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

It's Time to Build an Ark!!!

I don't know what it is like where you live but here in SE Michigan we've been getting one good day for every 2-3 rainy days.  Yesterday we had some horrible thunderstorms.  Today we have had rain off and on.  It wasn't too bad this morning so Hubby and I went to Metro Beach and walked.  It was fine when we started out but the wind picked up and the temperatures dropped while we were walking back to the car.

Earlier in the week we went for a walk and the sun was shining.

We weren't the only ones walking.  The goose family were taking the little ones out for a walk.

The swan was still sitting on her nest so no little ones there yet.

I've been doing a little sewing on the rainy days.

I got the last 2 Barbara Brackman CW blocks done.  I look forward to every Saturday when she gives us another block.

I totally forgot about my Farmer's Wife blocks.  So Tuesday I drew up blocks 9-12 on EQ and printed up the rotary cutting directions and worked on these.  12 done and so many more to go.  I like having so many different projects going at once.  If I get tired of one, I jump to another.

Today's mail brought me the Lapel Stick I won at Hollyhock Quilts.  And it came at a great time.  I'm working on May's Henrietta Whiskers block and was going to spend the evening thread basting the pieces down.  Now I can try out the Lapel Stick.  I'm hoping it will save me lots of time.

Where ever you live I hope you are safe and sound.  We don't need any more rain, flooding, high winds and tornadoes. 

Wishing you a quilty day.

Hugs, Cat

Back Among the Living...

The medicine finally kicked in and I am feeling sooooo much better.  Thanks for all the well wishes.

Managed to get some sewing done.  I finished sewing the binding on Sunflower #1.

Had to hang it up in the living room right away.  It brightens up the room.

I signed up for the 12" x 12" Something from Nothing Quilt swap at 15 Minutes Play.  I made 2 different quilts.

This is the first one.  I really like it but not sure it is the right fit for the swap.

So then I made this one.  I really like it too.  I need to rework part of it.  But I think this is the one.  Being a traditional quilter I was surprised at how much I am enjoying this.  It really pushes the creative juices.

I managed to make another Farmer's Wife block.  But I am going to redo it.  It looks too dark.

Since I've been sick I've gotten behind on so many projects.  Here's a list of my To-Do's.

1. Sew down the binding on my Alzheimer's quilt.
2. Start quilting my Something from Nothing quilt.
3. Finish January's Granny's Hankies.
4. Finish March's Henrietta Whiskers block.
5. Make the latest Barbara Brackman Civil War Block.

This should keep me busy for the week and then some.  I will leave you with this picture of a quilt that I made my Mom and Dad a few years ago.   It was a mystery quilt that I did with one of my guilds. 

Wishing you a quilty day.

Hugs, Cat

A Light at the End of the Tunnel....

Although I still have that darn virus I am getting better.  This is the worse bug I have had in years.

Sunday Terry and I decided it was time I got out of the house.  Our plan was to do some antiquing and then go out to lunch.  We drove up to Holly and it started sprinkling.  While in the first shop it started snowing....not ordinary snow.  It was big drops of slush.  I was soaked to the skin walking to the car.  So thus ended our day.  The roads were icy and the freeway was a mess.  We counted about 20 cars either in a ditch or in an accident. 

With our bad weather lately I have had time to do some sewing.  I got the latest EQ BOM done.  I've been using hand dyed and batiks.  I redid all my blocks in these colors and am really happy with the way they are turning out.  

I made the latest Barbara  Brackman Civil War block.  I am enjoying making these blocks every week. 

I'm still working on my Farmer's Wife blocks. 

I've entered another quilt in the Quilter's Gallery weekly contest.  This week's category is applique.  So I have entered the quilt I made from a class I took with Gwen Marston.  Voting starts on Friday.

Most of my time has been taken up working on a 12" quilt for a swap I signed up with 15 Minutes Play.  I can't show you it yet since I don't want my partner to see it yet.  So I'll show it to you after I mail it. 

Wishing you all a quilty day.

Hugs, Cat

Rain, Sleet, Snow...

Repeat as needed....or not.  But that is all it has been doing for the last couple of days.

But like I've said before, it makes for a good day to stay in the sewing room.

I finished another 4 Farmer's Wife blocks.  I'm having fun making these blocks.  The book came with a CD of templates for the blocks.  However there is only one template per sheet.  That gets to be pretty expensive trying to print all the templates for each block.  So instead of using the CD I've been drawing the blocks using EQ5 and then printing up the Rotary Cutting directions.  It is more accurate than printing templates.  These are blocks 3, 4, 5 & 6.

I made another 2 blocks for my Log Cabin Bow Tie Quilt.  I have been using up so many scraps. 

 I now need to purchase some more Vellum paper (I'm out) so I can print up more foundations patterns.  I used to use light weight paper but I find vellum is easier to see through when paper piecing and it tears easier.

This morning when I was reading all the blogs I follow I saw a beautiful antique quilt on Pepper Cory's blog. (http://quiltflapper.blogspot.com/) The blocks look like they are Crazy Quilt Blocks.  In the center of each block was an appliqued folk art basket.   I've been making my own version of a crazy quilt blocks by sewing bits and pieces of fabric together.  I call them Freestyle Blocks.   I showed you 2 the other day.  Today I made another 2.  I wasn't sure what to do with them until I saw Pepper's quilt.  I think I will sew the blocks together and then do some folk art applique on the quilt.  I really like the idea of the baskets.  But we'll see.  You really need to check out her quilt.

I finally finished Sunflower Quilt #1.  I trimmed it up and sewed on the binding.  I need to sew it the back and then I'll show you the finished quilt.  And I'm finally working on the March block for Henrietta Whiskers from Bunny Hill.  With so much hand work I don't have a lot to show.

Wishing you a quilty day.

Hugs, Cat

Where's the Sun...

It was out this morning but quickly left.  Horrible thunderstorms last night.  It was hard to sleep with all the thunder and lightning.  Cold, damp and dreary out.  A good day to quilt.

I made a few things yesterday.  The newest Barbara Brackman Civil War block and I redid block #1 of the Farmer's Wife quilt.  Then I made block #2.  I'm going to try and make 2 blocks a day.  So later on I will work on #3 and #4.

I've been enjoying Victoria's blog " Bumble Beans" quite a bit lately.  http://bumblebeansinc.blogspot.com/  Then I noticed she had another blog called "15 Minute Play" http://www.15minutesplay..com/ .  She has inspired me.  She takes bits and pieces of scrap fabric and makes a beautiful quilt block.  So I started sewing my pieces together with the idea that I would be making a piece of fabric, cut it up and make a quilt block.  However, once I got the bits and pieces sewn together I loved it just the way it was.  I trimmed the block to 9 1/2".  My husband really liked what I had done.  So I went on to make another.  I'm going to make a bunch for a quilt and put them together using sashing.  These are pieces of fabric I would have normally thrown out.

While browsing yesterday I found another neat idea at Love, Laugh, Quilt.  http://lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com/  Beth is asking for donations of blocks to be put together for the people of Japan.  She has the directions on her blog and will email where to send the blocks.  Here are the 2 blocks I made.  Simple, fast and I used more of my scraps.  So go check out her blog and them make a couple of blocks.

Wishing you a quilty day.

Hugs, Cathy

It's a Beautiful Day...

It's cool out but the sun is shining and the skies are blue and the best part....the snow is melted.

Last night was " Friday Night Sew-In".  I got a lot done.

Here is my Thread Head Quilt-a-Long quilt.  I still had to sew the blocks together for three rows.  After that I sewed all the rows together.  I am really happy with the outcome.

Originally I was going to leave it like this and just quilt it and bind it.  But looking at it hanging here I think it needs another border.  I'm thinking of maybe using a large floral.  Not sure.  Anybody have any ideas?

I thought this quilt would be smaller since the original quilt has 9" blocks, but since I added  3" sashing it was bigger.

I also worked on my Bow Tie Log Cabin blocks.  I know it sounds like 2 different blocks, but it's not.  I searched bow tie blocks on EQ5 and this block came up.  I loved it the minute I saw it.  Last night I got 4 more blocks made.  Now I have 14 blocks made.   I only have 206 more to go to make a queen size quilt.....lol  This is going to take a while.

Thursday we went up to Marine City to visit with the In-Laws and take them out to lunch.  My mother in law told me about a quilt shop in town.  So after lunch we stopped in.  The name of the shop is "Quilted Dreams".  It was a very nice shop.  Lots of BOM's, patterns and books.  And of course fabric.  I spotted the book "The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt".  So did my husband.  He liked it so much he bought the book for me.  I was really hoping to get away from 6" blocks for a while...but it is nice.  So last night I made the first block.  I'm not real happy with it so I'm going to re-do it. 

I really enjoyed the evening and got a lot done.   So the day ended on a good note.  It didn't however start that way.  An hour after my husband left for work he was back home.  (He works 5 minutes from home)  He was feeling dizzy and was sick to his stomach.  So off to the doctors we went.  Turns out he has water in the inner ear and an infection.  So lots of pills and sinus tablets and a good nights sleep he felt great this morning.

So now I'm off to put on a pot of Cabbage Soup.  Straighten up and then off to my favorite place.  My sewing room.

Wishing you all a quilty day.

Hugs, Cat