Saturday, July 31, 2010

1, 2, 3, 4...now I am on to something more....

One....



Two....




Three....

Four....



This one was WAY busy to work on. 

This is the last of my prepped Hearts and Hands, but there are still plenty that need to be done to complete the quilt, but I am not counting yet.

Now onto a project that I had seen a picture of on a blog last Fall, Pieces From My Heart... http://piecesfrommyheart-sgervais.blogspot.com/2009/11/anthoer-chance-to-win.html
and sketched out a rough drawing because I knew I wanted to make it, but was just waiting for the right charm packet to come along.  Well, that packet came along....



Awesome by Moda, so I laid out the charms



to match up with my rough sketch...


made my semi-snowflake blocks for the middle and sewed the charms together....


Prepared my Pick of the chick Tom pieces...


Appliqued them onto the background....



He needs a couple beady eyes, but I will wait until I have him quilted; but hey! it felt good to sit at the sewing machine for a change.

Now.....what UFO to pick up next?  I have until the 10th before the next Cherry Trees block is up and ready. 

Happy quilting.



Sunday, July 25, 2010

Awesome!

Have you seen this new line of fabric?  Awesome by Moda.  I had to get a couple charm packs because I have something Fall-ish in mind for it.  It is very pretty. 


I, also, added to my pink and brown stash as I am getting ready to make my DD a wedding quilt for next year. Also, picked up a black FQ to add to my Hearts and Hand stash.   As you can see, I did make it to a quilt shop as there is one less than a mile away from the hospital, so I decided to treat myself on my way to pick up DH.  It's ok....I didn't make him "wait" as you can imagine it takes FOREVER  to get released from the hospital. 

Anyways, this is a great shop. It is called Guildcrafters. You can check them out here.   http://guildcrafters.wordpress.com/

Also, thought you might like to see the latest four Hearts and Hands that I completed yesterday. 

 

Four more to go ....that is of the prepped ones.  I am not counting how many more there are to do for this quilt.  arghhhh!!!

Friday, July 23, 2010

Hearts and Hands progress...

Spent Thursday evening getting fourteen of  my Hearts and Hands quilt blocks prepped to the point that I had to take little to the hospital while waiting for my hubby to get a stent placed.




I had two of the paper pieced blocks that I haven't touched for months just needing center circles.



Also had this one that had it's center just a little like a "not quite an eclipse" look.  Now I am not saying that I am a perfectionist (as I say that, some of my friends are cracking up!!!), but everytime I looked at this block, it was just way too off and was screaming at me.



So, I removed the center and fixed it today. 



It looks more like a full eclipse now.....and that makes me a happier camper.

Here are the blocks that got totally finished today while sitting and waiting.



....and one that is half done.....



and here are the ones that are totally prepped and will be worked on either tonight or tomorrow while waiting for hubby to be released. 



I am happy with all the progress I made and if I can get these seven done, then I am either going to prep a few Dear Janes or maybe I will just pull out a UFO and work on it until the next Cherry Tree block is out.

Oh...by the way...the doctor said dear hubby is all fixed.

Happy quilting!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Red cherries, red Cherry tree, red Elmo and red Cole....


Couldn't resist showing you these beautiful Michigan Cherries in my Polish pottery.  They are so yummy.


But most importantly, I finished #10 Cherry Trees BOM and wanted to share it with you.  I am on such a roll with my applique the last few days.  Feels good.


Then there is Cole's red Elmo....his first birthday cake.


...and then we have Cole....


hmmm....that taste sweet......


yup....pretty tasty.....





I think I will eat some more.

Happy birthday Cole.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Prepping and stitching....

Well, of the five Hearts and Hands that I prepped yesterday, I already stitched two of them. 



They still have to be made into circles, but I will probably do a bunch of them at once. 

I did prep these blocks to take with me to the hospital while I sit and wait for dear hubby who is having a stent put in on Friday, but since I made two of them already, I thought just maybe I had better prep a few more.


Here are the next nine that I have the pieces all prepped.  I still need to cut out the backgrounds for each of them.  Of course, I only prepped the easier ones.  I couldn't imagine taking a block or two or more that had numerous pieces per block.  So, easy it was. ....or maybe I should say easiest of the bunch.  There are some tight areas to stitch on a few of these.  Anyway, progress is progress and it has been quite a while since I have even touched this quilt.  I will have my Cherry Trees fully prepped for Friday, too; but working on these little blocks seem to go so fast and they make you feel like you are accomplishing so much.   The background squares are cut at 7" and when fully stitched, they are then cut down to a circle. 

Ok, back to stitching and maybe cutting out my backgrounds. 

Happy quilting!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

In the prepping mood. ....

Well, I can see that in the very near future I am going to have some time to sit and stitch.  Haven't had much time for that lately, but I want to be prepared for when that time comes, so I got all my cherries cut out and basted and cut out the freezer paper for all the leaves that make up the next wreath in the Beyond the Cherry Trees BOM #10.


After lettering all my pieces and laying them out so that I wouldn't have the same values of green too close to each other (so much for scrappy random), I laid out my greens and then ironed on the freezer paper and after a little trimming and then using my "white pencil" to mark the edges of the leaves, I am almost ready to start this block. 


Before the evening was over, I had gathered up all the cherries and pressed them.  They are ready to stitch onto the block; but while I was in the mood, I got all my beiges/browns/blacks out for the Hearts and Hands blocks (which I will be calling my Cafe au Lait quilt), I decided to prep some of those blocks.  There sure was a mess on the floor while I made my decisions on which fabrics for which blocks.


I now have five of those ready to work on other than I still need to cut the background of each block.  I'll do that in a minute.  Next Friday I will be sitting in the hospital again waiting for my husband who will be getting a second stent, so I wanted to be prepared to have something to work on while waiting. Then again, if I get these all done before then....in my dreams....I can always prep some more...or even prep something on my Dear Jane quilt....ha...LOL!!  There just aren't enough hours in a day.


Now last weekend, I didn't get any stitching done.  Why you ask?  I had this little guy all day Saturday and Sunday.  It was his first night away from home and mom and dad.  He was a gem though. Only  time he cried was when I told him "no" and it wasn't that often.  He is so good.


This is little Cole and he is going to be 1 year old tomorrow.


Usually by the boys' first birthday, mom and dad give them their first haircut.  It always makes me sad because they then look so old; but since this little guy is the last, mom did say she wants to keep her baby as long as she can, so I am going to enjoy those little curls around his ears just a little longer. 


Having Cole was well worth not getting in any stitches over the weekend. 
Love you Cole.


Friday, July 9, 2010

I think my "mojo" is back.....

No. 9 Cherry Trees block of the month is finished and just under the wire.  No.10 is due out tomorrow. 


Not liking the fact that I had to cut it so close, but all I can say is "yeah!!!, it's done!!!!"

Now, here's a close up of my version of the bird in this block.  Only using one piece of fabric  for the whole bird makes it hard to get any dimenson on him/her, but I am hoping this paisley fabric did the trick. 


Well, I just checked to see if No. 10 block was posted yet, but it isn't, so I am assuming that she is keeping to her word that the blocks are due to come out on the 10th, so you know what I will be doing tomorrow.....well, hopefully, since I will be babysitting for my youngest grandson, Cole, for 24 + hours.  Hmmmm....I may not have time to do anything but play with him.  Well, you know.....priorities, right?  :D

Sunday, July 4, 2010

Not much stitching here....

Since coming home from my retreat  I have hardly picked up needle and thread.  I have spent more time in hospitals than I care to think of; and instead of being able to do my applique which kind of requires me to spread out my things because my project (Cherry Trees BOM) wasn't totally prepped, I only stitched down two flower buds and found it to be more frustrating than fun, so I put it away and  took to finishing up reading The Runaway Quilt by Jennifer Chiaverini.


I found it to be a good read.  My friend from work is loaning me the series of books.  This is the fourth book I have read and when I find the time to read (which isn't always as often as I would like) I do find it hard to put down.

Now back to my reference of being in the hospital....it wasn't for me, but just a couple days after coming home from retreat my 92 year old mother-in-law had a heart attack, then my husband ended up in the emergency for a work related accident, then my dad had carotid surgery and then last, but not least, my husband went in for a heart catheterization ending up requiring a stent.  Believe me when I say, I would rather not see the inside of a hospital for awhile; and this is the only reason I had enough time to just sit and read. 

While I am thinking of it, too; I finally got a picture of the whole group of great ladies that attended my
 retreat in St. Louis. 


I see these great faces and remember the fun time I had while in St. Louis.  I won't be attending next year as my youngest daughter will be getting married the same week next year, but I look forward to seeing quite a few of these ladies at the next Paducah AQS show. 

Well, hopefully, the next time you hear from me, it will be with a picture of the next Cherry Trees BOM.

Michigan quilters, take note

  Come see us at our first Quilter's to Quilter's sale.   Don't know what that is?  Well, it will be 28 quilters/vendors selling...