Mid-month applique update! The Farmhouse Sampler!!

Karen and I are making this sampler, "The Farmhouse Sampler,", by Linen Closet Quilts.  Above is my latest block.  Pinned and prepped, not sewn, but well on the way!  

Please see Karen's blog and her pretty block here:  

https://karen-logcabinquilter.blogspot.com/2020/09/mid-month-update.html

Here is the sampler so far.  I have pretty much used scraps throughout.  I think I will add the yellow circles in the center of the flowers for my latest block, for continuity. 

 And here is the entire quilt!  Keeping the end goal in mind, I decided to go ahead and cut out the diamond pieces for the border.  I am using an old gray uniform...it is the perfect color!!

Hope you are having a lovely, wonderful day!  I have a three hour mandatory class at the hospital this afternoon, so I am glad to get this post done.  

Julie

Progressing, but not much worthy of a picture!!

 I have been sewing and sewing and sewing!!  I have 26 mores seams to sew, and these blocks will be done.  This is Annie's creation, the Northwest x Southwest donation quilt that I have been working on!  I should call it the insomnia quilt, though, because the majority of the quilt has been pieced between the hour of 3 and 5 AM.  Quiet time...meditative time...just good sewing time!!!

Hope you are having a fun time sewing, yourself!  I enjoy hearing about what you are working on, both sewing and non sewing stuff!

Julie

Slow Stitching Sunday

Hello!  A day off, after three days on, at the hospital.  Wild and wonderful hospital days...full of very hard work, some great recoveries and meeting some VERY nice patients and families!  Today is Sunday, a slow stitching day.  I have been appliqueing,  finishing up the last few leaves on this quilt, and it is being sandwiched for hand quilting.   It has been mostly done for ages, now.   I am linking to Kathy, for Slow Sunday Stitching.

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2020/09/slow-sunday-stitching_13.html

I cut a few masks out.

And actually have a finished one, LOL!

 Made a couple of patriotic caps for the veterans at work.  

And did laundry, mowed  the lawn, walked three miles, cleaned just a little bit, listened to on line church, and napped!  Hurrah!!!  Made a cut lunch (sandwiches). Just a good day!  What did you do today??

Julie

Lot of stuff going on!

See the center of this fun block?  It is Annie's!!!  She designed this quilt, and chose to use this darling Llama fabric as her focus fabric...cute, cute, cute!! More about the donation quilt, Northwest by Southwest, later in the blog!!

I often make a "squishy", meaning, I save all my little trimmings from whatever quilt I am cutting out, and pile them on a backing and batting (but this time, I used a double piece of flannel.)  Spray them with starch, and SQUISH!!  them down with the hot iron.  Then I just sew back and forth over them...cut out whatever shape I want to, and bind it off.  TADA!!  A squishy hot pad, and nothing wasted!!

I finished the tiny masks for the five year olds;  hope they will do.  

Hey, my raccoons scattered some seed for me!  I discovered these cantaloupe plants outside our back fence.  I guess the coons drug the composted cantaloupe innards and seeds and took them back here to munch on, and they planted their own little garden!

Lots of cantaloupe plants!

 Here is where I am with the Northwest x Southwest quilt.  Lots of work in this little bin, LOL!!  Annie is working on hers, too, as you can see on the first picture on this post.  

We made the center of the blocks first.  A 6.5 inch square, surrounded by 3.5 inch connecter squares, making the triangles. ...so that yields the red with white print centered blocks above.  It is fun to use a focus fabric in the center of the squares!!!  I made 30 of them, and those are the center of the squares, already done!  Whoop!!!  FUN!!

************************Nurse's Notes***************************

Dare I say it?  Our covid numbers are going down!!  So we at our highest, we had numbers of over 80 patients in our hospital with covid; now the last number reported was 16, plus 4 persons of interest. (that means we are waiting on the confirmation test to come back)   That includes people who have been in the hospital for months, trying desperately to get well.  One gentleman has been in the hospital for over two months, on the ventilator.  I went to see him, because I was floated to that unit;  he is a contractor, and he is totally with it, just on the vent.  He is so sad...a big guy, wasting away on that blasted ventilator.  I tried to encourage him to keep the faith, to keep on striving to get well, but a tear leaked out and he just shook his head.  Poor baby!  He is only 43 years old.  I called his wife and he got to listen to her talk, and that helped him feel better!  He has a long road ahead of him, but I do think he will survive and get better. 

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Hugs to all!

Julie

Announcement!!! The PERFECT charity project!!!

 

I have been trying to make the file something blogger likes for a long time...but please, see these blocks and the entire quilt!  Sorry I cannot make it any better for now...

With 12 inch blocks, an inner border of 1" and an outer border of 4", the quilt measures 70x82.  

I looked up these blocks and they are in the public domain, so would be perfect for any of us to use, making a quilt for someone!  Keep that someone in mind, if you choose to join Annie and me, as we make our fun quilts!!   Annie wants to make her quilt for a young person in need.  I want to make my quilt for a volunteer, who happens to be a veteran.  He heads our parade/float committee, and was a Colonel in the Air Force.  He is getting on in years, and I think he would be surprised and happy to have a quilt, just for him!

Annie designed this quilt, using her EQ program.  I love it!  It goes very fast, and can be cut and executed fast...or slow!!!  So I opted to use what I had in my stash, and I found a (gulp) year 2000 print for the centers of the blocks!  I like it...and added a red and a deep blue print.  And a muslin, too.  

The sky is the limit!  Yellow/blue, red, white and blue, green/purple, scrappy...just lots of fun possibilities!  Make as many or as few blocks as you like.

Thanks, Annie, for this super fun squirrel project!!!

Julie

Bits and bobs! on a Sunday!

Annie and I have been chasing a squirrel!!  You must know I love this inspiration!  Annie is my friend from Vashon Island, but I call it Goat Island, because of her goats.  We are making a quilt, for donation!!  Mine will be a quilt of valor, so I have made all these centers for the blocks.  Hurrah!!!  Annie's quilt will be from a very cute Llama fabric, and scrappy! 

I have been working steadily, too, on our California quilt, sewing pieces each day.  I love it!!  More pictures when I have something to show!

It is the most fun ever to play with fabric scraps!!

Like these fabric scraps, for example.  I saved these 1.5 inch strips forever...well time is a wastin'!  As my daddy used to say.  Time to make these scraps into something!

More caps have arrived!  I got a call from a local lady about 10 pm one night, and she wanted to bring caps by right that minute!  Well I was already in bed, bur we waited up for her, and she brought these pretty caps, above, for the Caps for Caregivers project!!  I love them! Thank you to Diane C!!

Annie and Margaret have been making children's masks.  The need is big, with the kids going back to school, and so these have gone to the basket at work, so the parents who need masks can take some for their children. THANK YOU!!  I have made some, and they have all been taken, so I am making more. These are just the cutest things!  I just might have fabric envy, with such cute fabrics...not really, but they are just darling masks!

 The rest of the pieces for the squirrel quilt, known as "Northwest by Southwest!"  I just love it!  Just need some sewing time.  I am running around catching up on the housework, listening to online church,  and some cooking for the week.  Do you cook ahead, for your week???

Hugs to all!!! Hope you have a super day today!

Julie

A lot of hand work!

At long last, I have finished the binding on this quilt!  I saw a quilt at the Dallas Quilt Show, long ago, maybe 10 years ago, and I came home and drafted my own pattern for it, and made it.  And got it professionally quilted!  And it lingered.....

But now it is finished!!  I am grateful for some hand sewing time...yahoo!!  I sure hope those creases come out; the quilt is relaxing on the guest bed as we speak.  So glad for a finish!

I finished the hand quilting on this summer quilt.  Lots of work in this one...plaid fabric from an old shirt is on the backside.  

I finished sewing this vine down, and prepped more leaves for the vine, too.  Hurrah!

 I hand quilted all the black block borders (say that three times fast!), for this quilt.  So my fingers are sore from all that hand work!!

Hope each of you has a wonderful day today!

Julie