Goodies in the mail!

Look at what I received in the mail!! Pat, from Bits and Pieces, sent me such a wonderful goodie box! I was lucky enough to win her generous giveaway drawing...Above is a real antique bobbin, a lovely card and note pad, CHOCOLATE!!!, and buttons shared from her grandmother's button box. How neat! but there is more!

A wonderful pencil box, with some pencils for marking (I am marking challenged, so these will come in handy), and a wooden presser for seams...

And, two cute quilt labels and a really neat applique pattern. Wow! Pat, you made my day! Thank you!

Just forgive my photography y'all...and have a wonderful day!

Juliek

Happy fourth...coming up!!

See this precious little baby Dachshund?? She is the new addition to the family! Our son and his fiance could not resist this sweet little doggie...little did I know we would find such a neat little girl. Never mind the little mess around the chair, the baby dog dragged DS's t-shirt all around the room and had a glorious time. I just love her! Her name is Abby...so I call her Abby Sue, or Spud Muffin for short... Hehehe!!

This is one of my little fourth of July quilts. It is special, in that the light blue inner border and the backing are made from a thrown-away pt gown from the hospital, and this is the first quilt I made with a two color binding. The front is one color, and the back part is another. It was not too hard, and I have successfully lost the directions...I think it was in a Fons and Porter magazine.

Busy!!! Busy...at work and at home. Hope everyone is having some glorious summer days...or fall if you are in different part of our world!!

Quiltingly yours,

JulieK

TA-DA!!

Yeah! The Orange Crush top is together! I have been working at work and at home non-stop for the last couple of weeks, and have been sewing on this a tiny bit at a time...at last! It is done. I am so excited. It has a very fallish feel to me...like a country quilt made to keep you warm when the days get crisp in the autumn. I like it! Thanks to Bonnie for this mystery quilt. I wonder how many of this particular quilt pattern will show up for historians to ponder in the future...?

By the way, I discovered that plaids are tough to work with in a border. The plaid is quite stretchy, woven and not printed fabric. I measured so carefully at least 4 times each way to get an exact border fit, and was very careful not to pull or stretch the fabric in any way. No matter how carefully I would straighten my edges with the rotary cutter and cut exactly on the grain, the plaid pattern was off...by inches! So, I cut the red plaid border by hand with scissors...not on grain but with the plaid pattern. Then I sewed the strips together, matching the plaids. My Mom would be proud! She was such a great seamstess, I wish she were here to enjoy all this quiltyness going on these days.

Yum! I made my dear husband a cherry pie...also an apple pie. I got the cherry too full, good thing I put it to bake on a drip pan. I love to cook and bake, wish I could have just a little more time! Maybe someday...

Hope everyone has such a wonderful day today!!

JulieK

Progress

I had an opportunity to sew for a little while and tried to make progress on the Orange Crush quilt. Here is what I did...before I got too sleepy last night!

Have a perfect day!!

JulieK

hmmmm...

Or...should the border be red????

Thirsty?? How 'bout a little taste of Orange Crush!

Hi all: You remember the steps in the Orange Crush Mystery quilt? Well, I had lots of little pieced units left over...and I couldn't resist making a little "Leftover Orange Crush". I just loved learning how to make these little units with our new rulers, and made extras. Opinions please!! Which border fabric would you use?? I would love to know your thoughts...

This is my Daddy's Featherweight machine. He used it to make LEATHER (deer and elk skin) coats, mocassins, and gloves. It sewed through multiple thickness of leather like butter. It still sews well, and he gave it to me before he passed away. I had no idea featherweights were a big deal at all until I saw all of your lovely machines on your blogs. Wow, there are some really pretty ones out there!

Last, but not least....don't 'ya just love this little quilt? It is from Anne Bebbington, who swapped some fabrics for it. I just absolutely adore this quilt. It is perfect...she is a really great quilter!

Hope all is well with everyone, and I hope to finish putting together the actual Orange Crush quilt top tomarrow!

I had a treasured patient pass away today, and it was a blessing, he was suffering so. But I miss him and his family so much. Just because I am not at the hospital doesn't mean I am not there in spirit, many days... His wife's (and mine too) favorite bible verse ends "but the greatest of these is love". I love that verse. Our little neighbor also passed away a few days ago, I had mentioned her a few weeks ago. Sometimes death comes in clumps, huh...

To cherrier things, have a quilting wonderful day! and remember to vote on the border fabric so I know which way to go....

JulieK

blueberries and quilting...mmm...

This is my husband's hand in the blueberries as he is washing them, preparing them for freezing. Today we went blueberry picking, and had a wonderful time! The field is a wonderful farm, and has blackberries too. A lovely couple runs the little barn/store/shop. Nice!

This is the big green monster! This was an attempt to make a great big quilt, at my DH's request...he doesn't appreciate the little ones that don't even cover his toes! And I wanted a quilt with a pillow tuck, hmmm, maybe this will work. This is every bit out of the stash-trying to use only what I have. The pattern in the center did not turn out like I thought it would, not enough contrast...But! I like the flying geese and the best of all: the QUILTING! It was done by that talented October's child, Darcie. She did such wonderful work bringing it all together. Love it!

Here is an example of her quilting in the the above star block. Isn't it fun?

This is a quilt I have been working on for 3 years, trying to finish the applique. I finished it during the time I was off from surgery, and Darcie quilted it too. I was going to scallop the edges, but now there is no way am I going to cut off any of that lovely quilting!

Ignore the shadow in the picture if you can...Isn't the quilting pretty? Thank you Darcie!

Hope everyone had a lovely day! I am so behind on my housekeeping, etc, but today was really fun, just playing...

JulieK