Hi, I am not sure if I have already posted a picture of my Basket Sampler. This is done in Fig Tree fabrics and most of the blocks are from the Farmer's Wife Sampler book. I am now thread basting it and I am going to try to hand quilt it.  It is small as the blocks are all 6", so hopefully it will be managable.





This is the Yellow Brick Road twin top I made for a raffle for breast cancer survivors.. I am going to try to machine quilt it tomorrow, Sat. before we leave Sun. for our 3 day car trip to AZ. If I get all my gathering, packing and shipping done today, maybe tomorrow will be a quilting day!!!

Here are the hat and mittens I made for my little friend, Anna, who lives next door. The yarn kit is from Morehouse Farms, which has the BEST stuff for knitting.

Sunday we leave for AZ and should arrive on Tues afternoon. I hope you all have a happy New Year and please keep in touch.

Christmas House

Hi I've been working on the Little Garden House in Winter for a while and finally finished it. Now I need to find a home for it. This is from a kit from ShaggyFabrics.com. The runner is from them too.

 

Merry Christmas to all!

Dorothy and Chris (from England) came to visit Dorothy's son David and his family (they live in Libertyville) in Oct. Patty and I were fortunate to have Dorothy for a whole day and the three of us took a day trip to Wisconsin to visit 2 of my favorite quilt shops. The first was Mill House Quilts in Wanakee, WI and Dorothy admired the Tree Wallhanging Kit which was made up in the store. So I bought it and made it for Alyssa and Megan. Then finding the runner kit of the trees and star I bought that one too, for Sarah. I had fun making them, they were both rather challenging. Thanks once again, D, for inspiration. Then Patty, Dorothy and I also each bought a wool applique table thing of Santas and trees. How are you doing on yours?  I have mine cut and it remains to be seen if it will be done this year or next!!   

 Here are the pictures of the runner and wallhanging. I am working on trying to put them in better places on the post.
We went on from Wanakee, to JJ Stitches in Sun Prarie, WI and Dorothy and I both bought rather large kits of two beautiful quilts, different ones. This shop has kits and samples of mostly antique quilts made with reproduction fabrics. It is just a wonderful shop. I am taking mine, which is a tree quilt to AZ and will work on it this winter. We also stopped near Janesville, WI at Life's a Stitch shop, very nice in an old farmhouse. I found a custom machine quilter whose sample was beautiful, Marge West. After communicating with her, I sent her my Carrie Hall Sampler and she is going to work on it in the new year. She was very sweet and said she loved the quilt and was excited to quilt it.

 Hi, these are the five quilts that I had finished the tops  last May but had not done the machine quilting. This was a daunting task and I already had a number of other projects I wanted to work on.

 My first thought was to unpin the three I had already pinned and send all 5 of them to Joni Baumli. Joni is a wonderful long arm quilter, dedicated to all over designs (no custom quilting). After much deliberation I decided to send one to Joni and do the rest myself.

Now this is where it gets more complicated. How to quilt them? All over meandering --my default method or more elaborate designs. Well 2 were meandered and one has many different quilting designs (my best yet, if once again I can shine my own star) and one still needs to be quilted.

1. The top one - is called Fiesta, I was a kit, I love it and want to do something special and this will have to be done in the spring.
2. A Bright Log Cabin- it is from my scraps from bright projects and probably the 10th or 15th log cabin I have done from scraps. I think I am done with them, at least for a while. This one is going to Caroline.

  3. My (UGH) Spider Web Quilt. If you've read my blog you know this was not my favorite quilt. This one was meandered all over and will go to Alyssa and Megan eventually.
 

 4. This is a Nuts and Bolts quilt. I just love the fabrics. And because Dorothy Thompson, my English friend, made the same quilt and she is a wonderful machine quilter and will rarely do the "boring" meandering I was inspired (by D) to put some work into this one and it turned out really nice. Thanks D. If you click or double click on the pictures maybe you can see a close up of some of the quilting.

5. A Cracked Pot quilt. This is the second Cracked Pot quilt I did. It is just such a great pattern. I sent this one to Joni and she did a great job. This one is going to AZ with us. Should look wonderful anywhere in the house.

Lutheran World Relief Quilts for 2012

This is a picture of my 9th Lutheran World Relief quilt for 2012. I started in Sept. after the Quest for Quilts day I posted about previously. My goal is to personally make 24 LWR quilts this year. I have already cut all the kits.I have shipped 6 kits and backs to AZ for Jan, Feb and March. I am currently tying April #2. I decided to do April's quilts ahead of time since we will be returning to IL in mid-April and Alyssa and Megan are going to have their civil union on May 12 with a celebration dinner at Ivanhoe so I will be busy helping them get ready for that.

 I am always looking for cotton fabrics for these quilts. Would love to get fabric for $2 on sale but sometimes go to $3 a yard. Most of the fabrics I use have been donated. If you have any fabric you are never going to use, please pass it on. Thanks. C

I started this blog for a couple of reasons, one to keep track of my sewing/quilting projects on a fairly regular basis and to keep friends and family up to date on the whereabouts and "what abouts"of Tom and I. Knowing myself fairly well after 60+ years I am not surprised that I am having problems keeping current. But once again I WILL TRY HARDER.  This time I am not even going to let anyone know (via an email) that I am back with my blogs and pictures. So if you happen to check in please let me know by commenting or sending me an email. Thanks.
Okay a quick overview of my sewing projects since Sept and then tomorrow (??) I will post pictures and maybe an explanation of the project, who it was for etc.
I have made 9 1/2 Lutheran World Relief (LWR) quilts, 1 Yellow Brick Road twin, many, many Farmer's Wife blocks and Blocks from the past blocks for a sampler quilt, a basket quilt (from Farmers Wife blocks), 1 Christmas Runner, 1 Christmas Wall hanging (Tree), 1 Christmas wall hanging (Little Winter House), second Yellow Brick Road for the Sisterhood.  I had 5 quilt tops finished but not quilted in Sept and I sent one to Joni (Cracked Pots), machine quilted 3 myself (Bright log cabin, Spider Web (UGH) and a Nuts and Bolts), and still have one to do (Fiesta).  I have knitted 2 hats and a pair of mittens and finished a scarf. Whew! that's where the time went!!

Hi all, Dorothy emailed me today with pictures of a quilt she made for her grandson, Zak. It is so cute and here are the photos.

I have been incommunicative probably since our loss of Zelda. It sure put me in a funk. I have been doing A LOT  of sewing though and will come back to the blog later, today, hopefully, with an update and pictures. Now I am off for blood work, routine.

LWR and Quest for Quilts

Hi, today we are having our Quest for Quilts day at Grace Lutheran Church. We cut, sew, tie and bind quilts for LWR. Hopefully we will get a lot accomplished. I will post pictures of the group and the quilts displayed in church later. We have worked all year on quilts, layette kits, fabric kits and school bags and they will all be displayed tomorrow and then sent off to Lutheran World Relief.
   The picture below is of the 22 quilts (2 short of my goal of 24)  and 6 layettes I personally made (with the help of Alyssa and Sarah with the layettes). I am pretty proud of myself and know I am shining my own star. Since I know--from experience that there is always a downside to bragging, I am hoping mine came yesterday when I backed the side view mirror of my car into the garage door--SUPER UGH, and not that I still have something coming to me!! More later C

Short and Sweet-Zelda

ZELDA

6/11/2001-9/20/2011

Our time with Zelda was short and sweet--too short--too sweet!

Christina and I had a wonderful walk yesterday at Ryerson Forest Preserve. Here are some pictures from the walk. The walk was 2 miles and the path through the woods was just beautiful. The pictures
don't do it justice.

Thursday

Hi all, things have settled down a little around here, Chili is much better and Zelda is about the same. I am going for a walk today with Christina at Ryerson and will try to post a picture of that beautiful Lake County Forest Preserve. We are going to try to do the "Hike Lake County" fall walking program. Here is the link to the program www.LCFPD.org/HLC if you are interested. Also the site has info on all their programs and preserves. They do a great job.

Testing

I am testing my ability to publish a post from Internet Explorer, which I am using now, instead of "chrome".

Pet Update etc.

When all I am blogging about are my pets, would you be surprised that I am still doing a little sewing/quilting and knitting?? I did finish the Carrie Hall Applique Sampler top with a very cute border. I will take a picture of it and post soon. I am also working on a kit for a Christmas runner that I bought from the Shabby Fabricswebsite, my newest favorite! Picture of that will also be posted soon.
I have the dogs confined to the kitchen and have set up my sewing machine on the kitchen table. Nothing is happening very fast because Zelda is now requiring more attention as she is more and more confused and will have an accident if not taken out almost every 1/2 to 1 hour. She is also totally lost, can't seem to follow our voices, it is so sad. I will be talking to the vet later today or tomorrow (she is off today) about our options. I am pretty much confined to the kitchen myself.
Chili is much better after spending 3 days/2 nights at the vet's office being IV hydrated. She(the vet) wanted us to bring home the IV hookup but we said- no. We just don't think the cat would chose(if she could) to be hooked up to an IV everyday or so for an hour, and if you know my total lack of nursing skills or desire to be a nurse, you understand that decision. So far she is eating better, using her litter box, drinking (but how much is the BIG ?) More later.

Animals Update

Hi, here is the latest. Zelda is still very confused but getting better about the layout of the house. 90% of the time she can come in the front door and find her way to the "cookie" jar by the back door and then to her water bowls near the garage door. She is always with Tom or I or she is gated in the back hall. That will never change. Nothing about it is great but last night she slept all the way from 9:30 to 4:30.
Chili is pretty much in serious kidney trouble, close to failure, but has spent the last 2 days and nights at the vets being hydrated and has started to eat a little and will be coming home this afternoon as her "counts" have improved half way back to normal after being off the charts. She is 16 and some of you probably think we are crazy but Tom esp. wanted to give her a chance to get better. Time will tell.

Dorothy's Visit

Just rereading my posts and I made a mistake-Dorothy will be in Libertyville in early Oct. Not November. Can't wait to see her.

Animals Update

We took Zelda and Chili to the vets yesterday. Their vet is Dr. Laura Hardy at Greentree Animal Hospital. I think she is wonderful. Basically we are in a holding pattern with both animals. It is a struggle as she is very confused and doesn't really know her way around the house. And as she drinks tons of water all day, I have been keeping her on a leash most of the time in the house. She is pretty comfortable in the front yard so most of the time except for the middle of the night 2AM or 3AM she is off leash in the front yard. She still really enjoys her walks.
Chili was very dehydrated so she was given fluids,blood word and an antibiotic shot. She has started to eat a little bit and she will be reassessed when the results of the blood work are back via phone with Dr. Hardy. She is confined to the utility room as she is having a lot of trouble walking. Dr. H. thinks a lot of her arthritic pain could be from the dehydration and if she gets better there is a liquid med. for pain she could take.
I will post again any news. I think I will have to cancel Monday Quilting next week, I was going to start then, but the whole house is too much in confusion, not just Zelda but me too.

i am in despair over my animals--more tomorrow after we have been to the vets.

Dorothy's Nuts and Bolts

Dorothy sent me these pictures of her Nuts and Bolts quilt. I hope she doesn't mind that I am putting them on the blog. The quilt is absolutely beautiful and the quilting is an inspiration. I will be quilting my latest Nuts and Bolts (same fabric as Dorothy's ) but my quilting is no where nearly as beautiful. She will have to give me-- "Teacher"(ha) and all of the Monday Quilters some Free Motion quilting lessons when she visits Libertyville this November. Maybe we have a new TEACHER. Are you up to it, Dorothy??

Favorite Quilts

This is one of my favorite quilts-Row Houses. If you want to see a close up just click on a picture. It was supposed to be 4 rows of house but would have been to big to hang anywhere so I divided into 2 and luckily had enough fabric (really had lots of extra fabric-will post the quilt made with the extra fabric later) to add the extra border etc. Alyssa has the other one in her townhouse. Fabrics are beautiful hand dyed from Cherrywood Fabric. When I have nothing much to blog about I will post pictures of my "favorite quilts"- Also here is a good recipe for beans

Beans with Beef Bake

½ lb. gr. round

1 c. finely chopped onion

1 (15 ¼ oz.) can lima beans, drained

1 (15 oz. ) can pork and beans, undrained

1 (15 oz. ) can light red kidney beans, rinsed and drained

½ c. ketchup

½ c. barbecue sauce

¼ c. packed brown sugar

1 t. dry mustard

3 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled

Cook beef and onion in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until the beef is browned, stirring to crumble beef. Place beef mixture and remaining ingredients in a 3 1/2 –quart electric slow cooker; stir well. Cover with lid, cook in high-heat setting 1 hour. Reduce to low setting and cook 3 to 4 hours. 6 servings

Carrie Hall Sampler Block

This is the 3rd from the last block for the applique sampler quilt I am working on. I am thinking maybe I will be able to piece the blocks together soon and then will be able to work on the border. Have not decided what I am going to do for the borders yet, need to see the blocks together, I think. I have finished the Aug #1 LWR and need to pin, tie and bind Aug #2. Will pin it tomorrow as Tom will be going to CA and AZ.

 

Our Eagle

This eagle has been visiting our neighborhood all summer. Here he is in a large dead tree in the yard next to ours. Not the best pics, sorry but he is really up high.

Finished this applique block and am now working on the last three blocks. I will post pics as I finish. I have also finished both Aug2011 LWR tops and one is pinned. I will try to post pics of those also. I have also been trying to find fabric for close to $3 a yard or less on line and have been able to buy and cut enough into 8 1/2" squares for 6 more LWR quilts.

Small projects

How to comment

Hi, there is a way to add a comment to one of the posts without having to have an acct. or give up any personal information etc. Follow these simple? directions

1. at the bottom of a post click on the "No comments" (if someone has left a comment already it will be "1 comment"

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4. select (click on) "Name/Url"

5. by "name" type in your name, just your first name, if you want. Skip the URL box.

6. Click on "continue"

7. Click on "publish"

8. Hurray--you have commented on my blog!!

These are pictures of the blocks I am working on -- applique mostly, for the Carrie Hall Sampler quilt. The one at the bottom is the picture of the last two I have just finished. 4 more to go!! C

LWR

This is looking down on my sewing area. Blue and White is the Lutheran World Relief quilt July #2, I need to tie with the white and bind it. LWR Aug #1 has been started, it is a mixed bag of squares. As you can see I have a lot of different projects in all various stages, I bore easily!! C

Here is something I have worked on this summer. It is called Little Garden House in Summer. You use fusible web applique and machine button hole stitching. The quilt is now pinned and needs machine quilting, then you embellish with buttons and an added flag and kite string and bows. If and when I finish it I will post a picture. I bought the kit from shabbyfabrics.com and also purchased the Autumn kit, Spring kit and Winter pattern (no kit available) when I saw how nice the summer one turned out-from a kit.

Cracked Pots Reproduction Fabrics

Here are pictures of the Cracked Pot Quilt I am working on. Ready to construct and add the last border. Slower going with my new methods of precision piecing. C

Magic Pinwheels

This is the beginning of a magic pinwheel made from Maison de Garance fabrics, you can click on the picture to see a close up.

Farmer's Wife Sampler Blocks

Here are some pictures of the Farmer's Wife Sampler Blocks. The first picture is of blocks made mostly from the Moda-Maison de Garance line of fabric, second picture has blocks made in red, white and blue and the third fabrics are reproductions.