Productivity during the Plague!

Hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
I did. 

I got to be the guest for the first time in many years.

                                              Bringing Home the Tree by Buttermilk Basin.

A hostess gift and early Christmas present for my DIL.

She hosted Thanksgiving dinner for the first time and it was delicious.

We even had Jalapeno stuffing, which was the best!

She always appreciates the quilts I give her

and loves to display them in their home.

Makes me smile.

Lori of Humble Quilts posted info on how to donate to the Oregon fire victims.

Wanda Joy quilted up a bunch of charity quilts donated by Monica J.

 and then my quilting teacher and good friend, Betty O., bound them for me. 

I will mail them Monday after 2 more get their bindings sewn down. 

If you would like to learn how to contribute,

here is Lori's post.

Since I spend so much time in my sewing room these days,

I am finishing up most of my UFOs.

Harvest Moon by Heart to Hand is quilted! 

My first all wool quilting job.

Botanical Sketchbook by Dawn Heese of Linen Closet Designs.

This is wool on homespun and was my first attempt at free motion quilting.

Of course, they both need their binding, which is my least favorite part of the process!

So I guess I cannot officially call them a finish,

yet.

What is next?

Fancy Forest by Elizabeth Hartmann

for my new grandson.

Yes, one thistle is missing. 

Today's goal is to get this guy finished up.

I have this darling fabric for the backing.

I can hardly wait to try ruler work on this one.

Then there are several more modern quilts in my queue.

Oh, how my tastes have changed!

I even purchased some Tula Pink fabrics and a special ruler for a quilt with curves.

I don't do curves or notions, so this is something new for me! 

I know Jan is smiling right now.

Finished up Sue Spargo's Squash Squad this week. 
Waiting to see what she designs for the borders.

As my friend Betty says, "Thank goodness for my sewing! Without it, I think I would go crazy."
All I know is the pandemic, which I have gone to calling the plague, has made me productive. 

Stay safe, and sew on!

One step forward and two steps back!

I was buzzing along with Hocus Pocus,

piecing the individual pumpkin blocks together until I got to Row 3.

Oops, pattern designer asked for too many medium gray pumpkins,

and now I need another large gray pumpkin.

So I cut the component parts, started sewing them together, 

and oops, put the corner squares on the wrong corners!

Time to take a break and revisit on another day!

I have made progress on a Christmas present for my son and his wife,

Bringing Home the Tree

by Buttermilk Basin.
Block 1 is stitched and block 3 is almost done.

With the closing of The Olde World Quilt Shoppe,

I got all my samples back.

I brought several of them up to the cabin and
I love how they adorn the walls of the cabin!

An all time favorite Lori Smith quilt that I added a little something to the borders.

This Norma Whaley project is perfect for the hallway.

A great patriotic project by Lisa Bongean.

This Heart to Hand project fits perfectly over the back doors.

My miniature sampler that won me a blue ribbon from the AZ Quilters Guild
now hangs in my bedroom.

Added to my wall of small quilts too!

Finished the last 3 circles of my Toned-Down Sampler.

A flamingo of my own design.
Had to put his feet in a flower bed since I did not plan too well.

The jellyfish at the bottom is my own design also.

Will need to quilt and bind it when I get back to AZ.

Speaking of going home...

School had been pushed back to September for my grandchildren,

so my daughter and the girls will stay here with us through August.

My son and his family are looking to join us as well.
A safe, cool place to wait and see what our lives will be in the future.

Spooky!

It is spooky how motivating blogging can be.

Less than a week ago I declared I would finish this one and 

ta-dah, albeit I only had one more block to fuse and stitch.

But  now a UFO is a flimsy!

Needs some buttons added when I get home and then off to the quilter.

Merrie Halloween by Buttermilk Basin. 

Finished 2 out of 3 panels of my Halloween Campers, 

also by Buttermilk Basin.

Changed the design of this one a tad...

it will hang vertically instead of being a long runner.

Unfortunately, it will not get finished while I am at the cabin.

I did not bring enough of the lime green wool with me.

We are headed to the Rocky Mountains for a week so I prepped some handwork to take along.

Once I stitch it down with wool thread, lots of fun embellishing will be added.

This will be bordered with fall fabrics and become a runner, 

again, designed by Buttermilk Basin.

Enough work on UFOs!

On to a new project...City Bucket and this is my first block.

Ran out of Plum Marmalade thread, so I will have to finish the bullion knots when more arrives.

I bought the pattern for this 2 years ago while at market from

Amy McClellan of American Quilting in Orem, Utah.

She calls it her 'Market Bucket.'

Then I saw this photo on Pinterest.

Apparently, Kerry Green was the original designer

 and I love the bright fabrics and contemporary designs she used, 

so that is how I will make mine. 

She graciously shared her original drawings of the 'little blocks' used in her City Bucket.

 I will use a combination of both her designs and Amy's for my bucket.

It has been awhile...

so thank you for still following my blog,

We have moved back to the cabin for the summer,

 so perhaps I will have some time to actually write a few more posts.

I have been busy since I last posted.

During the 9 hour car ride to the cabin,

I sewed the bindings onto several quilts.

A Stroll through the Garden,

by Norma Whaley.

Okay, this has got to be one of my all time favorites and I am not a 'prim' girl.

Desert Dwellers, the row I designed for TOWQS Arizona Row by Row Experience.

Sorry for the poor picture.

The Saguaro cacti are chenilled.

The applique is wool.

Thank you to my co-worker, Lin, for such a great idea for our row.

I am making the shoppe sample of Merrie Halloween, 

designed by Buttermilk Basin.

It is offered as a BOM.

I am not known for my embroidery skills, but you know something...

I am really starting to like it!

I was blessed to be able to attend Spring Quilt Market in Salt Lake City in May.

One of the things I enjoyed most was hopping to all the quilt shops in the area.  The ladies at My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe in Logan were so nice and boy, oh boy, do I envy their space!

However, Village Dry Goods in Brigham City was my favorite.

Why? 

They had a wall of reproduction fabrics that made my heart skip a beat.

American Quilting was inspiring as well. 

 Their workroom was to die for.  

Has to be when you have hundreds of participants in your Mystery Sampler program!! 

A lot of my time when I work is spent making kits.

Yikes, I cannot imagine making hundreds of them.

The one thing I came home very excited about was Kim Diehl's latest book,

Simple Christmas Tidings.

It was so exciting for me to meet her.

You all know how much I love her designs.

I actually brought home an autographed copy of the book.

And I had to rush home and start making projects from it. 

Luckily, I had the same fabrics she used in her originals.

I want to make almost everything in the book!

I also came home with new projects from My Red Door Designs and 1894 Cottonwood House.

I made two of My Red Door Designs projects.

One here and one is on display at the shop.

I have not made my Jack from 1894 Cottonwood House yet,

but I will share when I do.

The last two things I came home with were a Sue Spargo Embroidery book...

I told you I was getting in to it...

and the pattern, The Raven, by Blackbird Designs.

Yup,

I am in my middle childhood again...

so full of enthusiasm and creativity. 

Heading back to the valley of the sun on Sunday for a few weeks.

Excited to welcome my son's second son on Tuesday.

Cannot wait to meet him!

(oh yeah, forgot...I also joined Panama Pyramids on Facebook.  My magazine should be at the house when I get home.  I have not bought the templates yet.  Want to place wagers on if I ever start them. Love the quilt and what a great use of scraps.  Besides, picking different fabrics for each pyramid is right up my alley.)

Summer finale!

 As the summer draws to a close,

I have some progress to share.

Farm Girl Finery,

designed by Kim Diehl,

is a flimsy,

Last summer I signed up for Primitive Gatherings BOW, Sunflower Gatherings.  As the packages started arriving, it became obvious to me I had bit off more than I could chew.  

Finally, this summer, I have my abbreviated version pieced.

I am still debating on a border treatment. 

I certainly have plenty of fabrics and wool left over, but they can go in the stash.

My inclination is to leave it as is.

It will be a great wall hanging at the cabin, where I do all my flower gardening.

I did have a small finish...

the September Buttermilk Basin Banner.

I love anything with pumpkins!

My granddaughter helped me plant a garden this summer 

and some of the only survivors are the pumpkins! 

 I will have at least 2 dozen of them in October,

if the hail storm that is currently passing over does not beat them up too badly.

Pesky chipmunks feasted on my carrots, green beans and spinach.

They even ate the jalapeno pepper plant.

I think they snickered at me while I weeded and watered my 'organic' garden.

It was entertaining to watch a row of carrots disappear each night.

We will be heading home soon, so I know this is all the progress I will make on the UFOs and WIPs I brought up with me. Not bad, 3 out of 5 completed.  

Hope you all had a great summer.

Now for fall...

my favorite time of year!

How Time Flies!

Can you believe that January is almost over?

Where does the time go!

I have not been blogging, but I have been busy.

My barn quilt is at the quilter's and hopefully will be coming home soon.

With that project done,

it was time to work on my next big project...

Farm Girl Finery, designed by Kim Diehl,

 from her book, Simple Appeal.

The applique is wool.

We are offering this quilt as a BOM at the shoppe.

I love a medallion style quilt, especially one designed by Kim!

This one will adorn my guest room bed when completed.

Then I am going to play with painting the furniture in the room using chalk paint to get a rustic finish using the aqua, red and gold hues that are in the quilt. 

Wish me luck! 

I have completed a few small projects as well.

Something for Easter...

'Spring Has Sprung'

designed by Stacy of Buttermilk Basin, 

featured in the Spring issue of Primitive Quilting.

My version is a little different from her's...I framed mine and scalloped the inner background instead of the outer border.  My scallops got a little wonky though, so don't look too closely.

Finished a few punch needle projects.
These are from Threads That Bind.

And another small quilt to add to my growing collection.

Quilt Squares #4, by Lori Smith.
Reminds me how much I love small scale, scrappy quilt piecing.
These finish at 12 1/2" square.

I am still working several days a week at the shoppe and love every minute of it.  My quilting community is so important to my sanity.
Hope your new quilting year is off to a good start, too.
I'll be back next month with my finished Where the Cows Come Home!