12/29/2017

Last 2017 Finish

I have one last finish to share before 2018 rolls in! The pictures aren't fabulous but it's way too cold outside here for me. Who else is frozen in right now?! Brrrrr....


Several years ago I won a Technicolor by Emily Herrick Designs for Michael Miller along with a Kona solids charm pack. It's been hanging in the closet, I wasn't sure what to do with it. When I saw the Jelly Roll Twist short cut pattern from The Fat Quarter Shop, I decided to finally put this to use! It's a quick quilt to sew together. My jelly roll only had 20 some strips so I made a smaller version.



For the back I used a frog print I found in some fabrics that belonged to my grandma. The binding is a navy hexagon from Marshall Dry Goods that appears black here but it's a dark navy.


I used the last of my white 100% cotton Pellon batting. I have two other giant rolls of Soft & Toasty cotton batting to use, then I'm switching to all Hobbs 80/20. I don't mind the rolls I have, but I really love the Hobbs better. I quilted this with a serpentine stitch about 2 inches apart with Aurifil 2105. It's bound with Aurifil 2745.


It finished at 43x51. This is a donation quilt for The Ronald McDonald House in Lubbock, TX.
See y'all next year, have a safe and Happy New Year!

Linking to Finish It Up Friday  Let's Be Social


12/20/2017

Closing Out a Tough Year

In my last post I had have high hopes of new beginnings and was ready to get my life and blog back on track. If you are a follower, you know this time last year brought great tragedy to my family.  Sadly, at the end of September, my middle sister also took her life. She dealt with the same mast cell disorder as I have and just couldn't take the sickness and struggle any longer. The circumstances were grueling and unbearable. I won't get into it here, but know, it was a huge blow to my family. Prayers are requested for my Mom (all of us really). However and whoever you pray to, please do so. This is the third sibling I have lost in 3 years, now it's just me and my oldest sister. Such big things happening has kept my health a little rough, but I'm getting by.

I want to share the few small things I've finished since my last blog post. I need to put this year to an end and start over. Therefore, the pictures are simple and taken with my phone. Just a quick update so I feel like I'm caught up and can move forward with new projects.

First is this beautiful wreath made with Moda mini charm squares. My daughter Ashley kindly made this up for me to gift to my dear friend Lara. I love how it turned out and I'm so grateful to Ashley for helping me get this to a very deserving friend. Isn't it pretty?!



The  Halloween quilt that drug on forever was finished in September. It turned out so good and I wish I had better and more photos. The fabric is Witch Hazel by Riley Blake. This fabric came from Simply Love Fabrics a long time ago! I simply alternated full blocks with 9 patches. I didn't want to cut it up too much. It finished about 54x72 I believe. The back is a dark gray spider web print I also bought a long time ago from Fort Worth Fabric Studio Along with a strip of orange gingham from Marshall Dry Goods The orange polka dot binding is also from the Witch Hazel line. It's quilted with an Aurifil gray.



The Annie I bought a couple years ago from Raggedy Old Annie's on IG, so cute!

I whipped up this little runner for my Mom's fireplace with a Moda French General mini charm pack.


I bought this adorable panel by Katie Doucette for Wilmington Prints called Autumn Road. She is becoming a new favorite of mine, such cute stuff! I found this at Fabric Shack For the back I found a cream with brown polka dots print in some fabrics from my grandmother's stash, so that was a fun addition. This was my first time trying organic wavy lines and I love it! Such a forgiving and no stress way of quilting. I quilted it with Gutermann eggshell and it's bound with Aurifil 2214. I had a piece of scrap batting so it's a cute, inexpensive finish.

I won a Technicolor jelly roll and Kona charm pack from Christa Quilts several years ago. I used a tutorial from the Fat Quarter Shop called jelly roll twist to sew up this quilt top. It will be a donation to the Ronald McDonald house. I will do another post when it's finished. It feels good to use up some things that have been hanging around too long!


I belong to a mast cell group for people that do crafts. I participated in the secret santa gift exchange. My partner requested something Tuscan, green, purple, burgundy or a cooking apron. Luckily I was able to find this apron panel from Wilmington Prints that fit all her requests! I'm glad it was an easy sew because the post office lost it for a few days.


That's what I have to share today! I'm hoping to get the donation quilt completed by the end of the year. Thanks for stopping by and again, I'm so grateful for the quilting friends here and on Instagram, ya'll are the best, really. Have a very Merry Christmas and I hope the New Year brings everyone good health and much happiness!

8/19/2017

Gossamer Finish

I'm happy to say I finished a quilt for the first time in over a year!


This one is made from the Gossamer collection by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery Fabrics. The pattern is Hugs and Kisses, also by Sharon Holland. The white is Moda Bella 98. The pink is  Northcott Petal. I bought the Northcott a long time ago from Sprightly Fabrics. Do you guys remember Sprightly? I loved that shop and miss them. My first experience with Art Gallery was a bundle I won from them. I loved it, needless to say! Anyway, it took just 9 fat eighths of print to make this quilt. Those came from Llama Fabrics, who has also now shut down. That was my go to for Art Gallery so I'm sad to see them go too.



I quilted a 1" crosshatch with Aurifil 6722.
The back few acres of our property is over run with these sunflowers. I had to go through THICK 5 ft. tall flowers that were full of bumblebees and mosquitoes to get these pictures. They mostly left me alone thank goodness! I'm sure the neighbors saw me swatting away and were wondering why I was trying to hang a quilt out there :)


The back and binding are also prints from Gossamer. I was just a few inches short in the piece I had cut, so I added in the extra yellow from the binding. I bought a bunch of backing from Hawthorne Threads during a sale I think. I still have a fat quarter bundle and the blue colorway of the fat eighths, so I'm glad I got lots of backing when I did. The binding is sewn down with Aurifil 2105.


This is my first time using Hobbs Premium 80/20 batting. I really love it! It doesn't crease like 100% cotton batting does. The drape is wonderful too. I have two of the huge rolls of cotton batting I will have to use up before I switch. I found this batting new, still in the package for 95 cents at a thrift store, score!!


This little quilt finished at 44 inches square. I really love the soft modern/vintage look of it. I will be adding to my Etsy store.
If you follow along you will know why this simple little quilt brings me such happiness. The first finish in over a year, for one reason or another. It's my first finish in our "new" home and that itself brings sadness and happiness all rolled into one. For me it's a reminder of the sometimes small but much welcomed improvements in my health. Lots and lots of things wander through my mind as I look at this little pretty!

8/16/2017

Giveaway!

Sorry it took longer than I expected to get this posted.
My Mom was in the hospital again, so this past week was a little busy.
Here's what I have to share!


Awhile back I won some things from Aurifil on IG. Included was a new Kona color card (well it was, now there's more colors...who can keep up?!) So I thought one of you may be able to use my old one. It is only the 243 colors but still quite useful. I also have a Sundrops by Corey Yoder mini charm pack, a spool of variegated Aurifil thread, a Moda tin and a pack of bobbin/spool holders. I forget the technical name of these little guys. If you'd like a chance to win, leave a comment letting me know your favorite fabric designer!

I gave up on my Halloween quilt for awhile. I was just so tired of looking at it! I worked on it for a few minutes here and there for the past year and needed a change of scenery. I found quilt pieces already cut so I pieced this together. It's made with Gossamer fabrics by Sharon Holland for Art Gallery. I love working with Art Gallery, no frays to deal with!


I have the first direction of cross hatch quilting finished. I'm hoping today I can get the other direction done.This time I used 1 inch tape. I wish they would make quilting bars on walking feet more stable than they do. So frustrating! For better accuracy, I prefer tape.


I wanted to share something else quick. Did you know Hobbs Batting also makes pillow forms?? I didn't know that! I'm kind of picky about the ones I buy. I hate when they slouch over and sink down. Anyway, I received these from the company and they really are fantastic! No affiliation, I just like them :)


I will leave the giveaway open until Monday morning, Aug 21st, 9 am CT. USA mailing addresses only. I hate doing that but international postage is so expensive. Don't forget your email address in the comment if you are a no reply blogger. Thanks for stopping by!
GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED-------------------
Who says the first person to comment never wins?!  Random Generator chose #1, congrats to Maureen!!

Linking to: Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts
 Brooke at Silly Mama quilts
 Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation

7/27/2017

Changes & New Beginnings

Hi everyone. It's been so very long. I have so much catching up to do but I'll make this as short as possible.
Last summer I spent 6 weeks in Phoenix seeing doctors, getting tests and scans ran. It was confirmed I have Mast Cell Activation Syndrome. A long way of saying I have allergic type reactions to anything and everything, yet I have no true allergies. It is what caused me to get the POTS Syndrome that I've known about for a long time now. That comes with heart issues and multi system complications. The thyroid cancer appears to still be at bay, yay! I have elevated markers but it's unclear why still. From Phoenix I went to Denver and saw a corrective chiropractor that did wonders for me. I improved a whole lot. I'm so grateful for his guidance. I can walk through the grocery store alone now! (sounds silly but that's how bad I was)  I'm learning to identify and control my triggers. It's not an easy path, but we deal with what we've been dealt. No more driving all over the country and being gone from home. Which leads me to my next subject...home.

At month three in Denver, my father in law passed away. That took us home to NE. Then just before Christmas, my youngest brother took his life. So back to NE we went. After losing my oldest brother just 3 years ago, and now this, my Mom needed me. And I needed to be "home".  I never would of dreamed I'd end up calling this place my forever home, but that's just what's happened. It's good to be with family again. We ended up buying my brother's place from my Mom. That's another story for another day (if ever). It's been a wild ride of emotions for me. But I'm here. And I've found home. And hopefully someday it will get easier. There is a neurologist that comes here monthly that is knowledgeable about all my conditions. How lucky was that out here in the middle of nowhere! No.More.Driving. You don't know how good it feels to be able to say that!

That's the short version of where I've been the past year. Some great, some not...but all we can do is keep trying to look forward. My sewing room is all set back up and I'm ready to get back to it. I finished one of three Witch Hazel by Riley Blake quilt tops last summer. This is for me :)




I have been working on the second as time permitted in between all the craziness. Now that I'm able to see it up on a design wall, I'm not loving it. The white is too much. I'll probably have to add a colored sashing or something. Terrible picture, I know.


I have gathered a few things for a giveaway! When we moved I saw that I have too much stuff so I'd like to share a little with you. Watch for my next post in a week or so!

If you read to here, thank you. I also want to say thanks to the friends I've made here for asking how I am here and there. It always means so much! It's good to be back :)

Here's a happy picture...just because! My 5 grand daughters in their NE shirts.