Happy Groundhog Day!

Happy February 2nd, Mr. Groundhog is overshadowed this year due to some football game playing today. Okay, it was "Go Broncos!" at the Davis' house. Too bad....Anyway, on to other stuff ~



Larry is settling in to his art classes, doing well but tired. Not as easy as when we were young. He is surprised at how many of the classmates do not even attempt to do assignments. He has received comments from students like"How do you know all this stuff?" (when he helped them do something on the computer, he is not one to speak out or draw attention to himself), to one teacher seeing a caricature drawing he submitted, and stating aloud, "We have an illustrator in our midst!" ~ Insert cheeky grin, I'm proud of my honey! ~

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The last two weeks have been report cards for the little people in my life, and the grand field trip: lighthouse tour, mariner's museum, whale watching at lunch time, marine museum with touch tank and lastly, the actual tide pools at oceanside. The Kids L.O.V.E. all the exploring time, and the parents enjoy it all, too ~

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I wrote out my UFO list, or rather my PhD's. Either way I started writing, and thought I wouldn't reach the end. 

 

 Look at the little note pad sheets...

I needed four pages, LOL!

 I do not plan to finish all 24 on the list, But I wanted to have them all written down. Let me show the ones I'm hoping to complete. 

 

• Jeanette's Comfort Quilt. This has been a casualty of the unorganized sewing room, but I found it last week! It needs the backing, and then quilted and bound. from June 2012
  
  
• Temecula Quilt Company projects: two samplers from 2012, 
  
• and the cakestand from June 2013. All three are small. The cakestand is bigger, but the quilt on point is what stymied me.... 
•  half hexagon. First 110 inch quilt finished on my quiltframe, and the back had some big winkles in it. It was half ripped out, and then pushed into the cedar chest. That quilt WILL be finished and used.
   
• Larry's Blue Kitchen Sink. Another monster size quilt. I have trimmed it; we have even had this on the bed, but it is not bound! Must. do. this. 2011
•  
• Great Granny. I love this. Even the backing is ready. Hmm. 2012
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• Friendship Stars, and Bright Hopes. Both inspired by Tina of Seaside Stitches.  2013
•  
• Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street, 2013. This needs a border and backing purchased. This may have to wait a bit ~ 
• Checkerboard and Dresdens, using a prized Amy Butler jelly roll. Quite a bit of sewing to complete the top, but it will be special! 2011.
•   
• Wiggly Whimsy with Terry, 2013. Half assembled.
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• BOM 2014 with Quilt Doodle Doodles
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• Spools, 2013. need to find a backing, and quilt it!
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•  Tiny Pinwheels- I dnk why I called them windmills on my list. 2013
  
• One I do not have a picture of is another comfort quilt for my friend Sharon, made from her husband's shirts. She gave me them this past fall, 2013.
• These are pictures of other UFO's I'll just show you:
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• flower garden scraps in green ~ Block Lotto coin stacks ~  Pineapple blossom

 Well, that is a list! I must admit, I so enjoy the learning process of the sewing project, and I see many tutorials that I want to try, that sometimes some sewing is started just for the educational experience. Does that sound like an excuse? I feel it is only an excuse if I tried the steps and decided to not take it to a project. The pictures I've shown all moved to the project stage!

My list is for the UFO and NEWFO

Now, let's see what is possible!

 

"Jesus said, 'If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.'" Mark 9:23

"...with God all things are possible." Matthew 19:26

 

High Hopes ~

 


Hi! How's the year of 2014 going so far? We have a year of "high hopes" in progress. I'm planning to see through a few changes and come out to a brighter tomorrow, LOL I need to put some goals and objectives on paper, and then follow through. Joanie suggested a year of finishes through:

Project UFO and NewFO

I appreciated the fact that she made allowances for new starts for this year, 'cuz that is more realistic for the way I roll. Now, I just need to put that list together....   :-}

For Block Lotto, Sophie has plans for bold geometric designs this year, starting with hst blocks that make chevrons. These were simple and done with 2- 9 inch squares. The method was new to me, and I will do it again, as the finished result is 8 finished hst squares, pretty cool ~

this photo borrowed from the method taught

 at "laugh yourself into Stitches"

... and here are my 4 entries at Block Lotto:

 

The snowpeople are from this year's BOM with Cindy at Quilt Doodle Designs. The directions are clear, easy to follow and beautifully illustrated.

I'm hoping to do this with all stash, and so far, so good.

 My people have snaps for eyes, and Lydia is going to hand embroider smiley faces...I like my peoples happy  :-}

Sew cute!

My Larry is back in school this semester! He needed to learn web design, and is now attending Art Institute in San Bernardino, about 25 miles from home. he is having long days, but is enjoying the new challenge. I ask for prayer for his stamina, and for employment opportunities. He is so talented, I am sure he'll grow in this new venture, and it is another "high hope" in our lives and household ~

"The earth is the LORD'S, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein.
Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, He is the King of glory. Selah."    Psalm 24:1, 10

Harmony Grace ~

 First finish of 2014: This is Harmony Grace's Baby quilt!

It's made from a charm pack of --was it called 'Dilly, Dally'? I think so. 



I started with an idea from a quilt book called Three Times the Charm,

but added on until it is hardly recognizable. The pattern I started with is called Dora.

   first, the layout ~  The "faith , hope , love" fabric is for the name background. 











 

To do the name, I choose fonts I like, and have Larry print it as large as needed. We usually choose to only do an outline of the letters, why waste the ink to make them solid black? Then I cut them out, and lay them down in reverse to trace onto the fabric prepared with Heat and Bond lightweight fusible. Cut and iron down onto the background, and I like to sew with the buttonhole stitch on my Bernina.




 I quilted with a loop-de-loop this time, fun, easy loops ~


 

 Then came the binding. Finished last night ~

 

And this dolly is Harmony Grace!

Harmony Grace is the little sister to Steven, remember this quilt?

 

"...we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved...." Acts 15:11

p.s. Thank you to my friends Kim and Gail, who made me smile by responding to my flub up post ~ Hugs all around, girlfriends!

Happy New Year, Ya'll!

Two more quilty projects coming in here at the end of the year! First, the 15 little Christmas mug rugs all got bound, and I have a few left to put in the box for next year. The other is this round one ~

 It lays flat, but you cannot tell from this photo!  :-}

This was going to be a table topper for Beth's round coffee table, so here was the starting place. Using only cherry prints and 'pokeydots' I created strata, and then cut with the cool 10 degree wedge ruler. 36 wedge pieces later, there was the finished center.

 

I was showing it to her before it was finished, and she loved it so much, she wanted it for a tablecloth. Wow, that took the circle from 45 inches to 72", quite a difference! So, I went to my stash, and found the tiny red pindots, and the cherry print gingham. Now there was extensions to add to the circle, but my match worked---amazing, huh?

 There may be a bit of the gingham left, but it took every bit of my red pindot--do you see the piece that I made do with? I felt the color was what was most important. There is that "Why NOT?!?" factor, too...
it adds visual fun ~

 The next challenge was how to go about getting it quilted. She only wanted it to be finished with flannel since it was to be on the table and not as thick as a quilt batt, so I made a big square of cloth by sewing the selvage side edge together. You know, the quilt frame doesn't accommodate circles, lol! I taped the flannel to the floor...

then, I used this spray adhesive to attach the circle to the flannel square. Who wants to mess with pins while you quilt? It held the circle beautifully ~

Now, it's finished and on her table, 
oops- without a finish photo! But, it was a learning project, and I love the challenge to grow in our craft. 



Yippee, one more to have on the 2013 finish list!

  ~ finished 
Christmas
Ticker Tape
mug rugs ~

Happy New Year 2014!

"Let us therefore come boldly to the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need." Hebrews 4:16

Debbie's Quilt, '7's and L's'

 Since my quilt frame doesn't truly have a 'long arm' sewing machine, sometimes it is a challenge to try a design on a quilt. This quilt is my friend Debbie's, she called it 'Sevens and L's'. The pattern was one that let me work a stitch line that worked for my 4-6 inch throat opening.

 Debbie had won a fat quarter stack at her guild, and chose this quilt.

 Her background fabric is perfect, and one of my favorites!

"Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful."  Hebrews 10:23