Happy day after Christmas

 To some, it's called Boxing Day.... to me, it's my 29th wedding anniversary...the third one since my husband passed away.  Usually, I go and spend some time with him at the cemetery, but the weather is frigid and the roads aren't great so I won't be going today.  His birthday is in about three weeks and hopefully the weather and roads will not be a hindrance so I can go then.

Anyway, I came on to share a photo of my nephew with the quilt I  made/ gave him for Christmas yesterday.

See my little Buddy behind him checking out my grandpuppie's toy stash.  He destroys all of his, but she only destroys certain ones.

Back to the quilt...the panel in the center and the binding are cottons while the rest are flannels ( yes, flannel is cotton, too, but we know there's a difference).  Some of the flannels were leftovers from previous quilts to make both the top and backing a bit larger.

OK, I'm  trying to share of Buddy opening his gift from one of our neighbors. It shows that it's here, but I'm not 100% sure....wouldn't be the first time Google gave me incorrect info.

 

Either way.....

Take care and stay safe & warm......

Approaching the finish line

 It would have been closer to finish but I decided at almost the last moment to make a quilt for one of my nephews who is joining my son and I for dinner on Christmas day.  I had thought that I would gift him one of my recently finished quilts but they are both gnome themed quilts and I  don't consider them very masculine.  Then I remembered that I had purchased two panels with a red truck on them last year and only quilted one for my annual Christmas quilt.  I already had  flannel piece for the backing but because I wanted to make the quilt a little bigger, I  dug out the leftovers from the aforementioned gnome quilts and was able to add them to both the panel and backing fabrics.  

The quilt was loaded onto Mo'e last night after I finished and removed the quilt that was already on 'him'.  It won't take long to quilt it since I'm going to do a largish meander.

This was a block of the month from Sindy Rodenmeyer of fatcatdesigns.com called 'The Birbs'.  I wasn't going to do any block of the months other than the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2022 because I've been trying to use what fabrics and patterns I have here in my stash, but I  was able to use just fabrics from my stash including the background, sashing, borders and backing after all.

The other quilt that is waiting it's turn to be quilted after being bumped back by nephew's quilt was one I shared in my last post ( that wasn't quite finished).

It's finished now and will be quilted on my domestic machine.  Not what I would call my 'usual' but I like it and  I  really enjoyed doing it.

This next year I plan to stick more to my resolution to use up more of what I already have and to STOP buying patterns and STOP printing out patterns that I'll probably never use.  Just because it's FREE doesn't mean that I NEED it.  And BEFORE I start something new, I'm going to FINISH one of the tops that have been waiting to be quilted.

And on that note, I think I'm going to say so long for now...

Merry Christmas

Happy Holidays

Stay warm and safe

 

Still pluggin' away

 I not only finished my Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2022 blocks, I assembled them into a top AND quilted it.

  I'm so proud of myself ...... actually, I'm just thankful - and very grateful - that I've been able to do quite a few things lately.

I started a new project yesterday.... just a 12 inch block, but it's been a little bit of a challenge - partly because I don't read the entire directions.  I had it pin basted ready to quilt on my domestic machine when I noticed that one piece was stitched on with star points pointed in instead of out like the other three were.  That was an easy enough fix and I soon had it pin basted again only to realize that I needed to add the wool pieces and do the hand embroidery BEFORE sandwiching and pin basting.

Bountiful Blessings

By Vicki McCarty, Calico Patch Designs

I got a little done last night before I decided it was better to leave the rest until another time.

I have a couple of quilt tops laying across one of  Moe's bars - ready to load as soon as I get backings ready.... maybe later today.

Spent some time yesterday trying to find a plastic tower of 'cups' that I  keep some of my buttons in...actually, I've been looking off and on since Saturday....it drives me nuts when I know I have something but can't find it.  I wanted/needed little buttons for the eyes of the birds in the RSC2022 quilt.  Because the button stash I did find didnt have what I wanted, I ended up buying more that weren't really what I wanted.  Then, I found another jar of buttons that would work better....but still haven't found the tower - my son even looked.  Something tells me that I put them in a bin with another project and I checked the bin that has hand sewing projects in it ....so, I guess it will have to remain M.I.A. for awhile longer.

One more project to share this week.  Had been seeing them online and wanted to do at least one.  I don't use laundry pods but my son was using them and saved me his last two containers.  This one is sitting outside on a table where he can greet whoever is coming up the steps to my door.

I still have a gnome to finish. ... maybe later this week.  

In the meantime, I have gifts that need to be wrapped and sent out this week...I need to get busy....

Take care....

 

Running behind here

 Kind of forgot to post this week.  When I did remember, it was either late Sunday night or there just wasn't time before lunch with 'the girls' on Monday.

Now, I  have to try to remember what I finished this past week.  I know I  finally got a coin purse made for the last crossbody bag but don't think I took a picture.  Actually, that crossbody bag has two coin purses because I made a second one after deciding that I didn't like the way the first one turned out.  After I  made the second one, I changed my mind and decided that the first one wasn't so bad after all.

Next up was this super simple one.  It was a panel that only needed a couple of borders before being loaded onto Mo'e where I did some straight line stitching, some ribbon candy stitching and then circle stitching around each gnome motif.  I also ended up doing a simple thread tie in the center of each of the smaller circles while I was able to stitch around the gnome and words in the center block.  Top and back are made of cuddly, cozy flannel.

Next up was 2 bibs for my great grandson who was born last May.

I tried to get the photos of the bibs next to each other but just couldn't get it to work.  Oh well.

One more photo to share.  

Some of the kids and grandkids will be getting either cash or a gift card so I made these stockings again this year.  They are cute but I don't think they're as cute as the ones I made last year. 

I think I have 5 done but I might need 2 more.

And that is it for the past week (and a half).  I still have some coasters I want to make for gifts and 2 gifts that will have to wait til after the new year before I work on them - I need more table space to be able to lay them out - so they'll probably be gifts for next year.

Happy Thanksgiving to my American quilty friends.  My son, a nephew and I are meeting up at a restaurant for dinner tomorrow.  I have no desire to cook or bake for just two or three people.

Take care

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz Oh what a relief it is

LOL ....sorry, but that's what popped into my head when I started thinking about the quilt I finally finished last week.  It sat, half done, from late June until about two or three weeks ago when I  took it off the frame, picked out all the stitching and let it set for about a week while I decided how I really wanted to quilt it. Once I decided what I wanted to do, it was just a matter of doing the stitching around the flowers one night and then around each flower center and petal the next night.  I think I did the binding and label on the third day.

Then, it was on to another project.  The top was done a week or so ago.. I was just waiting for more backing to arrive in the mail.

Gnome Christmas

The quilting is done -- the label and binding are made; I just haven't felt up to finishing it.  Oh, I almost forgot - I want to add a stitch in the center of the smaller white blocks.  I stitched a circle around each motif, but that still leaves a little too much unquilted inside the circles, so I decided that if I got some of my embroidery floss out and took just one stitch in the center of each circle and tie the ends of the floss it should be enough.

Cold weather has arrived and my bones are complaining :( .  I had a couple of craft shows that I wanted to go to over the weekend, but it didn't happen.  I was lucky to just be able to walk Buddy on Saturday morning; on Sunday, he had to wait for my son to come over to walk him.

Hopefully this week will be better.  I have that Gnome Christmas quilt to finish along with a few smaller Christmas gift projects to do.  And, of course, there are quilt tops waiting their turn on Mo'e. I guess I'd better get on the ball here and get myself mobile.

Take care

Making progress

Christmas gifts are almost done. YAY! I started and finished the last crossover bag yesterday.

The matching coin purse was a flop so I'm going to try a different pattern. Before working on the xbody bag, I finished piecing this top that I started the day before.

It's one I've been wanting to do for awhile now but kept telling myself that I had other things that I needed to do first.

 

And before that,

 

With a pillow to match the backing ( which is a cuddly flannel).

Oh! And this was in the UFO waiting to be quilted stash.

And I guess that's it for today...other than maybe to say that I think I found a design I want to use on that quilt top that was on Mo'e for a couple of months and I ended up unstitching because I just didn't like it. Hope to get it reloaded AND COMPLETELY QUILTED this week.

Take care..?

Little behind

I'm a little behind on this post but I wanted to finished the quilt I was working on first so that I'd have more than one photo to show. First off, I was at least 2 months behind on my birdhouse BOM and the RSC2022 so I got those caught up. The birdhouse quilt top is finished and now waiting for a backing before it gets loaded onto Mo'e.

Next up was my Timber Gnome quilt with a pillow to match the quilt backing.

arghhh!!! I took photos with my new notebook but I'm not finding them. OK, found them!

I finished the quilt and pillow yesterday... washed the quilt just a little while ago and just took it out of the dryer... it's crinkly! yay! Rested most of today but finally got some backing fabric stitched together and loaded onto Mo'e then repeated the process with batting and, although I think I made it longer instead of wider, it's the size I needed. Next came the top -- after pressing it to get out the major wrinkles.

Once I get the thread changed (tomorrow), it will be ready for some basic meandering - I do not want to get into 'custom' quilting it. And that's basically it for this post. I still have one more crossbody bag to make and I'd like to make myself a new bag before the holidays....we'll have to see if I get the new bag before the holidays or if it will have to wait til after the new year. take care!

Closer to a couple of finishes

First project was taking the quilt off from Mo'e so that I could unstitch all that I had stitched about three months ago. It took a few hours over two days to get all those stitches out, but it's done and now it all sits on my table while I decide what to do with it. Do I load it back onto Mo'e and try again or do I sandwich it together with pins and quilt it on my domestic? Can't decide. Next up was actual quilting...on my domestic. The final three blocks of the sunbleached/appliqued are done.

Then, on Friday and Saturday, I worked on getting caught up on my two block of the month challenges. I needed to do two blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge...

and, on Saturday, I made up the final three blocks for the current fatcat patterns BOM.

Now that I have the fatcat blocks complete I need to decide on sashing and border fabrics. I'll shop through my stash first...should be something there...if not, I'll just have to look elsewhere won't I? :). I still have one more crossbody bag set to make and may do that this week. I'm also trying to load backing fabric onto Moe so that I can get a quilt completed but just haven't been up to standing long enough to do it... will keep trying this week. I was having a terrible time with my domestic machine this week. First, I thought I had broken the needle threader because I couldn't get it to work and couldn't see the little pin that goes in the needles eye. Tried calling the local dealer to see if they had a replacement in stick and if they could replace it while I waited there in the store...this was Wednesday and when I called, a recording informed me that they are closed on Wednesdays (news to me). So I went back to my machine and threading the needle myself when I noticed the little wire was indeed there where it's supposed to be. Tried using the needle threader a couple more time when I finally noticed that the needle was bent! Changed the needle and the threader works! Imagine that! The next thing was that I was having trouble seeing my stitching as it was going under the foot and needle (hard to explain). I had just had my eyes checked a couple of months ago so couldn't believe it was my eyes even though that's what it felt like. I checked the light that's under the arm of the machine and it was working so the only thing I could figure was my aging eyes and moving my Ott light closer to the machine. Then, all of a sudden (probably the next day lol) I remembered the light that's inside the machine and shines down on where the needle and foot are. Yep! Burned out bulb. Well, I know that the last time I needed a new bulb it cost me something like $10 and that was several years ago so figure that it's more now. then when you add in the cost of gas to get there and back...so, I went online and found a dealer down in Tennessee who sells the bulbs for $3.99. I ordered 2 ( always good to have a backup). With shipping, it was still less than $20. Ok, I guess that's probably it for me this week. But, before I go, I'll share a couple of pics I took of local fall colors...

take care

I've been quilting!

After spending about half an hour typing all this out on my little phone I went to add a picture and I lost everything so I had to start all over again this time I'm going to try it I'm talking and my phone is typing or Google is typing whoever - but I still have to go back and edit it.

These are the last two crossbody bags that I finished for the preteen and teenage great granddaughters and I have one more left and that will probably be for the teen granddaughter . See that pink stripe across the bag? That's a zipper but without a zipper pull - I goofed and I wasn't going to take it all back out again. There are still three pockets that can be used.

.

Last Saturday, I went to a quilt show with two quilting friends. It was okay - it was crowded but I don't mean by people. It was kind of a cramped space; it was in a elementary school you're going  down the hallway and there's vendors on one side and then you get into where the quilts are and that was smaller half of the gymnasium and I'm not sure if there were even 20 maybe 24  quilts by members other than the president  - she had her own section (that's another story) I did see one quilt there that I really liked. Well, two of them that I liked -  one I took a picture of because it's so reminded me of my brother and his wife and I had to take the picture and send it to him immediatel; I think they got a kick out of it.

Now this next one is one that both my cousin Cathy and I liked. I've been trying to find the pattern and haven't been able to but I'm going to keep looking.

 Then in the next 'room' (the larger half of the gymnasium) was their garage sale tables with different fabrics and patterns and quilt related or sewing related items that members have donated to sell I only went to two of those tables - one had fat quarters for a dollar each ( I bought 10) and then the next table was quilt patterns and quilt books for $0.50 each unless otherwise tagged - I got an Edyta Sitar book and a small pattern for a barn scene that you transfer onto fabric and then color it using crayons.

Then on Monday I met up with two other quilting friends for lunch in  Battle Creek -we didnt eat here but I got such a laugh out of it and had to take a pic. - Youngest daughter and I agreed that we'll have to go there the next time she comes home.

After lunch we went to a local quilt shop where the owner is retiring and apparently no one wants to buy the business so she's closing. I spent way too much - on patterns and a canvas panel.

I made this next one right away because I needed something for my front door.

Yes, this is one of the patterns I bought on Monday...started it on Wed. and finished it the next day. After I finished the door hanging I went and pulled out a UFO  - something I had started with three quilting friends, oh my gosh must have been at least 10 years ago, where we laid leaves out on black fabric - then we sprayed a bleach/water solution around it, let it set in the sunlight for a few minutes and then dunked it into another solution so that the bleach would stop working.

 I found some tie-dye type fabric that would work for the leaves themselves so I stitched the leaves on with invisible/clear thread and then they sat because I couldn't decide what to do with them.  On Thursday, I pulled them out and as you'll see, two of them are now placemats - there is a third one that'll work here on my desk as a place mat.

I'm not exactly sure what I'm going to do with the remaining three. I've pretty much used up the scraps of the fall themed fabric that I was using for backing and binding on the placemats (and the door hanging).

Well I think I've got you all caught up for now.

Take care.

Slow but successful

I'm slow in posting...mainly because I haven't had anything to post. But I do now. It's not alot but it's better than nothing at all. I have completed two more crossbody bag gift sets and another one (#5) is almost completed. Well, actually none of the three are 100% complete...but they should be finished either by this evening or tomorrow. I'm waiting on slider bars to lenghthen/ shorten the straps that I've ordered from Amazon. They were scheduled to arrive today but I just received a message saying there's been some sort of delay. Oh, and I'm calling them gift sets because each one has a coordinating change purse and at least one, if not two, scrunchies along with a bit of cash. #3 

and #4

No pics of #5 yet...still have to finish the bag then make the accessories. I'm trying to use faux suede and or faux leather..not having a whole lot of success with the suede...I've used it, but it can be frustrating..it seems to move while Im trying to cut it and I've ended up with a couple of kinda wonky rectangles. I haven't tried the faux leather yet (oh,I have cork,too,but haven't tried that either) - I think I'll try those in some form on the next two (or three) bag sets. Arghhh! In the time I've been away from blogging...what, 2 weeks?...Google appears to have changed things so that I'm having trouble finding my photos that I want to share and then when I do find them and want to add them to my blog, they are entered as a bunch of symbols, letters, whatnot. In order to see if they are the right pics in the right place, I have to switch over to 'preview'. What's up with that?!?! ok, I'm really getting frustrated with this. I may be back, I may not. I have enough frustration as it is without getting it while simply trying to blog. 

 take care

P.s. arghhh again...I just tried my Blogger icon on my phone again ( it wouldn't work before) and it's working again.

This is success #2