Thursday, December 27, 2012

Sunbonnet Sue!

It's time to quilt another Sue quilt. I finally got this one for my 13 year old daughter ready to start on. This will be my carry with me project the next month or so. I want to have it finished by her birthday in February. The block here is one of the ones my Grannie made so many years ago. See I even put her name on that one. This quilt is also my first hand piecing project. I did the whole top by hand. I did break down and put the back together on the machine though.

My fascination with old things....

doesn't just include sewing machines it seems. I had sitting in my closet my Grannie's old GE iron. It didn't work right so why I held on to it all these years I don't know.......but I did. Today I got to wondering why if we can rehab vintage machines we can't rehab vintage irons? Guess what? You can! And here's the proof. This is my Grannie's iron. I tore it completely apart today, cleaned it and sanded some rust off the pieces inside and put it back together. It now works beautifully!  So now I have a nice heavy iron that is perfect for quilting. It presses seams so good. The best part? I remember my Grannie everytime I use it!
Don't you just love that shine?

Monday, December 24, 2012

Christmas Eve!!

Today will be busy! The repairman is coming this morning (I hope!) to fix the icemaker on the new fridge. I officially hate appliances! I have baking to do and I need to take the kids out for their special ornaments.
On the menu for today....sausage balls, pigs in a blanket, and lasagna. All of these are for tomorrow but if I made them any earlier they would be gone before Christmas day! As it is I will still have to make double for the snitching that will happen today! The cinnamon rolls I will make Christmas morning.
I bought two quilts online this week. I love old quilts. These are nothing spectacular but they appealed to me and they were cheap!
They're more homespunny (yes I just made that word up!) than anything. I can just see one of them on the couch. I can't figure out how to post a pic of it so that will have to wait until I get them!

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

What are you working on?

If there was ever any doubt quilting confirmed it for me.....I am ADD! I absolutely cannot work on just one project!
Currently I am handpiecing a Sunbonnet Sue lapquilt for dd, working on putting my Civil War quilt top together, 2 table toppers, and a quilt for someone special that I need to sandwich and quilt. Oh and somewhere in there I need to finish Christmas shopping and wrap presents!
AND I am biting at the bit to do a stringy flying geese quilt like the pattern Bonnie Hunter has on her website!
I think I need a week (ok two weeks!) of no distractions like housework or eating or being the kid's taxi service to sit down and finish these!
I need a quilt retreat!!

Sunday, December 16, 2012

A Happy Day

This Saturday my oldest daughter graduated from college. Well she and her fiance graduated. It was a beautiful day. Not too cold and not too hot. My inlaws drove down to see her graduate. During this whole joyous event though my joy was marred. All I could think of was that there were 20 families in Connecticut who were mourning the loss of their babies. So as I watched my first baby walk across that stage tall and proud I said a prayer for those families who would never have the opportunity to see their children graduate anything. My heart still aches for them. I honestly cannot imagine the pain and horror they are going through.
I hugged all my kids that night and told them more than once how much I loved them.

Sunday, December 9, 2012

SSSHHH!!! I bought myself a Christmas present!

Don't tell anyone ok? I regularly browse Craigslist to see what's being offered.
My current searches are:
Sewing machines (always!)
Oil lamps
rolling pins
quilts
I browse the local list and then if I still need to "window shop" some more I browse the next closest city....or two.
I had a little time this morning and there was nothing on the local list, so I headed to the next one. Now normally once I go to that list it is strictly window shopping. Today though.......a Singer 301 in mint condition with ALL the accessories and the case....for HALF of the lowest one I could find on Ebay. Oh my, what to do? Even with gas I would get it for a steal! I figured it was already gone at that price.
There was a number to call and an email address. I emailed. I got a reply almost immediately. Details were worked out and this afternoon the boys and I took a leisurely ride down the road to go see the machine.
 I already knew though that as long as it was as pictured and ran that I would be bringing her home. So here she is....she is unnamed as of yet but I'm leaning towards Harriet. I guess she was just meant to come home with me! The lady I got her from was delighted she was going to a quilter who would appreciate her.
I will admit that it took me a little while to get her sewing....I tried her out before I bought her and she did wonderful but guess what? I didn't notice that the thread comes in from the right side! So until I actually read the manual I couldn't figure out why she wouldn't sew!



Saturday, December 8, 2012

My first try at needle turn applique.....

All of the Sunbonnet Sue blocks I have made were done in the same style as my Grannie made hers. They were what I call top stitched. The stitches are right on top and show. Like this..Now I LOVE this look and its easy but I didn't think it was right
for my CW quilt.  To be perfectly honest I wasn't going to put this block in the quilt. I did one block called 7 Sisters and it looks awful. But I decided to give it another go and see if it would click and.....
I've decided I actually really like applique! I like doing work with my hands. So now this block is done and ready to be added to the stack. I know my applique isn't great but it's a start!


I'm almost done with adding the black border on all the blocks and then to put them together.......

My trusty Stella, a Singer 66 with the godzilla finish will tackle that job though.I just love the blues in these blocks!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Hand piecing and quilting

I'm finally tackling a completely hand pieced project. Its going together faster than I expected and I'm enjoying it. I have one more 9 patch block to make and then I can put it together. This one is for my 13 year old daughter.