May 21… a fire island hosta ,and a magnolia

I finished Russell’s quilt top yesterday!👏👏 I’m happy with the way it turned out but I wished I would of had a darker green on the other side of the dark navy . Oh well … live and learn. Sometimes things seen in the mind doesn’t look that same when put together. 

Now I have more than  plenty of hand quilting to keep me busy.

It is magnolia time here in Ga. I love the scent those blooms put into the air. I did find out that in a small house the smell will overwhelm one.

A bud

Starting to open

Blooming

This one still isn’t opened all the way but one of the flowers that was ,was to high up for me to get a snap shot of it.

And the start of a seed pod

Here are a few more treasures I found in my garden…

   

Lily.                                                            Hibiscus 

Lily 

 
Day lily                                                     Russian sage

And lastly a baby blue jay that took a tumble out of the nest during the thunderstorm. His mama wasn’t happy about the picture taking.

Have a great week ,Deb

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May 10th…… camping time again

We had beautiful weather over the weekend ,so we , the family decided it was time to go camping together . It was  a special time as Russell will be leaving us soon to move to Kentucky. 

There was fishing ,kayaking and hiking along with Camp fire meals and coffee. 

My view while sitting at the campfire.

Russ and Hubby heading out to see about a good fishing spot.

A family of geese that lived right below us … we made sure we gave them plenty of room. They were not as friendly as they were in the fall. Those little ones were mighty special .😀

And my kayak was a delight ,it felt good to be on the water again. I found that all the yard work earlier paid off.

 

 
And hiking…

 
 
And a start of a fort .. left undone…

Then home to once again get back to sewing … working on finishing the Fire island hosta quilt top ,I’m hoping to have it finished by next weekend. 

 
And sewing on dresses..

Now I need to get some things done before hubby and I go to visit his parents on the eastern shore of Md. it is his mamas 80th birthday Sunday . So the siblings are giving her a party.

Take care friends,Deb

March 24 th…. and she said “yes”

My son has been dating a lovely girl….

And then this 

And so wedding bells will be in June!

Of ,course I have a quilt to make!! I’ve started on it … here is half of it…

My … how time has flown,bringing more changes. Hard to believe that the youngest of my four boys is leaving the nest.

Deb

Sept 25, the top is done!!

I finally had time to finish this Fire Island Hosta  top, and daughter is delighted with the way it looks. 

Hubby and I were too short to hold it up completely off the floor. It’s 100″by 100″ now I have something to quilt on this winter!

I also have these lovely blocks that I had tucked away, I had purchased them unfinished. I was going to finish them but daughter picked up a block, started working on it ,…she ended up finishing the rest of the blocks. She now loves doing embroidery by hand.

Now off to decide how I want to show off these older vintage stamped blocks by Jay Dee of St Louis ,Missouri….today the company is known as Jack Dempsey .

Deb

June 10th, Tea plantation and a tree

When we went to Charleston South Carolina, we also stop at two close by islands. The first one was Wadmalaw island,there is the only American tea farm that has 320 species of the camellia sinesis tea plant, which by the way is a cousin to the beautiful Camellia that I post pictures of around Dec.  The plantation is 127 acres with most of it in tea plants which really look more like shrubs trimmed up nicely!

In most countries they pick the leaves by hand , here beings there are only four workers working the plantation , the owner made a combine looking equipment to cut the leaves off the top of the plant giving the plant a very tidy look.

We were also able to see how they dried the leaves to make either black tea or green tea. With green tea it doesn’t go through all the process that black tea does.

If you look in the big mirror you can see green leaves,they are in a bin with air flowing under the leaves they let them set,for ,if I remember right ,about 24 hrs,then the leaves make the trip to the over the roller with screen like netting that still has air blowing the leaves to drop to a belt below that then carries them to the conveyor belt ,then to the hopper that grinds the leaves. They go through three grinders until it is once again laid out on a large conveyor belt that dries them under heat lamps ,from there the leaves are ready for packaging.

If you want to order some American tea just order online from…

http://www.charlestonteaplantation.com/, it is really good tea.

Then we went to see the Angel oak tree on John Island.

The Angel Oak Tree is estimated to be in excess of 400-500 years old, stands 66.5 ft (20 m) tall, measures 28 ft (8.5 m) in circumference, and produces shade that covers 17,200 square feet (1,600 m2). From tip to tip Its longest branch distance is 187 ft. There is considerable debate about the age of the Angel Oak. Some contend that it is 1,500 years old. Most believe that the more conservative estimates are more accurate.

It was hard to get the tree all on one photo shot,one reason beings it was huge ,the other because of people. The next photos are mine.

If one was wearing high heels they were to remove their heels before going close to the tree. The root system was to be protected for the ground there was soft.
And yes, I’m still quilting!! I’m hoping to have the Fire island hosta Queen done here in a few days I only have a small space to finish then on to the binding. It will finish out to be 100″ by 100″ and has taken me a year to quilt! Boy I’m slow! 😀

Take care friends, Deb

April 26 th, scraps and little blocks

I’m catching up on the weeding ,mulching in the flowerbeds.. So I felt the need to visit my sewing room.

I pulled out the fire island hosta quilt top, began to work on it making a nice pile of little scraps. I decided not to put them in a box like I do so many little scraps .  

 
I have a book of block patterns that has some age to it, perfect for finding a small block. 

  
I had to tear it out of the book to copy it. Then I broke it down,each block will have four squares. The numbers tell me where to start, the letters the color.

  
Copy off the pattern on to newsprint paper, cut out leaving enough room for a quarter inch seam. Then layout a square ,add  elmers washable glue to the backside of  c-1. Lay on to fabric with the right side of fabric facedown on table. I make sure the little scrap covers the number 1 area with fabric hanging over the seam line .

  
Lay a small thin object,like a note card or plastic ruler, right along number two space line,

 
 fold back over ruler than lay the cutting ruler on top of the folded back piece,adding a quarter inch seam allowance.

  
Then cut..

  
Then add another scrap fabric fabric face down to trimmed piece.

  
Keep doing this with each number until done ,then trim adding your quarter seam allowance.

Here are what some of the little blocks will look like.

  
I like them. Haven’t any idea how I will use them yet. I’ll just make a nice stack then decide.

Until the next post,  Enjoy your projects in progress. Deb

 

Dec.30, last post of 2015

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be in working or in waiting, another year with Thee.

Another year of progress, another year of praise,

Another year of proving Thy presence all the days.
Another year of mercies, of faithfulness and grace,

Another year of gladness in the shining of Thy face;

Another year of leaning upon Thy loving breast;

Another year of trusting, of quiet, happy rest.
Another year of service, of witness for Thy love,

Another year of training for holier work above.

Another year is dawning, dear Father, let it be

On earth, or else in Heaven, another year for Thee.

Penned by Frances Havergal

 Wow, a New Year is again upon us,but the old year went out with more memories made! 

All of the children made it home this year for Christmas except for the oldest son. There were 17 around the table for Christmas Day !  

 
There was lots of food ,noise and commotion for fours days. The weather was warm,so the grandchildren totally enjoyed the trampoline,bike,and trucks.

The only granddaughter took a little timeout to read.

  
The camellias are blooming beautifully right now ,they were a lovely addition to the table.

  
Now life is back to everyday living, I’m back to my sewing room… It felt good to be back in my sewing room after it was used as a bedroom for week. I was able to finish the center of the Fire Island Hosta ,daughter is tickled with it.

  
And I finished this top with the blocks that I goofed up. Never know where a goof up might take you..

  

  
Made these pillowcases for my Mom,she is in rehab to regain what she lost in a stroke a few weeks back.

Took this picture at the Chesapeake Bay tunnel on the way home from seeing Mom. It was a beautiful evening !! 

  
Blessings to all for the New Year! Deb

Dec.4th, Fire Island Hosta Queen ..quilt number 2

My daughter is a real fan of black ,red , and white, Her room is of those colors,when she ask me to make her a Fire Island Hosta , it came as no surprise as to the colors. I have worked on it, would like to have the center put together for her for Christmas .

  
I added silver in with her colors, as I don’t think I’ll have enough of the white that I have on hand. It goes well with the silver in the leaves, it should blend in well when the quilt is finished.

When I feel a little overwhelmed with the piecing of the Fire Island Hosta, I am working on blocks that didn’t turn out like they should of….. I wasn’t paying attention close enough!!😖 I hate when I get a real brainless moment. I was sewing stripes of fabric together … 

It should of looked like this..

  
Instead it went like this…

  
Now any one would know that when you leave off a 1.5 inch stripe it is going to mess up a pattern. Which it did! Now being sorta lazy… Didn’t feel like ripping out 4 sets of these stripes,I decided to just go with it. Here are the two blocked finished. I will need to put sashing in between for if you put them together like the original pattern called for the design doesn’t go right.

  
  
Thanksgiving day had some very special moments…. Coffee would appear magical beside me when I would go to relax in my chair! And then two sweet little boys brought me these dandelion seed fluff.

  

These two little fellas were also helping me pick up more pecans, but I think I cracked more for them to eat then we picked up!😄 Brendan gave me the excuse that he was shaking the tree for pecans to fall when ask why he was up the ladder. 

And I’m half way done quilting on this quilt!! 

Keep warm one and all! Deb