One of those weeks!

This week I planned on finishing the baby quilt. I had it all ready to quilt and that is when my machine decided to break, ugh. It seems the lever in the last thread slot is broken, so she is at the shop being fixed.

Then my husband goes down to the basement and there is water on the floor. An outside pipe is leaking and soaking into the basement, so we had to have our water shut off. The plumbers have to get a permit to dig in that area so they won't be back till monday. I spent one day learning how much I need running water, lol. Our neighbor let us hook a hose up to her house, so now we have water, though it smells like new hose, definitely not something I will use for drinking or cooking.

I worked on my quilt and decided to add my own touch. The original has stars and eagles but I wanted to add a little touch of my own to the borders and since it is americana, I went with red and yellow.

I tried getting a good shot, but the wind kept blowing it, but you can get the general idea. I will be doing black outline stitches around the appliques and in the blocks.

The design is by Barbara Brackman. It is called Union Cradle Quilt and can be found in her book, Civil  War Women.

Finished Quilt Top!

I can't believe I actually finished something, lol. I am starting to get back my motivation and working on finishing what I start and it is a good feeling. Of course the idea of quilting it, is overwhelming, but I have decided to look at it, as a section at a time, starting with the middle and working out. That way I can decide on the design I want to use for each part and fit the design to the patterns and shapes. At least that is the plan, I may get crazy and make a mess;)

I hope those who are in the paths of the storms and fires, stay safe and my prayers are with you all.

I went with a hit and miss border, then a dark red cloth, that my friend Kelley gave me for amish quilts. It is a nice weight but softer to the touch, so nice for a border and my binding. The main fabrics are from the 1862 Battle Hymn collection, by Barbara Brackman.

This makes it look like the border is thin, but I couldn't wait till it got darker, since I would have had to use a flash and I wanted to try an outdoor shot. I am not sure if I like the brighter white shirtings, I might have to soak it in tea after I quilt it?

My bad editing made the red look more purple, but is a really dark red, so goes nicely against the other red shades.

Civil War Quilt Progress!

I worked some more on my quilt and I like how it came out.
I wanted to use the blocks that I cut out, but in a unique way, so I played around and came up with this design. I added the red border, without thought to size, so of course the blocks wouldn't fit evenly around it, so I added an extra blue piece, in-between. Once I got that on, I added another row of blue, with red in the corners. This is the result.

This is how it looks and fits on my bed. Now I have to decide on the outer borders, using the jelly roll. Maybe some keys going around, will think on it. I may add some appliqué in the center and I may do some free motion designs, will think on it;) The fabric is from Barbara Brackman's 1862 Battle Hymn line. The shirting is from Judy Rothermel fabrics.

Civil War Quilt!

I decided I needed to start my summer quilt since it is summer and I need one.
I wanted to keep it simple, so I used the technique found at Jennifer's Blog.
I was gifted a layer cake and a jelly roll from Barbara Brackman, for her 1862 Battle Hymn Fabric. I used some as the dresses in my Davis girls and the rest is going into this quilt.

Here is some of the blocks, I was playing with them and nothing was coming to me, it just wasn't working in a way I liked.


The colors are reds, blues and browns, with shirtings as the contrasting color.

So, I gave up and then went back later and started playing again. I wanted to get an idea of what I was going to do, so I can decide what other fabrics I might need for a full design. And this is what I came up with, I love how this looks. This gave me another idea from an antique quilt I saw and liked, so I will incorporate some of that quilt into this one, so this is the start and will be the middle section.

Here is the base of my quilt, I will be working around this piece and adding a few surprises;)

Davis's Girls Progress!

Today I pieced the middle three blocks together and then I was able to add the butterflies and birds.
On the original, they are left plain, but I might do some simple stitching in them, later, we shall see.

The original has orange butterflies, so I used some of my hand dyed wool that is more of an orange red.
The tree pattern was done by folding the fabric in half and then cutting them out, I think mine came out a bit too thick. Three more ladies to go, then I can start adding the sashing.

The pattern is from the book, "Civil War Woman", by Barbara Brackman.

Yesterday we were able to get out for a walk, before the rains came. The swans were out, but no babies yet.

Fabric choices and Giveaway Prizes!

Last week I went to the quilt stores to find something that matched the blue and white that would match what is in the Jefferson Davis's Daughter quilt, by Barbara Brackman, that I am working on. Of course there was nothing like it or in the shades I wanted, so this is what I found. The darker blue will be the sashing, it seems a lot brighter in the photo. The reproduction border fabric is from the abe lincoln collection, that is all I remember.

What do you think of these fabrics? I am finishing up the second tree and then I can sew the middle section together and add the rest of the appliqués.

I also won a few wonderful giveaways this month. Deborah O'Hare has a wonderful blog, actually two and I have been following her for over a year, her pieces inspire me to create my own art pieces. I won the book, Seaside Home, and I love it. It has a lot of patterns to make things for the home, or summer cottage.

This is Deborah's pattern, I plan on making it and changing it a little by adding inspirational words to the stones. Deborah has done that in one of her patterns and she said it was ok, if I used her idea in my piece.

I also participated in the 100 blocks, blog hop and I did win a copy from Nancy at One Stitch at a Time, I also won a free pattern from Cyndi of Carter Creek Quilts. It is a wonderful pattern and will look beautiful in a lot of different colors and fabrics. 

I was finally able to get out for a paddle, a nice way to spend Mother's Day. It was a beautify day and there were so many wonderful birds out, and I didn't have my good camera with the zoom. I had to use my waterproof camera, so this is the best I could get from the photos I took. I need to find a larger, waterproof case for my  new camera.

This is my bow, as usual, it got windy and I had to paddle against the wind, most of the day. I also had a tetanus shot friday, so you could say, it wasn't an easy paddle, but well worth it;)

Jeff Davis's Daughter Three!

I finished my third lady today, love the fabrics from Barbara's 1862 Battle Hymn fabric. It looks beautiful for the dresses and this quilt. Her flag stick is bent, I might fix it, I might not, lol. On this one, I added some laces, what do you think? I was thinking of adding the laces at the top, but I wanted to keep it simple and prim.

Also, for those of you who would like to win some goodies of your own, Chris at We Love Quilting is having another monthly giveaway. You won't be disappointed, she send wonderful boxes of goodies, a very generous lady.

Quilt Show Finale!

Here are the last of the photos. There were a lot of beautiful quilts and a lot of primitive and art pieces, but I didn't get shots of them all. These quilts just stood out to me and ones that I thought all types of quilters would enjoy.

The ones on the walls were the hardest to photograph. To be truthful, they really didn't hang the quilts that well, it seemed like they were put up in a rush.

This one is so beautiful, wonderful use of 3 D and art mediums.

Of course I had to take a shot of our state bird, lol.

A Barbara Brackman pattern, have always loved this one.

Imagine the work that went into this one, just gorgeous in person.

Beautiful appliqué work.

A block that I love and would like to do someday.

Two beautiful quilts, great fabrics.

And a very abstract quilt with lots of colors and fabrics. I think it is fun and great artwork.

This is the booth from our local Folk Art Quilt Shop. I was surprised that she had more brights and modern fabrics at the show. 

And this is Leslie from the Pfaff shop. She had lots of beautiful pieces and demonstrations, but this is a local store, so I can shop when I need something.

I hoped you enjoyed the show, and found some inspiration in some of the beautiful pieces. I have been lazy this week, Bill was away and then goes back out tomorrow, so we have been doing things together and I haven't been getting many projects done;)

Liberty Punch Needle!

It has been a slow week, Bill is away on a trip and he gave me his bug, before he left.
I have been getting some things done around the house and finally finished my Uncle Sam punch needle. I think I need a new needle, mine has been dropped too many times and either I have a bad needle, or my punching is not up to par, so need to buy a new one.

The design is by Brenda Gervais of Country Stitches. I decided to make it into a flat piece and attached a piece of wool to the back. This way I could put double backed rug tape on it and attach it to my candle holder. After the summer, I can just remove it, without hurting the piece or the wood. It is a great way to redecorate for the different seasons.

I also had some library books that were due back. So, before I took them back, I scanned the pages from the patterns I wanted to make. This one is from Barbara Brackman's book; Facts and Fabrications, Unraveling the History of Quilts and Slavery. I love the simplicity with the touch of appliqué on the corners, I think this would make a nice quilt for my bed too;)