Red, white and blue

 Red, white and blue.  This time of year brings out the patriotic colors.

 

We start off with Memorial Day, then Flag Day and then our American Independence Day.

Do you only use these colors at this time of year?

Do you decorate for the different seasons?

By hand or machine?

When I was a new quilter in 1985 I took a quilting class at the local craft store. Back then we were taught how to cut out the pieces with scissors and used cardboard templates. Towards the end of the class, our teacher showed us a tool that looked like a pizza cutter. She told us this was a Rotary Cutter and would speed cutting time. Of course we all laughed and said it could not take the place of scissors! HA!

About that same time, my sister in law took a class at a quilt shop. She learned Eleanor Burns Quilt in A Day pattern for the Log Cabin. She shared with me how quick and easy it was to use this method (using a rotary cutter). And as the saying goes, the rest is history.

I started this quilt around 1986. I purchased 100% cotton fabrics from a quilt shop. My plan was to make a quilt for my then toddler son. We worked on the Log Cabin pattern, and I completed the top. It was my goal to hand quilt this quilt.

So I started working on it, but did not make very speedy progress. Hand quilting took a lot of time. As a matter of fact it was not completed until 2004!

This is one of my favorite quilts and the only one I completely hand quilted. It was fun to work on, and I love how the colors all worked together.

Do you quilt by hand or machine? Or do you send your quilts out to a longarmer?  

Lost and found

 So as I was going through fabric, I came across two orphan blocks that I had made several years ago. They were supposed to be part of a blog hop I participated with a friend. My friend finished her quilt, but my little orphans lay around, just waiting for the day.

So here they are. I thought surely I must have some of that fabric somewhere.

Since organizing my stash I was able to find the background fabric. Which was a huge help.

I did not really want to make 10 more blocks so I was going to go for a table runner.

Easy enough to make one more block.

And enough extra fabric to work out a table runner. Yay!

Design wall Monday    Sew and Tell    NTT     Finished or not Friday   Brag About Your Beauties   Scrap Happy

National Sewing Machine day

 If there is anything I love to talk about it's my Bernina Virtuosa sewing machine. Since receiving this machine I have enjoyed sewing so much more. 

When I graduated from high school I bought myself a Singer Stylist sewing machine. It was a basic model that I thought would serve me for many years. But after a couple of years it was giving me a lot of trouble. The repair man told me, there was one plastic part that kept breaking. It became a drudgery to sew. Thankfully a dear lady from church gave me her "old" Kenmore when she bought a new machine. I sewed on that machine for miles.

Then Christmas 2004 my dear hubby gifted me with my Bernina. I asked him how he knew to get a Bernina. He said he heard me say one time that Berninas were the best machines. And I have loved it ever since. She doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, just a few fancy stitches. Lately I have noticed that some stitches I used regularly are not working. So I am just hoping this grand lady is not going to bite the dust. I love it too much. And I would never be able to find another one to replace.it.

What about you? Do you have a machine that you love. There are so many fancy machines now, it would be hard to choose.

The Atlas of Untold Stories - a review

 

The Atlas of Untold Stories by Sara Brunsvold is yet another compelling story. The story concerns three women. Two sisters and their mom, on a trip to literary stops in the heartland of the US.

Chloe Vance decides to take her mom, Edie, on a road trip to all the places of literary significance. Cloe's motive is to ease her mom into her decision to move to Prague to teach art. Chloe's enthusiastic spirit fuels the trip, which includes her "responsible" sister, Lauren. Lauren is hiding the fact that she recently lost her job. But is resolve to watch over her sister and mother.  Chole's love of exploring new places and things kept the pace of the book moving. Her love of the Lord was displayed in her quiet time with God. It was her way of honoring the Lord along every step. 

This was a beautiful story about relationships between mothers, daughters and sisters. And how the relationships can sometimes be complicated. I loved how Chole patiently meets her mother and sister with joy and faith. This is a journey of untold stories that leads to healing and forgiveness. Along the way they find out more about themselves, and each other. Clean, beautifully written with deep characters who settle in your heart as you learn their stories.

I received a complementary copy from Revell and the author.  All opinions are my own.

SOOOO big

 This spring I planted a few tomato plants in my yard. I've never really had a lot of success with vegetable gardening. Usually I get one thing from the plant and then it dies. But this year I have a tomato plant that has exceeded anything I have ever planted before.

This plant is close to 6' tall! And is still producing tomatoes. I had to stake it up because it is so heavy it wants to fall over. I have watched a few YouTubes and the Millennial Gardener has been my go to source. I learned that when you plant in a container, you need to feed it more often. At least twice a month. So I did that. He also said not to let the fruit ripen on the tree. He says if you allow the fruit to ripen, the plant decides it has done its job and dies.  He has a lot of good advice. 

What are you growing this year?

Quilt shop no more :-(

 Finding a quilt shop in our area has become a challenge. Most have closed, owners retiring or just not able to make a living at it anymore. Case in point. Itching to be Stitching is a long arm quilting service, who recently decided to sell of all of her fabric and just do long arming. My quilting buddies and I made the 25 mile trip to see what she had left.

The sweetest Border Collie greeted us.

We did leave there with fabric to add to our stash. There is just nothing to compare to feeling and seeing colors in person.