Enjoying Autumn...

sewed up a little backdrop for my old birdhouses. That was Sandy's idea. She is always making more work for me. OK, you know me, it isn't work to get to play out in the quilting room with the pretty colors of autumn. Now, I am commiting to make one for each season. Hmmmm wonder what colors I'll use for winter? Maybe plaids in flannel in a bearpaw pattern... or icy colors of pale blue and lavender... see? It's a sickness!

Been sewing curves...

using up some of my repro stash. Made a little baby quilt- I'll see if I can't get a picture of it in the next couple days. It turned out very sweet and old timey. And that's a good thing in my book. Who's it for? I'm trying to make the nursery at the church building more...welcoming. For someone else to use. Been there, done that.

Been smiling...

This bright green just makes me smile. It's just a pokey ole hallway- to the quiltingroom and guest quarters, but now it has plenty of personality of it's own! Need to trim the doors and openings... But that can wait. In the meantime, you'll find me peeping around the corner to see if it's really as green as I thought it was.... yep, green!

Woodlot at Dawn...

a picture for Darcie. She loves skyscapes. Especially the dawn ones. Isn't the hoar frost pretty? The corn is getting cut this evening and then it will feel so naked out here on the prairie.

Isn't that the sweetest bag?

Sweet Darcie strikes again! She sewed me up this adorable project bag and it was filled with crocet thread. The bag is completely reversable and just so darIing. It has really inspired me to finish a few started crochet projects- like this little table runner. I just love this bag!! I have made two of them, myself- nothing like an example to hold in your hands to use as a pattern! They aren't as pretty as Darcie's(I made mine from vintage fabrics) but the recipients were in as much raptures as I was over mine.

Sandlyn's Gameface...

~a fabric copy of a painting. I wish I had a picture of the original, but you will have to take my word for it- it looks very similiar. I couldn't figure out how to snag the picture from photobucket- I am so technology challenged! This is one of the wallhangings I quilted up last week. Told you I was doing something quilty! I just didn't want to unveil it until it was in the rightful owner's hands!

*

The original artwork was painted by a sweet little girl named Sandlyn, the daughter of a childhood friend of mine. She has spent a lot of days, weeks, months in hospital. This picture was painted during one of her more recent recoveries and I loved the big ole smiley face in the middle. The color blocking was what drew me to it- all quilters would notice that first. You all know how much I like to translate childrens' artwork into fabric, but as I pieced and sewed and appliqued, I found that under the smiles there is a lot of... well, maybe knowing more about pain than anyone should. Certainly more than any child should. Breaks your heart, huh? So if you'd lift up a prayer for her, I know she could use them.

October days...

I love October! The days are cool and fulll of warm sunshine and the nights are nippy and that makes for great snuggling under the quilts! The gardening is a thing of the past and the holidays are far enough away to not throw me into a tizzy. All's calm and sweet.

I have a dining room that is being built- I can hardly wait until it's done, but I am loving the sound of hammering and sawing- all these things mark progress. The dining room will be a monster in size- 17'x28'- now that is big enough for at least 3 dining tables! I'm gonna throw me a bunch of parties! Doesn't that sound like fun?

I have been sewing a lot and making myself scarce around the construction zone- that way, every few hours I can come out and ohhh and ahhh over all their progress!There are walls and windows- still needing a door, but we have it all roofed. Today is quiet, my sweet William is at work, and will be picking up insulation so the boys can make progress without the foreman.

I have quilted another quilt for my bed- even have the binding on already! I'd take a picture of it, but then you'd see my cluttered bedroom...I've quilted a few different projects, actually. Wallhangings and table toppers and such. And then I've been sewing on a few different things- a valance for the livingroom, out of scraps of the pink and black quilt- which I'd take a picture to show you, but then you'd see my dirty windows. What a dilemma... My Aunt Isobel is always asking how I get all this sewing done- well, I'm not washing my windows...or decluttering my bedroom... I will, I will... just not today.

Smile!

I've been working on my applique- I still am not very good at it, but I kinda enjoy it- in moderation. (I got this "pattern" from an old magazine, McCall's Quilting, April, 2004. Flower Bed by Michelle Scott) I just think it is the sweetest little block- I added some old vintage fabric to the border and even though it's unexpected, I think it still works. I don't think I'll be doing a whole quilt in applique- any time soon. Seems like there are more and more applique patterns in the quilting magazines. Maybe that is the result of the newer, fancy, sewing machines. It is a lot easier than it used to be. I have a queen sized quilt on the frame now, and then I'll be quilting up this sweet baby and another child art quilt. My sweet William bought me 40 yards of cotton batting(my favorite) yesterday. Ahhh... that should tide me over for a while.

Oh, I've been intending to mention my opinion of Warm Co.'s newer batting called Warm and Bond. I wasn't impressed. Stiff stuff- I mean really stiff- I've washed it once and still it's, yep, stiff. I'll not be buying any of that again.

Hope everyone has a grand day. My 5th son has a Birthday, today, so I'll be taking him to lunch and then cooking up a Mexican feast for dinner. Happy 12th birthday John!

Waste not, want not...

So I had all of these tiny little slivers of fabric left from trimming my HST... just a little pile of fluff, really. But they made me smile and I wanted to share that feeling. So I ironed them onto a piece of pellon, stitched my way across it- zigzaging this way and that until I felt they were secure and then cut out hearts and appliqued them down on a postcard. How easy and so sweet! So now I'm sharing the smile with you!

BTW, guess who finally picked up DSL??? I am so happy. What fun this is- to click, click, click, type a minute and click again. Post done. Used to take me 45 minutes, now takes me five. And I can visit all my blog friends in about 5 minutes instead of an hour. Technical question- now don't laugh. Some of you return a comment to me(on email) when I leave a comment on your blog. How do you do that? Thanks! Hope everyone had a great weekend and are ready to charge into the new week!

New project...

I need a new project like I need another hole in the head... But that doesn't keep me from starting something new. Nope. Sometimes ya just gotta do things in spite of yourself. I saw this pattern in the book, "40 Fabulous Quick-Cut Quilts" by Evelyn Sloppy. Yes, I might have used a pen name if I were her, but there's nothing sloppy about her book. Full of great scrappy quilts. This quilt is made from a simple 9-patch(w/2 HST), just twisted and turned about. And it is soooo easy. One of those mindless day projects. OK, I might have a whole lot more days like that than the average bear... quit your pickin' on me. At any rate, I am using my reproduction fabrics and I am loving the bubble gum pink with the red and black.

Different color way. I made this blue and brown one for a curtain/cover to the porch door window in my bedroom.

Progress...

Ain't it a blast? I actually finished the tied-dyed quilt! Quilted and bound. It's in the dryer now- trying to make it softer- that "Warm and Bond" was so stiff, that puppy could have stood in the corner all by itself! Thanks to Grant for dying it for me, I finally have a queen size quilt for my bed! We used to have a king bed, but that was just a ridiculous waste of space, so we scaled down to a queen- but all I had was king-sized quilts. No problem? Oh, yeah, it really was. The things were so big, they kept sliding off the side of the bed. Of course, this quilt is a bit loud for my tranquilt blue and brown bedroom, but I love it just the same. Oooo... wouldn't a blue and brown tie-dyed be cool?

The little table runner is for my dresser. I had some civil war repro fab that was callin' to me. It wasn't enough to do much with- just a few fat quarters, so I added a touch of hand-dyed blue and made a few blocks just for the fun of it. Then I practiced my Mactavish and my Stitch-in-the-ditch on it- still need a whole lot more practice, but it's just for me and hey, who are we kidding? It'll be covered in clutter shortly, anyway! hope everybody is making some kind of progress, today!

baby hold on to me...

the future is ours to see...whatever will be will be... so baby hold on to me...

Don't I just look giddy in this picture? Is it because I am with my baby? Well, yeah! But also because I survived the "Island in the Sky" trail!! Shew! Note to self- if a West Virginia trail has the word "sky" in it, expect a vertical climb!! But the lovely breeze at the top made it all worth while.

Went out with Sandy, yesterday- spent the whole day having a blast with no schedule or purpose! We had breakfast and then we were the first through the doors at the local quilt guild show. Here's my loot- sorry the picture isn't better. I found some sweet repro fat quarters and I am still collecting red and white- I have no idea why- I have more than enough for my redwork quilt! Just a habit, I suppose. And I also guess that I could make two quilts... The "jingle" is a panel for the holidays- there are six other blocks. I might piece some stars to go with it- fast and easy. I bought a batik just because it didn't seem right not to. My favorite thing that I picked up is my "Little Bits" pattern for 15 tiny little 2" blocks- Called Lynn's pins. Guess what I am hoping to make as gifts, this year? There are enough paper patterns to make 45 blocks. So I hope to make some pins, but thought that they would also make a great "mini."

The tied-dyed, whole cloth quilt that my loot is sitting on is my new quilting project. My cousin dyed it for me last summer and I finally am getting around to quilting it. I was all out of cotton batting so I bought a Warm batting called Warm and Bond- odd stuff. Stiff and has a scratchy hand to it- but we'll see how it washes up. I'll let ya know. It was on sale so I thought I'd give it a try. I am quilting a flame meander on it- starting out tiny in the center of the design and getting larger as it moves out. Not so simple for me to remember where I am, but I'm moving right along.

Had a wonderful time...

Can ya tell? The water wasn't too cold, and while you couldn't have stood to swim in it at this time of year, it felt quite refreshing on the tootsies. Our cabin was just a little bit up the bank. All day and all night, you could hear the water as it splashed it's way down the mountain. Today, I noticed that the wind rustling through the corn, all copper and dried, sounds just like Glade Creek. Isn't that cool? Whoda thunk?

Bill and I stayed two nights in the cabin(Babcock State Park) and then we mosied up the road to visit with dear friends and pick up Daniel. Bill is always happiest when he has a tool in his hand, so he, with some help, built a very nice deck for our friends. I had a relaxing time of it, sitting in a lawn chair and offering a very lightweight hand now and then. Bill, Daniel, and Alan had some manly bonding- hope I didn't get in the way, too much.

After a few days there, we made it back to the farm, and we were happy to see that the kids hadn't done Grandmother or Grandfather in! Listen, just feeding 7 more people is a huge job for anyone! No one seemed the worse for wear and I think we all had an equally good time. Grandfather had lots of help with the chores and Grandmother had a very appreciative crew at the dinner table- especially the bread pudding!

Now that we are home, I am slowing trying to move in the direction of some sort of order. I am wondering if I'm catching a cold or if the cut soybeans are the culprit. I've actually dusted off the sewing machine and the quilting machine- how cool is that? I have sewed a few blocks just for the fun of it and I have a quilt loaded on the rack- ready for the batting that I need to run out and pick up. I like to put all of my running into one day, how about you? I just hate to ruin a perfectly good day at home with an errand- maybe I just hate to take my apron off... At any rate, I'm having breakfast with Sandy in the morning, cold or not, and then we are going to a small guild quilt show and then, I'll run my errands so I can stay put for another week! It was a wonderful vacation, but as ever, it's good to be home.