Another view from a different angle. 

Some pointers for this construction

1) Pin at the seam with the allowances "nesting" or going in opposite directions.

I did use Best Press to press my fabrics as there were LOTS of half square triangles.

Then pin prior to the seam.  It keeps it from shifting.

2.I prefer to web my blocks together, by putting them in rows and chain sewing each row together. 

Then as you can see below press each column/row in one direction and the next row in the opposite direction.

Don't forget to check out the other bloggers each day.

My cohorts for today are: 

Just Let Me Quilt

BeaQuilter

Songbird Designs

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Purring Cottage 

Stitchin at Home

UFO and goals

 I have many Unfinished projects: some are in stages, in plastic boxes, some are old and I mean decades old, and some are from last year, some were planned for others, etc.  You get the picture.  But I realized  as I tried to keep trying to organize my sewing area, and find lost and found items, and get rid of others that this is a weakness for me and I don't mind some degree of clutter. 

I have been having a great deal of fun watching Youtube quilters. I love Pat Sloan and have started some of her projects.  And I also love Karen Brown on Just Get It Done. And what has especially sounded the bell and made me feel comfortable with me is their honesty and their process thinking.  For that I mean, they admit to getting distracted, putting projects aside, and even getting frustrated with things they are doing. But I love the thinking out loud debates about why they chose this color or this pattern or whatever. I am heading some of their suggestions: like just changing much needed rotary blades, or working on things for short timed increments. 

So I am taking some much needed advice and 

1) Am working on UFOs.  In fact over the next month, I hope to quilt a project each week.  I have at least 4 waiting to be done. Karen Brown had a video just on this topic.  Points that have stuck are to get some of the easy ones out of the way for a "win". You know the ones that don't have too much left to do. And it is encouraging me to continue.  So that is what this is about. Getting easy things done and that means small quilts 2 of which I have made this spring. 2 others that are just waiting and even one of them is started. If you want to see the link to Karen's program:  t  v=AZEiQD8ROBY&list=PLchS26NEYgVw6wnulP9qQoztWMGLLQcAp&index=2

First project quilted and the binding on:  ( It was too big for my table, so I subdivided it. My daughter is happy with the gift.)

Up close: straight line quilting 

Pattern: Mini Yellow Brick road using Stacy Hsu charm pack

2) Am trying to organize and clean up my sewing .  It started as getting things ready for the Bargain Bin at our quilt show which was a couple of weeks ago. I have donated unused blocks, unfinished projects, tools I no longer use and more.  2 bags worth donated. And I am finding more. I am starting Karen's organization she did for the month of January, but taking it at my own pace. 

Easter Dinner:   I had fun making carrot bags: free pattern from Connecting Threads.

Of course, they were filled with Easter Candy.  It's hard to see, but there are 2 different green and orange fabrics.  The 3rd carrot already hippity hopped to my daughter's.

And from our table to yours: Happy Easter!   He is risen!

Sewing again

 It is truly a quandry to leave 86 degrees and humid to 30 degrees and snowy in a day.  I was complaining ( to my self) how tired and uncomfortable I was walking around New Orleans and the next day I was popping into downtown Chicago freezing in my jeans jacket outside the train station. Such a contrast and it is April!!!!

I already miss the greenery of being down South. ( and of course, the beach)  This is frustrating up here : I don't even have tulips peeking out yet or buds on any trees. Poor robins trying to find food up here. 

But I am getting back to sewing.  I called my local LQS that services my sewing machine.  Who knew it would take an extra week to get it tuned up?  So I borrowed the extra sewing machine of a friend who had upgraded to a new Bernina. Her model is a few years newer than mine, and I like it already. 

So after taking apart my Sweet Dreams, I have added the sashing to the blocks and the outer border.  Yeah!    Now to layer it and quilt it.  

And I have caught up on the new Blockheads 4.    I love the color pallet and the softness of them. 

I really fell in love with Dandelion Girl, one of Joanne Figueroa's fabric lines many years ago.  This is my 4th quilt to be made of these colors. And I have added several fat quarters of her other similar lines to them along the way.  I still had so many leftovers, I just want to use them up. So hence the light late color for the background.  Funny, when I was searching my fabrics for another project, I found more fat quarters and a 2nd piece of late fabric.  

Oh, these are 9 inch blocks.  If you want to follow along: there is a facebook group which offers lots and lots of color variations. Plus Robin Pickens always does at least 4-6 color variations mock ups. Here is the link to the home page on Moda Fabrics  to find the blocks to make:  https://my.modafabrics.com/inspiration-resources/blockheads-4-archive