Last Saturday I slept most of the afternoon and just felt yucky all day Sunday… no fever or sniffles… just yucky… at my besties urging I left a note here that I was under the weather and not posting… thanks to soooo many of you that posted well wishes too 😊

We have great neighbors in this community we live in…no one is too close in proximity but we are close as friends… One neighbor even gifted us 4 house plants from her “stash” … here are 3! And some autumn silk flowers my honey picked out for our bud vase 😀

The back porch is our main place to hang out so last week and this week we have been organizing and added blinds for the afternoon sun that blares in… and 2 matching ceiling fans… we got 1 on marketplace (same place we found the 2 sun shades) and 1 on eBay… both together though cost less that 1 at Home Depot!!! YAY 🙂 We love them and they adjust with a chain or can turn them both on/ off with a switch just inside the door going into the cabin!

We also found a big clock on marketplace with accurate time, temp and humidity on it that matches our cabin exterior colors….

We are pulling out our limited fall decor items….

Look at our cabin!!!! Those ferns and that begonia are looking sooo nice and the hosta by the front entry have really been hardy this year… we have a neighbor who doesn’t believe in leashing his dog so the pet comes and pees on our plants for fun! It is very frustrating and we have told him so… Now lately we haven’t seen his dog… so maybe he has leashed it… time will tell… and autumn will let all these hardy plants slowly wither so I am glad I snapped this shot as we were leaving for errands one day this week 😀

I am down to only 8 blocks… top and bottom borders… and binding on this “Get Well Soon Quilt” … slow and steady finishes the job though… I just do not adore machine quilting like I do hand quilting! lol

I have gotten lots done on the hand quilting front… I finished what I shared 2 weeks ago…

And marked the left side and quilted it about 2/3 of the way up… which is as far as I can reach! lol

Then I marked the cross hatch of the heart with my pounce pad and Allary chalk cartridge pen…. And got it quilted yesterday 😀 YIPPEE!

Next up is marking and quilting 2/3 up on the right side of the hart and I can roll and get the top 1/3 all the way across. Can I get that done for next week’s show??? I hope so!!!

This is my focus today 🙂 Linking this hand quilting fun to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitchers…. HERE <<<< Come see what everyone is doing by hand… there is crochet, knitting and of course some hand quilting and embroidery too!

My knee replacement surgery #1 is scheduled for end of October due to Covid… it had been scheduled for end of September but rates are just too high for the ortho surgeon to do in patient surgeries like mine will be.

I continue to lose weight and am at 50 pounds gone so far !!!! You can see my saggy neck in this photo I tried to capture a happy photo of me and Molly…

You can see my CPAP mask strap indention on my face too LOL… didn’t realize that until now! I made Molly a fresh bandana but she will need one soon for autumn too ❤ I love spring and autumn… esp in these mountains!

I got a new iron this week too… Amazon had it a bit less that Walmart but last I looked Walmart is now less expensive and in stock at the big stores…

So far I like it better than my previous black and decker that all the rubber on it for easy ironing came off! Also it started spitting water … this one is made in Germany so I am hoping it holds up better… it has a ceramic soleplate too!

Now check out my honey’s latest adventure… wood barn quilts! This one is 12″ square and we will be selling them in various colors but I loved this combo of the friendship star! It has a hanging claw on the back or it could stand up like we did for this photo!

Hope you each have a great week now and thanks for visiting… please leave a comment so I know you were here 😀

Feeling a bit under the weather today so will catch up with you all next week!!!

Have a blessed Sunday y’all!

I truly do hope this new month brings you all the energy you need and deserve!!!

It has been a busy week including a drive through the mountains where we stopped at an overlook and saw THIS beautiful site….

But mainly we have been home this week. Rick is cleaning out his outbuilding… and I have been slow stitching and machine quilting 🙂

Rick has decided that the outbuilding that came with our home is simply not durable to last like this cabin is so we are planning the building of a new and improved out building next year when wood prices HOPEFULLY return to normal.

I am machine quilting on block 20 out of 30 blocks of the Get Well Soon quilt now!!!!! YAY!!! I am also tentatively set to have surgery on my left knee the end of this month too… but Covid numbers in Tennessee where I am having the surgery continue to rise so we shall see… it may get put off til October!

I also got to chat with my granddaughter and got this fresh pic of her and one with her dad too (my son)… my daughter in law does a GREAT job at keeping us in touch when I am missing her! She is 2 1/2 now 🙂

Most every morning starts with some slow stitching on Debbie’s Boho Heart quilt though…. I just finished the cross hatching in the heart part of this row and am back to the loopy hearts in the background….. I am really enjoying this hand quilting….

And an overview of the frame where I am now….

Linking all this slow stitching loveliness to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<<<

I love this meme made from a song sung by Tim McGraw… take time to look out for each other y’all!

And fashioned on a phone app for my blog sign off… a new closing…. Now off to have coffee and stitch and play with Molly too!

This week we spent time focusing on backsplash finishing for my honey … and hand quilting for me! I did manage a bit of machine quilting but this coming week I need to kick that project up a notch! lol

My honey fashioned a wood backsplash using the other side of the wood from what was used on the ceiling and bar… we LOVE it! He covered it with many coats of polyurethane to make it tough for a kitchen too 🤩

I made Molly a new bandana….

We watched the hummingbirds fight over the sugar water in their feeder….

One finally won the buzzing diving war and got the hummingbird juice!

I put on a fresh mani this week and it is an ombre color put out by Colorstreet called Pacific Waters… I am enjoying it!

We are selling an shipping in the USA only these versatile and handy phone caddy’s… I love watching YouTube vids on my phone and this caddy makes that so easy as I hand quilt or stitch in my sewing room. Since I found them so handy we decided to make a few and see if anyone else was interested in a safe place to park your phone as you create or do other stuff!

Cleopatra is doing a fine job machine quilting with the walking foot… I am just not loving machine quilting… I prefer hand quilting my flimsy finishes! lol

Here is the pattern I am quilting in each of the squares….

And here is my legend of sorts… I am starting on the outside squares now.. all the center is quilted … YIPPEE!

This is my Get Well Soon quilt meant to keep me company in the hospital and at home as I heal after knee replacement surgeries… However right now due to covid they are not scheduling non emergent surgeries… so I am patiently (NOT) trying to wait!!!

But most of this week was spent hand quilting… 3 people in our lives passed this week including a sister of my honey’s and a neighbor we were close to from Topton times. It is sad but they are better off we know… However mourning still happens.

I finished the 3rd row….

And rolled down to the 4th time….

And started making headway on this 4th row as I chatted with my bestie…

I am linking all this great slow stitching progress to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Linky HERE <<<< Come see what everyone is up to ! There is such a wide range of fun things to view to peak your crafty interests!

As we say goodbye to August this coming week please keep our troops and all those people that need evacuated in your thoughts please…. it is so sad over there right now and so scary actually to me!

I saw this cute mouse working away on this hand crank… why do they always show them using the sewing machine backwards though! OH MY! lol

I figured we needed a bit of levity and a laugh before ending this post… Have a happy week ahead and goodbye extreme heat we hope this coming week after this hurricane makes it’s way through… we are due to get rain from it MAYBE! lol

This week I have some pretty work in the flower garden to share, hand quilting, machine quilting and something new I made to coordinate with my wallet I shared last week 🙂 First…. a cardinal at the top of our sign to our road !!!!

That was a fun catch…my honey did the photography and I did the altering so you could get close enough to see the cardinal! lol

I started this week with a block or two done on my “Get Well Soon” quilt. Now I have 8 done! YAY 😀

Most of my week was spent doing house work and hand quilting though!

Above I finished the second row of quilting ! I was so excited to roll!

But making an all over pattern appear all over with hand quilting is a bit tricky too… a little finagling is necessary here and there to keep the quilting even.

Here you can see a close up of how the swirly heart patterns come together on the 3rd pass across the quilt… and taking a step back….

Here is my next ready for Slow Sunday Stitching 😀 I will be joining Kathy and her crew HERE to link up this slow stitching progress… Come over and see what everyone is up to!

Have a wonderful week ahead… I hope to get a surgery date this week to start the knee replacement process… we shall see 🙂

A friend shared part of this quote and it inspired me… hope it does you too!

This is sooo profound I think… if you visit please come back and reread this before commenting and include what touches you most in this quote… if it does 🙂

I have had a steadily busy week…

Several weeks back I shared fabric for a wallet to replace my old one to customize it for me ….

After getting that wallet all together intermittently I was hand quilting … YES!

I am loving hand quilting Debbie’s quilt too…

Above is a close up of AFTER I rolled the quilt yesterday! YIPPEE 😍

Then I also got the Get Well Soon quilt pin basted …

and STARTED QUILTING it too!!!

I hope you can see my quilting design on the block in the pic above… I am using a light grey thread 28 wt for the top and bobbin…. I use garden gloves with rubbery nubs on the palm side to keep wrinkles or puckers from forming and I am using a walking foot adjusted according to Jacquie Gering’s WALK book recommendations… I don’t have that book YET! But I did watch both her Craftsy classes and loved them 🙂

What crafty personality do you enjoy watching? Or do you prefer to get book enhancement???

I am also looking for new Youtubers to watch.. any 2 cents there???

Please come over to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<< and see what everyone is hand stitching… I will be sharing all my hand quilting progress there too with this post 🙂

So grab a cuppa something fun and enjoy your visit today! Happy Sunday 🙂

Last week me and my 319 w Cleopatra started sewing a shadow box pattern quilt top. I can never leave things as they are written though… this is Donna Jordan’s pattern on YouTube HERE with my improvisation added top and bottom…

I cut my blocks to 8 1/2″ instead of using the layer cake size….

Once the center was together I sewed all those leftover 1 1/2″ strips together and fashioned a line of coins top and bottom to make the flimsy complete!..

Having this into a flimsy ( and batting is ordered) backing is set aside and I will make up the binding (navy) soon. I am pleased with what a quick make and forgiving if you are new to quilting… don’t pass this up using Donna’s tutorial I linked to above.

NOW my problem is I need it quilted quick so I wanna machine quilt it but I am not a great machine quilter… so I need BASIC stuff to quilt on this… what are YOUR thoughts??? I would Love feedback on this and if you have a photo enhanced with your idea emailed to me HERE bonus points!!!! lol

In the midst of putting that quilt top together…. I made the valance on the window in the entryway of our cabin 🙂 It was fun but curtain making isn’t my strong suite… Rick straightened the freshly pressed curtain on the rod and it looks great now but it was a hot mess initially and 256″ long!!!

Rick also painted the interior side of our exterior doors the tan of the exterior doors and shutters … looks amazing! Then he put a new top on our side table in the living room that becomes a heavily used occasional table too during projects….. lovely ❤

I have made good progress on slow stitching this quilt too…

Debbie’s quit is such a fun sew too! I love sewing in every direction like this though 😀 I used my underhand and sometimes only get 1 or 2 stitches in as a time but that is that many I don’t have to do 😉

And here is a full shot of my little sewing frame and area…

Linking all this fun slow stitching to Kathy’s Gang of slow stitchers of all kinds… come see what everyone is linking up today!!!! HERE <<<<<

Finally I have a personal challenge for you besides helping me with the quilting design on my feel better soon quilt…..

Listen to THIS video by Clutterbug Cas…. I took her challenge and have agreed to spend 15 minutes a day organizing better my sewing room and home in general after that.

I did this Saturday but I will start officially today on spending 15 minutes… that room is a comfort to me but needs LOTS of organizing before we have friends or fam come stay in it again. So this is my motivation…. let’s see what else I can think of as the weeks progress! lol

Have a wonderful week and please leave a comment if you visited or click the link above to contact me directly 🙂

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 🙂