Orange’s Last Hurrah!

I kind of hate to see Orange leave for this year.  It’s been such a fun color to play with :*)  

I am combining my posts for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and Kathy’s Slow Stitching on Sunday.  It’s Ryder Cup time in the golf world, so hubby and I will be cozied up to the TV most of the weekend, watching to see how the US fares.  Which is of course a perfect time for me to do some really relaxing slow stitching :*)

This is the block I am working on today.  It is part of The Blue Collection, an old project that I've been stitching on for years now, in an off-and-on fashion.  The below picture is the designer's quilt... isn't it just so gorgeous???  And with all those blues, it was way too tempting for me to not attempt it!  =^..^=

The Blue Collection, designed by Maggie Walker
Photo from maggiewalkerdesign.com

Sometimes I put it down for months, because I can only handle so much needleturn applique without a good long break.  But I always pick it back up because I love it so and would love to have it hanging on my wall! =^..^=  And since I finished up my Orange mini-pineapples earlier in the month, I thought this old UFO would be perfect to work on today.

Almost all of these fabrics are from my scraps.  I bought most of the patterns as BOM sets from a friend who sold some of her stash when she moved north.  Then I contacted the designer, Maggie Walker, to purchase the remaining 5 patterns.  She was so warm and helpful, delighted that I loved her pattern of course!  Most of the fabrics in the kits provided by the quilt shop to my friend were not fabrics that I would have chosen, so I have mostly replaced them with my own, and many of my replacements have come from my scraps.

I thought this might be a good day to show off my Sewing Basket too :*)

I made this basket last year in a class taught by Donna Christian, a local award-winning basket & quilting teacher.  Thanks Donna!!!  Isn’t it amazing!?!  I never thought I could make such a thing, but I learned that basket making is not really that hard when you have a great teacher =^..^=  As you can see, it has everything you need for hand stitching!

And I love the different compartments which keep me from having to dig out the tool I need from a jumbled up mess in the middle of the basket!

I put my silk threads for applique on the bobbins - all the thread ends held neatly on the bobbin by little pony tail holders! - and then add other spools as needed for colors since I don’t have a very wide variety of colors in the silks.  The bobbins & spools are held in place on dowels that run through the handle.  And on each side of the dowels, are these cute little decorative charms!

My initials on the left.....

And on the right a lovely red heart & a musical clef symbol for Music City Quilt Guild

So it appears I am all set for some lovely stitching this weekend!  I hope you all have a wonderful weekend and fun projects to play with :*D

As for Stash Enhancement, there was no fabric in and none out this week!  Be sure to go to Patchwork Times to see what lovely fabrics others added to their stashes, and maybe I'll do better next week ;*)

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

Slowing it Down for Sunday

It's a gorgeous day here in middle Tennessee!!!  

A little warm still, but the humidity we were suffering from Isaac is thankfully almost gone.  The sun is shining and the birds are singing... the poor little hummingbirds are working themselves silly trying to store up enough fat to make it across the Gulf of Mexico here in a month or so :*)

And I got a wonderful surprise yesterday afternoon - my daughter and granddaughter came up for a quick visit!  They wouldn't let me take their pictures, but I did get a good shot of one of the newest members of their family.....

This is little Addie - short for either Adeline or Adelaide, I can't remember which.  Does that make me a terrible grandmother?  LOL!!!  Isn't she the sweetest, cutest little thing you ever saw?  Well, not counting your own babies of course :*)  She has a brother too, but he was not in any mood to sit for a photo session.  They are about six weeks old and a bundle of energy & fun =^..^=

Today, I'm thankful for all these wonderful gifts from my loving Father!!!  What are you thankful for?

I'm joining Kathy at Kathy's Quilts today, doing some slow stitching.  As always, working on my Promises & Borders blocks keeps my mind and heart centered on my Father =^..^=  Here is my current block.....

I've gotten quite a bit done.  Just getting the lettering done is always a milestone for me, since it's my least favorite part of the stitching.  I love the way the trees seem to form the shape of a heart!  Jenny is a very talented designer and I'm really loving this project.

As promised, I spent yesterday working on my scrappy Rainbow Pineapples.

Here are the 2 aqua blocks, all done and looking mighty fine, even if I do say so myself :*)  Not sure if I'll work on the orange ones today or not, we'll just have to see how the day develops.  That's what Sundays are for... just going with the flow, easy and gently, just like riding a float on the waves.  Hmmmm, close your eyes and you're there!

No activity in the stash this week, but you can go over to Patchwork Times to see what wonderful things others are adding to their stashes =^..^=

I'm wishing you all a blessed Sunday and hoping that you will slow down 

and just enjoy the gift of the day :*)

 Source:  Pinterest

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

Slow Stitching & Stash Enhancement

It's a beautiful new Sunday, and you know what that means....  a wonderful day to reflect on our many blessings and spend some sweet time with the Lord =^..^=  Today I am especially grateful for the rain we are getting here in Nashville - boy did we need it!!!

For me, Sunday also means a lot of sports on TV which I love!  Today on the agenda is the Golf Playoffs and maybe some preseason football.  One of the things I love about Sundays & sports is that I usually get a lot of relaxing hand work done :*)  

Here is my progress on the 8th block for Promises & Borders BOM.  Jenny  just released the latest block pattern today, so I am now officially 2 blocks behind :*)  There is only one more block to be released - it's unbelievable how quickly time has flown this year!

Please go by and visit Kathy at Kathy's Quilts to see her gorgeous Slow Stitching finish!!!  And you can link up to show us the slow hand work you been doing also =^..^=

Yesterday was a great day for Stash Enhancement!!!  I was invited to join a couple of great friends on a day trip to Franklin & we had so much fun!!!  It had been quite a while since I was able to visit some of the quilt shops there, so I jumped at the chance to go :*)

In my last post I shared my dilemma about what to start for my September NewFO (you can read about it HERE).   So I’ve made a decision…. ****Drum Roll***     I’m going to do BOTH!!!  Well, at least I’m going to start both LOL!!! Yep, I can’t help it – they’re both calling my name =^..^=  And of course, the objective of the NewFO Challenge is just that you START a project, you don't have to get any further than that.  Just sayin' :*)

Several blog friends are either already working on Hawaiian Sunset or plan to start soon, and it will be great fun doing it together! 

Besides, I have the perfect dark blue on my shelf for the sashing – is that a great omen or what?!? This is a Jenny Beyer fabric.  The blue is a bit more navy than this picture shows.  I will have to fill out some of the other colors, especially the pinks, so I can’t work on it too much right away. But I can start playing with the flying geese and the four patches for the fun of it, right?  They will make great leaders-n-enders!

And then I simply have to start this Butterflies quilt! I’ve been in love with them since I first saw them a few months ago. The patterns are ordered and should arrive later in the week.

I picked up these batiks yesterday for backgrounds and sashing/borders – aren’t they just scrumptious??? YUM!!!  The deep blue fabric on the bottom of the stack is for the sashing & perhaps an outer border.  The others are backgrounds for the various butterflies.  The black & white dot is PERFECT for the Monarch’s wings ....

                                              ............  am I right???

A few readers have questioned whether the Butterflies are applique or panels. They are applique! The designer is Debra Gabel of Zebra Patterns. You should click on her name and check out her site sometime – oh my does she have some amazing patterns!!! I plan to do these using Beth Ferrier’s Hand Applique by Machine technique. She came to the Music City Guild a few years ago and taught us this technique, and this project will give me the perfect opportunity to practice it. Hopefully I’ll be able to share some of that with you as I work them.

As for the Stash Report – I have a HUGE amount of fabric to count in my “Used” column from all the destashing I did this past week - YOOHOO!!!  You can read more about that process HERE. I was frankly shocked when I added it all up and saw the totals…... Wow! So here’s my report for this week:

Stash Enhancement Report - September 2, 2012 

Used/Destashed this week: 93.00 yards

Used/Destashed YTD 2012: 195.75 yards

Stashed this week: 12.50 yards

Stashed YTD 2012: 192.00 yards

Net Used for 2012: 3.75 yards

Woohoo - finally in the black!  And even though I did not sew up all that fabric, I did accomplish a much needed reorganization of my stash to make it more workable for me and the projects I want to focus on in the future.  I'm a happy camper!!!  Have you done any stash enhancing or destashing? Share it with us by linking up with Patchwork Times!

Happy Labor Day holiday everyone! Stay safe & keep a lookout for flying geese :*)

Also linking up with the following really fun blogs! ......

Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=

Slow Sunday Stitching =^..^=

What a beautiful Sunday we are having in Nashville!

In previous posts, I've shown you my stitching view at my son's house and then my daughter's house.  This is the view at my house from the side porch where I often spend my mornings talking with the Lord and making plans for the day.  Today it is just a little cool, which is a very welcome break from the heat.

The hummingbirds are loving the feeder, although one of them has decided is it HIS and he guards it very jealously :*)  I don't think that is him on top of the pole - he has a deep red ruby throat.  This may be one of the little females.  We have really enjoyed watching them this year.

On foggy mornings, this is what it looks like....

Ahhhh, just the thing to make me feel the closeness of God and remind me that I am covered with His amazing Love!

It is also the perfect place to sit and slowly make progress on my hand stitching project, Borders and Promises.

This is my current block.  I still have to finish up the bird and eggs, and of course the small leaves and flower centers.  But I'm taking my time and enjoying this sweet project :*)  I've been working on this one for a while now though, and it will be nice to start on the next block.

I'm linking up with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching.  What are you doing to make your Sunday an excellent one?  I'd love to know....

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

=^..^=

Slow Quilting & Stash Enhancement

What a fun combination!!!


I love Kathy's new Slow Sunday Stitching linky party!  It's a fun new place to encourage and show off our hand stitching.  A few weeks ago, I blogged HERE about the peaceful stitching view at my son's house while visiting them in Carolina.  So last weekend I was visiting with my daughter and had the pleasure of sitting on Sunday morning for several hours on her wonderful front porch and again enjoying the beauty of God's nature all around me....

.... while stitching happily on my current Promises and Borders block. 

Progress is slowly being made, but that's exactly what this linky party is all about - taking it slow and enjoying the journey!


Ahhhhh! How peaceful and refreshing!!!


On the Stash Report front, there are enhancements this week!


The Quilters Path got in several new batiks last week, and we all know how much I love batiks, right? So I hurried on down to Mt Juliet to see what goodies I could acquire for the stash :*)  Oh my, at the lovely batiks! She has a lot of new oranges and blues!!! Several that have nice big designs too for border treatments! 


But in the end, these are the ones that came home with me....

I got half a yard of this beautiful blue. It will sparkle up any quilt, whether it is a focal print in a small quilt or scrappy in a large one. It will sing!!!

And anyone want to venture a guess at how much I got of this AMAZING black/cooper/gold stripe? FIVE YARDS!!! 

Close-up of design...

Yes sirree! This is just a gorgeous batik and it will become the background in something very gorgeous and batiky someday. I can't wait to find out what, can you? LOL!!!


I also learned that I WON the Connecting Threads Light & Bright fat-quarter Sampler from my friend Connie over at Quilting by the River!!! 

OMG!!! I am SO excited about this win! I'll show off the fabrics and report them in my stash when they arrive.


This is my report for this week:

Used this week: 0 yards

Used YTD 2012: 83.25 yards

Added this week: 5.50 yards

Added YTD 2012: 166.50 yards

Net Used for 2012: -83.25 yards

Notice anything here?  I have added EXACTLY twice as much fabric as I have used YTD - too freaky!  LOL!!!


How about your stash? Have you added anything new or scored a finish this week? Share your report at Patchwork Times!


Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=