Dec.17…hand quilt along

So what have I got done in three weeks on my three hand work projects…. let’s see.

First the double wedding ring..

The update..

A little done …two rings…

The Fire Island Hosta….

Went from the right corner to the way to the left corner….working on the black spikes now working back to the right corner.

With left corner closer to finished

Happy with how much I got done here. Now on to the Cathedral windows…

I did get several blocks done and some added to the main body of the quilt.

I discovered I really enjoy tucking those old blocks in.

Check out the others following the HQAL.. they are doing lovely ,talented pieces.

Kathy,http://livinginrapidcity.wordpress.com/

Lori,http://www.quiltingneeds.com/

Margaret,http://www.thecraftycreek.com/

Kerry,https://lovethosehandsathome.wordpress.com/

Emma,http://emmacraftprojects.wordpress.com/

Tracy,https://itsatsweetsday.blog/

Connie,https://stitchingirlblog.wordpress.com/

Deborah,https://adailydoseoffiber.wordpress.com/

Susan,https://desertskyquilts.wordpress.com/

Jessica,https://myhappycountryfarm.wixsite.com/website

Sherry,http://www.bookshookssticksetc.blogspot.com/

Nannette,https://doitrightquilter.wordpress.com/

Sassy,http://farmquilter.blogspot.com/

Edith,http://ediscraftinglife.blogspot.com/

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Nov.26.. Hand quilt along

My how time flies! These last few weeks have been busy with caring ,visiting with my Mom. Then family coming home for thanksgiving. It hasn’t left much time for quilting or sewing. I was surprised at just how much I did get done when I sat down to post my progress. Here’s the update on the fire island hosta …

A few more stitches…

I did get my double wedding ring quilt top marked and started on….

I started another project when just sitting with my Mom ,I needed something small to work on. I have been wanting to do a cathedral window quilt for awhile with these old scraps that came in a bag of other scraps. I think someone took the bigger blocks from these border pieces,these were cast offs.

I believe they are fabric pieces from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s. Some of the fabric is too thin and old to use ,some can still be lovely displayed in a little window. I have just what is in the bag to take apart with this stack already done.

Here is a few blocks with the old pieces…

It has given new life to the oldies.😀

Now off to make more food for dinner,there’s to be twenty sitting around my dinner table .

Oh , and check out what some others are doing by hand….

Kathy,http://livinginrapidcity.wordpress.com/

Bella,http://createdbybella.wordpress.com/

Lori, http://www.quiltingneeds.com/

Margaret, http://www.thecraftycreek.com/

Kerry, https://lovethosehandsathome.wordpress.com/

Emma, http://emmacraftprojects.wordpress.com/

Tracy, https://itsatsweetsday.blog/

Connie, https://stitchingirlblog.wordpress.com/

Deborah,https://adailydoseoffiber.wordpress.com/

Susan, https://desertskyquilts.wordpress.com/

Jessica, https://myhappycountryfarm.wixsite.com/website

Sherry, http://www.bookshookssticksetc.blogspot.com/

Sept.22 …. the old log cabin

I bought this lovely quilt top for its beauty captivated me. The history of its maker is a mystery ,that will always be so. I do know it came from Lancaster county , Pa. The fabrics used are from the civil war era until the early 1900’s. The maker of this top was a lovely sewer. Check it out!

I had to wonder as she sewed these strips of fabric together so careful if she had a plan for the top,or if she just enjoyed sewing in her spare time. I wonder what she would think if she knew her quilt landed up in the hands of a southern lady.

Was she old or young ,married,or single or perhaps widowed….

here’s the quilt in all its glory and I will let you wonder about the top.

Enjoy this carefully kept treasure!!

Deb

Sept.10th… diversity

Sitting here in my recliner with coffee cup in hand,listening to the rain and wind. We are to receive some of Irma’s nasty weather… hopeful the tornadoes that was on the news doesn’t come true. We are in need of some of the rain though as we are very dry.

Last weekend Russell and Kim were home, so good to have them here, we enjoyed a day out on the water, did a little fishing.

Spectators,who just blinked an eye as we rode by.

Lovely views …

Hubby enjoying himself… he catch a sting ray.

There were bottlenose dolphins swimming around,I tried hard to get a good picture of them jumping out of the water. They played hard to get.

The end of a beautiful day!!

Now for an update on some sewing…

I’m half way done on the double wedding ring quilt.

And I have a few blocks of the grandmothers fan done. I played around with the blocks to see what layout I would do…

Or this one

I rather like the last layout.

Did a small drawing of Snuggles. 😀

Take care,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…..

July 15th ….. a box of scraps

I received a pile of scraps. Ok, so your thinking what’s new ,that poor dear always has a pile of scraps.  And boy are you right!!

Last weekend an older gentleman from our church ,who to keep himself busy, cuts up fabric into 6″, 5″and 4″ that people give him. He does this to support a program that helps poor widows support herself and her family. The widows will receive these blocks with batting and backing, they then will make quilts to sell. To make a long story short… He brought me his scraps to put into quilt tops for Christian aid ministries. Of course.. I can’t say no. Here’s the big bag of scraps,which I dumped into this box.

The type of box… my daughter likes lightening McQueen.. so instead of wearing princess pull ups she wears these😁

I want to go through to sort the big pieces from the little . I made a few blocks like this to see if I cared for them. I believe it will make a nice top.

This is what I’m going to work on this week, the weather is to be hot  for awhile now.. time to keep myself in except for early mornings.

I was messing around in my fabric closet,digging down under looking for an old briefcase that I wanted to put my art stuff in to keep it all in one place. I got a surprise…. the old case wasn’t empty.  Guess what was in it!! No not a mouse nest!😜 an unfinished double wedding ring top.

There are two rows of four blocks to a row. It is in vintage fabric except for the navy blue . Plus there are lots of little pieces ready to be pieced.

I want to make this into a throw for at the end of a bed,then use the rest of the pieces in this top

I had the life scared out of me Saturday… I went out to do some watering , I have some small oak tree starts that needed a good soak, well.. when I first grabbed the hose to fill up some pails I  thought heard a raspy noise .. looked around .. saw nothing ,continued to work ,when all of a sudden Wiggles ,our Jack Russell came unglued!!!! Not more than 3 feet away was a rattler!! Needless to say it’s history.  Can’t say I care for a rattlesnake right outside in my front yard.

 

We had a storm pass through this evening ,the clouds were beautiful!

Take care ,Deb

July 9th…. A little bit of this & that….

Seems like I haven’t got much accomplished the last few weeks when it comes to sewing. First ,we moved Leona into Russell’s old room,we fixed it up for her so it didn’t look like her brothers old room.

I really hate to admit that having our youngest son leaving home for good has been a little hard..okay a lot harder than I wished for it to be. So I did something that I have been wanting to do… that is to learn to draw. I ordered a book for beginners,bought an online course,and got some pencils. I have been enjoying it to the fullest. It has helped me see things in new ways. I see shadows ,depth,little details and colors that I hadn’t noticed before. While I will never be a fantastic artist, it is good to be challenged instead of mopping about life’s changes. Here is a peek at my newbie work.

 

I did put a little top together for a friend. She had found these old blocks at a yard sale , and wanted to display them in a throw. The blocks are vintage ,my guess would be 1920 to early 1930’s.

And back to work on this top.. half way through 

Even with the hot weather that we are having the flowers are still going, not sure how long they will go until some of them will stress out. 

 
 
This last photo is a mushroom,these grow randomly in our yard. 

And one of the boys found this arrowhead .

I wonder what the story of this arrow is ? Lost in a practice run.. or missed the animal it was shot at .. or maybe it was a no good curving so it was tossed aside….

Take care, Deb

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

June 11…. update on a double wedding ring quilt

With all the other sewing that was being done, I haven’t been able to work on this top very hard. I did how ever take a few minutes each day to do a few stitches on it.

I have 77 of these done and 57 more to do, have two complete rows done with seven more to go.

There are many little stripes of  scraps that I can’t use in the double wedding ring , I made a log cabin block that took 1 1/2 inch strips . I really like the block. 

Did a few more blocks… I think a log cabin is also going to be made out of these old scraps.

There was a gorgeous sunset this evening ….

and of course , I need to add a few more flowers.

 

Oh yes.. I need to share what I found in my washing machine that made me take a second look…

It fell out of my son’s jean pocket when washing. He had been fishing. 

Have a great week ,

Deb

March,12 th…. a trip up north

It is that time of year when hubby goes to dealer meetings again. I alway enjoy riding along ,taking a littler sewing machine then while hubby is in meetings I sew away. Here’s a peek into our journey.

We started out with temperatures in the upper 70’s … so in packing I only put in a heavy sweater forgetting just how cold some parts of the US still are. I really didn’t mind the temperature drop until it hit freezing and below temperatures…. needless to say there were a few times I was nearly frozen myself.😄

 
From hills to flat land

 
From warm to cold

 
From upside down house to huge tires

 
From lovely farms to rocky views

 
From red barns to brown ones

Now for all the quick miscellaneous shots…

   

Soooo… what did I work on while hubby was in meetings….. take a guess😄

Yep the double wedding ring quilt. I have 54 ring sides done. 

 
What the rings look like before trimming. I did sew a few of the rings together to see if it was what I thought it was going to look like in my minds eye ..as to what quilt would really be. 

I’m happy with it! Sorry about the wrinkles as the iron was worthless there and I was afraid of ruining my fabric. Two of the rings aren’t sewn to the center neither.

I also took a book along to read,”Georgia quilts” what a wonderful book! I didn’t get it finished completely,but I did find a pattern in there  that would use my little scraps up ,that would make me very happy. It was made by two black ladies here in Ga .

The flower petals were done by Mary Lizzie Parham in her elder years then her daughter Annie Howard finished it after her mothers death. Fabric era… about the same time frame as what I’m working with now…. 

 
I believe the design is simple enough for me to make one similar.

We did go to two museums on the way home ,that I will do a later post on.

Deb