Kathy's Quilting Blog: September 2019

Sunday, September 29, 2019

Legs & Short & Sweet -- Slow Sunday Stitching

I finished two sets of legs on my Patriotic Folk Animals. I love the fabric color of the legs that coordinate well with the other fabrics. I learned my lesson because the fabric strips came from some scraps gifted to me that were bed sheets. They are great colors, but hard to hand stitch through. I'll manage. Only one set of legs to go!

I've been busy working at a new-to-me school district this year as a substitute teacher. They seem to need me at least four days a week. I miss the students at my school district the past few years, but I will still get to visit them a few days here and there. I decided to get out an old project so that I have one to take in each bag to each school. So I also got a few petals sewn on my Short and Sweet Quilt.

There's a pic here on my blog of the finished quilt by Kim Diehl.

I'm linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Saturday, September 28, 2019

Out Standing In Their Field

One Friday night (our date night -- which includes all three of us) I mentioned to my husband that I wanted to go out and stand in the field of yellow weeds for a family photo this weekend. This is the field behind my chicken area and garden. These weeds are EVERYWHERE in our neighborhood. I'm pretty sure it is goldenrod. Goldenrod is not the same as ragweed. Ragweed seems to be the stuff that puts all that pollen in the air causing allergies. None of us have a problem with this plant kicking up our allergies -- which we are fortunate to not have many allergies (except poison ivy.)

The funny part is that we had my phone set up on a tripod. Typically my husband doesn't want to participate in photos like this. Owen and I were in the house. I was about to take a nap. My husband was working outside moving dirt and putting in the new driveway with his big equipment. I didn't even do my hair. My husband came in and said, "Everybody get in their good clothes." I guess this is what we all thought we should wear at the time. It's funny, but looks natural for us. That's another thing that I love about this picture. I can't believe that my husband grabbed that sweatshirt. It was like 90 degrees that day.

My husband would tell us to stand in the field. He got the camera set up (he did not know how to operate a smart phone at this point yet. Here I am telling him which buttons to push, that he had ten seconds to get to the photo spot.

Several photos have mouths open and eyes shut. Owen and I couldn't stop laughing at Ed running through the field to get to the spot. Finally I told Owen that we had to close out eyes so that we wouldn't laugh so much.

The photo below is a keeper! I had this enlarged on canvas and need to hang it in our livingroom.

See below how Owen and I kept laughing? LOL.

The pic below isn't bad... but I told Ed he forgot to take off his sunglasses... Do over...

I wanted another photo in front of the old berry barn. This was a one-take shot. Ed was hot, sweaty, and done with photos.

I got this dramatic shot of Owen leaning up against my ocean container. This is an awesome building that my husband got me for Christmas. He put really nice doors on an ocean container. It even has electric! It's convenient that he works where he can borrow a semi truck/trailer and has the equipment to move stuff like this in place. (It also gives him a little extra storage in the end that I'm not using.)

Sunday, September 22, 2019

Slow Sunday Stitching

This week I got the mane stitched on my Patriotic Folk Animals. I think it looks pretty cute.

Sorry I've been "absent" from the blog. I've had a little technology overload this past week. To make a long story short, my husband has had a flip phone up until Friday. I have been shopping for smart phones and plans and deals... We ended up getting one that we thought was best. He's in training. He's doing awesome. THEN we had a different satellite for our tv viewing installed the next day. When that was happening a "customer service rep" arrived. He had WAY BETTER equipment and a better plan for us on the smart phones. Now we have a new tv system and remote to learn, new phones to learn and "teach the husband", a different Fitbit, and the big one is I switched from Android to Apple. WHEW... that's a lot.

I haven't figured out yet how to add pics in a simple way from my iPhone to my blog. Before I just clicked the photo icon on the top of blogger (on my desktop) and photos from my phone magically appeared for choosing and posting. I don't know how to sync them yet. I'll get there. For now I'll just e-mail them to myself and upload them from there.

I'm linking up at Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Monday, September 16, 2019

Ohio Quilt

Now that I added borders to the Ohio quilt it's time to make a back. This made the quilt larger than what I was going for, but it fits our California King bed perfectly. Some things are just meant to be. We need a new, larger summer quilt for our bed. My husband likes it.

This quilt was made with 2.5" scrappy squares (2" finished in the quilt.) The next size down would be made with 2" squares (1.5" finished in the quilt.)

It's time to move this project forward and make a big, scrappy back for it. I have a feeling that fabrics selected will come out of the "ugly" bin. The fabrics themselves aren't really ugly... it's just that when I sort them they have so many colors in them that they don't fit into a "color" bin. I should re-name the bin multi instead of ugly to be politically correct... Let's not go there.

I'm linking up at Em's Scrap Bag for Moving It Forward Monday.

Sunday, September 15, 2019

Tails Are Complete on Patriotic Folk Animals

The tails are complete on the Patriotic Folk Animals quilt. This pattern can be found in the book Americana Quilts by Sandy Bonsib. I did an organic type stitch with grey embroidery floss. It was easy stitching as students worked nicely on the work left for them by their real teacher.

The progress on this quilt is moving along quickly. I just have to hand stitch the mane and then the legs (after I make and put them on.) It's turning out cute. I may even have to start looking for another hand project!

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Wednesday, September 11, 2019

WIP Wednesday 9.11.19

This week I seriously concentrated on the Mario quilt. I finished the Mario quilt in time for our son to take it to 6th grade camp this week. I pick him up today. I can't wait to hear all about the fun he had at camp.

Here's the back that I'm proud of as well:

I did another post about how much he liked the special tag on his quilt.

I won this cool Latifah Saafir prize pack for winning the August OMG drawing. It may create another item on my WIP list.

I made this cute peas in a pod block from a block of the month at Katie Mae Quilts.

I stitched the Xs that represent stars on the animal flags for Patriotic Folk Animals.

I currently have 64 on-going projects.

Pieces Still Need to be Cut & Sewn

1. Cheddar Jack cat pattern from Mama Spark's World

2. Digging up Bones (Owen's dinosaur quilt)

3. Rock Island Campfire Quilt

4. Picadilly Circle

5. ...And Sew On BOM at Quiet Play (one block to go)

6. Go Four It! -- Scrappy 4-patches started as leader/ender June 2017

7. Patriotic Folk Animals (from Americana Quilts Book) -- hand work-- found the book 8/8/19!

8. Parallelogram Strings -- 2019 String Along at Humble Quilts, started 1.31.19
9. Leah Day Building Blocks QA
10. Jelly Roll Rug
11. Classic Meets Modern BOM
12. Mod Mod QA (turning this one into a baby quilt) (from block Lotto, mostly circles w/lines)

13. Owl's Well That Ends Well (RSC19 project started 1.26.19)

14. Kevin the Quilter's Sapphire Stars Mystery (started Summer 2017)

15. Temperature QA (2019 block-a-day according to high and low temps--changed to table topper.)

16. Kite Girl (RSC14)

17. Amish Country BOM (from Lynn, Johnna's mom)

18. Cabins at the Lake (from Fons & Porter Magazine) (only one house block complete.)

19. 2.5" Scraps from Dani making "cracker" blocks

20. Sand Castles -- Bonnie Hunter string quilt started January, 2019 -- an RSC project

21. Little Houses (3.5" blocks)

22. Pumpkins & the Beanstalk (a second quilt.)

23. Set of note cards and envelopes

24. Simply Summer Sensational QA with Kevin the Quilter 2.5" blocks (started 6.27.19)

25. Slabs with White Rectangle (RSC14 started -- need blocks each month)

26. Bonnie Hunter Box Kite class from March, 2017 (Will make baby quilt.)

27. Kevin the Quilter 2019 Mystery Quilt -- SSSSQ, 1.5" squares

28. 2015 Orange, pink, grey kite blocks (from Accuquilt die, RSC17)

29. Maroon Sampler Quilt

30. Gypsy Wife QA (started again with Angie at Gnome Angel, August 2017) (2019 QA)

31. Kathleen Tracy’s 2019 Mystery Quilt -- Facebook QA started in March, 2019.

32. 2016 Plus Blocks (from left over pieces of Soul Searching blocks)

33. RSC16 Folk Art Birds

34. Waffle Blocks (August 2019) RSC19

35. Kevin the Quilter 2019 Mystery Quilt -- SSSSQ, 2.5 " squares

Blocks Still Need to be Made

1. Bluepatch Mystery Quilt

2. Scrap Crystals (working on blue pieces for RSC15)

3. We Can Do It Skill Builder Sampler

4. Kim Diehl's Table Topper from her book Simple Charm (Started August, 2017 for to-go bag.)

5. Finding Nemo Scrappy Trip quilt (my seams don't match Julianne's seams...)
6. Drunkard's Path Variation baby quilt

Blocks are made but need to be sewn together (and/or some sashing)
1. Block Swap Adventure Orange/Yellow Sampler (2011-2012)
2. Cruise blocks won from Libby
3. Orange/Blue Fish Blocks (that I won)
4. Split Stars (blocks won from Block Lotto; October, 2012)
5. African Violet baby quilt (Block Lotto inspired)
6. Tall Fly (blocks won from Block Lotto, February, 2013)

7. Fortune Teller (RSC14 started)--It's not long enough...needs 4 more blocks

8. Sonja's Windows string quilt

9. Block Swap Adventure (2013) Churn Dash Blocks

10. Tula Pink's City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks (New QA starting 5/7/17 Gnome Angel)

11. Flower Baskets (blue and white with some applique) Block Lotto win 10/1/18

12. Pre-printed cross stitch pillow sham (May, 2018 sew-to-go bag)

13. Bonnie Hunter Garden Party (started 3.18.17.)

14. Cathy's CRAZY BY DESIGN. It's the Dot Dot Dash Bag. (new to the list April, 2018)

Quilts back needs to be made (tops are done)

1. Card Trick (pink and blue) HUGE charity quilt for local quilt guild
2. Hunter green large (bubbly -- will be a challenge to longarm) charity quilt for the local guild
3. Bubble Gum pink and navy charity quilt for local quilt guild
4. Good Fortune -- A Bonnie Hunter Quiltville Mystery started Thanksgiving weekend, 2018
5. O - H - I - O quilt 2.5" blocks

6. Wings of Spring -- Block Lotto win 3.31.19

7. Soul Searching -- Julianne sent it to me 8/29/19!!!

Ready to longarm

Ready for Binding

1. Block Lotto December Scrappy Stars (blue/purple) -- I won the star blocks December, 2018.

2. Catchin' Some Rays needle turn applique crib quilt started March, 2018 (adding EPP hexies!)

I'm linking up with Susan at Quilt Fabrication for Midweek Makers.

I'm also linking up atWednesday Wait Loss.

Tuesday, September 10, 2019

Happy Mail

I received happy mail yesterday! This is the prize I received for winning the August OMG! (One Main Goal) drawing.

Thank you, Latifa Saafir for being on of the OMG sponsors! Thank you Elm Street Quilts for being such a great hostess for OMG. Winning this may add to my WIP list. I'm refraining from starting another quilt at the moment.

Monday, September 9, 2019

Peas In a Pod -- Katie Mae Quilts

This week I had some left over scraps from the SSSSQ with Kevin the Quilter's mystery quilt along. I made a Peas In a Pod block. I got the block pattern here. The quilt is called Fruit Salad by Katie Mae Quilts.

I'll be working on the cute corn block soon. You can find it here.

I'm linking up for BOMs Away at What a Hoot Quilts. Check out Lynette's gorgeous Swans!

I'm also linking up with Moving It Forward Monday at Em's Scrapbag.

Sunday, September 8, 2019

Slow Sunday Stitching

This project got to go to school with me this week! I'm happy to be able to stitch to pass the time. This school day was easy-peasy, lemon-squeezy. This small quilt pattern is called Patriotic Folk Animals. It can be found in the book, Americana Quilts by Sandy Bonsib.

I finished the simple yellow Xs that represent stars on the animals bodies.

I had time to mark the mane and tail of the horse and the tail of the dog with a FriXion pen.

I need to find the right navy blue for the stitching for the next school day/waiting period.

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.

Saturday, September 7, 2019

The Special Tag

In this post I wrote about how much our son likes to feel tags (it's a sensory thing.) Here he is in his "office" making a funny face when I tried to take a picture of him with his tag. He's "all set up" as he calls it.

The purple swirl fabric and the green polka dot with the wonky yellow around it is a big pocket that temporarily holds a stuffed animal that I sewed into it. (He's not supposed to take a stuffed animal to camp, but I knew how much comfort he would get if he did -- so I sewed a small stuffed animal into the pocket of the quilt for camp purposes. Grown ups from the school attending the camp know me well enough that I put it in there intentionally and he's not just sneaking a stuffed animal to camp.) It's not the stuffed animal, but the tag on the stuffed animal that is so important.

He also realized that I sacrificed my Levi jeans and cut the tag out of them to give him my very best tag that I owned. It's the perfect length, it's a two-tag combination, and it's very silky -- a perfect tag! I also put a hand-written quilt label on the pocket.

Oh the joy it gave me and my husband and I when Owen found the quilt label. On the label it says:

To Owen, I love you to the moon and back a million times. Love, Mom. Then at the bottom I put my name, city/state, and date.

He yelled, "Everybody stop what you're doing! I found a note!" My husband couldn't stop smiling when he realized how special the pocket of the quilt was to Owen. Plus, my husband always supports the fact that I just love to sew. He seems to LOVE all of the quilts we have and realizes how much time I have spend on them.

Here's the pic of the quilt back again. The pocket is sideways at the top. It's sideways because I liked the way two of the sides are caught under the binding. It's also sideways so that when our son fold it that whatever is in the pocket doesn't fly out the end. As it's hung over the clothes line, you can only see the green polka dot tag fabric outlined by the wonky blue and yellow. That's half of the pocket.

Friday, September 6, 2019

The Mario Quilt is Finished!

I'm excited that the Mario quilt is finished. The pressure was on because this quilt suddenly had a deadline. I started the center part of the Mario quilt during a quilt along at Cora's Quilts in 2014.

I longarm quilted it with my Circle Lord giant template board called Swirls. It looks great! Below is the pieced back. It features Yoshi and a Mindcraft heart. The top left is a pocket with a silky tag inside from my Levi jeans. Our son has some serious sensory thing going on and he LOVES to feel silky tags. Since the tags from my jeans were the "best tags" because they were silky and about 3" long. I have a feeling we will be late for something because he is still rubbing the tag on his nose. This is one of his amazing unique traits. :)

He loves the color purple, hence the big piece of purple on the bottom. The label is sideways and hand written on the pocket at the top. I placed the pocket sideways so that whatever treasure he put inside would not come flying out when he folded it. He's pretty good with his folding skills.

Now he can make his bed with either side of the quilt on the top.

Besides fitting his twin bed. It also fits his chair in his "office"

I made this quilt for my son. He is going to 6th grade camp next week. Sixth grade camp is a three day/two night camp that all of the 6th graders (and their teachers) attend. It is about 45 minutes away from home. They learn team building skills and have fun projects. Most of the classroom activities take place outside. He is soooooo excited!

I'm excited that I finished my September OMG (One Main Goal) already. I wonder what else I can finish this month.

I'm linking up this finish at Elm Street Quilts for the September OMG Finishing Party. It pays to link up! I was the lucky winner for August (my birthday month). See what our awesome sponsor, Latifah Saafir, sent me here.

I'm linking up at Alycia Quilts for Finished of Not Friday.

I'm also linking up at Confessions of a Fabric Addict -- Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

Thursday, September 5, 2019

Mario Is on the Frame!

Monday our son will be at camp. He wants to take THIS quilt. I am motivate to get it finished before Monday. We have a super busy weekend with two birthday celebrations, bowling, and tennis. It's still going to get done. I know it. I will not let him down. I am MOTIVATED to finish it. Mario is on the longarm frame.

I am officially back to school today. I am working in a new-to-me school district this year. I hope it's a nice atmosphere there.

I'm linking up to Katie Mae Quilts for BOMs Away. Make sure to check out the adorable corn on the cob block that is on there today as well. It's part of her Veggie Patch Quilt!

Wednesday, September 4, 2019

WIP Wednesday 9.4.19

I put together a simple background on the Mario quilt this week in hopes to have it finished so that our son can take it to camp on 9/9. Stay tuned on this one... I need to trim the green and the yellow...

Here's the pieced back for the Mario quilt. I think it turned out great. He loves purple. It was a great place to use the big hunk of purple hounds tooth fabric.

I got a couple things done on the #SSSSQ (mystery QA @ Kevin the Quilter's blog!

I put a few stitches on my Patriotic Folk Animal quilt. My sew-to-go bag is ready for action.

I received my gorgeous Soul Searching swap quilt top from Julianne. She received her quilt top. Hopefully the blogging bug will come back to her like the quilting bug did. I LOVE THIS TOP! I have a special border planned in my head. This quilt has been on my list for a couple of years. We worked on blocks of the color of the month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Speaking of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. I hope Angela and her family and all those other bloggy families are still safe from the hurricane.

I finished my Christmas Improv quilt.

My clear quarter inch foot broke. I'm in the process of testing out others that I purchased on eBay.

I've also been busy canning tomatoes. We LOVE canned tomatoes! They are great for chili, Spanish rice, and my newest endeavor... keto recipes. I'm trying to have a sugar-free September (but a small amount of natural sugar from tomatoes is allowed as long as I keep it to a small amount.) Let me know if you have ever tried a ketogenic lifestyle. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it.

I canned whole tomatoes on Labor Day. The jars aren't wiped down yet in this photo. They still need the dates on them. I know I could put a half a cup of white vinegar in the water to cut on the deposits on the lids and glass, but my family isn't that happy with the boiling vinegar smell. It will wipe off.

I currently have 66 on-going projects.