settlers peace

Merry Christmas

May you draw near today, the one that is the reason for the season, Jesus Christ. 

May you be blessed with peace, safety, love and joy.  Merry Christmas!

Projects of Christmas' Past

Done. 

Christmas Tea - table topper.  The blocks were a gift from a friend and are machine embroidered.  I liked the idea of omitting the corners and continuing the shape of the blocks.

I got stuck on these being quilts, and it wasn't until I was turning them with a faux binding technique from this magazine that inspiration struck to make them little pillows!  So much easier to display than 5 little quilts.  

Both of these projects were begun in workshops.  I am beginning to see a pattern of workshop/class projects lingering in completion for far too long.  I shall take note and focus in the future a little more intently on getting them done.  As much as I like them, they sure felt like dead weight while they were on the UFO list.

I'm taking a break from projects and will be lingering with family and friends for the holidays.  I hope that you have a blessed Christmas wherever you are.

Lessons of procrastination

I'm well aware that my children learned it from me.  My excuse has always been that maybe a better idea will come along later, so why do the work now.  I'm learning that if you do the work early, you get to enjoy the fruits of your work, not to mention less stress, for the period of time remaining.  And if a better idea comes along, jump in and do it for the pure fun of the pursuit of an idea.

I started with these vintage postcards, some from as early as 1912.  Then following the directions from Virginia Cole I managed to get these done, with time enough to photo them before wrapping and heading out the door to gift to friends.

How I would have loved to enjoy them for so much longer!  I'm happy to have the photo as inspiration to change my habits, because right now I'm caught up and will need something to jog my memory when a project arises in the future.  Well....I do need to do some shopping.

Hope that you have a blessed day and enjoy the fruits of your labor!

 

A bright assortment

My days have been bright compositions lately, aka lack of focus, but in a fun sense of color anyway.  Holiday plans have been coming together and decorations are getting done.  I opted to not use the same ol' same ornaments that we have used for years.  Didn't even put up the big tree.  I have pulled out my boxes of shiny bright ornaments and had fun rediscovering what I had in there.

 

In an attempt at simplicity, I stuck with the basic globe shape on the tree.

I also had a group of high school girls over for a cookie swap and graham cracker cottage building day this weekend.  Now that was colorful!  And all of the cookies were a big hit.  What good cooks!!!

There were Molasses Ginger Cookies, Russian Tea Cakes, Sugar Cookies, and Cereal cookies. 

 The candy disappeared quickly onto rooftops and into tummies!

I hope that your days are filled with colorful sweetness!  
 

 

The work of friends

More retreat photos, things that the sew sisters got done.

Barbara made two of these Christmas star  pieces, among starting work on 6 quilts for her brothers new home.

It's difficult to tell, but all of the bow tie blocks are dimensional in this quilt done by Cathy.

  Another project, a block of the month, finished by Cathy.

Wanda got this green check top done.  She took some great hazing about needing a design wall for that!

Donna was busy with machine applique on this Christmas piece and the stained glass piece below.

Donna was also responsible for this beauty.  The marbled fabric has metallic veins in it, so rich.

Peggy worked on this, I think from a patterned called "Cheese and Crackers" ?

I completely missed snapping pictures of what Marisha, Betty, Abbie and Tami were working on.  But, Betty was working on fleece blankets and pillowcases to gift to others, Abbie crocheted a rug from fabric strips for her new home, Tami worked on two different crazy quilt blocks, and Marisha ironed a lot of fabric!  No, she did eventually get a top made from her Great Grandmothers scraps, and finished a project that has been in the works for 6 years!  

It was a great time, and we are all anxious to go again.  Such a treat, a great gift idea if your set with fabric and supplies, ask for a retreat gift certificate!  You will be blessed with time creating with friends!   

Honey, I'm home....

What a refreshing and fun time it is to hang out with a bunch of friends and sew to your hearts content.  Well, not refreshing in the well slept sense, but refreshing to the soul.  To eat and stitch  and tell stories and laugh until you almost wet your pants!  Yep, that's a vacation.  And the cool thing is, I actually have something to show from my time away!

First up is an assortment of string blocks.  I swear this fabric breeds in the basket, it never seems to disappear.  As of this moment, I'm planning on setting them with sashing, but things may change.

This cheery lap quilt top was made from my fat quarter stash.  The borders are yet to be added.

 

Then I spent some time cutting and sewing tiny little Dresden Plate blocks.  They measure about 3" across, and I'm hoping to do enough for a nice size doll quilt, we'll see.

 

I will enjoy them even more once I begin to get them appliqued onto blocks.  Now it's time to focus on getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I'm so thankful for the renewal that the retreat brought, and will hopefully breeze through the house cleaning and cooking ahead of me.  I hope to post some of the other finished tops later this week, those girls were busy!

Works Reward

I have managed to get 3 old projects onto the finished list!  Two flannel string quilts that have been quilted for probably 3 years and just needed binding.  I finally opted for NO binding and stay stitched around the edges for the frayed look.  DONE.

 

And a small blended quilt that needed quilting and binding.  Check!

Now I am rewarding myself with backed bags of pastel strings and fat quarters and headed to a retreat for the weekend with 9 friends!!  I am so excited to start something new, and I don't even have a plan, but the girls are sure to inspire and entertain and something will get sewn together this weekend!

Have a blessed weekend and check back to see what comes outta this basket!

Catch up time

Every year I seem to make the same resolution that I will finish up my UnFinished Objects- mostly quilts.  Every year, usually long before now, I've lost complete focus. But Jackie over at Tallgrass Prairie Studio has issued a reminder that we still have time left!  So, while I may not get to the bottom of the pile, I have certainly been re-motivated to try again.  I have finished 6 UFO projects earlier this year and have challenged myself to finish another 6 by years end.  

Here is one in the works.  

This started in an applique class, and while I loved it, I could not contemplate an entire quilt.  I am utility quilting it along the lines of the background fabric.  It is the only UFO with hand quilting.  I have several that need quilting and still more that need bindings.  I am SO excited to think of having these projects done, but it is a challenge to really limit myself on wanting to start a multitude of new projects for the holidays!

It will be a blessing to begin the new year with a cleaner slate!  I'm racing to this years finish line with needle and thread in hand!  How about you?

Sweetness of time

We recently had a day to wander the back roads close to home.  Traveling down new highways we came across an estate sale sign and had to follow.  The trip there was full of anticipation and wonder as to what we would find, and just how far off the beaten path we would go to find it?

 We let it unfold before us and took in the beauty of nature and time at every turn.

 

The sale was pretty much sold out when we arrived, but I was gushing over some beautiful pink roses growing along the house and the homeowner came over and cut me a bouquet.  Don't they look lovely against the black console of the truck?  The generosity and kindness of the gentleman warmed my heart throughout the day and I smiled every time I opened the door to get in.

 

Back to the highway and headed no where in particular, we came across a sea of cars along the road.  There was a huge car show going on and the entries filled the parking lot of this small town school.  We found a space along the road and hiked our way to the show.  

 

Can you imagine trying to park it in the tiny lots now, as I'm sure it was before power steering, and the gas bill for cruising it?  But what fun when it happens!  Next we spent some time shopping the isles of some antique shops in a sleepy little downtown.

The purchases were few but the treasures were many.  Time with Dean and the spirit of adventure will be with us for much longer than stuff.  A perfect way to celebrate our anniversary of 23 years of marriage, a treasure for sure. 

Wine on the Vine

I have been wanting to do some freeform/abstract  work, but was putting off getting started.  Then I saw that V. over at Bumble Beans was having a quilt-a-long.  She posted a tutorial and had all kinds of tips.  It was suggested to use solids, and I love the look, but wanted to work with what I already had.  I've been stashing batiks for awhile and have not made much use of them, so that was my target.  I mainly buy fat-quarters, so the first cut the length of the FQ left me unable to use the measurements that V. was using.  But have no fear, I fell back on experience, and did my own thing.  As I said, starting was the issue, but a day later and I have a top!

 

I'm pretty pleased with it, and will be doing it again.  Head over to her blog and see what the others have done.  I am going to have to seriously start stashing solids now.  I love the inspiration of all of these 'Waverunner' quilts!