Cream and Sugar? Yes, Please!

This is the Cream & Sugar quilt top, finally together! Hooray!! This was taught at my LQS back in 2023 and I did persevere through the first six months, concentrating on the largest blocks in the layout. I fell away from the project after that, always thinking that "I'd get back to it...". You know how that goes. It took a full retreat weekend for me to sew up the smaller, setting, blocks! 

This was my work area ↑

Yes, organized and neat. But, seriously, ALL WEEKEND!?!! (This was only stopping to eat, someone else fed us and cleaned up) and, still,  all that I accomplished was this 

↓

Groan. I must be slowing down... 😧

Those gathered made these heart pillows as a service project for the NICU at a local hospital, these will be presented to Moms who aren't able to take a baby home with them. Something to fill ther arms and clutch close to their chest. I get weepy just thinking about it.

All those assembled had beautiful projects to work on, I was inspired by each and every one.

This bag of leftover scraps from last year's projects has been weighing on me. I cut up what I could and wanted to keep but just couldn't ever seem to get to the bottom of this bag. I offered it to Lynnleigh, she immediately said "yes, PLEASE"! I was tickled. I'm not sure what she's going to do with it and I look forward to finding out; but, right now, for me, out of sight is out of mind! I can move forward with a clear conscience. 

Now that Cream and Sugar is a full-fledged flimsy I am looking at backing fabrics. 

I think it would make a lovely spread on our bed for the summer...onward and upwards! 

Life is Good!

Growing

There are lots of things going on, and growing on, around here. Despite my best intentions, my "to do" list is one of those things that grows out of control, like Kudzu, and thwarts all attempts to keep up with posting here. Gregory has turned eleven years old this month. Eleven! One thing that doesn't seem to to grow is available time: that shrinks! Seriously. How can it be November already? Here's the birthday boy and his sister, who's growing at the same break-neck pace as her brother. 

She spent the night with us last week; we were entertained with an interpretive, dramatic, reading of "How The Elephant Got His Trunk" after dinner. 

My list of UFOs is growing once again (even with all of those completed tops being rounded up and out of the BOM bins from years past) with the addition of two more Blocks-of-the-Month that I've signed up for (I'm unable to resist) this fall. This is one of them, "Lady's Scrap Basket", so far I've got Unit One completed, along the way I discovered a great little tool for dealing with those pesky "folded corner" triangles, it's made by Creative Grids. ↓

Rather than drawing (and then sewing on) the line, one simply aligns the "Folded Corner Clipper" with the strong diagonal across the corners of the stacked pieces and trims away the excess beforehand, stitching 1/4" away from the cut edge. It works really, really well. Thanks for this tip, Annie! 

My DIL sent this photo the other day. Gregory decided to mend a tear in his pants by himself. He raided his sister's sewing box for the needed items and set to work before it ripped any further. I couldn't help but think of this  very similar illustration from "Sam Johnson and the Blue Ribbon Quilt", maybe it's just the red hair. 😉

A recent retreat weekend saw something else take shape and grow: Great Granny Squared. It's one of those quilts from the always-growing "to make" list that finally rose to the top. I already love it and it still needs two more borders, it will only grow more and more lovely. I'm using Lori Holt's Bee Basics fabric line, it's a bright and cheerful day-brightener. 

A quilting friend finished this top while we retreated together, isn't it great? The pattern is one that's fat quarter friendly: "Inkling" by Patchwork and Poodles. This one really piqued my interest (like I have any business starting something else new!!). 

I have everything, except for the vine border, stitched on this sampler; at long last! It has been temporarily stowed now as and my needle, linen and hoop are being redirected toward Christmas stitching. One more growing obsession... and SEW it goes! 

These are golden days right now, it's hard to keep up with things indoors when it's this glorious outside!

What's going on ( and growing on) at your house?

Life is Good!

All In A Row...

I didn't get all of my elephants in line and in their respective rows until I got back home from the weekend retreat. I knew better than to take anything more than mindless sewing! (A few may have had reversed trunks... maybe.) Several undistracted hours of solitude had it all sorted out.  I suppose that all of my brain power might had been expended on packing to go last Friday morning.

Here's all my stuff at the bottom of the basement steps ready to be loaded in the car, I don't pack lightly but, rather, pack for every eventuality. Even after all of that, I forgot my SewPad! Arrghh😬; I paid for that and could feel the strain in my hips and lower back after two straight days of sitting and sewing without it. If you don't know about SewPad, check it out through the above link; believe me, it will bring you the comfort you didn't even know that you were missing, it's truly that beneficial when you sit for long stretches. I decided that I am going to make a spreadsheet for retreat packing with check-off boxes so that this never happens again. As the vaccines continue to be administered there is much hope and promise on the not-too-distant horizon for resumed gatherings and many more retreat weekends once again! Hallelujah!!

Speaking of hope and promise: what better reminder of that than this welcome sign?

Life is Good!

 

Elephants On The Move...

I've got the entire top cut out and all the pieces labeled for "Elephant Parade" by Sew Fresh Quilts. This one has been on my "to do" list for a very long time, it's for Lynnleigh. 

Guess what her favorite animal is. I'm adding more baby elephants and omitting the flowers, bird, turtle and frog. Her current favorite colors are coral and teal, that's how it will be bordered. I'm off this weekend to sew by the lake on a retreat with a few friends. I'll have to buckle down and pay attention as I sew with these blocks- there's many pieces and they're each a little bit different. I've done two sample blocks already, that will help. For me, mindless sewing is a better choice on retreat so that I can sew, chat, listen and chat some more. Not to worry, though, I'm packing up a boxful of that, too, just in case! 

140 hexagons and 280 setting triangles all packed and ready to follow along behind the elephants (or, to take their place if yours truly gets too distracted 😉). There's enough here to complete the current scrappy on my design wall. Along with those packed-up pachyderms and other projects there's plenty more moving forward too:

Currently under the needle is my four block applique wallhanging from a Sue Nickels workshop that I took a few years ago; I've been inspired to finish this and hang it after visiting the Nat'l Quilt Museum and seeing her work, and her sister's (Pat Holly) on display there. Peacock Shell background fill with a cross-hatched border. Not much more to go. 

I was the lucky-ducky winner of this FABULOUS new book from a giveaway on Instagram! The Country Threads gals (that's their quilt, Seaglass, on the far left) had posted the contest and my name was selected from a drawing! I was so excited to learn of the win and even more so now that I have the book, I want to make every. single. quilt. in it!

Speaking of feeling lucky and moving on... I'm fully vaccinated now and extremely thankful for that good fortune too. I had ZERO reaction to the first round. The second one was completely painless but I started feeling achey all-over approximately twelve hours later, that lasted for about a day and then vanished as quickly as it came . Achey joints and muscles seem like a small price to pay for the sense of thankfulness and freedom. Moving on...

The post-COVID vaccination soreness was no match for the post-mulch-spreading aching that ensued as I prepare the perennial garden for spring. We spread four pick-up truck loads in two days!  It's always so exciting to greet the emerging plants once again and to take the after-winter inventory. I believe that I may have lost my Cone Flowers and one Hosta, but all hope is not lost-  it's still early. Fingers crossed. 

The Lenten Rose in all its glory is a joy to behold right now; and, the bluebirds are building a nest!

Hope and promise; moving forward... here we go, 

full steam ahead! 

Life is Good!

Hello, Pouch!

I bought the pattern for the "Hello Pouches" (knot and thread design) and was eager to make some up, I thought that they were cute, functional and a nice alternative to the paper gift bag for small Christmas gifts. I made one up yesterday as a trial. I'm happy to report that it's a well-written pattern with easy to follow instructions and access to online video tutorials. I made the "large" size (7.5" X 6.75" X 4.25") only because that's how much clear vinyl I happened to have in the house. I learned a few things along the way, if you want to make some let me pass along these tips:
Use a "Jeans" needle. The one that I used was 100/16. There are lots of bulky bound seams to sew through and the heavier needle is most valuable here, sew slowly too! I love Wonder Tape and I used a good bit of it on this bag.

As you can see in this photograph there are narrow, turned, top-stitched bindings; the Wonder Tape, when applied along the folded edge before turning, ensures those narrow hems will remain straight and smooth. I have not had any problems with the product gumming up my needle, it delivers nice results. Every bit of this bag has finished, bound edges, even along the zipper tape; those straight, flat hems are pretty and I can't get results like that when I use pins and am stopping and starting to remove them. Since the bag is see-through (the beauty of the pouch to begin with!) you want your finished seams to look extra-nice.

The zipper is made from one half of a handbag zipper-- the two sides are separated, the pull removed, and then threaded back on both ends of the zipper tape which has been folded in half. One thirty inch, double slide, zipper will make two bags. There's a trick to finessing the pull back on, (and a video that I watched three times!) that takes a bit of practice, but I got it. I added a fabric tie and attached it to the zipper pull to make opening easier. All in all, this is a nice bag and I will make more;  I can see lots of practical uses for this one. One down; a bunch to go!! 

And just in case you thought that I was running out of projects(!), I made a quick trip with friends to the Pineapple Warehouse sale today; they were selling fabric by the POUND, it is a great deal!

Warehouse shopping going on-- fabric by the pound!

I ended up bringing home lots of pieces (pounds!!) for quilt backs as well as this fabric for these two quilts (below)-- a table topper for Christmas and a wall quilt for our youngest granddaughter for her birthday next January (backings on the bottom of the stacks). These will be projects to keep me busy at two upcoming retreats scheduled for next month--perfect timing! I hope your day is a pieceful one!

Life is Good!

Back From Retreat

Dogs in Sweaters ~ 45" X 60"

Well, yes, I AM back from retreat! We had an absolutely wonderful weekend in every way and I did get a LOT done. The projects that I took to work on were polar opposites, though. Next time I'll know better. The jelly roll rug requires nothing more that mindless sewing: joining the strips, one after another and then folding them with the batting inside as they were fed through the machine to topstitch through all the layers; this went on for what seemed like an eternity. Finally I got the "rope" into a loosely wound ball about the size of a volleyball, this was a boring task. The "Dogs in Sweaters", however, was another thing all together! With all of my pieces labeled and organized it went together splendidly; but, it took every bit of focus and concentration that I could muster. If I turned an ear wrong once, it would happen again, I am nothing if not consistent! This pattern is a good one but think of it as part quilt block and part jigsaw puzzle, when there's nineteen other ladies in your sewing space at the same time it's hard concentrate; it's probably not a good retreat project. And yet, undaunted, I persevered!

Almost immediately after my arrival back from retreat we traveled to a local park for an inspiring outdoor worship service. Our pastor used a story-telling sermon format to tell the Creation story. The event was well attended and there was a lot of good food and fellowship following the service, always a fun occasion. 

Speaking of creation, the bluebirds hatched while I was gone, lots of babies in one cozy nest.

We had our two youngest grandchildren the last couple of days as their Mommy had to attend a conference and their school hours (drop off and pick up) doesn't quite lend itself to Daddy's work schedule. We volunteered to keep them here with us until this morning. They're funny-- and SMART. Here PawPaw and Gregory are working on his homework while his sister has an after school activity. I had forgotten how I used to get so much done when I was a young mother-- it's all crammed into making the most of little snatches of time when they're available, I have been a master of accomplishment since Monday while they were here. It felt good to get showered and dressed, laundry done, the beds made and the dishwasher loaded and running all before eight o'clock AM! 

We saw this flag near the highway the other day when running errands. Lynnleigh said that its the biggest flag that she had ever seen. Gregory piped up and said that if you're going to fly a flag you should always fly the largest one that you can (it depends on how tall your flagpole is, he said). That made me smile; he's one very logical and patriotic boy! 

This is a LOT more fun than sewing the "rope", at least there's an end in sight now, and a pretty one. 

Hannes is doing a great job, don't you think?

Life is Good!

Drafting the Apron Pattern

Think of this as part #2 from the previous post. The apron found among my mother's scrap bins has provided itself for drafting purposes. I drew up and cut out an apron to be what I thought was an exact replica. It all went together well. Before I added the buttonholes I decided to try it on. The fit seemed good, and I liked the length. Mr. Goodneedle thought it looked like a throw-back jumper to the 1970's! Ha, little does he remember, I never wore my skirts that long back then!

It looks good from the back too-- right? NO!! When I look over my shoulder all I can see are wings!

I really don't like that "flare" from the side. That's when I remembered the additional seam in the original apron that I chose to omit. I figured that Aunt Lizzie put a seam there to conserve on fabric. No, it is actually a shaping seam. I laid them both on the cutting table, side by side, and finger-folded in the seam; this should make all the difference!

And so, the apron drafting continues! In other news these past few days~

I have completed the quilting on two Quilts of Valor

and on a customer quilt.

My volunteer postion as church secretary sees me (us!) seated here on Mondays composing the church bulletin, the monthly newsletter and any other correspondence that the church needs accomplished. Hannes likes Mondays, helping Mom get her work done. 

Tomorrow I leave on a weekend quilting retreat with my friends. This year I decided to pre-cut everything I need to place those long-ago back-burnered projects up front. The Dogs in Sweaters quilt will be first. I have pre-cut everything that I need to simply sit and sew. That's a LOT of ziploc bags in that bin; all numbered, lettered and sorted. I hope to make excellent progress.

The second project that I have WANTED to do forever is the jelly roll rug. I have all the components ready including miles and miles of rotary cut batting!

But, for tonight, I have a few kitchen tasks to attend to. Should I wear my new apron for them?

Maybe I should! Oh, yes, my friends! It's strawberry season once again in North Carolina. 

Picked today, just down the road.

Life is Good!

Berry, berry good...