I've Been Thinking....

What inspires me in my quilting.  The answer: YOU.  I have had so much fun in blogland and have made so many wonderful friends.  You have all inspired me to try different techniques and just let myself go.  For this I thank you all.

Now for some quilty pictures.

The latest Barbara Brackman CW block.  It is hard to tell from the picture but the stripe in the center pinwheel is blue and white and the stripe in the outer star is red and white.  Can't wait to see what block Saturday brings.

I'm still working on the Primitive Primer quilt.  And having a ball.  The tree block on the right is finished and the on the left needs 2 more triangles.  What I really like about this quilt is that everything does not have to be perfect.  So I can relax while I work on it.

After the trees comes this block.  I have it all basted down and ready to go.  There are three more blocks after these and they are a tad bit more involved.  A house and tree block, a vase of flowers, and the hardest block.....Star Burst.  Oh I almost forgot...the border.  Part of which has applique on it.  Can't wait to finish.

In my last post I told you I had finally found the Lil Twister ruler. 

I gathered up 9 5" squares (I have bags and bags full of them) that I thought might go together.  And cut up some 3" strips of a dark brown for a border.  I could not believe how quickly this went together.  Within a half hour to 45 minutes I had this little top.  So much fun.

Now I have some questions for you:

1. What inspires you in your quilting? (I told you what inspires me above)
2. What was the first quilt you ever made?  A doll quilt for my daughter Kelley.
3. What is the smallest quilt you ever made?  5" x 7"
4. What is the largest quilt you ever made?  King Size.

Well I hope you have a quilty day.  The sun is shining, there is a slight breeze and the temp is around 73.  All in all a perfect day.  Going for a walk and then off to the sewing room.

Hugs, Cat

Blue Skies and Sunshine.....

I wish...That's what the weather man said.  But what we got was rain, overcast skies and rain.

Good sewing weather.

Here is the heart log cabin block that I promised to show you when I finished my angel block.

Here's my angel block.  I think I only have 4 more blocks to make then the border and I will be able to put my "Primitive Primer" together.

Blocks 13, 14, 15 and 16 of the Farmer's Wife Quilt.  So many more to go....

My husband Terry had 4 days off from work.  As you know we like to go to the Metro Parks , have a picnic and walk.   Even though the weather was not too good we went to Lake Erie Metro Park.

We had our picnic by the water.  It didn't rain.

It did rain on our way to the nature center.  There we took a walk.

These are the only flowers we came across.    But we did come across some wild life.

All and all it was a good day.  In between rain drops we had a nice walk, saw some wild life and visited an antique shop and I found a new quilt shop.....finally found the Lil Twister ruler.

So today....Sunshine predicted.....Rain came instead.  I'm off to the sewing room to make the latest Barbara Brackman block and try my Lil Twister. 

Wishing you a quilty day.

Hugs, Cat

Hot and Humid in Michigan

Rain yesterday, more rain this morning and now it is very humid.  But it won't stop me from sewing....lol

Here is the latest 15 Minute Play BOM.  "Courthouse Steps"    I plan on embroidering the name of the BOM, my name, and the date finished on this block.  I love making fabric from scraps. 

The latest Barbara Brackman CW block. 

This is Block 13 of the Farmers Wife quilt.  I draw the blocks up on EQ5 and then print up the rotary cutting instructions.  I made the mistake of printing up the instructions for an 8" block and didn't realize it till I was finished.  So I reprinted instructions for a 6" block.  Now I have one to go with my CW blocks and one for FW blocks.

Today I plan on finishing up blocks 14-16.

And finally......Drum roll Please.......

My granddaughter Cassidy turns "9" today.  Hubby had the day off yesterday and was able to go to his first Cassidy baseball game.  She went 4 for 4. 

Happy Birthday Cassidy....We love you.

So I'm off to my sewing room...  Hope you are able to do something quilty today.

Hugs, Cat

FNSI

I love these Friday Nights....I plan ahead and have lots to do.

This is my 15 Minutes Play block.  I started out by making fabric from scraps.  I drew the block up using EQ5 and printed up the rotary cutting instructions.  There are 4 blocks so far on the 15 Minutes Play Blog.  This is number 3.

Because of a swap I was involved in the the 15 Minutes Play Blog I got to be friends with Emily at "Em Celebrates"  (A link is on my sidebar on my Blog List.  Go check it out.  She does such beautiful free motion quilting.  Because of our friendship she has pushed me to try FMQ.  I did my first 12" block of practicing my FMQ.  I sent pictures to Emily and she posted them on her blog.  In case you read it I am "Big Girl Pants". 

So last night I sandwiched a 12" block, picked out a variegated thread and started playing.  I think my favorite is the flowers in the left hand corner.  Here are some close up pictures.

After I finished playing I attached some binding.  I like to use up scraps of binding.  It didn't take long at all.

I was up late watching the Detroit Tigers loose.  So I spent part of that time prepping the angel block for the Primitive Primer.

It was a long game and started late as it was in Colorado.  So I was happy to get a lot done.

I hope you had a good Friday Night Sew In and share all your project.  Wishing you a quilty weekend.

Hugs, Cat

Quilts, Tigers, Flowers, and Birds

First the quilt.  I entered this little quilt in this weeks "Quilting Gallery" contest.  The contest is for miniatures.  I made this quilt from a photo I took while living up north.  Voting starts tomorrow.  Their blog is listed on my side bar of blogs I follow.  Soooo....if you would be so kind I would love for you to vote for my little quilt.  Thanks in advance.

Tuesday night my daughter Kelley and her husband Chris took my Husband and I to the Detroit Tigers game.  They played the Indians and won....took over 1st place.  My favorite pitcher Justin Verlander pitched a shut out.  Sorry the picture of him is so fuzzy.  Weather was great, game was fantastic and a good time was had by all.

Wednesday Terry (hubby) and I went for a ride and had a picnic.  We went to Kensington Metro Park.  After we went for our picnic we walked on one of their many walking trails.

First we saw this cute little turtle.  It is only about 4" long.

Then we came across this black snake basking in the sun.

This mother Sandhill Crane was taking her young for a walk in a field.

These miniature rose type flower had such an aroma.  With a slight breeze blowing it wasn't too bad.  But if it were really hot out the aroma would have been sickening.

We came across this flower in a wet swampy area.  I know it is some type of orchid but not sure what.  I thought it would make a nice picture quilt.

The birds at this park are so used to people that they come right up to you.  This Cardinal was flitting around us for a good part of our walk.  You are allowed to bring bird seed with you and feed the birds.  We didn't do it this time.  But a Downy Woodpecker did land on my husband's hand but left so quickly that I couldn't get a picture.

We took a different trail for a short time.  It had an elevated boardwalk that encircled a small lake.  I had to get a picture of these Water Lilies. 

The last thing we saw was the above picture.  Sorry its fuzzy but these nest were high up in a tree on an island in the center of the lake.  Know what they are?....Give up?....If you guessed Great Blue Heron's you are right.  There was an adult and 3 babies.  It was a real treat.

Today we were exhausted from our travels and didn't do too much.  No sewing for me, although I do have some hand applique calling my name.

Hope you are enjoying your evening and had a wonderful day.

Hugs, Cat

I almost forgot....tonight is Friday Night Sew-In.  Be there or be square...lol

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Up early, sun shining, walking shoes on....Hubby and I headed out to Metro Beach and had a wonderful walk.  Then we went out to breakfast at a new restaurant.  Great food.

Now here's what I finished during the weekend.

I finished June's Henrietta Whiskers block.  I love these blocks.  My hand applique is getting so much better because of all the small pieces. 

Here are my first 6 blocks.  It is going to be so cute.

I decided to clean my sewing room on Saturday....lol  There aren't enough hours in the day to put a dent in the mess I have going on.  Anyway while shifting piles I found these blocks.

These blocks were suppose to be joined with 8 others.  However I lost interest, or lost the pattern or misplaced the green checked fabric.  So I decided to make a wall hanging/table topper out of them.  I am going to put them together and applique a circle in the center.  Then I need to add a border, possibly applique some leaves on it.  Do you have any ideas?

Last but not least I made the latest Barbara Brackman CW block.  After a year of 8" blocks I think we will have enough blocks for a couple of quilts.

I also made the heart log cabin block for the Primitive Primer quilt and have the angel block all set to applique.  I will post a picture of both once the angel is done.

Today I will begin a new adventure.  Em is you are reading this....I am going to try some of your fabulous quilting.  I have my big girl pants on, my favorite threads, a couple of 12" blocks all ready to start machine quilting.  Thanks for the encouragement.  Love Ya.

Enjoy the sunshine, breath in that lovely fresh air and have some fun today.

Hugs, Cat

PS( Tomorrow night I get to go see the Detroit Tigers play.  Thanks to my daughter Kelley and Son-in-Law Chris.  It is my Mother's Day gift and Hubby's Father's Day gift.  Woo Hoo...I am such a fan.)

Gone Today Here Tomorrow??

Summer that is.  We are back to cool, damp, gray days.

Woo Hoo....I finished the quilt for Janet.  Janet as you may recall is the Nurse that took such great care of my Dad.  This is the first of many that I will be making for Janet's Infusion Therapy room.  She is an Angel among us mere mortals.

Since it is June it is time to change the quilts.  This is a quilt I made my husband while taking care of my Dad in McMillan (in the Upper Peninsula).  It was a quilt from Fons and Porter Magazine.  It was presented in sections over 6 issues of the magazine.  I lost one of the issues and was so grateful that I found the missing copy at a yard sale.  This is one of my favorites.  I just love applique.

This little wall quilt was a block round robin that I participated in years ago with an AOL group.  I did the 2 birds which I got from a Debbie Mumm pattern.  The first 6 people made blocks, the 7th put them together the 8th did a border and the 9th did the final border, quilted and did the binding.  However, they forgot to put a hanging sleeve on the quilt.  The quilting was done by machine and was just stitched around the borders and the sashing.  I think when I take this quilt down I'm going to remove the binding, quilting and hand quilt it.   It is too sweet to leave it the way it is.

Well I hope everyone is having a great day. 

Hugs, Cat

A Giveaway and More

Sue over at SuBee Sews is having a giveaway of an autographed copy of Bonnie Hunter's Adventures with Leaders & Enders to celebrate 200 followers.  So hop on over and leave a comment for a chance to win.  Click here to go to her blog.

I finished May's Henrietta Whiskers BOM.    It is soooo hot here that I finished it sitting in my easy chair with the box fan blowing (No air conditioning here). 

Hope you are keeping cool where ever you are.  Wishing you a quilty day.

Hugs, Cat

It's Finished

Finished my AAQI quilt.  I hand quilted it.  Sent the email with all the info and am just waiting for the registration number so I can send it in. 

It's going to be hot and humid today.  So find somewhere cool to spend the day.  I am going to try and get some quilts sandwiched today so I can get something finished.

Have a quilty day.

Hugs, Cat

What Fantastic Weather

Sorry to go on and on about the weather but I've been enjoying it.  More on that later....

The latest Barbara Brackman CW block.  One of the few projects I'm actually keeping up with.

This is my latest Alzheimer's quilt.  I used the 15 minutes play method.  I made this quilt in about a half hour.  It is all sandwiched and I plan on hand quilting it today.  You might remember the last quilt I made for Alzheimer's Art Quilt Initiative..."Scraps of Hope".  I'm happy  to say that it sold for $40.00.   If you can... make a quilt, if you can't... buy a quilt.  It all goes for a great cause.   Click here to see all the wonderful quilts made for this cause.

Now back to the weather.  It was so nice out yesterday.  Hubby and I went out to Stoney Creek Metro Park.  We stopped and picked up Subway and had a picnic.  But first we walked.

We walked along Stoney Creek.  It was a nice shady walk, at first.  Then we walked in the sunshine.  Very hot and a good workout.

We saw some wonderful wild flowers.  And I had a devil of time getting a picture of this dragon fly.  Most of my pictures were of just the greenery. 

When we got home I went out in the backyard and found that my peonies had blossomed.  These flowers mean a lot to me.  They came from my parents home up north.  After Dad passed away and we were clearing out the house we decided to dig up the peonies.  These plants were transplanted from every home my parents lived in...  They would be very happy to know that they are with me now.

Wishing you a quilty day and lots of sunshine.

Hugs, Cat