Hello August and Welcome Sunday Stitchers too!

I have been mega busy this week… as has my honey! This week I loaded my big frame….

Above there you can see how we have decorated too.. my honey is an excellent décor manager! lol

I not only got a good start on Debbie’s quilt in the frame…

I was blessed to receive these needles from my good bloggy friend Gretchen…

The size 7 needles take a minute to get used to because they are big but for large diameter thread you need a good round needle opening and a round shaft… both of these things I have with the DMC needles 🙂 Thanks Gretchen!

Above is what I will use to mark the heart of this quilt… if you missed the finished quilt top last week here it is….

I haven’t touched the wholecloth quilt this week but I promised you a photo so I took one..

The PVC frame is sitting in my sewing room at this moment. I am trying to gauge on a normal quilting week how much I may get done on my Hinterberg frame … hoping 1 roll a week or so 🙂 All this hand quilting I am linking to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<<<<

Most of this week I have been playing around with a shadow quilt design and construct… it will me a machine quilted lap quilt… I am using a free pattern and YouTube video by Donna Jordan of Jordan Fabrics called Shadow Box you can find HERE <<<<

Above are 4 rows of 5 so I can do a quick test on separating colors and intensities of colors in this group… don’t want all the blues or oranges together 🙂 I love these fabrics though… This quilt fabric lot was gifted to me by my daughter and her fiance…. for my birthday… I will enjoy this quilt when I get it built!

I didn’t show you the finished swing Rick redid…

I love this photo … you can see our colorful begonia and fern that are soooo happy here on the front porch.

And look how many blooms are on the daisy… Rick waters the ferns every night and the other plants every other night… but we have found our daisy loves hot weather and lots of watering 😀

Time to finish these blocks to I can put this center part together!!!! Have a wonderful Sunday whatever you do and wherever you are… you decide how your day goes!

Last week I shared that black and batik quilt Connie has made and I had hand quilted some of. Here is Janet our friend on her porch snuggling the quilt….

And to see it on her bed in it’s new forever home…

With those kind of pictures and nice words of loving the quilt Connie made and I quilted most of…. I focused on finishing the other quilt I was making into a flimsy and I won!

I am excited to get this on the quilt frame this week too… it will be hand quilted 🙂

Now head over to Kathy’s Slow Sunday stitching crew to see what everyone already has in their post to share !!!!

If you are wondering too I did work on the whole cloth but not much and no photo as I wanted to finish this flimsy….

Meanwhile my honey worked on sanding off the worn parts and re-varnishing our front porch swing….

That is about it for us! Have a wonderful week y’all!

But until July 20th… let me share what has been going on here this week 🙂

I am happy first and foremost to share that black and batik quilt I hand quilted after my bestie Connie built the quilt top??? Well it is done and found it’s way to it’s forever home and is now being loved…. with our good friend Janet 🙂

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We saw a doe the other day as we were heading out to run errands…

And a young buck the next time we were out too 🙂

Rick tuned up both my sewing machines…

But my main week has been focused on making a quilt top… I am over halfway done now!!!!

Leaving my progress on hand quilting low….

I also did a bit of stitching on the rolling pin enough to call it done and started on the chain stitch surrounding the bowl and pin.

Linking this hand stitching to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<<

My honey has finished the cedar tongue and groove on the ceiling….

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and we love it!!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful week ahead! Thanks for reading and looking 🙂

Preparing for and having company to visit in to back to back rounds was excellent and tiring! lol I slept extra Monday and Tuesday but by Wednesday I was back on track and got my sewing room mojo back!

So I straightened and organized BETTER and reorganized again….

Then I started working on Debbie’s Boho Heart Quilt…

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Me and Cleopatra… my 319w by Singer in the mid 1950’s… I love her ❤

When I wasn’t pacing myself with layout and making the final blocks needed for a complete layout I was working on my redwork!

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And when I wasn’t doing that I moved the quilt in the pvc frame too!

It was heavy to move it around… this is my first corner to complete too… so I decided how to do those partial expanded diamonds and larger expanded diamonds too! Whew!!!

Linking all this hand work to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitchers HERE<<<<< Come see what’s going on with all the hand stitchers 😀

I can’t find all the “after” photos of my sewing room I took but I moved the noodle poles to under the buffet cutting table… they now are out of my way but convenient when I make a quilt that needs basted 🙂 The closet looks MUCH better and the 319 is running strong as I build more blocks for the quilt for my good friend ❤

Meanwhile… my honey is adding wood inside our cabin!

It is a LOT of work to finish it and cut it exact etc… but so is quilt making and bag making right????

He plans to carry it down the hallway ceiling too 🙂 More next week!

And may this year ahead strike down the dissention in the ranks of our fellow Americans and bring peace to us all!!!

It is also my birthday I am happy to report!!! I got a visit earlier this week from my son and his new bride…

They made us an overnight pit stop on their way to a vacation destination 🙂 They also gifted me with a Hawthorne Supply gift card 😀 YIPPEE!!!!

Then yesterday my daughter and her fiance showed up for a weekend of celebration!!!!

Here are me and my darling daughter and her fiancé I will catch in a photo before they leave 🙂

In the mean time…. I finished that little area on my hand quilting…

Then I rotated the quilt in the frame…

And I made a bit of progress with this new area to stitch on….

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Once I finish quilting this side I plan to mark all that is quilted already on that master plan of this quilt I printed off but it is a heavy quilt! So I am not taking it out just to see I am 2/3 or more done with the quilting on this mammoth undertaking over 6 years in the finishing!!!

I also worked on the red work bowl with rolling pin that haven’t shared recently… no picture on that till next week though… Linking all this hand quilting progress to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<<<

I just got these from my bestie…

Wool pennies in varied sizes!!!! All I have is plain black wool to make my pincushion creations with so with these I can add some zing… Thanks my Bestie ❤

She also sent some other goodies in the box with these pennies….

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I am sew blessed to have her in my corner All The Time 🙂 Her birthday is just the day before mine too! Usually we celebrate together but this year with my fam coming we are celebrating together in the autumn …

I hope you have a blessed weekend and if you are in America… Happy birthday!!!! 🎉✨🧨🎈🤩 And Happy Birthday to me!!!

Summer Solstice happened this week in the USA!!!!

Now some parts of the US are under weather advisories for how hot they are… rain and tornadoes are affecting some of the middle and we are just moving into summer at our home. Lower humidity but plenty of heat.

I got my Pulmonary Function Test done and the result preliminarily was much better than my last one 4 years ago!!! YAY 🙂 So North Carolina is good for my lungs!

I got the first pin cushion I made stuffed and finished another one…

So in learning to make these pin cushions… I think the top one was a bit big … yet the bottom one was a bit small… so I have make another “shell” to embroider and thinking it will be “JUSt right” for selling! YAY 😊

As for the whole cloth quilt…

I am sew excited for this progress on the whole cloth you all! It is just amazing to me that I finished this much this week! I have a picture of the whole quilt… next week I will share that with highlight on what I have actually finished…. hopefully I will get time that is…. Linking all this fun hand stitching progress to Kathy’s Quilting HERE <<< where she is celebrating Summertime in Canada there 😀 Come SEE!!!!

I got the most rad pair of shoes this week as previously owned but besides a bit of lace repair needed… the shoes fit awesome! They are running shoes by Brooks!

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These are for my birthday coming up next weekend…. My daughter Brandi and her man Timmy are planning to visit next weekend to celebrate too! I am sooo excited 🎈🥰

So I hope to see y’all all back here next weekend as America celebrates it’s Independence!!!!🧨✨🎉🎊

And Happy Father’s Day to all you dads…. I don’t generally get much email from men who are dad’s that read my blog … but I have a dad and my kids had a dad ….

This week I only have a few photos but handwork has been the name of the game this week!

And now look where I was on Tuesday!!!!

So now last night before heading to bed I snapped this shot!

Besides making progress on the colorful flowers and such… I made progress on the background too… sew much so … I may reposition it this week in my frame!!!! YAY!!!!

My other project was to fashion a wool coat I had been given into pin cushions… Here is my 1st one in the making….

I should finish and be ready to stuff the pin cushion to share with you all next week end… it will be going up for sale though 😉 Just a fun way to use my embroidery and sewing skills and create something to offset my spending! HAHAHA

Linking this handwork to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching crew HERE <<<< Come see what everyone is up too… so much kind of needle and handwork is shared 🙂

Here are some 1/2 yard cuts I got at a GREAT price from the Fat Quarter Shop after finding the top one on Etsy but didn’t buy it when I saw it then they sold out… not finding it anywhere else I asked the seller about the credentials of this fabric and went online to my computer search engine and found it at a better price at FQS! YAY!!!!

My honey hasn’t been lazy while I have been so busy either! He vacuumed ever nook and cranny of our cabin when we had a spider issue (little ones and not poisonous)… then sprayed inside and outside while I kept Molly close… she wanted to her her Daddy! lol He also finished the exterior doors on our back porch!!!!!

My honey also noticed something moving in our back / side yard … this was the best I could get the pic… but it is a doe … a very large doe at that!!! She ate from our neighbors plants … now she didn’t find much our side/ back yard so she went back to our neighbor’s cabin and then left he said… meanwhile I was napping…. bummer to missing seeing her in person.

I hope you have a blessed Sunday! I have a pre op test for my lung function on Friday… keep me in your thoughts that it goes well please! Meanwhile… you have an awesome week ahead too 🥰

Since taking the whole cloth out of the frame to view progress… I have had barely a day go by that I haven’t worked on it this week … lol!

Here it is back into the pvc frame… I could put it in my big Hinterberg frame but this is easier to manage and move about too! I had to reimagine that flower as all the blue lines over the years had disappeared but otherwise I just needed to darken some up for stitching.

In just a few days I had all these lines added in and completed down to the extended diamonds where I add the circle buttons in colors.

Then I started adding color….

And this is where I am TODAY!!!

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I changed my nail polish this week too… Back to my honey’s fave… Glamsterdam by ColorStreet….

But in even more exciting news… I finally hog tied myself to finish that cushion for our front porch rockers!

And to see them both on there together….

Y’all! I am sew happy this is a done checkmark in my book… ready for company or us or neighbors who like to drop by! YAY!!!!

Linking all this handwork *yes there is plenty of hand work in those cushions too* to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching crew HERE <<<< Come see what all everyone is linking up!

Look how beautiful our begonia is blooming and looking …. I am enjoying this plant way more than expected!!!!

And here is our cabin from the gravel road out front…

And easier to make it out once we pulled in the driveway and caught this shot…

I love our little cabin in the woods…. and I love our screened in porch too! That is where we spend lots of time. Rick has been working on the double doors that lead out to the back porch as the cabin is almost 20 years old and it is time for maintenance that hasn’t been done as the house settled so he took the doors off cleaned them meticulously and rehung them (they never even used a shim to set them prior) properly! Then he painted the outside of the doors our trim color….

This week he will work on the screen doors and get them back on with black hardware and also hang them more properly too…. once painted the same tan color as the exterior doors are 🙂

See the ramp above he built me so I can access this beautiful back porch and nature so easy now with my knee issues! I love it ❤

Speaking of my knee issues… we both continue to lose weight and are remaining keto and low carb happy. You can see some of that weight loss in my new profile picture I added to this blog today 🙂

I will leave you all with this…. as someone needs to hear this as I did in the past and try to remember today too….

But we did get some rain so we didn’t have to water as much! lol We also have buds on both our rose bushes… we have a mini rose bush and a yellow regular sized rose bush… I am excited each day to see if any have opened 😀

Molly did get her groom on this week too… and though she was tired afterwards … she felt much better! And looked great too! She is a Poo-Shih mixed breed and is full of personality!!!!

The whole cloth quilt has been my focus this week in the end….

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I finished all where I was working and decided since it extended a tad further in that last pic above …. I would could that section too before taking full photos of the quilt in progress….

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For some reason I didn’t take an after shot when I quilted the nickel sized circles I am showing in the far right photo… darn… but you get the idea… it was finished 🙂

Above is the best photo I could get overall of the quilt as I didn’t want to take it outside … it was just too bright…

Below is a better close up of the finished center part…. the top ribbon that is “cut off” is not… it is not quilted yet! lol

Above you can see the backing and the corner of the quilt…. but not how I addressed the bottom of the quilt corners exactly so I took this photo for you all…

And here are a couple photos I snapped of our living room and how my frameS fit in our small cabin living room 😉

My honey has been working on the outbuilding and the back porch this week… it is coming along…

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The shelf on the wall he painted dark grey and totally blends in to the wall now.. we plan to have a outdoor-safe cabinet there in the future but for now >> it works… and the second photo shows the daisy we got this week and the fern we brought from out front to out back… we replaced the fern out front with a beautiful ivory begonia 🙂 I went shopping outdoors with my honey and Molly for the plants! It was fun 😀

Above is where my focus will be on Sunday as I spend time stitching… unless the heat relents… then I may grab my red work and finish that bowl… I think I will add a little daisy to it 😀 Thanks for all the feedback!!!

I am linking all this progress on the whole cloth to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching crew… see what handy work everyone is up to by following the bold link 😀

Thanks for stopping by and if you leave a comment so I know you stopped I would be most happy too 🥰 Be good to you this week!

Hello and Welcome! As my honey is a veteran I have learned a LOT about this weekend in the USA… and it really isn’t meant for family get togethers as it has become here it seems…. more people flying here this weekend than since the pandemic began…. but as a memorial weekend to remember all those who lost their lives fighting for our freedoms!

This was a busy and stressful week for me… but I am glad to say we made it through!!!

I saw a surgeon in Chattanooga that will be doing my knees in a few months time… once I get some other check offs done through my Primary doctor. He plans to do then 6 to 8 weeks apart so as not to do them together ….

Weight loss has slowed down this week but is still coming off and I have not changed any of my eating ways we have been discovering 😀 Keto is awesome for sure for healthy weight loss when nothing else has worked… there are LOTS of great videos on YouTube explaining ketosis and how you body actually prefers and works better with fat for fuel instead of carbs.

I have picked up my redwork again…. as we have been enjoying the cooler weather this weekend….

So while I stitched here and there on the red work bowl…. I took time to remove my old polish….

And put on some fresh polish after a nice mani to massage all my nails beds 🙂

And I sat down my redwork last night with this much done….

QUESTION FOR Y’ALL!!!!!

Would you add some words to the bowl … such as “Flour” or “Cookies” ??? Something Else??? This will be part of a kitchen wall hanging I am making… Please leave me a comment with your thoughts.

I did do some stitching on the wholecloth… but this seems to be the only photo I have and I have more accomplished than this…

When I finish this area photographed I may move right a bit more…. stay tuned for next weeks post to see which way I move it and to see a full photo of what is done on this 😀 I am excited to see it myself!

Meanwhile… our grass in those round spots out front is growing in….

We had lots of hot days early in the week then lots of rain at the end of the week so everything is feeling happy in our yard at the moment…. my honey has worked hard… all those blocks that made those round circles that needed grass seed you ask???

All stacked neatly under the deck for now but once we have good grass we hope to make a fire pit out back with these for autumn 🙂

Above you can see everything is still living that we planted and looking happy too… we love driving into our driveway to see the less cluttered front yard. We are hoping to find a vintage yard implement in the near future to add a bit of whimsy to our front yard center like an old wagon or wheelbarrow we can use as a flower holder of sorts. We will see what we find 🙂

Here is a photo I took of our kitchen…

Thanks for stopping by… I am linking all my handwork shared in this post to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<< Come see what she made this week and how much binding she stitched down too! IMPRESSIVE!!!!

I hope to get that other cushion altered this week now that that doctor’s appointment is behind me… and focus on finishing that small section of the whole cloth and getting some photos 🙂 Also hope to make progress on the redwork bowl & rolling pin with your 2 cents added for what I should add to the bowl… maybe just some swirls???? We shall see>>> Next weekend 😀 Have a blessed week ahead and remember those that fought for the freedom we currently enjoy in America. Memorial Day 2021!