OH MY!

This is the first time I have visited my own blog since March of this year!  OH MY!  How time does fly.  If you remember my husband and I made the move from Arkansas to Texas.  Really only six hour apart traveling on the highway, but not as easy as one would think.  Finding a home in the Fort Worth area was much more challenging than I thought it would have been. The area is growing so quickly builders are not able to keep up with demand.  Also selling our home in Arkansas in a very depressed area was as hard as I thought it would be.  We had three offers over eleven months. Luckily third time was the charm and we are now no longer home owners in Arkansas.  We were able to close on our new home in Texas in early June.

So I have spent most of the summer getting settled. Can't say I am completely there but for the most part we are moved in and thriving. It is so nice to be only a few miles away from my son and his family.  Attending a graduation and celebrating a birthday without having to make a six hour trek is so delightful.

But getting my sewing room ready to go has not been on the top of my list.  I just seemed to have lost my need to stitch daily.  But this week I pulled out the pattern for the next block of Shenandoah Botanical  and decided to see if just making myself sit down I could enjoy a few stitches.  Well, that did it!!!!!  I think, I finally feel like I have  a few minutes a day that I can sit and enjoy some stitches.

I will continue by using the back basting method to complete these blocks.  I got all the leaves done earlier this week and I hope to work on the flowers next.  So, I started back basting the little heart shaped buds this am.

They reminded me how I much love hand stitching.  Aren't they just too cute!

I also pulled Baltimore Garden out of the box and started hand quilting the border.  It's hard to believe that hand quilting the border and than doing the trapunto and trimming and binding will finish this beautiful quilt.  But I am sure it will still take me some time to get it done.  But I sure have come a long way from when I first started blogging about making this quilt in April of 2013.  So glad to have the relaxing time to stitch again I sure hope those sharing their  stitches over at Kathy's Quilts have continued sharing!

Some Things Never Change!

Oh my I know I haven't blogged in a while but this is almost becoming ridiculous!  It has almost been a month and its funny to see that last time I blogged about the rainy weather and not much has changed.  We got a deluge of rain this week 6+ inches in one day alone.  Thinking about it, I would really don't even want to hear the total for the week.

But one thing about rainy days is, it allows more time for stitching  This morning I am working on the last block to be quilted on Baltimore Garden.  How exciting is that, of course, I still need to quilt the border.  This block has the initials that were included on the original quilt and the date.  It amazes me that this quilt was originally made 168 years ago.  I have often thought about the original maker and why she made the quilt?  I guess it always comes back to the enjoyment of stitching and the desire to make.  But, I can't help but think the maker of the original Baltimore Garden had a real love of flowers and possibly had her own flower garden. So over time, some things never change,  and I find that quite comforting. I am linking up with Slow Stitching Sunday's to see what others who enjoy stitching and making to see what they are stitching today. Hope you can join us and enjoy!

Rainy Days and Sundays

It has been a crazy couple of weeks around here. My husband has decided to take a new job in Texas.  It has been a goal of ours to move closer to family as we get closer to retirement.  But, even though we have moved several times over the years it is always stressful facing a move.  I finally sat down yesterday at the hoop and finished hand quilting block # 20 of Baltimore Garden.  The final five blocks have the crosshatching marked.  So this am, I will be tracing my random flowers and leaves on the last five blocks and I will be ready to sit and stitch.

I am so looking forward to my slow stitching today. The sound of the rain drops or the wall clock ticking in the background help me to concentrate on the needle in hand, to free the mind from troubled or chaotic thoughts.  We all need time away from reality, a time to rest our minds.  I look forward to each Sunday when Kathy reminds us it's time for Slow Stitching Sunday.

Could that groundhog be right????

It's a gorgeous day here in the south.  Sun is shining and we are suppose to reach the mid 60's.  Maybe there is some truth to the ground hog not seeing his shadow.  I noticed this week when I went to check the mail that a clump of daffodils is starting to form buds. A sure sign of spring.  Unfortunately about the time they are in full bloom they get covered in snow or pounded by heavy rains.  So I guess we will take it day by day.

 I haven't seen any bees flying around yet, except the ones on my background fabric.   But my husband did say he saw some mosquitos flying around last week.  Hard to believe isn't it!







So today's stitching will include working on the next block of SVBQ.  The Blue Flag or Iris block!  When I grew up in northeastern Illinois where many farmer's wives grew iris' in their gardens, sometimes you would see them growing along side an old country road, perhaps the remains of an old family farm.  They are quite hardy and we never had any of the fancy hybrid variety but just the old fashion generic flags.  So I decided to do my petals in purple, adding a bit of gold to the centers. Yes that is how I remembered them!

And of course I will try to get a few stitches in block number 13 which is a corner block on Baltimore Garden.  Two more blocks on this row and then I will move to the last column of five blocks on the other side.  I also took some time to play with quilting ideas for the border.  Nothing in stone yet, but getting close to deciding.  It's a bit like shopping for something new, its the journey the window shopping and browsing that brings so much joy to quilting for me. How about you?

A little of this a little of that!

It has been one of those weeks.  The hand quilting on Baltimore Garden has slowed as I needed to mark five more blocks.  I did manage to get one block quilted.

In the evening I focused on my Shenandoah Valley Botanical Quilt. One pineapple block is completed.

The other two pineapple blocks in the quilt will be my focus today. I just need to applique the final two pieces on both of the blocks. That will complete the three pineapple quilts except for the inking. My  concern about working on such small blocks has left. The back basting really keeps everything in place and makes stitching them a lot of fun.

Next week I will need to decide whether I want to start another panel for trailing vines or stick with SVBQ blocks.  I think since it will be quicker to prepare a small 9 inch block for SVBQ, it will win out.  However, if I take advantage of a bit time here and there maybe I can get both prepped.

Back Basting

There was no slow hand quilting going on at my house this week.  I needed to mark five more blocks on Baltimore Garden before anymore stitches could be taken.  So during the good light of the day I was busy marking.  In the evening I pulled out Trailing Vines to add some more leaves.  The third panel was about half way done, so I decided I would continue stitching till it was finished.  The final stitches were put in this morning.

I just love how the bits of scraps play off each other!

So today, I am going to start a new applique project. I am a little late starting this one, as many bloggers started this project last October.  But better late than not starting at all is my motto when it comes to an applique quilt with a botanical theme.  Shenandoah Valley Botanical fit the bill.

I am going to make this quilt using 9 inch finished blocks. So, I have decided to do the whole project using back basting to prep my blocks for needle turn applique.  I found a great background fabric at my LQS right before Christmas. It has honey bees all over it, without these little creatures our gardens would just not be the same. So, I thought it would be wonderful to honor them and all the hard work they do!






Back basting is a great method to prepare the pieces to be appliqued since it places the pieces in the exact location on the block. The pattern is traced to the back of the background fabric.  I use a light box to do this, and then the fabric is place on the right side but basted from the back side using a hand quilting thread and a large needle.  I like to use an embroidery needle.  The thread and the larger needle leave holes in the piece that is going to be needle turned and helps it to turn right where it needs to. Sentimental Stitches has a great tutorial on back basting in case you want to try it.


My first block is a pineapple block.  I have one prepped, but there are three pineapple blocks in this quilt so I need to get the other two block traced and prepped.  Looks like there are plenty of slow stitches to get done today. Hope you will join the group of slow stitchers that link up at Slow Stitching Sunday and share your project.

Stippling

It's been a good week here in the quilting department. I finished up two more blocks on Baltimore Garden.

Making quilts has been an amazing journey for me.  I just love the vastness of the craft. There are unlimited combinations of patchwork that can be done.  Endless color combinations and techniques to try.  With every quilt, I try to incorporate something new.   The little squares formed by the woven baskets were calling out for something.   I decided this may be a great area to try some stippling.  A little confined space that needed some sprucing up.

A few years ago I picked up a copy of John Flynn's book Step-by-Step Trapunto & Stippling!  It really breaks down how stippling can be done.  So far I have enjoyed what the stippling has done for Baltimore Garden. It's a small detail, but I think it really adds a lot to the quilt.

The stippling takes time, but I have to admit, I subconsciously don't want to finish this quilt. It is such a joy to watch it transform with each stitch I take.  

In the corner

Here we are enjoying the second Sunday of January.  I must say life got the best of me with a vacation after Thanksgiving and then celebrating the Christmas season.  I went back to my last blog post and realized my last posting was Dec 6th.  I was working on block #8 of Baltimore Garden.  Today, will be working on the last corner of block #13.  I guess I have done more stitching than I realized. I guess I really needed it!

 As I took my pic this am of that corner, it made me think about my childhood.  Way back when we didn't call it "time out" but we did get put in the corner as a punishment.  I think they both have the same results time to sit and think about what got us there.  I also remembered how your mind would wander while sitting there.  The same thing happens when I quilt.  I really need that time each day to let myself meditate and forget about all the demands that we have upon us.  I am super excited today, as the sun is shining and Tom has volunteered to cook dinner.  So I have a bit of extra time to link up with Slow Stitching Sunday where Kathy reminds us to slow down.  I can get in some more stitches and take a break and visit others who are enjoying the hand work. It doesn't get better than that!