Slow Stitching Sunday...

It has been no post since Tuesday! Yikes. I rented a big tiller last Sunday and had Greg till a big garden for me. Third try hopefully will work. I have spent most mornings raking, tilling and prepping the soil of one of the  old ones for transfer to the new garden and prepping some of the new one. After a 2 mile walk.... I get an hour to 90 minutes in before it is too darn hot to work out there. I have one little corner done - and planted corn and the zucchini and cucumbers I had started a couple of weeks ago. We'll see if I can control the weeds on this one.

First till of the garden - don't mind the two overgrown ones in the shade by the trees.

three rows of corn and two big mounds - zucchini and cucumber

 I seem to do really well at growing weeds! The beans and peas (two things I know I can grow down here) have to wait until I get the fence up or the wild bunnies will eat them all on me.

Alas  - not much sewing time for me this week other than in the car line at school and at bowling. We had our first week of bowling Thursday morning and I was surprised at how many people came over to see what I was working on or asking about it after I had put it away! I guess the ladies like seeing the progress I make each week. I took my green TATW block with me this week.

Yes, those are bits of snowmen on this round - I thought it was funny since temps are in the feels like 100+ range last week. I have a couple more rows of green and then white to add before I can add back the edges to this green trip around the world block. Angela chose orange for the color of September in the RSC Challenge so I need to prep my squares for that project. I figure I'll bring that one with me to VT next weekend along with some midget appliqué blocks. Yes Mom, I'll make some towels and scrubbies while I am up there - must pack the crocket hook.

I have been too tired at night to stitch (I know - terrible right?) so I still have a little binding to finish off on the wedding quilt. After a nice and busy day at work yesterday - heavy rainfalls on the way home so Greg went to get Ms. Emily early (Aidan's sleepover at Grandma's). I had a couple of hours last night to myself so after pulling some pork  I had cooking in the crock pot, cutting up some cabbage and making a dressing for that and a quick dinner - I pulled out the quilt and got 3/4 of the binding on it. I had to stop as Max (the black and white cat in the header) decided she wanted lap time and I do believe my nephew is allergic. I shooed her off and put it away and grabbed my springtime quilt to put on my lap for her. I know, spoiled cat =). Hopefully I can finish it off tonight - a quick wash for it and then it will get wrapped up to be sent to the new owners tomorrow. Ok - the wavy walking foot stitching lines have grown on me and I do really like how they look and feel on this quilt. Just that little bit on the right hand side to stitch down. The black binding looks great on it I think.

I think I'll make a couple of fall place mats and a few coasters to tuck in with it as well. The kids wanted to try making some coasters so I'll show them how tonight on the machine. It is forecasting 3-4 inches of rain over the next few days so that will keep them busy for a little bit.

I'm linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday over at Kathy's quilts and Oh Scrap. Head on over and take a peek at the link parties going on. As for me.... I'm heading into work for a few hours. Emily really wanted chocolate donut muffins for breakfast today so Greg pushed back his requested sausage gravy with buttermilk biscuits until dinner tonight. Breakfast for dinner is always a fun night.

Tuesday - Sunbonnet Sue

I made my first sunbonnet sue! This is Sunbonnet 2 in the midget appliqué series.

I was unable to go work in the garden that was freshly tilled and enlarged on Sunday due to thunderstorms and rain yesterday morning. Instead.... I decided to go into the sewing room and do a bunch of prep work. I found my dresden fabrics and my template and cut them out - indigo and black. I had to steal a white colored pencil from the kids play room to mark my lines to cut out the dresden blades. I cut out some backgrounds for the appliqué blocks and marked a few and picked fabrics for them. I did have to go find my neck light so I could make a light box and mark them better . I also marked the cut line on the 5 inch mark this time..... maybe I won't trim them too short with that added helper line. Once the storm passed..... I started sewing the blades together....and then realized the bobbin was empty! Yup, had to wind a new bobbin, clean out the bobbin case from the lint and rethread the needle. I have the blades into twosies and then... grabbed a shower and had a lunch date with Greg at Red Lobster. Then it was time to swap out the laundry, fold and put some more away before heading to the car pick up line where I got to start the back basting on little Miss Sue. I finished her off last evening after boy scouts and the kids were in bed. We did get some pool time in after homework yesterday afternoon as well. A very full day yesterday..... and yes Mom I got my walk in after dropping the kids to school before the storm! I got another 2 miles in this morning.... done by 8:30 and it is really hot out there. Breakfast is done so time to head out and play in the soil before the temps get in the 'feels like 100+'.

A wrap up post!

I seem to be off a little this week but I have managed to get a little sewing in. It will take me a little bit to get into the routine of school. My Dad also had knee replacement surgery on Tuesday - he got through surgery fine and is now in the process of working on the therapy. Hopefully this will eventually get him walking with no pain. Emily finally lost a tooth last Friday and proceeded to lose another one five days later. The tooth fairy knows our house well! I have gotten 4 walks in this week and the other day was over an hour moving around in the pool. My walk this morning was with my friend Deb who is watching this little 2 month old baby boy. Oh he is a sweetie and I had fun pushing his stroller and holding him this morning.

I did my midget appliqué block - cherry branch #2 - or something like that. It is very similar to one I just did but it is indeed different.

I spent a little time sewing together some black blocks for the RSC Challenge. I made 2 -16 patch blocks and one of the twinkle star blocks. Dresden and BITA's will be next week I guess.

The big news... I finally got the wedding quilt machine quilted, a binding made and attached to the front and I need to start the process of hand stitching this down to the back. I've had a e-mail conversations with Kathy aka Nana this week about this quilt..... this poor quilt is not happy with me at all! It seems it really wanted some special quilting on it but as this has a deadline, it just got some wiggly squiggle lines on it. It is now pouting but it seems to be very happy with the black flowered binding. At least I did something to make it happy! I know... the quilt is talking.... well, your quilts talk to you, don't they? Come on, admit it, they do! I made these blocks a few years ago with the RSC Challenge.... and will probably add some dark blue and black birds in the air blocks next week to the new pile for another one. I plan to work on the binding this weekend at night so I'll link up Sunday with Kathy's Quilts for Slow stitching Sunday.

I also finally did some walking foot stitching on two place mats this week and got the bindings on.... they are waiting for a stitch down on the blue and the green got stitched down last night. The green and blue are all from the scrap piles. There is a red strip one waiting for a backing and quilting.... that one is Emily's... I think she even sewed the strips together last month. I think I need one more so a purple strip one will be added to the mix. So glad I have been cutting scraps into 2.5 inch strips this year.

Front side

Back side.

As I was going through my 'take with me bags' (yes I have two with multiple baggies of projects in each!), I found the outer triangles of green that I took off my 2.5 inch trip around the world block when I redid that a few months ago. I pulled some more dark forest greens from the pile on the floor and started making the middle. I got these put together in the car line yesterday and finished off this part last night. I need to go find some more fabrics to cut and prep for my round of 16, 20 and 24 squares and then 28 of the white and then I'll have 7 blocks complete. Just waiting on orange and I think the last one will be teals. It seems this will end up at 90x90 with 9 blocks.

I'll link up Saturday morning with Angela for the RSC Challenge. Head on over to both links on Saturday and Sunday morning and get inspired. 

Mom - I'll be working Saturday but I think I'll be home Sunday and will rent a tiller and get the garden tilled for the fall =) I'm going to figure out gardening down here if it kills me!

Wednesday......

I got a little sewing time today..... the wedding quilt is quilted. The binding is sewn together but needs to get pressed and sewn onto the quilt. Maybe that will happen after dinner..... so I can start stitching the binding this evening while it rains.....

We also had a loose tooth last night for Emily. Yup, the second tooth decided to come out today in school this morning. She got a nice tooth case for it to wear around her neck all day. This one is on the bottom right below the top one that came out last Friday. We'll see how long the other two front teeth stay in!

Monday - first day of school.

First day of school! The kids were up and ready to leave the house by 7AM! First day tummy jitters for Emily but they were so excited to go to school.

Aidan - age 7 First day of 2nd grade 8/17/2015

Emily - age 6 First day of 1st grade 8/17/2015

I got a 2 mile walk in, read all the papers for the last three days while eating breakfast in peace in quiet. Then swept and mopped floors and cleaned the kids bathroom. Sewed together two black 16 patch blocks and now it is time to finish picking up so I can vacuum and dust. At least it will stay fairly clean until 2:15 when the kids are home from school!

Family hot dog BBQ at boy scouts tonight with the kids and their rain gutter regatta. Hopefully it does not thunderstorm us out tonight. Off to pick up some more......

Slow stitching Sunday....

Kathy asks us about long term projects today. I have quite a few long term or slow projects and I tell myself that gives me a choice of what I am in the mood to work on!
Today it will be a toss up of either adding some purple to the trip around the world quilt....

Appliqué maybe?

Or if it is cool enough in my recliner tonight maybe I can start stitching the border on Hugs and Kisses?

I'll see what I feel like adding some stitches to later this evening while I relax before starting the first week of school with the kids.

Emily got her first visit from the tooth fairy on Saturday morning. Her first tooth finally came out at age 6 and 4 months!

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

Scrappy Saturday in indigo....

This week I added a couple 16 patch blocks and my twinkle star 25 patch in indigo.

Next week will be the dresdens...... =). The kids are back in school as of Monday so maybe a set of black blocks (16 and twinkles) will get made as well!

Now to go clear off the sewing table so I can pin the wedding quilt. The top and bottom are pressed and rolled onto the boards and the batting is cut. Just need to pin her up.

Head on over to so scrappy on Saturday morning and see what other RSC challenge projects were played with this week. As for me... I will be breaking the rules and wearing sandals to work this weekend. I injured my big toe toenail a little over a week ago and wearing socks and sneakers for the whole day would not be comfy - even with a band aid on it. I hope to resume walking on Monday after dropping off the kids though.... wish me luck! If the socks are still not comfy then... there is always walking in the pool for another month!

A rainy Thursday......

It looks like a rainy day on tap for us today. Everyone finally got a good nights sleep (Monday night was rude neighbors with loud music, Tuesday night Emily was up in the middle of the night a couple of times with the last time getting sick - she is all better today) so hopefully it will be a good day without cranky kids and Mom!

We had a card making afternoon yesterday so I have quite a few cards to address and get into the mail. Dad is having knee surgery next Tuesday so they made some get well cards. We also have quite a few birthdays this month and next so we did birthday cards as well. It was fun and kept them entertained for a couple of hours. Emily found a theme and they were all similar. Aidan was very particular and took his time making each of his cards special.

Last night I got the last of my green squares onto my trip around the world quilt. I auditioned a bunch of colors and nothing looked good to me until I put this purple next to it. Purple is the next round! All cut out but they need their sewing lines drawn onto the back of all 64 of them. Maybe I can sneak in doing a bit of that today while the kids are picking up the play room.

Tiny Tuesday....

I finally finished the leaves on the second midget appliqué block so I'll show that one completed today.

I also made the flower bowl last night and finished it up this morning. It needs a little embroidery on the leaves.

I am down to one of these prepped so guess what I will be doing today? Printing out a few more and prepping them for my basket next to my recliner! I hope to pin a quilt today as well, but need to cut the batting off the roll first.

I am getting anxious to start my Bittersweet Briar wall hanging by Kim Diehl but I keep telling myself that since I am going to hand appliqué that one I really need to finish this project first! That will be my January project =)

Slow stitching Sunday....

Kathy reminds us each week to slow down and take some relaxing stitches and breathe. Tonight I plan to add some green to my 2 inch trip around the world quilt. This is row 15 for me! I have been thinking of the next color.... I'm thinking orange and then brown but who knows at this point. I'll have to pull some fabrics and see what looks good.

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts and see what other slow stitches are being worked this week.

In order to make my week easier - I am trying to plan my weekly meals. As this is the last week before the kids start school, I decided everyone gets to select a meal of their choice! Greg chose crab cakes so that will be on for tonight. Emily chose breakfast for dinner (I figured she would have selected brats and potato salad!). Aidan chose bean burritos (a surprise as he loves taco's and carrots cooked in a chuck roast or risotto!). Me.... I was thinking kabobs but we'll see. One thing I do want to do as a family is make pot stickers. It has been a while since we did it and since everyone is home tomorrow night we'll do that on Monday evening. Now I just need sides and most of my weekly meals are planned! Time to head into work for me and hopefully with no rain we will be much busier today than yesterday. I got my lines marked on the green squares yesterday at work.... hehehe the benefits of being the owner!

Saturday in Indigo....

I was all set to type up this post with my two indigo sampler blocks and then I checked and Angela had posted a third block! Off to the sewing machine I go....

Back now - with three indigo blocks made for the RSC 2015 sampler quilt.

Mr Roosevelts Necktie 

Bulls Eye

Road to California

I am planning to do some dark blue and black/grey this month with my scraps (16 patches, twinkle stars and dresden plates) ..... guess I better go pull and sort as we are already one week in! Thank goodness I will have a little more time soon. The kids go back to school on August 17... not that I am counting down the last week before they head back to school. It has been a long summer and they will be happy to get back to a routine (and I will enjoy drinking my coffee and reading my paper in the morning with absolute peace and quiet after getting a morning walk in!). I'm starting them on the routine this Monday for getting up at 6:30 (Aidan has been up before that most of the summer!) and being dressed and had breakfast by 7:20. Wish me luck!

Linking up with the RSC Challenge on Saturday morning. Head on over and get inspired.

I also got a package in the mail from our RSC Host Angela - a row and license plate and a piece of penguin fabric.... to make the thermometer row! Thanks Angela.

Think I'll go cut some parts for the sailboat row I am working on next..... light and dark blue in that one so it counts in the RSC I think - especially since I am using my scraps for that one.

Tiny Thursday....

I finished off my 27th midget block this morning. We are in week 32 of the year... I guess I am still a wee bit behind!

This is Apple, Pear, Grapes. Now to trim it and add the yellow frame. It needs a little embroidery embellishment too, I think. 

Oh poo. I just trimmed the last three blocks and yup - I CUT on the stitching line. The blocks are 4.5 inches now... instead of 4.5 inches finished. Hmmmm Do I just make the yellow surround a little bit bigger to hide the oops? I really don't want to redo the three blocks........What would you do?

While the boy is school shopping with Grandma H and having lunch, Em and I hit Walmart to get a few things and on the list was a new bike helmet for the girl... so I can get mine back! She has been wearing mine for 6 months and it was time to get her one. She chose the frozen one - with Elsa and Anna on the sides. Just need to tighten it up a bit.

Tiny Tuesday

This week is the cherry branch - block #44 in the midget appliqué series.

Slow Stitching Sunday

A little slow stitching for today. I added that corner this morning and hope to finish this block off later tonight. Then... on to the midget appliqué block.

Head on over to Kathy's Quilts to see what other slow stitching is going on.

RSC Saturday... finishing up red.

This is a little de ja vu from last week but I did add 4 more of the flying geese blocks to make 17 total for the stack.

I also managed to finish the last set of blocks into a top this week.... all fixed from the incorrectly sewn on row of yesterday's post.

With Emily - my quilt poser.

My reward was to quickly put the duckie Row by Row together from Fabric, Fabric, Fabric. So darn cute - it measures 36.5x9.5 inches. One down - 7 to go =).

 Linking up Saturday morning with Angela over at the RSC Challenge. I hope to sneak out of work after finishing month end and grabbing my last row in Lady Lake =).