Just Catching up...

Remember when I showed these charm squares being pieced?

This is how they finished up yesterday.  I still need to quilt it.

I got a little side tracked in between the two stages shown on this quilt.  I did a little water color.

Well, I got to go ~ spending the day with Mom.  :)

Have a great day!
Sonia

PS> please check out my blogs on Wordpress. They are different from this one. https://sonia67bones.wordpress.com/

Busy Day...

Boy, the day has just flown by.  I was busy with homework this morning, then after lunch I did a little more organizing in my sewing room.

I took things that were on my cutting table and made a place for them up on the wall for storage when not in use.

I organized my fabric cabinet, mostly the bottom section next to the batting.

Then I worked on my crochet/yarn area.  I was able to organize the top of this yard dresser by moving items to the window sill.

Then I took a break and did my Bible study.   I finished Romans and am now studying Acts.  I got to tell you, the Apostle Peter sure could preach, not backing down from those who opposed what he was teaching.

from http://newlife.id.au/bible-study-notes/the-apostle-peter/

Okay, then I sat at my sewing machine.  I finished the last "Gift Box" I needed for the quilt guild.  Then I started chain piecing some charm squares I found in my organizing endeavor earlier.

I also have new garden blooms to show.  If you'd like to see them, please go to my WordPress blog.  Here's a link to it.  https://sonia67bones.wordpress.com/

Hugs,
Sonia

Gift Boxes

I finally went through my fabric stash and started picking out colors for the quilt I'm making for my and David's bed.  This is a start.

I've decided to use the monthly block patterns from my quilt guild meetings.  I have two others I need to catch up on, a Rail Fence and a Card Trick block, but here is the first one.The blue one is for my quilt and the brown block will go into a kit to be sold at our annual quilt show this Fall.  This block is called Gift Boxes.

Hugs,
Sonia

Pretty colors...

It has been rainy for most of the day, but it was a good sign after the fires that were going on yesterday.

When we left Paris yesterday, there was smoke everywhere.  It looked like it started south of town and I wondered if it was on the mountain.   We drove out of the smoky area by the time we were in Charleston.   A few hours later, Fort Smith was filled with smoke.   I caught this picture on our way out of Fort Smith heading back home.  The sunset clouds through the smokey haze.

 I saw where this smoke started from, it was south of Charleston.

 By the time we were back in Paris, most of the smoke had cleared, though the mountain still had a smokey haze hovering.

With it being rainy today, I guess you could say I was a little lazy.  I didn't worry about much make up, just put on some mascara and a little lipstick and took a selfie showing my new haircut.  I lost about three inches in length.  As you can see, I'm in my favorite room of the house, my sewing room.

After that I took a picture of this partial pieced quilt top.  I've been trying to figure out what I want to do with it.  This is another pieced item I acquired from someone else in years past.

It has a lot of pretty colors but isn't very big,  So, I will most likely square it off and add a few borders to give it a little more size.

That gets me caught up, I think.  :)

Wishing you a great day!
Sonia

Took what I had...

Today was a pretty day.  This morning I opened the windows and let the cool air into the house.  It was nice to have the breeze blowing in as I finished up this small quilt.  It measures 36" x 36".  It started out as two small quilt tops.  I cut them up then sewed them together, put a border around them and tied them in pink yarn.  It is backed and bound with a light floral print.

Yesterday I sewed this quilt top together.  It measures 36" x 40".

.

Here are some muffins I baked this morning.   I didn't have a recipe, so I took what I had and made the batter.  They turned out good and I wrote the recipe down.

Apple Muffins

• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup and 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 1/3 cup light brown sugar
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 can unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 425 F.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugars, mixing well.  
3. Add egg, applesauce and milk to dry mixture and mix well.
4. Spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray.  Fill the muffin tins with batter to just below the rim of the tins (these will only rise to just above the rim of the tin)
5. Bake for 25 - 30 minutes.  Test with a toothpick to check if they are done.

Hugs,
Sonia

Getting out of the safe box...

What a great way to start a day...

A chocolate cappuccino and a devotional.

Today, I decided to step out of my "safe quilting box" and work with some blocks I acquired last week.  The measurement on the bag, the blocks where in, said they were 6 1/2 inch blocks.

I could tell they were more or less than that.  Each block was roughly cut and there were different types of material used too.  But I decided to use them as they were.  I'm trying to break free from the rules of making sure each piece is the same size, same type of fabric blend, etc.  I want to do a scrappy quilt for my daughter and though I know I will use the same fabric blends throughout her quilt, for the type of quilt she wants, I need to be able to not get hung up with the sizes of the pieces used.

Here is a close up of a block to give you an idea of what I was working with.



Here is the center of the quilt top. You can see it is a little wonky.














I took several of the blocks left and sewed them end to end making a long line of blocks and will trim them down to border the piece.  I'm not going to try to match the seams as I border it, to help with the wonkiness of the piece.

I know this is a baby step, but I've been in the "safe quilting box" my entire quilting life (since 2001)...  Except for the one time I went home from work totally put out... that time I sewed a lot of strips together, cut them up, sewed them together again, cut them up again, and did it all one more time. My frustration and anger was gone and it turned out pretty.  You might remember it...

It was done with a lot of high emotion and not much thinking.  But I honestly don't want to have to get mad or upset to get out of the "safe quilting box" each time.  So, I will continue to integrate broken quilting rules in my quilts, until I get the hang of it.  :)

Sonia

Overcoming a glitch...

The first signs of our veggie garden are beginning to show.  My husband started seeds for the garden and today we noticed they are up and have vented the top of the seed starter tray.

We have cabbage and iceberg lettuce.

The beets and basil have started too.

I think they will do well.

I was needing a single vase a week or two ago and didn't have one.  I was at a flea market last week and found this pretty vintage milk glass bud vase.  It is diamond cut in the pineapple pattern.  

I finally finished one of the small quilts I've been working on.  It didn't happen without a glitch though.  Here's the quilt finished.

.

Here's the glitch.  I had to stop and have some repair done on my machine.  I was sewing along and then the casing that holds the needle just dropped out of the machine.  

Thankfully my needle was not broke or bent, amazingly.

So that's Monday for me.  It started good, had a glitch, then ended good.  

Isn't that how life goes?

Everything is going along good, then a glitch happens.  How you overcome that glitch depends on how you face it.  In the case of my sewing machine, I turned to my husband.  I have never had my machine do anything like it.  He repaired it, and showed me what I need to do if it ever happens again.  I am now prepared  with the knowledge and the tool to take care of it next time.   

But what about bigger things in life?  How do you overcome glitches then?  I personally rely on my relationship with God.  I search my heart and pray asking God to reveal what I should do, and at some point, either through discernment or Scripture, I know what needs to be done or what to expect next.  These verses sum it up nicely.

Psalm 16:8-11 (NIV) 

I keep my eyes always on the LORD.  With Him at my right hand, I will not be shaken.  Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will rest secure, because You will not abandon me to the realm of the dead, nor will You let Your faithful one see decay.  You make known to me the path of life, You will fill me with joy in Your presence, with eternal pleasures at Your right hand.

Hugs, 

Sonia

More UFO's

Hi, hope all is going well.

After taking care of some business this morning, then taking a nap this afternoon I decided to work on another quilt top today.

This one is a simple 16 patch to begin with.  I will border it with the darker fabric shown and back it with the lighter one.   The blocks were found in the same hatbox I found the "Farmer's Daughter" blocks in.  They were 7" cut squares and finished 6 1/2".  I'm not sure where they came from, but I think they must have been left over blocks from another project because there were only 19 blocks, an odd number.  I don't remember doing a previous quilt using these blocks, so they must have been given to me or were in a set of blocks I found at a flea market or something.

I also decided on a backing for the "Farmer's Daughter" blocks quilt top.  I've decided to back it with a white fabric.

I plan to get both of these finished and quilted by the end of the week.  I feel like I will get one done tomorrow.

Until next time,
Sonia

UFOs...

I've been trying to catch up on some UFOs I've had waiting to be finished for some time.

 I finished this wall hanging today. The heart blocks are made from members of the quilt guild I belong to.  We use to have a block challenge each month, then in the next meeting we would all put our blocks in a bag and the person who's block was picked won them all.  These blocks are part of a bag full of blocks I won several years ago.

Then I went through my hat box full of vintage, some antique and other blocks I've acquired over the years.

I found several "Farmer's Daughter" quilt blocks.  This pattern was an original pattern in the Kansas Star paper on March 20, 1935.

The blocks I have are all hand pieced and scrappy, with a finished size of 10".  You can see by the fabrics they have been around for a while.  I pieced them together to make a small quilt top.  I trying to decide if  I want to put borders on it or not.  If I decide to, then I have to figure out what color to use...  I'm leaning toward no border, just binding after I quilt it.  If I just bind it, with no additional border, it will finish at 30" X 40".

 

Hugs,
Sonia

Free

This is the day which the LORD hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. ~ Psalm 118:24

My weekend end started out great, though I'm still trying to get over a major sinus cold.  I haven't felt as good as I do, spiritually and emotionally, in a very long time.    One word to describe how I feel.... FREE.

I've been able to catch up on some things. 

Here's the butterfly wall hanging.  I finished it today and practiced my free motion quilting on it.

My free motion quilting isn't pretty, but the more I do it, the better I will get.

We have cold weather moving in Tuesday night and the black birds have been gathering in droves.

Seeing all those birds prepping for the cold, made me want to bake.  I guess you can say I've been doing a little nesting of my own.  Anyway I baked some cookies.  Lemon cookies to be exact.  The recipe was on the side of a lemon cake mix.  They are yummy with a lemony drizzle on top.

One of the challenges I have set for myself this year is taking the antique and vintage blocks I have collected over the years and put them together into quilts or wall hangings, depending on how many blocks are in each set.   Here are the latest blocks I have acquired.  They are octagon in shape.  These blocks were all hand pieced and scrappy.

I have searched for this block on the internet and have had no luck on the name for it.  Tomorrow I will look through two books I have that document quilt blocks from the 1800's forward.  I hope to find it in one of them.

Do you know what it's called?

Sonia

What is it?

My day started out rough with headache, sick stomach, and feeling achy.   Still not doing so well, but thought I'd write a little, instead of going back to bed, since I've already spent several hours in bed. I need to sit up for a while.

I accomplished my last goal for 2015 at 5:40 a.m on December 31st.

I have set one goal so far for this year and have started on it.  I am going to read my Bible all the way through again this year but using a different format and taking more time with it, answering the following questions as I go through the passages.  I got these questions from the Bible study notes in my Bible.  Feel free to use these in your personal Bible study.

1. What is the main subject?
2. Who is revealed?
1. Who is speaking?
2. Who is being spoken about?
3. Who is acting?
3. What is the key verse?
4. What is taught about Jesus Christ?
5. Does the passage reveal any sin for me to confess or forsake?
6. Does the passage reveal a command for me to obey?
7. Is there a promise I can claim?
8. Is there any instructions for me to follow?

I may not be able to put an answer in for each question on every passage I read, but it is a good guideline for me to follow.


Okay, let me share with you a couple of things I have received in the past month.

At the last quilt guild meeting (the Logan County PieceMakers quilt guild Christmas party) I recieved blocks from all the members that were present as a thank you for being president for the past two years.  This was a true blessing to me and I have to say the group is a great bunch of people to be involved with.  I am going to take the blocks back with me to this month's meeting and ask everyone to make sure their blocks are signed and dated for me.

One day my husband gave me this.   "What is it?"

How cool is that?











The pen writes good, it is ergonomic so that my hand doesn't cramp when doing a lot of writing and the refills are stick pen cartridges.  I think it is just pretty cool.

This weekend I had planned on doing a winter wall hanging of swirling snow for my cubicle.  Yesterday I did a water color of it first to see if that is really what I wanted to do and decided I wanted something more substantial for the wall hanging.  So I decided to do a landscape winter scene.  I hope to have something so show of it soon.

Have you started a new project this year?

Sonia

some of what I've been up to.

Okay, I'm trying to catch up.  I will post two blogs tonight as I have a lot to share.

Here's what I've been up to... project wise.

I made this wall hanging.  The red fabric is a fat quarter from last year's Christmas party with the quilt guild I belong to.  The challenge is every year make something with the fat quarter you receive to show at the next party.

There was also a "dirty santa" game.  Each member had to make a set of place mats to swap.  Here's what I designed and made.  I used jelly roll strips, and English paper pieced the flower. The leaves for the flower are a napkin.

I also made two fleece blankets, but am giving them away for Christmas so I will show them later.


Here are some pictures of my home decked out for Christmas.  I give all the credit to my daughter.  I think she did a great job.

 

hugs,
Sonia