Spring is coming to the US finally and April is sprouting all kinds of new life at our new home!

We changed over our wooden calendar too…

This sweet hummingbird calendar came with the cabin… it was a keeper! And today is Easter Sunday too🥰

And the last day of the month we celebrate 10 years together!!!

It has been a busy week around here… how about for YOU????

Lots of fun colors there… I am using the last of the light lavender color above now so it was time to restock 🙂

I have made stellar progress on the Boho Quilt Along… the was a free week for catch up and I caught up and moved ahead!!!

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I finished where I was on the quilting and moved to the 3rd row of blocks (there are 5 rows to stitch ~ So I am over halfway now!!!!)

Here is where I am this morning!!!

Linking this slow stitching progress to Kathy’s Slow Stitching Sunday linky party HERE<<<… Come see what everyone is linking up today 🙂

Today I plan to re-make a mutant block I pieced yesterday… and I plan to slow stitch too.

My honey has been working really hard outside and finally got all the dead leaf piles gone and trimmed the bushes/trees we think will be able to stay… we got rid of all the saplings growing here and there unchecked as we have PLENTY of full grown trees … we don’t need MORE!

We are due to get our home painted this week so check back in next week and see how that is going too! Our painter got hurt last week and has been recuperating all week this week. Rick is ready to rent a lift and get this house painted but as it is cedar wood there are knots in the wood that need to be primed with shellac first and there is caulking to do too… so it will be a process. But we are determined to get this home looking like we imagine it and getting the exterior in order like it NEEDS!

Thanks for visiting… now go visit Kathy’s and slay a dragon or two this week 😉

I wonder what April will be like as we continue to shape our new home…

We have ideas on things to plant… we are currently waiting for rain to stop so that our hired painter can come caulk and paint.. he has washed and did a great job… but now we gotta get on with it! lol

Meanwhile I have been quilting like crazy on this fun quilt. Here was my view on Monday….

And now I have rolled that whole row of “cupcakes” I call them LOL down to the 3rd row showing…

Meanwhile, this week I pondered my marking of the medallions…

Here is what I wound up doing using what I had on hand…

Starting at the top of the above photo… I have my stencil. Because this stencil is fairly complex I decided to pull out my pounce chalk pad and swipe over the stencil. Then when I lift it I am left with the chalk impression… then I take my chalk pencil fed into a regular mechanical pencil for that size lead 0.9 mm I think…. and go over it all to keep the pounce chalk I swiped on from bouncing off as I stitch the image.

The needles you see above have a nice round hole to thread the needle with.. I find them online or at JoAnn in the sewing section (not quilting)… and they fit 12 perle cotton diameter perfectly 🙂

I am linking this progress and little tutorial to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Crew HERE <<<

I also got nominated for the “Outstanding Blogger Award” from Kathy of Sewing, Etc. who mentioned me HERE <<< regarding this award.

HERE is my reply to her as I received the award!!!

I did do a bit of machine sewing for the Boho heart project but not enough to share this week so check me next week.

Now I have a question for YOU all…. Pondering getting my favorite and only grand a tent to play in for her second birthday coming in May…

Do you have a fave in this category?? Or a better idea for a creative play item???

Thanks for stopping in 🙂 Have a wonderful week and welcome April on Thursday!!!!

Thanks Kathy of Sewing, Etc blog <<<

The goal is not to have a shiny award to add to our blogs…. but to get to know each other better… here are the questions with answers Kathy asked of her nominees…

• How do you learn best? Lessons, watching, a mentor….. Youtube is my fave platform to learn from so I guess watching or having a mentor 🙂

• Did you do post high school training to prepare you for a career? If yes, what was it, and are still doing that? If no, tell us how you got to the career you are doing! (Or did, as the case may be.) After high school I took a year or two off then went to college and became an RN specializing in the heart… later on I specialized further in pediatric cardiac meaning babies with heart defects when they were born. I became disabled in 2009 and retired and started blogging then! 🙂

• What do you look for in a friend? Someone who will watch out for my back as I watch out for theirs… someone who has similar beliefs as me too ❤

• Early Bird or Night Owl? Early bird … My honey is a night owl so this is how we each get our Own time 🙂

• Favorite Instrument to Listen to? Piano or acoustic guitar or bass

Now to name a few bloggers I feel provide excellent content each week … places I stop every week!

Kathy found at Kathy’s Quilts

Karen found at Quilts Etc.

Gretchen found at Gretchen’s Little Corner

Cathie found at Cathie’s Craftworks

Their Questions to Answer Include:

What is your favorite color/ what color do you have the most of in your craft area?

What is your favorite time of day to craft and what craft do you choose first?

What is your favorite season outside and why?

What type of crafter do you wish you had more of in you ??? (Ex: I wish I could applique better).

While a shiny award isn’t the goal…. here is one I found and adapted for each of my nominees!!!!

So now snag your award and place on your blog or in your memory…. and answer the questions ladies 🙂

I will be back on Sunday with my regular blog post 😀

Did you have mild weather as Spring came in yesterday???

We had a lovely rain then a sunny day with the doors open and fresh air flowing through the cabin too ❤ It was divine…. but yesterday was ALSO International Quilters Day….

Y’all… I kid you not… I quilted in different formats all day long! It was glorious!!!

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I started sewing on the Boho Heart project blocks above. Then in the afternoon the mail ran… Connie and I had decided the center medallions on the quilt I am quilting needed the same weight thread as the gold everywhere else in the sashing… so I had ordered a spool of Valdani 12 wt perle cotton from Rusty Crow dot com… She has the full line of Valdani in all sizes and styles among other fun things…. and ships quick.. I ordered Wednesday and had it from western California to North Carolina with Saturday’s mail…

I am making fun progress on this quilt….

And I made this collage to help you think outside the box when using stencils.. orientation matters!

And that variegated light blue green teal perle cotton I got…

And a close up…

It doesn’t covey well in these photos… I will try to get better photos this week to share.. I am almost ready to roll… just 1 more medallion to stitch 🙂 This is a fun continous line stencil … so for this I marked it initially with my pounce pad swiping it as Leah Day recommends then went over it with a white chalk Pencil lead by fons and porter before stitching it as the pounce doesn’t stay put through sewing over well.

Now for International Quilters day me and my bestie FaceTimed and stitched together… she worked on a unique stitching pattern for this bow tie quilt she is hand quilting … this is her she shed space…

And her little container of goodies to aid in her stitching…

It was a fun time and rounded out the day well. I am linking all this slow stitching fun to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Gang… HERE <<<<<

How did you spend the first day of Spring AND Quilter’s Day ???

Did you remember??!!

We are due to have rain the next few days but at least daylight will now be earlier in the morning by moving clocks forward 1 hour this morning. My honey changed ALL the clocks in our home while I slept! lol

Yesterday… Saturday…. I finished organizing and touching everything in my sewing room! I am sew EXCITED y’all!

Everything is not perfect yet…. but everything has a place for now… and I am have been BUSY BUSY BUSY now starting to work on decor in this room!!! YAY!!!

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This is a 18″ pillow form for a 16″ pillow top … so I got creative to keep using it and Rick loves it ❤

Once this pillow was made I threw it in the wash as all the fabric I used was new and it wasn’t sleep worthy on the back side yet…. Then I started prepping for loading the quilt in the frame… I had no more urgent sewing projects and could!!!!

Tuesday I officially started hand quilting on this cool quilt.. It is a MSQC pattern called Turnabout Granny Square Quilt 🙂

I like the black background the way Connie made this one… this is a fun quilt to stitch too…

Not sure if you can see the gold quilting in the black in the above pic…. Here is a better photo…

And this one may be better 🙂 Connie will bind and finish it… I am not stitching in the outermost border

A friend sent us a new bed skirt… I washed and dried it.. it is cotton and was a pain to get in place but I love it now!!!! It is straight and cupped on the corners.. not ruffled.

I put fresh nail polish strips on yesterday too!

Boy it feels good to have the house MOSTLY in order. And to have fresh nail polish on 🙂

I have been very slowly making progress on the Boho Heart Quilt top I am building….

I enjoyed fussy cutting these 🙂

So while I will be spending my day going across the quilt slow stitching… I will be linking this post to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching crew… HERE <<<< Come see what others are slow stitching 🤩 and tell me are you going to sign up for her guilds virtual quilt show with classes?? I think it sounds awful fun! ❤

Y’all since last week … we have been busy … busy … busy! It is due to slow down a tad tomorrow so I am up late and writing this now! Do you have a song in your heart this morning????

with all this busyness.. I wake each day with a happy song in my heart to greet a new day y’all! This is my March calendar photo…. I Love This calendar!

I really enjoyed starting on this bowl and rolling pin red work this week….

And I made some block’s for the quilt I am making for my friend Debbie … I am participating in a quilt along…

The secret to this quilt block making is to be relaxed and play with the saturated colors the intended picked out and add to that to make it scrappy enough to be lively. Here is a picture of someone else’s finished flimsy quilt top…

So I am having fun with this quilt for my good friend and know that she will always find something happy with this quilt when it is finished.

I made MAJOR headway in my sewing room but no pics this week… I have been doing all my sewing in there as I woke one morning and the space I cleared out … my honey had put the sewing table on a moving blanket and scooted it while I slept! lol I love him for doing things like this 😀

I did find MORE FABRIC BOLTS though and did address them and sort the fabrics Marie Kondo method… The fabric to sell is GROWING!!!!!

I do enjoy making these shirts for him now that I have the pattern down and he loves showing them off.. each one is unique too 🙂 I do all the sewing on my 319w … but there is lots of tedious ironing and avoiding burning my fingers! lol

So I will link this AND my red work to Kathy’s Slow Sunday stitching crew HERE!

Do you have a talent related to but not the same as quilting??? I am curious!

Molly loves to be right with us and when Rick is working outside or having “his time” she hangs out with me and has a place everywhere so far but the back porch… she takes a chair for now but once spring Springs!!!!! I will be out there more stitching and such… maybe pick up the crochet quilt project I just got all together!

I am excited to share that me and my honey decided this little wall to the right of the closet door frame would be the perfect place for the “k” thread holder her made me moons ago…

I am so excited to have so many different things to share this week… I hope this has inspired YOU to create… no matter what or how much you invest… use what you have though… Invest Time is Creating 🙂 ~ Happy March!!!! Finally ~

Late to post today but better later in the day than never! Today is the last day of the month… ready to welcome March for sure!!!

Here is a deep statement…. it is a rainbow to me as it can mean something different to each person who reads it depending on their life/lifestyle 🙂 What does this say to you.. I would LOVE for you to leave me a comment at the end of this post and share what this statement means to you… What do you behold in your current season of life???? What are you looking at????

It has been an uber busy week around here… we traded our Nissan Rogue in for this Dodge Durango!!!!

It has heated seats and a heated steering wheel too! It is the SXT version and is a v6 instead of the 4 cylinder we had and it is AWD! The AWD in these NC mountains is really what we needed too✨

Now that we have secured a dependable vehicle to drive for years to come… I got the sewing room cleaned out enough to get the sewing machine cabinet out of the living room and into the sewing room… so now I am ready to load a quilt that is patiently waiting on the frame….

I just need to find a missing brass thimble now! And load this quilt on the frame….

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HERE <<< is a direct link that will open in a new tab for the tutorial for this pattern 🙂

My bestie Connie pieced this quilt top and I don’t yet have a pic of the full quilt top… though I do have the quilt top! lol So I will share MORE pics next week when it is loaded on the frame …. HOPEFULLY ! LOL! We have a plan for hand quilting with a mix of big stitch and regular stitch hand quilting…. I am soooo ready to have a hand quilting project on my frame again!

Now I want to show you a collage photo of my sewing room THIS week 🙂

As you can see…. I have made HUGE progress with my honey’s help… getting all the stuff into my sewing room (top pic) and filling my closet with fabric refolded. But in the bottom right pic you can see all I have directly left to organize this week. Wish me energy for this last bit of organization and ability to get my 301 up and running again…. it is still in it’s bag it moved in and the cabinet has yet to be opened!

I did finish making my honey yet another shirt… here he is ready to cut down those holly bushes across the front of our home in that shirt….

It is batik fabric and more lightweight than the black shirt with grey dots. And we are having unseasonably warm weather this weekend… He and his reciprocal saw with a fresh blade successfully knocked down 8 of the 9 holly bushes across the house front… I will try to share an update picture next week… PLUS we are due to have a new paint job on the house coming very soon too! But just getting those shrubs that were overgrown before being cut back prior to our buying this home…. are happily gone and light is flowing in like never before!!!

Another big job done this week around here….

Our master closet got re arranged … emptied and refilled in an organized fashion after adding the top shelf and a book shelf to the back of the closet! We love this now… the bookshelf holds some shoes and packing supplies for selling vintage machine parts and machines themselves…. yet we haven’t found all our packing supplies yet…. but there is room to add as you can see above 🙂

In sorting all my fabrics….here are some that are currently for sale….

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If you are interested in any of these fabrics or the instructional DVD… please email me HERE <<<< or mention it in a comment below…. but the email I linked to dings my phone and I will get your request quicker than leaving a comment on my blog 🙂 Payment is via Paypal Invoice for safe and secure transactions =)

In closing, I will be focusing this afternoon on red work….

I will be hand stitching embroidery stitches on this piece…. though to be honest I am so happy with my sewing room it makes me want to just soak it up in there! lol Linking my hand stitching goal of starting on this piece today with Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching HERE <<<< Go check out the virtual stitching she has planned with her guild for later in March… and WE can ALL join too!!!! Go read all about it in the new tab that will open when you click that link 🙂 You can also see what other hand stitchers are linking up!

So as we enjoy our new ride yet to be named…. and everything is now in my sewing room !!!! I hope you each have a stellar March start too! We have an amaryllis that is thinking about blooming in the living room and hope to share that next week too!

We got minimal snow compared to just a tad north of us that got a lot… but no power outages around here in North Carolina where we live. But we did get a NEW ROOF this week on a warmer than usual day!

What we had was 18 years old and plain flat shingles in dark green and dirty…

Our next outside goal is to remove the bushes across the front of the house to open it up to the porch more 🙂 I am excited about this project too!

But in the mean time… Rick has been working more on my Sewing Room and got the closet all shelved up !!!

So today I am linking several things to Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitchers HERE <<<… I have rewrapped a LOT of fabric… I am moving the orientation on the wooden bolts in the closet shelving to hold more and stick out less. That is a lot of Hand-ee work too!

I have started filling the shelves just outside the closet and got that box off the buffet that was overflowing with donate or sell items I pointed out last week in my post. This room is looking remarkable thanks to daily work and a handy honey💖 I have emptied 6 boxes of fabric already! They are smaller boxes but still!!! I have plenty more to organize this week though!

Between organizing… I have been hand stitching on the rooster and FINISHED it! It has a waddle to make sure it looks rooster-ish too! What do you think?

My next goal is to make the hen and rooster into a wall hanging/table topper for a good friend who loves chickens 🙂 For myself and the other redwork I have completed I am starting on this bowl and rolling pin next…

Meanwhile… for my sew along it is Dresden week… I have gotten 2 of the 4 blocks complete because it has been a week focused on other handy work really as you can see…

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I hope the recipient loves these blocks as much as I do… I am machine sewing these instead of hand stitching them for durability as this will be a bed quilt 🙂 I have had fun doing the Dresden’s though … do you?

I finally got my honey’s shirt done right with fabric I purchased from my local quilt shop…

And if you look at this photo above… you can tell Rick cleaned out the gas log fireplace… removed all the soot build up and laid the logs out in a better orientation for even display of fire… I love that maintenance he did! I would have never thought of needing to do that … now I will know!

The next shirt I will make will be this fabric …

My grand who lives in very northern Tennessee enjoyed the snow they got….

on a sled… isn’t Ellie precious!!!

The white tulips are opening and looking fabulous! As is our Molly with a bandana I made her from some scraps!

In closing… I would love to hear what you would do if you sorted your fabric.

I have plenty to keep, some to donate and some to destash in under 1 yard increments… How do you sell your fabrics??? Marketplace, facebook destash groups, ebay???? It is all quilt shop quality with even some kits I just have never made ! Your feedback is important to me friends. Have a blessed week and please… if you made it this far…leave a comment 😊 I respond to all of them too !

Whether the country you live in shares in celebrating Valentine’s Day today or not… let’s just celebrate LOVE! Do something nice for someone today … unexpectedly 💕

My honey spoils me and also got me not only those roses for planting in our yard but also some white tulips too!

Then as if that wasn’t more than enough.. I woke to some turtles waiting for me to enjoy!!!!

What are your Valentine traditions… these are things we try to do each year for this day since we have been together…. so 9 Valentine’s so far… and I love giving back! Today I will retry to make my honey another shirt… when I am not spending time with embroidery… :)🧵

This chicken needs a little work on it today… maybe even finish it or get to the outer ring 🙂 This will join the other chicken to make a special something for a good friend! Since this and cutting out a shirt are my goals today and both hand-y jobs… I will like them with Kathy and the Crew HERE <<<< Come see all the fun Valentine show and shares there today💞

This week I made lots of other progress and took pics just for y’all!

I made these 6 block types… with only 1 needing a duplicate made to complete the set… so 7 blocks total this week in my BOHO HEART QAL ~ this is a really fun way to make a busy big quilt too! I like is way more than I expected to 🙂

And we spent some time organizing the open boxes I had managed to micro sort in the sewing room…

Above starting in the top left hand pic…. we brought in the buffet I had in my sewing room previously and wanted it back… the tall check of drawers beside that will hold my bag making parts and pieces and lots of fabric… next to the right top is my chair for this room with wall decor in several boxes from my previous sewing room… not sure what will stay and what will go now though! The “k” thread holder needs a home once the room gets settled for sure though.

The bottom of that pic above includes new storage for my scraps.. I did share this pic with Bonnie Hunter and got a high five from her 🙂 The shelves will hold books and pics and decor as well as up and coming projects in boxes or bins… a menagerie for sure… maybe even our blue metallic featherweight when we unbox it. Next is a pic of the closet… all that will be cleaned out and leaving the hanging rod… the bottom will be all shelves to hold my batting, pillows, stuffing on the left and center will be fabric on my wooden bolts… and right will be overflow of those categories. The last picture is projects waiting to be made and a big box of fabric too! My word I have a LOT of fabric!!!! Hopefully this new way of organizing will wrangle the fabric and the projects so I can quickly get back to creating!

I had hoped to pull out the quilt top I plan to start hand quilting soon but the shelving and planning the closet took more time… wood is expensive too y’all! It is covid I am sure that makes these things go up in price currently… so we are buying just what we need as we use it so as not to over spend !

I really love this organizing of my scrap bins… they were in clear shoe box containers with lids…. these IRIS bins I found at Target and had delivered to my home as it is not near… The first set of 2 I ordered … 1 got broke so they forgave that and reshipped 2 more and they came unhurt at all! YAY 🎉

Because I want to grab a color of scraps and make quilts I had my honey nip off the stops on each of the drawers so that they stop but can easily be pulled all the way out and taken to my sewing area I am using….

This sewing room will house my 301 Singer vintage in cabinet and my 319w Singer vintage in table… I am making a rolling cutting table with shelves out of the cart I thought would house my printer. Rick was able to move some things about in our little cabin and now the printer and laptop for printing things sits neatly on his side of the bed. YAY again😊

So we will see what we are able to accomplish this week… come back next week to see what’s up! Please share any organizing ideas you have in the comments… I am all ears to hear what works for you or what you think might get my 319 in that sewing room ! lol Kathi

Welcome to my blog where we are getting a light coating of snow at the moment… we will see how much we end up with… it is calling for 1 to 3 inches and we have 1″ so far 🙂

I focused on prepping for the QAL for the Boho Heart Pattern I am planning to make… as some 4 patches for that QAL are my new blog header. The rest of this weeks makings are here….

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I made varying numbers of 5 different blocks… I am having so much fun working with these bright fun colors too ❤

I also photographed the mess my sewing room was in….

I have now opened and macro sorted each box in that room… today I hope to work more in that room 🙂 For now my sewing machine stays in the living room but I hope to get it out in the near future!!! But Y’all! I HAVE A LOT OF FABRIC!!!! lololol

I did order some fabric for new napkins that coordinate with our graphite base color in the kitchen/living room ….

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Here I tested my Aurifil grey 28 wt thread to see how it would look then on the right is the design I decided on… the goal is that once washed the edges will fray as in the first photo before I cut them to size… 10″ x 18″ gives 4 folds and it will look like this…

This is the best representation of all the color of this graphite fabric and thread together too 🙂 I have done all the machine sewing on Cleopatra my 319w Singer 🙂

But my favorite job this week was finishing Appalachian Delight quilt and washing and drying… and sleeping under it!!!!

Here is my collage photo… but let me share a few extras with you…

I hand quilted a yin yang on the top center of the wide border….

I signed this quilt when I started it in 2020 thinking it would be done then… but the Pandemic came along and time got lost…

I am linking this fun finish we really love sleeping under with Kathy’s Slow Sunday Stitching Crew HERE <<<< Shei s celebrating National Embroidery Month in Canada… is this a world wide celebration??? In the US February is known as Black History Month.

My goal to commemorate Black History Month is to listen to the unabridged audiobook Roots… I have been challenged by my son and his bride to be to re read this book and they enjoyed listening but it is 30 hours of listening… so I best get the next quilt on the frame as that is my best time to listen as I mindlessly quilt on a project… what is next on the frame you ask??? Why it is a quilt top Connie left with me .. more on that later !

Next week I will join Kathy’s embroidery celebration too though… other handiwork I did with my hands was to put on a Valentine commemoration on my nails…..

I really enjoy Color Street nail strips and how fun and easy and low maintenance they are!!!!

Hope you have a wonderful and productive week wherever you are in this world… we are seeing a decrease in some cases of Corona here in the US… hope you are too in your area of the world!