Monday, June 29, 2020

Pfeffernusse Done! (Almost...)


I can't believe I finished this top before the end of June!!! My border and backing fabrics arrived from Whittle only 2 days after I ordered them. I did a happy dance and got to work. I'm kind of in love with this quilt, which is strange because these are totally not colors to which I'm drawn.

Morale: I need to step out of my comfort zone more often!


Here's a close up of the border fabrics - a sweet pinstripe and a reproduction. They both worked out wonderfully. The backing fabric will be a Grunge dot.


And why did a say 'almost' in the title of this post? Well....I still have to remove the paper from the string blocks on the backside. After reading the instructions (after I finished the quilt top!) I learned I should have removed the paper when these string blocks were still individual blocks. EEK!

They say engineers never read instructions and I guess I'm guilty of that! Now I have to deal with removing paper from those tiny seam allowances too. I made a good start on this yesterday. I've almost done 3 rows (out of 12). So this part will take a few days of watching TV with the quilt top and tweezers in hand. Oh well. Lesson learned.

Thursday evening I dropped my cell phone in the toilet - another EEK! moment. I've never done that before. It was not working correctly, wouldn't take a charge, and I couldn't hear when someone called. It occurred to me that I may have had insurance on it. Indeed I did! I filled out an online form Thursday night and by lunchtime on Friday (!!!!) FedEx brought me a brand new phone! My software engineer daughter came over after work and set it up for me. Back in business! I only had to pay a $99 deductible. Yay! Crisis averted.

Okay. Now I'm ready to select a quilt to tackle in July. I've selected my Marshall quilt. You may remember that this Jen Kingwell  pattern was in Quiltmania magazine over the course of 2019. Lots of hand piecing and appliqué. Making all these parts and pieces was my therapy as I recovered from my breast cancer surgeries. I could hand sew easier than I could sit at my machine and sew during many of these months.

I have to admit, once the final quilt was revealed in the Fall of 2019, I didn't love it. So I designed my own version using all the parts and pieces. I really love my design, but once I had it put together it was wavy. So I'm going to have to rip a lot out and see what I can do to make it flat. It's been put away for months, but I really want to get it finished. So that's what is next.

I've also started making masks for out family again. Kids are going back to work before long and Hubby and I need more also. I think we'll be wearing masks for the long haul. I want us all to have a mask for each day - it can go in the dirty clothes hamper and then have a fresh one for the next day.

Have a great day and stay safe!

Monday, June 22, 2020

Two More Rows!



My month of June has been productive. Only two more rows to go! I have jumped ahead and have made all the string blocks for the last two rows. And I've made a start on the little hour glass blocks. So the last rows should go rather quickly.

Most of these rows have not been sewn together, so that will be another morning's work.

And I looked through my stash and I don't have any fabric to use for the two borders. So I placed an order this morning from Whittles - they have a great selection and very good prices. I also ordered a nice, wide backing while I was at it.

I may not get the border fabric before June ends....so this may go over into July just a bit. But I'll stick with it until it's done. Wish you could see this in person - so much more vibrant and cool.

Hmmm....what project shall I choose to work on in July???  I'm still thinking on it - so many to choose from.


This sweet little bird came to visit while I sewed this morning. I took this photo from my sewing room, sitting at my machine. Yes, I have a nice little view of the golf course, don't I?

That's it from here. Hopefully the next post will show a finished quilt top.

Stay safe and enjoy your day!

Thursday, June 18, 2020

Sewing, a Checkup, and a Birthday



I'm still making progress on Pfeffernusse. I went for more than a week without sewing a stitch, but I'm back on track now. I try to add one row each day - it takes about 2 hours to sew a row.


I've passed the halfway mark! I only have 5 more rows to go. I may have to order fabric for the borders, but I haven't checked my stash of larger cuts yet.


Monday we had to make the trip to Birmingham for a checkup with my breast surgeon. I have to go every six months. Let me tell you, I LOVE my breast surgeon. She truly saved my life. And I'm not even talking about the breast cancer. She saved my life after I had the severe allergic reaction to an antibiotic after my mastectomy. Remember I had to be admitted a second time for several days?

She and I had a nice chat about this at my appointment. This was the first time I heard how worried she and the other doctors were about me. I knew it was a bad situation, but it was scary hearing hearing her take on it. That was a horrific time.

Okay. Happy stuff now! My mother turned 90 last week! What a milestone! Her assisted living facility is still on lockdown due to Covid. So all I could do was have a bakery in her area send her a box of cupcakes. My brother sent her flowers. She got plenty of attention that day and enjoyed it.



Can you tell the doggies are enjoying our new home? The love the patio and the fenced yard. We weren't allowed to have a fence at our cottage. It's been wonderful not to have to walk the dogs on leashes!

Stay safe and enjoy your day!

Tuesday, June 2, 2020

On My Design Wall....


I've settled in to work on two quilts at the moment. I've decided that during June I'll focus on my Pfeffernusse quilt (bottom of design wall). I'll keep working on my Manx log cabin quilt (by hand), also.


I really thought I would not enjoy strip piecing for Pfeffernusse. But I do! Every day I try to put together a small section of the quilt. The brown pieces are all done. So I make a few cream blocks and more red/cream hourglass units as I go.

Brown, cream, and red are colors I never use. But I saw this quilt done by a friend and thought it was gorgeous.

As far as the log cabin quilt - I'm ready to sew that top row to the 'mother quilt' - maybe tomorrow.


I finished the placemats! We love them. We had to buy this small dinette table and chairs when we moved in. We have done our part to help the economy by buying plenty of furniture. We have two sofas that we are still waiting for - we were told it would take 10-12 weeks for delivery. I think we are  around week 8 at the moment.


We found this tiny nest in our backyard last week. The inside looks like it's lined with Cooper's hair, but I'm not sure that we've lived here long enough for that. Isn't it sweet?

Stay safe.