another post!

Can you believe it? 3 posts in a week? I had a chance to do some more sewing today. Mark is off helping a neighbor build a treehouse in a hollow tree. Is "on" a hollow tree more accurate. No he is not making a room in the hollow trunk. It's not a sequoia. Anyways I had a good time today doing a little sewing without interruption!



So I am just about done with this little spring wallhanging. Pattern by Lori Smith with a few changes like using a  bird and butterflies instead of rabbits and carrots.  I've always enjoyed this pattern. It's that darned applique that slows me down every time. Oh yes, the quilting too.



I also spent a little time sorting quilts for the scheduled lectures I have this fall. I'm doing a couple of local guilds featuring some of my newest stuff or stuff that hasn't been published and some of my most popular designs. Something I always enjoy.

I have to add that Design Wall Monday is now hosted at smallquiltsanddollquilts.blogspot.com

Midsummer Report part 2

I know I don't need to give excuses but for the record things have been a bit crazy here. First there were issues with my shoulder which have been diagnosed. Lots of doctoring for it still though. And secondly, I am hosting a prairie walk here this weekend and we've been getting ready for that. The getting ready was compounded by a freak rain storm where we got 8 1/4" of rain.  Yes we had a little water in our basement twice. But the worst of it was about 5" of sand deposited on most of my prairie garden along the driveway. You see we live at the bottom of a hill and the rain caused erosion of the gully coming down the hill. This is a bit like a ditch along the side the road but over the years it has washed deeper and wider. In spite of the mess I think a good portion of the plants will survive. At least we didn't have any standing water afterwards. Gotta find a bright side. The driveway is to the right of the pine trees.

 In between all that I did find some time to sew. It is so therapeutic after all. I called it quits on my Civil War Bow Tie quilt top once it was big enough to use for a shower curtain. I took my time with this one trying to only use the small scraps when I made them rather than cutting into yardage. I hope to finish it up soon. If I don't use batting and and put muslin on the back, it should stay light enough in the shower so we can still see the dirt. Knowing where all the parts to wash are isn't enough. Ask Mark.

"Challenging Chain" is a good name for this next top with 1930's that I put together. I think this was a kit in the closet I put together a year ago or so. The rectangles are easy enough to sew but I was challenged by the reverse blocks and pressing consistently so that the seams would nest.  Now if I made ALL the blocks I need of the same kind at one time my pressing would be consistent. But because I make a few here and a few there the pressing gets screwed up a little. Maybe I need to make better notes and then follow them like a pattern.  I tend to just look at a block and make it without checking any directions. Besides, where would I put them so I could find them .  But don't you think those wrinkles kinda add texture like the quilting would? Makes me a little eager to quilt it now.

I've been anxious to get back downstairs to the long arm. Between my shoulder and the restoration work in the woods, I think I only quilted 2 so far this year. Believe it or not it was easier on my shoulder to work in the woods than to quilt! I have set up a sewing station in Studio 2 so a friend can join me while I work on the long arm. Margie usually joins me at Studio 3 but with the move downstairs I hope to be more productive soon.

Midsummer Report part 1

It seems I finally found some time to report about the sewing I've done lately.  That means mostly since the first of the year! When I look back at what I have sewn I feel better about it cause there is more than I thought.
First is the Little Trees quilt. I finished the top and promptly gave it away, totally forgetting to get a picture. I should still be able to do that though. We did that quilt in both Thursday and Friday classes this winter, though I didn't finish mine till spring sometime.
 I made most of the blocks in these two orphan block quilts. I did them over the last few years as demo pieces. I don't know why I didn't coordinate them better, I just grabbed scraps and made a block. The church ladies must have joined them into about 10 comfort quilts by now. I am sure they still all haven't been sewn into quilts yet, tho we are done with sampler blocks for  a while.  I enjoyed that more than I thought, always choosing different blocks, patterns and techniques. I didn't get bored with them for a long time.

Recently the Friday group made Sunshine and Shadow quilts. I've made this before in red and yellow. It was fast, fun and easy and I had the fabric in the stash to make another one.

Almost ready to show a few more. Stay tuned.