Courthouse Steps Quilt Top - DONE!

Over the weekend, Hubby played in a golf tournament. So I had LOTS of time on my hands. 

I kept making Courthouse Steps blocks. And then made more. AND MORE! 

I found two major mistakes in blocks and had to remake those.  BOOM!  By lunchtime on Sunday I finished!

Hubby has declared this to be his favorite of all the quilts I've made - wow, I've made a lot of quilts, so that's high praise, indeed!

And it's a good thing he likes it since it will hang on the wall behind our bed!

Courthouse Steps is so much harder to make than first meets the eye. Each block's colors have to match up the the colors of blocks surrounding it. I did a good bit of talking out loud to myself whilst I made it. 

Hubby calls it a 'masterpiece'. I call it a 'monsterpiece'. 

The quilt measures 88"x88". 

I'm a bit sorry to see this one done. It was SO MUCH FUN to make!

I'll hire a friend to longarm quilt it. I already have the backing fabric. This baby should be hanging by Thanksgiving - I hope!

It was the perfect time to finish this quilt. Why? Because...I'm going to Houston this week! My friends and I are flying out of Atlanta Wednesday, arriving in time for Preview Night. CAN'T WAIT!!!!!

Continue to stay safe!

Another Happy Bird!

I'd been trying to make one of these Happy Birds per week. But that nasty cold got me off my schedule - this little bird has been in the making for about 3 weeks. Love it though!

                                           

I adore the little drizzle stitches along the tail. I heart drizzle stitches!

And look! I finished the third section of the big courthouse steps quilt top. BOOM! I sewed this section on (partial seam) and had to take it outside to see how it would look - loving it! 

I'll be done with the entire top in almost no time at all. So glad I took this challenging quilt on! 

And while I was photographing outside....I took my finished cheddar bow ties blocks and laid them all out. 

Of course....I love this one, too! It's got EVERYTHING in it. Christmas fabric. Halloween fabric. Auburn fabric. Kid fabric. Reproduction fabric. Everything. 

I did realize that it needs to be bigger. Darn. That's okay - I'll keep it going. It does need to be bigger.

So yesterday, I did a thing. I went to the mall and actually shopped. And tried on clothes. Oh my. It's been so looonggg! But I did it. It was exhausting. But I needed (yes, NEEDED) some new clothes. I've lost a bit of weight this year and nothing fit. I had success - came home with 4 new pairs of jeans and a few tops. It's a great problem to have. Today I ordered some new t-shirts online. Even my t-shirts are too big. Yay - new t-shirts! (I wear t-shirts a lot!)

And that's the update from here!

Continue to stay safe!

 

Back in the Swing of Sewing

I'm getting my groove back after that nasty cold. Okay, I'm still coughing a bit, but feel fine. Now Hubby has the Preschool crud, of course. 

Yesterday was particularly productive. I only have two more blocks for this nice section of my Courthouse Steps quilt. This is the third section (out of four) for this quilt. The end is in sight!

I also finished another large section of my cheddar bow ties quilt. I've now completed FIVE of these. I'm not sure how many more to go - maybe just one more. But that is still up in the air.

And here's the progress on my new curved hexie project. More frogs! Still not sure how this quilt will look - I'm still designing in my head.  I plan to cut more pieces for this today.

 I did miss one football Saturday in hand quilting Marshal, but I'm back at it. Yesterday I worked on this for two football games - both exciting. I'm glad I had hand quilting to calm me down during these games! I sometimes judge my progress on the pile of thread ends and safety pins on my table - looks like very good progress to me!

We were lucky to have a small 'pumpkin patch' just down the street this week. Sadie loved it and we had lots of fun there.  Her favorite things now - going for a walk down the sidewalk without the stroller, and playing with rocks. No need to buy expensive toys - rocks are just fine!

Today I hope to get back out and walk again - I haven't walked in over two weeks! I need to get back to moving again! And hopefully more sewing progress, too.

Continue to stay safe!

No Sewing - But Ready to Get Back at it!

Here's the little bird I finished last week. Another cutie. 

But....then I came down with the Preschool Crud. As expected, Sadie has caught a couple of bugs at Preschool. Nothing serious, but it happens. I escaped the first round of Crud, but this time I wasn't so lucky. So I've been under the weather all week, thus no sewing. Sadie is feeling better and so am I.  I finally slept well last night and feel like I could do some sewing later today. Yay!

 Just before I got sick, I made this little doll quilt for the doll bed in Sadie's room - this was made from a cute jungle charm pack. I'd like to make another little doll quilt with a more girly feel. But for now, the doll has a warm quilt!

Hopefully I'll have more to share soon!

Continue to stay safe!

Glitter Quilt Top Finished!

I finished sewing all the Glitter blocks together on Sunday. Yay! I really like it! I decided not to add borders. It's the perfect lap size - I like lap quilts! 

You may remember I used a limited array of colors to blend with the wallpaper in my sewing closet.  So when finished, this quilt will probably live in my sewing room on the back of my rocker/recliner.  For now I've put it away. I'll big stitch quilt it when I've finished quilting Marshall.

Here's the latest Happy Birds block. Love this one. The green and pink really speak to me. And fun embellishments, too!

So when you finish one quilt, what do you do? 

Buy more fabric and start another one! I've been on the lookout for a new fabric line that has great colors and good fussy cutting options. I was planning on looking when I go to Quilt Festival in Houston next month, but then I happened upon this on-line. 

This is Jungle Paradise by Moda, designed by Stacy Iest Hsu.

And yes..... it will be a Curved Hexagon project! I'm doing some experimenting with this - using a different technique to sew everything together - more to come on this! 

Is that little frog not the cutest thing ever???!!!!

Continue to stay safe!

 

Still Making Progress!

My Courthouse Steps quilt is halfway done! I've really gotten into the groove of making one block on most days. 32 blocks done (and sewn together). 32 blocks to go. You may remember, this one quilt hang on the wall behind our bed.

I also finished another large block unit of my cheddar bowtie quilt. I now have 4 of these units. I need at least 2 more...but who know? I may keep going and make it bigger.

And another bird has been finished. 

You may have noticed Glitter is still on the design wall behind the Courthouse Steps quilt. I only have ONE more little block to make and that will happen today. Then I can sew the blocks together and add some borders. 

Hopefully the next time you see Glitter, it will be a finished top. I think I'll hand quilt - big stitch style. But I have to finish hand quilting Marshal first - and it has a lot to go!

I'm happy to report that my blood pressure is now NORMAL!!!! All the walking and losing a few pounds has done the trick. So happy a avoided taking a prescription!

Our sweet Sadie - she make us smile, and laugh, and is so much fun! We are so lucky to get to keep her 5 days per week. Absolute joy. 

Continue to stay safe!

 

September Morn

I love these cool mornings we're having. It's so nice to have pleasant temps for my morning walk. I'm pleased to announce that my walks have officially become a HABIT! It took a long time. I started this walking journey in December. I started with a few days a week, maybe 20 minutes long. Today I walked for 47 minutes.  I walk every single morning as soon as I wake up, listening to an audio book as I go. I'm getting a lot of books read which is a bonus.

I read somewhere recently: You've created a habit when it's no longer what you do, but who you are.

So true. 

Here's my bird for the week. I'll start a new one today.

I'm still making these Courthouse Step blocks. I make one almost every day. 

I've discovered that I can make a cheddar bow tie four patch at the same time, leader/ender style. 

This weekend I spent some time hand tracing and cutting more Glitter blocks, ready for hand piecing. 

We also changed out the quilt hanging in the dining room. Yay, Fall!  I made Appalachian Autumn last year, finishing it just in time for Christmas quilts to be displayed. So it was immediately put away. So glad to see it again!

Marshal. I call it 'Blessings.' I put it aside to hand quilt while watching college football. I'm so glad that time is HERE! Will I finish it before football season is over??? Stay tuned.

Continue to stay safe!