Cross one off the list

I seem to do better & stay focused when I have a list. Writing the blog post about my quilty goals really helped put a fire underneath me. Yesterday I spent my quilty time finishing up my Moms wall hanging. 

Last January I had a presentation in Topeka & afterwards I had to stop at the local quilt shop. I had a great time in there & left with lots of treasures. One of them was a package of 2 mini cheater quilt tops. 

I wanted them for my embroidery. With the pattern already stamped on the fabric a major step had already been done for me.  The first one I made for my friend Liz as her Christmas gift & then this one for my Mom. I think she's planing on using it for her spring wall hanging. Next up on the list is some paper piecing. Time to get my feet wet & remember how to do this. I think I'll practice on the Wild & Goosey blocks before I go onto friend Liz's quilt. That one is way more intense. 

I hope that hall are having a great day. It's simply stunning here. I'm loving this sunshine. More later on,

Vicky

Speaking, a broken sewing machine & my first finished scarf!

This past Monday (Jan 12) I gave my Scrappy quilts presentation to the Lee's Summit Quilters Guild. I had such a good time & I hope that I inspired some quilters to use their scraps! After a quilt is shown they drape the quilts over the chairs so that after the presentation everyone can get up close to the quilts. 

My mom took a few pics while I was speaking

Thank you again Lee's Summit Quilt Guild I had a great time!

For the last few weeks my modern sewing machine has been acting up. The display will fade in & out. I asked my friend Joelyne, who knows way more about these machines than I do, & she thought that it was the power supply. I took my machine to her house yesterday & her friend/tech took a look at it. It turns out that the plug where my foot pedal plugs into my machine is shorting out & not working correctly. Ahhhhh! I will be able to use my machine but eventually the screen will go completely black. There are a few options to get it fixed so I'm staying optimistic. 

I finished my first knitted scarf yesterday! I'm so excited that I finished it & that it turned out! Yeah!

It's very warm & versatile. Success breeds desire to create more, so I am. Here's my newest project

I'd better get up & get breakfast going. More later on,

Vicky

My quilty goals for 2015

I'm insane or at least that's what it feels like. I've set some pretty lofty goals for myself this year. I really want to challenge myself. So here it goes: 

Projects to finish:

My moms wall hanging. I just need to put borders on & have it quilted. 

My friend Liz's purple project. She's been very patient in waiting for this. Though to make it better I've been loaning her different quilts until she has hers.

I had also started Wild & Goosey from Bonnie Hunter & it needs to be finished. 

Long term project: I'm going to make a pineapple quilt. I've got lots of tiny scraps that I can't toss. It's time to use them up. The blocks will finish at 4"

I'll need to make 625 of them so that the quilt will be big enough for me. That's roughly 2 blocks a day for this year & I'm already behind. 

This is also the year that I'm going to make my favorite pattern of all time, The Double Wedding Ring. I have loved this pattern for years but I've always been intimidated by it. Well curved seams do not frighten me anymore & I have a die to cut all of the pieces. There are no more reasons to keep putting this off. I started cutting the pieces & I did sew some of the arcs last night.  The background will be black & the arcs will be bright batiks. Predictable I know but I just love that combo. 

I'm sure that there will be more that pop up during the year but as of right now these are my goals. I'd better go & get started on one of these. More later on,

Vicky

Crickets chirping

It's been quiet on my blog for way to long. Life has been extremely busy in the last 6 weeks or so. Besides the holidays, which were a blast but busy I have started cooking breakfast & supper for my in laws everyday. I don't mind it & my guys really love it, they haven't been eating cereal as much. Though I am finding it more of a challenge to find new ways to cook eggs. Today is my father in laws 90th birthday. He didn't want a party he wanted a coconut cake & a chocolate cake. I made him the coconut cake last night & the chocolate cake for tonight. We are also having his favorite, fried catfish. 

I'm also learning a new skill, knitting. I can't explain it but I just had this overwhelming urge to learn how to do it. Here is my first scarf

It turned out narrow so I'm giving it to a friend for a cold kiddo. Next I made a pot holder 

It was a great way to practice but it doesn't do to well at protecting you from the heat. Currently I'm working on a scarf or shawl I'm not sure which. I'm finding I like working with the largest needles I could find, they fit my man hands. 

I've been quilting as much as I can fit in. I've finished my 4 patch X quilt ( pic coming soon. Gotta wait for a calm weather day outside. It's way to large to take the pic inside). I'm also working on my Spider web quilt. When this pic was taken I had 21 blocks done, half way done!

Now I have 34 blocks done & I'm running out of strings. Time to hunt down done more. My goal is to have this one done in time for my next guild presentation on Jan 19. I'm really trying to make that happen!

I'd better get going. Chores need to be done & I need to start frying the catfish & I've forgotten that I need to make my Sat Sampler blocks for tomorrow. It'll all get done. Next blog post I'm going to share my quilting goals for 2015. I think I'm going to really step out of my comfort zone this year. I hope that y'all have had a great holiday season & are looking forward to the new year. I sure am. More later on & a lot more frequent. 

Vicky

Angels herding the cows

The water did come on last night so the plan was for me to haul some hay down & get a few chores done while the cows were in the pasture. While on the first load I noticed that the cows & their babies were spread out all over the pasture. I had gotten one load done & had started on my second when the heavens opened up & it started to pour. When I got to the top of the pasture there were all of the cows & their babies waiting for me to let them in. I quickly made a u-turn, shut all of the gates & let the cows back in. I seriously think that was the easiest I have ever had it. I wish that I could have seen the Angels bringing the cows up. What a sight! 

I did make a quick check of the pasture just to make sure there was no one left behind & there wasn't. Thank you Lord for my many blessings yesterday & today. 

More later on,

Vicky 

Just call me Grace + life with no water

This picture is a summary of my evening

The farm & my in-laws house is on city water, my families house is on well water. Around 3 today there was a major water line break & there is no city water. Well wouldn't you know husband wasn't home. By the time he got home (from helping an elderly farmer) it was dark. The plan to get water to the cows was to get them back into the pasture (there are 3 ponds back there). I did a quick check of the fence line & we were good to go. Just try to picture 3 humans herding a bunch of cows & calves in the dark. Oh my goodness what an experience. All went well, it took us a few tries but I believe we got all momma & their babies reunited in the pasture. The incident with my pant leg occurred while herding some calves back towards the gate & well with it being dark I did not see the huge mud pit. It'll be fine though I'll wash & so will the jeans. Dear husband & kiddo are headed into town to get water in these huge totes to water another set of calves that can't go back to the pasture. I'm hoping that the water will come back on soon & this incredible warm weather holds on until the water comes on. I really don't want to chop ice on the ponds. I'd better close this off & see what I can get done in the house. I hope y'all are having a great evening. More later on,

Vicky

It's Monday! What am I working on, a finish!!!!

Life has been busy but isn't that what I always say? We had a great Thanksgiving with our family & friends. I learned that you can't crowd an oven, the food will not cook quickly. My silly turkey took 6 hours to cook. The lessons I learned & the stories we can now tell😊.

I finished my latest quilt! Yeah! It's a big one. It measures 101.5" square, I hope. My tiny living room is to small to lay it out flat & it is too wet for an outside picture. This pic will have to do until I get it back & then maybe I can take apic outside

My original plan was for it to have a 4" border but with it being over 100" I decided that it was good border less. I'll put a solid dark binding on it & call it good. While putting it together I used some BOM blocks as my Leaders & Enders. I was able to get 3 blocks completed! 

Next on my plate is to bind 2 quilts, not my favorite thing to do. My guild is participating in the Kansas City quilt festival next June. We get to hang a certain number so in order to choose which quilts we will hang we need to bring our quilts this Thursday to guild meeting & we'll have viewers choice. My entry will be 

Sorry for the blurry picture me & technology are not getting along currently. This is my version of a red work quilt. The original pattern was for twilling embroidery but I did stem stitch with pearl cotton #5. It gives great texture & dimension plus it goes so much faster than twilling. 

I'd better cut this off, I need to finish supper. I hope hall are having a great day. It's been an unseasonably warm day here. It looks like we'll be in the upper 50's to almost 60's all week.  It's very hard for me to get in the Christmas spirit with it being that warm. I think getting my tree up might help. More later on,  

Vicky