Monday Morning Progress

Yes we are finally enjoying a few days of slow rains.  I know our mighty oak trees are so grateful for some water before they head into the winter months.  My heart goes out to those in Texas that are enduring floods and devastation from the many inches of rain they received.  But, I must admit is is great quilting weather!  I was able to finish  the quilting on the second block of Baltimore Garden.

Quilting progress so far!

a close up of the 1/2 grid

I also found enough time to finish the second panel of Trailing Vines and to start a third panel.  It looks like these will be my major focus as we move into the winter months.  There will be plenty of stitches that need to be made to finish these two quilts.

But I do get the notion to sew at the sewing machine every once in awhile.  So when that happens I have plenty of strings to turn into blocks. I started working on these this summer. They are just  a whole lot of fun to do!

No specific plan for these yet!

Yes! Machine Quilted

I faced a fear I had and decided to try machine quilting again.  A bad experience many years ago turned me to hand quilting all my quilts.  For starters,  I took a walking foot machine quilting class on Craftsy with Jacquie  Gering.  She opened my eyes to a lot possibilities!  This is my second attempt and I decided to try spiral quilting.  Oh what fun!  No stopping just continuous stitching!  Now this I can enjoy!!!

This quilt was a great way to use some scraps I had

I love the wonderful texture! These lines are one half inch apart!

I added a scrappy binding to finish it off! I also used a pieced back which I don't do when hand quilting!

 I am so glad I gave machine quilting another try!  I see doing more of it in the future!  I know there are some who exclusively hand quilt and others who exclusively machine quilt.  Having done both, I realize they both take skill and practice. I am so proud that I had a successful experience and am entering this quilt to the home machine quilted category at the wonderful Quilt Festival that Amy over at Amy's Creative Side is so graciously hosting! Come join us and vote for your favorites in each category!

Bloggers Quilt Festival

It's that time of year again! Time for the online quilt show at Amy's Creative Side!  I love looking at all the quilts in the categories every year.  So many talented quilters out there!  Since I love to hand quilt, I definitely need to enter that category . I named this quilt Simple but Not!  It has simple scrappy pumpkin seed shapes appliqued to a  solid cheddar background.  I absolutely loved working on this quilt.

Just four big blocks in this one!

I added a few feathers here and there!

And I added a striped binding to finish it!

I hope you can join in the fun by blogging about one of your finishes  and entering it into one of the many categories!  So much fun to go thru the categories and vote for your favorite too!

Leaves, leaves, leaves!

We have had the greatest fall weather this week. A bit of rain, not enough as we are so dry. The leaves have started to fall because of the drought. So sad to see 60 foot oaks look so sad.  Fall colors are just starting here with the sumac. But I don't think we will have much color this year since we are so dry.  So I am enjoying stitching on Trailing Vines.  Each branch is a like it's own little project. Since I use the freezer paper on top method of applique, it a nice little surprise as I uncover each leaf as I applique them down.  Then as each branch is completed I hold up the strip and admire how the vine has grown. This week I completed four branches.  I applique a bit each morning as I sip my morning coffee and  finish each day with some applique. This is a pic of my second strip.

Last week I finished three branches and had started the fourth!

This week's progress with seven branches completed!

During the afternoons I have been trying to get in some hand quilting stitches.  It is so nice to sit and enjoy some stitches once I get all the "have to" things done around the house.  I have one block completely done on Baltimore Garden and have marked another so there is plenty of stitches that needs to get done this week.

I hope you can enjoy some "me" time and put in a few slow stitches.  I think it is so important in this busy world to take some time for ourselves.  I am linking up to Slow Stitching Sunday where other slow stitchers will link their wonderful projects. I love taking time out of my stitching to see what others around the world are stitching! Hope that you will join us!

Stitching Weather!

I am not one that quilts all year round.  I sometimes wish I could but I live in the south in a very hot and humid climate.  So I keep busy in the summers with machine work and applique.   Sometime around mid September I start really getting the urge to do some hand quilting and I look forward to those cooler days so I can cuddle under a quilt.  That change in weather happened this week.  I actually had to pull out some jeans and had to put on a windbreaker this morning to take Max for his walk. Yes, hand quilting weather has arrived!  Being an early riser, as I sipped my morning wakeup coffee, I pulled out panel 2 of Trailing Vines and added a few more leaves.  This week I finish three branches!

But this afternoon, I will be under the quilt hoop working on Baltimore Garden.  I finished placing some floral motifs around the center block and decided to figure out the background quilting before I went any further.  I have always been one to finish each section before moving on when I quilt.  I know some anchor seams by stitching in the ditch or finish all the motifs and then move to the background work.  But I like to finish as I go!  My original thought was to add heavy line work much like the original quilt. The thought of not marking and being more of a free spirit is intriging.  But, than my inner self that likes things planned and organized takes over and I realize its just too scary.  I really like following that marked line and I like to know exactly where I am going. So I settled upon a half inch crosshatching set on a 45 degree angle.  Now its just a matter of putting in a few stitches each day until it is complete!