Another Christmas Gift

I finished a couple of Christmas gifts for a friend.  Her oldest son was killed in a car accident when he was 19, almost 40 years ago.  She held onto his clothes for all that time.  This year she let me create these 2 quilts from them.  The center squares were a football jersey and a baseball jersey that had their last name on it.  

She was so excited to give these to her daughter and son.  Memory quilts can be so healing.

Felt Calendar

This year my son asked me for a felt calendar for his birthday.  I should explain, his birthday is the 21st of December and for years people combine his birthday and Christmas gift together.  

So this calendar goes just until his birthday.  

I used this tutorial for the basic idea but changed it up a little.  Pockets and numbers are the same.  I have made a couple of Advent Calendars over the years and I enjoy making them.  You can see them here, and here.

These calendars would be so fun to make for a child's birthday.

Ugly Sweater Festival

Last weekend was the "Ugly Sweater Festival" in Elk Horn, Iowa.  A few friends and I decided to go as Log Cabin Quilt Shop was also having 30% off everything in the shop.  (There were other things going on, but quilting items were our main interest.)

And we all had to have our picture taken with the sweater cut out. 

ME!

The cut out by the Danish Wind Mill.

We all had a wonderful time with lots of laughs!

Bus Trip: Day 2!

It's on to Day 2 of the Bus Trip.  We stayed overnight in Owatonna, MN and then went on to Calico Hutch Quilt Shop in Hayward MN.  This is another great shop.  

Love the Barn Quilt on the side of the shop.

The next shop was Mended Hearts Quilting and Boutique in Ellsworth, IA.  Another great shop with lots to check out.  Sorry, I was too busy shopping to take pictures.  I hate when I do that.

And last but by no means least, was Piece Works Quilt Shop in Winterset, IA.  This is my travel buddy and some of the beautiful colors we saw on our trip. 

  

What a fun bus trip this was!

Wow, the months are flying by.

I can not believe how fast October went and now November is flying by into December.  

October was my quilting marathon fun.  Every weekend I had a quilt related time planned.  I've told you about the first 2, but not the other 2.  

Then 3rd weekend in October I went on the Great Fall Escape bus trip through our local quilt shop, Cut Up And Quilt.  

Our first stop was "Heart And Hand Dry Goods" in Sioux City, Iowa.  Such a fun shop.  Lots of great fabrics.

Next on the stop was "Always Your Design" in Dell Rapids, SD.  Another great shop!  I didn't get any pictures here as I was too busy looking at and buying fabric.  I want to return again to this shop.  Check out their website, I have the link on the shop name.

Next was "Sewing Seeds Quilt Co." in New Ulm, MN.   

 Lots of wool projects along with fun fabric projects.  Another one of those stores I want to go back to!

That's the end of the first day of the bus trip, I'll share the second day soon.

Busy Month

October has been and will continue to be a busy month.  

The first weekend of the month I went with my friend Patti to her cabin and we made snap bags for Breast Cancer Survivors.  I have written about this in the past, as we have been making small gifts for a number of years.  Check out the bags!

I had some 10 inch squares leftover from another project and I figured out a way to use them in the bags.  I also had some other fat quarters that worked well.  If you're interested in making the bags, Riley Blake Designs has a video you can use here.  For my pull tabs, I just made prairie points.  But you can do whatever works for you!

This past weekend I met my friends from the Kansas City area at the Farmhouse.  This is the same group of ladies that I went with last year and we stayed at the same place again this year.  Pictures of that Retreat are here on my blog.   

And I have 2 more fun weekends planned for this month!  

Finished!

The UFO challenge for the small group I belong to is finished!  WooHoo!

I do have to show you a little problem I had in the finishing the quilt.  When I was trimming the quilt, I went past the ruler and took a little side trip into the quilt.  As far as the seam allowance and maybe a little more.  I did use a zigzag stitch to repair and I lucked out, it ended up covered by the binding. 

And here is the label.  Always before I just winged the placement of my writing.  This time I used my ruler and Clover Chalk Wheel Line Marker, to draw lines and it was so much better looking.

I love that marker for so many things.  When I need to draw a line on my fabric for HSTs, it's my "go to" tool.  I put a link to it on Amazon, I don't get any kick back for doing that, just thought you would like to see what I'm talking about.  I know other places carry them and they come in other colors. I have used only the white so far, but I love it!  It just disappears when I iron over the line.

Do you have any tools that you can't live without? 

Quiltful App

I started using an app called "Quiltful" this summer.  I have a bunch of finished tops but no backings for them as yet.  This summer Jo Ann's had flannel 75% off but I had no idea of how much fabric I needed in order to complete a few of them.  So that's when this little app came into the picture.

I have an android phone so I went to Google Play Store and found it.  It's free!!

It's also at the App Store for iphones.  Not sure if it's free or not as I just found some information that it was at the App Store.

I've been slowly adding the tops to the list so that when I come across a great sale I will have the information I need in order to complete a few of those UFOs.

Do you have any quilting apps you would recommend?

Little Update

This little update is meant to keep me on the straight and narrow.  Hahahahahaha!

I've been making more applesauce and today we're going to make more apple pie filling to can.  That is always a production for us.  I did discover I had an apple corer/ peeling stashed away and that has helped to make the work go faster.

Clowder is all quilted and the binding is cut.  I just got back my UFO Challenge quilt, Julie's BOM, from my friend Cindy.  It's all quilted in a beautiful 3 leaf design.  The binding is pinned on and I am starting to sew it.  I also made a label for it.  Woohoo!

Pictures will be coming soon, I promise.

Good Morning!

Good Morning!  It's been busy, busy busy around here.  Apples starting to come on and other veggies are finishing up in the garden.

Made and canned apple pie filling.  I tested the filling the day before by making the 1 quart recipe and putting it in a pie.  Yummy!   Planning on making another batch of filling and I've also been making applesauce.  

This is the first year our apple trees have produced enough apples for us to preserve.

History

I  was looking at my blogging history and realized that some days I just posted what I did without pictures.  I think I may do that again, some of the time.  At least I know I was working on something.   

For example I spent some time today quilting on "Clowder".  Slow and steady.

July UFO

The July UFO is complete!  Woohoo!  

I was having a hard time trying to come up with a quilting design for it that was simple.  I finally decided on the clam shell design.  I used a stencil and Pounce Chalk Marker and it worked great.  So easy to do on my sewing machine.  I have only tried the white chalk, I'm kind of curious about the other colors as it was a little hard to see the white on the white background.

The excitement of completing another project is motivating.  Ready to figure out my backing for August UFO.

Two More

Two more tops are finished!  The first one is my Number 3 for the "Dirty Dozen" hosted by "Country Threads".  The top is done but my goal was to take it to the finish line, so I need to find or make a backing for it so I can get it quilted.  The pattern is called "Pacific Grove" by Villa Rosa Designs.

I finished the last seam and took it outside immediately to get a picture.  I should have given it a bit of a press before I did that, but oh well, such as it is.

Next up is the Sampler Quilt that was a BOM that I started back in 2010 using fabric designed by Julie Larsen of PSQ.  The top is done!

I did the borders different than the pattern called for.  But this change makes it mine and more importantly, it's a top!  I have backing for this one and I'm going to have it professionally quilted.  So I'll show that to you once it has it's binding on it, so you can see the quilting.  I'm always amazed at how the quilting changes the look of a quilt.

Balancing Act

"Balancing Act" was the last Sampler Quilt that Jean taught.  I love the looks of this one.  I also had on my list of "Things I Want To Make" a black, white and red quilt.  The top is done and I'm loving it!

It's a long twin size, so I will be on the lookout for backing fabric so I can get this one to the finish line.  I'm starting to run out of room in the guest bedroom closet for quilt tops, so I need to get some of these quilted and out of there so I can add others!  LOL

Do you have a stack of tops needing quilting or are you a person who takes each top to the end before you start another one?

Busy

This has a been a busy summer.  Between sewing, gardening, harvesting and preserving and trips, I haven't made the time to share on the blog.  

I've been working on a UFO Challenge with "Country Threads" and I have the top done and it is sandwiched and ready to be quilted.  

And the next project is #3, which is a quilt kit I made up with my dog fabrics and a Villa Rosa Pattern called "Pacific Grove".  I'm hoping it goes together fast.  And I want to take it to the finish line this month, meaning all quilted and binding complete and it's ready to use.

I have a 2 fabric bargello top ready for the borders.  Love how this turned out.

And all the way to the finish line is this "Turning Twenty" from book No. 8.

I used fabrics from my bin of florals. It will be so fun to have my own flower bed in the house this winter.  

And now a look at the real flowers in my gardens.

Asiatic Lilies

Daylily

Swallowtail caterpillar

Asiatic Lilies

Asiatic Lilies

Stella D'Oro lilies

Almost Finished

My July Challenge is almost finished.  I took my sister's idea/advice and made the squirrel out of wool.  It's ready for me to pin and quilt it.

This past week we were in MN visiting and we went to see "Big Boy" in St. Paul.  My grandson is a train buff and enjoyed seeing the train.

This summer seems to be flying by.  

The Dirty Dozen

Mary and Connie over at Country Threads is starting "The Dirty Dozen" UFO challenge.  But I'm changing it up a bit.  I have some small kits that I never seem to get to.  Such as table toppers, bags, and mini quilts.  So my "Dirty Dozen" consists of those projects.

Number 8 is the number Mary drew for July and that is a mini quilt kit I have from "Bloomin' Minds" called "The Squirrel".  It was a kit that was designed for the 2018 All Iowa Shop Hop.

I'm planning on starting it today.  This is good.  I have a big project that I'm working on and this will be a little thing to give me a sense of completion.

Sampler

The center of my Sampler quilt is finished!  WooHoo!

I have the first small border on.  The next border is a stripe fabric and it calls for it to be mitered at the corners.  I've never mitered a corner before and I don't think I want to start with this one, but I'm not sure.  I'm stopped here until I decide if I'm adding corner stones or mitering the corners.  Decisions, Decisions, Decisions. 

Pat Speth Class

Two summers ago I took a class with Pat Speth of the "Nickle Quilts" fame.  The quilt I started is called "Waltzing Butterflies", and it made using 5 inch squares.  I have tons of 5 inch squares so it was hard to choose which ones to use.  Even with pulling for that quilt, I still have tons.  

I took this UFO on Quilt Retreat with me this past weekend.  Lots of progress was made.  I'm excited to get the top done.  

Last week I also finished my challenge for the Quilt Guild, a quilt on a stick.  So much fun to make.  The theme was "The Fair", anything that reminded you of the Fair.

Come to the Harrison County Fair in SW Iowa. There are over 30 little quilts on a stick to check out.   Here's a link to all of the events at the Fair:

Harrison County Fair.

Another Slow And Steady Week

Another slow and steady week with this quilt:

It's been very relaxing, which is good as there are changes happening in my life.  And last month seemed to have lots going on.  Last weeks of school, Federal Jury Duty, and retiring.  

I'm now Retired!  

I'm hoping to spend more time sewing.  Since I'm usually off in the Summer, I won't feel the changes in my life until next Fall.  

I'm excited!

Jigsaw Puzzle

I feel like I've been putting a jigsaw puzzle together as I make the setting blocks for this quilt.  I'm loving it!

My design wall happens to be the floor of our guest bedroom, which is next to my sewing/quilting room.  Each of the setting squares has "steps" that match the pieced blocks around it.  Once I figure out which "steps" are needed I can move the block to my sewing room to work on it.  I've been wanting to make these design boards by Lori Holt.  It would make working a quilt like this go so smooth.  But I don't have them done, so am using my 12.5 inch square ruler.

I love how it's coming together, very slow, but I'm enjoying the process so much!

Retreating

This past weekend I went Retreating and made progress on this quilt, Julie's BOM:

It's so hard to get a picture of a pattern sometimes as the slick cover creates a glare.  So it looks a little wonky.  The fabrics are from a line that Julie Larsen designed when she had her shop "Prairie Star Quilts".  

I finished these 5 blocks:

 And on this block you miss the nine patch because there isn't much contrast between the brown and red fabric.

Progress always feels so good!