Quilting with my walking foot

Over the years I have tried my hand at free motion quilting. Every time I get a little bit of control and ease in the quilting, I find that there is a huge break in time. I lose the momentum, and the next time I sit down at the sewing machine, my quilting looks like a disaster.

Taking the time to practice, practice, practice has brought a sense of frustration. So in light of completing the quilt, I purposed to do straight line stitching with my walking foot.

Case in point... I started quilting straight lines through the body of this quilt.

Crossing over to make an X over the white blocks.

But I can also fancy up the quilting a bit, just by adding curves and arcs.

All done with my walking foot.

 

I machine quilted straight vertical lines on this quilt. 

But then I felt I needed to do something more. So here is what I did.

Starting at one point, I spotted down two rows. Went back to the top and crossed over, again spotting two rows down.

I love the way it turned out.

My quilts are not going to win any prizes, but they are what I love to do. Using geometric designs works for me. Better to be finished than perfect :-)

Happy Quilting!

The first 100

 If you have followed my blog for a while, you know I love reading. For many years I have been reviewing books. But the time comes when I need to downsize my book collection. Many books now come to my kindle instead of paper. 

So I went through my books, and decided I would donate some to the library and some to the Hospice thrift store. 

Have you started downsizing in any way?

Look to the stars

 Recently my one of my grandsons has said he wants to be an astronaut. Lofty goal for a 7 year old.  So I thought I would make a quilt to keep his dream alive.

Quilting the quilt.

Making it happen.

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

Such a friend

 "For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain." Philippians 1:21

These very profound words hold such an impact. One Sunday, as our Pastor was preaching from this text, he began to cry. He said as he studied this passage, the realization of his mortality grabbed him. He wrestled with the fact that he really wanted to see his children grow up. He wanted to be here with his family. And yet, the scripture teaches that to die is gain.

Day by day, as we each walk the pathway we are to go, life just seems to keep going. Until we are stopped in our tracks with the loss of a loved one or friend. It's then that we start thinking of the "other side".

21 years ago, on a Sunday morning, during the middle of a raging hurricane, my BFF lost her battle with cancer and walked into the arms of Jesus. I have missed my sweet friend all these years, but on that Sunday, the Pastor's message brought a sense of peace to my heart. Diana was such a special friend. We were friends for almost 20 years. She always encouraged me, with unconditional love and always with a smile. It is selfish of me to want her to be here, when she has gained so much more. As she reached out her hand that Sunday morning, she left behind her tired body to walk with Jesus. I can almost picture her, in my minds eye, looking back at all of us and saying, "It's all right, I'm whole now."

Mark 8:35 states: “For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel's, will save it” (ESV).

Jesus Christ offers you the greatest freedom - in learning how to die, we learn how to live.

Mr. Darcy?

 

Not Exactly Mr. Darcy by Carolyn Miller was a delightful read.

When Olivia Bennett loses her job as a History teacher she has the opportunity to travel to England to care for her grandmother recovering from hip surgery. A journey where she meets grumpy Liam Brown, the caretaker of Hartbury Hall. One of England's great houses. The house was used in one of the productions of Pride and Prejudice. However the caretaker is hardly anything but gentlemanly.

First impressions are often not what they seem. When Liv becomes involved in the resurrection of Hartbury Hall, she finds all kinds of ways to promote the Hall. Liam's tragic story tugs at Liv's heart until she discovers Liam's real identity.

This was a great story. Full of wonderful characters and good dialogue. A sweet clean romance that blooms in a Jane Austen kind of way.

I received a complimentary ebook copy from the publisher, through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

 

Autmun Nights pumpkins

 Ok So this is the third installment of the Autumn Nights Mystery Quiltalong. 

I did have a wee bit of problem with this block. The first being you needed to fold the strips and match them up to sew. So I ended up marking them on the back side of the fabric because that was the only way I could match them up to sew on an angle.

The second being trimming them to 7 1/2" using a 7 1/5" ruler. Well I don't have a ruler that size so I needed to improvise by using my 12" square. 

It worked but was a challenge for my pee brain.  I watched the video and Kimberly is SO cute and makes it looks so easy.

But in the end it all worked out.

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Yummy Apple Dip

Fall! It's that time of year. So lets make the perfect Apple Dip.

(1) 8 oz package Cream Cheese (soften at room temp)
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/3 cup 10x Powdered Sugar
(2) Tablespoons Vanilla
1/3 cup crushed Salted Peanuts

Blend first 4 ingredients together until smooth.  Add peanuts. Serve with sliced apples.

Simple recipe.

Simply delicious!

Saturday Sparks

Love Your Creativity