Finally

It is already April and I just now have a finished project.

I showed you this quilt as a top earlier this year.  The other day I decided I needed to try out quilting with my new machine.  It has 3 speeds...I chose the slowest.  I did free motion quilting around the stem, leaves and flower.  I was so happy with the results.  Okay they weren't the best.  I'm pretty rusty with FMQ.  But the stitches were all the same size and the back of the quilt looked good.  Then I did straight stitching around the coin strips.  This was actually finished on March 31.  So it will be my March mini quilt.  This is a Cheri Payne pattern.

I have the top half of the "Wedding Quilt" sewn together.  The second half is on the design wall.

Today I plan on getting this sewn together and then I can put both halves together.  Next step is to quilt it.  The blocks are 12".  I have till the 22nd of this month to get it finished.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Antebellum Album

I'm excited that Barbara Brackman's newest BOM is here, Antebellum Album.
Here is my version of Block 1.

I'm not happy with my piecing...still having some problems focusing my eyes.  But it will have to do for now.

A couple of weeks ago i spent the day working on a little Cheri Payne quilt.

I pulled out a bunch of 2 1/2" strips and hacked away.  The flower applique was suppose to be all one piece of fabric.  I chose to make the stem separate.

Health update.  I started going to physical therapy for my face.  I'm happy to report it is working.  Although not back to 100% I am doing so much better.

Being on Prednisone for my Bells Palsy caused my sugar levels to sky rocket and I gained back the weight I had previously lost.  I'm happy to say my sugar levels have gone down, (In fact they are lower than before) and I have lost the weight I gained plus another 2 pounds.

My eyes are still giving me problems.  Tomorrow I go to the eye doctors to have them checked out.

On the weather front....I woke up to this.   Ugh!

Thanks for stopping by.  Stay warm

Hugs, Cathy

New Block - New Year

Time to reveal the next block for the Early American Life quilt.

This was a fun block to make.  Be sure to check with Karen and see her version.  Four blocks down and 12 to go.


I was able to get the final block done for my Christmas BOM.  It is the first time sewing for me since I came down with Bells Palsy.  My right eye waters a great deal so I cant sew for to long. 

I was hoping to get it done for Christmas...but this darn virus got in the way.


Another planned project....

These are tree blocks from a Cheri Payne Christmas book.  I was wanting to make either a wall quilt or a table runner.  These blocks went together so easy.  Oh well, there is always next year.


A health update.  My face is still droopy.  I drink everything using a straw and pinching the right side of my mouth.  Eating is a real adventure.  I have no taste on the right side.  My ear still hurts and my right eye waters.  I start physical therapy after the first of the year.  Each day I feel better (although I don't look it).

I did get a block machine pieced.  It took longer because it strains my eye.  And yesterday I prepped an applique block and started sewing it.  


I hope you had a good Christmas and have a very Happy New Year.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Autumn is in the Air

I'm an Autumn baby.  My birthday is in October.  This is my favorite time of year.  The quilt above is "Henrietta Whiskers" by  Bunny Hill.  This was a free BOM.  I started working diligently on this quilt.  But as it always does life got in the way.  Although it says 2013 it was properly finished until 2015.  By properly I mean quilted.  

Speaking of Autumn....Halloween is in the near future.  Cheri Payne has been designing a quilt called Sew Spooky.  She has shared 4 blocks with us on her Facebook page "Quilts by Cheri" Friendship Group.

So far I have only made one block.  The third block.

The quilt is designed to be made with wool.  I prefer to make it using cotton.  I'm hoping to get the other blocks prepped so I can work on them in the evenings.

I have my 2 blocks finished from the Linda Brannock quilt "Flowers" that I am working on with Karen.  We will be posting photos of the blocks on Friday the 15th.

For those of you who don't know, Karen is one of the many blogging quilters who live in Florida.  She got hit with the winds and rain, she lost power but for the most part came out unscathed.  Power is back but they are without water.  I am praying that all our friends are well and have weathered the Hurricanes where ever they live.

My resolution this year was to finish some of my older projects whether blocks that need to be put together in a top or to quilt a top.  I have put a few tops together this year but I chose an older project to work on.

This quilt was designed by Jeni in the Willows.  I machined quilted straight lines horizontally between blocks.  I am hand quilting the blocks using the big stitch and #12 Perle cotton.  I'm half way there.  Hopefully I will have it finished by the end of the month.

Thanks for stopping by.  Remember if you are a no-reply commenter you need to add your email in the comments so I can answer any questions.  

Until next time.

Hugs, Cathy

Overwhelmed

I have made a decision.  I'm working on too many BOM's, BOW's, BOD's and I don't have time to work on anything else..  I have been sick with a terrible head cold for the last couple of days.  Just enough time to get behind on everything. So I decided to drop some.  I will continue to keep the patterns but I just can't keep up any more.

365 blocks, Splendid Sampler and 1857 Sampler will be put on hold.  I will continue to save the patterns and work on them when time permits.  This will give me time to work on some WIP and get some quilts quilted.  Whew....I feel so much better.

I have a finish to show you.  Small, wonky but sweet.

This is a quilt from Cheri Payne's pattern "A Good Day"  It is 11" square.  I heavily quilted it and that made it wonky  but I still love it.


I also finished the next block for Barbara Brackman's BOM.

I'm going to use the same background print in all blocks and use a red, white and blue theme.

Today is beautiful.  The sun is shining the skies are blue and I am starting to feel so much better. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Hugs, Cathy

Some Things to Share

Although feeling a little under the weather I managed to work on a few projects.

I finished the 12th block in Cheri Payne's Common Threads Quilt.

There is such a wonderful mix of blocks in this quilt.

Here are all 12 of the blocks that I have finished.  Next week I hope to start on blocks 13-16.


I got a package in the mail from Amazon the other day.  I finally got an Accuquilt Go.  I love it.  I bought the package with the extra dies.  I started working on the Huckleberry Quilts sew-along quilt for March called "Double Hourglass".  And I cut out all the pieces for the blocks using my Go.

Here are the blocks put together.  I am auditioning the fabric for the borders.  I think this one will work.  What do you think?


Yesterday we went to Lansing to watch my granddaughter Ashley play in the State Championship.  If you recall she lives in the Upper Peninsula.  My son, his wife and Ashley came down with the team in a bus.  Although I didn't get any pictures of the games I did get pictures of all the grand kids.  And all my kids.

My daughter took the pictures with her cell phone and posted them on facebook.  I copied them so the pictures are fuzzy.  Standing are my Grandson Brian (the oldest) and his girlfriend Jess (I consider her a granddaughter).  Sitting left to right is Alecia, Cassidy (the baseball player) and Ashley our hockey player.

Here is a picture of my kids.  Standing (l to r) my husband Terry, Me, Michael, Courtney (Pat's Wife) and Pat, he's the couch of Ashley's team.  Sitting is Chris (Kelley's husband), Kelley and Kim my youngest (her husband didn't come with us)

It was so great to see us all together.  Ashley's team won their first game 12-0 on Friday night.  Yesterday they won their first game of the day 8-0 and the game last night 3-1.  Today they have 2 games.  They have to win the first to play in the 2nd.  We couldn't go today so I'm waiting to hear by text how they did.

Also, my daughter Kelley and her husband Chris ran in the Corktown 5K.  Kelley has been sick with bronchitis and wasn't sure if she could run.  But she made it.

She just sent me these photos.  They both did a good job of it.

Well that's it for today as I need to finish up some projects.  I hope you are having a wonderful day and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Brrrrr

Baby it is cold outside.  A little warmer today than it was yesterday.  It was in the -10's yesterday and today it is 20.  Strange weather.  Snow is in our future..near future.  So again, it is a good day for sewing.


I finished my little bird quilt.

It looks a little wonky here...blame it on my head cold.  I used the same fabric as the inner border for the binding.  I had to buy some buttons for the berries on the branch.  It now looks finished and I love it.


The Buttermilk Basin BOM for February came out on the 15th.  Again mine is made using cotton fabrics.

This is going to be a sweet quilt when finished.  I can't wait to see what Stacy has planned for us next month.


I finished the applique on the bottom of Cheri Payne's "Forget Me Not" quilt.

I took a closeup of the bottom applique.  I still need to sew lines down the center of the windows.  The top border is going to have 3 blackbirds.  I'm putting that off till I finish a new project.


The New Project is for our new Granddaughter Ella that is due in May.  I finished the pieced blocks and am now working on the appliqued center block. I can't show you any pictures yet.  But I will show them after they receive the quilt.

Keep warm and keep busy.  I know I will.

Hugs, Cathy

My Mission...

Should I accept....  Finish up some projects before I start another.

Hard as I try I don't always do this.  Today as I write the temperature is -9 outside.  Cool inside too.  So another good day to do some sewing.


I finished...

My Autumn Monday Mystery.  This is it on my design wall.  That's why it looks so wonky.  It will hang in my living room next October.  This dates back to 2013.


I finished the border on the bird quilt.  I wasn't sure what fabric to use so I chose 4 different fabrics, took a photo of each with the appliqued piece on top, made up a composite of all 4 and my husband chose the winner.

I was partial to the lower left picture...hubby chose the upper right. 

I finished hand quilting it last night.  The binding is going to be the same as the inner border,  It is all made and ready to go.  So it should be finished tonight.


I started a new project...I know.  However I used 9 patch blocks from the swap that Barb (Fun with Barb) hosted last year.  I fell in love with Cheri Payne's pattern "Forget Me Not".  Perfect to use up some of my 9 patch blocks.  All blocks used in my version are 1" bigger.

I have all the templates for the applique traced on freezer paper.  I need to cut the top border and will do the applique for it before I sew it to the quilt.  I'm so excited to get this finished.

Did you see?  Stacy from Buttermilk Basin posted this months block.  Again I will do mine using cotton instead of wool.

That's it for now.  I'm snuggling down in my sewing room and will be prepping applique, sewing bindings, making a couple of Bitty Baskets and starting on the Buttermilk Basin.

Stay warm and keep busy.  Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Weather Forcast

Cold and Sewing....

Yesterday was the first time I ventured out in a few days.  I have a Motorola Droid and a Verizon Tablet.  Both were acting up.  The battery was going bad in my phone and my tablet kept shutting down.  Well I got a new phone, Droid Maxx.  I love it.  It is so good to be able to use my apps without taking forever to download or blank out.  Turns out when I got my Tablet they downloaded everything from my phone.  Games and all.  And it took up almost all my memory.  So after deleting a bunch of things it is working fine.

Now to sewing....

I finally got the borders on this Monday Mystery.  Later today I will pin baste it so I can get ready to machine quilt it.  This is from last October.


I sewed what rows I could on my Primitive Sampler.  I had 3 applique blocks to make.  I finished one..2 to go.

I really love how the flower block turned out.  I can't wait to finish the other 2 blocks and then I can get it ready to quilt.  I think I am going to hand quilt it.  I'm going to add a smaller border in the dark gray and then a larger border using the light gray.


While getting my blocks ready I came across a block from Cheri Payne's Common Threads Quilt that just needed a little applique.

The colors don't show up well...but these are in dusty purples.  The fabric I used for the flower buds didn't cooperate to well so they look a little lumpy.


On the weight front....I have lost an additional 1 1/2 lbs.  I've not lost 8 pounds.  Pretty good considering I wasn't feeling well last week and didn't go to the gym.  I did go with my daughter last night.  Taking today off and going tomorrow.  I feel so much better and have more energy when I go.

That's it for today.  Stay warm and get some quilting done.

Hugs, Cathy

My Happy Place

Is my sewing room.  I've been spending some quality time in sewing room lately.  Crossing off lots of projects from my "To Do" list.

First up is my April Blocks from the Hip Chicks BOM.

The center block is going to be star points for the center medallion block.  I had to make 4 of them.  The flowers were suppose to be fusible applique. But you know me.  I had to needle turn applique them.  I almost gave up a couple of times.  They were a little too little.

Next up...I am a huge fan of Cheri Payne.  I fell in love with her Common Threads series.  Here are the first set of 4 blocks.

I have already shown you the flower pot block.  I finished the other three blocks yesterday.  I can't wait to start on the next set.


I started working on the APQ QAL blocks last month.  My goal is to make an additional 3 blocks this month.  Thereafter I want to make 4 blocks a month. Here are last months block and a block I made yesterday.

I'm so glad I decided to make all my blocks in Red and Blue.  The original quilt has every block a different color.  I was amazed to see that my reds and blues in these two blocks are so similar.  It wasn't planned.


My final project is something that was started 2 years ago.  I just kept putting it aside to work on other projects.  I felt it was time to finish it up.

Sarah Vee from Sew Joy Creations asked if anyone would like to join in a QAL. I decided to join along.  The center blocks was her design.  The rest is mine.  I plan on getting it quilted this month.  Then it will hang on my sewing room door.

Well that is it for now.  It is going to be a rainy day today so a good day for getting some more sewing done and tackle another project on my To Do list.  Mmmm.....I think I will make some more Jacob's Ladder blocks.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

So Many Projects

So little time....

I just finished testing a pattern for a designer.  Will share as soon as I can. That took up three days.  

I made the quilt top for the Doll Quilt Swap I signed up for at Humble Quilts. I wish I could show you but I can't till it's done and on it's way.

I'm working on the border for a quilt I started early last year.  It's an appliqued vine.  So nothing to show you there.

But I do have one block to show you.  It is a block from Cheri Payne's Common Threads Series.

There are 4 blocks in each pattern.  She just came out with 2 more patterns in the series with 4 blocks each.  Of course I ordered them.  I still have to make the other 3 blocks from this pattern.  It should make a very nice quilt.

Well that is it for today.  Our snow is finally gone.  It is suppose to rain most of the day so I guess I might get some more sewing done.  I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.

Hugs, Cathy

What did you do Super Bowl Sunday?

I spent the afternoon working on one of my BOM's.

These are the February blocks for the Country Threads BOM.  I am going to keep this one scrappy for the most part.  These blocks are 6" and 12".


After that I prepped some applique to work on while the big game was on.

This is a Cheri Payne pattern called Flower Basket.  I didn't expect to get so much done but seeing only one team was playing last night there wasn't much to watch so I got lots done.  This will be my evening project for a while.

Don't forget the giveaway... click here to enter.

And if you want to be in the running for the Traveling Stash...click here .

I'd love to hear what you worked on during the game.

Well, the sun is shining here, the temp is a little warmer...So we are going to go for a walk, then the grocery store and then get some more bird seed for my feathered friends.  We are expecting more snow later this week..UGH.. so we need to get some supplies.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

Hugs, Cathy

Time's Flying

Back in February my daughter Kelley asked if we would like to go to Las Vegas with them.  Sounded good.  Then my daughter Kim and her husband decided to go to.  It seemed so far away....that is till this week.  We leave very early Sunday morning and leave Vegas at 8:00pm on Friday.  So much to do...so little time.

In the mean time I finally finished my latest Scrap Squad quilt top.  The latest Quiltmaker Magazine is out and in it is the original quilt.  You will be surprised when you see the scrap squad versions.

I showed you a picture of a 12" quilt that I made following Cheri Payne's directions on her blog.  I believe it is called Georgia's Star.  Well I got it quilted and here is what it looks like.

I had forgotten that I bought this stand at a quilt show in Kalamazoo earlier in the year.  It was just perfect to display this quilt.

My next project is basted and ready to quilt.

It is paper pieced and went together quickly.  The border fabric has cherries on it.   I'm going to hand quilt it.

Another project I've been working on is an on going project.   It is made from leftover half square triangles and trimmings from various projects.  This is the third such top I have made.

I really like these broken dish blocks that I get from leftovers.  These blocks finish at 3".  I have others at 2 1/2" and 2".  They are so much fun to make.

Last time I showed you my one peony blossom.  Well the other one finally blossomed.

 It is a much deeper color and is really pack tight.  I love both of them.

Well, it is really chilly here in Michigan.  It will be in the 90's and 100's while in Vegas.  And I don't do well in the heat.  Guess I just have to stay in the casino till evening...lol  We are going to be staying at the Luxor.  So if you don't hear from me for a while you'll know why.

Wishing you a quilty day!

Hugs, Cathy