Postcards to Share

When Sheila of Sheila's Quilt World invites us to participate in her postcard exchanges, I try to join in because it's challenging and a nice way to get in touch with other bloggers from, literally, around the world.  The last two exchanges are a good example of this.  See this beautiful giraffe?  It is fabric painted and stitched by Janet who blogs at Caribou Crossing Chronicles. What an elegant creature.  Thank you, Janet.

This is the postcard I made and sent to Janet  It made a long journey from New England in the U.S. up to the Northwest Territories to the Yukon.  Lucky postcard:)

I also joined in the December exchange and received this beauty from Virginia who is a Canadian but winters in Florida, so our cards just went up or down the east coast.  This card is lovely; the trees are on a net background and have glittery stars and balls.  It's so pretty. Thank you, Virginia. 

 This is the card I sent to Virginia.  As you can see I am in cross stitch mode. 

Thank you, Sheila, for organizing the swaps.  My collection of cards is growing and I like placing then on the door frames to add to the decorations for the season. 

We are having such a mild season so far that I still have flowers blooming.  They have a bit of a tired look to them, but I'm amazed that in December they are not quitting.

Have a wonderful week.

God Bless.

Back to Quilting

The Big Clean Out is still going on but is being turned over to the professionals.  They will be here this week to work in the cellar and attic areas and haul away stuff that nobody else seems to want but takes up lots of room.  But I am quilting.  I have a new sewing machine, one with a larger harp area, that I bought to make the quilting easier.  I can say I've broken it in because I have broken one needle and ripped out all of the stitching I did on this quilt last week.  It's going better today.  My little Kenmore is still my sweetheart, but this new machine, a Brother, hopefully will win my heart, too.  

I have a question.  The new machine comes with an extension table that I thought I would love, but I find that it has alot of drag, even after cleaning it.  I am thinking of getting a Slider.  If you have one can you tell me if it makes a difference for you?  

Have a wonderful weekend.

Keeping Paris in our prayers,

God Bless You.

Checking In

I haven't done much sewing or quilting for the past few weeks because I've been cleaning and throwing out stuff. It's a major clean out.  My family has lived in this house for 62 years, and some of what I'm finding seems to be at least that old.  It is a challenge, sometimes a tearful one,  but once I began I found that it gets easier to just keep filling the trash bags and getting them out of the house.  Not my fabric, sewing machines or rulers, mind you.  Just the stuff nobody wants.   Once this is done, I think I'll be able to focus again and spend time on more interesting things, like quilting.

Some of things I've thrown out have been clothes from the 1960's and 1970's, some of which were hats.  My generation, and those before us, grew up wearing hats.  I held on to this one.  Even if you would never wear this hat, and I'm sure that's all if not most of us,  you have to appreciate the workmanship.  By today's standards it's definitely over the top.

It's something else, isn't it?   So feminine.  It belonged to either my sister or mother.  

I have made the postcard for my swap partner who is in the Northwest Territories.  I can't share it yet because it hasn't been mailed but when I can I'll post a pic.  It's Christmas themed, which by the way is less than 2 months away.  I hope I have my life straightened out by then.

God Bless!

A Quilt Show

I went to a Quilt Show yesterday put on by a guild that I was seriously thinking of joining.  I wanted to join a guild because the only other quilters I know are you, my blogging friends.  Everything I've learned about quilting is from books or the Internet, and some television, but not much.  A big thank you to all of you who have shared your know-how.  I'm thinking of all of the quilt alongs I've joined over the years.  The online crafting community is really a wonderful thing.

As it turns out I'm not joining this guild because I don't think it would be a good fit for me.  There were some quilts that caught my eye that I will share.

I have not included the names and towns of the quilters, but if that is wrong and it's your quilt, let me know and I'll edit.

Little City Park.  A mother and daughter made this quilt, and the border is charming.  

The Purple Peacock.  The guild has a purple challenge going on, so there was alot of that color.  This peacock was so pretty and has alot of detail work.

Halloween Sampler.  This was the only Halloween quilt but cute.  The quilter appliqued images from different fabrics. 

I love those little pumpkin faces.

Open to Interpretation #4.  A very modern quilt. 

Quilty Barns; a Lori Holt pattern.  Love all of those traditional blocks.

Appalachian Trail.  The quilter hand quilted and hand appliqued this traditional design from Quiltmaker magazine.  The fabrics are 30's types.

Rick Rack Nines, a Bonnie Hunter design.  For all of the scrap lovers.

Cobblestone.  The quilter credits Joan Carpenter for teaching this pattern.

God Bless You and have a wonderful week.

My September Let's Book It

As I mentioned in my previous post, I chose this wall quilt, Pumpkin Patch, by Lynette Jensen for a  Let's Book It project for September.  If you don't know about Lets Book It, check it out on Sharon's blog, Vroomans Quilts,  and think about making something we all can ooh and aah over and get inspired by.  

My project is from the Thimbleberries book, Quilting for Harvest, and I'm in love with so many projects in this book that I might make all of them.  The book was published in 2006, so I'm only 9 years behind.  Why don't we have 48 hour days?  

God Bless You.

Borderless is Decisionless

The Country Cottage quilt top is finished, but not without much too much time spent trying to come up with a border that I like.  Yes, there is much to be said for a borderless quilt, for the simple reason that no time is wasted trying to come up with one.  If now you are thinking, "gee, what did Joanna finally create?"  Yes, what spectacular border did I finish with? 

 How's that for simple?

 This really is a beautiful quilt top.  I ordered a blue wide backing for it, and as soon as it arrives I'll start the quilting.  

 I had spotted a log cabin border that I loved, but it took me too long to make the sample block, so I ditched that idea.  However, I have to try it on something because it is a beautiful border.

Then I tried big flying geese, but they were just too large.

 Then I saw this in a Thimbleberries book, Quilting for Harvest.  The border is really flying geese set side by side.  I love this look.

 

  This border is just two fabrics, the green and blue.  I didn't have enough fabric, but this is another border I like and want to use in the future.

While I was looking for ideas for borders, I found this in the same Lynette Jensen book, and I think it's going to be my next Let's Book It project.  It'll be nice to work on an autumn project during our next heat wave due this week.  

  I have butterfly bushes and phlox that attract butterflies every year, and this year there seem to be quilt a few visiting them.  The other day there was one with beautiful blue spots, but I didn't get a picture. 

I didn't plant this sunflower, but it grew from a seed from last year's flower.

 Sometimes it pays not to  keep an overly neat yard.

I've fallen behind on some of my qal's, but even a not perfect garden requires attention and the grass just keeps on growing.  

Hope you are all having a wonderful day.

God Bless You.

A Cottage Year With a Different Look

 I put together the blocks for the A Cottage Year quilt.  I used a soft aqua blue and brown as the common colors and have only two rows of the border fabric.  I am using a layer cake for the borders and just don't have enough to make a third row, and that's fine.  I have to come up with a fabric to use for the sashing, and I think that will be challenging.  

I uploaded Windows 10 and have lost the photo editing features I was used to, so these are the best pics I can get right now until I figure out the new process.  

Enjoy your quilting time.

God Bless.

Coffee Grounds, A Year of Cottages and Kats

 I'm showing off my lily because this is the first year in about 4 or more years that it has bloomed, and the secret is coffee grounds.  This poor plant has been attacked by small red beetles every year, and nothing I did worked (I do not use poisons, just bee friendly, butterfly friendly and pet/people friendly things.)  I always throw coffee grounds in the garden and this year I threw them directly on this plant, just by accident.  I noticed after a few days that there were no beetles (after I picked off one.)  So every day this lily was covered by coffee grounds and every day it grew.  And it made me happy by blooming.  Now I'm using coffee grounds directly on any plants that show bug damage.  It's pretty darn good.

 This month we sewed a small portion of the non-black kats bodies together.  So I'm up to date on this project (PatchKats designed by Denise Russart.) 

 A week ago I completed the last little house in the A Cottage Year quilt, designed by Kathy Schmitz and shared with me by Lesley of The Cuddle Quilter.  I devoted whole days to getting the embroidery done and felt great when I cut that last floss.  But now I have to put them all together.  Not sure what I'm going to do.    

I like the way this looks, but have to get the right fabric mix for the log cabin strips that finish the block.

My apologies to Sharon of Vroomans Quilts for leaving out the quilt block charm from my "Let's Book It" prize.  When I opened the package I was so happy with the sewing machine that I stopped looking for anything else.  Isn't it neat?

I have a few more Lynette Jensen books that I'm drooling over, and I'm loving her quilt, "Twilight Village."  It's in The Thimbleberries Book of Quilts published in 1998, and it fits right in with the current house block designs that are popular.  I will probably work on it along with the Cottage Year quilt.  That should keep me busy for awhile.

Hope you are enjoying your quilting time.

God Bless You.

Canterbury Bells

A clowder of kats.

Bird House Finish

 

In A Thimbleberries Housewarming this design is called Hide Away.  My version is a bit brighter due to the yellow fabric.  

Besides having a sweet wall hanging, I was the lucky quilter who this month won the Let's Book It pin that Sharon of Vroomans Quilts awards to one of the participants.  This pin is the cat's meow!

How cute is this?  It reminds me of my grandmother's peddle Singer.  Thank you, Sharon.

I'm hooked on Lynette Jensen's designs now, and got this book from the library.  

I love the cover quilt.

It's a simple star block, but the color usage of the background neutrals just makes it different.

But, I also borrowed a Kim Diehl book and want to make every quilt in it.

As soon as I can get my head out of these books I'll start another project.

I'm recuperating from cutting the grass this afternoon; I picked the most humid day to do it, but I finished before the thunder storms moved in.  

Hope all is well and you get some sewing time.

God Bless!

A Bird House for Let's Book It

After completing the binding on the Stash Buster quilt this morning I began a new project.  I noticed that this is the Let's Book It week at Vroomans Quilts, and since I had pulled out my Thimbleberries' book to make this wall hanging, I got to it.  

I have everything cut out and the house put together.

It's going really fast and hopefully my next post will have the finished project decorating a wall.

God Bless.