New Block - New Year

Time to reveal the next block for the Early American Life quilt.

This was a fun block to make.  Be sure to check with Karen and see her version.  Four blocks down and 12 to go.


I was able to get the final block done for my Christmas BOM.  It is the first time sewing for me since I came down with Bells Palsy.  My right eye waters a great deal so I cant sew for to long. 

I was hoping to get it done for Christmas...but this darn virus got in the way.


Another planned project....

These are tree blocks from a Cheri Payne Christmas book.  I was wanting to make either a wall quilt or a table runner.  These blocks went together so easy.  Oh well, there is always next year.


A health update.  My face is still droopy.  I drink everything using a straw and pinching the right side of my mouth.  Eating is a real adventure.  I have no taste on the right side.  My ear still hurts and my right eye waters.  I start physical therapy after the first of the year.  Each day I feel better (although I don't look it).

I did get a block machine pieced.  It took longer because it strains my eye.  And yesterday I prepped an applique block and started sewing it.  


I hope you had a good Christmas and have a very Happy New Year.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

EAL Block 3

EAL stands for the Early American Life quilt that Karen and I are working on.

Here is my block 3.

I have decided to do an easier approach to the applique.  The hearts at the bottom were suppose to be individual hearts.  I chose to trace around the hearts and turn them into one piece.  It works for me.

Here is a health care update.  I've been working really hard on my diet to get my sugar levels lower.  They were 245 in am and now are 165-180.  A significant change.  In the process I have lost 6 pounds.

Last Saturday I had a horrific nose bleed.  It last over 15 minutes.  Felt like crap afterward.  Sunday my taste was off.  Everything tasted bland.  Monday another nosebleed.  Later in the day my lip felt swollen.  I went to bed and woke up Tuesday with the right side of my face drooping.  My eye wouldn't close, I couldn't smile and I couldn't drink with out it dribbling out.  I thought I had a stroke but my arm was fine and felt okay.  Went to the ER and was diagnosed with Bells Palsy.  I have a hard time talking.  I have to keep putting eye drops in my right eye and wear a patch.  They put me on an aggressive steroid regiment for 25 days.  I was told it could take 3-6 months to get better.  Since I'm on the steroids I have to stay out of situations where there are lots of people because my immune system is compromised and I will be more prone to getting infections and diseases.  So no Christmas shopping.  Because of the droopy eye my vision is slightly blurry.  So no driving for the time being.  It is also curtailing my sewing.  Applique is tricky and I'm much slower.  But hey it wasn't a stroke.  I need to get plenty of rest so I'm watching old movies on TV, reading good books and getting a little sewing done.

My family is being very supportive.  They bring me food, call and check on me twice a day and take me to the doctors.  I feel blessed.

Thanks so much for stopping by and listening to my tail of woe.

Hugs, Cathy

Christmas Blocks

I finished 2 more blocks for my Christmas BOM.  6 down 3 to go.

Block 5

Block 6

For some reason this block gave me a really hard time.  This is the center block for the quilt.

I put up blocks 1-6 up on the design wall.

I'm really liking the looks of this.  The next block is  a Santa block and then 2 more pieced blocks.

Now for a health update.  A month ago I went to the doctor's for my usual 6 month Diabetic check up.  Didn't go well.  My sugar levels were HIGH.  She now wants to see me every 3 months.

Her office called me and asked if I wanted to get some Diabetic counseling.  I figured it wouldn't hurt and hopefully it would help.  One visit with the counselor and dietitian and a miracle occurred.  I found out I wasn't taking my meds correctly.  They put me on a diet, told how many carbs to eat at each meal and told me I should have a snack at bedtime each night.  

After 2 weeks I have lost 2 pounds and my sugar levels for the first time in quite a while are under 180.  I should have done this long ago.  Now I just need to get out and walk.

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you have a great weekend.

Hugs, Cathy

Early American Life Block 2

I can't believe it is already the end of November.  

Time to show you the second block of the Early American Life quilt.

I am taking a simpler approach to this quilt.  I can't wait to see what Karen has done with her basket block.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Another Christmas Block

I finished a new Christmas block.  An angel.

There were some really tiny pieces in this one.  I was surprised that I was able to hand applique them.

The snowman now hand arms and a face....lol.  I wanted to show you that I finished it.

The next couple of blocks are pieced blocks.  

I hope you had a good Thanksgiving.  We had dinner at my daughters.  It was her first time cooking a turkey.  She did such a great job.  There were about 15 of us.  Each family brought a dish.  We had turkey, stuffing, ham, ambrosia, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, mac and cheese, homemade applesauce and pumpkin pie.  And I'm still stuffed.

Stop back again soon.  I hope to have some projects to share.

Hugs, Cathy

Projects

Strange weather.  Snow, rain, winds, dark skies, and sunshine.  And that was all in one day.  Right now the sun is shining and the skies are very dark.  More rain?  Better that then snow.

I started a new project.  Last year I found a Christmas BOM kit.  It's called "Folk Art Christmas".  It was distributed by Quakertown Quilts.  There is a total of 9 blocks.

Block 1

 The cabin is pieced and the tree is hand appliqued.

Block 2

The snowman is hand appliqued.  I need to embroider the arms and add some buttons and a carrot nose.

Block 3

This Bear's Paw is 9" finished.

I like how this quilt is made up of pieced and appliqued blocks.


I made some more "Log" blocks.

These blocks finish at 10".  I need 56 blocks total.  The quilt will be 7 blocks across and 8" blocks down.  

Be sure to stop by on the 30th to see block #2 of "Early American Life" that Karen and I are working on.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Linking up with Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts
                 Ems Scrapbag

A New Sew-along

And sew it begins.  Karen and I started a new project to work on together.  You know we've never met but we have sew much fun working on projects together.

Early American Life - Block 1 called Thistle Two

These blocks have some zigs and zags and pieced applique and I'm just not up to it.  I am choosing to do a much simpler design.  

One block done and 11 to go.  I hope you follow as we go on another applique adventure.  We will be posting blocks on the 15th and 30th of each month.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

On My Design Wall

Lots of strange weather going on here.  First it's warm out, then we had terrific thunder storms and today it is very cold but very sunny out.  I hear we have snow on the horizon.

I've been trying to keep busy.

This little quilt is called Blackbird and can be found in the book "Homespun Hearth" by Jan Patek.  It is 14 1/2".  I'm going to sandwich it and start hand quilting it later today.

Two quilts I am working on.  The top row is a quilt I'm making from a Layer Cake.  The quilt is totally cut out and just waiting for the blocks to be finished.

The second set of blocks are for a quilt designed by Linda Brannock.  I call it logs.  I have another 8 blocks ready to sew.  I'm hoping to get a total of 56 blocks made.  These blocks are 10" finished and will make a quilt 70" x 80".

I also finished a Christmas table runner but haven't got a picture yet.  

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

A Beginning, A Finish

And a continuance.....

 A Beginning....

 

Well Karen and I had so much fun with our "Flowers" quilt we decided to do another quilt together.

The quilt we have chosen to make is called "Early American Life" designed by The Country Quilter.  It was inspired by stencil quilts.

As before we will be sharing a block on the 15th and 30th of each month, starting this month.  

A Finish....

I got another Christmas gift finished.  I shared the top with you earlier.

It's called "Baseball, Beach and Camping Quilt".

The 16 patch blocks are made with fabric depicting camping and beaches.  The backing is covered with baseballs.

A continuance.....

I made 22 Snowball blocks for my "Walnut Grove Sampler".

I have one round of blocks to go.   I need to make 24 Pinwheel blocks.  Then I need to cut out a gazillion 6 1/2" off setting blocks.  Then I can start sewing this quilt together.

Thanks for stopping by.  

Hugs, Cathy

Flowers Finale

It was a long time coming but we finally finished our tops for our Linda Brannock "Flowers" quilt.

I had a hard time finding a space to hang the quilt top so I could take a photo.  I ended up having hubby hold it up.  Not a great photo.

Here is a close up of the border fabric.  

Be sure to stop by Karen's to see her beautiful quilt.  We have already chosen our next project to work on.  More on this to come.

I'm linking up with Design Wall Monday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

A Finish

After 2 years this is finished.

It was a free pattern from Primitive Quilts and Projects designed by Jeni Gaston.  The pattern is still available on their website.

I machine stitched diagonal lines on the outside of the blocks and then I hand quilted the blocks.  So glad to have finally finished this one.

Thanks for stopping by.  Be sure to come again on the 30th when Karen and I reveal our finished tops for the "Flowers" quilt by Linda Brannock.

Hugs, Cathy

Last Two

Let's try this again.  It seems like Karen and I just started and now we are at the end.  Last 2 blocks are done.

First up is the Pineapple block.  This block went very quickly.

Next up is Marigolds and Blueberries.  Sooooo many curves.  This block took awhile to finish.

We are planning on finishing up our tops and show them on the 30th.  I just ordered fabric for the border and can't wait to finish this.

Be sure to stop by Karen's to see her blocks.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Palmateer Point Sew Along

Another wonderful Sew Along with Lori from Humble Quilts.

I really enjoyed this quilt.  Maybe in my future there will be a full size quilt.  Until then I will enjoy this mini.

Thanks Lori.  You're the best

Hugs, Cathy

Flowers Block I

We are nearing the end of our sew along.  Karen and I have been having fun.

This is Flowers Block I, Stalks.  A very simple block. (Sorry for the blurry photo)

We are going to try and finish up the blocks by the 15th of next month.  The day after my birthday.  I hope you have been enjoying the journey as much as Karen and I have.  


I had this quilt cut out for a while.  I used my Half Hexagon Accuquilt die.

I had a bunch of FQ that were not the usual type of fabrics that I use.  It took about 2 hours to cut it out.  Another hour to lay it out on my design wall.  Then I used my clover clips to clip the rows together.   Then the other day I decided to sew it together.  I call it "Not My Grandmothers Flower Garden".  Now it's on the pile to be quilted.  Then I need to decide if it is a keeper or a gift.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

It's Been Hot

And I do mean hot with high humidity.  I haven't got much sewing done because it's hard to see with sweat running into my eyes.  We had a long cold spell so I had hubby take out the air conditioners....Big mistake.

Well I did get a little sewing done.  I put together the top half of my flowers quilt.  The colors are really off in this photo.  The blues in the triangle squares are not that bright.

And now that I look at it I see that I have sewn a section of triangle squares in the upper right wrong.  Errr.....I guess I need to do some reverse sewing and get this fixed.  Oh well.

I hope you are having a great weekend.  We know how I'm going to be spending mine.

Thanks for stopping by.  

Hugs, Cathy

Flowers Blocks G and H

I started making the Triangle Squares for my quilt.  There are lots of triangle squares.

We decided to make 2 blocks this time.  Baskets and Cacti.

Here are my blocks connected with the triangle squares.  The baskets were supposed to be pieced...I tried but they didn't work out.  So I appliqued them.  I love the Cacti block.  It makes me smile.

Be sure to check out Karen at Log Cabin Quilter

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Autumn is in the Air

I'm an Autumn baby.  My birthday is in October.  This is my favorite time of year.  The quilt above is "Henrietta Whiskers" by  Bunny Hill.  This was a free BOM.  I started working diligently on this quilt.  But as it always does life got in the way.  Although it says 2013 it was properly finished until 2015.  By properly I mean quilted.  

Speaking of Autumn....Halloween is in the near future.  Cheri Payne has been designing a quilt called Sew Spooky.  She has shared 4 blocks with us on her Facebook page "Quilts by Cheri" Friendship Group.

So far I have only made one block.  The third block.

The quilt is designed to be made with wool.  I prefer to make it using cotton.  I'm hoping to get the other blocks prepped so I can work on them in the evenings.

I have my 2 blocks finished from the Linda Brannock quilt "Flowers" that I am working on with Karen.  We will be posting photos of the blocks on Friday the 15th.

For those of you who don't know, Karen is one of the many blogging quilters who live in Florida.  She got hit with the winds and rain, she lost power but for the most part came out unscathed.  Power is back but they are without water.  I am praying that all our friends are well and have weathered the Hurricanes where ever they live.

My resolution this year was to finish some of my older projects whether blocks that need to be put together in a top or to quilt a top.  I have put a few tops together this year but I chose an older project to work on.

This quilt was designed by Jeni in the Willows.  I machined quilted straight lines horizontally between blocks.  I am hand quilting the blocks using the big stitch and #12 Perle cotton.  I'm half way there.  Hopefully I will have it finished by the end of the month.

Thanks for stopping by.  Remember if you are a no-reply commenter you need to add your email in the comments so I can answer any questions.  

Until next time.

Hugs, Cathy

Flowers Block F

Bluebells...

They are such a pretty flower.  This block was rather easy to make.

Next month Karen and I are going to mix it up a bit and do 2 blocks for showing on the 15th.  I'm loving how this quilt is coming together.

Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out Karen's block.

Hugs, Cathy

A Finish

I got around to sandwiching my zig zag quilt and quilting it.  I like how it turned out.

Another Christmas present finished.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Hot Time

Summer in the City....

This makes for a good time sewing in the air conditioned sewing room.

I finished the next round of blocks for my Walnut Grove Sampler quilt.

This round called for 18 Friendship Stars.  Next round is 22 Snowball blocks and the final group is 26 pinwheel blocks.  This may take a while.


I finally got caught up on my Simple Sampler Blocks.  Blocks 7 thru 14.

Just in time for the next set of blocks.  They should be posted today.

Be sure to stop back on the 30th.  Karen and I will be posting the 6th block in the "Flowers" quilt.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Coxcombs and Hearts

Time to reveal the next block for the quilt "Flowers" by Linda Brannock.

Here is Block E, Coxcomb and Hearts.

Be sure to check out Karen's block.  It's been fun having someone to keep me on track.

We will reveal Block F on the 30th.  This will be our 6th block and 5 to go.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

A Day in the U.P.

In case you were wondering U.P. stands for Upper Peninsula.  The upper part of Michigan.

We finally got a chance to go to the UP to visit my son and his family.  We left last week on Thursday.  It was bright and sunny.  We got half the way to the Mackinaw Bridge and it started to rain...and it rained for the rest of the day, all night and into the next day.

No plans for Friday, we just took it easy.  Saturday we went for a ride and did some hiking.

We started out walking down to a one lane bridge that until 7 years ago was in use.

If you look closely you can see the new bridge.

We next headed to Lake Superior.

 This is a picture of Granite Island.  

There was a beautiful coast line.  This area used to be a State Campground until it got trashed.  It has since been closed.  People still camp there and it looks like they party hardy....

Off again we headed for Cannon Falls.  

Terry and I didn't make it all the way to the end of the walk.  His bad knee and my sinuses made us turn back.

On the walk back I saw this pretty yellow flowers.

And then the rains came again and that was it for our day in the U.P.

Back home on Monday.  Recuperating on Tuesday.  Sewing room on Wednesday.  

I made this using some left over Jelly roll strips I had from a prior project.  I really liked the way it turned out.  I have the backing and batting cut out and hope to get it pinned and ready for quilting this weekend.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'll leave you with one last photo.

Hugs, Cathy