It's Beginning to Look ....

A Lot Like Christmas.....

I started pulling out some of my Christmas Quilts.  

This is a round robin I did years ago.  I did the pine tree and the mitten.  The next person added the basket and heart and sewed the 4 blocks together.  And then 3 different people added borders.  It also came back to me quilted.

This is a favorite of my husband's and he likes me to hang it at Christmas.  I had made this top quite a few years ago and finally got it hand quilted in 2002 while living in the UP taking care of my Dad.

I won the pattern for this quilt from Raspberry Rabbits.  It was a quick and easy quilt and fit perfectly on my table quilt hanger.

I made the Santa quilt from a panel I bought.  And the wreath is one of my favorite small quilts.  I love anything made with Log cabin blocks.

My final Christmas quilt that is hanging in the living room is my Country Santa. He hangs next to the front door to greet all our guests.  It is my first hand appliqued project.

I've been working on some Christmas gifts but I can't show you....the recipients read my blog.

But I do have some small projects to show you.

This block is called Partridge in a Pear Tree.  It is a design by Cheri Payne.  I have a lot of her early books and this one is from her book "301 Country Christmas Blocks".  I want to make a Christmas Quilt for next year from this book.

Here is a pillow top for a monkey lover in the family.  I can show you because I don't think she reads my blog...lol

I hope you are making progress on all the Christmas gifts you are making or buying.  I'm hoping to get mine finished soon.  

Have a great day and thanks so much for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

OMG....

I just looked at the date of my last post and couldn't believe it has been 2 months since my last post.  WOW....

Lots happened.  We went camping with my daughter.  We watched my granddaughter Cassidy for a week while my daughter went to Vegas.  Then we went camping for 10 days at Sleeper State Park.  Then we just got busy.  Our last adventure was last week when we went to the UP to visit my son's family. It was my granddaughter Ashley's Birthday she is now 13 (My husband's too...same day but he is not 13).  We bought her a Janome sewing machine made especially for beginners.  And it was in her favorite color...turquoise.  And guess what...I didn't get any pictures.  She sat right down and made a 9 patch pillow.  Another quilter in the making.  We also got to watch her play in 3 hockey games.  She is a stunner on skates.

I haven't gotten much sewing done.  I'm behind on everything.  Oh well.

Jan thru Oct for my Aurifil BOM.  Hoping to get this month's done soon.

The top picture is half of the Country Threads BOM all sewn together.  The bottom block is the September block.  This is going to be a huge quilt.

My favorite so far is my Sugar Shack BOM.  I still need to work on the November block which is a paper pieced block.

This is the final installment of the Quilt Doodles BOM.  In case you are wondering...they are a string of Christmas lights.  I probably won't be able to get the rows all sewn together till after the first of the year.

I participated in a 9 patch swap.  These are the modern 9 patch blocks I received.

And these are the reproduction 9 patch blocks.  It was such a fun swap and Barb did such a great job.

Sorry I've been so absent lately.  I promise to do a better job.  I have more projects to share.

Thanks for stopping by and not giving up on me.

Hugs, Cathy

How Time Flys....

I can't believe it has been over a month since my last post.  I have no excuse.  I can't count how many days I sat down to write a post and something came up.  Nothing bad.  We went camping with my daughter and her family.  Had a great time.  When your kids are grown and have families of their own you don't get to spend a lot of quality time with them.

I did some sewing.  Finished last month's "To Do" list and started this month's list.  Basically the only thing on this month's "To Do" list is to keep up with the 6 BOM's that I am doing.  Then I can do what ever I want.

Speaking of BOM's....here are some photos of what I have done.

 The three blocks were from August for my Hip Chicks BOM.  I haven't gotten the patterns for this month yet.

Here are my Pat Sloan's Globetrotting BOM.  The single block is September's block.

Sugar Shack BOM up to date.  I really love the fabric I chose.

Aurifil BOM is all up to date.

These are the September blocks for my Country Threads BOM.  The house block is 22" and the chevron blocks are 12" each.

I also finished another Sally Post block.  This is one of my favorites.

And finally....

 This is a quilt that I put together in one day.  It uses 12 fat quarters and then some background fabric.  I used some FQ that I wasn't all that fond of and I like the way they look in this quilt.

Yesterday I finally finished quilting the Pat Sloan sew-a-long quilt that I made a few months back.  I just need to tack down the binding.  I will show you a picture of it when it's done.

My oldest daughter Kelley signed up for a 5K run.  Now she is more of a walker than a runner.  She got this app on her phone called "Couch to 5K".  It is a training app.  You walk, run, walk, run...  She has been doing it for a few weeks not and the other day she called me soooo excited.  She ran for 45 minutes without stopping.  I am so proud of her.

My youngest daughter Kim had knee surgery this morning.  I just got off the phone with her.  She is doing good.  I tell you I just love taking to someone on pain meds....she really made me laugh.

Well that is it for now.  Not sure when my next post will be.  Sunday I go to Kelley's house to watch my granddaughter Cassidy while they go to Las Vegas.  Lucky them.

Thanks for stopping by and have a fantastic week.

Hugs, Cathy

Today Feels like Autumn

We've been having such strange weather.  The last few day's have felt like we should be building an ark.  We have had torrential downpours.  Most of the freeways here have been shut down in sections due to flooding.  Today the sun is shining but it is on the cool side and feels like Autumn.

With all the bad weather I have had time to get some sewing done and I got 2 quilts sandwiched and ready for quilting.

I finished the Aurifil BOM for August.

The photo doesn't show it but there is quite a bit of contrast between the button and the background.

Here are all the blocks together.

Next I finished the August blocks for Country Threads.  This month it was a row of blocks.

I used the same blue in each 8" block but a different brown and background.


When we went on vacation I had some Sally Post blocks prepped....but didn't get a chance to work on them.  I finally finished 2 of them.  Here is a picture of all the blocks I've finished together.

Slow but sure I a getting there.

I also added something to my "To Do" list.  I tested a quilt pattern for a designer I know.  I can't show it to you just yet.  But it is finished.

Today I am working on my Sugar Shack August block.  Then I have another commissioned quilt to start and 50 Reproduction fabric 9 patches.  I still have to finish the July blocks for my Hip Chicks BOM and I haven't received the August pattern yet.

Hopefully once I get these done I can get the 2 quilts that are sandwiched quilted.

I hope you have had better weather where you are and are having a great week.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Sunshine...

We've had rain, fog, thunder, lightning and hail.  So it makes the sunshine all the more beautiful.

I have finished 2 items on my "To Do" list and I have added another project.

First the finishes.

This is the August row of Quilt Doodles.  The blue check I chose doesn't photograph well.

This is a close up of the candy block.

Next up is my Globetrotting BOM by Pat Sloan.

Here are all the blocks made so far.

Today I am working on the Country Threads BOM.  This month it is a row of blocks.

I will be testing another quilt pattern for Cindy @ Quilt Doodles.  This is a new addition to my "To Do" list.

I hope you get to enjoy some sunshine and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Goodbye July....

Hello August!  (Warning!!!  Photo Heavy)

July was a busy month for me.  Lot's of sewing and lots of traveling.  We went on a 2 week camping trip to the Upper Peninsula.  

We started with a family get together to visit with my 2 nephews, Nathan and Jake.  Nathan is stationed in Montana and it was the first time we had seen his 3 boys.  Jake is stationed in Ohio and he and his wife will soon be stationed in Guam.  They will be there for 3 years.  That was on the 12th of July.

We left for the UP on the 13th.  Hooked up our trailer and headed north.  This was one long trip.  It took us 10 hours...without the trailer it takes 6 hours.  We went to my son's house just outside of Marquette and picked up our granddaughter Ashley for a week of camping.

We landed at Van Riper State Park on Lake Michigamme.  It was cool and rainy the first couple of days.  But I had lots of crafty stuff for Ashley.  I also took along a featherweight and a box of charm squares to teach her how to sew on a sewing machine.  She took to it like a duck to water.

Here once and off she went.  She said it beat sewing by hand....lol

I signed up for a 9 Patch swap with Barb at "Fun with Barb".  So I showed Ashley how to make 9 patches.  This is the first batch.  Then we went to a quilt shop and she found some fabric she loved and made more 9 patches to match.

This is the backing fabric she found.  She made a pillow (That needs to be stuffed)

And this is the front of the pillow.  Just to let you know....I did all the rotary cutting and ironing.  She did all the sewing of the 9 patches.  She did a great job.

My son and his dog came to camp with us on the weekend.  We took a ride and found a nice little lake to go fishing called Perch Lake.  Even the dogs got in on the action.

Ashley caught the biggest.

My son's dog Roxy tried in vain to catch one.

And Sammie didn't even want to get her paws wet.

We had fun sitting around the camp fire.  Ashley made us a Peanut Butter Smore....and it was delish.  She spread peanut butter on the graham crackers and then added the chocolate and marshmallow.

We left Pat's on Monday and headed home.  We camped for a few days at the State Park in St. Ignace.  It is right next to the bridge.  A little noisy with the sounds of bridge traffic  but at night I turned the fan on and didn't hear a thing.  I was a beautiful park.

We took a ride and went to the Bridge View park.

As you can see it was a little overcast and very breezy.

I found a large of crop of seagulls growing in the park....lol

Sammie loved the wind and strained at the leash trying to get to the seagulls.

All in all it was a wonderful trip.  Glad to be able to sleep in my own bed.  And I'm still emptying the trailer.

Since being home I've been getting some sewing done.  

I signed up for both Modern 9 Patch swap and Reproduction 9 Patch Swap.  I have to make 10 more pairs of the modern 9 patches and start the modern.

This is the July block for Hip Chicks BOM.  I still need to  prep the applique block.

Here are all the blocks together (minus the latest applique block).

And finally the latest Quilt Doodles BOM.  I really love this row.

So I finished all my BOM's for July on my "To Do" list.   Since being on vacation I didn't get anything else done.

Now for my August "To Do" List.

BOM'S

1.  Sugar Shack

2.  Globetrotting

3.  Hip Chicks

4.  Country Threads

5.  Quilt Doodles

6.  Aurifil

I've been commissioned to make 2 small photo quilts that are due in Sept.  So that is another priority.

And I need to finish my Modern 9 Patches and make my Reproduction 9 Patches.

That's it for August.  If I get anything else done it will be a bonus.

I hope you are having a wonderful summer.  Thanks for stopping by and I hope I didn't bore you.

Hugs, Cathy 

July BOM's

I've finished some of my July BOM's.  I have 2 to go...Quilt Doodles and Hip Chicks.  They will have to wait till we come back from vacation.

First up is Country Threads.  We had to make 3 12" blocks.

There are so many large blocks for this quilt.  I have no clue as to the design or size.

Auriful BOM

These fabrics are so out of my comfort zone.  But I do like how it is turning out.  I'm still thinking of redoing the first block.

Globetrotting with Pat Sloan

The bottom right block is July's block.  I love Red White and blue quilts.


Sugar Shack BOM

Another set of blocks not in my usual colors.  But I am loving this quilt.  It will definitely be mine.  The bottom left block is for July.  Part of it was paper pieced.

This will be it for a couple of weeks.  We've been cleaning out the trailer, rearranging things and started packing.  I am so looking forward to this trip.  We will be going to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan.  Headed to Marquette for a few days to pick up my Granddaughter Ashley and taking her camping. I can't wait to sit around a campfire.

Have a great couple of weeks and see you when we get back.  

Hugs, Cathy