Wheelinsticks

Meet Doris. I named her after Doris Day. My mom love the movies from the 50's and 60's and I remember one of my favorites was Doris Day. I thought she was so pretty and a genuine lady. This girl runs great. Everything is clean and her cabinet is nice she, too. This is my first slant needle machine. I am really interested in getting her going. She need a spool pin that I have already patiently waiting for its arrival. More to come with her test run.

I have the best husband in the whole wide world. Not only does he put up with my crabbiness, he takes an avid interest in my hobbies, collections, basically anything in my interest. Two Saturdays ago, I was checking out sewing machines on craigslist. He asked if there was anything of interest. I said that there was a coffin treadle that I thought was a good buy. He asked if I had checked on it. I said no since I really didn't have funds to play with. He picks up my cell and text the guy. Next thing I know, we in the car headed to Alton to pick up Rose. She was born in 1859 based on what I could find. Her rose and daisy decals are really in pretty good shape for her age. There is cleaning to do to see if there is any shine on the metal parts. I will need to give her a coat of clear gloss as most of it is gone now. I think she is fantastic. Here is her coffin top and base. It's in poorer shape, but everything seems solid. I plan to refinish the wood and bring it back to i

Sunday is usually the day for just slowing down, doing what I want, and hanging at home. The weather has definitely moved into fall. Friday night was well into the low 30's. I put the heavier quilt on the bed for Highway man to complain that we didn't need it. Yeah ok hon. He woke up before on Saturday and needless to say, he turned the heat on. Slow stitching resulted in a ring around one flower while watching the Patriot / Bengals game. Lots of flags all night. I also Highwayman bound quilt together. I need to add the grey border. I am so happy with the look if this. It has this Americana feel to it, It's plenty big and will do nicely in the truck for hubby.  Picture with the intended border. Quilting  out....

I was so excited about quiltcam tonight. I got eight on the centers of my highwayman bound quilt blocks done. Not too shabby. I would have loved to get them all done, but I knew that wasn't going to happen. It kills me when I start to get close, but really not as close as I think I am. Oh well... Maybe a flimsy by the weekend.

You thought I might say something else.... Nope! I spent some time Sunday working on Highwaybound. It is coming along. I am finally in the over the hump with the blocks. 18 left to be exact. Sewing with Virgina, boy does that girl fly. Literally, feels like it goes zero to sixty in seconds. You have to love the simile between the quilt and sewing machine. How else does one get through the day.

I finished the last two flowers tonight. Now, I have about forty leaves to make to attach the blocks together. It is coming along, but slow stitching it is.

The highwayman bound quilt is coming along. I have 32 out of 80 units sewn and trimmed. I layed them put to get an idea of how it looks. Partner in crime, Josie

So the hubster asked me a while back to make him a quilt for his truck. I was intending to make him a StL. Sport themed quit.. Unfortunately, finding shirts was not in the cards. Plan B- awhile back I bought Bonnie Hunter's Shirtails and Scraps. The honey loved Virginia Bound, so plan B is my version. 13 shirts of lights and darks ranging from white. Light blue, charcoal, reds and blacks. A smattering of plaids and stripes. So far it is going well. I have one block completed and another four to be trimmed and depapered. One thing I learn is to trust even when it seems weird. She tells you to do the first light piece from the back of  the paper. I couldn't see why it would make such a difference. I ignored the directions  on the first two units. The other two, I followed the directions. Here's the difference, the points one the ones I follow the directions to the letter gave me beautiful, sharp points as compared to the other two that are not. duh! Follow the directio

Meet Virginia!! She is a Brother Super Streamaster 220. She most likely from the early 60's. I picked her up at a Goodwill near me for 20 bucks. Put in another 5 for a bobbin case, and she runs like a top. Downside is she weighs a ton - 40 pounds or better. I just had to get her, after all, she is pink. Nostalgia!

Charlotte is a 98 year old White treadle. She is just lovely. Her details on the machine are almostly intact. She cleaned up so easily. Oh, her cabinet is the prettiest I have seen. I love the detailed design and the way she lifts out of the cabinet is fantastic. She has a pulley system that pulls her upright as you lift the lid. No lifting for me which is fantastic as she is one heavy mama.  I have been practicing treadling and have stitched through paper. Now, it is time for threading and fabric. I think I will start with 4-patch units. Wish me luck.

I finally ended to take some time slow stitching. This week I finished two quilts. So, today it time to get back to some hand work. This hexie project I started nearly six months ago. How sad that I didn't even have one flower completed. Today I have two completed and am watching The Last Ship. Hopefully, I can get a few more done. Here is the two that are finished....

Good Night Irene has been put to rest. I finished her up and presented her to a good friend of my who is having her first baby. A girl, so fitting since Irene is purples and cream.  I spent some time working on my free motion. I made some simple leaves to go in the X's. Not bad.... I think.

Now that I only have the binding left on my Celtic Solstice to do, it's time to pick something new. I have had a stack if fat quarters that I bought last year that have a the of July theme to it. I looked around for a pattern that I could make a wall hanging for using these sweet fabric. I found a lovely block on Craftsy named, the Boston Star Block. Not an easy block to make, but not so hard that I would pull out my hair either. I need to break Betty in some more and find her truer quarter inch. Well there's their shoot for it and it will be good. What the hell was I thinking. First it is not where I thought, second, the pattern has use size a 4 block unit down to 4 3/4 in. Let me tell you that sucked. Anyway, I got on the painter tape and marked the measurement. Now things are happy again. Here is the progress so far....

        I have been working on these half-square triangles as a leader and ender project. Since I have added a few machines to my collection, I will continue this project on Betty Boop. I switched into a treadle cabinet for now while I work on the other machine that is going to be a total make over.  Anyhow, I got a start on putting these units together into a block of four. Wow, does Betty sew like a dream. She is really fast. Need to get that under control. More to come.

What a great way to help others. This quilt will go to a great group of people , Quilts of Compassion ,   is an organization that brings relief to those hit by tornadoes in the Midwest. As a Missourian, this organization brings joy to me because of their effort after Joplin, Mo., was demolished a few years ago.  This is the first chance I have had to participate in  Hands-2-Help. I feel very honored knowing that my quilt will provide some comfort to someone in need in the future. Not that I wish for another round of devastating tornadoes, but I know that quilts are such a comfort especially in times when things look their worst.  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Quilts-of-Compassion/336600644288    So, without further ado... introducing Sweet Charity Rails..... The colors are some of my favorites...... The quilted flowered meander turned out not too bad.... Lap size quilt 50 x 54 Block Pattern - rail block

Well, no violets in the yard, but the roses look amazing this year. I couldn't have asked for better as I got these last year on clearance. The climber is really taking off. I need to invest in a big stand and start working on get it to climb. Nothing like a yard full of blooms. So much better than the first year of the rock pile and some weeds making their debut.

 I love Betty Boop. There is something about the.style and image that I have always adored.  What better way to pay tribute then to name an antique sewing machine after her. This sewing machine is a 1907 Singer -66. She needed a lot of cleaning and oiling to make her shine. Hubster put in a new motor, and the sewing test began. The case was a complete wreck when I opened the box. I knew that it needed to be overhauled. The old material had mold and water stains, and oh the smell!!! With a minimal of tools, glue, nails and mod-podge I have a new gorgeous case.  I love how easy it is to sew on. No grumbling when is goes over 4 layers. I think she will be a great piecing machine. Way to go Betty!!

So, both women on either side of my home is pregnant. One with twin girls and the other, also, with a girl. The ladies are due about a month apart. I finally presented the quilts which means... bragging time! All three are made of 2 1/2 inch strips with a chunk of blocks. So much fun! Check them out! For the twins... For Piper .... Check out the fancy flowers I managers to put in the borders. So pretty.

I have been working on this quilt for H2H for a little over a month now. It's coming along. Today I got the centrer of the top put together. I need to add the borders. I'm thinking of doing two. The inner will be white muslin and the flowered print will go on the outside. Easy peasy pattern, but so pretty.

She's coming along. I love the softness of the colors, and the drape is amazing.

Well, sewing machine anyway.... She is a 1927 Singer 66 according to what I can find so far. Her birthday and mine are the same only she is much older and far prettier. Anyhoo, she needs a cleaning and some new wiring. Hopefully after that she will be up and running. She is coming for New York, so I have a ways to wait. Crossing fingers by Saturday. What and see...

I'm still loving these blocks. There are easy and quick to do. This month is Maple leaf block. The center would normally be filled in the same color, but this is a signature quilt. This type of quilt leaves an area in the center to add a message or a name. The thirties set will be going to my mother-in-law with pictures of the family in another block later on. The blue will have messages of calm and relaxation.

Why yes you can! Well finally anyway. I have spent soooo much time quilting recently that I haven't had much time for knitting. However, I pulled out some of my hand spun yarns for a co-worker. She wanted some mittens. So I brought a huge bag full of yarns and let Kim have at it. She has great taste by the way sine she's a Kim too. I had a little issue getting started. Finding the right needle to great a nice wearing fabric can be a bit of a challenge. I usually knit on a 5 or a 7, but these babies needed a 4. Now that's an issue. I have tons of 5's, 6's, 7's, and plenty of other sizes, but 4's... I have ONE set of circulars. That's it, no double points either. I kept looking and looking. Finally, I pulled up my big girl pants and got on it. When I got to the thumbs a went a size larger cuz I tend to make thumbs a little too tight. Worked like a charm....

During the piecing of the Celtic Solstice I made wonderful progress on a leader and ender project. It's amazing just how much I actually got done. I made several half-square triangles. I started using my time to put them together into twosie and then into 4 square blocks together. I have 89 blocks completed. There is still a lot to go, but soon this can become a little more to the front of the pile. I also have some secret quilting that I have made into top. Unfortunately it will be quite a while before I can those, but while you wait, feast your eyes on this eye candy.....

When I first started to learn to quilt, there was one site that I spent a great deal of visiting. Missouri Star Quilt Co. is a great place to learn a lot of information about quilting. The tutorials are so inspiring. They like to use precursor which I found less intimidating as a newbie. The ideas and the pace really helped me. Plus they have some great sales. Check them out, and see yourself . http://www.missouriquiltco.com

Hehehe! I am wearing the socks at the top of the blog. One of my favorites! I dusted off the spinning wheel and oiled out the squeaks. Boy did that baby not like dry bearings. Anyhoo, lots of spinning making its way through the wheel. I spun up a lovely chocolate alpaca that has little specks of sari silk sprinkled about. Next up, my favorite crack fiber, Blue-faced Leicester and silk. OMG!!! Love that stuff. This stuff is just spinning like butter. Yummm.... I can't remember the name of it, but the colors remind me flannel and very worn blue jeans. Both of these will be n-plied in a few days.

I finally have it finished and officially have broke it in. It's absolutely stunning. I really know how much my quilting has changed with this one. I started this quilt in January of 2013. My first blocks were just okay, but as the task went forth each month my skills improved with it. There is a lot of wide open space that could have had some gorgeous free motion quilting done in it. Alas, I am not there yet. It's okay though. The quilting with my little wiggles made it through. Even that has improved greatly. And without further ado....

9-inch snails block 2 Originally uploaded by knittingkim Here are the blocks for Febuary. Really easy blocks. I figured out, with the help of some friends, that the thirties design fabric is all nursery rhymes. So cute. Now I'm back to wavering on which quilt I intend to keep. Pooh, more to think about. Thank goodness I have til late fall to decide.

Sweing organizer Originally uploaded by knittingkim Look at this sweet little number. I always struggle when I am at quilt club with not having things in one spot. Let's see if this does the trick. I found the tutorial on TipNut.com

table runner Originally uploaded by knittingkim Why a table runner of course. Love it when there is just enough leftovers. Took me maybe 10 minutes to make.

Good night Iren months 1 and 2 Originally uploaded by knittingkim I finally spent a day catching up on this. Ten blocks in and loving it. The plan for this one is to use it as a wall hanging in the guest bedroom. These blocks went together very easy.