Progress Report

Yay! we are into September which means fall is not far behind. I am so tired of 90 degree weather here in North Carolina. We have a cold front coming down today which is bringing some relief. During the month of August I did make some progress on some projects. I did finally get this top done. It was a free BOM from Jeni from the Willow. 

I got the backing and binding made for this quilt. I also got the backing made for the quilt on the previous post too. Still need to make the binding for it. I also got the labels sewn on the backs too.

You might recall that my in-laws moved down here from Illinois. My mother-in-law has two big boxes of really old quilts. This one here is in the worst shape of all. She told me that her mom made this. So you can imagine how old it is.

But as you can see it is falling apart. .

There are just a few places where the quilt is not thread bare and falling apart. She about cried when she took the quilt out of the box to show it to me. I don't think she has had it out in ages. Anyway I told her I would find a good section and make her a pillow from it. I am not even going to try to hand wash that part because I am afraid it will just fall apart.  There are some really great fabrics in the quilt. Even a polka dot.

My mother in law doesn't remember who made this quilt top but it looks like it needs a couple more rows. All the blocks are hand sewn but the rows were put together by machine. 

We drove to the NC mountains and took my in-laws on a slow train ride along the Natahala Gorge River. 

It was a beautiful ride along the river. We had reserved some good seats where we had a very good view. We were served lunch which was pretty good too. We all really enjoyed the ride.

As we were coming home we spotted these two rainbows. We drove right past the bottom of the rainbow and if we weren't on the highway I would have gotten out to look for the pot of gold. We could actually see the bottom of the rainbow. It was awesome.

In the town of Bryson City where we boarded the train I spotted some quilt blocks in town. This one was at the station.

For the month of September I am going to work on these two quilts. My grandson's alphabet quilt.

And this free BOM from Buttermilk Basin. I was behind four months but I got them all prepped and ready to hand applique. 

Here is one all finished. I took this to my applique bee. My daughter had the morning off from work so she watched my grandson so I could go hang out with the girls.

Here is some show and tell from a couple of the girls. This quilt and the block were made by Patti.

Beverly has been very busy this summer. The next three photos are her projects.

 I leave you with a photo my grandson who had to pick every dandelion he saw during one of our morning walks. He had a good time looking for them all.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Into August!

One quilt top is finished! 

This was the last block for the other quilt that I am trying to get done by September. I am going to try to get it put together this week.

 Most of time during this summer is spent taking care of the veggies in the garden. I grew beans to dry. I grew some cranberry beans.

 And some black beans. I had hoped for more but we are in a drought situation in our county so it has been a rough summer for the garden. But these will be good for a couple meals.

 My tomatoes did not do well at all. One section of the soil has caused the tomatoes to have blossom end rot. But a co-worker of my husband has been generous enough to share tomatoes with me. I have been busy making tomato sauce and salsa. Nothing like homemade salsa!

 I had some "volunteer" pumpkins grow. The ripe one grew in the garden. The green one is growing from our compost pile.

 The garlic and onions are all cured and ready use in my recipes. I shared some of these with the co-worker who gave us tomatoes.

I caught three visitors around our property. Look close and you will see a raccoon, hawk, and deer.

 These are the last of the carrots. I was so pleased with the crop I got this year. A lot of these I put through the juicer.

 Here is my little helper squeezing an orange for me. At least he is trying. He wants to be in the middle of everything I am doing.

Hope you all are having a great summer.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

While He was Sleeping...

my grandson that is. I decided to put off some household chores while he slept to sew instead. Done with all the blocks.  Now to put the quilt together.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Summer is Flying By!

How can  a person can be so busy and feel like there is no time each day to fit things in? That is how I feel lately. The last two weeks have flown but I have not done much sewing at all.  I did get one more block done for a quilt I really, really, really need to get done.

 I also finished this block from Buttermilk Basin's free BOM. Oh, and I am way behind on this one now. Oh well.

 While my in-laws were staying with us crocheting was the easiest thing to pick up and work on when I had a spare minute in the evening. There are several crochet alongs going on right now. This is one is from facebook group I have joined.

 These little mandalas will be part of a summertime shawl. I found this fun variegated yarn at a shop in a nearby town. I have blocked all of them for each week that has come out so far. Now to work on week 6 blocks. I am using white yarn to put them all together but those instructions have not come out yet.

So my goal is to get the last quilt block made and put the top together. Wish me luck.
Until next time,
With Passion,
Carrie P.

Achievement

Look what I did! While my grandson took a nap I was able to sew those pieces together you saw in the previous post. I really like this block. I was able to get another block cut out too.

 I was also able to roast some tomatillos from the garden along with onion, garlic, and a jalpeno pepper to make some salsa verde.

Yay! I achieved something. :0)

With Passion,
Carrie P.

It's July!

So the month of June is in the past! All I have to show for sewing for the whole month are these parts to a block. You might recall that my in-laws from Illinois moved down here to North Carolina. They stayed with us for five weeks. They found a retirement home five miles from us that theyliked. They were all moved in on Father's day. I have been busy getting my house back in order. I hope this month will allow me to sew more.

When I wasn't busy helping my in-laws getting settled or taking care of my grandson you could find me out in the garden. The blueberries started getting ripe last week. 

 The beans and cucumbers are coming in.

Even though this photo is a little blurry you might be able to tell there is a hawk on the post. 

 I think he has been keeping the voles out of the garden because this year I got a pretty good crop of potatoes. These two buckets full.

Other root crops did very well too. I am still pulling carrots. I am so excited about this years garden.

My daughter-in-law said I could give my grandson his first haircut. Here is the before and after photos. Isn't that just the cutest little guy you have ever seen? :0)

Sort of quilt related. I visited a nearby town and these hexies were painted on the street. I thought you would enjoy this photo.

Now that things are slowing down a bit, I hope to start sewing some more. I have two quilts I want to finish soon. My name is on my long arm quilter's list for September. Before you know it that month will be here. I hope to start visiting your blogs more often too. I have missed reading them all.

I hope you are all having a great summer!

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Checking In

Hello everyone! Another month gone. I thought I would share the things that are going on at my place. If you read my previous post you know that my in-laws have moved down here from Illinois. They have picked out a really nice retirement home to move into. They will have to stay with us until June 23rd. They have to wait on the moving company to bring their stuff down from Illinois. It really hasn't been too bad having them here. My mother-in-law is good to help out in the kitchen when I am cooking for us all and cleaning up. She also helps me out in the garden pulling up weeds which is nice. I am beginning to harvest some fruits and veggies now. Here is a photo of what I picked yesterday.

 I have worked on a few blocks.

 I thought I would show you what my daughter made me for Mother's Day. It is hanging in my sewing room, of course.

 Missie from Traditional Primitives mentioned a new magazine that just came out for those of us who like Punch Needle, cross stitch, and rug hooking. She has a punch needle pattern in the magazine. I decided to subscribe for a year to see what it is all about. I do want to do some of the punch needle patterns. Not a big fan of cross stitch any more.

While reading The Jolly Jabber blog I saw a video of Jen Kingwell. I love her patterns and the Fat Quarter shop had her new book, Quilt Lovely and the booklet, Green Tea and Sweet Beans. So guess what I bought. I have been wanting the Green Tea... booklet for a long time after I saw Carla from her Grace and Favour blog working on the pattern. 

 After I bought the books I found out that Jen Kingwell was coming to visit the Modern Quilt Guild. I visit the guild when I can and this time I made it a point to go the meeting.

 I got to see the Green Tea... quilt up close and personal. She brought many of her quilts for us to see.

During the end of April Moda was having a blog hop. I had time to visit a couple of the blogs during the hop. Kathy Schmitz, one of my favorite designers, was part of the hop. She was giving away an original water color painting. I won it! She also sent some of her new patterns. One day things will get back to normal and I can work on these new patterns!

And to end this post is the newest photo of my grandson. He needs a haircut but his mom is not ready to cut it just yet. He is such a smart little guy. He is starting to do the little hand actions from the song, The Wheels on the Bus. He knows some sign language.  He loves running all over the house. He loves being outside but grandma not so much since it is getting hot. He can say thank you even though you wouldn't recognize it but I know what he is saying.

As you can see I am staying very busy. I don't see things slowing down much this summer. I hope you all have a great summer. I will check in at the end of June. Until then...

With Passion,

Carrie P.