Quiet Place

My husband has been listening to Greg Howlett online for several months.  He recently ordered CD's and oh my, what an amazing piano artist he is.  I wanted to share his beautiful music with you as I think you would agree that it is peaceful, inspiring and worshipful. 

Take a few minutes to visit Greg's website.  I know you won't be disappointed.

Is she a 201 or 66?

Yesterday our neighborhood was to be without power for most of the day, due to the Electric company changing transformers that keep blowing.  So what do you do when you have no power, no water, no coffee pot????  

Well I took the opportunity to run some errands.  And as such, I also stopped in at the Hospice Thrift store.  It's in our old neighborhood, so it's not one that I frequent very often.  As I looked around I came upon this sewing machine case.  

Of course I had to check out what was inside the case!!

And here is what I found!

 

Because of the harp opening I thought I had found a Singer 201.  A lot of gals are doing their machine quilting on the 201.  I asked if the machine worked, and after plugging it in, found that it ran pretty smoothly.  So this little baby came home with me.

  

After I got it home, we discovered the manual in the bottom of the case and it is not a 201 but a Singer 66-16.  I don't really know a lot about these older Singers, but checking the serial number I did discover that this machine was manufactured in 1948.  The machine looks like it has been used, as it has a few scratches on the bed, but the motor seems to purr.  

Does anyone have any idea on what to do to clean this baby up??  I would love to hear from anyone who is using either a 201 or the 66 to do their machine quilting.  The harp opening is about 8- 8 1/2" wide. 

Christmas projects??

Have you been working on Christmas projects??  I tend to be one who puts off holiday sewing until pretty late in the season.

This table topper was started a couple of years ago, but I have purposed to get it finished so I can use it this Christmas.


It's a pattern from Anka's Treasures.

 The instructions are not clear on how to add the border for this shape, but I will do the best I can.

The holidays are fast approaching!

Happy Quilting!

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?

Sew Darn Crafty
Show Off Friday

Sale? What sale??

Okay, well, I just couldn't resist.




 
 A sale at the LQS beckoned me.

Now tell me, could you resist??

Do I love quilts??

I guess that pretty much sums it all up :-)

Construction continues

Building these houses is taking a little more time then the Full House pattern.  So that means I am cutting each block as I go.



 
These are the ones already in the works.

I 
I have no idea how this is going to look on my blog.  To say I am a little frustrated with the new interface is an understatement.  Everything was so much easier on the old interface.  I am on a new learning curve right now, just trying to figure out where everything is, that used to be right on my dashboard.  WHY do they have to keep changing things?????

Housewarming

Are you ready for a Housewarming party??

I was really not happy with how this quilt was going. The first attempt with scrappy fabrics was just not pleasing to my eye.

Following the picture on the pattern, I decided to go with the neutral color way. And even then it seemed like things were not as bright and happy as I would have liked.

BUT, like many of you suggested, adding the sashing............


AND then the borders.................


Well I think we are ready for a Housewarming party........

don't you??

YAY! I really like how it turned out. I made some changes to the pattern. My houses are bigger. As I was constructing, the roof was so large and required to be cut down. Making the houses a little bigger was a better solution for me. Also, I did not make as many houses, nor the double borders on top and bottom. But believe me, it's plenty big for a wall hanging :-)

WIP Wednesday
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop!
Sew and Tell

Plugging away

I'm still working on my house blocks. Although the Construction manager went on strike this past weekend. Just had to walk away from the construction site. Nevertheless, I keep plugging away.

As I was reading blogs this morning, I came across a few giveaways. So take a look and maybe someone will win a fun prize.

Stitch This!
Stray Stitches
May Chappell
Quilty Pleasures
Sew Fabulous
CT Publications
KoolBeenz
You can always find giveaways on Insights from SewCalGal Giveaway link.

Have fun, and enjoy a Happy Quilting Day!

Aprons

Aprons! Do you love them?? Hawthorn Threads sent their newsletter last week, and low and behold, they posted a link to 25 Apron patterns. Check it out and let me know which one is your favorite.

The Blue House

While I have been building a new neighborhood, the Country Homecoming BOM is still in the making. Block #6 is a blue house.

I'm not sure who is still constructing these houses, so please hop over to Anne's blog Cotton's n Wool and visit the other construction crews.

How to Clean your Iron

Thank you so much for all of your comments on yesterdays post. You see I sew with some amazing ladies who have a real gift of putting colors together. Everything they make turns out beautifully. Not that I'm comparing, you understand, but I just seem to struggle with coordinating colors together, and I needed to know if it was something that others struggled with.

I also wanted to pass on a helpful hint. You may already know about this, but I didn't so I thought I would share. You know how we've talked about irons before. Keeping the plate clean can be troublesome at times.

I've used a product I bought from JoAnn's to clean my iron, which works fine, but can be pricey. My biggest problem appears to be the plate seems scorched in places.

So I recently found something that works not only on the scorch marks but on gunk that may accumulate on my iron.

Using a damp Magic Eraser (that I use to wipe away marks on my painted walls) I found that it also works on removing every mark on the iron faceplate. I had to use a little more pressure on the indention's as they were well baked onto the faceplate.

But wa-la!!!

Clean iron!!

I found this great idea on Aimee's It's Overflowing blog.

Do you get discouraged too??

Tell me truly, is it challenging to you to pick colors for a quilt? I mean, if you don't have a bundle, or a jelly roll, or some other coordinated variety of fabrics??

I get SOOOO discouraged when I try to select colors for a quilt, using what I have in my stash. Case in point -

After cutting out several of the Neighborhood fabrics, I thought to myself why not use the same fabrics and make the Schnibbles Full House. I started working on the house front and roof block and before long I just wanted to throw it away!

Here's where I started.

After putting a couple together, I decided to regroup and use the same color way that is on the cover of the pattern.

Either I am WAY too picky, or I just don't know how to put colors together that will be pleasing to my eye. Tell me I'm not alone :-S

Table Stitch, Table Set

Savoring Summertime............

with bright and easy livin' ........


I found these cute plates at Target.

One colorful feature of this table is the quilt I used as a tablecloth.

The vintage cups and saucers are Taylor Smith Taylor.

The backdrop for this summertime table was the Card Trick quilt I made a few years ago. I always felt this quilt was perfect for a porch setting. When Sew Mama Sew announced their Table Stitch, Table Set, Tablescape contest, I knew I wanted to share this table. So even though Summer has passed us by, I still enjoy savoring the colors of Summertime.

9/11

God Bless America

May we never forget

(Comments turned off in respect for this Memorial Day)

Home Ec

Many years ago, I took a required class my first year in High School. On one of the first days of our Home Economics class, our teacher, Mrs. Trainor, told us that we would be constructing a garment, learn to bake, and learn how to design a home.

I had never sewn before, as my own Mom did not sew. So we learned about fabric and thread, and sewing machines, tracing wheels and zippers. And each one of us made a garment!

After graduating from High School, I found that making garments was fun and challenging. I ended up taking another garment class through Adult Education offered in our public schools.

After I married and started a family, I found the local craft stores offered different classes. Cake decorating was a great asset to make birthday cakes for my little children. But the class that changed how I looked at a sewing machine was the quilting class.
At that time, we used scissors, templates and we hand stitched everything. When our class was almost over, our teacher brought out an instrument that she said would make cutting our fabric easier. Can you guess what it was?

Yep, it was the first time I ever saw a Rotary cutter. None of the students were impressed, saying "How could this pizza cutter take the place of scissors?" Not only were we wrong, but my sister in love took a class at a new quilt shop and learned Eleanor Burns Quilt in a Day method. Sewing has never been the same for us since ;-)

How about you?? Who taught you to quilt??

Silent Sunday

Progress

The third house ran into some problems which ended up being torn down and rebuild.

I'm still not sure I like the light roof, but we will see. Here is how the neighborhood is progressing.

I think the construction crew is going to take the weekend off and work on some other things :-)

Sew and Tell
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?
Show Off Friday
WIP Wednesday

More construction

House Number 2 is joining the neighborhood.

Did you know that Moda is hosting their Designers Blog Hop?? 10 days of fun celebrating National Sewing Month with 29 Moda designers from all over the globe! Wouldn't you like to see where these talented designers live and create?

Happy Quilting!!

New Construction

I have started on the Neighborhood houses.

This quilt is going to be an interesting challenge for me. It's always been hard for me to mix and match fabrics that are not from the same line. Guess I like things to be more matchy matchy ;-) However, I'm using Civil War prints that I've been saving for a fun project.

So put on your hard hat, I'll be making more of these houses throughout the month of September.

Happy Quilting!

And the winners are..........

What fun it is to be a part of the Quilters Blog Hop. It's fun finding new bloggers and having so many of you visiting for the first time. Thank you for all the comments from all over the world!! It always fascinates me at how far reaching blog land has become. I've had comments from 35 States and 18 different countries!

But now the Random generator has picked the winners. "Scrap Basket Sewing" and fabric goes to Meggie. The magazine and homespun fabrics goes to And Sew On. Please send me your mailing addresses. I will be sending you an email, but if I do not hear back from you by Thursday, new winners will be chosen.

And yes there has been some construction going on :-) New buildings being built in the neighborhood!

Have a happy quilting day!

Won't you be my.......

With September being National Sewing Month, I along with a few others (Hi Darlene!) will be keeping the sewing machine needle going up and down throughout the month.

There may be some NewFO's in the making. So where to begin?

I've always loved House quilts. I could just make Miss Rosie's Schnibbles Full House.

Or this one I found in an older McCall's Quilting magazine (October 2009)

How about Pat Sloan's version from her book Fast-Forward Quilts.

Country Homecoming Quilt is a BOM pattern that I've been working on using homespun fabrics.
So which one do YOU think I will start during this sewing marathon month??

Remember today is the last day to sign up for the Quilter's Blog Hop giveaway.

Happy Quilting Neighbor :-)