Machine quilting

Trying to decide how to quilt the shadow quilt.

I know I want to do the sunburst in the center and the straight lines on the gray. Guess I'll do the pebbles in the white, although I know those take for-ev-eh!

 

Fall is here

Got out some fall decor today....

 

Found these lovelies outside.....

Apple pie steel cut oats.....it's what's for breakfast.

Made some yummy cookies....nommm

Got all the blocks done on the Remembrance Quilt.

...and received some great castle photos from the kids. They visited Alnwick today.

 

 

Friday night lights

There is not much else I'd rather do on a Friday night.....

Upstairs in my quilt room, window open, a little cool air flowing in, along with the sound of the local high school band playing at the ballgame a mile or so away.

Didn't even have to cook tonight. The hubby wanted to eat chili for a fundraiser.

He wanted us to make a selfie to send to baby girl....We send her videos and pictures pretty often.

I said there is not much else I'd rather do on a Friday night....I can think of one thing I'd rather be doing -- playing with my granddaughter.

 

Friday

This may not have been such a good idea......

I had eight miles I my training schedule for today and it was raining so I did it on the treadmill. My treadmill isn't working properly (they are sending a new computer board for it). It works but isn't registering the correct speed.......I watched Jenny Doan from Missouri Star Quilt Company the whole time.....many, many quilting tutorials......when I finished running, I went to their website and ordered a bunch of quilting supplies...... :)

Anyone made anything with their half hexie ruler?

 

Monday

I say this every week...I love being off work on Mondays! Very productive today. Did some things for mom, ran three on the treadmill, made good progress on my two projects.....

Blocks for the shadow quit are coming along...And only nine more blocks to make for the remembrance quilt.

...but looks like I'm going to have to calibrate the treadmill. I've noticed it says I am going really slow when I feel like more. I think normally most people are able to go faster on a treadmill than outside.

I compared the Garmin to it, and sure enough.....it isn't working properly. I didn't calibrate it when it was set up. I guess I figured that was one of the things I paid for in setting it up, evidently not.

Busy, busy week

It has been a whirlwind this week. I'll start out by telling you about a little project I started last weekend...

I wanted to make a table runner using leaves and a discharging method to create shadows, like the square one I made several years ago.

So I got some black fabric and picked up leaves from the yard. I ironed on some freezer paper to a few to see if it would help them lay flat. Didn't really help, but I will need paper patterns for the fabric leaves at the next step so maybe I can use them later.

I was a little disappointed at the results. The black didn't discharge very well and some of the Clorox mix rolled off the leaves and left some definite bleached out spots. I couldn't find time later to work on it again.

Friday some of my church quilting group friends and I made a trip to the Chattanooga Quilt show. We had a great time, and were inspired, awed, and overwhelmed at all the beautiful quilts. Of course we couldn't get out without doing some shopping at the booths.

Then today we had a women's conference at church. Kay DeKalb Smith was the speaker/singer and did a fantastic job. She uses humour, song, and personal testimonies to get across her message. I really enjoyed it. We had a couple of breakout sessions and I was the presenter for one.

I did a "trunk show" type presentation and I actually used a trunk, one that belonged to my grandmother. I shared about my passion for quilting and how the Lord lead me to make a ministry out of a hobby -Remembrance Quilt Ministry. I had slides of many of the quilts I had made for gifts, and the ones made from loved ones' shirts. I also brought about 20 others to show.

Haven't had much down time at all this week. In another blog post I hope to share a little about a couple of products I bought at the show. Hope you've had a good week and are enjoying the weekend!

 

Saturday

Beautiful fall day......

Got in a long run this morning. Cooked chicken, mushroom, wild rice soup and homemade bread for supper...oh yeah, and a chocolate cake too. Even did a little sewing on both quilting projects I've got going. And the best part was facetiming with baby girl Emma. Love to hear her say, Maymaaw.

..those eyes.....be still my heart.

This was last night's supper. It was delicious. Kale, shrimp, sweet potatoes, onions, garlic, olive oil, salt and pepper. Gluten free, healthy, and yummy.

 

Guild Day

The attendance at our monthly guild meeting was down today but I enjoyed the meeting immensely. We got to see about half of a video about threads from Superior thread company. I learned a lot. There was even some discussion about their needles that was very informative. After the meeting I went to the shop in Greenback, which is great. Good prices, not your everyday fabrics, and lots of inspiration. I knew I'd find what I was looking for.

Some nice solids with subtle texture. And although I am supposed to be working on a remembrance quilt...

I just had to make a few blocks in this design. I love making quilts from strips.

Did you ever have something turn out EXACTLY like you imagined?

So far the blocks are just that. Hopefully when the quilt is finished it too will be what I envisioned. I'm trying some new techniques in an effort to be more precise. I am using a little starch as I piece, I'm really trying hard to keep my stitch at a scant 1/4", and I'm squaring up very often. I also picked up some Superior Topstitch needles, that I heard about today.

Nothing like some new needles, fabric, and a plan to get you motivated!

 

Labor Day

The hubs got up early for a day of fishing. Me, spent the morning with my mom at the hospital. After I got her back home, my back was hurting. I must have had sympathy pains for her. She was at the emergency room due to acute back pain. I was determined to walk mine out. I needed to run three miles today but I had settled on walking due to my back. Walked the first mile but then was able to slowly run the last two. The activity seemed to help it.

The shirt cutting I did yesterday may have something to do with my back ache, so I decided not to do anymore sewing today. Just taking it easy on the swing, enjoying the holiday.

Here is the progress on the latest remembrance quilt....Seven blocks down, 23 more to go.

My DIL sent me this great picture of my son in his new kilt.

I actually won a contest last year from Gordon Nicholson kiltmakers, and he got the free kilt. He picked the University of Edinburgh tartan, and he will wear it to his graduation once he completes the work for his PhD. I think he looks very handsome, and..oh so Scottish!

 

Inspired

Sometimes all it takes to inspire some creativity is to be alone and think. I've been wanting to make a new quilt pattern and have had my eye on some of the beautiful shadow quilts I've seen on Pinterest. I wanted to make my pattern a little different so it would truly be my own. My inspiration came yesterday while doing this......

I haven't been on the paddle board much this summer and decided yesterday to go out. Nothing like a little vitamin D, enjoying God's creation, and some solitude to renew your mind.

So....when I came home I worked on the design.....

It isn't final, but I have a good idea of where I want to go with it.

I have a theory......those of you who blog, would you consider yourselves introverts? My guess is a majority of casual bloggers are introverts. Why? Because we like our alone time, we don't always do well in conversation, and are much more comfortable writing out our thoughts....so, are you? (More of my thinking as I was on the lake yesterday...lol) Have a great day, ya'll!

 

My View

This is where I sit and have breakfast....and where me and the hubs have supper.

I love this little view. Just recently I pulled the shutters back. I can see my swing, the flower boxes, and usually get a view of the cats when they are outside. Certainly nothing special by most standards, but special to me.

 

Got it....

I've decided on the design for my next Remembrance quilt. Simple, but I think it will work. I'll have to replace one of the Center blocks with the big Harley block. I think the smaller patches will fit in a few of the middle squares.

Cut the shirts into 2 1/2" strips, plus a couple of 4 1/2" squares for the centers. 12" finished blocks. ~60"x72". Now I am more motivated. Let's get 'er done.