butterfly in knots

Seeing a wonderful project involving french knots, I asked myself just how hard can it be to embroider a 'few' french knots!? Keep in mind that I had to get this done in about a week.
.
Ha.



And after about the billionth french knot -- and yes, I saw them in my sleep -- I swore I would never make another french knot. Ever. Who knew making these things could take soooooooo long! Phew.

~

Anyway. I do love french knots and got the delightful pattern from this book:

I used a little bit of a different color scheme -- love the periwinkles! Then raided my stash for some sort of complimentary fabric for the border. And finished it with machine quilting in a pearly meandering.

I purchased a ornate candle holder from the Dollar Store and had my husband clip off the candle
part of it and was left with this whimsical hangar. Because the candle holder was a dark burnished color, I aged it all vintage-y looking with white paint dabbed on with a sponge.

Whimsical and blissful. Even if the french knots were almost the death of me.....

finally joining

.
I am seeing white. Lots & lots (...........did I say 'lots'?) of white. . All of these white hexies are being hand sewn....
.

.
...and finally being joined to the colorful grandmother's flower garden blocks.
.
.
I loooooooooove the way these blocks come to life. Half of the fun of this quilt is matching the fabrics. The other half is the quietness of piecing these hexies together.
.
Now. Let's see. How many more to go before this is a queen-sized quilt?

more hexagons

While the sun streams through our windows, I can sit & stitch more hexagon petals for grandmother's flower garden quilt.

And my. oh. my. It is because all of you boosted me up SO high with your incredible support & inspiration to work on -- and finish -- these blocks.

Each individual flower block does not take that long to stitch. And seeing them come together -- well, I have to wonder why I stashed this away for so long.

Thank you. You all have charged me with a huge magical dose of initiative to stitch these beauties.

grandmother's flower garden

Motivated by Robyn and her great love of hexagons, I have once again tackled these gorgeous blocks that seem to always get tucked away somewhere.

I seem to tackle them with such gusto, only to put them back in a plastic ziploc and re-shelve them. I can only attribute this undesire to complete them because they are all sewn by hand.

If you are familiar with the paper-piecing method, then you know that each hexagon is cut out and then 'sewn to' a paper hexagon template -- all by hand.

~

Now -- I love, love LOVE this pattern. And I love, love LOVE even more the grandmother's flower garden quilts that are done in all of their beauty & splendor.....

But all of these hexagons can be a bit daunting.

And a bit time-consuming. Okay. Very time-consuming. Notice that I have not told you how long I have been working on this quilt. And. I. won't. *grin*

But Robyn's enthusiasm has bowled me over. And she has completely kick-started me into diving once again into stitching these retro blocks. (btw-if you haven't been on the receiving end of her love of quilting -- you must visit her -- and heartfelt prayers for her as devastating fires have made their way into Australia.)

Close-ups of some of the blocks:

Isn't that one of the greatest pleasures of quilting? -- putting the different fabrics together in such a harmonious blend?

And these vintage fabrics that look as if they came from my grandma -- undoubtedly fabric choices that are some of my favorites!

bmmmmmmm

Huge gulp of breath because I know that I have to complete sooooo many more before this will ever grace my bed. But being part of the Great Hexagon Quilt-Along, well -- I feel as if these women are sitting right here & motivating me with each stitch that they are taking.

bbbbbbbb

Time to sew.

show some sewing love pt. 2

(ahem...no peeking, Harley!)


Hearts, cupcakes & puppies. Just the thought of all 3 of them conjures up 'sewing love' in some way or another.
~

This is part 2 of Dandelion Quilt's, Show Some Sewing Love swap.




The flowery, brown fabric looked so delicious -- like chocolate frosting on a cupcake -- that I just had to make a cupcake to go with her tiny heart quilt.

~

The cupcake pattern is from this yummy, yummy book.

~~
~

Said with a content smile -->'Definitely showing some sewing love.' I'm hoping she can feel that when she receives it.

showing some sewing love

(Disclaimer: If your name is Harley ---> Stop reading now.....

you'll ruin the surprise...)

~

I am participating in Dandelion Quilts

Show Some Sewing Love Swap

and this is what is on my 'design table' for that swap.

~

What begins as a blank canvas turns
~

into -penciled in- ideas

& sewn paper-pieced blocks.

Add small stitches of embroidery

& those 3 simple blocks turn into

~

a kitty-approved wall-hanging.
~
(Fabric is bits & pieces from my stash -- mostly Hobby Lobby yardage
& the paper-pieced block patterns come from

Carol Doak's 300 Paper-Pieced Quilt Blocks book.)

simple cabin quilt

This quilt adorned the wall of a tiny, tiny cabin that we were able to 'walk through' on our vacation.

~

Although --the entire space of the cabin was no larger than our living room -- so I doubt this constitutes as a 'walk through".

But the quilt. It caught my breath when I saw it hanging on the log wall. Such simple colors, but so vivid with the contrast of the red & white fabrics.

And oh! Those hand-quilted stitches. It made me positively speechless. The lighting was poor as we stood there and I just have to wonder about the woman who undoubtedly completed a strenuous, chore-ridden day -- only to sit in the dimly lit cabin to make this quilt with her tender, meticulous stitches.

sewing & mending

These last few days before we gather together to give thanks -- I am spending in front of my sewing machine. Yay. I think I might just get this 'Pumpkin Crazy' wall-hanging completed before Thursday!

And yes, if you know me, the most troublesome part of completing something like this is -->the quilting. Between the thread breaking & a complete tangle of threads on the bottom.... I. don't. like. this. part. I know I must be doing something wrong. It is such a hair-pulling endeavor.........and I see all of your quilts and your beautiful quilted stitches -- oh, please, zap some of your gifted sewing talent my way!

~

Hmmm. Or I wonder. Can Santa fit a long-arm in his sleigh?

~~

As for the mending --

Jake is indeed mending after his hit-and-run accident. (Sheesh! Who hits a dog and just drives away?) He is slowly healing and gaining back his playfulness -- much to the delight of everyone in this household.

thankful

Being thankful for ~

*faith*family*friends*

~~

I am paper-piecing these pumpkins with scraps from my fabric stash & using the 'Pumpkin Crazy' pattern from the Nov. 08 issue of this magazine ~



I am hoping to get this wall-hanging done just in time for Thanksgiving....but hopes aren't necessarily a reality in my world. (On a more personal level --> our Golden Retriever, Jake was hit by a car yesterday and the event has been a devastating detour in our somewhat 'normal' family' life. He is recuperating on the couch and thank goodness we have 3 Florence Nightengales -- in the form of 3 children -- who see to it that all of his needs are being met.)


And seeing my fingers doing something with needle or thread calms & soothes the pains that make their way into that thing called---> LiFe.

Still. I am thankful for so much. And yes, w/ smile on my face, I am thankful for all of the friendships from you, dear readers!

simply friendship

~~~

Elizabeth Barrett Browning: What is the secret of your life?

Tell me, that I may make my life beautiful, too.

Charles Kingsley: I had a friend.

~~~


This from my friend, Kris, Quilted Simple.

Simply beautiful.

Simply thoughtful.

Simply a quilted gesture from a beautiful friend.

~

Thank you. Oh. ThAnK yOu!

~

And what makes this even more special is that I have never met Kris, I have never personally spoken to her, yet -- she has touched me with the gift of a simple friendship.

~~~

~~~

And -- I have a special request for all of you -- yes, even those who do not leave comments....*grin*

If you do happen to make one of these flowers, please post your pics of your fabric flower here. I would love to see them!

cardinal love

~~

Cardinal

Wanda Todd

red bird in flight

singing

I tried not to listen

flying

I tried not to see

landing

captured my attention

singing

my heart listened

bathing

water drops splashing

comforting

tears heal my soul

~~

I love cardinals. To see them in our trees & the deep endearment of the male cardinal for his soft hued female mate just mesmerizes me.

And whenever I see a cardinal project, whether it be in the quilting world or just the crafty world, I always earmark it as something I must try.

And now that I finished this cardinal wall-hanging designed by Wendy, I can't wait to hang it for the Christmas holidays.

(Sidenote: This is only the 2nd time that I have machine quilted a 'design'....so remember this is a novice -- [read--->beginner!] attempting to look professional in her quilting.)