Saturday, September 1, 2018

Hello September!

Finally!! Fall is soooo my favorite season.  Always has been!!  What's your favorite season?



I'll be changing out my decor today from summer to September... which for me is not just summer to fall.  Autumn is so rich and deep for me.  As a retired teacher, September has an important place in my heart...Back to School.  So, I have a tub of things I put out in my home just for the month of September!!  Here are some of the school themed quilts I will be pulling out today!









The weather here in northern Virginia is sure not fallish in any way.  It's cloudy here today with showers forecasted...temps in the 90's!  UGH!!  Can't wait for the temps to get cooler!!

So, what are you working on these days?  Has fall arrived where you are yet?



Tuesday, August 28, 2018

Yay! I'm Back!!

I know, I know!  It's been so long since I posted....but in my defense, my old laptop was a royal pain to use...took FOREVER to boot up and was often quite uncooperative!  It does seem unfair that laptops aren't made to last very long!  I got that one when I retired, which was only 6 years ago and its practically obsolete!!  Anyhoo, I finally finished researching brands and options and bought a new one!  And it's so small and light, it can fit in a purse!!  Love it!!  Took me a few days to go through all my photos and files on my old one, and clean out and delete a bunch.  But, I'm up and running!!  Yay!! The only bother is that I take all my photos with my iPhone these days, and the iCloud  app for PC's does not work well!  UGH!  So it's a bit of a workaround to get the photos onto my laptop for posting here.. oh well!  I hope to post lots more often now!  No excuses, right?


I took a class given through our local guild here, with Shannon Shirley called Bottles and Blooms.  Because the bottles are all hand embroidered before appliqueing them onto the background, it did take me a year or so to get them all done.


Then I devised my own bloom design, as Shannon's way would have taken me at least another 3 years to do!!



I am very pleased how it turned out! I had been saving that cool black and white bunny fabric for something special and this was just the thing!!


I'll be hanging it there in my hall every spring!!  Yay!


And speaking of spring, I also made this cute little 12" mini quilt to use in my kitchen for spring.


Machine appliqued then thread painted the edges to make it look furry!  


I had fun free motion quilting the background around the bunny with tulips and bugs and grass and a spider on her web, too!!  Hope you can see it in the photos!



We are still missing sweet Yogi, but our grandson Neal keeps us going!!  


It is scary how fast he is growing!!   


He loves pretending with  Poppi, that saved wine corks are big rocks to be hauled by his trucks!!  


So What are you making these dog days of summer?  I am longing for fall...how about you?





Tuesday, June 19, 2018

Forgot this one...

I can't believe I forgot to show you my Bee Happy quilt!


How many of you made Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage sewalong quilt?

Did you love it?  Find it a pain half-way through?  





I sewed along and really loved making it! 





My piecing skills definitely improved doing all those pictoral blocks with all those tiny pieces.  





But my friends who made the FGV quilt, did not choose to make Lori's next sewalong quilt- the Bee Happy quilt.





Now FGV quilt was all piecing, whereas the Bee Happy quilt was all applique!





Lori does her own method of hand applique, but I used Soft Fuse and made mine with machine applique.






Really do love how it turned out!!





It did take awhile to choose the fabrics for each block, cut, arrange, fuse and stitch the pieces in place.





I used my stash of leftover FGV fabrics to make the quilt.


It does make me happy to look at!!


Did you make it?  I'd sure love to see your version!!


My older son got married the first weekend in June!  The wedding was beautiful and we so love his new wife!!  Aren't they a gorgeous couple?


And my grandson Neal continues to grow up waaay too fast!!


So, what are you working on these days?