Americana

This month, our grandson, Ryan had his eighteenth birthday. Ryan's bedroom has been done in Americana since he was three. He has cross stitch, wooden knick knacks, small quilted flags, etc. He also has two quilts for his bed. The second was made when his family moved to Georgia from Florida. They didn't have enough blankets for Georgia weather.

The photos  I'm going to show today is the one his Gramps and I both made. Gramps decided to take a series of beginning quilt classes for something to do. We'd just built and moved into a new house. Two months later his company told us we'd be moving to Florida. It was going to be almost a year before the move was to take place. In each class they would make a block or two of a sampler quilt. Suddenly the move got moved forward several months. He had to get busy preparing for the move at work. Quilt classes fell to the wayside. 

Move forward a few years. We have our July born grandson getting his first "big boy" room. Americana seemed like the appropriate way to decorate it. They wanted a quilt for his twin bed. I hunted up the blocks my husband had made and used them as the beginning to design a quilt that would make a twin size. This is the finished product!

Peace!

Block two of Garden Tea Party

Block two of the Garden Tea Party from Shabby Fabrics is done.  This block came two days after I finished block one.  I pieced it a couple of weeks ago at a BSC sew fun day. The appliqueing was done today while I Skyped with my friend Erica.

Such a relief that they give you plenty of fabric for the blocks.  I actually made a mistake in the cutting. Fortunately there was enough of the fabric I cut wrong left from block one to recut.  Whew!

I'm so happy I signed up for this BOM.  I really enjoy looking at the fabrics they choose.  The next block kit should arrive in a week and a half. While I'm waiting for it, I'll work on quilting the next quilt in line on my Longarm.   I also have a baby quilt I'm making.

Happy Stitching. Peace!

Easter Dress

Easter is when we Christians celebrate the most important day of the year.  Christ's death and resurrection is what gives us everlasting life.  He died for our sins! Hallelujah!!!  All we have to do is acknowledge our sins, ask Him into our hearts and live our lives following his teachings.

One of the traditions many people have for Easter is to get a new dress to wear to church Easter Sunday.  This year I made an Easter dress for my youngest granddaughter, Faith. Confession time; the reason I made this dress is I already had the pattern, fabric, and embellishments.  I bought them about fourteen years ago for my oldest granddaughter, Toria.  I just never got around to making the dress.  In my decluttering this year, I came across the pattern, etc.  I realized if I didn't make it this year, I wouldn't have enough fabric to make the size Faith would need.  She's my last granddaughter, so it was now or never!

I used a Simplicity Daisy Kingdom pattern.  I had purchased the fabric and embellishments just as they are shown in the pattern.  It wasn't hard to make, but took a considerable amount of time.  I had to be meticulous to have everything come out as it was supposed to.  The dress can be worn with or without the apron.

Faith looked beautiful in her dress as you can see in this photo her mother took of her and her sister Easter morning.  She and Angelica look wonderful together!

Another Quilt Top

Yesterday I finished my last QOTM top from 2014. It had gotten put on the side burner because I cut a section at the wrong width. I had to go to BSC to get replacement fabrics. We found three of the fabrics immediately. The fourth one took a few days as they had to search in their scraps for it. Fortunately enough of all the fabrics were found. By then I'd moved on to other projects. I finally got back to it a couple of days ago. 
I started this quilt on February 3rd. The beginnings of the project are on my February 4th blog post entitled Studio.
The quilt pattern is by Villa Rosa Designs and called Cloud Nine. (The model of sewing table I have is also called Cloud Nine.) I used the kit BSC had available. This is going to be another charity quilt. Here's the pieced top. Enjoy!

This is the day the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it!
Peace!

Teapot BOM

In January I decided that I wanted to do the Shabby Fabrics Teapot Block of the Month. It's a six month BOM. I got my first pattern and fabrics the end of February. The company gives you plenty of fabric and excellent directions for each block. I finished making my first block last Thursday. Here's the finished block.

Below is the pattern for the second block. I have all the applique patterns traced on fusible. This pattern arrived two days after the first block was finished!

The piecing is a little tedious, but I so love doing the appliques. The steady sound of the machine making the stitches is soothing and relaxing. It's nice to do between other projects. The cheery fabrics make doing these blocks so much fun. Applique quilts are my favorites to make. 

I use the applique techniques taught in Sue Nickels and Pat Holly's  book Stitched Raw Edge Applique. You can find this book at Sue's website.

Use your time wisely and with intentionality. You'll get so much done. Have an awesome day! 

Peace!

Bebe and Isabel

A couple of weeks ago, while out to lunch with friends, we stopped in the Quilt Shop of DeLand. They had an adorable doll clothes pattern, which I purchased. Our youngest granddaughter Faith, has a Bitty Baby, Bebe, and an American Girl doll, Isabel. The pattern had outfits for both size dolls. Sweet!

One of this year's goals is to use my fabric stash whenever possible. I looked through my stash to find fabrics for the doll clothes. The pattern takes several fabrics for each outfit. Faith likes pink and purple. I found a coordinating line of fabric with those colors to use.

Indygo Junction produced the pattern. It's called Dolly Dress-up. There were a couple of errors in the pattern pieces. Nothing major though, so easy adjustments. I couldn't find an errata page with corrections on their website. I suppose I should email them and let them know.

I made Bebe and Isabel each a jumper. Bebe's has bloomers and Isabel's has shorts to go with it. There's also a t-shirt pattern included. There wasn't a suitable knit in my stash, so I went to Bernina Sewing Centre and purchased a quarter yard of cream knit. That was enough for both shirts. It calls for Velcro for the back closures. I tried to use some old Velcro like stuff from my mom. The little squares were sewed on with my Bernina 750. They wouldn't stick together. I don't think it was real Velcro, but some poor imitation! I had to pick all those little stitches out of the knit fabric. Colored snaps that coordinated with their outfits did the job!

Faith was very happy with the new clothes for Bebe and Isabel!

Peace!

Wordless Wednesday

One nation under God?

The people of the United States claim to be a nation under God and as such we think God will bless us. Are we a nation following what God had Jesus teach us in the Bible? Do we love one another? Do we do to others as we would have them do to us? I don't think so. If we truly love everyone as God requires, we would be helping to provide food, clothing, medical care and a great education for everyone. Instead we're focused on lining our own pockets, building our treasures on earth and serving ourselves!
We're not alive to serve ourselves. We're here to further God's kingdom. We're here to serve God. If you want our nation to be blessed, I challenge you to read the gospels. Does your life line up with Jesus's teachings? Seek his guidance, search yourself, to see what more you can do to serve God. That's what I'm doing. 
In serving God you will be changing our country and in turn the world.
Peace!

70/40 Birthday Party

The past week, my daughter Kim, son-in-law Roger, grandson Ryan and granddaughter Shelley, were here for the week. It was a really cold week in Florida but far warmer than they would have been at home in Georgia. My husband had Monday off for President's Day, but worked the rest of the week. My SIL worked from our house all week. The rest of us cooked, ate, sewed, read, played on the Wii and relaxed.

Friday evening we celebrated my husband Chris's and son Geoff's birthdays with a 70/40 party. Shelley and granddaughter Angelica helped us shop for the decorations at the party store. They, along with Ryan and GD Faith, did the decorating. It was a small party with family and a few friends. There was lots of laughter, so I think everyone had a great time. Certainly my husband and I did!

Kim and I did most of the cooking. We served appetizers of olives, Jarlsberg cheese dip, beet hummus, crackers and French rounds.

Our dinner menu was pistachio encrusted salmon, sautéed yellow squash, zucchini and onion, steamed asparagus, and ciabatta bread (made by our friends Dan and Susan). Everything was delicious! Shelley made Ghirardelli brownies and Angelica made gluten free brownies for dessert. We served them with Publix Organic Vanilla Ice Cream. Yummy!

We had to have a kids table and an adult table since we couldn't fit fifteen around our dining table.

The kids played tic-tac-toe on my iPad!

Peace!

Bernina Presser-foot 97D

Toward the end of 2014 Bernina came out with a new 1/4" foot for their models with 9mm feed. The 97/97D feet are made with a wider toe on the left side so it will better keep your fabric from shifting! The 97D is for the Bernina's with the built in dual feed. The right toe is just like the 37 and 57 feet. Since these feet were back ordered, I just recently got mine and I love it. The foot also comes with a guide that screws into the base of your machine. The right edge of your fabric is against it as seen in the a picture below. This gives you a perfect 1/4" seam! It's your choice whether you use the guide or not. I'm very happy with my new foot! Thank you Bernina Sewing Centre for ordering the 97D foot for me.

Peace!

Wordless Wednesday

Secret Garden Fabrics

Today's blog will be short. I promised to post the fabrics I purchased at Bernina Sewing Centre for the Secret Garden Trapunto Quilt. I'll be appliquing them all on a white background. I want to have it finished by Christmas 2015. Now to wash, starch and iron all twenty-one fabrics.

Peace!

Trapunto Appliquéd Quilt

Wednesday I found an awesome quilt through Pinterest. The Secret Garden Trapunto Quilt. Joanne L. on the the Craft Passion Blog designed and made this. She generously makes the pattern and directions available for free. Secret Garden is lots of flowers, ladybugs, butterflies, snails and some birds. When you turn down the top it says "Secret Garden", which has been appliquéd to the top back of the quilt. I'm really anxious to make this quilt. I just love doing applique because I find it so relaxing. 
The fabric line she used is no longer available. I'm heading to Bernina Sewing Centre this morning to look for fabric for The Secret Garden. I'll show you what I come up with in a later post.
She also has a Trapunto quilt pattern called Road Runner. That one has cars and road equipment. Such a great idea for a boy's room.
Have a great day. Peace!

Studio Day

Yesterday was spent with one of my quilting friends, Erica. We had a studio day at her house. We used to share a studio and we got so much accomplished. When we get together to work, each of us does our own thing. Erica was working on the borders of a quilt and I was starching, ironing and cutting out. While the starch was being absorbed by the fabric, I was binding another quilt.
One of the best parts of quilting or needlepointing together are the discussions we have. We have the most wonderful deep conversations about politics, race relations, religion, science, psychology, and sometimes even sewing. We don't always have the same view about things, but we agree to disagree. If one of us is wrong about something, we have no problem admitting our mistake and apologizing for it. We are also perfectly comfortable not talking at all. It is a wonderful thing to have a friendship that you can totally be yourself in.
I miss the shared studio where we could work together and converse five days a week!
Here's my stack of pinned fabrics ready to sew from yesterday's prep.

We had so much fun yesterday that we're going to have studio time again this afternoon...This time at my house.
Peace!      

Longarm Quilting Books and DVD's

A couple of friends, who are just starting out on the adventure of longarming, asked me for some advice. In putting together that information for them I thought I'd share some on my blog. The picture above shows some of the quilting books and DVD's I'm recommending to them. I'll list them below.

BASICS:
Pathways to Better Quilting by Sally Terry
Darlene Epps, Pocket Guides from Trillium House, Freehanding Textures & Fillers, Meanderings, Borders and Sashings
Show me How to Machine Quilt by Kathy Sandbach
Breaking the Code by Christine Olsen

Other MUST HAVES:
Mastering the Art of Longarm Quilting by Gina Perkes
Mastering the Art of McTavishing w/DVD's by Karen McTavish
Quilting Wide Open Spaces by Judi Madsen

EXTRAS:
No Boundaries, Jamie Wallen and Nicole Webb
Mary's Whimsies, The Jelly Bean Quilter by Mary Eddy
Machine Quilting Solutions by Christine Maraccini
Quilting Makes the Quilt by Lee Cleland
Any of Karen McTavish's books.  All come with DVD's 

DVD's
Pajama Quilter Reloaded w/workbook by Dawn Ramirez
Feathers of a New Generation (Not your Grandmom's Feathers) w/workbook by Lisa Calle
Fancy Feathers by Linda V. Taylor
Fowl Proof Feathers by Myrna Ficken

Peace!

Wordless Wednesday

Dishes, Dishes

Yesterday's Kitchen Challenge from I Heart Planners was to tidy dishes, mugs and cups. That prompted me to pack away the 10 place settings and serving pieces of Pfaltzgraff stoneware for our granddaughter. It took two containers and a lot of scrap quilt batting, but I got it done!
Now it was time to do some cabinet and countertop  re-arranging. I moved the coffee pot across the kitchen. Next was to put all the coffee and tea paraphernalia in the cabinet where the stoneware used to be. The mugs were put on the same shelf. I re-arranged my baking pans and supplies above that. The appliances that are rarely used were put in the bottom cabinet.

Where the coffee and mugs were, now has the china from the buffet.

Our eclectic mix of stoneware also got some re-arranging.

Now for today's challenge: pots and pans!
Peace!

Granada Quilt And Fractured Squares

My sixteen year old granddaughter, Angelica, made the Granada quilt, by Villa Rosa Designs. It was one of the Quilt of the Month quilts for 2014 at Bernina Sewing Centre. She chose her own fabrics. At first she was going to use red as the accent but switched to the gorgeous light turquoise. I'm so glad she did as it turned out great!
Now it's my turn to quilt her quilt. I just purchased Quilting Wide Open Spaces by Judi Madsen. The book has great advice for choosing your design as well as quilting it. Judi also has several quilt patterns in this book. The main piece of advice, I took to heart, is practicing on the quilt! She says she never practices on paper. Judi has it down by the time she first advances the quilt on the longarm. I decided I'd give it a go. I'm quilting an all over free motion pattern I call fractured squares. I've never done this pattern before but believe I did okay. I'm using So Fine #411, black, in the needle and black prewound bobbins, from Superior Threads. Angelica's quilt is ready for the first advance.

Peace!

Dog Safety

Today's post is a reminder to make sure your medicines are kept out of reach of your pets. Child proof bottles don't work on dogs. With their strong jaws they just eat the bottle and pills.
This week two goldendoodles, Hudson and Kirby, from different families, swollowed human drugs. Hudson, a bottle of muscle relaxers and Kirby, Rimadyl! They've both had to have dialysis. The costs for ICU and treatments are thousands of dollars. Vet's don't know yet how much permanent neurological damage Hudson will have. It looks like Kirby will be okay.
You might also want to look into health insurance for your pets. Even if you have the insurance, you'll have out of pocket expenses.
Our Goldendoodle Lacey is from Moss Creek Goldendoodles, as were the two sick dogs. The Moss Creek community has rallied behind these families with prayers and money as needed. I'm so proud to be a part of this community.
Please check all your meds, cleaners, chemicals, etc. and make sure they are locked up or out of your dogs reach.

Peace!

More Organizing

The Kitchen Challenge this week is about recipes and meal planning. My recipes are already organized in a Longaberger recipe box. My cookbooks are kept neatly in a cupboard. I don't do menu planning. Made for an easy week so far.
We choose our dinner each day by what sounds appetizing. I always have the same meats, and seasonally, the same fruits and vegetables on hand. This works well for us.
Since I didn't have much to do with the kitchen organization, I did some sewing organization. I re-arranged all my sewing drawers and discarded a few items. After they were organized, they were labeled (I love my label maker). I ended up with three empty drawers.
Here are my labeled drawers.

Peace!

Wordless Wednesday

Birthday Pancakes

Over the weekend we spent some wonderful time with our youngest granddaughter. Friday evening we picked Faith up and drove to Kohl's. We were Birthday shopping. We had to go to a second Kohl's before we found the perfect dress. They were on sale so we bought two dresses. 
You can't tell from her face in the picture, but her favorite is the top one. It's because the skirt is higher in the front and lower in the back. She'd recently had to give away her previous high/low dress. She was not happy that she'd outgrown the dress. She is very excited about the new one. She wore it on her birthday.

After making our purchases, it was off to Olive Garden for her birthday dinner. Anytime you ask Faith where she wants to eat, it's Olive Garden! She and Gramps played Tic Tac Toe while we waited for our dinner. We had good service and a lovely dinner. Then, off to Grams house for the night. Faith fell asleep in the car. Brushing teeth and getting PJ's on wasn't too difficult. She wanted to sleep on a pallet on the floor next to our bed. Her routine for that is, to fall asleep in our bed and we move her to the pallet when we go to bed.
At 6:30 in the morning I woke up to a sweet little voice saying, "Can I get in and snuggle?" Of course I answered yes. We snuggled and then I asked if she was excited. She nodded her head up and down rapidly. This was her seventh birthday.
Next, pancake time with Gramps. Faith and Gramps mixed up the batter. For the first time she got to pour the pancakes onto the griddle and flip them. They were making memories. When I sent a picture to her mom, she responded that it's too soon as that's her baby. Gramps responded that seven year olds aren't babies anymore! While that's true, she'll always be the baby of this generation of grands.
For those that read the gourmet pancake blog post, these pancakes did NOT take three hours to make!

After a delicious pancake, bacon and strawberry breakfast it was time to take her home.

Peace!

Wall Hangings - Joined at the Hip

Another project from last year I participated in was monthly wall hangings. The patterns were from a company called Joined at the Hip. I purchased mine each month with a kit from Bernina Sewing Centre.
Most months I used what was in the kit. Occasionally, I substituted from my stash. I chose not to do the one for October as it was a jack-o'-lantern. We don't do Halloween because of it's pagan connections. I already had a pumpkin one for another month and just used that for October.
The pattern called for you to make a background with buttons that each months quilt could be buttoned to. I chose not to do that either, as it was a little too country for me. Been there done that! Anyway, I just put tabs on mine as seen on the photo below. It's hanging backward on the hanger for your benefit. You can also see the beautiful little hanger I also purchased from Bernina Sewing Center.

The wall hangings were all made and quilted on my Bernina 750. I love sewing on that wonderful machine! It has a stitch regulator, but most of my quilting is done without using that. I've been quilting for more years than that technology has been around, so I'm more comfortable on my own.
I quilt each quilt as I feel it's telling me to. 
Below are six of my favorites from the year. I hope you enjoy them.

Peace!