A Flimsy

I finished the "Beach, Camping and Softball Quilt".

 The quilt top is hanging on my design wall.  It looks a little wonky but it is in fact very straight.  This is a Christmas gift for my softball playing granddaughter.  The fabric for the backing is softballs.  It is the perfect size for Camping, taking to the beach and of course taking to a softball tournament.

I'm continuing to work on my Walnut Grove Sampler.  I just finished the 10 sawtooth star blocks.

Next up I need to make 14 Churn Dash blocks.  I went shopping for the fabric for the alternate blocks.  I found a couple I liked.  One is a neutral print and the other is a muted floral.  I'm hoping to get some photos soon to show you.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to check back on the 30th to see the second block for the Linda "Flowers" sew along Karen at Log Cabin Quilter and I are doing.

Hugs, Cathy

Happy Memorial Day

A few days early but the weekend is here.

We went camping last weekend...another baseball tournament.  But guess what no pictures.  Spent the majority of the weekend walking.  My daughters and myself have fitbits and they keep challenging me.  I always loose but my step count keep rising.

I have a few things to show you.

I finished 2 of the 4 1857 Sampler blocks for May...2 to go and the month is almost over.

This is the May block for the Sugar Club BOM.  Paper pieced.

Last months Westering Women block.  I'm hoping to get the current block done this weekend.


I don't know about where you are but here it is soooo hot.  When we were camping Sunday was so cold we had to put the furnace on in the camper to take the chill off.  We came home Monday and the temps were the complete opposite.


Speaking of Monday...my sugar levels had been in the 300's so I went to the doctors.  They gave me a few explanations.  One was that I was walking so much that my body was breaking down fat which released sugar into my system.  The second reason is I wasn't eating correctly.  I now am eating every 2 hours.  Smaller meals and 3 snacks a day.  And guess what...it is working.  My sugar levels are now under 200 and getting lower everyday.  I also lost 3 lbs.  Bonus!!!


I have finished my Gweenie Inspired Medallion center block.  I can't wait to show it to everyone.  If you look in the upper right had side of my blog you will see a button that Lori designed for us.  If you are joining in on the fun go to her Blog - Humble Quilts and grab the button.  Soon the center blocks and the design for the next round will be revealed.  


I also joined in one the "Front Porch"  quilt sew along with Lori.  Finished my block while camping.  Hope you are joining in too.


Thanks for stopping by and have a safe and happy Memorial Day.


Hugs, Cathy

A Wonderful Weekend

My granddaughter Cassidy was in a baseball tournament this weekend.  Instead of driving back and forth at an early morning hour we all decided to camp for the weekend.  We stayed at Proud Lake State Campground.

This is the view we had from our campsite.  It was so relaxing.  Every so often a swan would appear on the lake.  There were so many different birds and wild life.  We had a Sandhill Crane fly overhead.  And were visited nightly by Raccoons.

The raccoons hit the first night....opening a cooler and eating 2 packs of hot dogs and got in our garbage.  The second night my daughter forgot to put the marshmallows up.  One marshmallow had a bite in it.  They must not have liked them because they took the rest of the marshmallows and threw them all around the picnic table.  

We spent the majority of the days watching Cassidy play baseball.  They won there first game on Sunday and went on to a second elimination game.  They lost in the last inning so they were done for the day.

Kelley and her family had to leave after the game but we decided to stay an extra night.  It was so peaceful...we had the park to our selves.

We started our campfire early on Sunday as it was getting pretty cold.  Sammie was glad we brought her coat and her pillow.

Luckily we had enough fire wood to keep it going till nightfall.

Since we were gone for 3 days and very busy I didn't get to work on the applique that I brought with me.  I do have some things to share with you.

This is  the Scrap Basket Sew Along designed and shared by Cheri Payne with her group on Facebook.  It was suppose to be wool applique (which I'm not good at...LOL) but I did mine needle turn applique.  Now it goes on the to be quilted pile.


I joined in on the fun Doll Quilt Swap hosted by Lori at Humble Quilts.  This is the wonderful Doll Quilt that I got from Roxanne.

They are the most perfect Lemoyne Stars.  I love it.

Well I need to get moving and start sewing...I'm behind on everything.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day.

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 

A Day Late....

...and a dollar short...lol.  That's Me.

My July "To Do" List is a short one.  We are going to travel up north with the trailer to visit my son and take our granddaughter camping.  So only must do projects will be on my list.

2014 BOM's

Sugar Shack
Globetrotting
Hip Chicks
Country Threads
Quilt Doodles
Aurifil

I'm hoping to get some applique prepped to take with us.

I'm getting some quilt tops sandwiched so I can get some of them quilted.



That is the list.  Now in honor of the 4th here are some of my "Patriotic" quilts.

This is an antique quilt we bought last year.

Love the flags in this Kim Diehl quilt.

I had so much fun doing this quilt.

I used made fabric for this little quilt.

This was the first quilt I made as a member of Quiltmaker's Scrap Squad.

This quilt is now finished and resides with my Daughter-in-law.

Love Pinwheels

This quilt was made for my husband.

Well that's it for my quilt parade.  I hope you have a great 4th.  Be safe but enjoy yourselves.  Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

We're Back....

From a week camping in the rain.  We did have a few hours a day with a bit of sunshine but mostly we had rain.  We had to set up our trailer in a thunder storm.  Both of us were soaked.  But all in all it wasn't too bad.

We took walks, went antiquing, visited some favorite quilt shops, read and watched movies.  It was very relaxing.

On one of our walks we encountered another family out walking.

They were so cute.  We left yesterday and I swear the babies doubled in size.

We had Sammie with us on our journeys and had to stop every so often for her pit stops.  At one park I came across this tree.  I was amazed how much Fungi was growing on it.

We stopped at quite a few Antique shops.  I bought a couple of different quilt blocks (I have one set to show you now), a quilt top and a quilt.  I'll show you
the quilts later.

I fell in love with these T blocks.  I figure they are from around the 1860-1900.  

Since it rained so much I had plenty of time to get some applique done.

This is the fourth block in the second set of patterns for Cheri Payne's Common Threads Series.  I am so happy with this block.

A while back I had prepped some blocks for the Sally Post Quilt.  I started block #1 and had Block #2 prepped.

These finish out at approx. 7 1/8".  Tiny pieces but I am happy with the way they look.  I have the freezer paper templates copied for blocks 3 & 4.  Just have to pick out the fabrics.  I was so terrified of applique...but then I took a class with Karen Stone and it changed my life.  I do needle turn applique (although I use a tooth pick to turn the fabric over).

The WiFi was very temperamental where we were staying so I didn't get a chance to keep up with my favorite Blogs.  So I will be spending a good part of the day doing laundry and reading blogs.

I hope you are having a great day.  Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Bad Week

First I had a touch of the flu...then I carried too many grocery bags and pulled a muscle in my back.  I haven't been able to do to much but sit.  I got a little sewing done the last couple of days but yesterday was a noisy day.  I'll explain.

Last year we got new siding on our house.  It was done in January in all the bad weather.  I wasn't too impressed with the work crew...and rightly so.  Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago.  We had some extremely windy weather.  So windy that it blew all the siding off the side of the house.  Called the company...they sent someone out.  Turns out the work crew didn't use the right nails.  So they are going to replaces ALL the siding.  Yesterday they did the side that the siding blew off.  It just happens to be the wall of my sewing room.   They come back in a couple of weeks to do the other 2 sides.  Can't come next week as we are going camping....YES!!

Now for the sewing....

I have the final side half way done.  Hope to get it finished before we go camping.  Then it will be ready to quilt.


I started working on the blocks 5-8 of Cheri Payne's Common Threads series.

Top row is the first 4 blocks and the second is the next three.  The fourth block is an applique block.  I have it all prepped and ready to applique.  I will work on it while camping.

Finally....

Pam Buda's Market Day QAL.  She is giving directions in 2 different sizes.  She post's directions every Friday.

Well that is it for now.  I will try and post while camping but that's not always so easy.  Now I need to get the trailer packed and laundry done.  I can't wait to go.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs, Cathy

Good Morning Sunshine

You know there is nothing better than to wake up to Sunshine!!  The weather has been beautiful.  It puts you in such a good mood.  In my case a sewing mood.

I have a few projects in the works

The first is the Raspberry Rabbits kit I got a few months ago.

I trimmed the applique block and added borders to two sides.  I got it all basted as you can see.  I've started hand quilting it and should have it done this weekend.

I've been working on my  BOM's.  The first is the August Country Threads Block.

This is the 12" Block.

 And this is the 6" block.  Don't know why they are so fuzzy.

The next BOM is from Almost Amish BOM.

I just printed up the patterns for the next 3 blocks for the Hip Chick BOM.  Hope to have something to show you this weekend.

While going through pictures for this post and came across some pictures of a park in Chessening, MI we visited while camping.  Hope you enjoy them.

 As you can see it was such a beautiful day and a very serene place.

Well I'm off to my sewing room to work some magic...lol  Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend.

Hugs, Cathy