Hi!

Hi!  How have you been?  Long time no see, right?  I've been sewing, just not blogging about it.  I decided I needed to get back to blogging about it otherwise, I won't keep up with what I have accomplished.  I love having that information.

First up is a quilt I made for my cousin who was diagnosed with Stage 4 ovarian cancer.  She's doing well!  Amazing what advances have been made.

Front

Back

The front fabrics are "Lexington" by Minick & Simpson.  I also had picked up some fat quarters of the fabric and added those in.  The pattern is call "Senior Prom" by Villa Rose Designs.  I finished this up in late December.  

Have a great day!

Summer Fun

This has been the summer of fun.  We've visited the grandkids, worked in the garden, canned peaches, and I did some sewing.  First off, I want to show you a beautiful treadle sewing machine my friend Jean told me about and then sold to me.  Her sister had picked it up at a sale.

It needs a throat plate, a belt and a good cleaning, but I am so excited to get this running!  Such a beautiful machine.  More tomorrow.  I promise!

Retreat Fun

This past weekend two friends, my sister and I had some Retreat fun at Log Cabin Quilting in Exira,Iowa.

I was able to finish this top, "Quiltin' til the Cows Come Home".  The pattern is another Villa Rosa Design.

This stash fabric has been around in my stash for a long time.  Not sure why I bought all the cow fabrics other than I love them.  I guess no other reason is needed sometimes.  Not sure what I'm going to do with it, but the right person will come along.

I also got the borders on "Red White and True", pattern by Jean on Craftsy.  Link is here.

I did this as a quilt along last summer and I did so well until the last border.  But it's all sewn together and ready for a backing.

My sister finished a quilt top for her son.  All of his favorite things.  So nice to get things to this point.  Love the colors.

How's your summer so far?

A Fun Weekend

It's been a fun weekend.  It all started on Friday when a few of us took Nancy's Featherweight class.  We learned how to clean, grease and oil our machines.  I took this class last year and again this year.  It's amazing how much better and quieter my machine runs. Maybe after a few more times I'll remember how to do it.

Our challenge this month from Cut Up and Quilt is a pattern from Villa Rosa Designs called "Arctic Flame".  June is also the "All Iowa Shop Hop" and the pattern was made into a kit using the shop hop fabric.  So I bought the kit and am working on it.

I'm squaring up the HST blocks.  Not one of my favorite things to do, but a necessary job for a nice quilt.  I have a second one going, out of stash.  Need to use up that stash!

Forever

I know, I've been gone forever!  Sad excuses, but here they are:

I've been having trouble with my Dropbox.
I have not finished anything for months, lots of starts though.

I did go to the American Quilts Expo in Des Moines, Iowa May 28th.  My friend Jean had a quilt displayed in the "Be Creative!" quilt challenge.  It's called 'Shortcut".  I love the modern look of it.

Over the weekend I made about 30 bookmarks for the kids in the classroom I work in.  I found the tutorial here.  I loved how they turned out and the kids loved them too.

I used my 2.5 inch stirps and leftover scraps of interfacing from making bags.  Perfect way to use up the scraps of interfacing.

More Deep Stash

I used some more of my deep stash.  If you have read my past few posts, they have been about the monthly challenge that Cut Up And Quilt has for CUAQ Therapy.

This month's Villa Rosa Design is "Honor".  I love novelty fabrics and so I had some Easter fabric that worked up great in this pattern.  The gold fabric is "Millennium" by Jinny Beyer.  Not the oldest, but getting up there.

My husband was trying his best to help me with this picture as the wind was so strong.

Here it is at CUAQ Therapy, no wind.

I also made this one with the same pattern.  I love the silly little squirrels.  This pattern works so well with fabrics you just can't cut up.  Now I have more quilts to get quilted!  And maybe one more quilt to make....hmmmm

Spring

Spring has really been blooming here in western Iowa.  The new growth makes me want to sew!

 I did get "Lillian" pinned a couple of weeks ago when the Guild had a sewing day.   The fabrics are Kate Spain "Solstice" from a couple of years ago.  They are bright and cheery but not spring-like. But it will be ready for use for 2016 Christmas season.

I have been quilting on it.  I'm quilting around all the bigger white rectangles.  And it is taking me a while.  But that's OK, slow and steady like the turtle.  (But I am pretty excited to get this done soon.)