On the Frame -- Customer Blue and 4-Patch Quilt

On the frame today is this fun four-patch quilt for one of my customers.  I've had it all winter.  She understands that I don't longarm quilt when it's cold outside.  It's FINALLY time to quilt it and get it back to her.

I am using my Circle Lord giant board called Jesters.  I LOVE this pattern for a quick, gender neutral finish.  Glad I waited for warmer times to start stitching.  My stitch length and tension is fabulous!

It's time I keep my longarm "dressed" for those days when I just want to go up to the other house and quilt.  I'll be happy to mark a few things off my long list of WIPS.

WIP Wednesday -- OH SEW MUCH STUFF to SAY!

It SEAMS like I have SEW much to post about today...  Here it goes...

I'm thrilled that I finished my Short & Sweet (Kim Diehl pattern) quilt.



I finished Clue #4 of the Unity QA with Bonnie Hunter.  I substituted churn dashes for stars.



I FINISHED my gingerbread man quilt!  Woohoo for two finishes this week to chalk them off the list.



I added another simple round to the SSSSQ with Kevin the Quilter.  This was the kinda scary round when I had to trim those green triangles.  It turned out ok.  The right side doesn't look right in this photo because it isn't laying flat.  Whew... glad that round is done.  Now I can work on the next section as a leader/ender of another project like the Unity QA.

My sister in law is making great use of the masks that I made for her.  I LOVE her photos in her work gear that she texts to me.  She's the best!

My husband has been working on projects at home as well.  Here he is working on his homemade SAWMILL.  Did I tell you how amazing he is lately?  He's a mechanical genius in my book.

It's garden time.  Here's my little garden area.  I finally mowed it this week.  Oh, that red thing to the right?  It's an ocean container that my husband bought for me a couple of years ago.  It is MY outdoor storage area.  I keep my gardening and chicken things in it because it is next to the chicken coop.  Unfortunately the tractor is part of the "gardening" stuff, so I have to share the other end of the storage with the tractor.  Ha ha.

All plowed and turned over.  The chickens and ducks will do some happy bug and worm hunting tomorrow.  It will be a new playground for them for a while.  Then I'll have to be careful and keep them in once I plant things so that they don't eat the seeds or pull out my plants.

Here's a picture taken before I "mowed" the garden.  You can see the general area of where the chickens, ducks, and cats live.  This was the day my husband had to haul away the flowering pear tree part the broke off during a windstorm.

AND this is just a basket of cuteness the day before the mom decided to move the kittens from the cat box to the chicken coop.  I think she may be annoyed of me for handling her kittens.

Left to right... Goldie, Ezra, Newman, and LuLu (boy, girl, boy, girl.)

See that little speck of orange on top of the dirt pile?  That's our son searching for treasure!  He often wears bright colors because he LOVES them and it's easier for us to spot him when he's off adventuring like this.

I'm so excited he found this Cracker Jack toy in the dirt pile!  It's from 1943.  It's not worth a lot, BUT I did find a pic of it on eBay to help us identify a little about it.  Isn't it so cool?

I still can't see all the good work I did cleaning out my flowerbed due to "stuff" piled in front of it.

During home learning time I have been bringing in one kitten at a time and "whispering" them.  Shhhh don't tell my husband that the kittens are in the house--and on the table!  Haha.

Chia Sophia (Sophia from the Golden Girls) is still having some hair problems.  Guess the salons being closed as effected her well being too.  LOL.

I currently have 67 on-going projects.    TWO dropped off the list this week!

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

36.  Gingerbread Men pattern by Edyta Sitar started November, 2019

37.  Linen & Threads Mystery SAL, Started 1/1/20 for my sew-to-go bag.

38.  Dresser Scarf (my grandma's printed WIP from the 70's) 1/1/20 for my sew-to-go bag.

39.  Veggie Patch (from Katie Mae Quilts)

40.  Unity Quilt Along with Bonnie Hunter,  (started 4/1/2020.)

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.  Drunkard's Path Variation baby quilt

5.  Finding Nemo Scrappy Trip quilt (my seams don't match Julianne's seams...)

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

6.  Wings of Spring -- Block Lotto win 3.31.19

Ready to longarm

1.  O - H - I - O quilt 2.5" blocks

2.  Blue & 4-Patch Customer Quilt (CM) -- ready to go NEXT!  Hoping for a Friday Finish 5/2/20

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

RV 2020

We love to camp in our RV.  One of our favorite places to go is Presque Isle.  It is located on Lake Erie in Pennsylvania.  Our camping season is questionable this year.  We did get the RV out because it needed to be moved.  I made the family pose for "camping season" photos...

Oh dear... heads tilted the wrong way.  Smiles not just right...

Finally... a fun family photo in our "quarantine" clothes.  I think we wear these outfits about every other day.  There's really no need to get dressed up or pick a stunning outfit for anything...

See what I'm dealing with here?  They do patiently wait--sometimes.  Other times they are just annoyed that I want photos...

There, that's a little better while I am setting up the camera on the tailgate of the truck.

The Olson Mask -- This One Has a GREAT Fit!

This is my favorite mask pattern that I have tested so far.  I got the pattern from the YouTube video from Caroline at She Can Sew..  You can read step-by-step instructions here -- The Olson Mask.  There are even several size options.

I found this piece of Shopkins fabric at Goodwill a while back.  I had no idea where I would use it -- yet here it is!  Yes, I did fussy cut it.  It's totally worth it.  

This pattern is form fitted like a bra.  I like it because it doesn't have pleats.  There's a pocket inside.  There are no raw edges showing.  It uses elastic.  There is nothing to tie.  It fits great!

It fits my mini-me too! He's been asking me for a mask, but I wanted to use my limited Batman fabric on one that was a good fit for him.  Looks like a Batman mask is in order for this week.  We don't really plan on going anywhere, but it would be nice to have a fun one ready for him in the event we do need to go somewhere.  The only thing I needed to do to adjust the mask to fit him was to tie a knot into the elastic to cinch it to his head.  ~~and yes, he is wearing his Christmas t-shirt today...  who cares?

Short & Sweet Complete

I'm happy to say I have finally finished my little quilt called Short & Sweet.

Short and Sweet is a beautiful little quilt design by Kim Diehl from her book Simple Charm.

I started this little quilt in August, 2017.  I wanted something pretty to carry in my sew-to-go bag to school (and other places where I could stitch -- the bus stop, speech therapy, bowling...)  This has been one of my Slow Sunday Stitching projects.  I link up weekly with that group on Sundays at Kathy's Quilts.  I didn't used to be one to like to stitch things by hand.  Through that group I have learned and been inspired.  Come check out the fun on Sundays!  Grab a cup of something and enjoy all the eye candy.  :)

I quilted it with a general all-over stipple.  I didn't want to take away from all the little petals (perfect or not.)  I'm still learning how to stitch perfect petals, but I LOVE the organic look and the colors of this quilt.  The fabrics were scraps left over from my Homestead Harvest.  The fabric line is Pheasant Hill, Kansas Troubles Quilters by Moda.  I got it with one of the first gift cards to the Fat Quarter Shop that I ever one and it sat on my shelf for a few years before I found the right place to use it.  I am SEW glad I finally cut into it!  The cute little Fat Eighth bundle looked so sweet on the shelf.

Homestead Harvest is another pattern by Kim Diehl. You can read about that Slow Sunday Stitching project finished in 2017 here.   It hangs on our bedroom wall.  I'm pretty sure Short & Sweet will hang in the bedroom too.



I'm also happy to report that my OMG (One Main Goal) for April is now complete.  Woohoo!  I'm linking up at Elm Street Quits for the April Finish Link-Up.

Unity Day!

Woohoo.  Again I know what day of the week it is.  It's Unity QA day with Bonnie Hunter!  Bring on clue #5.  I finished Clue #4 late Sunday.

I swapped out the stars for churn dashes.  It took me two days to wrap my head around how I would do those stars with the neutrals and I couldn't find a combo that worked for me this round.  In my opinion, you can't go wrong with churn dashes!

Slow Sunday Stitching -- Gingerbread Men Quilt Complete

I finished this cute little quilt that I started as a sew-to-go bag hand stitching project in October, 2019.

I didn't think it looked quite right on the kitchen table.

I pinned it up in the kitchen for now.  I just want to display it for a little while here for now.

Another slow stitching project that I worked on this week was my Short & Sweet quilt.  It is FINALLY warm enough in the longarm room to stitch without skipped stitches.  Woohoo!



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



I'm also linking up with Sandra for the linky party for Dreami!  This is a new link-up for me, but there are sew many cute projects happening.  We all know I'm known to drop everything and start a new project.

On the Frame! -- And NEW HOPE!!!

I'm so excited that this day has finally come.  It is finally warm enough in my longarm room to SEW and be creative!!!  I have Short & Sweet on the frame.

I am quilting with it using a free-hand stipple.  I wanted to keep the quilting simple on this one as to not take away from the design of the quilt.  I typically use my stitch regulator.  On this one I have the stitch regulator shut off.  The stitches are looking nice and sweet!

WOOHOO!!!  Can you tell I'm sooooo excited!  I have had a pile of quilts to start quilting.  I will need to make some backs for tops, but I say BRING ON THE FINISHES for this summer!

I may take in a few customer quilts.  We shall see.  I really want to get some of my projects crossed off my list.

WIP Wednesday 4.22.20

This is what happened this week:

I made progress on my SSSSQ (QA with Kevin the quilter.)

 I finally got out my sew-to-go bag and did some hand stitching while my "student" worked...

I made stars on for the Unity quilt along with Bonnie Hunter.

When I attached them for Clue #3 the Unity quilt I was happy.  I was calm.  This quilt is so peaceful to me (and definitely PIECEful).  It looked like this:

Then Clue #4 of the Unity QA came in like a storm.  I couldn't decide all day yesterday how to make this block in neutrals.  Look at this mess!  I just started sorting my neutral bin that I started with (the grey striped one under the pile with the big green bag on it)  and grabbed the blue clothes basket and the green bag and started actually sorting NEUTRALS by lights and darks and others.

 The mess spread to my desk behind me where my computer sits.  Oh I hope I don't lose my phone and air pods and camera in this mess.  They need charged!  I don't think I'll have to worry about my husband using my computer on his desk today.   He's not a fan of clutter when he's trying to think about what to buy next on eBay.  Ha ha.

I pressed and cut some HST in lights and darks.  Hopefully I'll come up with how they will land in the Unity quilt today.  

I mailed this quilt as a baby shower gift for my nephew and his wife.  The baby is due in July.  I hope she likes it.  I was a pattern tester around 2016 for Beaquilter.  The pattern is called Flowing in the Breeze.  It is an Accuquilt-friendly quilt pattern and available here.

This is the pieced back.  It kinda reminds me of the Titanic in the middle section.

I made three different style of masks this week.  I like the black/white with red peppers pattern the best.  I did individual posts on each mask.  Just go back through my older posts for pattern references.

Seriously, I prewashed my fabrics for these masks!  ALL of it, even the strings.  When I got them out of the washer and dryer they seemed smaller.  That's good for the fabric to be tighter together, but geesh they don't look the same.  Grrr.  I'm not trying them on again because I am giving them to my SIL tomorrow in our drop and go swap in the mailbox.

I currently have 69 on-going projects.    One finished this week...a new one was added.

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

36.  Gingerbread Men pattern by Edyta Sitar started November, 2019

37.  Linen & Threads Mystery SAL, Started 1/1/20 for my sew-to-go bag.

38.  Dresser Scarf (my grandma's printed WIP from the 70's) 1/1/20 for my sew-to-go bag.

39.  Veggie Patch (from Katie Mae Quilts)

40.  Unity Quilt Along with Bonnie Hunter,  (started 4/1/2020.)

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.  Drunkard's Path Variation baby quilt

5.  Finding Nemo Scrappy Trip quilt (my seams don't match Julianne's seams...)

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

6.  Wings of Spring -- Block Lotto win 3.31.19

Ready to longarm

1.  O - H - I - O quilt 2.5" blocks

2.  Blue & 4-Patch Customer Quilt (CM)

3.  Kim Diehl's Short & Sweet from her book Simple Charm (Started August, 2017 for to-go bag.)
4.  Gingerbread Men (a slow stitching applique project started October, 2019.)

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