Flower Garden

There have been no stitches added to my third block for my A Bountiful Life quilt this week.  I do work on more than one project at a time.  I have two, three, ah four, maybe five (I won't admit to more than that) active projects going right now.

I spent this week working on my Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt.  This one is all hexies.  I am not doing English Paper Piecing to make this.  I am using Inklingo; I print the hexie shape on the back of the material, cut on the line and then sew them together.  I am doing these Flowers in a hybrid style.  I am sewing the six petals together by machine and then sew in the flower center by hand.  It is wonderful slow stitching.  I have120 flowers made; 20 colors with six flowers of each color.  Here they are up on my wall in their proper order. 

Then I made 99 flowers that are the back ground flower.  Here they are on my ironing board in bunches of ten (easier for me to keep tract of how many).
 

Then I machine sew a white hexie in between the color flowers and the background flowers.  Here I have a row of flowers and a row of background side by side.

Then comes the slow stitching where the two rows are stitched together.  This is great for riding in the car, watching TV(football) or just being quiet.
 

 

When I get the rows all together for the center of my quilt, I will see how much white fabric I have left.  The borders will either be white or maybe a pale green or yellow of a 1930s tiny print.  Shall have to wait and see.  

I am half way done with the Christmas Angels and Snowflakes for Church.  I make them while I am sewing.  I just keep getting up to keep Ellie (my machine) moving on to the next step in making. 

Have a wonderful day.  I cannot believe that September is almost over.  Our trees have begun to turn and we have had a frost that has finished off my tomatoes and basil.  Now I am getting the gardens ready for winter. 

The Cave

This summer in August we had our floors redone.  26 years of kid activity, cats and living on a dirt road made them more than ready to be redone.  We had to empty the first floor and that included the Mom Cave.  I went through everything (in every room) to see what was going to be kept.  Here is a picture of the Cave totally disorganized.  The loom is already apart and there are boxes from other rooms on the first floor in there.

Here are the floors of the Cave after they had been redone and the walls were painted for the first time in 26 years.  It is, for me, like WOW.

The Cave might not look organized in this picture, but believe me, it is.  Everything has a home, is labeled, and there is a lot less stuff in there.  The loom is still in parts on the blanket.  I will wait for Sweet Thing #3 to come home in November to put it together.  It will be hers in the far distant future and she needs to put it together at least once.  (Maybe she will remember how in 20 or more years from now.)  There is also my little loom on the blanket. 

 

 

All three of my machines are together for a group photo.  Two live in this corner, Big Red and the Grand Dame.  Elle came over to sit on my cutting table as she is working with her embroidery unit to make Angels and Snowflakes for Christmas. I work on sewing quilt parts as she does the embroidery.  My pictures need to get back up on the walls.

I have begun my third block of A Bountiful Life.  This block is named Fruit Bounty.  These are grape leaves and I will be doing the grapes next.  Then comes pears, apples, strawberries and cherries.

My tatting is missing at this time.  There is just not anything that has caught my eye or fingers to make.

Have a great day.

A Bountiful Life Quilt

My Quilting Buds and I are working with the same quilt pattern.  We are each make our own quilt.  We work together by discussing the blocks; where we have had problems and what we have done to make certain appliqueing parts of the blocks easier. 

Bluebell Bouquet is the first block that all three of us have completed.  Mine is upper right and I can't remember which is Kathy's or Betty's.
 

I have finished my second block, showed it to you last week. There are 20 blocks in this quilt with four borders also being done with applique.  Only 18 to go, my third has been prepped and the stitching begins tonight.  (Monday Night Football begins.)

Jane, thank you for commenting on my last post.  Was exciting to see that someone came back to read after I had been gone for so long.  You made my day.

Three Strikes

Life has been.....  I keep thinking of my Blog but never get here.  I will try again.  I don't want this to be my three strikes.  

This bird is my three strikes!!!!

In 2017 Kathy, Betty and I began to make the blocks for the A Bountiful Life quilt.  I finished my first block March 2017.  I have now finished my second block.  They are so far ahead of me.

A Bountiful Life is an adaptation of the Bird of Paradise quilt found in the American Folk Art Museum.  This bird, the Grapevine and Swooping Bird block, is suppose to have a cap.  I tried three times to make that cap and each time it was a mess, no go.  I had it.  I finished my 31 grapes and all that was left was that darn cap.  I had already trimmed the head of the bird to layer the cap over the bird material.  I had to have that cap or he would have had a flat head.  I removed the bird body and did a redo without the cap.  Solved

I think that the block may be finished.  My applique stitches have improved and are not as visible.  I also found my silk thread, it is so fine that it disappears into the fabric. 

But, now that I have looked at this block through the camera, I see a small spot in his neck that I may have to redo.  Not sure if that is a fray of the material or a bit of thread sticking out.  Need to find the stronger glasses.

Hello to all and have a nice day.  Cloudy and rainy here in the Berkshires.  A good day to work with threads.