11 years ago yesterday I plugged away at my first post on Blogger…

then 1 1/2 years ago I switched to WordPress so unfortunately we can’t enjoy that post in full… but it was all about the making of my first handquilted finishes in this photo….

First I made the center pillow hand quilted and sewed it with an envelope back THEN my quilting mentor taught me to piece a quilt top and layer them and hand quilt them all together then add the binding and stitch it down… the rest as they say is HISTORY!!!!

I am sew excited to be sharing this special day with each of you! Thanks for stopping in 🙂

I have been steadily working on my Dad’s quilt… and I am done with all the center stitching with only this much thread left of that navy blue I was using for the center motifs!!!!

Now I had to figure the border finishing out… I called on my bestie and quilting mentor Connie for this again 🙂

The idea was to keep on the baseball themed backing with the edging so the plan is to follow that pie shape all around leaving a scallop on outer border and adding a binding to the straight edge 🙂

I used a plate for the scallop and a piece of pretty cardstock from a note Connie had sent me in the past…. to fashion a 2 1/4″ square for the diamond I marked…

Here is a glimpse of that pattern and the threads that will go into this part of the quilting…. the binding is made up and has BOTH of these colors in it 🙂

I will also be basting the edges as I quilt around the quilt and all this starts TODAY!!!! 🙂 Linking this to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitchers HERE <<<<<

Bonnie Hunter recently shared this quote and I felt it was right on time for this quilt quilting !!!

In the meantime… my middle child Michael had to have an emergency appendectomy and they found the appendix was partially ruptured and gangrenous… he has had a tough time and remains in the nearby hospital to where he and his wife life today! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers!

While we were waiting for word of his surgery coming out okay … I quilting and chatted on the phone keeping the family in the look from my sweet daughter in law … and his wife Kristen…. and my honey refashioned our front bathroom with new flooring and a new toilet!

The new flooring is thanks to a purchase of leftover flooring from my bestie Connie. The toilet was elongated instead of round and chair height instead of short as our older one was… we gave it to a needy family so it was a win/win we thought 😊

Now we have bought paint so next up is to paint the bathroom to match the house 🙂 busy busy!

I got this badge this week on my FitBit…

And did that 2 consecutive days after that walking around the house and with my favorite neighbor Theresa! I can really tell an improvement in my stamina too… unfortunately the heat got the best of me yesterday and Michael wasn’t doing well so we just visited Saturday on our front porch instead of walking and getting in some steps… that’s ok though 🙂 We will pick back up today!

I gave myself a fresh mani yesterday too… a mixed mani using pieces and parts from previous manicures….

Keep what is being left of Ukraine and their future in your thoughts… As well as Finland who has to find new power sources in your thoughts and prayers please….

Too much is going on in this world to list but keep in touch with news you trust and keep what makes sense in your thoughts… babies need formula too! This hits close to home for me too… we should have seen this coming I feel like!!!!

Thanks for visiting and have a blessed and wonderful week ahead!

Last weekend I was quiet after my first shingles vaccine so I kindly left a short but happy message for each of you to enjoy… I was so happy to have so many kind comments too!

Hopefully I will be able to respond as I used to in the near future. Otherwise I will quit blogging and am pondering personal emails to all my faithful followers starting in December to give WordPress time to change the things back to how they were. AND that is when my subscription (yes I pay a bit to use this platform for blogging) runs out!

Please share feedback on your preference of hearing from me on a weekly or every other week interval if I were to do that using the blind cc on my email so no one can see others email addy’s .. just me and the recipient.

This week has been so busy since I got over that vaccination! I am so happy to feel better. My son sent me some cash unexpectedly for Mother’s day so to celebrate that extra windfall I bought a like new Fit Bit!!!

It is the Charge 4 version 🙂 I LOVE LOVE LOVE it for my walks and just to enhance my daily health benefits and track my moods and stress levels too as well as water intake 😀

I think out of 24 different options I have decided to see digital not analog time and steps taken for the day too…. it will encourage me to stay on track for sure!

I think I found out walking up and down the mountain our house is on is like walking up 4 flights of steps… if I do this twice it is close to a mile too! So my goal Sunday is to do this 🙂

When I am not stepping or figuring out this new toy… I am quilting my dad’s “Baseball Quilt”… I call it the Baseball Quilt because the back is baseball themed…

It is a sheet actually from Pottery Barn that my bestie helped me find 🙂

And here is the front progress….

So according to the photo above… I have 10 more motifs to hand quilt … big stitch style and I have this much of that navy 12 wt perle cotton to stitch them with….

Since that obviously won’t finish the 10 motifs AND the outer borders… what did I do??? I bought another blue since I had no idea what color I had bought previously. lol!

I have another picture that shows this new thread better….

And the spool on the left will make colorful motifs on the quilt I am planning for my mom! 🙂

Meanwhile… on the Purple Heart quilt… I am halfway in the picture below on the whole quilt now… no progress made this week as I am putting ALL my time into finishing this one for my daddy.

This week I am linking up all this hand quilting FUN to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitcher’s HERE<<<<< come on over and take a look at the fun stuff being linked up this week… it will open in a new tab too!

My hair is growing out like my honey wanted and we both love it!!

I also went and voted early in our Primary Election in North Carolina… my only options in this election were for the Senate and House in DC. So we shall see if my selections get to be voted on in the November election 🙂

When I went to vote my hair dresser was the voting assistant… it was fun seeing her and letting her know I would come in soon for a minor trim too!

Thanks for visiting… I wish you could smell this straight from my yard to you for you! It smells like honeysuckle on steroids or something! Just Lovely 🙂

May America be blessed during this time of turmoil all around and please think of all the devastation in Ukraine… all the innocent lives lost and upheaval happening over there!

Thanks for stopping in…. a comment would be appreciated… your feedback on border quilting for the Baseball quilt would be super! 🙂

Hope all the mom’s that visit here have a wonderful day!

I am plugging away at my dad’s quilt and made progress on the Purple Heart quilt too!

I am midway on both hand stitched projects!

I got my shingles vaccine this week and it left me a bit quiet and I have only a couple pics to share so I am not linking up to Kathy’s Slow stitching crew today.

Here is one of the photos I took just yesterday with a new manicure 💅 for the event today of celebrating motherhood!

All my kids are grown and gone but I’m sure throughout the day the rest will wander in wishing me well as I hope your kids all celebrate you!!!

I am not a huge Star Wars fan but I love sewing so… did you celebrate May 4th with some 1/4” sewing I wonder???

Have a blessed day and pray for all those moms separated from husbands in Ukraine 🇺🇦! trying to be their all to their kids as they flee the devastation of their country 😟

Have you ever celebrated May Day on May 1??? Have you ever danced around a Maypole or delivered delicious treats and beautiful flowers hand picked to a neighbor???? Read THIS article from Better Homes and Gardens….

While I am not delivering you fresh flowers I have some excellent photos of flowers from my yard to share…

So happy May Day to you all!

For all of my devoted readers who kindly left me a message here last week…. I got it and appreciated it but there is a change WordPress made behind the scenes that kept me from responding personally. I just wanted each of you to know your comments mean the world to me… I will not respond publicly but privately even if hoops need to be jumped through this week… I have spend all last week email WordPress (they don’t have a phone customer service or a chat customer service only an email version with “Happiness Engineers” who can’t help or change things… very frustrating to the LEAST!!!

So what have I been up to this week! A LOT!!!!

Finished and layered for machine quilting the pillow sham tops….

They will fit our queen sized pillows when finished!

In more relevant news I am almost halfway done with the motifs on my dad’s quilt now lovely called the baseball quilt …. the backing is baseball player themed and me and my dad used to go to Astros games when I was young 🙂

Then there is the Purple Heart quilt…. I made it to almost the end of the row of stitching I started and shared last week 🙂

And from further back….

I am linking my hand quilting craftsmanship progress to my friend Kathy and her Slow Stitching crew on her blog HERE <<< 🙂

Happy May Day and please…. Pray for Ukraine in their struggle to maintain the freedom they fight for every minute!

I saw the above image from one of my friends on Facebook. I saved it to share with y’all!

It has been a steadily busy week in North Carolina mountains here 🙂 Although we have weedeated… our yard this week Rick mowed and weedeated… the first official mow of the season is so exciting.. taking Molly out for walks on a flat lawn… warm air circling around us… I love it here 😀 A few pics of our yard for you then on to my stitching progress !

We have irises about to bust open in bloom too…. from the bulbs we bought in bulk last autumn. I am excited to share them hopefully next week! We have no freezes left in the forecast… so maybe they will bloom!

I am walking outside 1/2 mile most every day with my fave neighbor Theresa…. we enjoy spending time outdoors and chatting and my stability and stamina are increasing with each walk!

Now for my slow stitching progress…linking all the stitching I am sharing to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching crew HERE <<<< Come see what everyone is up to!

Here are the finished embroidered and ready when the others I am working on are done…. Napkins for my son and his wife….

I have 5 more in process of being finished and in for their final washing and pressing before sending them off in the mail to the lucky couple! This is their last initial … a cursive C …. which was their choice of monogram for these napkins!

Next up is my dad’s quilt….

I have 12 motifs done now of 48 needed before working on the outer edges … and binding!

I plan to spend more time on this quilt this week than the Purple Heart quilt to get er done! My dad has an infection in his knee… he had surgery this past week to clean it all out now he is on antibiotics IV at home for the next month… I want this quilt done in 1 month from now! Pray for his safe healing 🙂

Next up is the Purple Heart quilt…. last week I worked hard to roll it down… now I am at this motif….

Between the 1st & 2nd pinwheel is where I am here but I have moved over to finish the top of the 2nd pinwheel for later today 🙂

Our fave neighbors’ new home is almost done! They ordered the Essex Linen in “sunshine” for me to make them a set of napkins! 🙂

Also to give my hands rest when quilting I am fashioning new pillow shams for our bed… I just started on the tops…. but got most of it cut out of figured…. come back next week and I will show you but I am using the leftover hst’s from the table runner I shared last week….

Things continue to stay dicey for Ukraine though so far they are prevailing to keep their country mostly…. please pray for this country and these people!

Thanks for visiting me and my blog… I appreciate your time reading what I am up to … now leave me a comment on your fave part of this post so I can focus more on what you each enjoy on future posts 🙂 Don’t forget… find a hidden blessing in each of your days too!

Look at the table runner my bestie Connie made for us to use in our cabin this autumn!

A texture shot…

I love the mix of machine and hand quilting! Connie sourced our fave genre of fabric that were a nice price tho… and reworked them and made this and sent me a few extra! I plan to use them in making a replacement pair of our night and dayly used pillow shams 🙂

Last Sunday I finished all 12 napkins with 2 washes for each one and most of the “shedding” complete… now time to embroidery their initial on each one! Step 1: Make a template so the hand applique looks consistent thus then deciding on a font for the “C”.

I wrote the C with a chalk pencil I got from the Stencil Company with a stencil I am using on my Dad’s quilt… So far I have 4 napkins completed and ready to be washed one more time before pressing and mailing them to the lovely couple. They just celebrated 1 year of marriage. 😍🎉

The napkins I keep out on our screened porch and on warm days I work on them there.

The quiltS I work on in tandem and making good progress on both!

Above is the left side of the frame just after rolling last weekend!

Now I have 6 of the 48 motifs done on my dad’s quilt… and made good progress on the Purple Heart quilt… therefore neither loses it’s luster thus far 🙂

I snapped this candid shot to show you how I work on it so comfortably between the 3 projects… Linking my multi tasking madness to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitchers 😀

Happy with my yummy lavender new mani 🙂

Now for Rick’s progress I will try to leave the pics a bit larger 😀

Above you can see the mulch and plants we moved about and inherited from a neighbor….

Then closer up….

That ramp above (and shown below as well…) is gone now as my straight and strong legs no longer need it… I am taking walks every afternoon with my favorite neighbor 🙂 We chat up a storm and walk and have fun!

She gave us the lilies we are anxious to see bloom to determine color! I love the surprise tho too!

Hope you have enjoyed this easter visit to my blog… Please leave a comment as to your fave project I shared 🙂 Thanks so much ~ Pray for Ukraine too!

Welcome welcome on this Palm Sunday! I hope you are have a blessed weekend. Get a cuppa something fun and let’s share what’s been going on!

I got released from Physical Therapy this week! I was so excited yet I have made friends with several there so when in need in the future I know where to go 🙂

I made this Essex linen yardage into napkins….

They need to be embroidered and washed again 😀 It allows them to fray to the stitching line so they are done fraying basically 🙂

Today it is to be cold… so Molly and me and my honey will most likely huddle in the morning in the living room in front of the fireplace 🙂

I am ALMOST ready to roll this quilt again… so that has been a daily indulgence I enjoy!

I finished the final pouch I had been working on too!

Here are the 3 pouches I made for my bestie and her daughters 🙂

I pin basted my dad’s quilt….

And I am doing it part machine part hand quilted… so I do the machine work first to hold it all together then add the hand.

This is the last of the crimson background cross hatching I can reach… now on to the outer borders on the right side 😀

Linking this fun hand quilting and the hand embroidered last letter on the napkins too to Kathy’s Slow Stitching linky party HERE <<<< Click that link to open a screen separate from my blog 😉

Keep Ukraine in your hearts my friends!

Hey Y’all! Welcome to my blog! We arrived back in our grey cabin Thursday night!

We spent a week with my honey’s sister redoing her floors….

Don’t you love this flooring color?!!!

But I was sooo happy to be back home and quilting at my frame 🙂

Above was when I had finished stitching all I could reach and below is after I rolled the frame…

I am sew happy with this progress! Here is a photo of my “nest”!

Linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitchers linky HERE!

Here is a close up some of my quilting prior to rolling!

Have a blessed week and pray for Russia and Ukraine!!!!

And here is my new closing …. with a pic of our beautiful mountains in NC, USA!

We have had glorious weather this week… so far that is! lol

There is another cold snap on the way though… however we are making a road trip for a bit and won’t be here for it! Luckily our fave neighbors will be looking after our cabin and will be here for it!

I see the surgeon who did my knee replacements Thursday of this last week… and when I go to rehab next week I am expecting to be released…. my bend is 142 degrees which is more than they expect and my straightening is -2 degrees which is almost completely flat and with more exercise and time 0 is where I should be there too!

The good news is where we are traveling has steps and I need to go up and especially down the steps to exercise in ways I can’t exercise in our cabin and until the surgeon releases me to… I can’t take long walks yet down our gravel road but soon I will!!!!

My honey is still making and taking special orders for quilt blocks for indoor decor! He will be focusing on exterior decor ones in the future…. email me if you are interested HERE! Here are the ones he has ready to ship … otherwise we can chat about making time, curing time, and shipping dates for your own personal all wood quilt pattern 🙂

These are all 9 3/4″ square by 1 3/4″ tall with 100% wood except for the metal sawtooth hanger securely installed with screws on the back for you for easy hanging once received!

Quilting wise….

I finished the flimsy for my daddy… it will be next on my frame!

I have a backing specially picked out for my daddy… something special between he and I when I was young and still living at home… watching the Astros play as well as lots of little league baseball games my bro played and my dad coached… so it is baseball themed fabric! I will get the batting for it this coming month so it is ready to load when I finish Purple Heart Quilt!

The Purple Heart quilt is progressing at a nice pace too!

If you look at my photo below… the row where there are 3 pinwheels…. designates where halfway is… at the top of the frame! So I am 3 turns of the frame from being halfway!!!! Linking my hand quilting progress to Kathy’s Quilts Sunday blog post HERE… come see what all the other Handy folks are up to 😀

Please pray for Ukraine and the Ukrainian people looking for short term homes or long term relocation! They need our prayers for strength.

Thanks for visiting my blog today…. will share more about our trip next weekend! Meanwhile…

Did any of you celebrate St. Patrick’s Day this past week??? I am part Irish and my bestie sent me some green Colorstreet nails to put on…

I love them…. and those bulbs we planted last fall are almost ALL coming up too!

We also are starting to see the buttercups coming up and opening up… I wish I could get a overhead of our front yard so you could see them lining the driveway and the plant bed…. looking marvelous and so much color to see each day!

Speaking of color… I laid out the 9 patch quilt I have been working on….

This should be next on the frame…. after the Purple Heart quilt is done.. I have 2 long seams to make to finish this into a flimsy now 😀

Speaking of The Purple Heart Quilt….

I rolled it down a bit!

So I will spend today relaxing and quilting after giving my fingers a bit of a rest this week I am ready to quilt again 🙂

I am linking all this hand crafted fun to my friend Kathy at Kathy’s Quilts Slow Stitching Sunday Linky Party Come SEEEEE<<<<< what everyone is linking up 🙂

I also am trying to sell a very cute handy style quilt kit… look at this y’all!

I have more pics if you are interested in this it is for in the USA only as it will have to go Priority mail due to the weight of it all…. this pattern is by GE designs and Gudrun walks you though how to make each block in the instructions. Price is $80 to include shipping via Paypal Invoice.

Please keep Ukraine in your thoughts this week and make time to visit Kathy above if you can!