A Slower Week

 

I machine embroidered another little onesie for Sadie. I need to order more in a bigger size - she is growing so fast that these are already tight! 

I pulled out this pillow kit I purchased in Houston last year - I cut the pieces and have it ready for hand stitching. I cut out the letters that go in the mouth when I get to that point.

Food. During a pandemic...

I finally hit a wall in cooking. I enjoy cooking normally, but enough is enough. So my new routine is to cook something on Sunday every week. I try to make a meal that will feed us twice or more. This past week it was Ravioli Lasagna - recipe here. This Sunday I'll make Cheesy Ground Beef Empanadas - recipe here.

We order take out pizza every week - we get two meals from that. 

Wednesday night is burger night at the clubhouse in our neighborhood - see picture above. These are GIGANTIC! We each get one (along with their delicious sweet potato fries) and eat half one night, saving the other half for another meal. The clubhouse has a very safe food pick up protocol. 

I know - not the healthiest of routines, but it gets us fed with minimal cooking. Last week we skipped the burgers and ordered a taco kit from a restaurant. Sometimes we skip the pizza and we grill out something. 

About Zeta:

Zeta hit our region harder than expected - it was the wind that was so damaging. We were lucky and have no damage at either home. The power was out at the lake for more than 24 hours. Hubby went yesterday and cleaned up the yard and emptied the refrigerator. There were so many tree and power lines across roads that he struggled to get there. So many people have trees on their houses and/or cars. Let's hope that was the last hurricane for the time being!

Today I think I'll set my machine back up for stitching and pull out the cheddar bow ties and Appalachian Autumn blocks. 

Stay safe! 

Embroidery and Applique!

 

Before I get back to my regular routine of cheddar bowties, Fall leaves, and stars...I decided to pull out the embroidery module for my Bernina and work on some onesies for Sadie. I bought a five pack of long sleeve onesies. I did this pumpkin one yesterday. Sadie loved watching the machine do its thing.

Today I'll do another.

And I've done a bit of Fall baking. Pumpkin Bread - yum! And this delightful snack. 

Caramel Puff Corn is so easy to make - you start with cheese puff corn. I love this stuff - no 'old maids' or kernels. Great for snacking during a football game. It's very addictive, so make lots! You'll find the recipe HERE! NOTE: the recipe calls for one bag of puff corn - I used two bags, each just over 4 oz. Here's the kind I used:

Your family will LOVE it! I made two batches of this last week - from 4 bags of puff corn - it went fast! Yes, I shared with our daughters....

We're expecting rain and wind from Zeta today and tomorrow. This will be the third hurricane that has affected us. Of course Sally took part of our fence out - it's now repaired. Let's hope this one isn't too bad.

Stay safe!

Sew Be It: A Curved Hexie Quilt

 

Ta-Dah! Ta-Done! I may go back and add a bit more quilting to the center section, but we'll see. 30 hours of quilting in this so far!

I used more of Tula Pink's Homemade fabric for the rest of the quilt.

This fluorescent green background - whoa, it's bright! But it was nice to have those grid lines to help with quilting a diagonal crosshatch.

This has been a busy two week push to finish this quilt. Daughter 1 came over yesterday afternoon to take more professional photos for me - she's a master with the camera. (Please note that photos shown here are my own, done with my cell phone). Her photos are really amazing, but my computer is on the old side and those photos don't like to load on it. 

Do you want to know why I was in such a rush to finish? Well...

As we were nearing the end of the Curved Hexie Stitch Along, I realized that Free Spirit is running a competition for quilts made with the Homemade fabric line by Tula Pink. I knew the deadline would be tight - so I had to HURRY! And hurry, I did. 

My daughter also helped me fill out the entry form and attach her photos - my computer just couldn't handle it. And so.... or should I say, and SEW, it is officially entered. I'll keep you posted on that. And yes, I've named it: Sew Be It: A Curved Hexie Quilt. The quilt measures 60" x 63".

Sew Be It!

Stay safe!

Curved Hexie Stitch Along- Show and Tell!

Above it from Cynthia W - isn't it lovely? That cobalt blue really holds it all together - wonderful job!

And this is made by Steve C. Wonderful work, Steve! Your colors are fabulous!!!!

How are the rest of you coming along? I hope you're almost done.

So, did I make my deadline of finishing the quilting on mine by Friday and hand stitching the binding on Saturday? Yes and No. 

I didn't quite finish the quilting, but I almost finished it. I got enough done to do the binding. Yes, I hand stitched binding all day today. Tomorrow I'll finish the quilting. And then hand stitch the sleeve. Yes, I made a sleeve for this one. So far I have spent 28 hours machine quilting this quilt.

Stay safe!

 

Still Quilting....

 

Still Machine Quilting....

 

Here's the backside....so far....

I'm Machine Quilting!

 I've been AWOL. I was determined to finish my curved hexie quilt top by Friday. And I did.

I spent Saturday basting the layers. All day. Lots of pins. For the first time, I used the pool noodles technique - what a help!!!!!

This morning I began the machine quilting. I bought these HQ Paddles at Houston last Fall. Today was the first time I used them. I LOVE them. They have knobs on top to hold and really helped me maneuver the quilt sandwich without quilting gloves.

I think I quilting for 9 hours today. Some of the quilting is in the ditch. Some is straight lines. But a lot is free motion. Whew....

But I'm more than half way done. I'm going to be happy with it.

Now my goal is to finish the quilting by the end of Friday. I want to trim it and have the binding stitched down and ready for hand stitching during football watching on Saturday. BOOM! I love a goal. Or two, or three.

The cheddar bowties and the Appalachian Autumn quilts will wait.

Stay safe!

Curved Hexie Stitch Along - Part 12

 

Guess what!!!??? This is the final part!!! We have arrived at the end of our journey!

Until about 10 days ago, I had no idea how this would end. But I played around on my design wall and suddenly knew it needed to be shaped like a hexagon in the end. Appropriate, right?

I know I promised only 6 or 7 hexies per week. But I wanted to give you the rest of the instructions all at once. So, take your time. Finish at your own pace.

We're making four units that each have six hexies. 

Two of the six will be hexies using only one fabric.

Two will be cut with S2.

Two will be cut with P4. 

Remember the scallop effect we did earlier? That's what we're doing. These are the units starting at the top left and going clockwise.

                                             

And now what to do with this hexagon shaped quilt top? I have appliquéd mine to a background and plan to add borders and maybe more hexies on the borders. I'll share it when it is complete. What will you do with yours? I want to see! Please send me pictures as you finish yours!!!! I really want to see them! Be creative!

I came very close to leaving this hexagon shaped quilt top as is - quilting it and using it as a table topper or a floor quilt for Sadie. So maybe you'll do so with yours????

I really hope you've had fun making this with me. You now are thoroughly versed in making curved hexagons. I hope you'll use the ruler again and again and have more fun with it. Continue to share what you make with curved hexies.

Stay safe!

A Day in the Life

 

Here's where each morning begins. The day before I have laid out the pieces for an Appalachian Autumn leaf and four little bowtie blocks. Yes, I added a leaf into the mix for my morning piecing - I can put together one leaf and four bowtie in about 30 minutes if the pieces are already laid out. Can you tell I was an Engineer - haha! Yes, I try my best to be efficient.

Sew, sew, sew. There we go! Starting the day off accomplishing something. And as soon as I finish this, I lay out the pieces for the next day.

I now have 8 leaf blocks complete and 3/4 of another LARGE bowtie block unit. Progress! Only 8 more leaf blocks to go (and lots of half square triangles for the border).

I get this 30 minutes of machine sewing done before Sadie arrives. While she is here, I do a bit of hand sewing here and there. But I love spending loads of time with her. Today Hubby and I took her on a long walk (though she slept through most of it).

And look! I finally finished my first full block of my Edyta Sitar quilt! Big hurray! Only 14 more to go (ugh!) and lots of half blocks. This quilt will take  a few years for sure.

Today I had some extra time so I cut strips for the next large star block, along with the pieces for the small stars around it. Again, progress!

AND, I'm working on curved hexies on a daily basis. This quilt top is coming together! And I'm really excited about how it's turning out. Yay!

Stay safe!

Curved Hexie Stitch Along - Part 11

 

We're doing it again! Did you guess this?  Make 4 from S2.

And make 2 from P4. 

Sew them to the BOTTOM of the quilt top as shown. This will add more symmetry to the quilt.

We're in the home stretch now! 

Stay safe!

The Dress

 

I hinted at this dress a few weeks ago. Of course, it was a special dress for Sadie. Her Baptism was today. I made the dress from my wedding dress. I am NOT an heirloom dressmaker, for sure. So this was a challenge! I was so relieved when it was done (including the matching slip). 

Sadie was beautiful! She was so sweet and never cried one time. What a special day! Sadie is courtesy of Daughter 2. Photos are courtesy of Daughter 1. Handmade Windsor chair is courtesy of my late father. And dress, of course, is courtesy of ME. Isn't she the cutest?