Feb.8… a challenge quilt,and more practice drawings

A community lady was stricken with Alzheimer’s,she then gave all her sewing supplies ,fabrics and unfinished projects to the church sewing. I was handed this unfinished project to finish. It is an older pattern maybe 80’s at least the fabrics are. Here is what was handed to me….

I had the challenge of figuring out what was done and what wasn’t ….I soon discovered that she had the colors backward from the pattern,with two of the blues switched.

I switched the blues around .. if I had been a little wiser … I should have just redone those first strips. I’m a very visual person and the color coded instructions messed me up at time or two.

I finally covered the color code and worked by letter and numbers… things are going much better ,I will soon have it finished for the church ladies then to do with as they please.

Cleaning my sewing room yielded some cute fabric that instead of cutting up I just added a fleece backing ,knotted them…and they were done!

A nice start on this Years charity quilts.

I have been practicing my drawing….. if you see a fault,and would like to give a pointer or tip to improve I would be most happy to know.

I need to work more on sketching structures….

That bottom wall is a little sorry..😀

Keep warm and healthy friends… flu is going around here😖

Deb

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July 31,….. mowing,old fabric scraps and fabric balls

As a young teen into my early married life ,I did a lot of mowing with tractors, when the oldest boys were old enough to mow I had them do the mowing to help keep them busy. Now I'm back to mowing my own yard again … but time brought changes to the type of mower. We have a zero turn lawn mower, which looked so easy as Russell maneuver that mower over our large yard. Oh wow was I in for a surprise!! The instructions never mentioned to handle the bars with a very light touch,and I liked to make my self seasick until I learned that light touch!😳😁 I am pride to say that I have learned to handle it in a more productive manner.
My daughter LouAnn and I went to some yard sales recently, a fun time of trying to find that little treasure. Oh how I found it!!
I was so delighted when I found it. It was old balls of fabric in a lovely old jar.

Perfect to display in my sewing room. I also bought 5lbs of dirty old scraps ,I almost didn't get them but they call out for a second chance of being beautiful again that I didn't have the heart to just ignore them. They were so smelly!! Poor things…
Here are some soaking in the sink in baking soda and laundry soap.

I hand washed them then put them in the dryer .. I had many little pieces to iron which I worked on when I needed a little break from other work.

There were many pieces that looked like they were from a shirt factory, I believe that they are vintage maybe dated at 1940's to 1950's . If any one knows for sure of a date let me know,I would be pleased to know .

I have been working at this top again.. I had to make some changes as I didn't have enough of the one fabric . There were two pieces to be used but I thought maybe they would clash some for the pinks are just a little different so I was hoping that I would have enough of the one .. not so. It not going to look too bad.
Now off the decide what pattern would be nice to use the old scraps in….. maybe a tree of life or a grandmothers fan…..

June 18th … A Drunkards trip around the world

I’ve had to put aside my double wedding ring sewing for there’s another project that needs to be done first. I need to put together a  quilt top that is to go into a grandma’s room that an lady in making in her house . I do not have to handquilt it as this lady’s friends wish to quilt it for her. The material that is to be used in the quilt is vintage and is pink. I wasn’t sure what pattern I should work with until I came across the drunkards trip around the world. Perfect …. why … it’s perfect for two colors, it’s an old pattern ,and it interesting enough that the design has been found in ancient Egypt.

I drew up my own pattern to keep me straight with the colors,also added the twist with the corners.

Fabric up close. I would take a guess that it is a fifties fabric , but if someone knows for sure then please let me know!

Three rows done

Does it look like it would fit in a grandma’s room?

It has warmed up big time in GA.. today it was 93f degrees (33.8 c) So the walk that I usually take was cut start until it cools off!!

That clouds were beautiful,hoping that it means rain is on the way!!

  This looks like a frog jumping over an alligators snout. Lol

Also was chasing butterflies..

  
And seeing if the little wrens weren’t too hot..

Their little mouths were open hoping for a bite.😀

The little dahlia was posing so pretty that I readily agree to take its picture.

Now off the make a menu up of the meals I wish to put in the camper for our trip to Kentucky . 

As Leona has a lower immune system, I don’t take her out to public eating areas or restrooms.  She also has a special diet that is easier on me if I just plan them out ahead of time. It is amazing to me that a child who the doctors at one time said she will only have a lifespan of ten years ,is now going on twenty. 

The next post I’m sure will be on wedding!😀

Until then.. take care , Deb

May 14 th Mother’s Day

Today is not May 14 th, but what I’m writing about happened on this day . It was a very wonderful day ,for I enjoyed both my mother in law and my mom. One is 13 hrs driving timing and the other 10 1/2 hrs . Slim chance that it will happen again for one is 80 ,though in good health, my mom 76 not so much in good health, but that isn’t the important thing today.

Mom made a set of pillowcases for my son’s wedding and a pillowcase for each of the girls here at home yet.

Russell’s set ….more detail..

And this is what the girls looked like

It is just lovely embroidery, right? And it is lovely ,only there’s more to it than just lovely embroidery. Mom is totally blind in one eye,and very limited sight on the other side. Often one walks with her to guide her when she goes walking. So to do this she wears a magnifying glass around her neck with a very bright light over her work. It is a beautiful sight to see this beautiful old lady in a chair stitching away!!

Bet you had to go back to relook at that stitching.😉

Now back to my stitching as Russell’s quilt top needs to be finished this week.

Deb

ps.. daughter LouAnn framed hers … say it was to pretty to use as a pillowcase.

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

April 1st… Strawberries and double wedding ring update.

Strawberries are in full swing here,and my counter is full of bowls with berries. The kitchen smells so good with the smell of cake and strawberries.

I will put some in the freezer for milkshakes and homemade ice cream when the weather is hot and we are looking for a cool supper. For the shortcake I use an old recipe that is a plain vanilla cake. Here’s the recipe..

If you wish to try the coconut icing that is wonderful tasting as well.

Now for the update.. I didn’t get as far on the Double Wedding Ring quilt top as I would have like but there is still a little progress. I was able to get more rings sewn.. and started sewing the rings together.

  
It is hard to match the rings at the seams evenly, some are off a little bit . I was able to get one row done which has 9 complete ring sections,and started on row two. There will be 72 sections when top is completed. That means I have 61 more to go.

Here you can see how row two is joined on.

Have a lovely week! Deb

Feb.26th… 73 degree Sunday afternoon

Today was a beautiful day,sunny ,warm with a soft breeze,perfect for a Sunday stroll….

Pine trees blooming

Maples seeds

Lovely Gerber daisy…

Daffodil

Woodpecker haven,woodpeckers are plentiful on the farm they love the pecans and the old pine trees

Neighbors old barn

My little strolling buddy, Wiggles

Wild widow’s tears growing in a ditch.

 

Our farm in view from the road…

And of course there’s a few rings in progress… 

Have a lovely week , friends. Deb

Feb.19th..double wedding ring

I finally decided to do the double wedding ring after going though the box of scraps . There is enough fabric to do another quilt of a different pattern later with larger pieces. The pieces that I have are all very small just big enough to get the little pieces for the rings . I am going to paper piece the rings for it would take to much time to cut each little piece with a template. At least to me it would.🙂

I made a pattern to piece on..

It will work out great! Look at all these lovely old fabrics .. I really forgot I had so many.

 
There are some really little pieces 1 1/2 inch or less that I thought would be cute to make into mug rugs.

Then I found these pieces that looked to me like they were cut for a quilt.

A fan ,tumbler ( larger and smaller size) Dresden plate would be my guess.

Then I found some blocks..

This piece was sown to the bottom piece in foundation piecing. There were a lot of strips so I might just do a log cabin with those pieces, and put this one in the quilt.

This block looks like it many have been a victim of mice teeth.

As I went though this fabric , I had to think of the lady that owned these before me. I do believe she liked to quilt, she also liked to save her scraps.. some of the fabric looked like shirt fabric ,so did she also make shirts for her family? I also had to wonder if any of the fabric held special memories for her…..

I hope my readers don’t get tried of seeing  camellias.. I am still taken away with their beauty.

As I was walking taking my evening stroll ,I come upon this bush. Don’t know what kind it is,( maybe in the japonica family ?)But the bees loved it.

Tomorrow hubby and I will be married for 29 wonderful years. My.. how time flies!

Deb

Feb 15 … vintage scraps

I have this storage box full of old vintage scraps..

 
I want to make something special with these scraps,but I’m having a hard time deciding on which pattern I want to use. I want to use an older pattern like a grandmothers fan or the double wedding. Is there an older pattern that you think would be great made with these scraps? I’m open for ideas.

I did get a scrappy top finished. The idea for this pattern came from a lady off Flickr,who makes lovely tops  Linda Miller is her name if you are looking for some inspiration.

A few blocks cut ready for sewing.

I would really like to try this pattern with these blocks. It would be more scrappy then this picture,but if I use light ,dark ,medium ,dark and light again … let’s see what happens.

Again look at the vintage scraps and tell me what quilt pattern comes to your mind. 😊

Feb.4 th.. another sewing post

But first it is good to say that the pecans are all picked up.. while I enjoy picking up pecans it is good to see the end. So goodbye pecanpicker upper until next year. 

I took a better picture of the first finished scrappy quilt after washing it.

And a top finish with these blocks…

Then I decided to play around with appliqué 

All was going nicely….

Until something felt different as I was sewing .. I couldn’t believe I did this..

I was sewing on top of this block!😳 so out came the seam ripper…. after careful ripping and more sewing I was able to finish this baby quilt. Hubby and daughter say my teddy bear has wings, which is supposed to be a pillow but I guess it won’t hurt to have an angel bear watching out for baby. 😊

I got some hand quilting in…long way to go though.

And now I need to go find my coffee cup,and watch “Annie” with Leona.