Hello

I am surprised that I haven't been here since August 24.  Projects have been worked on and have already left the house.  

Here is the Peter Rabbit quilt that is a panel with a border added to it.  Easy but it was not finished.  Only the border quilting needed to be done and then to decide what to do in the animal blocks.

At church we have a book club that meets every two weeks.  Our new book is The Road Back to You by Ian Cron and Suzanne Stabile.  It is about the Enneagram, self-discovery and personality types.  (A different direction from the Myers-Briggs from my college and clinical learning days.)  I am only mentioning this because reading it made me look at my UFOs.  My number on the Enneagram says I don't finish projects as I may not be able to do them to the best of my ability.  (Smack myself on the forehead.)

I always make lists and have grand ideas.  But it is hard for me to carry through.  This is something that I have known about myself but never really put a lot of energy into improving.  

Seeing it again in writing, and I guess at the right time, things are getting completed.  Peter Rabbit quilt was begun 20 months ago.  It did not take long to machine quilt the border.  Then I hand quilted around the rabbits (and remembered the stories.  Peter Rabbit is one of my favorites. Along with Winnie the Pooh.) finished the binding and sent it on its way.

A knitted hat was also finished.  But I am not really happy with it, so it is now for a doll.  When the second is finished I will document it here, I am waiting for more pink yarn.  

Socks that were started a long while ago are being worked on and that will be my slow work today.  

When a project list is being made it is now more realistic and getting completed.  

Enjoy your threads today.  I will.

 

3030 Done, Almost

Early Thursday morning, 0230, I woke up think of my 3030 Quilt which has been waiting for me to trim the scallops and stitch on the binding.  I couldn't get back to sleep until a promise was made to the quilt.  

First thing in the morning, after filling my hummer feeders, the binding was made, cut and ironed.  Thankfully the binding material was inside the folded quilt.  There was no need for a frantic search.  

Then my machine was moved into the dining room next to the table as the quilt needed extra support.  It was stay stitched next to the scallop markings as I did not want any of the hand quilting to come undone.  Then it was trimmed on my markings for the scallops.  

The binding was stitched on without any problem.  This is the first time that I have done a scalloped border.  Much was learned from watching videos and doing it myself.  It won't be my last scallop border.  A lot was learned with room for improvement.

Starting from the bottom left, the corner needs to be completely stitched and then only five scallops left.  Then done!!  

Machine pieced, hand applique and hand quilted.  Done!!

The backing is a paint splatter pattern that I really like.  Here are the unfinished scallops.  

The five scallops will be finished today.  Then totally done!!  

Thank you, Gay, at Sentimental Stitches for this great pattern.

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

Enjoy your threads today.  The Happy Dance is being done here.

 

One done and an almost.

Assistance was offered as I was stitching the facing on my potato chip quilt last weekend.  Ziva was making sure that it did not float away from me.  She did not like it when I turned a corner.  Her sleep was being interfered with as the quilt was readjusted.

The quilt facing stitching was finished on Wednesday.  I am so enjoying how it looks.

 

You can see that there is no binding on the edge.  The edge of the chip bits is the end of the quilt.  

Here is the back side with the facing hand stitched down.  Potato chip quilt number one is done.  Now to get back to work on potato chip number two. 

But 3030 is calling to me.  Here she is on the floor before the edges were trimmed.

Edges trimmed to six and a half inches.

Scallops were marked on all four edges.  

 

This is the first time that I have done a scalloped edge and using the Quilt in a Day: Scallop, Vines & Waves Template made it really easy.  Tomorrow I will machine stitch on the scallop markings and then I can cut it.  But I won't cut until I can remember where I put my binding material.  (One of the bad side effects of taking so long to finish.)

With the frame down some cleaning has been done in my Cave.  It desperately needed it.  

Slow Stitching will happen tomorrow when New England plays at 4pm.  A Christmas stocking has been started.  Pictures need to be taken to be able to show you.

Enjoy your threads.

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

Surprise Doll Quilt

We were up in Maine last weekend visiting Daughters #2 and #3, Son-In-Law and Grandbaby.  I did not bring anything to work on in the car or at the house.  I am in between project steps and didn't have anything ready to travel.

Daughter #3 enjoys threads as much as me, so we went to Annie's Teeny Tiny Quilt Shop in Limerick Maine.  I was looking for sashing for my second potato chip quilt and she was just looking.  I did find what will be used for sashing.  Now I need to get it washed and cut.

She was looking in the "scrap baskets" at Annie's.  The baskets (yes, it is plural) have different size and shape material left over from projects, big and little bits, ends.  You put what you want into a plastic bag and if you can close the top of the bag, it is yours for $5.00.  

This panel of blocks caught her eye.  We only used half of the panel for this doll bed quilt.  Super simple to do.  Just a layer of the material, batting and some of her left-over material from another project for backing.  The she did stitching between the blocks and a left-over material binding was sewn on.  

Moxie is showing how much she likes it.

Enjoy your threads today.  The beginning of Grandbaby's Christmas Stocking will be my slow stitching for today.  A decision has been made on a color change.  Shall see how it goes.  

Linking to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

 

A finish

The first Grandchild is expected to arrive at the end of November.  Our daughter is a geologist and enjoys dinosaurs.  She had seen this material back in 2022.  She goes by one of my rules: if you see a material that you think you would like to use in the future, buy it.  It won't be around forever.  (I don't have a big stash.  Just some special material.)

She picked up this dinosaur material with a purpose in mind.  A quilt for her first baby.  In July 2023 she looked at quilt patterns and picked Feathered to a T by Mary Etherington and Connie Tesene at Country Threads.  (They are no longer in business, but you can follow Mary at Country Threads Chicken Scratch.)  The quilt was stitched together by me.  We then chose a flannel sheet backing and cotton batting.

A special machine quilt pattern was desired.  Dave's Dino's by Urban Elementz.  I hope that you can see the three different dinosaurs that are the pattern.  I want to thank Stacey Gilfillan at Little Gilly Quilts for her wonderful work.  She is such a delight, and we are so pleased.

The quilt is now a finish and will be given away today.  We still have a bit of time to pass before we meet the newest member of our family.  

Now, to focus on another project to finish.  My Dirty Dozen number 11 slot has the sheep blankets (a slot for the third time).  Also, more leaves have gone on to the CWB Block.

May you enjoy your threads today.      

Linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.

Thanksgiving & Christmas

As I have said earlier, our youngest is the only one of three that likes threads.  

She  began her first quilt about 8 years ago, this Chevron quilt.  It was only a pile of blocks that lived on my design wall for a bit.  I took it down and put it in a box where it waited.  (She had three moves and two job changes)

In September we went up to Maine to visit the ocean and Middle and Youngest.  The box went with us and was left with its owner.  At Thanksgiving, we returned to Maine and the quilt was waiting to be sandwiched.  Here, Youngest is finishing the pinning of the layers with straight pins and Pin Mors, my favorite way to do this.

I sewed around the edges as she prepared Thanksgiving dinner.  (Their smoked  turkey, and all the sides, were VERY good.)

She machine quilted it (stitched in the ditch) and brought it home for Christmas.  

Christmas Day afternoon we trimmed the quilt.  We cut, folded and ironed the binding.  Then the the binding was sewed on by machine.  All that she had left to do was hand stitch the the binding to the back.  

Yesterday I received these photos on my phone.  Her first UFO is no longer.  Her first quilt is done.  

I must say that crochet is her favorite thread activity.  There are no UFOs found waiting with that.

Enjoy your day and HAPPY NEW YEAR!!  May your 2022 be filled with goodness and joy. 

 

Late

By one year.

This bookmark, maybe longer.  

I don't know why it takes me so long to begin the final step, finishing.  I would like to believe that I am not the only one with this problem.

Our youngest (our three girls are all adults but still have designations) is the only one who enjoys threads and material like me.  She made this bookmark while in High school or College.  It was then given to me to finish.  I found it the other day and it took an hour to make.  Why do I....

This Christmas Tree wall hanging she made last year (after she had the material for a bit).  It also was given to me to finish.  This week I sandwiched it, free motion quilted it (using rulers), trimmed it, put on the binding by machine, finished the binding by hand and lastly put on a hanging sleeve.  About six to eight hours work.  It is now ready to be brought to the Post Office tomorrow.  

Why so long to start and get it done?  My forever question.

 

I have been working on Three Things in the evening.  This is the bottom row of flowers.  The last row of green thread is the border that will have a little red(ish) flower with it.  I began it to see what space it would take up;.  

The space between the house row and the flowers will have words.  What the designer has done is her name and a saying.  My full name is to long so I may just put in my first name as I do like her saying.  Right now I am waiting until the end to do those words.

Linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday.  

Three Things will be my focus today.  The New England Patriots have their Bye Week.  No need for (almost) complete attention to the games. 

 

412 Days

That is how long it has been since I was last here.  

I have been making things but .......

I have been working on three BOMs, Ella Maria Deacon, 365 Littles, and Heartfelt.  I have decided that it is not good for me to work on three at the same time.  I haven't had a finish in a bit.  I am slow at keeping up and have learned that I need to focus on one thing at times to keep the energy going.  

So, I decided to make three little boy quilts.  They are quicker to reach the done point.  The first is for a give away to a 2 year old boy and his family (friends of daughter #2).  This is an I SPY quilt.  I bought the panel, cut up the parts, put it back together with sashing and borders.  The sandwich was made with a flannel backing.  Very simple machine quilting and all done in a week.  Enjoy it Dylan.

The next two were made for my great nephews.  My sister, their Grandmother, found the World map and asked me if I would make it into a quilt for Corbin, age 4.  I said yes (but she had to order me a panel also).  This was a quick put together but the machine quilting was a bit fussier.  I quilted around the animals and then made longitude and latitude lines on the map.  I used a constellation material for the background.  

You cannot make one map quilt for one brother and not the other.  I was able to find this panel, a map of the United States.  This is for Gibson, age 2.  Again I quilted around the animals and then the states.  Even tiny Rhode Island was quilted around.  Then there was a piano border around the map.  This has a planet backing (my sister did not take a picture of the back).

I was so excited to send off the quilts that I forgot to take pictures.  My sister sent the pictures to me after their arrival. 

Other projects have been completed and some new starts.  I will return and get them recorded on this blog.

May your day be sunny and warm.  We have rain, again, and it is a cloudy grey.  
 

Scrappy Runner

I was looking for a quick finish and saw this kit for a runner.  I liked the material, I am using it in another project, so I sent for it.  Making the little blocks was fun.  When I was putting them together, I wasn't sure if I really liked it.  But, it was going to get completed.

After it was a flimsy, I sandwiched it and then machine quilted it.  I first stitched in the ditch around the blocks and then put in the crosshatch pattern.  I still wasn't sure if I liked it.  

I began cutting the dark material that they had for the binding strips. Again I am thinking: what am I doing.  Only after I had sewn on the binding did I like it.  That dark binding was needed. 

 This runner has now gone to Maine to be with one of the kids.  It was quick finish and now I am back to my quilts.

 

Baskets

February 2018, the Missouri Star Quilting Blog demonstrated a Disappearing Pin Wheel Basket quilt.  My mind saw that quilt in solid colors.  I sent for a 'layer cake' of solids planning on using each color only once, 42 colors.  I was not able to arrange them in a way that I liked but I wanted to try those baskets.

I took four basic colors and made a table topper, 25 inches square. 

 

I then made the quilt sandwich and machine quilted it.  The back is a red with white polka dots.  It made a nice practice piece for ruler work.  Not a fancy pattern but more time with a quilt under my hands for learning.

Last week I met with my quilting cousin Kathy.  She gave me this cute hot pad.  It is our cat Ted in a log cabin block 10 inches square.  I think he is so cute that I will make some for other cats in the family.

I am half way around the final row of Reneluk's Spring 2018 Doiley.  I was caught by quilts and material and that has slowed me down.  Have also made the first 33 of the 2018 Angels for the Christmas Tree at church.  Also, I am ripping out machine quilting (a lot) on a quilt that I am not happy with.  I am happy with the quilt, not my machine quilting. 

May this find you all well and enjoying thread in some form.

Finished Sandwich

One quilt finished!  This is the quilt that Kathy (my quilting cousin) and I made for our Aunt.  Our mothers were sisters.  My mother was sister #1, Kathy's mother was sister #4.  The sister  remaining is Aunt Mary Ann, the youngest, sister #5.  We decided a few weeks ago to make her a lap size quilt for Mother's Day.  This is the fastest that I have ever completed a quilt. 

Kathy designed the quilt with using a Churn Dash block.  We decided on material that reminded us of our Aunt.  We divided the material and each made half of the churn dash blocks.  (This part we worked separately.)  We then gathered to cut the joining squares and sewed them together in rows with the blocks.  Then Kathy put on the two borders.

Together we made it a sandwich.  Then I quilted in the ditch around the churn block squares.  Kathy then made the wreaths in the empty squares.  We both hand sewed the binding.  I then put the hearts in the four corners and cleaned up the loose threads.

This quilt has traveled between two cousins while being made.  It is now on its way to our Aunt in Georgia.  XXOOXX  Aunt Mary Ann!

Courthouse Steps

In 2015 I decided that I would make quilts for my nieces and nephews.  Ben received his during the family gathering for Thanksgiving 2015 (his was a surprise).  I do not have any pictures of it that can be put on the computer.  (They are paper pictures, I was not thinking of keeping a record of my quilts then.)  

Megan's quilt was next for 2016 completion.  I sent her two ideas that I thought she might like (in techniques that I wanted to try).  She chose the Courthouse Steps as her pattern (she is a lawyer).  She said she liked the colors pink and green.  Sweet Thing #3 and I went looking for material. I sent Megan pictures of the materials as I found them and she gave me free rein to use which ever ones I liked.  Here is a short story of the quilt.

It began on February 19, 2016, the first block.  For quilt as you go, I sew the material strips together as I sew them onto the batting, making each block.

  

 

 Here is the last block, last strip of material, just before it came off the machine.  The last block was done on April 20, 2016.  The blocks were sewn on my 1971 Elna Super, wonderful machine.





Now I have a pile of 66 squares.  The quilt is 8 rows of 8 squares alternating colors of pink and green (I only used 64 squares).  22 different materials were used, 3 blocks made from each fat quarter of material.

April 25 2016 the blocks were all sewn together.  I did not sew the backing to the quilt until June 9, 2016.  (First, time is moving, pause.)  I did a herringbone type stitch around each block (didn't take a picture).  I thought that that would be enough to keep each square from moving.  But, I wasn't happy, so I hand quilted each courthouse square (the little grey one in the middle of the block).  I liked how that held each courthouse square in place.  With the quilt as you go you just have to attach the backing to the already machine quilted quilt.  It is great for log cabin or courthouse patterns.  Here I am using my 2015 Elna Expressive 900.  I have it place up to the dinning room table so the I have table support for the quilt.

Due to the hot summer that we had, (Second pause, excuse?) it took me until October 31, 2016 to cut the backing to match the quilt.  The next day the binding was sewn on to the quilt.  I began hand sewing the back of the binding to the quilt that night.  I would work watching the news, football and other TV shows.  Three hours each night over four nights and the binding was done on November 5.  I was very warm while sewing on the binding, the quilt is on my lap as I work.  I guess that make me the first to be kept warm by this quilt

I needed to show it finished to my quilting cousin so it was not shipped until November 11, 2016.  It should arrive in Missouri tomorrow.

Another quilt done and finished.  I enjoyed the quilt as you go method and would work with again.  Now I have two QOVs (Quilts of Valor) to back, machine quilt and then they will be given away.  Am putting my FWQ (Farmer's Wife Quilt) blocks together and then it will be quilted, not yet sure how.  Jessica, as soon as the QOVs are done (by end of the year, if not sooner) your Wedding Ring Quilt begins.  After Jessica, I have three more niece and nephew quilts.

Have a great day.  Tatting update with next post.

Where Have I Been?

That is what I have been wondering.  I retired at the end of 2014 and at the beginning of 2015 I was too exhausted to think or do anything.  The second half of 2015 was more productive. 

Now I need to think of what to do with my blog.  There are only three entries.  So, me, what are you going to do?  I have decided this is a good place to keep a record for me, pictorial journal of what I have done or am doing.  If anyone wants to visit, may they enjoy what they see.  

I was surprised when I looked at my site the other day that 236 visits had been made. Not sure that anyone of those visitors will be back, but just in case.

At the end of November 2015 I made two baby quilts for a friend of mine who will have her first grandbabies this spring.  Yes, that is plural, twin girls.  The idea for the quilts was not mine.  I saw the material and patterns at the Pumpkin Patch in Lee and just loved them.  They were easy to do and I machine quilted them in the ditch.  They were given to the twins as their Christmas gift.