Three Finishes

Yippee....I have 3 finishes to show you.  They may be small, they may not be perfect but they are finished.

Autumn is here in Michigan.  I was in the mood for Pumpkins.

The first pumpkin is a Heart to Art Pattern.  I made one for myself a few years ago.  This fits perfect on my table frame and will be a Christmas gift for one of my girls.

I also made one of these for myself.  This one is a pattern by Black Mountain Quilts.  It is approx. 10 1/2" square and will also fit on the table frame.  I just need to add a bow to it.  Another Christmas gift for one of my girls.

If you remember....last year for Christmas I gave each of my daughters, daughter-in-law's and almost daughter a table quilt stand and 2 quilts to hang on them.  This year they will get at least 2 new quilts for the frames.


I finished the felt Christmas Tree quilt I won from Raspberry Rabbits.  It was my first time working with felt and fabric.

I hand quilted around the tree with red floss and the borders in black floss. Then I free motioned machine quilted around the tree.  The machine quilting is less than perfect but since it was done with white thread you really can't see it to well.  This one is mine and it too will fit on my table quilt stand.


We've had some beautiful weather lately...that is until this morning.  I woke up to gray skies and off and on drizzle.  So I made bran muffins (Jiffy mix) and ham and cheese omelets.  Then we took my hubby's car over to my daughter Kim's house.  (Some one at her apartment complex took the front bumper off her car...hit and run.  Her car was parked.)  After we dropped the car off we went to the park to take Sammie for a walk.

I didn't take my camera.  Wish I had since there were so many Geese, Swans, and Snowy Egrets.  Sammie was going crazy with all the different smells.  She ran this way and that way and dragged me all over.  I guess she has an ultra sensitive nose.  Then it started raining and we had to leave.  Thank goodness.  She almost pulled my arm out of the socket.

Going to get some sewing done now while I watch the last game of the Tigers season...until they go to the playoffs.

Hope you are having some sunshine where you are...if so send some my way. Thanks for stopping by and enjoy the rest of your 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

Back to Blogging

I've been so busy I haven't had time to blog.

I do have some quilty pictures to show you and then I'll show you what else I have been up to.

 These are the August Bee Blocks.  I only had to make one set to mail off to the August Queen.

 Remember I won a shopping spree at the Raspberry Rabbits.  Well I took the Christmas tree pattern with me and got the tree finished.

I think it turned out  pretty darn good.  I just need to trim it and then add the pieced border.

I was reading my favorite blogs a few weeks ago and one of them was Don't Call Me Betsy.  She had designed a quilt called "Color My World".  It was published in Quiltmaker Magazine and she now has the pattern for sale.  You can see it on her blog.  Here is her version.

Here is my version.

I just need to make 2 more blocks.  I'm hopping to get them made today.  My quilt will be approx. 50" x 50".  

I entered a few giveaways and actually won 2 of them.

The first was from Kyle of Timeless Reflections.

I've seen these domes before and thought they were complicated.  But I tried it and it is really easy to use.  Since I love hand quilting it is nice to know I can pre-thread needles and place them in the dome and keep them close by.

My second win was from Mary at Sea Quilts.  She designs quilt with a Beachy feel to them.

 I plan on starting this after I finish Color my World.

A couple of weeks ago we went to a Cider Mill with my daughter and her family.

  We picked apples, tomatoes and green peppers.  It was a beautiful day.  That is my lovely daughter.

Then the hot weather came and I wilted.  Didn't even feel like quilting...I know that is terrible.  So we decided to go camping.

Here is our campsite.  We were lucky that this one was pretty big.

This is one of the small lakes there.  Hubby went fishing there and Sammie took an unexpected swim...lol.

Speaking of Sammie...She loves camping.  So many squirrels, birds and other dogs to bark at.  And ooooh the new smells.

Well I guess I've pulled on your ear enough for one day.  Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

A Picnic and some Dear Jane

Saturday, August 24, would have been my Dad's 92 birthday.  We lost Dad in 2010.  Well to celebrate his birthday Terry and I went on a picnic with my Baby brother Steve and my sister-in-law Dawn at Kensington Metro Park.  We had a nice time.  Good food and good conversation.  I brought along a photo album of pictures I took while I was Dad's care giver.  They hadn't seen them.  After we had lunch we went over to the Nature center and then took a walk around the lake and through the woods.  Here are some of the pictures I took.

This color of this Goldfinch just popped against all the green.

I've got this thing for mushrooms and fungi.  Don't know why but I do.

These turtles were on the other side of the pond.  My brother spotted them first.  I was really happy with how the picture came out from such a far distance.

This beautiful Sandhill Crane was just sitting by the Nature center.  There are signs all over that say don't feed the cranes.  We learned the hard way last year when they chased my husband trying to get food from him...lol

These butterflies were every where.  So beautiful.

There were lily pads all over.  These were close to the board walk along one side of the lake.

You can see above how many lily pads there were.  If you look real close you might just see a Blue Heron.  There were quite a few flying around.

We couldn't have asked for a better day and we plan on doing this again real soon.

I got a little sewing done.  I stress little because it has been so hot that even with air conditioning in my sewing room I dripping.

Here is Dear Jane Block 4....

And Dear Jane Block 5....


I also make a 12" x 12" memory quilt that I was commissioned to make.  Can't really show it to you because of the pictures.

Other than that....Oh I forgot.  I won a giveaway from Kyle at "Timeless Reflections".  I won a Clover needle dome and some needles.  I'm so excited.
Other than that not much going on here.  To hot and humid to do much.

Hope your week is going well and thank you for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Drum Roll Please.....

......And the winner of the book "Making Quilts" is:

Sharon @ Indigo Threads

Congrats Sharon.  I've sent you an email.  

Thanks to all that entered and to all that follow.  Stay tuned....Next month I will be having another giveaway.  Yep...going through my books I found another double...lol.

Hugs, Cathy

Fantastic Weekend (Photo Heavy) + Giveaway Reminder

Before I show you camping photos I want to show you my only finish for August.

I made this table runner a couple of years ago.  Finally got it quilted.  This is going to be a Christmas present...not sure for who yet...lol


I also got another Dear Jane block done.

This is block #1.  I now have 2 blocks done.  At this rate my descendants will have to finish it.  


Don't forget the giveaway.

You have until Saturday the 24th.  I will pick a winner on Sunday the 25th. Please be sure to leave a comment stating you are a follower and you will get a second chance if you blog about it.  Make sure I have an email address to contact you.  

 I think this will be the first project I am going to work on.  So many wonderful quilts in this book.

Now for our camping trip...  The weather was beautiful.  We camped at Algonac State Park which is on the St. Clair River.  

It was so relaxing.  Lots of freighters went by but I was too lazy to get up and get my camera out of the trailer.

Those of you who have read by blog for a while know that I love to go for walks and take pictures of wild flowers.  Well get ready....

 We found wild grapes, red berries, white berries, black eyed Susan, Queen Anne's Lace, and so much more.  

The last picture I have for you is a guest we had come by at every meal.

She wasn't shy.  She would jump up on the picnic table begging for scraps.

We had such a nice time camping even if it was only 4 nights.  Lots of relaxing, reading and quilting.  I got another 2 squares of my Henrietta Whiskers quilt quilted. 

I hope you had a wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by and come again.


Hugs, Cathy

Going Camping and the Giveaway

Going camping for a few days or more.  I want to remind you about the giveaway.  You can leave a comment on the previous post or this post.  Just let me know that you are a follower.  Get a second chance if you blog about it.

I've already picked out what quilt I'm going to make.  I'll show you when we get back.

While we are gone I'm going to be working on getting some more hand quilting done on this quilt.

Hugs, Cathy