November!

Already! November!! Wow, time flies by.  I wanted to show you the machine that was gifted to me by a friend. I looked everywhere to find out any information i could about this beauty but to no avail until a lovely IGer sent me to Facebook to the "Vintage Sewing Machine Group". They were so helpful.  It seemed that after WW ll  the japanese wanted to get into the market so they made machines that would appeal to all people. This machine is modeled after the Singer Model 15. They made many machines with different nameplates to attract buyers.  She sews only a straight stitch which is great as I adore my Juki.  Made of cast iron and I can barely lift her!  She is going to get a good cleaning and then put on display in my home.

Since I am trying to get the grey nine patch quilt done ,I have decided not to start any new projects.  But a girl cannot (nor her wrist) survive on hand quilting alone.  So I am working on some Holiday UFO's.  

I showered you this embroidery last post. It is a pattern from Sherri Falls her company is called This and That and can be found at This and That Patterns.  HERE

My word for 2015 was "believe". I needed to believe I could do something I had never thought I could. Well, Hello November!  The believe took awhile to arrive!

A Holiday Pillow with an envelope back. Thank you to Sherri for the darling pattern. Thank you to Lori Holt for her great tutorial on envelope back pillows.  You can find that HERE  (scroll down to the baby chick)

Today I pulled out another UFO.  Once again started last year but not finished.  I was hoping to make it into a bench pillow but it is too long.  So today I am going to start to embellish it with all sorts of fun items.  This is a darling pattern I found on Craftsy.  HERE

In other new I am so excited to finally receive Helen Phillips new book. Modern Vintage Gifts.  I have been waiting for this book!  I adore Helen's work.  See that star quitt?  Yep, I am going to make it!  I "believe" I can.

You can get her book HERE

Enjoy this beautiful weather and happy stitching!

This and That

Hi everyone!  I know so many folks are at quilt market this weekend, I have been seeing pictures, fabric and a lot of smiles! I however am home!  We did get to visit Maggie at school a few weeks ago and of course hit up the Iowa Dairy Barn.  So yummy.

She was home this last week from college but had her tonsils out. Not too much fun at the ripe old age of 19!  She is recovering and heads back to Grinnell on Sunday. Wish she was little so I could keep her home from school for a few more days! 

I got a wonderful birthday gift from my hubby this year. On September 16th I turned 60 and on September 15th our new golden retriever puppy was born! 

 This will be our third golden in our 38 years of marriage.  The amazing thing is that our breeder still breeds goldens! Now hold tight we got our first golden in 1979, yep, you read that right!  We have been so lucky to be able to visit our little girl.  There were five puppies, four boys and our little girl.  We have named her Charly.  And I am so in love with her.  

Charly one week old.

Two weeks old with her Mommy.

Three weeks old with her Mommy!!! ME!!!

Four weeks old Charly meets Maggie and the grand-children

Our last visit until she comes hone in ten days!!!

She is almost six weeks old.

Now on the sewing front in my last post I showed you a few things I was working on for the holiday's.  Here is the finished stitchery of the pumpkin patch. Pattern by Sherri Falls of This and That Patterns.  

I also finished this one which will be made into a pillow. 

 I also showed you some Halloween hexies i was working on, I combined them with two pumpkin blocks of a Lori Holt pattern from her Farm Girl Vintage Book. If you do not have it treat yourself. It is an amazing book.

 I just have the binding left to add to this little flag placemat. In my home it is always a good time for red, white and blue. 

My Halloween leader ender quilt is coming along. I am sure it will be ready for next year!!  Most fabrics are Witch Hazel from Riley Blake Designs.  

 But what I am working on now is the grey nine patch quilt for one of my daughters and SIL. This is a king size quilt and those of you who know me know I love to hand quilt. This is the design I will be stitching in the white squares.

But basting, it is for me the worst part of quilting.  I finally after years, and years of trying new ways have found something that works.

Now I saw this somewhere but to be honest I do not know where and I tweeked it to serve my needs. 

This is my basting solution! 

1.  Grab a helper.

2. Find a large wall. For me it was the garage wall. 

3. Push pin the backing into the wall making sure there are no wrinkles. That is why two sets of hands really help. 

4. Spray the back with spray baste.

5. Gently add the batting over the backing. Important tip!  Pat it down. Do not smooth, it will wrinkle. 

6. Spray the batting.

7. Gently add the top. I did add push pins to the top so it would not pull. 

8. Again pat do not smooth.

9. Now at this point you could be done but also used my safety pins just for good measure.  

Hope this helps you too! 

Oh yes, i went on a little trip to Joann's a while ago for grey thread for the quilt and came home with these!

Christmas Quilt 2016!!!

I will end this post with my Peanuts Self!

I am the new girl in town! Just call me Pinky!  You can be a character too! Just go to peanutizeme.com.  

I have a few things in my etsy store if you want to take a peek.

Happy sewing! 

The Past Few Months

Hi Everyone!!  Just popping in to say hello!    September, wow, where did the summer go?  Although here in Illinois today is going to be 90 degrees!  I love the last push of summer. I will be sorry to see it leave. The children are back in school and a routine has started to settle back in everyone's home.

As for sewing I have been working on smaller projects throughout the last few months..

I found a great pattern on Instagram for a see through pouch.

  Zipper and all!

I also have been embroidering. Found a wonderful designer named Sherri Falls. Her Company is called This and That.  I just love her patterns. Check her out HERE.

My love of hexies continues......

We took our youngest daughter back to college on August 15th (way too early for my liking!).

We had to rent a car and I sat in the back seat because she gets car sick.  It was only a four hour drive so no problem for me! 

She is one happy camper!

I am working on a king size quilt for my daughter and SIL.  She choose a beautiful shade of gray.  She is very traditional so I am making the good old nine patch! 

I am using these Halloween fabrics as my leader ender quilt. I am using the pattern, Fast Four Patch by Amy Smart of Dairy of a Quilter. She has a tutorial on her blog HERE.

Most of these fabrics are from Riley Blake called Witch Hazel and the rest from my stash. 

I am also collecting the fabric line Feed Company by Sweetwater for an upcoming quilt.

Lastly, I am finishing my Farm Girl Vintage blocks by Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet.  Link on my side-bar.  These and others item are posted on my IG feed.  Just a few too many pictures to post!

Hope you stop by to visit.

Link on my side-bar. 

Well friends, that is what I have been up to the last few months.  I hope all is well with you and that you are getting a chance to do something you love,   Happy Sewing!

A Lot To Share

Those who know me know that I am always thinking of the colors Red/White/Blue and 

The 4th of July.

So, I did some crafting.

I do not craft but I have been wanting to try a few things so I took an out of my box jump!  

Before I show you what I did I would like to show you what my 19 year old daughter made for me.

I just love this so much!!

OK, here we go!

I purchased some patriotic scrap-booking paper, got out my star die and my go cutter.

and made these....

Next, I headed to the machine and just chained pieced them together to make star garland.

Next up, salt layered candle holders.

Wow, is this fun and easy.

A container of salt pored into a bowl, drops of food coloring added, stir!

Keep adding drops until you reach your desired tint.

Then I took a spoon and layered the salt around the candle.

I also pained Mason Jars.

First up supplies. 

 Newspaper spread on the working surface.

Black Acrylic Chalkboard paint.

Sponge brushes.

Acrylic paint in red, white and blue.

An emery board.

Spray can of matte finish sealer.

Clean and dry Mason Jars.

I first painted the jars black. Let them completely dry. I gave it about 2 hours.  Second coat, two more hours. 

Now you can paint over the black with a color of your choice, for me R/W/B.

One coat. Let dry.  It took two coats to cover the black completely.

Maggie joined in and painted two, one purple and one aqua. She did not use the chalkboard paint first.

Now for the trick!  I took the emery board and slowly rubbed over the words on the jar.  The black paint showed up and gave the jars a rustic look.

I took the jars outside and sprayed them with the sealer.

I let them dry overnight.

Here they are!

This was a lot of fun and very easy to do.  Especially for a non-crafter like me!

Whew, let's get back to sewing!

Because I am crazy I must have more than one project going at a time!

I started a paper piecing project.  I just love to paper piece.

A few stars for my star quilt.

And then I got smart (about time, don't you think!) I make one Farm Girl Friday Block and then one star block. With this technique I hope to stay in pace with the Farm Girl Friday Blocks.

We just returned from our Vacation to Disney World. 

Myself, hubby, three daughters, two SIL's and three grand-babies. When they say it feels like 106 degrees, you better believe it does!! Dry heat, I do not think so!  

But nothing could ruin a family trip to this magical place.

It is our anniversary today.

38 years.

Time goes so quickly!

Pink flowers in my favorite vase (my Mom's pink vase).

Thanks honey.

Until next time...

Enjoy and happy sewing!