A New Year, A New Quilt!

Even though I have a ton of unfinished projects I wanted to make something for me, just for fun. I started the Bible Quilt by Jan patek and got one block done. Seems to take me long to stitch with my stiff hands and my applique is pathetic, but I am enjoying the process, so imperfections are fine.

I am using older material that my friend sent me, but wondering if it is too thin for a quilt. I wanted it to look time work, so mixing up the blocks and if it seems too bright with the lighter fabrics, I can always tea stain it. The fabric I used on this one is the lightest, more of a yellowed white, but I wanted to lighten it, so you could see the fabrics in the appliqués.

No matter how much I measure and plan, my placements are always off, but that will just add to the naivette of it;) This will be a display piece so I am not too worried about it getting washed a lot, just so it hold together when I do.

I am using mostly homespuns and civil war type prints, so fun picking out colors for each piece. As  you can see, I make my circles by hand, so none are the same or perfectly round.

I hope everyone has a safe and wonderful New Years. Blessings to you and your families.

Pumpkins and Prizes!

I had another small piece that my friend Kelley sent me, and it reminded me of autumn. I hand stitch the top with lana wool thread, starting out with a design and then decided it was easier to do a basic stitch in the ditch with an X in the middle. I wanted to add applique, so it was silly to do anything that will be covered up by the appliques and since it is a table topper, it will have something on top.

I used appliques from two different books by Jan Patek. I liked the pumpkin in one and the crow in another. I kept it simple and like how it came out, something nice to use for fall.

The chalk marks still show, I need to rinse it off.

A nice surprise today was a package from Stacey of Buttermilk Basin. I was one of the lucky winners of one of her giveaways and today I received my wonderful goodies. I love what she sent and just in time for Easter. We have a storm heading our way tonight, so perfect timing. I can work on these two projects and have something new to decorate with. She even sent the wools and threads for the kit. The striped piece is a dish towel and I will be putting the bunny on the end, I just love that.

She even sent me a little Chocolate bunny, a really special treat for a dreary day.

Wacky Angel Quilt!

A few years ago, Jan Patek had a free pillow as part of the Christmas blog hop. Of course I had to mess with it and make it into a quilt. I finally finished it, though I am beginning to wonder if I should redo her hair and I am not pleased with the layout and how the letters sit above her. Usually I would antique something like this, but I might change some things, so I will leave it for now.

I went back to the page for the pattern, but it is no longer available. A good thing to remember when you see something for free, get it while you can.

I wanted to add the word peace and keep it simple. Then I decided to add hair, she does not look too peaceful now, lol. I think she needs a new hairdo;)  I did a black outline stitch on the borders, then I decided to use my wool aurifil to do a stitch around the angel and then rays going out from that.

Angels Quilt Top Finished!

Today I finished the quilt top and made my quilt sandwich for quilting. I added a new block with a sisters saying which I found as a friend saying and changed the one word. I added some strips, cut a little here and there and fit them all together. It measures 68" x 47" with the border/binding. When I finish the quilting I will fold the border to the back to use as the binding.

I decided to do this the easy way and used fusible batting, a bit stiff but I wanted to put it together without pins, though I did add a few just to stabilize it  better. My plan was to do black running stitches on the inside of the quilt blocks, but I need to decide how to quilt the rest? I left some things undone, so I can do that stitching with the batting in, to give it more depth and more areas that are tacked down.

My sister is still waiting for a time to have her mastectomy which is the next step, so I have time to quilt it before she goes in and comes home. I will start quilting tomorrow, so any ideas or suggestions are always appreciated.

I had to take a photo in a darker room, but once I quilt it, I can take a straight shot and hopefully show all the detail. The appliqués are from pattern books by Jan Patek; Angels and Say it with flowers, and a few of my own touches.

Quilting and Cooking with Moki!

I guess there is no escaping the cold that is going around, do not need to be sick right now. I got some more of my quilt done, though not as much as I would like, but it will get done.

I made this sunflower block, since my sister likes sunflowers and added a saying. I think it needs something in the upper part, but not sure what, maybe a few words like hope, strength?

Not a great color shot, bad light tonight and I am too miserable to try too hard;) This block was from a book by Jan Patek, called Say it with Flowers.

And I decided to make spaghetti for dinner, a good cold killer. I add hot pepper and a red pepper to my sauce, both great antioxidants. Before I knew it, Moki appeared and eager to help. Good thing I was done cutting and that was a piece I was throwing away;)

 Yesterday, the hawk was visiting. He perches on the tall tree in the back of my yard and watches the field below. Lots of field mice to keep him satisfied.

Reindeers Finished!

I finally finished my reindeer piece. I added the word joy, but couldn't picture adding more words, so I went with snowflakes. Not really what I planned, but it will have to be good enough. I tend to make things and if I don't like them, that's life, I hate redoing things;) I think this would be fun to do in a smaller piece with wools or as a punch needle too. Maybe I will give this one to my daughter. I took a night photo, so kept it cropped so you could see the details better. The right side is the same and there is a darker red border on the sides. I didn't realize the other red was more pink but I actually like the shade with the yellowed homespun and blacks. If  you like the design, you can get it from Jan Patek Quilts.

Tomorrow I will try and do an outdoor shot and see if I can get true colors.

I wanted to try a video of the kitties and Izzy was in a playful mood. I thought I might be able to take video and use one of the frames as a photo, but they were all fuzzy, so need to figure that one out. Izzy is a jumper and will go to any length to catch things. It is hard to throw and shoot, so I will have to try cat nip next time;)

As you can see at the end, she stays away from Moki, who sits and gives her the look, he likes to intimidate her. Now that Dora is not harassing him, he has taken that position in the house.

Reindeer Progress!

I did some more work on my reindeers. I added the birds and used buttons for eyes.
I decided to make collars on the reindeer and used rusty bells for a fun touch. I added buttons on the tree and still not happy with my tree, so will have to think about that. The next step is to add the border, I am just going with the border on mine, not the stars on the top. Then the batting and some black outline stitch and maybe a christmas greeting around the tree area. The pattern is by Jan Patek.

Animals, two by two!

I added a few more things this weekend. I finished Mrs. Noah and the tree and then added some animals. I took the elephants from the Country Days book, but I think they look a bit babyish, so I can going to add tusks to mine.



On the right side I went with zebras. I used the horse pattern and traced it out a little differently, then used this fun striped fabric that my friend kelly gave me. Later I will add birds and some will go on a back or two. I think it is coming out a little wonky, trying to keep it with the bottom lines for layout, but my brain is wonky too, so wonky it shall be;)

Still waiting for the camera part, it is supposed to come on the 15th, but I sure wish they would hurry, so maybe I could get some shots that show the colors better. So, you will have to bear with me and look at my horrid photos for now;)

Noah's Ark!

I was going to wait to take a photo, but I thought I would show you my progress. The picture is horrid, but i have to put up with my old camera which only has 5 mp's, so even in light the photos aren't great. I am using the book Noah, by Patek, Brannock and Kimmel. I plan on adding a few embellishments like a beard, etc, after I finish stitching the piece. I just wanted something fun to work on and I will hang it over my double doors. The space is narrow, so the piece will be 9" by 68" long. I will probably add a black border just to frame it, since it can't be too big. After I sew Mrs Noah and the tree, I will start adding animals and then see what space is left and throw some birds in the empty areas.

Today I started out feeling horrid, but then I went out for a swim and felt good enough to do some garden work. I have two yellow squashes almost ready and the beans should be ready for this weekend. Just wish the tomatoes would ripen, next year I have to start earlier. I really appreciate all of your comments and well wishes. My brain works on and off, so I can only do so much thinking in one day;)

Rain Rain, Go Away!

I guess I can't expect every day to be perfect, we had three in a row, lol.
Yesterday we stayed home and walmart was the big fun for the day;)
Today it was overcast and rain predicted, and my back feels like someone ran over me with a truck, guess all that paddling finally set in. But, I had to take a walk at least, so we went to the point to get out before the rain came. The rain never did come but my back is so bad, a walk was enough for today.

I love to walk when it is cooler, the sea breezes feel so good and the air so clean.
How would you like to live on this island, talk about an ocean view.



The seals are gone and the cormorants have taken over the rocks. They seals leave, once it gets too warm.



I got a nice surprise in the mail from my friend Kelley. A box full of fabrics and a new book. Lots of homespuns, prim and some art pieces to have fun with and the book has some wonderful patterns I can make. Check out her blog, she has a free pattern that would be fun to punch or hook.

More Wool Quilt Blocks

Today I was resting, seem to have got a bug or something.
Sewing is something I can do in my lap and easy on the brain;)

Yesterday I laid out the blocks I had done and figured out a basic layout and then drew up a diagram of what I had and what I needed to fill in space. Today I used a darker brown and a really plush dark red brown for backgrounds. They seem to be a good mix with the black and tans. I have three more blocks to go, two are small, so I will work on those this week to get them done.

I made the cats and the stars early this week. I needed something that was longer and had a patek book with the big kitty and matching smaller ones. So, I made this block, which I call, Midnight stroll. The stars are a good way to fill in smaller areas.



Today I made the heart and the bird on flower. These are from a Whimsicals book. I love the fun and whimsical look of her designs. The flower was a smaller, so I blew it up to make a good perch for my bird. I still need to add details to the pieces, but for now I am just sewing.