A Quilt Finish.

Yesterday was Wednesday so Grandma had the kids during the day and returned them late afternoon. After dropping them off I did a quick run to Walmart and then home for the day. I really wanted to get that little baby quilt done. I pieced a back... I found a yard of dark blue baseball fabric and I knew I picked up some from the 1/2 off bin in Joanns a while ago (2+ years?). Yup - another 44 inches. Perfect to piece the backing I needed. Then batting.... I did not feel like getting the big roll out so I pieced three leftover parts to get the size I needed. I just butt them up together and overlap 1/2 an inch and use a zig zag stitch to keep them together.

Then it was a quick pin on the floor and off to look at books. I knew I wanted an all over pattern - should it be baptist fans or something I saw in Kim Diehl's book Simple Comforts- concentric circles.

I went with the circles and think it is now my favorite pattern! After a big dig to find something dark blue  and enough of it for the binding - that got made and sewn onto the front. Last night I stitched it to the back while watching National Treasure and am happy to call this little quilt done!

VTQuilter - finished Baby Quilt - 

VTQuilter - close up of some circles.

VTQuilter - the perfect backing! Baseballs.

A little top completed.

I decided I was done with red so instead of pieced borders this just got some plain borders from scraps. I think I am almost out of the blue fireworks fabric and the red stars print is going down. It ended at 46 or 47 inches square. I have an internet friend from when I was pregnant with Emily (A Mommy board) and she is expecting a little boy in the next 6 weeks. I think this one will get quilted and bound with some dark blue and sent up to PA for her baby boy. The best part... this is all from scraps or the fabric closet. Nothing was purchased so this is a 'free' quilt, right?

It was a bit windy so here are some inside shots.

July goals task list - recap and onto August goals.

This was my list of goals for July over at the Laundry List Linky party at KCDesigns.

Goals for July.
1. Finish that Log Cabin quilt - So happy to report this quilt is completely completed as you can see here. Now to hang it!
2. Prep and appliqué another Century quilt block. Almost done - 8 more leaves and the center to go. Should be done by the end of this month. I hope to settle in with some stitching on this tonight for my Sunday Slow stitching.

3. Continue assembling the spring flowers quilt. Lots of progress made here. I had an idea while driving to work last Sunday..... so there will be more hexagons needed for this one =) I need to prep some white so I can hook up the last column to the left hand side. Those seven white flowers are made already.

4. Hand quilt the Little T quilt. I did not even look at this one this month - too busy with those spring flowers again.
5. Continue with the RSC Challenge - 12 churn dashes, 13 or so Hexagon flowers, a 16 patch block, sampler blocks posted for the RSC quilt along. Completed =)
6. Tiny Tuesday blocks from The Civil War Love Letter Quilt book. I missed one Tuesday but made two most weeks the rest of the month so all is good there.
7. start step 2 on Celtic Solstice mystery from last fall. Maybe in August?
8.  Get to the beach with the kids - Completed as you can see here.
9. See some fireworks ..... well, it was thunderstorms and raining on July 3rd so we elected not to go to Grandma's and see the fireworks. They did have them very late that night and Grandma did take the kids. Us adults had a lovely kid free evening and most of the 4th of July instead....which is how I got task #1 done!
I also made this little table mat for the fourth of July this month.

August Goals. 
1. Finish another UFO on the list - not sure what it will be. We'll see what I am in the mood for! I'm thinking the maple leaf quilt. Those birds in the air blocks keep yelling they want to be put together.
2. Prep and appliqué another Century quilt block. Two to go!
3. Continue the RSC challenge in the color selected for August.
4. Continue Tiny Tuesday postings.
5. Continue with the spring flowers borders.... thinking white and light and dark pink =)
6. Try something new - either a crochet dish cloth or inklingo printing on fabric for hand stitching.
7. Get a few stitches into the Little T quilt - maybe this will be the car project while waiting to pick up the kids? School does start August 18th... yes, I am counting down the days =)
8. Step 2 of Celtic Solstice. I want this top completed and quilted before the next mystery starts around Thanksgiving so I'd better get moving on this one.
9. Till and plant a garden... I know, it's August- but it seems lots of 'normal' things I used to grow up north are ready to go in this month here in Florida. Trying more sunlight in a new spot and maybe I'll remember to water every day? We'll see. I miss home grown cucumbers.
10. Heck... if I get some of the above done and really use some kid school time maybe I can prep and quilt the crossroads quilt and/or the Rainbow Snails Tail quilt from last year. I know, I'm dreaming.
11. Get out and move more - walk or bike rides. I think this will be easier to do right after dropping the kids off to school for their 7:45 start.

I'm linking up with Kathi over at KC Designs for the ... Laundry List Linky Party.
I am also linking up with Kathys Quilts for Slow Stitching Sunday. Now to get the kids settled down with books before bedtime so I can do some slow stitching on that appliqué block. I see an episode of Downtown Abby in my future... I'm onto season 2.

Last Saturday in Red

I'm a little late posting today since I didn't get a chance to sew together my RSC Sampler blocks until after I got home from work tonight. Greg got to work with me today and we hit Sweet Tomato's for dinner before he headed to pick up the kids from Grandma's house. I headed home and got right to work winding some bobbin so I could sew. I sewed a few more of the sashing's onto the little star quilt while I was finishing off the blocks.

All my Sampler blocks in red.... unless Angela decides to sneak another red one in before the end of the month. I need to go back and make the middle smaller for the wonky star... or just make a new one.

My little star baby quilt. I seem to have counted wrong and need a few more yellow cornerstones to finish this off. Not sure what the outer border will be yet, maybe inspiration will hit sometime this week. I'd love to get this a little bigger to a top stage by the end of the month. Now to get some sewing room time..... after I do the necessary cleaning up and putting away a bit. I seem to not know what the bare  floor looks like with all the piles of fabrics for different projects pulled out!

This week was spent organizing things up a bit. The mood for this does not happen very often but when it does I do pretty good. Tuesday I tackled Emily's room. I am happy to report it is still organized and picked up four days later =). It turns out her carpet is beige..... I think we had forgotten! Wednesday I dropped kids to Grandma for a movie day and ran errands all over central Florida  =(.  Four huge bags of outgrown clothes and toys are out of the house... now to do the boy's room. Thursday we cleaned and cleared out the garbage cabinet area and coffee storage after a play date, fruit stand stop and haircuts for the kids. Friday..... I tackled the pantry for 3 hours after some leaf gathering and tracing/rubbing in the back yard. Then it was garbage and recycle to get rid of lots of boxes, some outdated things and lots of leftover candy from the past year.... shhh, don't tell the kids =). I moved things around and now if I can remember where I changed things I'll be all set. All the kids snacks, cereal and things they need are on the bottom two shelfs so hopefully they will keep the chairs out of there so I stop tripping on them!

Head on over to SoScrappy and see all the great red projects. I do wonder what color will turn up for August - baby pastels, orange, black, neutrals/browns...... I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Tiny Tuesday.....

Today I made the block they called Auld Lang Syne. It went together very quickly which was good because as I was sewing the last bit I heard the kids starting to act up in the other room!

Bike ride for the morning is done. Banana chip muffins baked and eaten for breakfast. Banana bars are cooked and waiting for frosting this afternoon. Time to eat lunch and then a little pool time before the rain starts this afternoon. It will either be picking up their rooms (if we do it today I don't have to do it on a kid free day tomorrow) or going bowling. I do wonder which task will win?

Slow stitching Sunday....

Kathy reminds us to slow down and enjoy some slow stitching on Sundays. Last Sunday I decided to work on the binding and got this lovely finish you can see here.This week I think I will stitch these rows of hexagon flowers onto the quilt. I have the other white ones completed for the other side I just need to prep some white connector hexagons to sew them together.

The other task this week once those hexies are added will be to do some appliqué on this. I'd like to have that done by the end of this week so I can link it up as a completed task on my list over at Kathi's blog.

I've done really well on my task list for this month. The only thing I have not touched is the hand quilting on the T's.... maybe that will get pulled out later this week for some hand stitching out on the back patio. A little progress is better than no progress.

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what other slow stitching is happening around the world today.

Saturday in RED....

I got a lot of red sewing done on Wednesday while Grandma had the kids for the day. I cut and sewed all twelve of my churn dash blocks.

I prepped more of my red hexagons for flowers and managed to get them done this week.

I made a Wonky star sampler.

This is the status of my little project this month.

Head on over to SoScrappy and see a lot of pretty projects in red. I think I'll just be sewing the little bits into some crumb blocks this next week and cutting a few 2.5 and 2 inch strips for the piles I am growing this year. They sure did come in handy for the blue stars above.

A finish!

I finally finished the binding on my log cabin quilt on Sunday evening. I just went outside this morning and took a few pictures. This measures 82.5 x 82.5 after quilting and binding and washing.
Now to convince hubby I want holes into the wall so I can hang this puppy up on the huge wall that the kitchen and living room share. That will be Monday's project.

My first attempt at machine quilting feathers on my little domestic machine. All free hand. One must start somewhere.

I outlined the blue with a walking foot and did feathers in the cream logs. The border has a wavy line on the tan made with the walking foot and there are swirly circles in the outer blue border made from a template and a marking pencil. Then I free motion quilted them. I had this on me the other night in my recliner and both cats were curled up on it - one at my feet (Sophie - or the white one as my parents call her) and Maxie was on my lap/belly all curled up (the black and white one). It is cat approved!

Miss Emily loves pancakes and I make a puff pancake from this recipe. This is the second one I have made this week..... being on Atkins this week with my hubby means she will get this for the next few days for breakfast since I can't have any. Willpower is a good thing! After my two weeks (hey - down 4 full pounds since Monday morning!!) I am looking forward to trying this recipe out for sweet crepes. They look sooooo yummy. Time for a shower after the yard work this morning. A quick lunch for me and the kids and then it is bowling time this afternoon. I see the pool being exercised later this afternoon before dinner. Speaking of which... I'd better pull something out of the freezer for dinner!

Mom is home to camp as of yesterday afternoon and is doing ok. This is a picture for her of the fountain Greg added to the pool last week. Adds a nice sound as I am sitting out on the back patio. I was hand stitching some hexagon flowers in red while the kids were splashing in the pool last night.

What I was working on yesterday during the rain and no kids day.....

I got a ton of stuff done in the sewing room. Nope - I did not tidy up and put things away, I did not file all the business and personal stacks of paper, I did not clean the house..... I sewed!

I prepped and sewed my 12 red churn dashes which I will show on Saturday. I prepped a bunch of red hexagons and managed to make a bunch of them last night - also will show on Saturday. Got the wonky star done for the RSC.... although I need to rip and make the middle the correct size. I did mine 4.5 inches instead of 3.5 inches. A wee bit too big!

What I will show...... nine of the star blocks in red and blue are completed! Each will be 8 inches finished so this will be a smallish quilt. Now the decision - do I make more of them or keep it small? No real plan for this quilt other than to have a 'neutral' baby quilt on hand. It will have sashing with yellow cornerstones and I think I might make that cornerstone into a pinwheel or star for the four middle ones. I can see a pieced border of some kind..... either a ribbon, flying geese or diamond?Maybe prairie points of red and blue on a cream solid as one border to make it a 3D quilt? As you can tell, it is still a work in progress. I'm not sure I like the blue check print in the middle row...... it might have to change but then again...this is a scrappy quilt....

While I was doing that Mom was in surgery up in Vermont. It was a planned surgery with a 3 month recovery time of no lifting. All went well and she should be heading home sometime today to recover at the camp overlooking the lake. Wishing her a speedy recovery and remembering to take it easy even if you start feeling better in a week or two! We want you back to 100% by December so I can cook up a storm for you in your kitchen and you'll enjoy eating it.
This will be her view while recovering.

Tiny Tuesday....

I just got a few minutes in the sewing room thanks to a crack of thunder in the distance that put off the pool time for a bit today. It has been 30 minutes since we heard that.... so I think it is pool time!
I was able to sew up these two blocks - Hospital and  A Beautiful Picture. Each little hst is 2 inches unfinished to make a 6.5 inch block.

Does anyone have any hints on how to hang a double size quilt with warm and natural batting? I think the log cabin is 86x86 (I need to measure it) and is finished and out of the dryer. Time for a photo shoot this afternoon and then a post tomorrow. I need to figure out how to get it hung on the big open wall in the kitchen/living room. I have two quilt holders from Joann's but I don't think they will hold all that weight. Any ideas on how to hang this would be welcome.

Slow Stitching Sunday.....

It has been another busy day today but I got to sleep in until 8AM! It was soooooo nice!
After a few sips of coffee it was time to take Buddy for a walk. He got a good one in with the kids riding their bikes. (45-50 minutes) Greg made us omelets for breakfast and then Em and I made a pillowcase for her friend Mackenzie's birthday party this afternoon. Grandpa came over for a little visit mid morning and then it was time to head and get Aidan a bike and both kids some new crayons, construction paper and glue sticks. Back home for a quick lunch and shower and then off to a birthday party for a couple of hours. Em is now using her brothers old bike to learn to ride without training wheels. She has good balance so should get it pretty quick. Dad didn't have to run too much with her and she was riding a bit before falling off in the back yard. A little weeding of some overgrown beds, a quick dinner, running around with some sparklers in the back yard and now bath time for the kids.
We'll do some reading (maybe a quick walk for Buddy and me) and tuck them into bed in  a bit and then I get to sit back and relax with some slow stitching.
I have three options tonight... I wonder which one will win?

First up - binding on the log cabin quilt. I have two more sides to go.



Second option is some more of these hexagon flowers... I have a whole pile prepped for some hand stitching. I got these six plus two reds done last night.

Third option - some appliqué. I prepped the June block for the Century Quilt earlier this week. I just need to stitch down two more of the stems, glue the leaves and circles down and stitch them and then that middle flower.

I think I'll have to toss a couple of coins to decide what I'll work on. Head on over to Kathy's Quilts to see some wonderful stitching projects being worked on today.

Saturday in Red..... a day early.

This is the block I mentioned last week. I see myself making a baby/lap quilt in primary colors made with this and an alternating blue star. The sashing will have yellow stars using the cornerstones I think. This is just a couple of the red's that I have made up so far. It is an 8.5 inch unfinished block. I can see a couple of different ways to make this - using four patch and flying geese, or making the four individual parts using 2.5 inch squares and hst's. I chose to do the latter.

 I made a few hexagons in the car on Sunday on the way to the beach. I need to prep a few more of these now that I have pulled all the reds from the scrap buckets.

A 16 patch block in red and maroon. I am amazed I found 16 different fabrics!

I also made some of the sampler blocks - hash tag and donut hole that were posted this week.

I  got an e-mail saying I had won some FQ's last week. They arrived in the mail yesterday and Em grabbed it from the mail box this morning after our morning walk with Buddy.  The cutest cat was included! The kids each picked out their favorites and requested little baskets to be made. The second row from the left is pink and purple that Em picked. The one next to it in teal, purple and blue fish was Aidan's selected fabric. Thank you so much to Sally and the cat Tommy for picking us! I love the surprise and those oranges/peach will come in handy once orange is selected for a color. Until then, I think I'll have to make some more cats to go along with the one she sent to keep her company! They might needs some mice and balls of yarn to entertain them too!

Head on over to SoScrappy on Saturday morning to see what other red projects are being worked on. As for us - the kids will finish lunch and then we are headed to the bowling alley for a couple of games and then Walmart to pick out a new bike for Aidan. He has really outgrown his bike and is ready for a new one. Hopefully we can find one we both agree on.

Another task on the list....

On my list of July goals is to get another of the appliqué blocks for the Century Quilt completed. I did some of the prep work the other day and now just need to settle in and get some stitching done on it. I am so happy I finally tackled the other block so I am not afraid of those round bias green parts anymore. I learned how to prep 'prefect' circles reading their schoolhouse instructions and have the four yellow circles prepped and already did the centers for the flower and have those appliquéd down. Now it is just sewing the green stems, glue the leaves and other parts and appliqué those down. I believe I will have no problems getting this one done by the end of the month. Two more to go after this one and then that quilt can be assembled. I plan for this to go to my niece. Her brother got one last summer so I need to get moving on this one.

What I'm working on today....

I know it is Tuesday but I am skipping Tiny Tuesday today to work on some binding. I got a good chunk of time in the sewing room on the 4th of July while the kids had an overnight with Grandma. I managed to get my attempt at feathers completed as well as the borders. I learned that you do have to try different thread combo's and must remember that Superior Threads Masterpiece and Bottom line are the best combo for free motion quilting on my Viking machine. I had a connecting threads cone on top and had issues. Tried a couple of others and had issues. When I put the masterpiece thread on it worked with no thread breaks or issues. I must remember that!  I attached the binding by machine last night and today while the thunder was booming and the rain was coming down this afternoon I got a few stitches done on the binding.

There is still more to go but it should be done sometime this week. I will be so excited to call this one completed soon.

I do love this quilt - all from scraps in the sewing room. Blue and cream are my favorite color combo. This will hang on my kitchen wall so I can see it while sitting in the living room. I'll do an outside shoot once it is done but this is what I have so far.

I'm showing my attempt at feathers. This is a double size at least 86x86. It was machine quilted on my domestic sewing machine. I used the walking foot and variegated blue thread to outline the edges of the blue logs. I made feathers in the cream logs. After a few of the feathers were done, I tried drawing a line for the middle and used that as the guide - it worked much better to have that guide. The feathers were just drawn with the machine. Not bad for a first attempt - I'll be using these again in a border. They should get better with practice.

The tan inner border got a walking foot curved lined. The outer border I switched to the free motion foot again and used my loopy circle to mark my lines and then quilted over that to finish off the quilt. I can't wait to see how it will crinkle up after a bath in the washer and a tumble in the dryer. I got the pretty toile backing from Connecting threads so I would not have to piece it.

Now to go make some apple cinnamon chips the kids just saw on tv and want me to make. I do wonder where the mandolin is? 

Back home Monday....

We took a little trip yesterday and went to Cocoa Beach for an overnight with the kids and Grandma H. She took the family room and let us have her room for the night. The kids loved their little setup - a box within a room with bunk beds and another twin bed with a dresser and tv in the middle. A nice little curtain closed off their 'room'. They settled right in and had a grand time. We were lucky and had picked up the stuff from the beach after lunch and got back to the room right before the rain and thunderstorm started. Hit the pool for a bit and headed to the room right before the rain started again for the evening. A beautiful sunrise this morning while walking along the beach (and witnessing a wedding ceremony!) and then lots of playing in the big pool and the kid water park area. All in all it was a nice little getaway. I have a feeling we might be heading over again sometime in the next month before the kids start school again.

Sunday at the beach.

Water park at International Palms Resort Sunday afternoon.

Sunrise family photo

Sunrise at Cocoa Beach July 7, 2014.

Wedding on the beach this morning.

Collecting shells.

Zonked out on the ride home today.