A Little of This and That. . .

. . .that’s what this post is going to be about. I have sat staring at my computer for too long now, without a single thought of any one particular thing to write about. So, I’m just going to share a few snippets of my life around here the last few days. Up above you’ll notice “the ladies” – these are our neighbor’s newest hens, recently arrived to replace the old ones who met their untimely demise at the hands mouth of a wandering bobcat (shhh…I don’t think we’ll tell them about that!) These ladies, like their predecessors, seem to enjoy the bugs in our yard better than the ones in their own yard, so I am frequently seeing them scratching around outside.

Today was my last day to hand wash all of our dishes – (wipes brow)! The new dishwasher arrived this afternoon and is running as I write, although I can barely hear it – these new ones are really quiet! I actually didn’t mind the hand washing too much as long as I kept up with it, but it was the hand drying part that I wasn’t crazy about. I did enlist a little help with that when necessary, but I am glad to have a working dishwasher again. And what was the very first thing I loaded into it? – a Mason jar drinking glass. I’m sure you don’t really care, but here it is – documented for all posterity -

I really am not so crazy as to take a picture like that (ahem!) – I believe it was taken by one of the girls – my girls, not the neighbor’s chickens. And while I’m being random, I will admit to taking the following picture – see if you recognize this from your own refrigerator -

Do you ever find this in your refrigerator? I was cleaning our’s out the other day, and came across this grouping at the back of the bottom shelf. I instantly knew who was responsible for this little meeting, as she has been found guilty of calling these meetings before. I took this picture to have evidence to hold over her head. Now I won’t name any names, but I will say that she is certainly old enough to know better. Enough said.

On a prettier note, I spent some time yesterday afternoon with my sewing machine – finally! I put together the above blocks which still need to be sewn together to make a big block for a new quilt Block of the Month that I am making. The finished quilt will look like this -

Yes, I love blue and white! And I also love the beautiful weather we have had the last few days. It has been in the 70′s the last two days and we all went for a walk both days around our neighborhood – well, some of us scooted on scooters, some of us walked, and one of us even “juggled” the whole way around – that was David, who was really jogging, but was so proud about his “juggling”, I just didn’t have the heart to correct him. Sorry I didn’t take any pictures, I was too busy enjoying the warm fresh air!

Oh, and look what arrived in the mail last week! -

I have spent a lot of time looking through this cookbook since it arrived, and am really loving what I see! It is very user friendly and the artwork in it is just lovely. The recipes are good, basic scratch recipes which I can’t wait to try. In fact, I didn’t wait – in honor of George Washington’s birthday today, I decided to try out the pie crust recipe and make a cherry pie for dinner tonight -

How did it turn out? Very delicious!

Enough randomness for one day. I hope you have a pleasant evening, and a great day tomorrow – we’ll be outside again – it is supposed to be 80 degrees! I do enjoy living in Texas!

Blessings,
Nancy

Dusting Off My Quilts

It has been way too long since I’ve had time to spend working on my quilts – probably since some time before Thanksgiving. My sewing desk has looked pretty much like the above picture since then – except for when I had some Christmas overflow piled on top of it. The quilt laying across my machine is my Farm Fresh quilt. It is one of my absolute favorites – mostly applique, and full of flowers, pumpkins, and country containers. I have had these pieces for the next block all ready to go all this time, just taunting me on the shelf! -

Another quilt that I have been wanting to get back to is my Tree of Life quilt. Sarah and I took part in a half-square triangle swap at the quilt shop, and came home with hundreds of little squares in many different combinations of fabrics. I am using mine to make this lovely quilt -

I have all of the tree tops finished, and am ready to work on the trunks. This quilt is sitting on another shelf in my bedroom, quietly calling to me -

I recently bought this lovely jelly roll in beautiful blues and browns that is begging to be worked with -

After Christmas I used an Ebay gift certificate that I received as a gift and bought a quilt kit to make this wonderful wavey American flag wall hanging -

It will be a new challenge as it involves curved piecing, but it uses these pretty patriotic fabrics, so I can’t wait to start it -

I haven’t ordered it yet, but eventually I want to get the kit for this lovely blue and white quilt from the Connecting Threads catalog -

And then there’s my basket of Block of the Month packets that are patiently waiting for me -

I really don’t mind having lots of quilts going at once – it allows me to be able to work on whatever I feel like at the moment. I think, maybe I would like to schedule a quilting weekend soon, and spend lots of time reaquainting myself with my old friends.

Blessings,
Nancy

Monthly Mini Quilts

I signed up for a monthly mini quilt program at the quilt store last December. Every month I pick up a packet with a pattern and fabric to make a mini quilt themed to that particular month. these are fun quilts to make because they are small and are quick to finish. They consist of a pieced background with an appliqued design. I must confess that I have changed the fabrics on a lot of these from what the quilt store gave me – just personal preferences.

At the beginning of the program I purchased a table stand to display the monthly quilt. It has a removable topper, and each month, with the packet, I get a new topper that fits with the theme of the month. I keep mine on the piano in our living room.

Here are the mini quilts that I’ve made so far -

January ~

February ~

March ~

April (this was originally a bright color scheme, which I changed to pastels.) ~

May ~

June ~

July (I like this one for the second half of July, but I am planning on designing a patriotic mini quilt to display for the first part of the month.) ~

I haven’t made the August quilt yet (yes, I’m behind!), but it has a popsicle/ice cream theme. I have started the September mini quilt – it still needs buttons and quilting to finish. Here is how it looks so far ~

I am hoping to design a Back to School themed mini quilt (maybe apples?)to take the place of this quilt, and then move this one to October (the planned quilt is a Halloween theme, which I don’t really prefer). November will be pumpkins and Thanksgiving, and December a Christmas tree. I think a small nativity quilt would be nice for December as well, so I may some day try to work that out.

If you’re interested in getting the patterns for these mini quilts, they are made by Patch Abilities, Inc. Their website is www.patchabilities.com.

I hope to share a few of the blocks from my Farm Fresh applique quilt with you soon, as well as some from The Tree of Life quilt that I started over the summer.

Have a nice day!

Blessings,
Nancy

Civil War Sampler Quilt and Summer Cherries

I have a number of quilt projects going right now. Some are being sewn by hand, some by machine, and some are applique quilts. I generally work on the machine during the daytime hours and save the hand sewing for the evenings in front of a movie. I certainly don’t have time to sew every day, but I try to grab snatches of time whenever I can.

Most of the quilts I’m working on now are block of the month programs through one of the local quilt shops, but I have a few others that I’m working on as well. The first one I want to show you is what I call my Civil War Sampler quilt. I believe the official name of this quilt is Civil War Celebration, designed by Joe Wood from Thimble Creek Quilts. I have a habit of giving all of the quilts I’m working on my own names – just how I remember them best – for instance, the Star Medallion quilt that I’ve been working on for awhile (and which is close to being finished if I would just get around to picking it up again!) is affectionately known as the Waltons quilt, due to the fact that I sewed most of it during our late night stint of watching old Waltons episodes.

Anyway, the Civil War sampler is a block of the month program. The finished quilt will look similar to the lead-off picture at the top of this post. (I took this picture at the quilt store so that I could refer to it.). I have sewn twelve blocks so far – four each of three different patterns. Each set of four is made from four different fabric combinations, but using the same pattern. Here are the ones I’ve completed ~

All of the cream fabric in the quilt is muslin and it will have dark chains running diagonally throughout the quilt and between the sampler blocks (see picture at top). I haven’t started on the chains yet. I am sewing this quilt on the machine.

Another quilt that I have been working on I have named my Summer Cherries quilt, because the fabric is so summery, with flowers and cherries galore. The fabric is “Charlevoix = Summmer…Beach…Rural Americana…1910-1935″ by Polly Minick and Lauri Simpson for Moda fabrics. It is a rail quilt because each block is formed by sewing strips of fabric together like fence rails -

I started with a jelly roll of fabric – for the non-quilters out there, a jelly roll is precut strips (2 1/2 x 44-45″) of an entire fabric line, all rolled up like a jelly donut. I saw this quilt at another local quilt store and fell in love with it, so I bought the kit they were offering and started on it. I am sewing it all on the machine, and am just needing to sew on two borders to have the top finished. Here is how it looks right now ~

That’s all I’m going to show you for today – if I spend too much time writing about it all, I won’t have any time to sew! I have several other projects to catch you up on – soon!

Blessings,
Nancy

Blue and White Quilt

These beautiful fabrics make up a lovely blue and white quilt that I am slowly working on. It is a block of the month program at a local quilt store that I am participating in. The quilt is centered around twelve navy and cream blocks that are each different. Each month I make one of the twelve, and eventually I will get around to finishing the rest of the quilt. Here is a pattern diagram of the quilt design ~

My absolute favorite fabric in this quilt is the blue botanical print – I fell in love with it when I saw it, and it is what made the quilt irresistible to me ~

So far I have made six of the twelve central blocks ~

This is a Thangles quilt, which means that I use Thangle paper templates to sew the half square triangles on the machine and they turn out beautifully every time ~

I’ve got block #7 all prepared to sew when I get a few minutes to work on it ~

I can’t wait to see this quilt finished. Blue and White is my favorite color combination and I know that I will love this quilt when it is finished!

Have a nice day!

Blessings,
Nancy

What just arrived in the mail . . .

. . . this order from Connecting Threads! Now let’s see . . . what goodies are included in this box? First there are fabrics from the Canning Day line by Mama’s Cottons – reminiscent of feed sack fabrics from the 1930′s -

And a pattern to make the “Kitchy Stars” quilt with these fabrics. The finished quilt will look like this -

Also in the box is this fat eighth sampler of the “Firecracker” fabric line – looks just like the 4th of July!

And finally, there is a fat quarter sampler of patriotic fabrics – beautiful colors!

It couldn’t have arrived at a better time – we are having a lovely rainy day and evening – just made for working on my quilts.

Have a nice evening!

Blessings,
Nancy

Quilt Progress

Thought I’d update you on my progress with my Star Medallion quilt. This is a large quilt made from reproduction prints in many different colors and patterns. I am hand piecing it, which I have so much enjoyed so far. I took some pictures this afternoon so that I could share my progress with you. This is the center star of the quilt showing the whole center block and then a close up of just the star -

These are the four “Churn Dash” blocks that are in the quilt -

There are four “Log Cabin” blocks – one will be in each corner of the quilt -

Here is a close-up of one of the blocks -

I am now piecing “Cup and Saucer” blocks. I have made half-triangles and many flying geese, which are pressed now and ready to be sewn together to make the completed blocks -

I’ve posted this before, but here is a picture from my pattern of what the quilt will look like when finished -

I look forward each day to sitting down in the evening in front of my “Waltons” dvd and sewing on this quilt. I’ll post more pictures later as I complete different parts – Checkerboard blocks will be next!

Have a nice evening!

Blessings,
Nancy

Quilting Books

Cindy asked me to recommend a good quilt book for learning to quilt. There are two books that I have been referring to as I make my way along this journey of learning to quilt. One is this book ~

This book has been good about taking my hand and talking to me as a beginner. It gives instructions for both hand and machine piecing, quilting, and all of the rest that goes along with the craft ~

I have also lately really been enjoying referring to this book ~

It is also good at teaching the basics, but in a question/answer format. So, when I don’t understand something or have a question about something, I can go right to the question and find my answer. I have cleared up many questions using this book. It’s a convenient size to keep in my quilting basket for whenever I need to refer to it, which has been alot lately since I am moving into new territory working on borders and soon into the quilting portion of my quilt.

Another great source for learning to quilt is a local quilt shop. They are popping up all over the place and they offer classes at every level and are always willing to answer questions that you may have. They also usually have a book section where you can find how-to quilt books as well as books full of patterns. I am sure you can probably find lots of information online, as well.

I have tended to get overwhelmed with the learning process as I felt like there was so much to learn, but I’ve found that just by taking it one step at a time, it has really not been difficult, and I learn more all the time. Just be patient and enjoy it – that’s the point of it anyway!

Lynn asked what a Be-Attitudes quilt was, so I am posting a picture of mine in progress. This quilt was designed by Nancy Halvorsen, as were the fabrics used in it. This is the quilt after sewing the blocks together, but minus the four borders that I am working on right now ~

I’ll post more pictures when I finish the top.

Blessings,
Nancy

Quilt Notes

This past weekend has my quilting fever running high. I paid a visit to my local quilt store, which I was really excited about because they have moved to a new location since my last visit and I was eager to check out the new space. I was not disappointed because the new store is much bigger, with lots more fabric, and a wonderful atmosphere that makes me want to hang out there for unlimited amounts of time. (Jeff, just take deep breaths now . . . in . . . out . . . in . . . out).

While I was there I saw a beautiful new line by Nancy Halvorsen called “Garden Song”. It features this lovely panel with garden sayings and graphics ~

I especially love this part of the panel ~

The fabric line had several wonderful spring plaids and scrolly prints, and I was hooked, so I found a pattern for a panel-centered quilt and then set to work picking out fabrics to finish the quilt with. With the colorful busyness of the panel, I decided to go with calm blues and creams for the outside borders ~

I can’t wait to start working on this quilt – thus the beginning of my fever.

Little did I know, but Jeff paid a visit to the quilt store the same day to do a little Valentine shopping. It’s a good thing we didn’t run into each other and spoil his surprise! Well, on Sunday evening I was presented with this lovely new jelly roll ~

It is called “Flag Day Farm” – and he certainly knows me well, because it includes my favorite colors and prints in it. I had actually already purchased some of this fabric earlier in the year when it came out, but did not have enough for a quilt, so the jelly roll will come in quite handy. I have been perusing this book lately ~

And have a quilt already picked out that I want to make with this jelly roll, and, of course, I can’t wait to start this one either – my fever rises.

While out shopping this weekend, we purchased a new quilt for our bed (yes, I know – I should probably be making one, right? But we needed one now, not next year when I might possibly get one done!). It is a lovely blue and white floral patchwork that I simply love! Here is a little sample of it ~

So, with all this focus on quilts this weekend, I am burning up with the quilt making fever, so I sat down with my basket last night and finished up the blanket stitching on the December block of my Be-Attitudes quilt (also by Nancy Halvorsen) ~

I have a little bit of embroidery to do on these blocks, and a number of decorative buttons to sew on, and then I can start sewing the blocks together, adding the borders and then I will be ready to quilt it. This is my first quilt to actually get this far with, so it is really exciting.

And with all of the others (including about 4 or 5 I have been collecting but haven’t started, and didn’t mention here) waiting in line to be sewn, I will be nurturing my fever for quite some time!

Blessings,
Nancy

A Few Craft Projects

I have several different handwork projects going and thought I’d give you a peek –

This is my main sewing project of the moment. It is Michael’s Christmas stocking that I am cross-stitching. I have finished all of the cross-stitches, and am now working on the backstitching or outlining all over the stocking. As you might be able to tell, I am partially done with this, too. I really want to get it done this year for Christmas, as it has been an on-going project for a number of years now – I pick it up for awhile, and then ignore it for awhile. I need to finish it, as there are two more stockings waiting in the wings to be sewn for Anna and David.

Here is a quilt I am “working” on. I hesitate to call it that because I haven’t worked on it in months. But it is sitting on my dresser, staring at me, begging me to give it attention – and I really, really want to, but there always seems to be something else calling my name, as well. I have only completed one block. It is a block-of-the-month program through my local quilt store – I pick up a new block kit each month and am storing them up until I have time to work on it. It is called “Be Attitudes” by Nancy Halvorsen. It would probably go much faster if I used the sewing machine, but I am hand-stitching it, so it will take a bit longer.

Here is what the finished quilt should look like (someday) -

This is another quilt that I have going. I started it before I joined the block-of-the-month above. It is a Thimbleberries pattern called “Month by Month” by Lynette Jensen. There is a different block for each month of the year. I have completed January and February, and was working on March when I set it aside. If I remember correctly – someone got into my basket and decided to practice cutting on my almost completed March block, and I never got around to recutting fabric to redo the sections that were damaged. I do love this pattern, and look forward to picking it back up again soon.

The last one I have to show you is just a little tidbit that I started the other night at our monthly Keepers of the Faith meeting with the girls. Our lesson this month was on crochet, which I do not have any experience with. I tried to teach myself years ago and gave up, so I was glad to have the opportunity to try it again. I really don’t intend to make this one a new hobby, since I don’t have time for the ones I already have, but I really did enjoy working with the yarn – the colors are so beautiful – and so, I may pick it up from time to time and work a few rows. We’ll see.

That’s all for now – if I get myself off of this computer, I just might have some time to work on some of these projects! If I don’t show back up later – which I may, I have a delicious apple tart recipe to share – have a lovely weekend!

Blessings,
Nancy