Monthly “Minis and More” Quilt Done!!

I was infinitely sad to hear some weeks back that the “A Schnibble a Month” group was being dissolved after how many years… 7?  8??

Then a few weeks later, Sherri from the blog- A Quilt Life, announced we would start up again under a new name- “Minis and More”.

This month’s  project is a mini called “Summer Star Mini”, a new design by Sherri herself!

It was made from 2 1/2” mini charm squares from Moda’s “Beach House” collection.

The whole quilt is made from squares and half-square triangles.  Easy peasy!!

I have it in my morning room!  I love it!!

This is my last week before my knee replacement surgery on July 6th…

so I’m busy getting last minute stuff done!!

I’m not scared or nervous, but really excited for the surgery that will allow me eventually to walk without pain!!  Quality of life!

Yogi wants to know what you are up to these long hot “dog days” of summer?

Happy Father’s Day!!

Happy Father’s Day to my dear Daddy in Orlando!!

Happy Father’s Day to my dear husband, Al!!

Two of the most wonderful men and dedicated fathers I know!!  Have a great day!!

Farm Girl Vintage Catch-Up!

My bee friends and  I are really enjoying Lori Holt’s Farm Girl Vintage Sew-Along on her blog- Bee In My Bonnet.

The online Sew-Along, which debuts a new block or two every Friday, started on May 1st, when I was frantically sewing up some new clothes for our upcoming cruise. 

Then I was gone on the cruise for three weeks, so I’ve spent the last few weeks since getting home catching up on the blocks I missed, and also collecting more fabrics for the style of the quilt.  I’ve never been a small print fabric lover… the thirties were never my “thing”, so I had none in my stash…so you know what that means-

        TIME TO SHOP!!  LOL!!

In order to keep the many tiny pieces needed for each block organized, I made six small mini-design boards according to Lori’s online tutorial found HERE! 

Also, the Fat Quarter Shop sells small hard plastic pieces with the alphabet and numbers on them, which help you keep all those small pieces organized to coordinate with Lori’s lovely directions.

I’ll show you a photo of the organized cut pieces for each block, and then the finished block! Here are my blocks so far, starting with “Apron Strings” block on May 1st-

May 8th included two blocks- “Autumn Star”

 

and “Baby Chick”-

May 15th included two blocks-  “Baking Day”

and “Butter Churn”

May 22nd included two blocks- “Canning Season”

and “Chicken Foot”

May 29th included two blocks- “Churn Dash”

and “Cool Threads”

June 5th included two blocks- “Corn and Tomatoes”

and “Country Crossroads”

June 12th included two blocks - “Crops”

and “Egg Basket”

I’ve been living with a good deal of pain in my knees for a few years, but it’s been getting really bad lately, so I decided to get it checked out.  I went to my orthopedic doctor on Tuesday, and he told me both my knees are beyond bone on bone and are no longer aligned at all and need to be replaced.  The right one is the worst, so we will start with that one on July 6th!  So, I’ll be trying to get ahead on the Farm Girl Vintage blocks and get some projects lined up that I can do by hand downstairs.   My sewing room is upstairs, so won’t be able to do the stairs for a while!!  So, any of y’all out there already have had one or two total knee replacements?  Any words of wisdom to share??

Yogi is really worried about my upcoming surgeries…

Catching Up!

I’ve been really busy since we got back from our cruise!!  First we had our annual local quilt show!

It was fun seeing the quilts and visiting the vendors with my dear bee friends!

I was well behaved and only purchased some gorgeous hand dyed wool pieces!

Our new local quilt shop here in Haymarket- “Oh Sew Persnickety”, is participating in this summer’s Row-By-Row Experience quilting activity.

I designed their Row By Row this year!  Woo hoo!

The theme this summer is water.  Most shops designs are all about the beach and ocean, so we wanted something different!

Our design is simple- four umbrellas in a row.  Three standing in the traditional direction, but one upside down with a little bird perched on the handle.

After I put it all together, it really needed a little something MORE… so I added long tube-like silver beads sewn on randomly by hand.

It was just the right embellishment!

Yogi has finally stopped following us around all the time… and is back to normal!!