Friday, August 17, 2012

Quilt entries and other goodies

I entered my Geese Crossing quilt in an online quilt competition and would appreciate it if you would go there and vote for it if you feel it is worthy! The address is : Quilting Gallery There are some GORGEOUS scrappy quilts on display there. Love that eye candy!! Geese Crossing is also entered in a small local quilt show this weekend. I don't expect it to win anything, but it's fun to see something of yours hanging! I finished my floor mat made from the upholstery fabrics. Here it is in its rightful place..under the table! lol
I am definitely going to add some more appliques, but I'm pretty pleased with it. This week I have been working on a display quilt for a local quilt shop, Cafe Sewciety. Just love this shop..and the owner, Judy! I called her and asked if she had anything she would like me to work on for the shop since I have all this sitting around time and I just didn't want to work on the same old same old. She called me right back with this project. It is a big quilt, 98 x 98, and is a BOM called The Mill Girls 1830-1850. I am just about done with the blocks and will be putting it together soon so will show you then. I just love this pattern and bet you will, too! You will be able to order it soon as the BOM starts in September! In the meantime, here is a few pics of some projects I have worked on the past few weeks. A new little herb garden made from a chair from the side of the road and some free boxes at a garage sale:
8 quarts of southwest soup and 14 pints of pickled beets are canned:
There is a lot more getting ready to come out of the garden to put up, so hopefully will have more to show you! Okay, that's it for now. Off to the sewing machine and then will have more sewing pics to share!!

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Quiltalong update

Well, didn't end up working on Christmas things yet today, but here is what I have gotten done so far: First up, a pair of fingerless gloves made from my favorite sweater that is all worn out. I am going to hand stitch the hem on the top part of the gloves tonight while watching tv:
My father's wife works in a furniture store and saves me all the fabric samples. I had boxes and boxes of these, so finally pulled some out to make this floor mat for my living room. Where the big brown squares are is where my coffee table will sit. I am hand blanket stitching the word "family" across the bottom and will also be adding some other appliques around it..just not sure what yet. I am flying by the seat of my pants on this one. The other 3 sides are narrow as the couches and arm chair are close to the table. Not sure I like the applique on it so far....will wait and see once I finish it if I will keep it like this or not. What do you think?
I think that might be it other than the handstitching. Hub did take me out to the farmers market this morning (with lots and lots of stops for me to rest)and I am worn out now. Can't wait to see what everyone else has been up to today! Thanks for all your warm wishes and kind words..you guys are great!!

Broken Hearted and Christmas Quiltalong

Well, I am going to start with the "broken hearted" part of my title because that explains my absence from here for 2 months. Back in June, I started having chest pains. Just here and there, sometimes barely there, sometimes very painful, lasting 2-3 minutes usually. My mom died from heart disease at 51 (I am 48), so believe me, I was right off to the ER and my regular doctor. Stress test and EKG's all came back fine so heart was ruled out. On to a spasming esophagus maybe? Endoscopy came back fine. Meanwhile, the episodes of pain are happening multiple times daily now and are SEVERELY painful. Pain is now also in my arms, back, neck, etc. Classic signs of heart issues, but newer ekg's still are normal. Finally, a little over a week ago, Aug 2, I got an answer to my problem...it WAS my heart and it showed itself by me having a heart attack. An angiogram showed that my right coronary artery was 95% blocked. So, they did an angioplasty and put a stent in and I am now as good as new!! I really cannot tell you how good it feels to not be in pain. I couldn't take care of my disabled son, had to leave work often because of these attacks, couldn't garden, couldn't sew...Now, I still am not allowed to do those things (except the sewing) until I see my cardiologist next week, but at least I know there is an end in sight!! So, I don't have much to show you for the past 2 months since I didn't do much sewing, but I do have a few things to share. Here is my Christmas quiltalong mystery quilt:
The top is all done and I just need to quilt it up. Not sure I have the energy to do that quite yet, though. I love how it turned out!!! Thanks sooooo much, Sue, for this great pattern!!!! I did manage to finish up a graduation quilt for Hannah's best friend, Sophia. Here that is:
This one was called Summer Breeze and she just loved it! Yay!! I have one other project that I might finish off today but I think I am going to start on a Christmas project in honor of the quiltalong. So glad I am alive to join my fabulous quiltalong buddies today. Please, go hug your friends and families today, take a minute to be glad you're alive and for whatever blessings are in your life, and just slow down and smell the fabric!!