Wrapped in foil

The new workshop is coming along nicely. It is actually all covered in insulation now and half of the roof has tin on it. It is hot, hard work. There is a ton of room inside. We have 2 garage doors installed and the large 12 ft one is to be installed soon. It all looks so bright, like it is covered in aluminum foil.

4 Blocks for my 2013 grad quilt

I spent some time yesterday working on a quilt for a dear friend's daughter who will graduate high school next year. I wanted to give myself plenty of time to finish it. I originally thought I would use the turning 20 summertime memories pattern, but wanted to do something that highlighted more of the materials I chose. The wonky framed log cabin block from my May Craftsy BOM class was perfect. Kind of modern and easy to piece. Plus, all the materials I chose that reflect things about this lovely girl would be the focal point. I am going with it. I really like the first 4 I have done. Makes me want to sew the other ones together, which is a great thing!

Voila! My MSQC half-hex Christmas Table Runners

This is a REALLY simple pattern and Jenny Doan does a great job on the tutorial over at Missouri Star Quilt Co. I have made 4, my mom made 2 and 2 other ladies at the retreat made 1. I love the French General Fa La La fabric I chose. They are soft and rich with beautiful patterns. I plan on using other strips for the bindings for a pieced look. I did minimal quilting so that the tree and star design would stand out on the backing. Overall I am fairly pleased with these presents. Hopefully the bindings will go quickly as well.

Sashiko Embroidery Project

Soon I will have pictures of all 4 of my quilted table runners for you. I finished all the quilting yesterday. Still have to do the bindings, but I feel pretty good having this part done before June. Christmas sewing in May?? Works for me. I did want to show you the progress I made on my sashiko project. I plan to do a one cloth quilt with Kona snow on the front and Kona espresso on the back, so I wanted to try my hand on a smaller project first. This size is great because you can carry it anywhere and work on it. I think it will make a cute pillow front once it is complete. It is also easy because it is just a running stitch-no fancy stitches or knots. You should definitely give it a try.

The Riley Blake Advent calendar

I just love this project. It is a large panel that comes with the calendar, softies to put in the pockets of the calendar and softies that spell Holiday Cheer. I bought mine from an Etsy seller for a great price. It is super simple to put together too. I ironed, pinned, sandwiched and sewed the calendar last night. Even did a little quilting at the top. I used some of the leftover paisley backing from the co-op quilt for the back. I plan to sandwich the softies panel and stitch around the circles and then cut with pinking shears. Not sure if I will keep it for myself or try to sell it on my Etsy. Would probably be better for younger children since it has all the "things to do" softies for 24 days. I love the vintage look to all the materials though. Super cute and fairly easy to make. Looking for a great handmade present to give????

The Finished baby quilt

Wanted to show off the finished Riley Blake Scoot baby quilt. I finished the wavy line quilting at the retreat and made the pieced binding there as well. Mom and I stitched on the binding while she was here for my son's graduation. It looks so cute and mama to be loves it. I plan on passing this one and the Minky one on to her very soon. I really like the variegated thread look, but next time I will use the same kind/weight thread in the top and the bobbin. I think the different weights threw off the tension a bit. I really like how it turned out though. Now I just can't wait to see the baby!!!

I'm Just a Poor Washer Woman-ha ha

If you have ever seen Wind in the Willows, you will understand the title of this post. The very clever Toad dresses up as a poor washer woman when he escapes prison in order to gain passage on a barge. If you have never seen the movie-I recommend it! I am thrilled to be a washer woman. My washing machine motor went out last Monday and it finally came in and my sweet son replaced it for me last night (He will make a very handy hubby one day). So now I will joyfully be doing laundry for probably the next 2-3 days to catch up. It is amazing how much laundry one family can produce. We have work clothes and around the house clothes and work outside on the barn clothes-whew! So thankful I don't have to do all these by hand.

On another note, I have posted pics of my 2 May Craftsy BOM  blocks. I really enjoyed these "wonky" log cabin versions for May. If you haven't signed up for Craftsy and this free class-YOU SHOULD!

Tend the Earth and Watch some Birds

My mom and dad LOVE to watch birds and squirrels and chipmunks from their glass porch. They have binoculars and books and feeders galore. I found this Tend the Earth charm pack at Missouri Star as a daily deal and scooped it up in order to make my parents a cute throw for their couch on the porch. I ended up working on it Wednesday and Thursday of the retreat. It is a disappearing 4 patch pattern. Harder to do than I thought, but I like the results. I finished the borders today, so now it just needs squaring and quilting. I think they will like it. Wanted to come through on my promise to post some pics of the projects I was working on. Also received my 505 basting spray today. Looking forward to spraying my quilts instead of pinning them!!

Back to the Land of the Living

This has been a whirlwind 2 weeks! The quilting retreat was fabulous and I'll have pics up soon of what I accomplished while I was there. My daughter's graduation was very nice and now she is off to UK in the fall. My son's high school graduation was very sweet and quite emotional. I love home school graduations! He is off to UK in the fall as well.  I then proceeded to try to get my house back in order-not happening very quickly. I unloaded all of my quilting garb, but haven't sewn a stitch since I've been home. I spent the last three days trying to catch up on Etsy orders -whew! Stamped nearly 500 bags in 3 days. I am basically on track now. Yesterday my washing machine broke-sad day! I took it apart in places and tried to clean out filters and pumps, but that was not the problem. Hubby has ordered a new motor for it and it will hopefully be up and running by Friday. Can't go too long around here without a washing machine. Grocery shopping today and a little mowing of the 10 acre yard-boo hoo! Thankfully the weather is absolutely gorgeous. Hope to stay up to date on the blog now that things have settled down to whatever we call normal. Have a glorious day.