that is better...

I didn't get to stitch yesterday, but I spent all day thinking about what I should do to make that quilting better, it was really bugging me... The block that was bothering me most was the star, it just really got lost in that print. And then this morning, DUH! Use the large stencil! So I took out the smaller star that I had stitched on Wednesday, and there ya go! SO much better! So 4 down, 38 (plus a border!) to go... :o) Now that I am happy with the way these first blocks look, it should go alot faster... :o)
Here is a cute pic of Jim and Jimmy watching tv yesterday afternoon... :o)

Thanks for visiting!

hand quilting

I am feeling about 85% better today, after that migraine yesterday... :o) I had to go to the grocery store to get milk and bread anyway, so I got the disappearing marker while I was out too, so that I could get started... :o)

Here is the anchor design. (Click on each picture, to see it enlarged.)

Here is a Mariners Star:

And here is a clipper ship. Jim made this stencil for me, off of a line drawing that was supposed to be for machine quilting.

So I have 3 of 42 blocks done... :o) I will be alternating the anchor and the star, with a few of the ships thrown in for good measure. (6 ships total.) And then there is a nice waves stencil for the outside border.

I wish the stitching stood out a little better. But I don't think that dark thread would stand out any better, on these print fabrics... So I will probably stick with the natural thread. I thought I may try one block tomorrow with a navy thread, just to see... (I also have a dark red thread...?) I hate second-guessing myself! :o)

Antique Baskets

I am supposed to be working on hand quilting that Beachfront Cottage quilt - I have it all pinned and ready to go, but when I went to start on it on Sunday, my disappearing marker was dry! So I need to go up to the quilt shop and get a new one. The shop is closed Sunday and Monday, and today I spent most of the day on the couch with a migraine. (Can't stay in bed, because I still have to chase Jimmy around!)

But yesterday, since I could not work on the hand quilting, I made this *Antique Baskets* quilt top. It finishes to 19 inches square. It was a kit from Nauvoo Quilt Co. Some of the fabrics are actually scrap 1800's fabrics, and then the rest are reproductions. I just love it! It will be hand-quilted, but will have to wait until after the Beachfront Cottage quilt... :o)

Thanks for visiting! Hope you all are having a good day!

busy, busy... :o)

Staying busy here... :o) This Pinwheel Quilt was another quilt top that I had finished (last summer, I think!), but had not completed the quilt yet. It is tied, with cute buttons in the alternating blocks. It is 50 inches square. Here is a close up of the blocks:

I used the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler book that I got for Christmas, to get ideas for little blocks to go with these CUTE little hangers I found. (Hangers are from Bird Brain Designs.) I have made a few of these for gifts lately... :o)))

The Pinwheel Quilt and Little Blocks are up for sale at our Country Scraps Quilts site.

I also received an award this week, the Lemonade Stand Award, from Stephanie at A Ditchin Time Quilts. Thanks so much Stephanie! I am still thrilled with all the wonderful folks that I have met thru this blog thing... :o)

Thanks so much for visiting! I really need to get started on hand-quilting on that Beachfront Cottage quilt... I know it will be beautiful when I get it done, but I am not really looking forward to all that work! :o)

another finish!

This was another UFO quilt top that I pulled out and got finished up. This one has been waiting probably a year, but took very little time to finish up! What was I waiting for?!?! Again, hand-quilted with variegated thread. Because of the quilting design, I call this one the X and O quilt... :o) I put it up for sale on our site here: Country Scrap Quilts. Here is a closer look at the hand-quilting, just a simple design:

I got a couple of other small things done this week, but cannot show them yet, because they are for swaps... :o)

Thanks for visiting!

two finishes!

I pulled out all of my quilt tops that need finished up last week, and got two of them done this weekend! Yeah! First off, is my Happy Houses quilt. These were blocks from a swap. I found this grass looking fabric to sash them with. I used a variegated thread and did a simple hand quilting around each house. This quilt makes me happy! :o) It is on the back of the love seat in the living room so I can admire it all the time... :o) And I had made this Froggy Jar quilt top, meaning for it to be for Jimmy, but changed my mind... :o) I hand quilted it around each jar with the same variegated thread. I put it up for sale on our Country Scrap Quilts site. I love the little froggy fabric... :o) It finished to about 38 x 36.

Here is a close up of one of the blocks.

I sent one quilt top off to be machine quilted. It is one that will be for me and I couldn't decide how to hand-quilt it, so... :o) Now to get to the rest of them... :o)

Happy 3rd Birthday Jimmy!

Yesterday was Jimmy's third birthday! I thought time flew with the trio, because there were three of them at once, but apparently it goes fast even if there is only one... :o) Jimmy is such a joy! :o)

His first gift was a Buzz Lightyear Blaster - it shoots nerf bullets. David and Daddy got big nerf guns for Christmas and Jimmy really liked them, but of course, they are way too big for him... This one is just his size, and he LOVES Buzz Lightyear! :o)

He also got a Caterpillar truck... :o) Jim works at the Caterpillar plant in Decatur, for a contractor... :o)

I am not sure if this video will work, but here is Jimmy blowing out the candles on his cake... :o) It is kind of long, so I hope it does not take too long to load!

Thanks so much for stopping by!

the slow boat from... South America :o)

Back in early December, I entered a giveaway drawing over at Peek A Boo! and I was lucky enough to win a hand-made Tilda pouch from Sandy! Her package was mailed December 7th, but seemed to take the slow boat from South America to North America -- but it made it here today! Yeah! I told her it did not matter when it arrived, I love red and will use the pouch year-round! It is lovely, Sandy! Thank you so much, and thank you for the extra goodies included! :o)

Nostalgia Scruffily quilt top

For Christmas, Jim got me a couple of Layer Cakes, a jelly roll and a honey bun of the *Nostalgia* fabric line by Moda. (Actually, I sat him down in front of the computer, with the ordering page up, and said *order this for me, for Christmas*! HA!) I already had a couple of charm packs of this fabric line - you may remember that I made a little hexagon table runner/doll quilt from this line, in November. See my post HERE.

Anyways, with one layer cake, a charm pack, and a small square cut off each strip of the jelly roll (which I then rolled back up, so it would still look all pretty!), I am making a Scruffily quilt! You can find the tutorial HERE, at Moda Bake Shop. I am in desperate need of batting and backing, so this is another top to go in the *tops* pile. Hopefully, I will get to Joann's and get some batting soon... :o) I ended up making enough squares to make two small pillows to coordinate with it. I am looking forward to finishing this one, so I can wash it and see it turn scruffily! :o)
Here was my helper for the day - our cat, Lefty... :o) He likes the warmth of my quilts, altho at times like these, he makes it pretty hard to sew! :o)

Thanks so much for visiting!

Beachfront Cottage quilt top

Here is the finished Beachfront Cottage quilt top! One of the really nice *features* of this quilt, is that the star points on the red stars are not meant to line up with the points on the blue stars. This hides those not-absolutely-perfect points, when they kind of float like this! :o) This quilt is large -- it is laid out on our queen size bed, so that gives you an idea of the size -- it is 93 x 105! Sharon is ordering a few different quilting stencils for me, and once I receive them, I will start hand-quilting it... A labor of love, as she is a dear friend. :o)
Hope everyone is having a nice weekend! Thanks so much for stopping by!

snow!

Here are the snow pictures from central Illinois, yesterday... :o) We ended up getting right about six inches of snow. Jim worked 24 hours straight, made it home safely, and is back at work tonight. (His regular shift.) I love the pile of snow on the mailbox in this pic... You can't really tell here, but the pile was leaning, from the wind... :o) Here is Jimmy, in the snow! This is our driveway! It is up to his knees! Notice that Anna has the ruler - we measured on the picnic table out front (see above picture) -- yep, 6 inches!

Here is Jimmy all bundled up before he went outside - it was a wonder he could even walk! Oh, he was so mad when he had to come in! I couldn't let him stay out too long, it was way too cold, with the wind blowing!

I can't believe my baby boy will be 3 years old next week!!! Anyways, thanks for visiting! I will be back tomorrow, with a pic of the finished Beachfront Cottage quilt top - I am adding the last border tonight! :o)

Beachfront Cottage quilt blocks

I am making the Beachfront Cottage quilt from the July/August 2009 issue of Fons & Porters Love of Quilting magazine for a customer. She bought the kit, and I am putting it together and am going to hand-quilt it for her. It will finish to 93 x 105! She usually gives the quilts away that she has me make, but this one is for her, so I am pretty excited about it! :o)

I have the 21 red blocks done, and am almost done with the 21 blue blocks... I am planning on quilting a seashell design in the center of the blocks (probably this stencil HERE) to go with the Beachfront theme. If you enlarge the photo, you can see the seashells in the fabrics, including the background fabric... I like that it is a bit patriotic, too... :o)

We are expecting 5 to 8 inches of snow, tonight thru tomorrow (depending on which weather report you watch) and strong winds - fun, fun! Jim is a mechanic thru a contractor at the Caterpillar plant, and they also contract to do all the snow removal on the premises there, so I expect him to be at work until probably Friday... He has about a half-hour drive each way to work, so with all the blowing snow tomorrow, I wouldn't want him to try to drive home anyway... (We live in a very flat area in central Illinois...) If we get that much snow, I will post pics tomorrow... The kids are hoping they have a snow day from school, even tho they have only been back to school after Christmas break for 3 days! HA!

Thanks for visiting!