November 9th, 2014
Partly sunny and 44 degrees.

I have finally purchased a new camera but still need some practice to learn all it can do.

We are taking advantage of the mild day and getting ready for dreaded winter. The snow shovel is out, along with a container of ice melt. I've put the ice scraper in the truck. Sigh...
I did a bit of clean up in the vegetable garden. There were some jalapenos, Serrano and scotch bonnet peppers along with some scarlet runner beans I've been letting dry on the vines.
I moved my peonies to the back yard, dividing one of them so there are now three. It will probably be a couple of years before they flower.

This is taken from the side yard facing the street and is one of the last trees still hanging on to it's leaves.
About ten or twelve years ago there was a huge lilac where the tree is standing now. This is what happens when you don't yank out those volunteer trees.
 No more lilac, no more sunny south side and no more perennial border. But since this is not my tree I have had to adapt.
This year marked the biggest change. The tree finally grew so tall that the peonies didn't flower and the Stella d'Oro Daylilies, who are pretty tolerant only bore a few flowers.
But the space is a wonderful place to sit during a hot summer day and there are other plants that will enjoy the shady space.
I've spent my free time working on a mystery novel and have let my quilting sit idle. But we now have two more grandchildren (making a total of 8) since the last time I posted. So I do need to make a few quilts sometime this year.

Scarlet runner beans

Hot peppers. I'll use the jalapenos in my guacamole later today

Surprise bloomers! This is the third time this year my delphiniums flowered

Late Shasta daisy. Tougher than the Hosta behind it.

Roses in November! I should make this my wallpaper during the long winter .

Falling off the Blogging wagon or where have I been for eight months

There has been some quilting going on here but my camera doesn't take very good pictures lately so I became a little discouraged. I personally like to see photos on people's quilting, knitting or gardening blogs not big blocks of text.
I started this blog to chronicle my quilting life but I have decided to broaden the blog to include more of the things I love to do. After all, many quilter's are also gardeners, crafters, readers and knitters too.
So I will take the camera out of the desk drawer and try again.

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." Maria Robinson

Pin Basting

It has been a busy weekend with the grandchildren's softball games, yard work and gardening but I have found a little time for quilty stuff.

I have the next block of Bouquet for a New Day ready to applique. I put the previous six blocks on the design wall for motivation.

I also pieced the back and pin basted the Feather Stars wall hanging. I just have to trim the back and batting and then start machine quilting. If you have just found my blog, you can see the top on my design wall here

I also managed to find time to practice a little machine quilting. My quilting is much better when I try and practice a couple times a week.

Gardening has been at the top of my list the last couple of weeks; now that the weather is finally cooperating! Today I finished planting the raised bed garden. I used the square foot garden method. I can't wait to see if everything grows! I am sure some things are going to get crowded but I wanted to grow so many different things and I only had 48 squares. This is day one and if I think of it I will post pics of the garden's progress or lack of. :)

Found Projects

While rearranging the sewing studio last week, I found a box I haven't opened in awhile and in it was a cross stitch project begun more than ten years ago. I was amazed to find that it was almost finished and yet I  put it away and forgot all about it. Well I went upstairs and dragged my DMC floss out from under the bed, found a needle and grabbed the project and pattern and have now finished everything except one quilt square in the lower right side.
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As soon as I get it framed I'm hanging it in my studio. The pattern is by Marilyn Leavitt-Imblum under her Told In A Garden series. She has some amazing patterns out! I can't believe how much cross stitch has changed in the last few years. While wasting time using the computer I typed a Google search for cross stitch patterns and found this website.  I can't imagine how long it would take to stitch some of these patterns.

In the box with the project was another project I meant to make, The Country Store  so of course I ran out and bought the floss I was missing for the project, which will probably end up in a box I will find ten years from now....

What I noticed after going through my unfinished quilts (here) and the cross stitching and the art journaling and every other hobby including canning and baking is most of it came to a screeching halt when I went to work full time after being a stay at home mom for years. About the only thing I was doing while I was employed was sock knitting. Anyone who works full time while raising a family and yet still finds makes time to quilt has my admiration. When energy levels were handed out I must have been having a nap!

I am again looking for work because we need the extra income and I am a little concerned that I won't have the energy to quilt (or stitch or draw) as much. Maybe it will be different this time with only my college age son at home. I sure hope so.

Tomorrow I get to put together my window boxes and pots. I can't wait.

Worn out Quilts

What do you do with the quilts that you or your family have loved to death? During a visit with my daughter we got to talking about quilts and she asks me if I could take a look at her graduation quilt. She says some of the hearts are falling off and the binding is coming undone. So she brings the quilt into the kitchen and I just about fell over laughing; the quilt is beyond repair. It's been lovingly used to death.
The appliqued hearts are falling or have fallen off. The binding is torn away from the quilt edge on one side and the quilt is very soft and thin. My hand quilting held up pretty good though!

In this picture you can see the torn binding on the left and some of the appliques are completely missing.

Here is a closer view.
My daughter wants me to "fix" the quilt and when I said there really wasn't much I could do and it was probably best to get rid of it she became upset. She said she wished she had never let her family use it. But to me looking at the quilt all I could see was the loving. Her kids would go looking for it to curl up on the couch with or when they weren't feeling well. Of course the more they used it the more it had to be washed and the softer it got. This quilt has had a wonderful life and that makes me happy.
So I told her I would see what I could do and brought it home with me. I think she just couldn't face getting rid of it herself.
What about your worn out quilts? What would you do?

Unfinished Quilts

I rearranged my sewing studio a few days ago and one of the totes I opened contained all my older unfinished quilts and a few miniature quilts I don't hang up anymore. Every year or so I get out these quilts, look at them and put them back in the box. Some have serious problems, some I just can't see finishing, and some I just haven't found the motivation to finish; especially since I also have a pile of recent quilt tops I need to get quilted.

Mini quilts

Except for the bottom row these are all tops I haven't finished. For a few years I was into making miniature quilts. The log cabin quilt is the only one I paper pieced, the rest were cut out and sewn with quarter inch seams or one eighth inch seams. It's not that I don't like them, I just don't know what to do with them.

This wallhanging needs a couple more borders. I intended to hang this in my sewing room when it was finished.

This one only had a tiny bit more quilting. It was supposed to be a baby quilt for my neice who just graduated from high school on Friday. I know, right!?

The pattern from this quilt top is from Quiltmaker magazine Fall 1990. The burgundy fabric ran and I never cared for the mint green/pink fabric or the Hoffman that is between the lighter blue diamonds.

If you have been quilting for a few years you could probably figure out how old this top is! Mauve and green. 1980s. I ran out of fabric for the border. Today I would have used more fabrics and just found a matching value and hue to use in the border.

I know you are not going to believe me but in all the years I have been quilting I have never finished a quilt for my own bed! This was going to be a summer quilt. I wanted to use fabrics that looked summery and light. I like the design of this quilt but I used cheap fabric and it is kind of stiff.

This one breaks my heart. I designed this for my granddaughter Shayla. The batik fabric I used in the sashing runs every time a wash it. It left purple blotches on the pink fabric. Also, I forgot some of the freezer paper and the glue is so stuck I can't get them out without ripping the fabric. I tried soaking but that didn't help and it made the batik run more.

I like this. It just needs some borders and it will make a great Fall table topper or wall hanging.

I was trying to design a ribbon type border but I was having trouble with my applique where the ribbon twisted. Also, I am not real happy with the colors.
I hope you enjoyed the little show and tell. All the quilts went back in the tote. Maybe someday I will either finish them or pass them on.
Have a wonderful day.

Fading

I can't believe I left this wall hanging up so long that the binding has begun to fade! I spent a loooooooooong time hand quilting this piece and I am just a little annoyed with myself that I let this happen. I only hung this quilt up during Christmas  time for years and after New Years I careful put it away but a couple of years ago I just didn't take it down and now look at it. Life lesson learned....
It's hard to believe I have been absent from my blog for over a month. There wasn't any quilting worth posting about anyway. Just hand quilting on my Bear Hollow quilt when I had time. I have been keeping up with reading my favorite blogs though since reading what everyone is working on helps motivate me.
As I am writing this I can hear the birds singing, there is a gentle breeze blowing, there are leaves on the trees finally and the sun is shining! I am going to motivate outside to work in the garden. Have a wonderful day!