Snow Days

 

The pines were glorious after the ice & snow storms. Fortunately no major damage on our property.

 

There is a path here somewhere. The branches here are usually about the height of my head...now they are almost touching the ground. It took some navigating to get through the usual path.

 

And then, at the end were these berries with ice hanging from them. Since then it warmed up enough that the snow and ice is off the trees waiting for the next snowfall.

 

The days before and after Christmas were busy with family. Now I am starting to re-organize my sewing room to have a new start on the new year of sewing. Once the cleaning is done I will be working on a disappearing 4-patch quilt for the WIC program.

 

Happy New Year everyone.

Winter Wonderland

There are a lot of parts of the winter months that we don't like, especially driving on the slippery roads like we did last weekend. Yuck. It also isn't a lot of fun getting bundled up all the time.

This, however, I never get tired of. The trees are magnificent, especially the pines. Our dogs are very different regarding the snow. Wilson doesn't like it at all, but Suzi Q loves jumping around in it and sniffing our any wildlife she can find.

My sewing machine is in getting cleaned so no machine work for a few days. Sewing room needs a good deal of organizing again and I have my hand-piecing. So as usual lots to do.

Hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year.

The best backing fabric

Found this fabric that was perfect for the back of the car show t-shirt quilt. I just love it.

 

Our friend will get his quilt tonight. I wonder how long it will take him to realize his car is on the quilt.

2 More Down...almost

Well the tops and backings are done for the quilts for 2 great-nephews. One is 4 months old and the other is to be born sometime this month.

This quilt I made from a layer cake pack that I had picked up some time ago. Decided to put sashing with corner stones. It went together very quickly and measures about 52 x 64.

 

 

The second quilt I made with a panel that I had and just added some quick and easy blocks with a couple borders. I think the bears are so cute. It will be a great one for the baby to be born this month.

 

Now they just need to be quilted and the binding put on and they will be ready for Christmas.

The great unveiling

The t-shirt quilt is now ready for the long-armer. It was a new experience for me as I have never made one before. I think I would like to try using a more medium weight stabilizer if I do it again; I think the light weight had a little more give than I liked.

I'll have to take a picture of the backing when it is done as I forgot to while it was on the wall. This is the center of the quilt with pictures of his car.

And, 'tada' here is the quilt. I'm glad I did each one with the same amount of border from the design instead of each block being the same size. Now I am anxious to get it quilted, bound and given to our friend.

This is the quilt made for #2 son's mother-in-law who has cancer. She is a wonderful lady whose company we have truly enjoyed.

 

The fall colors are starting to come out and our burning bush's are beautiful. I always wanted to get one, and now I have a whole row of them. The colors on the trees aren't as bright as last year so far, but they are beautiful anyway. This is my favorite time of year. The warm days and cool nights feel so good after the hot summer weather.

 





A WIN

Entered my 'grandma you're crazy' quilt in a local show. I won first place (viewers choice) in the pieced division. That means I get to take it back there next year to show among the other winners.

This quilt was so much fun to do. I love to see my handpieced quilts develop a little at a time.

I noticed recently that I hadn't set any goals for this year as to what I would get accomplished. Probably a good thing as life's events have kept me from doing much of what I would have listed at the beginning of the year. We will see how it works out for 2014. I still have 4 quilts to get done before the end of the year.

Patriot Quilts

Our Quilt Guild did 2 group quilts. One is totally completed and the second the top is done and is off to the long armers.

 

This one was made from a Fons & Porter kit that I had for years and never got too. I donated it to the group and different people worked on the blocks of their choosing. Amazingly very few of the blocks came in at the wrong size so it was fairly easy to assemble. We will raffle it off at our Quilt Affair in 2 weeks. It really turned out good.

 

 

This one was basically the same blocks with everyone using fabrics of their own. It will be raffled off to a member at some later date. There are a few differences with this one. Some people did extra blocks and there were some blocks not done at all. I used the extras that were done so some of the blocks in the first one aren't in this one. On this one I did the flags and the 2nd block down on the left under the stars in circles.

 

I enjoyed doing this project, but am glad to finally have both of them gone.



WIC Quilt

This is the 1st of a few quilts that I will be doing for the WIC program. I love the circus theme, and the striped fabric reminds of the circus tent. Hope to do a few more for that program when I have more time.

I should have pictures of 2 group quilts soon.

Balloon Glow

This year the hot air balloons haven't been able to launch. Too much rain in the area or too much wind. Disappointing. It is so much fun to watch then ride the airstream. They did set up to do a glow last night. They can be quite beautiful. This is a picture from last year's glow. We didn't hang around for it this year. It was just too muggy. It is really pretty when they do a twinkle. That is when they turn their burners on and off quickly so the different balloons flash like Christmas lights. Hopefully next year will be a better year for it.

 

 

Car show quilt

The car show quilt is done. It took me awhile to come up with an idea that I liked for it. Found the fabrics for the blocks on ebay. This is a lap size quilt about 42" square, and I am pleased with the way it turned out.

 

Paper Pieced BOM Block 1

This is the first block of a 12 block paper (or foundation) pieced block of the month. I'll be doing it scrappy. There will be wedges on the 4 corners to square them up, but I will decide on that fabric when more of the blocks are done. It looks more complicated than it is. These blocks are done with six wedges to make up the whole.

I have 2 more blocks to do to catch up to where I am supposed to be, but they go fairly quickly. I really looking forward to seeing this one done.

 

DONE!!!!!

Finally finished my part of the guild's group quilt. I did 4 of the blocks and managed to get them all assembled without too much fudging. Now our long arm quilter will do her magic and then another lady in the guild will put the binding on. I think it turned out pretty good. It will be raffled off at our Quilt Affair in September.

 

This is two of our lilac bushes this year. Last year with the mild winter then the spring frost not to mention the extremely dry weather, we didn't have near as many flowers. They are so beautiful this year.

 

Busy Weekend

We started the weekend attending the First Communion Mass for our youngest grandson. Isn't he handsome. It was a wonderful service with about 52 children receiving this sacrament. He had longer hair and recently got this haircut. It really makes him look more grown up. He wants a military cut like his Dad, but was told to wait until after this weekend. It is always fun to see the young ones all dressed up in white dresses and suits; and then there is their reaction to drinking the Sacramental Wine.

 Unfortunately, we also had to stop by the funeral home as DH's former boss (owner of the company) died. He was a wonderful, caring man who suffered from ALS for the past year.

 

On Mother's day we had dinner with DH's family. It was wonderful to spend time with everyone, but the restaurant did leave something to be desired. They appeared to be seriously understaffed for the occasion. At least the food was excellent.

Is Spring finally here?

We have had a solid week of spring like weather, so I am hoping that winter is done in our area. I feel for those that are still getting snow. Aside from it being time for winter to be gone, it is going to make it harder for the farmers to get their crops going.

This quilt is for our neighbor's baby. I did it quilt as you go. 3 1/2" strips that I sewed to each other through all the layers. Sewed the first 2 strips together. Flipped the second strip up and ironed it and then proceeded to attach the third strip etc. It is a fast way to do a small quilt. Eash strip on this one is different. The backing is a dinosaur print that I used on the front of the next quilt.

This quilt is for a great nephew that was born a month ago. I love the dinosaur's, they are so cute. I just did pinwheels between each strip. The pinwheel blocks strips are different sizes. the backing on this one is dogs of all breeds. Glad these 2 are done now onto the next project which I am doing for our church's car show in July.

Spring weather coming

We will be in the 50's today. It is a long time coming, but won't be long before I will be complaining about the heat.

I have some projects with deadlines, and as tends to happen I am dragging my feet on getting them done. I have made progress on my hand piecing projects, but none on the machine. I must get back to it today or I will really run out of time. Today and tomorrow will be dedicated to finishing one niece's quilt so I can move on to laying out the group quilt from our Quilt Guild that I am assembling.

I am seeing more and more birds out by my feeder. The usual winter group is there, but I am also seeing the robins and yesterday saw a couple red-wing blackbirds. Looking forward to being able to set my hummingbird feeders out again.

The trees are starting to get buds and our pussy willow tree is growing those lovely soft buds. Well....must get started on my sewing.

Group Quilt

Our Guild is doing a group quilt to auction off at our quilt affair in September. It is a block of the month that I got sometime back from Fons and Porter. I love the design, just haven't gotten to it.

 

I'm really looking forward to seeing it done. The members will each do one of the months. We might also do a second one using our own fabrics. I still want to do it for myself, but I will use my scraps for it if and when I get to it. Don't you just love the design.

Another one done

Finally, got this small baby quilt done. I've moved faster on some of my bigger quilts. This one is for our next door neighbor who had a little boy. Sometimes I amaze myself. The stripped binding matches at all the joins; even the final one. How lucky was that. LOL  I have enough of these animal blocks to make another small quilt for a local charity.

Patriots in Petticoats Block 2

This block is to honor Ann (Mad Ann) Bailey. She was born in 1742 in England and came to US in 1761. Her first husband was killed fighting Indians, and she vowed revenge. She dressed as a man and rode a black stallion named Liverpool. She became an Army courier and scout, and her belligerent mannerisms and hatred of Indians terrified them, so they named her 'Mad Ann'

Ann enlisted as Samuel Gay on 2-14-1777 in a company of the 1st Massachusetts Regiment. She quickly rose to the rank of Corporal and for reasons unknown, she deserted in less than three weeks. A warrant was sworn out for her arrest and on 3-3-1777 it was discovered that she was a woman. She was fined 50 lbs and given 2 years in prison for 'appearing in men's clothes'.

In 1785 she married again to John Bailey and after his death moved close to her son. At the age of 70, she built her own log cabin and lived there until her death at 83 on 11-22-1825.

Project done

 Another project done. This is the front and the back of a baby quilt for friends. The baby was born the end of December, and is a little girl. Quilt and Pokey Little Puppy book are now ready for delivery.

Time to clean the sewing room again before I start on the next project. Circus theme is next.

Patriots in Petticoats Block 1

This is the first block for the Patriots in Petticoats series. This block is for Deborah Sampson. She was the first known American woman to impersonate a man in order to join the army and fight. At 21 she joined the Continental Army as a man named Robert Shurtleff. She was wounded in the leg and tended her own wounds to escape discovery. When she was later hospitalized with a fever in Philadelphia, the doctor attending her discovered she was a woman and made discreet arrangment for her to be discharged. She was later awarded a pension of $4.00 per month.

It will be interesting to learn about these women.

Warrior Quilt

This is the front of the quilt. It is going to a lady friend who is a AF veteran. She has Parkinson's and is really struggling.

 The Angel was done using 3 fabrics from the front of the quilt. She was added to the back among the pieced blocks that make up the backing. I used all flower blocks on the back of this quilt. We haven't seen our friend in over a year, so we look forward to visiting with her now that she is back in our area.
I really love the fabric that is the background for the angel. It is material I picked up a couple years ago in 4 different color ways. It really has the look of satin doesn't it.