a new year!

I welcomed in the New Year with happiness, and hope you did, too.
We (Sweetie and I) hosted a new year's eve dinner and card party - 11 people, with delicious foods brought in by all attending.  It was perfect and peaceful and fun.
Lots of visiting and laughter.  We chose to play progressive euchre with two tables of four, and three sitting out each game rotation, so we all had time to visit AND play cards, with the games ending right before the televised ball drop in NY.

I don't usually make New Year resolutions, only to fulfill my long-ago promise made to my Great-Grandma B - to learn something new each year (which can be something small or something monumental).  
Last year, I learned more about gut health and how it affects so many things in overall health and wellness.  Don't get me started here, LOL, or I'll go on and on, but it is AMAZING what gut health controls.

In the quilting realm, I've decided this year I will finish up some already started projects.  Who knows why I have all the blocks for an entire quilt made, some not even sewn together or without borders attached. 
Like this ongoing project - 

 Farm Girl Sampler quilt blocks now together, but not pressed.

(book Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt)

Also!, a few friends and I who retreat together, 
have an ongoing challenge.... a 'bet' of sorts. 
We have chosen to not purchase any new fabric 
as we work on our unfinished projects this Winter/Spring - 
to try to use our stash.  
The first person to purchase new fabric 
will have to buy pretzels for the others -  
the awesome, freshly made, pretzels from Shipshewana, 
when we see each other again in November.

So, back to blogging, back to stitching, and back to learning!!!
Hope your January is wonderful, too!!!

dappled sunshine on my Vintage Farm Girl blocks

We've had our killing frost here in central Ohio,
and Autumn weather has arrived.
Sunny, crisp, and a warm breeze trying to warm things up!
It was such a beautiful day today,
so I went out and walked around the back yard
(rather the back garden if you're from the other side of the pond - 
or so my Dutch friends tell me).

Whilst enjoying the weather and my walk, 
I realized it would be a great idea
to photograph my lastly made blocks
from the Vintage Farm Girl sew along!
(Yes, the sew-along is finished, but I'm still working on mine!)

I had a whole STACK of VFG blocks I'd made
and sandwiched in my pattern book,
so I checked to see what I'd already photographed, and
I guess when you have a stack of blocks almost 20 high
that it's waaaay past time to share!! :)

Notice the leaf that came to visit in the last picture?  
The wind picked up and that beauty fluttered in!

 I left the leaf there when I placed my next blocks:

 I laid out the following blocks, and another leaf came to visit, too:

 I LOVE all of the blocks, and have been doing them very scrappy.
I did do just a little fussy-placement of fabric when I did that last block, above ^.
Here's a closer view:

Wowza!!! NINETEEN blocks I hadn't shared! 
I didn't know it was that many!
I already have the next few blocks cut out, 
which leaves maybe only another six, so the end is in sight!!  

Oh, but I don't have my border fabric chosen for this.
I really should think about that, shouldn't I?

Thanks for visiting, 
and I hope your day has been filled with dappled sunshine, also!

Labor Day!

I hope everyone is having a wonderful weekend!
Here in the U.S. of A., today, Monday, is Labor Day.
The Labor Day holiday is traditionally the end of our Summer.
I've been laboring, but the fun kind of labor -
keeping the grand kiddos whilst their parents move into their new home.
Also, I've been having fun, doing some of the cooking and hauling meals over to them while they concentrate on the actual labor. :)

Just yesterday, I was able to deliver my gift quilt
to Poppy and meet her as she came to visit at just a week old!
She's such a sweetie, and I'm sure she loves her quilt as much as I loved making it for her!

Last week, I also stitched up some more of my Farm Girl Vintage blocks...
I'm loving making these six inch blocks!

 

 And, I don't think I showed the ones I had done the week before,

so here they are:

 

Back to Labor Day plans,
the grand kiddos are coming over again today (while SonnyBoy continues his unpacking), so we have great plans - swimming and enjoying the 90+ degree weather; also we'll have a hot dog roast as we have some downed branches to make a little bonfire.
Later tonight, THE Ohio State Buckeyes have their season-opener football game, so there will be some home-gating/football watching going on around here.  

Hope your weekend is grand, also!

making hay!

It's Summertime,
weather-wise, finally. :)
Hot, muggy, steamy, and even sunny!
Just the way it should be for mid-July.

With the last few weeks of nasty weather -
thunder, lightning and heavy rainstorms, 
you'd think I'd be so much further along with my
indoor activities, aka:  sewing, than what I am. 
But since I don't plug in my computerized electronics 
(sewing machines included) during such bad weather,
I don't have much to show in the way of progress...

Between storms though, I did sew this Farm Girl Vintage block:

Yep, I sewed ONE little six inch block.  

Oh, I also did cut out more fabric for my Farm Girl Vintage blocks...
but I only have a picture of one of the groups:

Above, that's six blocks, in six little piles,
on one of my portable design boards.
And below, is my method of organizing

the bazillion little pieces of each six inch finished block, 

on one of my design-boards,
readying them for sewing.
(: OK, really, this block only has 37 pieces. :)

My design-board organization 
is similar to that which the pattern designer 
(Lori of Bee in My Bonnet) uses,
except my little design boards are not as cute as hers.

I made my design boards by wrapping a scrap of batting
around the included plastic divider sheets from my ArtBin box,
then secured that batting on the back with painter's tape.
I'm pretty sure that Lori/Bee In My Bonnet didn't use painter's tape. :)

I'm off to make hay blocks while the sun shines!
Happy Monday,
and hope your day is sun-shiny, too! 

rain, rain, go away...

Here in central Ohio, we are enjoying 
(I use the word 'enjoying' very loosely)
more heavy rain, lightening and thunderstorms.  
Again.
Yesterday we had another 2 and a half inches of rain!
I don't know about you, 
but when those electrical storms are ongoing
(like they have been here recently),
I don't plug in any of my computerized machines,
like my sewing machines or the long-arm machine.
I figure it would only take one hit to electrically fry
the components of one of my favorite machines!
Are you the same way?


During the stormy days here, 
I have pre-cut and prepped many blocks -
ready to stitch anytime the storms are not visiting.
I've only stitched together ONE of my Farm Girl Vintage blocks this week!!

I have done some hand-stitching...  

I'm still whip-stitching together 
more of the potholder blocks of
my Flags of the American Revolution quilt.

Also, I've worked on binding another of the baby quilts to gift...

(I know some will notice and ask about the area that's not quilted in this picture... the bottom, left.  I left it un-quilted, so that I could later quilt/stitch in the baby's name and birth date!)

During this rainy-so-far-Summer, 
I've taken some time to visit some blogs -
to live vicariously through others' pictures of 
sunny days, trips and vacations.
 
My favorites are ones that shared their travel photos.
Not just any photos, but specifically 
to the New England Quilt Museum
and the Sister's Quilt show to name a couple.
But the one that has stuck in my head the most is
Wendy's, The Constant Quilter blog (link here),
from her trip to the Vermont Quilt Festival.
So many great pics of wonderful, vintage quilts.

All of those travel photos makes me want to do some traveling!
SO inspiring!; 
But all of those quilt-y photos also cause me a little trouble,
as it makes me really, really, really
want to start another project!!
I do remember my promise to myself 
to finish up some Quilts already In Progress...
I will finish another QIP first. 
I will finish another QIP first.
I will finish another QIP first.
:)

Hope you are having sunny, stitching days!

more Farm Girl Vintage blocks

I'm continuing stitching and trying to finish up some
long awaited UnFinished Quilts/Projects...
which I shared about previously, here.
But, I also worked on my NEW project last week,
as I sewed together six more blocks for my
Farm Girl Vintage quilt!

I'm really enjoying making these blocks.
The book (by Lori Holt) 
has patterns for both 12 and 6 inch finished blocks,
and I'm making the six-inch square blocks,
so there are some really tiny cuts of fabric.

On the canning jars block (above, top-right),
the bottom of the jar corner-pieces are only cut at 3/4ths of an inch!
In my excitement of making these blocks,
I did have a little problem with the block called Corn and Tomatoes:

Yep, see the pieces to the left?  
I stitched the red polka-dot onto the background fabric
at the wrong angle.
Oops! had to make some new units.
Maybe, hopefully, these wrongly-made pieces 
will go into another block at a later date.

In regards to the UFQ/Progress:
I'm binding the next to last of the baby quilts that I need for this Summer gifting, and I've finished quilting the wedding-quilt gift, so it's ready to trim and bind.

Feels good to have progress -
progress on new and old projects!

Hope you are having a wonderful, happy day!

a few blocks and half of '15

If you recall, I was being taunted by the
stack of fabrics and the Farm Girl Vintage pattern book
for a couple of months or more.

Yesterday I did meander over a baby quilt for a friend, 
and I'll share that another day,
but, as soon as I finished up those 
four quilt tops/works in progress of mine
(that I'd promised myself I'd do before starting something else),
I headed to the sewing room and got in my sewing fix!
Yay!!
I didn't stay there long each day,
but it was just enough to settle me down
(if you are a quilter, then you probably understand that).

I'd decided to start with the 6 inch blocks,
but I may eventually add some of the 12 inch blocks, too.

So, in four days, with just a little stitching time here and there,
I have these five blocks sewn:

So soothing, just that little bit of stitching.

Then I looked at the calendar and realized that 
it's almost the end of June already.
That's half a year gone!  
Boy, oh boy, it seems like time is flying.
Or is it only me that thinks this?
I sure had big ideas about things I wanted to accomplish this year, 
and I'm not half finished, though the year is!!
Guess I better get cracking, yes?
Focus, focus may become my mantra. :)

Hopefully, like me, 
you had some stitching/calming time this past weekend also.
Happy end of June!

Oops!

I did it again...
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Sorry to put the lyrics to the Britney Spears song 
into your head for the day,
but, I did it...
I've started another quilt project.

I think it's a problem condition that I have...
this start-another-project-thing.
(: By the way, I don't think I'm the only quilter that has the same condition. :)

I promised myself that 
I WOULD NOT START ANOTHER QUILT PROJECT until 
I had finished up some works-in-progress (WIP).

Please note the word 'until'.
 
It was a difficult few weeks, 
but because I am aware of my condition  and I'd promised myself,
I DID quilt some commission quilts;
I also started the PROMISED working-through-the WIP-stacks
on my sewing table and ironing board.

As an example of a WIP, 
I had cut out a stack of red, white, and blue tumblers last Summer.
I don't know why they were never sewn together. 
But that's the first WIP that I attacked:

After I finished piecing the quilt top, I readied the backing.

Then, I finished piecing two baby quilts  -

the one on the left for a little boy (already a month old) - it just needed the rows sewn together, and the one on the right for a little girly (that will be here in August) - (it needed it's borders):

I went ahead and prepped the backings for them.
Lastly, I finished piecing the wedding quilt
that I've had in progress for at least two years

 and made the backing for this one, too.


That is four, yes I said four!! 
quilts ready to quilt!
The tumbler flag quilt will be layered, pillow-case-turned and then quilted.
The two baby quilts and the large blue/brown star quilt will all go into my queue for BigDD, the long-arm machine. 

Which brings me to this: 

Farm Girl Vintage and my chosen fabrics
[the bundle is Sprinkles by Red Rooster Fabrics, 
across the top is mostly Swiss Dots/Riley Blake for backgrounds, 
and other fabrics (from various lines) that will be my piecing fabrics]

Like I said, :)

Oops, I did it again,  
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah
Yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah yeah.

Hope you are getting some of your projects tackled also,
and Happy Thursday!

happy day, sunny day, Tuesday

To start off, I'd just like to declare that
quilting friends are THE best!

A little surprise came in the mail today:

charm squares and 'candy'
which I think will fit right in with my plan
for the Farm Girl Vintage sew-along

Isn't that the greatest!
A combination get-well/hello Spring gift from Wendy.
It was a very thoughtful and appreciated gift!
Such a lovely surprise
from such a wonderful, quilting friend.
She lives miles and miles away, 
and somehow she knew I needed a smile today.

And on that note - of wonderful, quilty friends...

I've never met Wendy who sent me this gift,

yet I feel that I've known her forever.

We've only 'talked' through emails and blogs,

and seem to have so much in common,

quilting just being one of the commonalities.

Do you also feel the same about
quilting friends that you've never met in person?

Hope you are having a wonderful Tuesday,
my friends!
(and thank you again, Wendy)

I have issues...

There, I've said it...
I do have issues.

I 
C.A.N.N.O.T 
stop
myself.

I keep finding new, quilt-y projects that I want to do.
And because I have no restraint whatsoever,
there are now, at least, 1,700 quilts I'd like to make.  This month.
(insert maniacal laughing here)

The latest make that one of the latest quilt-y projects I'd like to start?
It's called Farm Girl Vintage by Lori Holt!!!

I AM a farm girl, 
and well, I AM vintage,
and it IS another quilt!,
so what could be more perfect, I say!
 
Ms. Holt's new book FGV, is just now out
 
and starting May 1st, she's hosting
 a sew-along on her Bee In My Bonnet blog.
Check out the FGV info HERE.

I'd pre-ordered the book for my February birthday, but since I don't yet have it (as it's being mailed to me now), I had to grab this picture from the Bee In My Bonnet blog.
To set the record straight,
I am not, in any way, affiliated with Ms. Holt, her Farm Girl Vintage book, or the Bee In My Bonnet blog.  
I just LOVE this new book!!!
I LOVE Ms. Holt!
Oh, and I just love Ms. Holt's patterns and fabrics!
Not LOVE in a stalker kind of way, 
but in an addicted quilter way, you know?

I don't know if I'm going to join in the FGV sew-along, 
but my plan is that I am going to make my own version 
of at least TWO of the 14 quilts in this book!!!

So, folks...
that's my latest issue... err, ONE of my latest issues. :)

By the way, did I mention that I ordered me some polka dot fabrics?
If you scroll through the Bee In My Bonnet blog, (here) you'll see why.
And, (here's) the link that originally got me hooked - 
the fabrics and the Flower Box block!

Definitely issues here. :)
I'm not the only one, right?  Right?

Happy Wednesday and Happy Earth Day!
Hope it's wonderful for you!