To Do Tuesday #28

I seriously can't believe I have stuck with making a list of goals for 28 weeks!  I never used to write a list of goals, they were just in my mind.  But hey it's working so I will keep trying.

The goals I hoped to accomplish this week were to get 2 turkey table runners done, finish 2 snowman hexie table toppers and hopefully move on to sunflower and poinsettia table runners. 

Here is how I did:

Two turkey runners were completed, they were identical and I didn't get a shot of them together.  I listed them on Thursday and by Friday night they were both sold.  So I made two more which are identical to the first ones.  I had all 4 of these pieced from last March so it was just quilting and binding.  But when these sell I have to start from scratch with making them. 

Next up to make another sunflower.  Again identical to ones you have seen in the past. It is just easier and faster to make a bunch of wedges all the same fabrics. And once I get a background that I like and works nicely with the sunflowers I stick with it for a few yards worth. 

These two hexie snowmen toppers are an easy one.  I had them all appliqued and quilted before, so all they needed was their binding. 

 I have made these before but sold out so needed to replenish them.  And wouldn't you know I sold one of them also!  I have a really good customer in California:)   OMG I found the coolest video on how to cut bias binding using a strip cutter with the Accuquilt machine!  I used it for the first time to make this striped binding. I was able to cut enough binding for both of these in one pass through the machine!!!  You can see the video HERE.

 And then back to fall with a pumpkin runner.  These are pretty easy to whip up as I quilt the background then bind and applique.

The only thing on the list that didn't get done was the poinsettia runner. But I am okay with that for now. I had a good productive week.  And I still got away with the hubby for an ATV ride.  We might have gotten it a little dirty.

This week I need to make some waterproof bags to put our camping chairs in to carry on the ATV.  I am so not looking forward to making them...it's not quilting:(  and there is no pattern.  So I could use some good luck charm if you have any to spare!!

Linking up with To Do Tuesday.   Have a great week everybody!  As always I appreciate your comment love;)

To Do Tuesday #27

Last week was vacation so I had set no goals in the sewing studio.  It felt great to be away from the sewing machine. Really it did, which I find hard to believe as I live, eat and breathe sewing!  The week before I had set a goal to work on a lap quilt for which the blocks had been sewn.  I had three days in which to work on it before we left on vacay.  They now are sewn into rows and the rows sewn together.

 Nancy had posted a quilt she had quilted for her sister, they are enablers;)  I really liked the pattern so off I went to purchase it.  Don't you just love digital downloads!  The very next day I started piecing it because I found just enough leftovers from a Pie Making Day jelly roll.  And I had a white with gray polka dot yardage in the stash.  The perfect combo.


The pattern calls for a 3" border of background fabric to make it a 51"x 51" quilt.  I am not fond of square quilts, had I had more of the jelly roll fabrics I would have made another row of blocks.  But I did not have more.  So I need your thoughts please...should I put the 3" called for border of background fabric on and call it good? Or option #2 as shown below,  put a 2" border of background fabric (because all the lattice between blocks are 2") and then add a 4" of the polka dot fabric that you see at the bottom of this photo?  Or is there a #3 option you would like to suggest.  I need your thoughts to help get this flimsy off the design wall!

I have a few table runners I want/need to get done this week.  So that will be a goal to get 2 turkey table runners done, finish 2 snowman hexie table toppers and hopefully move on to sunflower and poinsettia table runners. 

Linking with Home Sewn By Us for To Do Tuesday.

Some pretty posies for your viewing.  Do you see a cucumber vine growing from the top pot?  It is a volunteer!  Well it might be. We are not sure how it appeared in there as I did not plant it.  It might have jumped into the potting soil when DH was doing his starter pots in the basement in the spring, it's the only thing we can think of. I don't really care for the look of it in there, but I thought I'd leave it for an experiment to see if it would actually produce cuc's.  

July OMG finished

Yes, another quilt off the 'To Be Quilted' shelf!  For July's One Monthly Goal I wanted to get this flimsy quilted and bound.  I have had it done for over a week now and just waiting till I got back from a little vacation to post it.

You can read about the beginnings of this quilt HERE, including finding a link for the tutorial of this block.  

I was planning on doing an allover freehand design on my Nolting FunQuilter. However, a little voice just kept saying 'you have to do something else'.  So I compromised and did a freehand allover in the center portion, it's a swirly feather with some hook swirls thrown in.

Followed by ribbon candy in the blue border and X's in the outside border of squares. I am happy I spent the extra time to do these little touches that go a long way to dress it up.

For some unknown reason I had a problem with the binding.  When it was done and laying on the floor the binding/border was waving at me. I don't usually have any problems with binding so I am not sure what went wrong.  Then I tried really steaming it and still it was waving.  After letting it set for a couple days I decided I had to do the right thing and rip off the binding.  It was so worth it, it now lays flat, and I am happy:)   As soon as I get some good photos I will be listing it in my Etsy shop.

Thanks to Patty at Elm Street Quilts for hosting the OMG(One Monthly Goal) each month.  I'll be
linking up over there.

I mentioned that I was on vacation last week. We took the camper and went to visit our son and DIL last weekend, that way we could social distance and just do outdoor things.  It was wonderful.  And then DH and I went on to camp near lakes and a bike trail.  So relaxing and almost makes one feel normal again.  No sewing at all last week and I am totally okay with that!

 While kayaking we spotted a loon and her baby.  We saw lots of deer and even a fox that came through the campground, but sadly he was trotting faster than I could get my camera for a photo.

While biking on the trail a black bear ran across the path about 75 yards in front of DH.  He wasn't scared but I was a bit.  We stopped and let him go on his merry way and then we continued.  I don't mind seeing them at all IF I am in a vehicle but we were rather exposed on the bikes! 

To Do Tuesday #26

When I set my goals for this week I wasn't feeling very motivated, I still feel that way.  But I said that I needed to make two patriotic table runners, I finished them up.  So one goal met.

From there I decided I should quilt my July OMG.  So that is all done now and will get it's own post. But to keep me honest here is a sneak peek. 

Our evening chore is to pick raspberries each night.  So far I think we have picked 10 cups and froze them.  I will be making some raspberrry muffins soon.  

We have been eating lettuce from our garden for a month now and still  have lots more. The leaves are so big! I laid a peanut there so you get a size reference.  We only need to pick about 10 -12 leaves each night for a nice salad. 

The only goal I am setting this week is to work on the piecing of this quilt I started in mid June and it got derailed in favor of other things that had deadlines. 

I hope you all have had a more productive week than I did.  Let's go find out and check in at the HomeSewnByUs blog for To Do Tuesday linky party. 

Snowman redwork

Would you believe I actually made something for myself!  Yes I get to keep it and hang it on our wall all winter long.  I am such a snowman lover that this just had to get made.  It's been in the works for a few years actually.  The stitching was done here and there, and last December I pieced it together.  And last weekend I quilted and bound it.

The pattern was in Quiltmaker magazine Nov-Dec 2009.  No I didn't start it back then, only bookmarked it as interested.  Then a friend and I decided to both do one a few years ago.  She was good and got hers done a lot sooner than me.  The original design was stitched in all colors and the fabrics were red, green, gold and blues, not to my liking.  So redwork it was to go with the red and grays I like to work with for my snowman table runners. 

I used Glide 40wt thread in white and went right over the redwork and it worked out great. Some of the blocks received cross hatching and some with diagonal lines in one direction only.

I have not done ribbon candy for a long time and decided now would be a great time to refresh that. So the long gray sashings received that quilting treatment.

The outer red border has wishbone quilting in between two straight lines.

I am so happy with how this whole thing came together.  I did a lot of different sashings than what the pattern had.  I used a lot of leftover pieces from my snowman table runners in this.   Now I will have something to look forward to later this year.  It's been laying on my family room floor for a few days, I just couldn't bear to put it away yet! 

Linking with:

Put Your Foot Down

Wednesday Wait Loss

Can I get a whoop whoop

To Do Tuesday #25

Well there goes another week crossed off the calendar!  It just doesn't seem possible to be July already.

This week I had these goals in mind...  How did I do.
The goal of quilting and piecing more runners is on the list of things for this week.  DONE ☑
I pieced, quilted and bound these two buffalo plaid snowman runners.  These are their pieced backings, two from last weeks sixteen pieced backings. 

And I finished up my redwork snowman wall hanging on Saturday. Quilted and bound, whoo hoo. This one is for me!  I will do a post on it later this week and give you all the details on it. 

Maybe some more hand embroidery thrown in too.  DONE ☑

And I'll have to figure out July's OMG project.  DONE ☑
I posted about that HERE.

I am not feeling motivated right now so I am not sure what to put on my goal list for this week.  I do need to get two patriotic runners done for an order.  Maybe I will work on some scraps for a donation quilt. Keeping it simple;)

Linking with all the inspiration at To Do Tuesday. 

Monday Memories #8

This first memory should give you all a little giggle.  After all she is a cutie!  I truly apologize for the horrible quality of these Monday memories photos. You see I am taking a picture of a picture that was taken way before digital cameras were a thing.   Anyway this cutie was made in the late 80's. I no longer have her but I believe her ear spots were painted on as was her face.  She was stuffed and dressed with a chambray dress with a bandana print ruffle. And she is sitting in a child's wooden rocking chair that was mine as a child! 

 Pillows were a real thing back in the 80's also.  I bet you could guess that from the fabrics!  The flowers were all machine appliqued on.  Adding buttons as the closure was popular then also.

Here is something you might not know about me, I have an embroidery machine!  Well it is a Janome sewing machine with the embroidery set up.  It is only a 4"x4" hoop size.  I thought I was going to do a lot of embroidery to sell. These bibs were about the only thing that sold and I discovered it was not a money maker and I didn't enjoy it much.  So it kinda just sits on the shelf now.  I really should just use it for the sewing but I like my newer Janomes better!  These bibs are made from white finger tip towels with an opening to slip over the head. The opening is finished off with a piece of ribbing. 

Well my friends that might be the end of the Monday Memories, at least for a while.  I would have to do some serious looking through photos to see if I have anything else to share.  Thank you for taking a peek every Monday, I appreciate your comments as always. 

And here is the latest blooms from our yard. Lilies are a favorite of ours, but our supply has dwindled over the years as the deer love to chomp on them.  We enjoy the deer as they walk through our yard on a daily basis, sometimes many times a day. But darn it stay out of my flowers!!!!  I believe these are Asiatic lilies, you can see we have these behind a fence, but sometimes they get tall enough the deer reach right over the fence and help themselves to a flower salad:(

I'll see you tomorrow for To Do Tuesday but for today I am linking with MCM, Design Wall Monday, and Monday Making.

My July OMG project

Last month I quilted a lap quilt for my June OMG. So why not put another lap quilt on the list for my July OMG.  It will feel good to have another of them of the shelf.  I will quilt and bind this quilt.  It will receive a freehand allover design.  The name of the game is done is good:)

Linking with Elm Street Quilts for One Monthly Goal. 

To Do Tuesday #24

It's been another good week, one of these times I will surprise you and get nothing done!

Here is what I committed to for the week:
I will continue to work on more table runners, I am thinking snowman and pumpkins ones. DONE✔
There might be a little more embroidery too. DONE✔
And of course I need to finish up my Sunshine blog hop project for Thursday so that is priority.  DONE✔

I stuck to my goals and first I pieced and then quilted and bound these two pumpkin table runners. This is a Bloomin Minds pattern that I added the outer border to as I like a little wider runner. These are approx. 14" wide now.  

And then I had a little squirrel enter my room and whispered in my ear that I should make this runner with a snowman instead of a pumpkin.  Well of course I listened to the squirrel;)  The snowman applique is from an older Bloomin Minds pattern.

One other squirrel that I would like to punch made me do this:(  I broke my favorite 1/4" foot for my Janome Skyline 7.  There might have been a few choice words that escaped my mouth.  After I calmed down I went off to Amazon and ordered another which should arrive on Thursday.  But don't fret I have another machine to use in the meantime.

You might have seen another project I finished already during the Sunshine Blog Hop HERE.

Then on Friday afternoon I decided to dig into a pile of cutoffs/leftovers from trimming backings.  This is two years worth of cutoffs from making tons of snowman runners. I had no idea at first how many backings I could piece together into a pretty backing with stripes for upcoming snowman runners.  I am amazed but from Friday afternoon through Saturday morning I pieced 16 of them!!!

The last finish of the week was on Sunday afternoon.  I was so anxious to get my redwork snowman all finished into a fun little wall hanging.  I love him!  This was the first time I quilted over any embroidery. Using Glide 40 wt. thread it worked fine to crosshatch right over him.  However I wouldn't mind trying the 60 wt sometime, I didn't have any white to try this time.

 Oh wait I forgot about Saturday afternoon and Monday's projects!  Oh gosh you must all think I am nuts with how much sewing I have been doing. But hey it takes my mind off things;) Piecing of these runners and stenciling the snowflakes. Okay that's it I am done!

But I want to share this pretty peach rose with you. I was able to capture it with fresh raindrops on it.

The goal of quilting and piecing more runners is on the list of things for this week too.  Maybe some more hand embroidery thrown in too.  And I'll have to figure out July's OMG project.

Linking with To Do Tuesday.

Monday Memories #7

I've come a long way baby!  Here is a glimpse of the first quilt ever.  OMG I think it is ugly, but it is proof of how far I have come.  These were dresdens were made the old fashioned way by drawing around a template.  They were cut out with a scissors and appliqued by machine onto a sheet!  This was made back in the 70's.  I am almost embarrassed to show it but it is just proof of how much my skills have grown.  This was made for my first apartment.

These were made many years later in the 90's.  The patterns used were from various designers but I know a few were definitely from Debbie Mumm books.  Debbie's patterns are what got me really quilting in the modern day of rotary cutters, mats and rulers.  

All of these were made way before I had a longarm quilting machine.  Applique back then was made using a fusible web and I am pretty sure no machine applique was done on them.  After all they were made to hang on the wall and not get much wear and tear.  Any quilting that might have occurred were all stitch in the ditch on the sewing machine.

This quilt was made in 2003 several years before my longarm days.  I really wanted a bed quilt so after piecing the blocks and sewing into rows I learned how to quilt as you go on my domestic.  There was some quilting done which doesn't show in the photo. But I remember drawing a couple circles on the flower and a leaf shape for the leaves which I then used the domestic machine to stitch it. I was pretty proud of how flat the quilt was.  I never made another queen size quilt using that method as I thought it took too long.  

     
                                      

That's all the memories for this week my fellow quilters.  But I think I can scare up a few more for you next week. 

 I will leave you with my purple Clematis in it's current state.  It always amazes me how fast this grows back as I try to cut it back to a couple feet tall in the fall or early spring. You see the window in the upper left corner, that is my sewing room.

                                                         

I'll be back tomorrow to show you my week's accomplishments I hope you will stop back again.

Linking with:
Monday Making
Design Wall Monday