It's Been a While

I've been absent lately and I'm sorry about that. I feel like there's a lot to catch up on but at the same time nothing much has happened worthy to blog about. Has that ever been the case for you? Probably, I'm sure.

Last month we were gone for a week to Texas to visit my sister and brother-in-law. No pictures were taken as it was such a short trip and we wanted to enjoy the moments with family. Mom sure loves to see her "baby"! Lol We were also taking down a load of stuff that my sister wanted of Mom's. We're trying to shed some of her belongings without acting like her things don't matter. There's just so much that I can keep and, truly! We need to get her house off my shoulders. Unfortunately there's one more load to to take to Texas and maybe a couple more loads to bring up to me. Next step -- getting an estate sale set-up and then sell the house. So much to think about.

We leave later this month to take Mom to her 70th college reunion in Pennsylvania. Can you believe that -- 70 years???? From there we'll visit family in NewYork and then on to see the kids & grandkids in Maryland/Virginia. Let's see if I can remember to snap a picture!

I did have a little project that I started and finished the end of last month. Earlier I'd bought two flannel pieces that were 1.25 yards each. I washed them both, trimmed to make them the same size, rounded the corners and set about to make a baby blanket. Then I sewed both pieces right sides together, leaving an opening to turn right side out. Then I stitched all around 1/8" to secure the opening and then around again 1/4" in. I scrounged around in my yarn stash -- yes, I have fabric AND yarn stashes! -- and found something suitable. I button-holed all around the edges and then just crocheted an easy shell pattern. What do you think of this simple, soft baby project?

Super Soft Flannel Baby Blanket

Close-up of the Flannel and Crocheted Edging

Sneak Peek of the Back

This was also the first Friday of the month meaning time to join in with Friday Night with Friends. I had started a cross stitch project that I really wanted to finish up. The pattern is Rose Garden Mini Sampler offered by Melisa of PinkernPunkin'. I changed some of the colors and I think it's really pretty. Hope to finish it soon.

Where I was Friday Night

Finished this Weekend

This weekend was the 151st Kentucky Derby. Did you watch? It was a great race. I learned on Sunday morning that every horse that ran in the race was a descendant of Secretariat, one of the best race horses ever. I found that fact fascinating!

Mom & I Enjoying Our Hats & Mint Juleps on Derby Day

Close-Up of My Mint Julep & Hat

Hummingbirds have arrived and Mom's azalea and rhododendren bushes are in full bloom. In spite of all the rain we've been getting, I guess Spring has officially sprung!

I took a class last month through my guild. I love the Quick Curve Ruler by Sew Wonderful Curves. It's the ruler that I made all those pineapples! Anyway, we worked on Posh Penelope. So fun!

My Station for Class

Posh Penelope Project with Our Teacher, Norma

My Block

We've also been involved in a complete, total master bath renovation. I'll share pictures of that 3-week project another time. I think this has been more than enough.

I hope you had a good April. Time to pull our Green for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge color of the month.

Please don't get too worked up over what the media reports. Have a little confidence in our government leadership and faith in the Almighty. Stitch on!

I Like Thurs #46

There are so many likes in my life but I don't have many pictures to share this week. Maybe that's a like for you! Haha!

My very 1st like this week would have to be my guild. Tuesday night we had a woman come in with a trunk show from her book. Her name is Conni Hodge and her book is Button Box Quilts from Quiltmania. Her quilts are beautiful! She is inspired by antique quilts, loves reproduction fabrics, and scrappy is the name of her game. Unfortunately I have no pictures.

Wednesday I was in her class to sew a small scrappy project. Again no pictures but when I finish it you know you'll get to see it. While the others made theirs in darker, reproduction-type colors, I of course had to go outside the box -- Christmas fabrics! Oh my! So different! Hahaha!

My leader & ender project was the block for the guild's August BOM. I had all the pieces cut & sewn but forgot to sew it together! We are making 16-patch blocks with HSTs and there will be a total of nine. We could make any size blocks we wanted but have to use the pattern given for each month. Here's my pile of HSTs.

So can you see why I like my guild? Trunk show, class, BOM ...  not to mention friendships!

We have been suffering with extreme heat warnings the last couple of days with one more day to go (or so they say). We have been in the mid- to upper-90s with heat indices near or above 110! Can you understand why I like A/C, especially this week?!?!?!

In spite of the heat, on my Sunday walk with Gracie I noticed this tree was starting to change colors. I have to admit that it is ALWAYS the first in our neighborhood to start turning. I like Autumn and this is a pleasant reminder.

I have "surprise lilies" that I also like. They also go by the name of "bare naked ladies". Unfortunately the heat kicked up some incredible storms the other day and chopped one off. I brought it into the house and put it in water. It looks so pretty!

This week I'd like to share Brody's like. Apparently, at the ripe young age of 2, he has decided that he likes to eat BLATs! That's Bacon, Lettuce, Avocado, & Tomato sandwiches! Never knew a kid that liked BLTs, let alone avocado!

I hope you have a week full of "likes" yourself. You can always visit LeeAnna's blog Not Afraid of Color to enjoy more likes. I'll be doing that myself!

Red Week #2

So far I haven't been able to really get going on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks even though I was quite happy when Angela picked red for September. I'll bet you can find a lot more red blocks if you visit So Scrappy. I'll be visiting there over the next few days and in the meantime, I'll show you the little bit I did manage to get done.

How about some lambs? I will be very sad when I eventually run out of this fabric from Primitive Gatherings. This is the only red block I got done  for Awesome Land this week.

Here is Block #25 for Afternoon Delight. This project isn't part of RSC and contains no red ... but I did finish it.

Hey look! I spy red on Block #26 of Afternoon Delight. Both of these blocks were assigned for August and I finally finished them up Friday night. I've already downloaded the two blocks which are for September. Need to get busy on those pronto!

Tuesday night we had a Zoom guild meeting. Due to cancelled programs because of COVID, the guild's board decided to do a Make & Take project. About ten days before the meeting, every member in the guild received a small kit with written instructions and a supply list for what we needed to have on hand to complete the project. Nothing weird -- needle, floss, glue, optional beads, etc.

Our project was a scissors fob and it is cute as can be and very doable. Here's the front of mine. Check it out -- red!

Kind of looks like a bloodshot eyeball, doesn't it? Hahahaha! And here's a peek at the back.

More red thread with navy background and white stars. I love the charm I got in my kit -- a sewing machine! Perfect! I want to give a special shout out to the Hearts 'n' Hands Quilt Guild board members for really coming through to entertain us. I forget who we our guest was supposed to have been this month but I know last month we were supposed to have Gudrun Erla of GE Designs! Bummer! I had requested her, the board got her, then the Corona hit. Argh!

Anyway, I certainly appreciate how my guild is doing their very best to be sure that we have quality meetings. Next month we will have a guest Zoom her program for us and I am looking forward to that!

Have a great weekend!

Mock Mola & Celtic Design Classes - Alice Ridge!

Tuesday night at my monthly guild meeting we had a wonderful woman share her experiences and collected textiles from trips and military assignments from all over the world. I would absolutely recommend to any guild to bring her in for her Trip Around the World lecture. We were lucky enough to also have her teach a couple of classes Wednesday which I was fortunate to attend. Let me share with you some photos from the workshops today with Alice Ridge.

The morning class was Mock Molas. Alice shared SO MANY samples and I wish I'd taken more pictures. This is a quilt she made with several "mock mola" flower motifs.

 I loved the way she couched some fluffy yarn around the edges of the flowers.

The decorative stitching really made the designs come to life.

 Loved the elephant and the gorgeous echo stitching. Notice that chain stitching outlining the ear?

Another pretty quilt using the leaf pattern. I really liked the organic, striped background fabric too!

Here are some of our works in progress.

 Don't you love that colorful fabric behind the fish?

 Here is another floral motif but these colors just feel "Hawaiian", don't you think?

This snowflake was a booger to cut out but Jean persevered and has already made her thread choice ... a white thread with a metallic twist. Going to be gorgeous!

After a brief lunch break, we started a second class. This one was Celtic Designs and once again Alice shared lots of samples. And once again I should have taken more pictures ....

Here's a bright and colorful dragon. Loads of twists and knotty turns.

 Such concentration on this Celtic heart.

 Another rendition of a Celtic Heart. Isn't that background stunning??!!

 Here's a Peacock getting threads matched to the tail feathers.

And another Peacock in the works. I loved the colors of this one!

Here's a look at my projects.

I loved the elephant so that was what I chose. See that cut on the right hand side? I was supposed to cut the back fabric and erroneously started cutting the front. Oops! Alice, may I have another kit? Class, let this be a lesson to you ... this is what NOT to do.

Take #2 went much better. I did all the outline stitching to secure and will cut the flannel on the back. The next step is the decorative stitching and that will be fun. We were allowed to choose one large varigated ball of floss or five small cards of floss. I picked a really cool card of black/dk gray/lt gray bulky floss and 4 shades of purple floss. Should work up nicely. Class was over.

Celtic class went much better for me. I chose the dragon and, in retrospect, it was probably one of the hardest designs due to many tight knots. I even managed to start some of the stitching to hold it all down permanently. The decorative stitching on the face, neck, and tail will come next.

All in all it was a fabulous time with Alice, both for her lecture and then the following classes. I hope we get to see her again! If your guild would like to bring her in and/or you're interested in looking at her other projects, visit her website at Alice Ridge Quilts.

Have a great finish to your week!

Guild Meeting & Quilt Class

Last night my guild welcomed May Black, a certified Judy Niemeyer instructor. She shared so many quilts with us, including her first! She's come a long way, baby!!! Of course her Judy Niemeyer quilts were fantastic but I have to say I fell in love with her bear portrait. I'm not really into "art quilts" per se but I have to admit I admire the work involved. This one is probably the only one that has really put joy in my heart. It was so beautiful! Did I remember to take a picture? Of course not!

What this is all leading to is that, no matter where you live, if you are a quilter, you should join your local guild. My guild, Hearts 'n' Hands, is large enough to support several national instructors each year. In between, we have some very talented guild members that share their expertise with the rest of us as well. For less than $2.50/month, I have been entertained and inspired by so much talent over the years of my membership.

Whenever we have a national instructor, the next day a class is offered by that teacher, giving us the opportunity to learn their technique. Today I attended May's class called Cactus Flower Table Runner. I've been interested in Judy Niemeyer patterns for a while -- ever since my friend Dorothy entered her quilt called Clam Shells into our guild's quilt show this year. Anyway, long story short I thought I'd give a Judy Niemeyer quilt a shot and signed up for the class. Here's a picture of our pattern.

Yesterday was a long day of prepping for the class. I already had my fabrics picked out & starched (yes, I'm a starchie!) and was ready to cut the fabrics up for class. It was our homework and I was determined to have it done. It took almost four hours!!! Oh my, were my legs aching from standing & cutting for so long!

Today was the big day and I was excited. Several of my friends were also taking the class -- Millie, Judy, and Edna. We piled all together and got our areas set up. We were all very excited to be learning this paper-piecing technique that is world-famous (in the quilting world, that is!).

Here's what I accomplished today. I made three of these sections and started several more.

I also got two of the missing pieces in that left-hand corner sewn up.

And I got the first & second sections of one unit sewn up.

This is really a fun project but learning the technique was intense for a lot of us. Our seam rippers were truly working overtime! Lol! I am going on retreat this weekend and hope to finish this up while there. I was pretty sure that this would be a one-and-done project ... until there was a drawing. Guess who won?!?!? ME!!!! What did I win? A FREE pattern called Cotton Candy.

I'm thinking maybe a patriotic version? Or a Christmas one? Who knows but I'm clearly not going to be one-and-done! Thank you, May Black, for being a wonderful teacher! And thank you to my guild for bringing in such interesting, talented teachers!

String Class and FNSI

Tonight is FNSI -- Friday Night Sew In. So far there are 20 -- count 'em 20! -- of us that will be sitting back, cyber-stitching together. It's not too late to sign up, go HERE and add your name. Then, later this weekend, go back and check out everyone's progress through their posts. It's an amazingly talented group of quilters and so much fun.

Speaking of fun and talent, Tuesday night was our guild's monthly meeting and we had Teajuana Moore of Tea Quilts visit us with her lecture and trunk show. Oh boy! Was she fun!!! So many beautiful quilts with Tuesday night's show focused on string quilts.

On Wednesday I was able to attend Teajuana's class with a great group of ladies. We started sewing scrappy string blocks, added background corner squares, and then did a bit of partial seaming. Everyone EVENTUALLY got one block done and someone actually got four finished before packing up the sewing machines. Here's a "group" picture of the blocks. Pretty, huh?

This morning Gracie & I took our daily walk. It was so nice outside this morning -- 40 degrees, cloudy, & windy. Not too cold for me, not too hot for Gracie! We ended up going 2.8 miles which is quite the distance for the pooch. When we returned, we filled the bird feeders and took a check on the garden. Well, I'll be (say that in your best Gomer Pyle voice!). I knew I had greenery poking through but today I saw official buds!

Daffodils - Must be the minis since they bloom first every year

 

Hyacinths to the right of the front porch

Hyacinths to the left of the front porch.

Now back to the game at hand. Watching NC State vs Virginia Tech softball. Go, Wolf Pack!

Hello, August!

There are no complaints here from me so far with August. Typically one of our hottest months, this year has brought cool temps. I actually turned off the A/C for a day because the high was only 77 degrees! But enough about the weather. It is August which means all sorts of things have kicked off.

First up is the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge. The selected number was 5, which is my flag quilt. I made this quilt through guild with a teacher they had brought in from Tennessee or West Virginia maybe? Can't quite remember since it was back in 2014. Anyway, her name is Sandi Blackwell and her technique was called Square-agonals. It was quite cool the way we sewed up rail fence squares, then cut this way, relaid out the top, and cut and sewed again to made a beautiful rectangular quilt. Here's a picture of my finished quilt top.

Some of my fellow guild members were unsatisfied with the end result because you will notice that the outside edges get cut off. Doesn't bother me but then again, I'm pretty easy to please!

August 1st also brought the start-up of a couple of knit-a-longs for me. I joined them through two different Ravelry groups. The first group is Loopy Groupies from The Loopy Ewe, a yarn shop that started here in St. Louis but several years ago moved to Ft. Collins CO. The KAL is Summer Camp and I've been assigned to the Loopasaurus Camp. The requirements are strict: Must have bought your yarn from The Loopy Ewe no earlier than July 12th; pattern needs to be dated 2015 or later AND use 800+ yards; and you start the project no sooner than August 1 and it must be completed, photographed, and uploaded to the site by August 31. I chose Colorful Wedges Baby Blanket. I figure my Grandma Hope Chest can't get too full! Hahaha! Anyway, I cast on on Aug 1 and here's my progress so far.

Wedges 1 & 2 complete and the third one is coming right along. The bottom wedge is actually a bit redder than the picture portrays. The yarn balls above in green, orange, & purple are the three wedges after the blue. There is always the gray in between. This is such a fun project and I'm loving it!

The 2nd knit-a-long is a Mystery KAL through Very Busy Monkey, a designer that I found on Ravelry. We are all knitting her Anthology pattern. She has a shawl and a sock one and I could choose one or the other or both. I opted on the socks since it was unusual that I didn't have a pair of socks on my needles at the time. I ALWAYS have a pair of socks going! Anyway, not a lot of progress so far.

You can just make out the pattern beginning to develop after the ribbed cuff. See it? only four rows in of the pattern. Need to get going on this!

The clues to this MKAL come out on Tuesdays in August (1st, 8th, 15th, and 22nd). We have until September to complete our chosen project and get it photographed and uploaded to her site. I believe prizes may be involved! Speaking of prizes, I was hoping my beautiful stitch markers would arrive in the mail today. Really wanted to replace that generic green one with a fun one! Oh well, next week I suppose ...

Speaking of next week, have a terrific weekend! I'm going to cozy up with stitching or knitting. Not sure yet which one, but you can be sure I'll be working on something! So until next time ....

Quilt Show Month!

My local guild (Hearts 'n' Hands, O'Fallon IL) is having their biannual quilt show. We have over 270 quilts entered! That is mind-blowing!!! If you are in the area the weekend of June 10-11, come on out! I am sure you will be impressed. If you miss it this year, you'll have to wait until 2019!

My progress for the quilt show is really good ... for me! I'm entering three quilts. Two are totally done and the third only needs its label attached! Might be a good project for today actually.

I wish I could show you an updated picture of my clam shells. They are in the same PHYSICAL state as before. However, I have since formulated my plan and need to prepare the remaining fabrics and get that project going. I think Irene Blanck is amazing with this technique. I love how the Australian quilters are so focused on handwork. Anyway, stay tuned on this project because I do plan on getting back to it soon!

Speaking of Irene, I've been appliqueing away on the Mosaics pattern. I would love to tell you that I'm almost done with the center medallion but not yet. However, I'm making progress and will be excited to take it to Denver later this month to show my sister. She was present when I picked out my background fabric and then, after I'd flown home, I asked her & my mother to go back to the store and pick out 1/4 yard pieces of the Jinny Beyer fabrics I had earlier eyeballed. The only direction I gave her was 3 blues, 3 reds, 3 purples, and 3 golds ... or something like that. Anyway, my sister is rather particular when she picks out her fabrics and can't believe I'm just "winging it" with their random fabrics! I keep reminding her that it's a scrappy project and it'll be just fine! Hahaha!

As for the APQ 2017 UFO Challenge, May was a complete bust. I noticed Project #10 is up next for June, which cracked me up since June 10 is my daughter's birthday. That should be inspiration, right? Anyway I see that my #10 is Hugs & Kisses, designed by Gundrun Erla. I used Kansas Troubles fabrics and the top is assembled. Once again I need to get the quilting done! No excuses since I'm pretty sure that even borders are in place. I'll have to double-check that though.

Unfortunately I have some rather bummer news ... Remember I was busy with a Mystery Knit-a-Long? Well, after working really hard to catch up with the clues, I discovered that I had been knitting on 2-sizes-too-large needles! UGH!!!! That certainly explains the huge piece I have going plus the loose weave! Jeezy, Peezy! I started the 2nd triangle with the correct size and it is certainly considerable smaller with just the first few rows. I will be frogging my first piece and not worrying about catching up. There is just no way and I'd rather enjoy my knitting instead of working at break-neck speed.

I also took a tatting class from our renowned tatting guild member. With all the knitting I had been doing, my fingers were pretty much locked up and not working that shuttle too good. However, I've been practicing when I could and watching YouTube videos and I must admit it seems to be getting easier. I never did learn how to connect my picots and I'm hoping that lesson will be coming up on YouTube soon. Next tatting class is June 15th!

Yesterday the roofers arrived. We were hit with hail back at the beginning of March and repairs are underway. I have a simple project I'd like to start (and finish?) today to drown out the banging of the new roof. I've been enjoying the French Open Tennis so I've also got my label and clam shells on tap for handwork!

Happy stitching to all and don't forget to come to our Quilt Show June 10-11!