Finally Fall

Happy Official Autumn! (in the North)
One of my favorite quilts for fall "Harvest Baskets" ala Gwen Marston inspiration.

It was so cool that we made a fire and sat out.  Marvelous!  My boys look like twins :)

New Flash:  I have a new item in my Etsy Shop - a 1 oz. white basting glue with a mirco tip and build in cap. $5.00 plus shipping.

 I'm working on my 2nd Whig Rose Block.  I don't get much time to sit these days but when I do I love stitching on this project.

End of the season for my annuals.  I really enjoyed this mix.

 I LOVE moss roses (portulaca).  They open everyday when the sun comes out.

I'll plant more of this next year~ they are drought resistant too.

I did a little fall decorating by my kitchen sink...you know where I'll enjoy it often.  The cardinal was glowing on this rainy day.

 My theme was New England houses.

 Easy Food Hack:
Spread refrigerated crescent rolls with pesto (this is a Costco brand and is excellent!) sprinkle with cheese and bake.

I was very luck to get this last photo - they go very quickly here!

Lastly, I hung my Sumptuous Stars EPP Star quilt for the fall.  It is always fun to see old friends.  I use the Hang it Dang It  and as I've said before:  it is the PERFECT accessory for hanging quilts.

It's Fair Weekend - woo hoo!!! Hope you are doing something fun too.
xo

A Day in The Life

Thank you to all who left such nice comments here and on FB about my Alice Payne Quilt.  She and I appreciate it so much!

The blog reader "Quilt Granma" asked about this quilt, so I thought I'd share it again with better photos.

It was inspired by a quilt in "New Jersey Quilts Book" in this photo.

I had to piece the red fabric to get the look from the one in the original quilt.

two prints on the back.

 So important to make those labels!

The catalog "beauty shot".

 Don't worry, coco came out to make sure I was doing it right.

My friend, Barbara S. who co-authored the NJ book, made a beautiful version.

read about here on her blog.

Random things that happened this week to take my mind off the world:

In an effort to control and fix something, I cleaned my pantry (first time in over 4 years....just saying.)

I gave a houseplant a haircut.

I made some blocks from this quilt in Julie's collection.

Too orange and too big.....

better.....

coco had a surprise visit from her gentleman friend (I use that term very loosely) Scooby.

Mr. Starbuck took a nap on not one, not two, but 3 quilts.

Well that's all for now folks.  My heart goes out to the people of San Juan, Las Vegas and anyone who is struggling or suffering in any way.  The world is hard sometimes.

xo

Spring is coming!

Spring is Coming according to Puxtatauney Phil - woo hoo

In the US you can watch the movie almost all day.  It's one of Bill Murray's best.

Winner Winner!

katyquilts.netJanuary 27, 2017 at 5:25 PM

I would love to win this! I have just the quilt top to use it in! Thanks for the chance to win!

Congratulations Katy.  Send me your address and I'll ship my new stencil to you this weekend.

Everyone Wins!  Use coupon code LOVE20 to get 20% off everything in my Etsy Shop from now until February 14th.  Click here to visit my shop.

I've almost finished my Stars in a Time Warp quilt.  

There are a lot of ends to bury.  Do you clip or bury your stops and starts?   

Here are my January Log Cabin Sew Along blocks.    I'm in Bea's group with the modern makers and she also has links to all participants.

Happy Chinese New Year - The Year of the Rooster

We had a visit from this gorgeous hawk yesterday.

He was keeping his eye on everything - including us.

I've rededicated myself to planning.   Are you a planner?  Stickers seem to make it more fun.

Have a wonderful week and I'll be back soon~
xo

doll quilt, stars and birds, oh my!

I've been staying home lately and very keeping busy.  Winter is so good for that.

First up:  A Little Doll Quilt for Diane.  (Kelly - recognise the shoofly?)

Here's the pieced back.  I "made do" with scraps of this because I knew Diane would like it.  I also like that it makes it look like a full sized quilt.

I tea dyed it to make it look vintagy and older.

Here is the before shot.  The blues are a brighter and the shirtings lighter.

Here we Sew Again - I re-pinned this quilt for machine quilting.  I started this project in 2011.  Can you believe that?  It has a long, sad story that I hope ends in redemption.

Here are the steps I take to get ready to machine quilt:

I move my ironing board to support the quilt weight.

I always start with a fresh needle.  I consult this sheet from a magazine that I keep in my thread drawer (it only took me 20 years to do this :)

Get my top and bottom thread picked out and spin some bobbins.

Clean my bobbin well really well.

I also like to use these Steady Betty bands that Susan gave me.  They help move the quilt without hurting your shoulders.  I only use the left one, and I grab with my right hand.

After having some slipping issues, I altered them to fit my hand better.  

Action shot.

I'm normally not a timer, but I thought I'd see how long it takes to quilt one fan.  They have 10 arc lines each.  Time included all starts, stops, clipping and unpinning.  Not bad!

Here is the size of a fan section.

All those starts and stops makes for lots of thread trims!  This is my second batch.  I think I'll toss this in the woods, maybe a bird with use it for nesting material.  Did I say birds?

Bird Alerts!
I saw a Raven in the yard a couple of weeks ago.  They are amazing.  I saw it swoop over the yard and pick up a snack and take it back to the branch to eat.  Yikes.

Do you see what I see?  I saw this flash in the woods and grabbed the binoculars and camera.  (boy was it dreary yesterday)

A Pileated Woodpecker! (better photos on the link)   We played peek-a-boo.  This is only the second sighting of him.

He is moves very fast around a tree, then it is on to the next.  I moved from room to room to keep watching until he was gone.  These photos are with my highest zoom then enlarged on the computer so aren't great.

Today is Westering Women day!  I'm off to see it and I'll be posting my 2nd block on IG #westeringwomen and #westeringwomensewalong.   I'm also going to be posting the blocks of 2 Illinois friends here soon.

xo