I'll Try to Catch Up Soon!

The last couple of weeks have been on the busy side for me. I have been to the Siouxland Quilt Show, 2 guild meetings and the Jo Morton Retreat in Nebraska and tomorrow I'm going to the AQS show in Des Moines.  The above picture is a quilt made by Katy from the Piecemaker's quilt guild, I think it is so cute!! Lucky little nephew!  I hope to get some posting done on all of these, maybe even today so stay tuned..Sew in the mean time, have a "Stitches" kind of day..see ya soon

9/11 Not Forgotten

I watched most of the specials on TV on 9/11 and thought they were done with reverence. The new memorial looks wonderful and something we can be proud of for years to come and I hope that it will bring peace to the memories of all who were lost. I made a wall-hanging for my son in the month after 9/11 and want to show it to you now. My son is an Omaha Firefighter and I just knew when I saw this free pattern on the internet that I had to make it for him. It still hangs in their living room today, it's getting a little faded around the edges but still instills patriotism in those who see it. I hope you like it.  Sew until next time, have a "Stitches" kind of day.

Old Friends

On Friday, I went to a nearby town to meet my friend and old classmate, Dixie. She was home from Maryland for just a few days so when we got together for lunch, 3 more classmates joined us and we talked and laughed for a couple of hours reminiscing. It was a great time. Before we got in our cars and headed home,  Dixie said, "You know we probably only have 10-12 more good years in us so we better enjoy the time right now". ehhhhh! That got my attention for sure!! Well, we still had a good time but she put our future in prospective, more or less..but one never knows from day to day anyway, right? Dixie came to my house and spent the night and we chatted and laughed and chatted and laughed some more until almost 1 a.m.  Dixie and I started to kindergarten together so we have been friends for lots of years. We graduated in a class of 15 so many of us were close and we still love getting together. Now, for my big disappointment, in myself!! I didn't take one picture!!! Oh, I was so mad at myself as I had my camera in my purse and couldn't remember to take any pictures. How could I do that? Not of our lunch bunch or even Dixie and myself..could just hit myself over the head with a hammer!  I think I will make an appt. with the Dr. and have my camera permanently affixed to my hand,,,oh, wait a minute. I don't think that will work as I am planning on getting a new camera (maybe this week) and I wouldn't want to go through surgery twice, that would be a stupid move on my part..duh!! So the picture you see at the top of this post is Dixie and me. Me on the left, Dixie on the right, taken in April of 1947!! We were about 10 years old so you can figure out our real ages by yourself, aaaaah!  I didn't get to see Jim, her husband, as he was at a high school class reunion for Central HS in Sioux City, however, I did get to talk to him when Dixie called me on Saturday to tell me she had taken my car KEYS!  She thought they were her rental car keys, I guess. Thankfully, I have another set so it wasn't a big deal, she will mail them to me soon, I know.  It was a good 20 or so hours that we were together but not long enough since it had been 5 years since we had seen one another..but we do talk on the phone occasionally so that keeps us in touch.   It is so great to have a friend like Dixie, where we can just pick up where we left off even if it has been several years since we were together...Love her a lot!!!!  Do you have friends like this too?   On Sunday, I went to the Omaha Community Playhouse and saw "Becky's New Car" and laughed most of the time. It was a really good play and the actors did a great job with their characters..needless to say, my jaws actually ache today but I'm hoping all that laughing has helped to lift and firm some of the sagging muscles in my face..One can always hope!!! Sure hope you had a "Stitches" kind of weekend too!!!

Civil War Blocks 26 thru 34, still not caught up!!



#26 Barbara Frietchie Star




  Here are a few more blocks to show you, I've had them done for over a week but just didn't find the time to get them posted.  This week is turning out to be a busy week so don't think I will get more blocks done soon.  But I'm still pretty happy with myself for getting these done and posted. For some reason, they photographed lighter than they really are and I don't know why..



#27 Irish Chain





#28 Next Door Neighbor



#29 Railroad Crossing



#30 Peterson's Stars & Stripes - I did my own version





#31 Empty Spool - I think this will be a re-do, with 4 little Spool blocks





#32 Carolina Lily





#33 Indiana Puzzle





#34 Rosebud



I am seriously thinking about starting a garden blog but just can't decide on a name or if I should really do it. There are some really great ones out there!!!  Maybe it isn't so wise to start a blog this time of year when everything is winding down and soon it will be time to up end the flowers and get ready for winter...blah!!!! I've been reading a lot of garden blogs and have gotten so inspired by them and it is such a good way to keep track of what your flower gardens  looked like and have a great time line to compare with for another year. I'm still contemplating on it so if anyone has any thoughts about it, I would appreciate anything you have to say.  I'm sooo on the fence about it..Help me decide, please!!!!!!! Well, until next time have a great "Stitches" day.

More Civil War blocks #20 thru #25

I'm gaining on my conquest but some days it seems like 2 steps forward and 1 step back!  Does anyone else ever feel this way? I think I am getting so close to being caught up and Wham!!! another Saturday arrives and Barbara posts another block!  These weeks are just flying by too darn fast for me!  So here are 5 more Civil War blocks and actually I have a few more done but don't have pictures taken of them yet.  I really enjoy going on Flickr and looking at so many of the blocks and all the different color combinations that others have used. It makes me wonder just how many different fabrics there are out there in the quilt world, it has to be mind boggling!!

#25 Calico Puzzle

#24 Ladies Aid Album

#23 Illinois Roads



#22 Blockade





#21 Underground Railroad



#20 New England



The yellow lily picture is from my garden a little earlier this summer. I call it Lemon Lily, it was here when we moved to this house almost 40 years ago and is still blooming nicely. Aren't lilies just the best? You can always depend on them and they become like old friends, very trustworthy and stable...I just love them!! That's all for today, sew until next time, my wish for you--have a "Stitches" kind of day.



Bugs? Have you seen any BIG bugs lately???

These are my lilies..Chicago Apache

A couple of weeks ago, I went to the Reiman Gardens at Iowa State University in Ames, Iowa.  Our first reason for going was the quilt show at the gardens. I have posted pictures of the quilts on another blog, if you would like to look at them, the link is Piecemakers Quilt Guild.  Three friends and myself left my house at 7:30 a.m. and headed for Ames.  We left early so we could be there shortly after the quilt show opened but there were several quilt shops along the way and they just seemed to get in our way!  Our best intentions went right out the window but we had all day so it was no big deal. Right? When we got to Ames, we were all starving so lunch had to come first before the show...we got to the Gardens between 1:00  and 1:30 p.m. so we made good time (not). ;-)  After viewing the quilts, we tramped around in and through the gardens in the misty rain and looked at the "bugs". There is a display of wooden bugs, that are 10x larger than life sculptures that were designed by  New York artist David Rogers and will be on display until the end of August. Enjoy the Smilebox slideshow and let me know what you think about the bugs!!!

This slideshow design customized with Smilebox

I am working on my Civil War blocks feverishly again too and will get a few posted in a day or two..gee, I think it is time to quit for today. Sew until next time, have a "Stitches" kind of day.

Noodles, straws, fritt & slumping, what? My Tuesday Treasure

This is my Tuesday Treasure and I hope you like it, if you want to see more Tuesday Treasures, just click on the picture on my sidebar and it will take you to The House on the Side of the Hill blog. Be sure and say "hi" to Melody for me......A couple of weeks ago 4 of us gals went to a stained glass store and made some little pieces like the one above. This one is mine and I was really pleased with it when we got them back. It was a fun thing to do and we all learned some new terminology that day. We started with a 6" square piece of clear glass and then we proceeded to decorate them. You could do anything your little heart desired, any colors and any pattern that you wanted. I chose to make a dragonfly (remember, I like dragonflies) I had to cut and shape the wings, it wasn't hard either, just scary. I probably could have messed with them a little more, if I had had more experience but for a first timer, I think they look okay. The little skinny pieces are called straws and you can just break them off any size you want. The squarer pieces on the blue I just cut little pieces off a longer noodle. They had lots of little bubble dots so we just picked through them and picked what we wanted, they had a slightly flat side to them. Lastly, I sprinkled on fritt where I wanted it. It comes in lots of colors and reminds me of sand. Then we had to decide if we wanted to leave our piece flat or have it slumped, mine is slumped and I think you can see that it is slightly rounded now. I need to buy a little easel to stand it in so I can display and enjoy it. Now you know some new words too, isn't it fun?? If you have a stained glass store in your area, you should check it out and give something like this a try. It was a fun to learn a new technique and fun to do it with friends also. Sew until next time, have a "Stitches" kind of day......

Harrison County Fair Quilt Turning - 2011

Slideshow design generated with Smilebox

Well, hurray for me!!!! I have been working on this slideshow of our Quilt Turning for about 4 days!! You have no idea how frustrated I am. I could get the Smilebox loaded but when I previewed it, it would not play. So finally I posted it for real and it PLAYED!!! I guess it just won't play in the preview, anyway it didn't for me...I'm hoping you all know about Quilt Turnings? It is a great way to have a "sit down" quilt show. Anyone can bring a quilt to show on the day of the turning and they are taken home with them the same day too. No sorting or hanging of quilts for a show.  The quilts are placed one on top of another on a faux bed, and then they are shown one at a time. We had each owner write a little story about their quilt, who made it, who owns it, the name of the pattern, antique or not and etc. Then we have someone read each story as the quilts are being held up for the ooh's and aah's. There were some interesting stories connected with these quilts and I wish I had them to share some with you. I hope you enjoy the slide show because it took a lot out of me and now I think I'm going to make myself a little Peachie whilst I cook myself a chicken breast...what's a Peachie, you ask?  If you want to know, you only have to ask!!! Sew until next time, have a Stitches kind of evening...

A Visitor in my Bedroom!!

I had a little visitor in my bedroom on Saturday night and it wasn't really a welcome one. In my dimly lit bedroom, I saw a little glob on the carpet and thought it must be a dried leaf that had clung to something and got in the house. I don't know why I didn't just reach down to pick it up but something told me that I had better investigate it before I did that. So I got out a flashlight and was surprised to find a little tree frog sitting there. Now I'm thinking 'what should I do?'  I told him to stay put and I would be right back. I ran to the kitchen and got a plastic bowl and lid (which by the way, did not fit the bowl very well as I discovered in just a few seconds). I ran back to the bedroom, hoping and keeping my fingers crossed that he was still there and hadn't jumped under the bed or somewhere that I couldn't find him.  As luck was with me, he had obeyed and was still waiting for me so I put the bowl on it's side in front of him and like the trained frog he was, he jumped right in and I put the mis-fitted lid on top..of course, he was jumping and jumping around but I ran to the back door and gave him his freedom in some hosta's..For the life of me, I cannot figure out how he would have gotten in the house!! .I was telling a friend about him yesterday and her remark was " you mean you didn't kiss him?"...Oh my gosh, I forgot to do that in my haste to get him out of the house!!  Now I have missed another chance to find a Prince Charming, what was I thinking?? I guess it just wasn't meant to be, but maybe I'll have another chance someday..Sew until next time, I hope you have a "Stitches" kind of day!!

Civil War Blocks, 16, 17, 18, & 19

I've been getting a little sewing time in again and slowly plugging away to getting caught up with my Civil War blocks.  I've been working in the yard for several hours everyday and then trying to sew for a few hours also. Our temp today was 89-90 degrees but our heat index was about 106.  I think this was probably the most humid, muggy day we have had this summer.  Awful!!! It got too hot, too soon for me this morning, when I did come in, I was shot!! Really takes the "whatfor" out of you.. Okay, on with the Civil War blocks.

Here is my version of #16 White House

#17 Comfort Quilt

#18 Union Square

Now we come to #19 Missouri Star.  I am less than happy with this block! I have been starching all my fabrics to keep them from stretching and to keep them stable. I was hoping that when I cut them, they would be more accurate and easier to sew.  I use a 1/4" foot and check my seam allowance regularly. This block just didn't come out very good and it really frustrates me!!  Last night, I definitely was going to do this over and see if I could get it to come out better. Now, I'm thinking, I could put it in a Primitive category and just "let the hide go with the hare"!!  If I would use this one several of the points would be cut off when I join the blocks together in the end..Do you think hand piecing would be a better way to go when I re-do it?? I'm going to add it to my pile of finished blocks and when I get caught up, I will decide what to do, make it over or just leave it as it is. What would you do??  Sew until next time, have a "Stitches" kind of the rest of the day.....

Tuesday Treasures

My Tuesday Treasure is this little pressed glass pitcher (4 1/2" tall) and the glass (2 /14" tall) . They belonged to my mother and her sister when they were little girls and then I played with them when I was playing house too! I'm sure there used to be 4 or 6 glasses but this is the only one that is left now. ;-( 

This is another little treasure and I'm posting this because Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting blog posted this very same little teapot today..they are small, only about 4 1/2" high and 6" long.  I can't imagine ever making a cup of tea in it but I like it because of the sewing machine and I keep mine in my sewing room.   It was cool this morning and I thought I needed some fresh air in the house so I opened a few windows but now it is time to close up again, the dreaded humidity is rolling in and I don't like it..  Oh, another little tidbit: I wanted to email a couple of new followers to thank them for climbing on my wagon and when I clicked on their picture, I had to join my own blog so I could write to them..is that weird or was I doing something wrong?? At least, I finally have my followers back after several days and that made my day!!!   Sew until next time, have a "Stitches" kind of day...

A Common Green Darner....

Nope, a Common Green Darner is not a darning needle, it's a Dragonfly and I have one and I like dragonflies!!  Period....A friend found this Common Green Darner in her yard and it was dead so she gave it to me..It really is a pretty dragonfly, although probably not the cream of the crop. There are many out there that have more beautiful colors on them. My CGD is a female, I'm pretty sure after looking at the pictures on the following site. I found out a lot on the Common Green Darner on this site and they have awesome pictures too. You can click here if you want to know more about them. http://www.fcps.edu/islandcreekes/ecology/green_darner.htm . How can I become so enthralled about a dead insect? Maybe because it's wings look like gossamer. ( I heard that word somewhere and I think it sounds good and I wanted to use it!!)   The wing span is 4" and the body from head to end of tail is 3". God did a really good job on this one!!

I perched her on my African Violet, kind of like an embellishment, I believe.  And then I got to thinking when I took the pictures of the CGD about some other dragonflies that I have. Here is a little glass garden marker I made a couple of years ago. A group of us went to a stained glass shop and made these.  You start out with a blank piece of glass and decorate or design yours, however you want it. The glass I chose has an iridescent color to it and adds a lot to the piece. I liked my flowers when I got done but they needed a dragonfly coming to visit them. I really like how this turned out. It was fun, fun!!

Earlier this spring, I went to a garden open-house and bought this lavender dragonfly for my garden.  It shimmers in the sun and is very comfortable where it lives now.

And then I have this dragonfly fabric that I just HAD to have. It is Awakenings to Spring by Maywood Studio. I have a pattern that used this for the background and the top was all appliqued flowers and leaves. I waited until this fabric was SO hard to find that I searched the net for what seemed like days before I finally found it so I bought 8 yards!! That has to be about 10 years ago and I still haven't used any of it.  I guess the "hunt" was better than the "find"!! Now I think of it as almost "vintage" ;-), I find it hard to decide what I really want to do with it..do any of you ever have this problem with your stash?  I think I could use suggestions to get over this anal habit that I have with my fabric..this is my no means the only fabric that I have hoarded in my basement.  I think that about covers my dragonfly subject for today. I hoped you learned a thing or two about them and enjoyed the ride...Sew until next time, have a "Stitches" kind of day....

Eleven thru Fifteen, Again the Civil War Blocks

London Square

Yeah, here are 5, I repeat, 5 more blocks....we've had tons of rain lately so you can guess what I've been doing!  I really want to get caught up on these blocks and there are 26 posted now, 27 will be posted on Saturday so I have a few more to go.  Above you see London Square, a neat little block..

Louisiana

Here's Louisiana, done in a couple of my favorite colors, lavender and purple..not the best picture in the world but you can see at least part of it.  ;-)  Below is my Little Blue Basket, love it!  I had to have the handle on mine, it's just too hard to carry a basket without a handle, isn't it?  I love basket patterns..

Little Blue Basket



Fox and Geese

Fox and Geese, what can I say? I'm not quite sure what is the Fox and what are the Geese, does anyone know?  And maybe it really doesn't matter. Not one of my favorite blocks, I think it came out rather ho-hum.

Fort Sumter

I like how this block came out although it doesn't show up that great in the picture. It is a rather dark block so it didn't photograph too well.   I'm not real newsy today but I do have something that I want to brag about.  My 10 year old grandson pitched a no-hitter night before last. Any of you baseball mom's and grandma's will know that it is something to brag about..Well, I think I'm headed back to my sewing room today as our heat index is supposed to be 106-110 and that's way too hot for me to work outside..I hope you have a Stitches kind of day...Sew until next time....Stay Cool!!!

Civil War Blocks 6 thru 10

Richmond





I wanted to show you the Civil War blocks that I have been making the past week or so. The first one is Richmond and it was a burger!!! I've read where a few other people have had trouble with this one too!! I think it didn't adapt itself to be an 8 1/2" block very easily. But I struggled with it and here it is:

Log Cabin

The next one is the Log Cabin and it was really an easy one to do. The hardest part of doing these blocks, is picking out the fabrics. I am going to try to not repeat any fabrics, if I can but don't know how successful I'll be with that. Time will tell.  Nothing very spectacular on this one.

Cotton Boll

Now we come to Cotton Boll. What do you think about the poison green? eek!!  I'm not a big fan of it but just thought a Civil War quilt had to have at least one block of it. Now I'll have to work on Cheddar, eeoww!!  I do like the way the stripes look in the center of this block tho.



Birds in the Air



Birds in the Air is next and this was a very quick and easy block to do also. I think it looks better in "person" than it does in this picture.

Last for this time is my block Lincoln's Platform..I really like the fabrics that I used in this block. I kind of worried a little about the busy background but find that I really like it.  I really am becoming fond of stripes too. I think they add another element to the block, what do you think about stripes?



Lincoln's Platform



Well, that about does it for this time but hopefully in a few days I will have a few more to show you. I have a long way to go to get caught up to the current block but at least, I'm gaining....Sew until next time, have a "Stitches" kind of day. Gotta get ready to go to a baseball game now, see ya soon!!