My favorite part...

My favorite part of quilting………..I have thought about it a lot. There’s the choosing the pattern—I love… I study quilt photos constantly. It’s relaxing to me. Some people workout to the television, or music, I study quilt pictures. I like choosing the fabrics and cutting out the pieces. One of my favorite things to do is to total up the individual pieces for a total count of a quilt. Piecing and bring those individual squares ranks pretty high. I just love bringing it to life.

While I don’t love stretching a quilt—the machine quilting is the most challenging part for me and it’s something I want to work at getting better at. Bindings are addictive because you are just so close to being finished with the project. When a quilt is completed, I have put time and energy into it…. Most of the time I’m tired of it and I’m pretty hard on myself as to whether I did a ‘good enough’ job.

But I have spent time thinking about it this weekend—my very favorite part of quilting is taking that quilt out and covering a table, covering a bed, hanging it up—maybe throwing it over a ladder-back chair.

I have 4 quilts pieced…. Four of them not quilted. I’ve even blogged about getting them quilted and I put it off—I think it’s because stretching them onto the frame is the hardest part for me. I want to complete them so this afternoon I got one stretched and part of the way machine quilted. For those that don’t relish that “ladder-back chair” experience---to have the un-quilted projects on the shelf is no big deal… but it bothers me… and I’ve promised myself that I’m giving at least 30 minutes a night this week to work at getting these projects done. I’m working from easiest to hardest because I’m hoping to improve as I work at it.

This weekend Don ran 10.25 miles… he’s working toward a relay with Eric. I ran the pups twice on Saturday and a 4 mile workout this evening on the elliptical machine. I went to the farmer’s market and picked black-eyed susans from the roadside.

I played in the garden, knocked out the housework and got a nap after reading a few pages from my IPAD. This weekend was outstanding…. Boring to some, pretty much perfect to me.

I can deal with Monday…

Scraps and Four Blocks.....

I prepped by four blocks for handwork this week.  By leftovers are centered in the picture. Sometimes I stress over the accuracy of the orginial block photos as compared to mine, but then I remember the quilts will never be side by side and it's my quilt anyway.

I'm saving up for the border package for this quilt.  I don't know what it will look like. I can't wait to see it. 

Every once and a while something comes along that you want to tell someone about....

For  late night cinnamon toast-- it's pretty good....

And lastly -- the first Snap Beans of the season...

Hop To It Block #5....

While I may not have bunnies in my garden--- I caught birds playing in puddles after a good watering.  I have to watch Ransom because he snitches the blueberries.  My wool class with Lisa Bongean taught me to save even the smallest of scraps because you never know when you can use them. Everything but the bunny gray was made from left overs.

I went to a Thirty-One Bag party for a friend's daughter. I saw this-- and knew it really wasn't a laptop case but a quilt block bag. Comfortable enough at work now, that when we travel to inspect machine shops-- I bring along hand stitching to not waste time in the vehicle.

So last Saturday's mail comes. Don says--,"I checked it when I cut the grass-- nothing much... We can get it after church."...This is what was in the mail.

Obviously his definition of 'nothing much' and mine are completely different...



Gratitudes:
Chelsey checking in-- Busy with Summer life
Eric---Healthy and Running in the Warrior Run
Sleeping in on a Saturday.

Penny Garden...

Five blocks down on my BOW quilt for this summer. Yep--- I'm about 2 blocks behind...but it's summer and summers are so short and it's not a race.

We had friends over for supper last night. Mary Ann  brought cheesecake-- so pretty I took a picture:

Strawberries were fresh picked.  It's strawberry season in the U.P.

Bicycling...Gardening....Porch-sitting....Grilling...oh and Ice Cream--anything with Chocolate.

Purple....

I don't wear purple clothes....there's nothing purple in my house....My quilt cabinet has very, very little purple.  Call it violet...lilac...plum...orchid...I don't know why it's not my color..Never disliked it...just never put it all together...

But in the summertime--- and my fourth block of My Garden Quilt designed by Edyta Sitar -- is Purple.  It's purple because my Summer....my flowers and my garden is always filled with purple........

I had to purchase thread because my embroidery box didn't even hold the right color of purple.

My lilacs--

my Salvia..

My chives



My Orchids...

My petunias--

Purple fills my Summer...

The hand-dyed wool just brings the colors to life...

Thanks again Mary and Sue.... this is a memory that will last long after the quilt is finished....

Pressure....

It seemed like it had rained forever.... While rainy days are typically the unusal--- they seemed more the norm than the sunny days.  Saturday rolled around and we decided we didn't want to do housework...nor did we want to do yardwork.  So we loaded up and took a drive to Green Bay.

I ran out of three colors I have been needing for my Penny Garden Block of the Week.  It was going to be a quick "in & out" of the quilt shop.  Thread and that's it...honest.  Blame on the cute display and the clearance Section for fat quarters.  I ended up with the new Pumpkin Threads book and 6 fat quarters for a buck fifty each.  I did make it in and out for DMC Floss at Hobby Lobby.

Work is sending me back to school this fall so I have four trips to the University of WI at Madison.  I picked up new luggage.   I can't believe I'm about to do that.... but I think it's now or never....

It's kind of a holiday at our house.... I think that every day there's a reason to celebrate.... you just have to find it.

Quilt Blocks for Kaaren..

I've always considered quilters some of the strongest people I know.  So when one may have weak knees--- it's up to others to hold them up and steady their pace.

Allie is collecting quilt blocks for Kaaren at the The Painted Quilt.  Kaaren has given her time and talents over and over again to others.  I didn't have the right pen for marking, but I wasn't about to let that stop me from making three blocks for Kaaren.  Click on her website and get the details..

Dr. Seuss Completed

At 6:30am yesterday I was stitching the binding down, but the baby quilt made it to the shower. I think at about 10 pm friday night I finally decided I liked the quilt. My machine got on a fit of thread continously breaking.  Don gave her a good cleaning and I was back in business.

I used black material in the binding and I think it framed it really well.

I also included a copy of the Sneetches-- my favorite Dr. Seuss Book.  If you get throught the rhyming and whimsical nonsense of the story... there's a really good message behond the story.  Google it.  I think the poem is on-line.

I could tell you that everything was planned and thought out... but truthfully I forgot the wrapping paper and card thing.  Some leftover ribbon and a copier helped out--- plus I probably saved about 8 bucks.... And the colors were too bright to be hidden in a box anyway.....

Thunderstorms today.  We have church and maybe a movie this afternoon.....

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in our lives......

The Real Reason...

The Real Reason I'm struggling with any project right now--- aside from it being summer----is this...

It's Lisa Bongean from Primitive Gatherings block of the week for Summer.  I signed up and treated myself.  She throws in freebies every week. Last week was that penny star.  So for twenty minutes each day I sit on the porch with a needle in my hands. It's small and easy to work with. Doesn't matter what is going on....the world stops for twenty minutes. It's my present to myself.  A committment to slow down for a few minutes each day. I'm having so much fun. And I love getting mail....

The Rumors are true... the furnace was running last week in our house.  No frost , but it did get down to 38 one night.  It would be different if we maybe got warmer days on the back end of Summer, but it just doesn't work that way.  Yesterday was beautiful-- in the low 70's.  We slept with the windows open.  I heard crickets---comforting. Remember, we only hear them a few months a year up here. 

Guess it's another example of life being a perspective-- annoying to some--- music to others....

Gratitudes:

Chelsey weed-eating around the trees

Those crickets

Watermelon for lunch

All in One Piece...

Ok - It's off the clothes line and onto the quilting frame.  There's still a ton of work to be done.  I think this baby is going to get a simple all over stipple design.  It's growing on me ....a little.  I called the Grandma-to-be last night and told her that the quilt was a disaster and she needed to practice the oohs and ahhs cause the idea was a flop.  She told me about the baby's mom and the baby's room and I think it may all come together after all....

Think Dr. Seuss... Think Cat in the Hat... I'm going to put a tab on the back and include a cup hook.  Maybe she can drape in on the wall or even over the rocking chair....

I'm not giving up.....

Blocks for a Baby....

While I'm not freaking out... I am a little concerned.  I hope I'm not creating a monster... On top of the five day deadline....we're going to be in a mess if the quilt turns out to be just that.... a mess....

Fifty blocks into it I'm pretty committed. Off to the sewing machine......

A Baby Quilt....

I’ve stared at this fabric for a couple of weeks. Chelsey saw it and said, “Mom—that’s soooo not your colors…”

There’s never been a truer statement. I have a good friend in town--- who’s a quilter expecting her first grandbaby. The quilt will be for the baby shower gift a week from today. Her daughter can best be described as ‘non-traditonal’. The sex of the baby is a surprise. The baby’s room is being done in the ‘Cat in the Hat’ theme….

Being the grandbaby of a quilter--- Grandma as already purchased the Cat in the Hat fabric--- So I had to think outside the proverbial box and come up with a baby quilt. Emilia (the mom-to-be)….chooses things very different—never the baby pink or baby blue….Definitely the brights. I'm calling these Cat in the Hat Colors...

With the fabrics I’ve chosen and I making a quilt from Thimbleblossoms Jelly Bean Pattern. I’m so far out of my comfort zone--- but it’s not for me And Don says I'm guilty of making things I like ..…. I'm adding a tab on the back and including a hook to hang in on the wall...The quilt is bigger than baby size so I'm thinking the baby won't outgrow it ....... Next post we'll show the blocks.

Block of the Month - May

The last day of May will come early in the morning so I’m jumping the gun and posting my Hop-to-It Block for May.

From my Garden---- this is the block to remind me of my Blueberry Bushes. When I pulled the wool pieces I kept grabbing a red and a pink… But I kept putting them back….It’s about the blueberries.

My new blueberry plants added to the garden.

The difference one month can make. My garden is planted. A row of perennials has been added. I still have to gather stones to line the edges.

The front flower bed is almost full of impatients . Maybe tomorrow evening after work it will be completed.

The Bleeding hearts seem to tell me that winter has been put on hold for a while.

I found this old chair at a junk store--- five bucks. It’s going to hold a basket a flowers real soon.

Something to Talk about…..

Don’s home. He’s been out of town for three weeks. I’m not a whiner, but that’s a long time. The Garden is not planted, but it’s not his fault. The weather has been horrendous. We’ve even had three deep freeze warnings. The Old timers always tell you not to plant until after Memorial day--- I see why this year.

I’ve bought flower baskets for the front and back porch--- which I have continued to haul in at night religiously to protect “my investment”. When I was potting geraniums into pots I looked at the front door and knew it needed something.

I remembered a project I had purchased on a whim because Mary told me I needed the year’s worth of coupons and the free projects that went with “Any Purchase”. So--- with the longer daylight hours I sat on the porch with fabric and scissors at the table and put my welcome sign together. It’s from the Summer Gatherings Book by Lisa Bongean. I bought it in the dead of winter--- confident there would be a season of flowers again.

A three day weekend ahead…. Maybe that garden will finally get planted. We’ve got a grad party to go to and three days of sleeping in.

Garden Watch 2011

I have had all week to be downstairs in my sewing room quilting up a storm and I just haven’t. We’ve been plagued with thunderstorms that have knocked out power two separate days. Growing up in Louisiana this was a normal occasion, but it’s been twenty years since power has been lost due to rain around here.


Sunday evenings are spent rounding up some hand sewing to work on in the evenings. The days are longer and the pups keep the screen door banging as they bounce from outside to in. My garden quilt is pieced and my Hop to It block is done. I decided to pull out an old project.

My Primitive Garden project was designed by Lisa Bongean. All the blocks are completed. I’m not great at needle-turn appliqué. I exhaled after the blocks were complete ---but got completely discouraged with the border packages came in.

A few month ago Chelsey and I were playing downstairs and she pulled it out, “Mom, you really need to finish this….” Well, Sunday night I pull it out and prepped a border. I’ve been stealing moments working on it here and there this week. It’s not as hard as it was a few years ago. This may be the summer to finish it.

Garden watch 2011 continues.

She’s been tilled. I think next week may be the week to get her rowed up and planted. We have two days of freezing nightly temps but later in the week it’s supposed to be gorgeous. After a week of rain, I’m ready.

Last week I really needed something to babysit. Tired of winter, I found these perennials on sale. Yes, I’m toting them in and out and watering them—But it keeps me from planting that garden too early.

Last Monday I purchased vegetable seeds… I just have to be patient. I did the Wal-mart run yesterday evening – so after a run with the pups…. The rest of the day is for fun.

Gratitudes:
my new love Vege-pizza
Hostas faithfully returning after winter
A New Apple Pie Candle

Mother's Day

It's Mother's Day--- My first Mother's Day without my kids.  A funny feeling.  I turned down three dinner invitations... not out of melancholy moods... just because I wanted to have a day to reflect on all the Mothers' Days in the past. 

I had kicked around going to Appleton for the day, but this is truly one of my favorite holidays teaching Sunday School.  We plant flowers for our moms in terracotta pots-- trying to get more dirt in the pots than ourselves.  We discuss in great detail the wonderful things about our mothers and why they are such a gift to each of us.  This year's comments ranged from-'She makes me macaroni and cheese' to ' she reaches for things I can't get to..." I wouldn't want to miss it.

Here's my mother's day gift to myself:

I had two clay pots left over from church along with a handful of petunias.

I've been running the pups in the woods early in the mornings because it's been below forty degrees and it keeps the wood ticks at bay.  I ran them this morning and came home with four hitchhikers crawling on me.  I swear I have felt bugs all day.  So needless to day-- for about the next ten weeks we'll be walking the side of our winding road.  I did a practice run this evening and laughed at how we've had 3 days about sixty degrees and the snow blowers have been tucked away and the tillers for the gardens have come out of storage.--- Yep - My garden got tilled as well, but we've got a week's forecast full of rain.  Maybe in a couple of weeks we'll be able to plant.

I'm off to set up some hand sewing for the week and read my books.  Enjoy was is left of the day.

Gratitudes:

Telephones that link us close to our Moms---- and kids.

The furnace is off and the screen door open.

A pot of vegetable soup simmer for this week's lunches

Hop to it Block Two

I’m running behind….story of my life. Here’s my block for April that is for our Hop to it Project.

 Mary and Sue’s blocks turned out great. I’ve had mine complete for about three weeks--- yet I’m the last to post. The yellow buds represent my perennials in my garden. The original blocks from Edyta Sitar’s quilt has them in blue. I want each block to represent something in garden so mine varied to yellow. One of the great things about using the hand-dyed wool for this project is the variations in the colors of the leaves.


We doubled our snowfall data in the month of April. And yet 4 days after the last snowstorm bits of green showed up. My journal logs the snow in the garden.

These snapshots were taken early this morning--- the last day of April. Last Sunday I got out in the garden for the first time to check the herbs and see if my blueberry bushes made it. The chives are about 2 inches tall. And this is a photo of new growth on my blue berries--- they survived the winter.

The Bleeding- Hearts are popping up and the Enchinea and Saliva have green sprouting leaves. I know some places already have ripe strawberries and tomatoes, but where I live I’m thrill over any sign of green.

My dad fell and broke his hip last Saturday afternoon. I’m the daughter that lives too far away to go home. I’ve called about a million times and sent cards and letters, but felt lousy that I couldn’t be there. I don’t know whether I’m trying to convince you or myself that it’s ok that I’m not there… but in the end—it’s not about me, it’s about him and he’s ok and getting better every day.