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?

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!

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!!

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.

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!

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!

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.