Still Making

 As the year comes to a close, I am still making quilts. I'd been in a bit of a funk in the weeks leading up to Christmas, but an idea struck me in some odd moment, and now I am back to work, focused on a strong finish to this strange, pandemic year.

Of course, you have all read about my 4-month focus on the churn dash block. I made dozens - many dozens for 3 different quilts. So this most recent push for churn dash blocks was for the block exchange that we Frankfort girls had at our Christmas gathering a couple of weeks ago. I took 42 blocks and came home with 42 exchange blocks of all manner of colors and combinations. 

That stack of blocks has been waiting for inspiration, and finally this week it came. Half-square triangles for the setting blocks. 

I dug into the stash for a suitable combination and came up with this dark burgundy and cream pairing that will do nicely. The blocks need to be 6.5 inches, so I whipped up a handful to see how the results would look - hey! a winner!

My ancient stash provided these two fabrics - an old Kansas Troubles fabric from their line called Stitches on the Oregon Trail, and an old Kaye England neutral called Matters of the Heart. Very pleasing. 

In place of partying to bring in the new year, you'll find me stitching. Happy New Year!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Merry Christmas To All!

We are having a true White Christmas here in south central Ohio this year. Yesterday the snow began around 3pm and continued until almost midnight. In that time we had accumulations in the 4-5-inch range.

All is calm.

While the snow was falling, so were our temperatures. Christmas Eve morning saw the thermometer at 48 degrees. By bedtime, we were at 17. Brrr!

If you look close, you can make out the sidewalk.

Our Christmas Day will be a first for us - no family coming in; just the two of us here to enjoy a quiet day and reflect on the true meaning of Christmas. Son is all the way out in Oregon; DD1 will go with her husband to his family's gathering in Findlay; DD2 has to work. She is employed by a health care facility.  

I hope your day is filled with the wonders of the season; peaceful reflection, and utter contentment. I am spending some of my day reminiscing about Christmases past (click here) and to read that wonderful Truman Capote short story "A Christmas Memory."

Merry Christmas!

Gifting

 All of us who sew and quilt probably gift from the creations we make; I am no different. Sometimes, the gifting just sorta' happens as a surprise, rather than through any grand plan on the maker's end. Here's my case in point.

A few weeks ago when I finished the last of the churn dash blocks, I pulled out my tub of Christmas fabrics just to see what I could come up with. All I did in that first little session was to make a 16-patch block of 2.5-inch squares. I pressed it, and left it on the ironing board. 

Then I began marinating ideas. I wanted to figure out how to add points so that my 16-patch could be the center of a big star that would result in a block big enough for a pillow front. I was thinking that a pretty star pillow would be a great gift idea.

I could have used available mathematical dimensions for such an endeavor, but who wants to bother with that?!? I just cut some big squares, drew the diagonal lines, sewed, cut, then finally, trimmed to fit my center square. I like how this turned out!

And then, by gosh, I instantly knew that this would be perfect for my mother. It would look great in her home - already filled with a lot of cozy decorations.

The star looked festive and cheery under our tree; I hope Mom has plopped it somewhere in her house to look festive and cheery, too.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Red and White Quilts

This may or may not be a rerun post of quilts I put out each December for Christmas. I could go back to see my old posts, but who doesn't love to look at a stack of quilts, especially those that are red and white!?

It's a no-brainer, isn't it?

At the foot of our steps sits this narrow bucket bench. I don't change items on the bench ever - except at Christmas time. Because I have such a pretty collection of red and white quilt tops, I love to bring them out each December just to help out with Christmas decorating. What a great excuse to bring them out of the closet and into something of a "limelight." 

To see each quilt fully laid out click this link - I did go find a previous post. 

Or you could look at them in order from top to bottom here:

Chock Full of Charms

Stars and Stepping Stones - my design

Thimbleberries Christmas Confetti

Thimbleberries Hourglass Quilt

Red and White Ohio Star - my design

Jacob's Ladder - my design

I have probably said in previous posts that I want to get busy with quilting these, and all the other flimsies filling my closets. I am getting more and more comfortable with the long arm machine, and I am getting closer each week to dedicating more time to doing this quilting. I'm on the cusp...I really am.

 

Hope you are all having fun with Christmas preparations!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Switching Things Up

 Having made about all the churn dash blocks I care to make - for a while, anyway - I took some time Sunday and Monday to make a few zipper pouches. I really had no prior plan to do such work, but I happened to see a video tutorial by the popular Jenny Doan of Missouri Star Quilt Company. I have watched dozens of her videos, and this one was so appealing for several different reasons that I just knew I had to make a few.

 

The reason for the video was to show quilters and sewists how easy it is to use cute, fancy zippers - which they happen to carry in their story. Well, I already had a stash of 8 or 10 of fancy zippers, so I watched the video to see how I could use them.

 

These first two are made with the same two fabrics; the linings are the other fabric. So that took care of my 2 light pink zippers. Next up was to pull fabrics for 2 darker pink zippers, and 2 royal blue zippers. Honestly, I took forever deciding on fabric combinations. That part took far longer than the actual cutting, sewing, and pressing of the pouches.

In addition to the combinations in the top picture, I have all the remaining fabric decisions made, as well, so I am ready for a marathon session of zipping through these zipper pouches. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

I'm Still Making Churn Dash Blocks

Some of you regular readers will know that I have been making quite a lot of projects with churn dash blocks. Since back in late August/early September, my predominant block at the sewing machine has been this classic block.

This week, I have made the blocks needed for an exchange we Frankfort girls have planned for later this month. These blocks are made at 6.5 inches. With 7 in our group, everyone will bring 42 blocks, and we will walk away with 42 blocks made by all our friends. It will be fun to see all the variety we will bring to the exchange.

 

Just to be on the safe side, I have made about a dozen extra. Perhaps I will use them when I make the eventual quilt that will come from these blocks. And even though I've made so any of these blocks this fall, I am still loving them, so it hasn't been a chore to make a few extras.

To see the earlier churn dash blocks and quilts I have worked on this fall, click here. These have all been a joy to make and I do love the end results on each one.

Hope you are having a happy Sunday! It's on the chilly side, here, but we are gonna layer up and head off for a long walk on the bike path. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Hello December!

The welcoming committee for December is decidedly late. Ahem. Well, I will claim the last week of classes as my excuse. Finished up today, and all that's left is to give a final next week. 

So here's to a new month, even if I am a couple days late with my welcome. Let's take a look at the November wrap-up first.

Top Row: A quick finish with an embroidery project. The stitching goes fast when it's this simple. I hung this in my long-arm room. And speaking of the long-arm room, I quilted Wishes for my sister, shown in the middle. Last, I painted the little rocker that my kids used as toddlers. It was weathered and worn; colored on and had stickers all over. Now as a white rocker, it will display a pretty little quilt or pillow.

Middle Row: Our great-niece Eve sits in her jammies with her grampa's new dog, Rusty. We visited family on DH's side the weekend before Thanksgiving. In the center, a pretty fall decoration for my newly finished kitchen countertop. And last, I finally started making the churn dash blocks for our group exchange coming up near Christmas.

Bottom Row: The kitchen!! I believe you have seen the pics in a recent post. I also put together a video for Instagram, if you want to go over there and have a look at before, during and after photos. I started another embroidery project since I enjoyed the earlier one so much, I traced out this much more complicated one and have started plugging away on it.  Finally, I end with the beautiful snow fall we had on the final night of November - it created a backyard sculpture.

That snow was what they call a wet snow - very heavy and look how it hung on the branches of our sweet bay magnolia. So pretty and unusual. We had quite a bit of snow overnight and through the next day.

On December first, DH and I ran a few errands in town, and coming back into our driveway, I had him stop for me in a few places so I could capture some of the beautiful snowy scenes. Isn't it pretty? I think the first snow of the season is the prettiest of all, and having it come in December is all the more wonderful. Both DH and I remarked that it helped to put us into the Christmas spirit! How nice!

Well, first up this month, I get to finish up my class work by the 10th or 11th, then it's full-tilt to Christmas! I hope there is lots of time for sewing! Heck, with Covid rearing up it's ugly head again, what else is there for me to do, right??

Let's have a great month!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

The Kitchen Reveal

Maybe you knew; maybe you didn't. For the past 2.5 months we have been going through a pretty significant kitchen remodel. It included not just a revamped kitchen, but the addition of a utility/laundry room/mud room and a home office cubby. Today, let me just share the kitchen portion of the job; the utility room is still needing some attention, and our little office hasn't been fully equipped yet.

We built our house in 1992 and no extensive changes have been made in the kitchen since. It suited our family for all those years, but as it grew more and more 'dated' I knew I could change up some things to make it flow more smoothly.

This picture of our original kitchen is taken from in front of the fridge looking across the bar, the dining area and into the family room. That bar has become limiting for ease of access around the dining table, and I wanted it removed. Note the ceiling fan above the table; that changed, as well. You will see new flooring and new countertops, too.

This picture looks back into the kitchen from the other side of the bar. The ceiling is dropped, and we decided to keep that, but we did have that center florescent light removed. We kept the cabinets, but had them painted. We removed the scallop above the sink. We replaced the sink with a farm-style sink and added a vinyl backsplash which has the look of beadboard.

The first thing to go was the bar. Some of the cabinets under the bar were moved to become part of the island. Other parts of the bar were moved to be used next to the dishwasher where the corner unit had been.This picture also shows the newly-installed wafer lights. 

This picture shows the massive patching job needed to cover that florescent light in the ceiling. Also, this is about the only picture I took that shows those two doors. The one on the left (it's open), now goes into the utility room, and actually, there is only an opening now; no door. 

The other door - actually, there are double doors - has always been the pantry closet. This is the space that is now our home office - a place to keep track of bills, taxes, all the documents that comes with life, you know.

Here is our pretty new space! I love the island, and the lighter feel, and the farm sink, and the new counters. The lighting really makes a difference when preparing food or cleaning up. Look at that floor! That's pretty nice, too. *smile*

Stepping back even further, you can see the new ceiling fan over the kitchen table, as well as the open "flow" we get by having that bar out of the way. I had a cook book shelf built onto the end of the counter. That's a little touch I found from hours of Pinterest study.

We still have some things to do: we miscounted on how many drawer pulls and door knobs we needed, plus we need one more outlet cover. The trash will be getting a drawer built for that opening, and that will need to be installed. Small stuff, and we will get 'er done.

I will try to remember to post the utility room and the home office when those are more complete.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

A Bit Of Embroidery

 Every now and then it's nice to just sit down and stitch something new for a change. That was my mindset a few weeks ago when I decided to begin a project out of a new book in my collection.

Stitches from the Harvest by Kathy Schmitz is chock-full of enticing projects, and even though we are approaching the end of autumn, I still felt compelled to make something from this fall-themed book.

This will eventually be a pillow cover. Maybe I will have it finished by next fall? I certainly hope so!

Another nice feature of a project like this: it travels well. I can easily take it in the car, and if the road is smooth, I stitch while riding.

Mostly, though, I'm stitching in my comfy chair watching something on TV. With Covid getting all nasty again, some of our sports are being cancelled or postponed. If we don't have a game, we catch up on some Netfix shows, so all is not lost.

I will link up with Kathy's Quilts regular Sunday linky party. Take a look at some of the fabulous Slow Sunday Stitching featured there.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Happy Thanksgiving!

 To all my faithful readers and followers, I wish you the happiest of Thanksgiving days. 

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Socially Distanced

 The Frankfort Girls met on Friday morning in a different place! Jan hosted us in her golf club party center where we could work on large projects and maintain acceptable social distance. Jan and her husband Bob own a golf course, so when she had the great idea of making fleece throws, she knew her party space would serve beautifully for our need of space. Then Ohio's governor re-established limits on group gatherings, and this helped us comply with those recommendations, as well. Here are some snapshots from our morning together. 

  

Here is our lovely hostess Jan explaining the basics of tying two fleece panels together. She spaced two tables for each of us and we worked and gabbed all morning. By noon, each of us had a great fleece throw to gift or to keep for ourselves.

 

My throw is this one featuring Ohio State football.

Sheryll made one for her granddaughter featuring these adorable hedge hogs.

 

You can see how spacious the room is from all these pictures, and we did such a good job of maintaining our social distance.

 

We did have one show and tell for the morning. This lovely quilt is Terry's; she was working on binding, and oh, how we all loved it! Such great colors and so much interest in the pattern. 

So, today: the day before Thanksgiving. I will make the pumpkin pie today as well as the cranberry salad. Then prepping the table, setting out the dishes - nothing too involved since only three of us will dine together tomorrow. A possible 4th is my mother, but she has 4 other offers from my siblings, so who knows where she will show up! There's always room for Mom, right?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Quilt For a Sister

I recently gifted a quilt to my sister, who came shopping in my closet of quilt tops. You may recall that I blogged about it here.

So here are some pics of her bedroom update with the quilt adorning the end of the bed. Looks pretty spiffy, wouldn't you agree?

This was her son Will's room, and since he's been out on his own for quite awhile now this room got an update. Nice! I am so glad one of my quilts gets to help out in the refresh effort.

The quilt was started in 2014 when Fat Quarter Shop hosted a sew-along called Wishes. I made a block a month until October, then stopped. In 2017, I finished the quilt top as one of my UFO completion efforts. Now, in 2020, it is quilted. 

Happy Quilting, Friends!