Mr. and Mrs. Jacob Koen

Just wanted to share our happy news!  The wedding was lovely and now they are on their honeymoon trip in the mountains.  We're all very weary, so I'll make a proper update, later.  ~nines

Loreena McKennitt - The old ways

Diagonal it is

something for their wall

the bride with her quilt

Happy Fall, Y'all!!

As you can see, I decided on the diagonal setting- especially since I also decided on a busy border.  That made the quilt a very generous queen size.  There's a couple feet of quilt folded up under there on the ground.  My helpers are shorter these days than they used to be.  I'm also  a little more pressured than I used to be as the girls' arms just don't have the stamina the guys had.  But they get the job done and that's what counts.  The small quilt is a wall hanging- maybe for their kitchen as that's the colors they were thinking of using- subject to change, of course.  Mary looked pretty pleased with her quilt and that's what it's all about. 

32 days til their wedding.  But who's counting?  I'm swimming in a sea of satin and chiffon.  Doesn't that sound kinda poetic?  And it's not a bad sea to be swimming in.  I've been spending almost eight hours a day in my quilting room making a wedding dress.  I'm going very slowly.  No room for mistakes so let's not make any, OK?  OK. I actually dream of making wedding dresses.  Last night, it was wedding dresses and bridesmaids' dresses.  See?  I rather enjoy making this. But I think I should be able to "leave it at the office" so to speak.  don't you?  But it's occupying a lot of grey matter.  I've spent the better part of a month plotting and planning, drafting and re-drafting.  Finally, cutting.  The scariest part of the equation 'cause there ain't no fabric to spare.  (Poor grammar, but I didn't say what I wanted to say and that's, " Ain't got no fabric to spare." There, I said it anyway!)  Bekah took a peek into the quilting room while I was cutting and laughed at me- the snot!  "Mommy, you're hands are shaking! hee-hee-hee." Yeah, hysterical.  When I expressed my dismay at the daunting task before me, John just says, "Mom ya gotta sew by faith."  So this is me, sewing by faith.  One inch at a time.  Little by little. Just me and Loreena McKennitt.  She never pressures me, but encourages me to float serenely along.  Ever hear of her?            


I'm enjoying myself and the time I am spending out there, sewing.  Every day I make progress and it brings me that much closer to the finished dress that is turning into something rather lovely. And the happy day of their wedding is another day nearer.

#1

#2

#1 or #2??

I feel like I'm at the optomotrist's.  #1 or #2?  1 or 2.  And honestly, I can't tell the difference between one and two.  Of course, here I can tell the difference in how they look, I just can't tell the difference in my preference for Jacob and Mary's quilt.. If I make #2, I need to make another large leaf- which is no biggee as it only takes about ten minutes to make one. So that's not a consideration.  #1 has cleaner lines, but #2 looks a little more interesting... The leaves stand out as leaves more in #1...  The leaves look more like they're tumbling in #2... But #1 looks like the leaves are falling...They're both ok. And I'm sure they'll like either.  They're both easy to please.  I'm leaning towards #1... I think.  ugh.   

20 gallons of peaches- aren't they lovely.  They've been frozen, eaten and shared

 Everything's Peachy!

What happened to my summer?  It flew by. I think it's technically still summer, but you would never know it from the weather.  I've been wearing socks, long sleeve shirts and sipping hot tea. And that's a shame because I like hot weather.  And cool weather comes soon enough in the midwest.  Maybe we'll have a warm autumn.  The crickets and the birds already think it's Fall, too.  The crickets are loud and the birds are quiet.

About 60 new postcards made

 I've been making some postcards to replenish my supply.  I've been trying to get postcards out to the sick from church and also for the birthdays.  I use up postcards pretty fast that way.  It's been an unexpected pleasure- people that I rarely have a chance to speak with will make a point of finding me and thanking me for the card.  Not that I'm seeking the thanks, but it's wonderful to connect and fun to see how much a silly postcard meant to them.  And there's the novelty factor- a nice surprise for them.  Wish I'd thought of doing this more regularly, earlier. But with using so many postcards, I'm having to make them more en masse- which isn't quite as much fun as doing each one differently.  But much more time efficient.
 

happiness is... doesn't take much

Come on. Tell me all you quilters out there didn't feel your heart go pitty-pat and a tingle zip down you spine at the sight of all those wound bobbins.  It makes me feel so secure.  Of course, I'd rather have a box full of cream colored bobbins, but you know how we are, any thread will do when we are chugging along.  I like to get my sewing thread from "Thread Art" as their prices can't be beat.  But I guess a whole lot of other quilters like to do the same and the cream, beige, tan, gray threads are always on back order.    



Love this for their fall wedding

Jacob and Mary's wedding is quickly approaching.  I'm working pretty diligently on their quilt. The wedding is two months away, but the shower is much closer.  (Bekah said I shouldn't post a picture of the quilt in progress as she's seen Jacob visit here.  Who knew?)  But I'm still gonna- 'cause we all know that things look different in person than they do in a picture.  Plus, I'm pretty pleased with how it's turning out. There are 21 of the 12" leaf blocks and 42 of the 6" leaves.  This picture is just a few of the larger ones.  And the cool thing is, that I didn't have to buy a single fabric especially for this quilt- they were already in the stash. Making scrappy quilts, almost exclusively, has it's perks! Someone asked me the other day how I choose colors for a scrappy quilt that works.  How do you know they all go together?  I've given it some thought and here is a short list of my process:

1. It has to make me smile.  I start pulling colors and if I smile when I lay it with the other colors, then it's a keeper.  Sometimes it'll get booted off the team because another color will make me smile even more and I move in another direction.
2. I think of colors as members of a family.  Every family member is unique, but have some kind of similarity.  And I've noticed that in families there is always that oddball who everyone thinks must have been adopted.  But without the oddball, it wouldn't be a real family.  So a color that seems unrelated has to be there- just try not to make the family so dysfunctional that all of them are oddballs!
3. Never include seasonal (Christmas, Halloween, Easter) fabrics.  Never ever.  Nothing will hi-jack your quilt back to 1973 faster.
4. Try to keep your neutrals in the same tone and shade.  This isn't a hard and fast rule, but it will help the design pop. Sometimes, I use different shades to accent different elements in a quilt and that works well if you have a limited amount of neutrals.
5. Relax.  Don't over think it.  Do you think great grandma dithered over which fabric to use in her scrappy quilts?  I doubt it. I've seen ladies spend two hours choosing the "perfect" fabric for binding.  Really?  I can usually choose the fabric for an entire quilt in less than 30 minutes.  Am I that good?  No way.  I just relax and have fun. That's why we quilt, right? To have fun.

Daniel is coming home for a short visit.  I'm beyond excited.  His birthday is tomorrow and we're celebrating, tonight.  I'm frying chicken, mashing potatoes, making gravy and yeast biscuits. And there's corn on the cob from the garden. And because it's Daniel, apple pie and ice cream. 

Hope everyone has a blessed day!         

Asher

New members of the family!

Joshua

Two sweet boys were born into the family, this month.  I've two new, very handsome, great-nephews and I'm just pleased as punch- like I had anything remotely to do with it!  

Joshua looks so much like his daddy and grand daddy it's amazing!  I have yet to meet him as he lives in Florida.  My nieces(his aunties) are visiting next week... maybe I could talk them into a little kidnapping scheme... ya think his momma and daddy would notice?  Yeah, you're probably right.  But what's a great auntie to do?

My great-nephew, Asher, was born yesterday.  Isn't he just the juiciest thing?  We are keeping his two older brothers while mommy and daddy cuddle the new one.  I have to say that I am enjoying myself, intensely!  Bill says, "You're so good with children... maybe we shouldn't have stopped!"  Whoa cowboy!  Let's not get carried away!  And kinda funny the near surprise in his voice that I could hold my own with little ones- I did have a few of my own, ya know! But it's sweet to have little ones around the house, again.  Children, what a blessing!

Woohoo!  Finally!

Saturday, Already?

How did that happen?  The way of things, I suppose.  I had a good week. Got the pool set up, finally.  Will, my hero.  He worked so hard. The water was delivered, yesterday.  Of course the two youngest had to jump right in.  It was inexpressibly cold, but that didn't stop them from having a wonderful time. I put my feet in and between the cold water and the hot sunshine, it was very pleasant. As you can see, the pool sits on our back lot and is in the middle of pretty much nowhere. Just the breeze rustling in the corn to keep you campany.  And now the shouts and squeals of excited kids.  It's all good. I guess they stayed in almost two hours before the shivering and the chattering teeth sent them into the house. Funny how not having air conditioning isn't a big deal...

"that's what I'm talkin' about!"

The breakfast of champions... Bacon and freshly ground and brewed coffee.  Jacob is old-school.  He has an antique coffee grinder and insists it makes the best coffee.  And the bacon he got at work, where, who knows?  He might have been acquainted with the pig while it still stood on four feet. That guy loves his bacon. 

smile!

Lilly has a pool her own size.  Abe got her a pot of water to pour on the sand to make it easier to play in... it was no time at all before she dove into the pot.  And look how pleased she is with herself!  She is the older daughter of Jason and Lindsay B. and they came for dinner the other night.  We hadn't done that in a long time. So, you guys make the effort look up some old friends and have them over.  It's not as hard as you think and it's well worth the effort.

Isn't that a silly and fun quilt?  I have no idea of the name or designer.  I quilted it for Glenda J. and she did a wonderful job of sewing it up.  Can I just say, that is way, way too much applique for a simple girl like me.  To each her own.  I have a "Grandmother's Flower Garden" on the frame, now, and the red snappers made that a much easier job as the edges of that quilt has that uneven design of hexagons.

I'll hopefully, be quilting, wading, babysitting and sewing, today, with some cleaning and gardening thrown in there, somewhere.  Have a great weekend!