H is for Holly Berries...

So I've finished another Christmas embroidery.  These seem to be stitching up so quickly (much faster than hand applique).

Another 'Snowmen A to ZZZZ' Block

I'm really enjoying working on these while watching the new slate of fall TV shows.  Our favorites right now are Last Resort, Revolution and Ben & Kate.  We've also been watching the local and presidential debates, but not a lot of stitching goes on during those!  We're too busy 'discussing' them to concentrate on anything else.

Closeup of 'H' Block

Moses, on the other hand, has no interest in TV or politics.  She turns her attention to more important things, such as finding the best napping spot.  Recently, she's been hanging out in the dirty clothes basket.  She wasn't too pleased to be disturbed from her slumber for pictures though...

Moses napping in the laundry

I hope you have a wonderful weekend wherever you are!  I'm hoping to spend a good bit of mine sewing.

Until later...

So if we have enough food and clothing, let us be content. 

1 Timothy 6:8 (NLT)

Grandpa's Quilt...

I started this back in May with the hope of finishing it within the month.  Fast forward four months and I've finally completed and mailed off this quilt to my Grandpa...

Grandpa's Quilt

I'm calling it appropriately enough 'Grandpa'.  The pattern is called Bali Boxes, but is now out of print.  It's one of my go to patterns, because it's simple, requires one jelly roll and even after making several of them, I still like the look of it!  The finished quilt is 69" x 76".

I added my Grandpa's name to the top of the quilt.  He's 89 and lives in a nursing home, so I'm hoping that it will help the quilt remain with him.

My Grandpa's Name

I also added some information on the back in case the quilt gets lost or misplaced, so they'll know who it belongs to.  I've heard some horror stories from people who have relatives in nursing homes.

Label and 'lost and found' information

I quilted it using the Square Spirals pantograph by Keryn Emerson, which is a quick and fun one I've used before.

Square Spirals Pantograph

This really is a pretty quick quilt to make.  I struggled trying to find the right font to use for his name and had to wait several weeks for my back to heal before I could actually quilt it, otherwise it would have been done much sooner than it was.  However, the timing is probably perfect now that the weather has started to change!

So, the stats for this quilt are:

• Size: 69" x 76"
• Fabrics: Berry Bliss Bali Pop, batiks for the borders and backing
• Batting: Quilter's Dream Green Batting
• Thread: Aurifil (Piecing & Quilting - Top), Superior Threads (Quilting - Bobbin)
• Pattern: Bali Boxes (out of print) - I made small changes to the pattern
• Quilting - Square Spirals Pantograph - 33 passes & 6 bobbins
• Started: May 2012
• Completed: September 24, 2012
• Recipient: Grandpa Ricci

Until later...

For I have given rest to the weary and joy to the sorrowing.

Jeremiah 31:25 (NLT)

G is for Gifts...

So my dear husband is taking some vacation this week.  He's working on a landscaping project, which (yeah for me) has given me some extra time in my sewing room.  I've actually managed to finish a few projects -  including another Snowman A to ZZZZ block.  (I haven't worked on these since May!)

G is for Gifts

The pattern is by Crabapple Hill Studios.  My mom and I both started these blocks in January.  She's doing hers in blue and I'm doing my version in black.  However, she's much, much further along.  I think she's on the letter Q right now.

A closeup

Working on these blocks is a nice change from hand appliqueing all those bats.  They're also a lot quicker to stitch!

Recently I've been giving the cats catnip on a regular basis.  When David is 'high' on the stuff, I'll find him playing with this toy.  He likes to toss it up in the air and catch it.  He also likes to carry it around in his mouth.  However, whenever he sees me watching him, he drops it and pretends he wasn't doing anything.  I'd love to get some pictures of him in action!

David with his toy

Until later...

I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God. Bend down and listen as I pray. 

Psalm 17:6 (NLT)

Child's Play Wrap-up...

It feels like such a long time since I've finished a quilt.  Looking back at my blog, it's been exactly 3 months.  That's a really, really long time.  And actually, I think I've had this quilt on the frame for about that long!

Child's Play Quilt

I've named this quilt Child's Play and it's adapted from the Schnibbles pattern Bibelot by Carrie Nelson.  I wrote all about making the quilt here.

Closeup of the center of the quilt

I used an all over pantograph for the quilting but for the life of me, I can't figure out where I got it from.  There's no identifying text on the paper and I just can't remember.  The panto looks like interlocking people or angels.  Hopefully you can see them a little better in this picture of the border.

Closeup of the quilting

I made a simple label for the back with some of the leftover fabric.  I've gotten into the habit of affixing the label before I quilt it so that it won't come off.  I know from experience that if I leave this part to the end, I'm tempted to skip this step altogether and it's really too important to do that!

So the stats for this quilt are...

• Size: 48"  x 48"
• Fabrics: 2 Charm Packs of ZaZa by Erin Michaels, White Kona cotton, Purple Moda Marble flannel
• Batting: Warm and White
• Thread: Aurifil 50 wt #2314 (for piecing and quilting - bobbin), Superior Threads Rainbows 40 wt #860 Lone Peak (quilting - top)
• Pattern: Bibelot by Carrie Nelson (with some changes)
• Quilting: Pantograph (but don't know the pattern name - rows of people or angels) (13 Passes and 3 Bobbins)
• Started: June 2012
• Completed: September 16, 2012
• Recipient: My sister

Child's Play Quilt

I had intended to donate this quilt, but my sister fell in love with it, so I'm giving it to her instead.  I'll have to make a replacement one to donate in the near future.

While I was trying to square this quilt up, David was desperately trying to get my attention.  He didn't want me quilting and he didn't want me taking pictures either...

Hey mom!  Can I get some attention?

Yoohoo!  Are you listening to me?

I'm serious!  Put the camera down and pet me please!

Ahhh!  That's more like it....

Until later...

And be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving one another, just as God also forgave you in Christ. 

Ephesians 4:32 (HCSB)

Puttering...

I've been meaning to sit down and write this post for the last week, but this is the first chance I've had to do it.  How does time get away from me so quickly?  It's already the middle of September, and I'm so not ready for summer to end!!!  Is anyone else desperately trying to hold on to it like I am?

I spent some quality time in my sewing room last weekend.  I was determined to finish a few things - in particular, a quilt I've had on the frame since around June.  I was able to finish the quilting and sew on the binding.  All that remains is to hand stitch it down.  I just got these new Clover Wonder Clips from Clotilde and this will be my first chance to try them out.

Child's Play Quilt ready for binding

I also finished loading the quilt for my Grandpa on the frame and took a couple of passes on it.  I had hoped to finish it this week, but haven't touched it since last weekend.  I've really got to spend some quality time with it tomorrow (after cleaning the house).  My Grandpa's 89 and although he's in good health, I need to get this finished soon!

Grandpa's Quilt loaded on the frame

Looking around, I also saw that I needed to piece the backing for another charity quilt (which I did).  Then I pulled out some Heat Press Batting Together Tape that I'll use to join some scraps together for the batting for that quilt.  In the past I've cut my own strips of stabilizer to do this, but to be honest, the tape is much easier to use.  Better yet, I got the tape for free at a quilting retreat! I also need to make a label for this quilt.

Preparing to join the batting and make a label

I puttered a little bit on my Leap Year quilt. This is the quilt that started out as a Schnibbles sized quilt and I've now decided to make king-sized.  I've cut into the new Layer Cake and organized the fabrics.  I'm starting to make the blocks for the outer border.  I'm not in a rush to get this one done as it's a patriotic quilt, so I really don't need it until next summer...

A little bit of progress on Leap Year

And finally, my quilt bee has decided to do another 'Quilt in a Box' starting in October.  This prompted me to pull out the last one we did in 2008/2009, as my blocks are still sitting in their box exactly as I left them 3 years ago!  This has given me a new incentive to get this put together before too much progress is made on the new one.  I designed the setting I wanted all those years ago and I have all the fabrics, I just never got around to finishing it.  I still love the colors, so hopefully this won't continue to languish...

'Quilt in a Box' blocks and fabrics from 2008/2009

All in all, it was a very productive weekend puttering in my sewing room.  I forgot how much I enjoy spending time in there.  Nowadays, I seem to grab an hour here or there, but rarely do I spend an entire day or afternoon hanging out surrounded by fabric, thread and sewing notions (and my 4-legged buddies).  It reminds me why I refer to it as my happy place!

Until later...

Some people make cutting remarks, but the words of the wise bring healing. 

Proverbs 12:18 (NLT) 

What a week!!!

Do you ever wonder why things happen in groups of 3?  Is it just coincidence or does God just really like the number 3?  (To be honest, I don't really believe in coincidences.)

It all started last week when we got home from church.  The first thing I did was change into more comfortable clothes.  After that, I bent down to pet one of our cats and fell to the ground in agony.  No kidding.  I've never thrown my back out before and I definitely wouldn't recommend it.  So picture this, I'm on the ground crying and in pain and the dog decides this is the perfect time to lick my face.  I can't move enough to even push her away!  Fortunately, Mr. Quilting Bug finally heard me and came into the bathroom to rescue me.  You wouldn't believe how long it took to get me off of the floor and onto the living room couch (where I spent most of the next week).  Ouch!

Gabriel - The Face Licker

Like most things, my accident has had a positive side as well.  The forced down time has given me lots of opportunity to work on my hand applique.  As I mentioned in my last post, I'm moving right along appliqueing the bats for my Baltimore Halloween quilt.  But even more positive is the continuing lesson I'm receiving on patience and perseverance.  And the Lord knows how much I need the constant reinforcement.

And we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.  Not only so, but we also rejoice in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. Romans 5:2-4 NIV

So that brings me to the second disaster last week...

Anyone who knows us, knows that our dog is just the slightest bit spoiled.  In fact, Mr. Quilting Bug insists on fixing her her own dinner each night after we're done eating.  The night after I threw out my back, he decided to make her a baked potato for dinner.  (She had tried one about a week earlier and loved it.)  Because we've never cooked one in the microwave before, we called my dad for advice first.  He wasn't sure, but suggested 20 minutes.  For anyone in the know, I can already imagine your reaction.  We thought that seemed like a long time, so we poked a bunch of holes in it and put it in for 10 minutes.

Sometime before 10 minutes, the potato started on fire, the microwave died, smoke was billowing from it and the smoke alarm started going off.  Because the smoke alarm is tied into the wiring of the house, there was no way to turn it off, so we had to listen to it until we could clear out enough of the smoke.  Which fortunately was a few minutes before the fire trucks showed up or it would have been a little more difficult to talk to the firefighters!  However, all of the neighbor kids enjoyed seeing the fire trucks and the fire fighters were just as nice as they could be.  We also had some caring neighbors calling to check up on us.  Do you know we learned our now dead microwave actually has a potato button!  As for Gabriel's dinner, she ended up with a handful of dog treats, because this was all that remained of the potato...

Gabriel's microwaved baked potato

 So that brings us to number 3...  Several days after the microwave incident when the house was no longer smelling like burnt marshmallows, I went to turn on my laptop and nothing happened.  It was dead as a door nail.  I'll admit to being a little bit panicked, because I've been meaning to back up the loads of pictures on my computer for a while and have never taken the time to do it.  Please let this be a lesson to all of those out there like me.  Don't put it of!.  Stop reading this right now and go back up those precious pictures and documents that you would regret losing.  I did some serious praying that night that the hard drive hadn't crashed and we would be able to recover the photos from it.  And praise God we were able to!  I now have all of those files backed up, including all of David's baby pictures...

David as a kitten

It was also perfect timing on God's part in terms of budget and finances and we were able to pick up a replacement the next day.  I believe this is my 4th laptop and I've noticed that with each one, the price has gotten better and they've become easier to setup.  It would be nicer if they would last longer too, but I seem to get about 2-3 years out of each one.  However, I wouldn't want to trade the convenience and portability of a laptop for a desktop.

So that's 3 for 3.  My back is still healing and we need to find a new microwave, but otherwise we've come through the week relatively unscathed.  It's also been easy to see God's hand through it all.

Until later...

They do not fear bad news; they confidently trust the Lord to care for them. 

Psalm 112:7 (NLT)

Going Batty Around Here...

This seems to be such a busy time of year.  Summer's coming to an end.  Families are trying to take advantage of the last few days of summer vacation before school starts and everyone is rushing around.  Well not at my house!  I managed to throw my back out about a week and a half ago, so I've been spending the vast majority of the time since then on the couch recuperating.  It has been lazy and more than a little bit boring.  I am ever so grateful for our Netflix subscription.

This has also been a great time to work on hand appliqueing the bats for my Baltimore Halloween quilt.  Back in May, I finally had the top put together and started adding the bats that go around the border.

Baltimore Halloween top - minus the bats!

There are 20 of them - 20 right wings, 20 left wings and 20 bat bodies.  I've been ever so slowly checking them off my list and just today, I finished basting all of the bodies down...

Basting the bat body down in preparation for applique

I even managed to complete one single solitary bat.  It may not look like much, but considering how many hours have gone into this, it's a huge accomplishment!

One completely finished bat!

In fact, if I hadn't thrown my back out, I guess it would easily have taken me another month or more to get to this point.  I just wouldn't have had so many hours to spend working on it.

In other creepy crawly related news, we've been seeing some of the most unusual and largest spiders this year.  The front of our house is covered in ivy and for some reason all of the spiders are trying to build their webs in it.  It's giving me a bit of the heebie jeebies!  (I'm not very fond of spiders.)

This spider was large with bright yellow markings.

Can you see the spider in this tunnel?

I'm sorry the pictures aren't any larger, but I"m sure you can understand my hesitation to get any closer to these creatures than necessary.  I could just picture them taking a flying leap at me and my screaming like a little sissy girl.  With my back, I wouldn't get very far either.

I hope you're having a blessed week!  Until later...

But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 

2 Corinthians 12:9 (NIV)