Wheelinsticks

Hey, it's only been a year! Seems like life just goes and I never seem to catch up. I have been fighting a bug a month since the school year started. This time, steroids plus another antibiotic. I swear if this doesn't do it I can imagine what's next. Anyhoo, sleeping is a chore with the drugs. So far, it's better today. My heart isn't racing at least. Will see how I sleep. Besides moaning about sickness, yesterday and today I have spent a great amount of time in the craft room sewing. Yeah!! I finished one flimsy that was a club challenge that will turn into a nice size lap quilt. The other has been in a holding pattern for almost a year. I finally covered some corners that didn'y line up with flowers and added the borders. I have about 4 inches of the last border to add when I ran out of fabric. Crossing fingers that I can find a bit more if not there will probably be a surprise block on the corner. Maybe make it the quilt tag, hmm,, there might be an id...

En Provence is about to make its debut! Well, at least as a flimsy. I am so happy with how this turned out. Lots of he' and haw over some of the blocks, but very pleased with the outcome. My piecing just gets better and better. I dislike pinning, but this one was a must. Way too many pieces to keep in order. Plus, once I started pinning is really just become a habit. Maybe something in my future. I love the borders. They are a little light, but might add a little bit of green around the edges. I know the binding is going to be in green, so that may be the pop it needs. I think I might play with the big flowery border and make pillow cases to try it together a little more. Good thing the hubby doesn't mind flowers. I also got a chance to try out the 301 I just got. I had a pack of 2 1/2 squares. I collect them when I visit different quilt shops. Eventually I will be making them into a throw with the 4-patches done up in a square in a square unit. I ...

It has been a fun weekend considering the cloud of allergies that I seem to be under. Lots of kids and teachers are getting sick at work. I had four students out a day or two in the last week in one class alone. Then there is this breezy warm weather and then cold that continues to swirl around. Mind you Saturday was just too nice. I spent the morning getting the house in order, opening windows and letting the fresh air in. The cats were so happy just longing in the window sills all day. Later in the day, hubster and I went to the gun range. We thought it would be less crowded at the end of the day - yeah right! We waited about a half-hour before we got a lane. It's amazing how fast you can go through 120 + bullets. Mind you I do have two clips, so I did shoot more. I am pretty out of practice and the gun is really new. I think hubby made a decision on which gun he prefers. It's not mine. It's way too small for his hand. Poor guy got off to shots before he handed it back to...

Can you believe we have a month of 2017 under our belt already! I am really starting to hit the age where time flies. Gosh, if I could give a penny for every time I thought the day would never end as a kid. Anybody hear the choir a'preachin? It's one of the amazement that I see daily for kids. I realize that they can't see the importance of cherishing what you have at the moment and live for the moment. I sure do now though. Of course being in charge of myself does have its bonuses!! Anyhoo, I have quite the month. I have two friends that I need to make some baby items for. One is a girl to be named Violet. Doesn't that just scream for something in the pinky - violet tones? The other is a boy, and the baby room's theme is Dr. Suess. I know I want to make at least one quilt, but really should do two. I might even just do a fleece back since fleece is super cheap now. Hmmmm. ideas... ideas. Next, I want to get a one of my flimsies made into a quilt. I participated...

It's nice to be able to take a Sunday and just sew a little of this and that. I started the morning off with Ernestine. She is the first in a line of Bag Ladies Quilt club. She is just adorable and I am having a ball working on her. I am guessing I have slightly less than half to go. Right now I am working on her coat. I have a left side and bottom to finish. I loved doing the shoes. I did fine some very tiny buttons in my stash. If they are small enough I am going to use those. Here's to hoping it works out. Next up I finished webbing and sewing the body of En Provence. This was my OMG for the month of January. Woot! It is really coming together. I can't wait to get the border rows on. I have the 2 4 patch sections and then I'm adding another 2 borders so it will fit my king size bed. I need to press this puppy with some starch before I add the borders. But so far, I think it is the best one of her designs I have done. Hooking up with Kathy for Slow s...

What a great day for football and hand stitching. The Packers are in!! Great game. Watch some of the Chiefs game, sadly it was not a fun game to watch. So more football next week. While watching the games I worked on the sashings for En Provence. Sashings are sewn together and I think I am close to assembling. There are so many pieces to these blocks it will require a lot of pinning and taking my time. That's okay, its not a race. Speaking of taking my time.... The Bag Ladies Club is in full swing. I have part of Ernestine stitched. This requires a patience and exactness on my part. I love her clunky shoes. I have the hat done, the shoes, the box, and her sock. SO cute. Hooking up with Kathy for slow stitching.....  here How are you filling your day?

Only a year in the making!! Finally, a flimsy. I decided that I want to try big stitching on this. I want to do a  cross hatch pattern on the white sections and add a little detail through the embroidery for holding it together. Since we are having an ice storm here over the next four days, I got a snow day!! Whoop! Better known as a sew-day. En Provence is getting some webbing done. I have 10 blocks finished and should be able to get them done tonight.                                                                                                                                                      ...

That's about how my day is going. I have made progress, but nothing that stands out directly. I have been needing to do a lot of prepping, so today is the day. All of my En Provence blocks needed trimming. Yeah done. It's a amazing how just sliver can make a block look so much better. Next I needed to doing something about my yellow blocks.  I decided to switch out the large flowers I had for a solid yellow . Score! So much better! I also prepped by first bag lady, but that's as far as I got with that. I decided that I want to do some big stitch quilting on my power of the sewing machine embroidery that I recently finished. I spent sometime deciding what to do with that. I have watched several videos and really like one in particular. Here's a video link to her youtube. I'm thinking some simple cross hatching and such. Linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching over at Kathy's.  here I'm also goin...

Well, I am not sure .... I  need to make a few more and add the sashings to really tell. I think it is growing on me though.

Good morning!! We are expecting snow overnight and, I am so happy. A couple of weeks ago we got a patch of black ice. Snow, I can deal with. Last night as I worked on part 7 of En Provence, the craft room was full of a pets. From the top counter-clockwise, Buster, Lacey and Margo. Margo loves to curl up on Lacey. I find it ironic since Lacey puts Margo's head in her mouth daily. Then, there is Oreo in my chair. Between the chair and the orange cabinet is Chester. You can make him out if you follow the coffee cup straight down to the floor. It's nice to have fur-buddies. Now, the finish part 7. Only forty more to go!

Well, after a defeat yesterday for my hourglass blocks being cut wrong; today they are complete! Bonus I have the 60 small on I cut yesterday to be put together for another project. I have some spools from a leader and ender challenge from awhile ago that I think these might play nicely together. Here is today success. I am really excited about this these. They turned out very well. They need trimming as all of the other do too. That's okay there is another day for that business. I plan to get the last set down before the end of the week. Then my OMG challenge for January will be getting the blocks made and the quilt webbed. I think it is a manageable task. Plus I need another quilt for the bed! Linking up to  One Monthly Goal  http://www.elmstreetquilts.com/2017/01/one-monthly-goal-january-goal-setting.html

Happy New Year!! Surprisingly enough I was still up at midnight. This is probably a first in a long time. I have been reading a lot on simplifying life. I think this is something that I can get a handle on. I like projects and doing lots of different things. I still want to do that, but less. Instead of trying to finish everything all at one time, I plan to just take things slower maybe only a couple of things at a time. My main focus is just to enjoy and live in the moment more. Now onto a finish!! I finally finished this little project. I started it in June of 2015. In the last week I have really put time into it. I can tell it could be better. My stitches could be more uniform, but once it has borders and is quilted, no one will know except me. Goals for the month  - 1. finish the embroidery project and get it hung up. 2. get En Provence webbed 3. Start the Bag Ladies quilt-a-long Bye for now!

I picked up this gal in a fairly sketchy neighborhood about an hour from home. I got lost several times along the way, and my phone wouldn't charge fast enough to point me in the right direction. I have been through areas where stopping is a not before. But I was SCARED and wanted to get the hey out of dodge as fast as I could. I barely looked at the machine before paying the man and leaving. Now the machine is mid 1930's and according to the seller it sat at Gram's house for a load of years. Based on the smell and the peeling paper, she sat somewhere unwanted for quite awhile. After struggling to carry Miss Hefty into the house, I inspected her a little closer. She is a 101 the precursor to the Cadillac "201". Now let me say I have never sewn on a 201, so I don't judge. Maybe this should have been considered a Caddy, too. This one stitches the prettiest stitch. Don't mind the puckering, it hasn't been pressed yet. She is quiet, but she ...

Whew!!!! I am caught up. Yeah. I was about halfway through the purple 4-patches at the beginning of the week. Sewed up the rest of those of Monday. Tuesday was a day of cutting and cutting. Last night I did some sewing. All of part 5 and half of part 4. Tonight everything is sewn and pressed. I have a lot to go back and trim, but hey there is another day for that. So many pieces all tidy in clips. So wonderful just to get this far. I don't count how many altogether, I just don't care enough to know. Tomorrow will bring part 6 wonder what Bonnie has in store? Something green and yellow perhaps?

For us Christmas comes and goes in a fury. We celebrate on Christmas Eve that way the kids can visit the rest of the families on Christmas Day. Then, we spend the day enjoying a quiet restful day. We will eat Chinese food and possibly go to the movies. Our Christmas tradition. I hope everyone is enjoying their time with the family. I plan to do some slow stitching while I hang out with the hubs and fur babies.

Whew what a weekend! I got caught in the icy conditions on Friday night. I ended up giving up on the idea of making it home and booked a room for the night. Hugh!! I got home Saturday and decided I needed some crafting therapy. I cut my strips for part 3 on En Provence. I sewed my strips together a light purple and a dark purple. How quickly they stitch up. Sunday I went to do my subcuts. Cut the first one at 2 inches. Humm... something doesn't seem right. Cut another! No! This can't be right. They are not square. I went to check the directions -  oh no !!! I cut my strips at 2 1/2 instead of 2 inches. Great! Well, when life gives you lemons - you know the rest. I thought well I have 2 baby quilts to make. Maybe I should use those for that. But my dilemma was I was trying to stick to "stash" for the mystery. A 107 blocks later I'm feeling really remorseful. Should I trim and call it a day or just start over?  I asked my quilting friends over on Facebook. ...

Changes.... change is something I dislike a lot. Change is something that can be good and needed for everyone to grow and continue to be apart of the world. Having roamed for a little more than 50 years I have seen a lot of change of over time. I have changed overtime. My hubster would say I have mellowed in time; I think not. My craft process is always a welcoming change. I think I have at least tried most of the crafts out there by now. There are some that I can definitely leave off the list. Then, there are those that I LOVE. Sewing as a little girl made my mom;s heart sing. I remember sewing shorts and little simple tops on my mom's White and the beautiful stuffed doll my grandmother made for me - she was a Singer gal. In the past several years I have started collecting and find myself with both. My White treadle sit in the living room with a Singer 128 hand crank on top. I love these machines for the simplicity if them. I can take them outside and not worry about hooking up...

I have been working on a charity quilt for my guild. One of the Troy's elementary schools decided for an art project to make squares using the crayola method. They ended up making over 250 squares and seriously had no idea how many quilt that would make. As of today there are a total of 9 quilts that are a good 50 by 60 inches. Great lap size. These will be going to a home here in our town to be loved on. I really enjoy making charity quilts. I think about the enjoyment that I get from mine and know that another will receive that same enjoyment for years to come. Linking up with slow stitching for the hand sewn binding.   http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2015/08/slow-sunday-stitching-binding.html

A flimsy! Tomorrow I am headed the Hannibal to visit Bits and Pieces. Hopefully I will be a proud winner of a gift certificate  from her store. Very excited!

This is placed for considerations. Hopefully tomorrow it will be together! Sorry for the really bad picture....