Friday, April 29, 2022

Yeah it is Friday!

After work I went to Michael's to get the floss I needed for the next several cross stitch projects.
Here is my DMC floss box. This is not all my floss because I have some of the bobbins in project bags kitted and a bunch set aside for a wall hanging. Sometimes I try and go thru all of those before I settle on my shopping list. Also, my Leo and Roxy floss is in seperate box and my Cosmo floss has it own box too. I bought that floss box probably 40 years ago. It was expensive for me at the time - no I do no remember how much I paid for it - but it was so worth the investment.
I then spent my evening winding the floss onto bobbins.
I now have the next several cross stitch projects kitted up with the floss. I still need to decided on fabric for the sampler.
My plans for the weekend are to get both of the baseball quilts done, make the three covers for the amps, get the flower beds cleaned up, and maybe wash the car and get the garage straightened up. Have a great weekend!

Thursday, April 28, 2022

Quilting progress

I am almost halfway done quilting the log cabin baseball quilt. Yeah!

Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Plugging along and more fun mail

I made a bit more progress on quilting the log cabin baseball quilt. I cut out the binding the other day but forgot to post it. I decided to use the green. I think it will make a fun binding.
I received some fun mail last night. I had won a sampler chart on ebay. The print date on the chart is dated 1988. I already have all the floss colors I need so I just need to pick some fabric and this will be all kitted up.
The lady also sent me this little bonus chart! It even came with a little butterfly charm!

Tuesday, April 26, 2022

Log cabin quilting and tote bags

Bobbins were wound and a little quilting took place last evening.
I did some digging around in the fabric storage room looking again for fabric I could use to make tote bags for the merch booth for my nephew's band. Cherie sent me some fabric last fall and I had already cut that to size, but I need more. I found some leftover batik fabric that I made masks out of for work, some cottons I just don't like the prints, some polyester gaberdine that I will never use, and a heavy piece of stiff linen.  We are having merchandise that would not be secure in a thin plastic bag. Here is the stack of fabric along with the bags (the black and white floral print) that I already cut to size.  None of this fabric would ever end up in a quilt so this will be a good way to clear out my stash.  
A new bigger tent was purchased for this year's shows and Michael designed a new sign. Our first show is June 1 so I need to get crackin' on getting this fabric cut and the bags sewn. I have no idea how many bags this stack will make, but I have a feeling it won't be enough for the season. I will keep digging to see if I can find anything else I could use.  Last year I know I made over 60 bags and we only had 2 left.  

Monday, April 25, 2022

Log Cabin quilt progress, yardwork, another sampler finish and fun mail

I kept busy this weekend. The log cabin quilt is now pin basted and ready for me to start quilting it. It measures about 55" x 66" so it won't take too long to quilt.
I made pizza this weekend
I got some of the ornamental grass cut down then my neighbor came over and helped me finish cutting down the ones along the fence. I also trimmed and mowed so the yard is looking better. I still have a lot of cleaning up to do in the beds. Here are the before and after pictures.
I finished the little 1957 sampler.
The fun mail I got Saturday was a few more pieces of cross stitch fabric and a chart.
Here is my next piece I am going to stitch. It's another small one. I am stitching it on the cocoa 30 count fabric I just received Saturday. I do not have a chart for this; I am just stitching it from a picture I found. Here is my small start.

Friday, April 22, 2022

Rockin' on those log cabin blocks!

I really pushed last evening to get those log cabin baseball blocks done. I managed to get 13 blocks sewn together and all they need is their final trim.
The other 11 blocks need one more blue log and they will be ready for their final trim. That means I can start putting together the top this weekend!
This quilt is for the three year old so I am making it a bit bigger. This morning I just started down the cul-de-sac and the deer were out wandering.
Have a great weekend. I have a list in my head of all the stuff I need/want to do. The list is probably longer than I can accomplish as usual!

Thursday, April 21, 2022

The push is on

I just heard from my sister that the baby I am making the baseball quilt for may come a bit earlier than planed so that means the push is on to get both quilts done asap. I did get two logs on each block since yesterday. The blocks are ready for trimming and then it will be one more light colored log and two blue logs. My plan is to quilt the log quilt this weekend.
I took a walk around the yard when I got home from work and to my surprise the one tulip I have has not been eaten by the deer. When it was first coming out of the ground they chomped on the leaves as you can see, but they haven't been back to eat the flower.
The daffodils have multiplied and I was surprised with all the white ones I have this year.

Wednesday, April 20, 2022

Log cabin progress, a finish and a start

I got the next log on the blocks last evening after I had fallen asleep in my sewing chair. I was really tired last evening. Maybe it was all the time I spend in that snowstorm we had yesterday that tired me out! LOL!! The flakes coming down were huge and the wind was howling! No accumulation thank goodness. Let's hope the snow is now done until next winter.
Mary Yeager is done. I started this on April 11 and finished it on the 19th. I now have 4 pieces I need to get framed.  Yikes!
I had a doctor's appointment yesterday afternoon so on my way home in another snowstorm (it would snow then the sun would shine , then it snowed like crazy again.  This went on all day), I stopped at Michael's to match up a bobbin of floss I had that I wanted to use for the next sampler. I have no idea why I didn't put the color number on the bobbin. I was able to match it up and yes, that is all I bought - one skein of floss.
Here is the sampler I am going to stitch next. I saw a picture of it somewhere. I will just stitch from the picture. It is interesting that it was made in 1957 and I like the font they used for the upper case letters.  It will be a small sampler so this won't take too long to stitch.  For some reason lately I like stitching small samplers. 
I am stitching it on a piece of Lakeside linen that I recently found to purchase. I hear all the floss tubers talk about Lakeside Linen so I bought a couple pieces to see what all the fuss was about. I got a little start and the linen is wonderful to stitch on! No wonder stitchers sing it praises! I am going to have to track down some more! So here is my little start.

Tuesday, April 19, 2022

Progress on log cabin blocks, fun mail, and SNOW!

I managed to get another log sewn on the log cabin blocks for the second baseball quilt last evening. I am going to have to cut more strips of fabric when I go to sew on the second round of light colored fabrics.
I got fun mail last night. I had seen this tomato pincushion fabric with the gray background on a floss tube from Carol who is the Saltbox Stitcher. It is so cute I just had to have some to make some project bags and to put on the back of those smalls or minis I plan on stitching. I don't know exacly how big the minis are going to be. It will depend on if I use 28 or 32 count fabric. I don't know how many project bags I will get out of this fabric, but I may have a couple to sell.
Yesterday it snowed for about 6 hours. There was no accumilation except in a few areas, but I had a bit that gathered on my windshield. I had already taken my scraper out of the car, but this snow was very wet and the windshield wipers moved it easily. It was snowing again this morning on my way to work. Areas north and east of me got accumilations of 1 1/2 to 3 inches of heavy wet snow. Maybe this is the end of it.

Monday, April 18, 2022

What a crazy three days!

I got zero sewing done on the second baseball quilt. Friday I spend doing errands and cleaning the house. Saturday I had a couple errands then started baking pies.
I made two pumpkin and two pecan pies. Here are two of the finished pies; I had already packed the other two before I thought to take a picture. I only have one cast iron pie pan which I baked one of the pecan pies in. The pie turned out so well I am now on a mission to buy more cast iron pie pans. The difference is the bottom crust came out so nice.
I had the car loaded up with the Xmas presents on Friday and on Saturday afternoon I headed to my son's house to celebrate Xmas and Easter.
I didn't get home until 10:15 Saturday night. I was gifted this beautiful plant for Easter. My son told me they don't remember where they put my Xmas present - LOL!!! There was no tag with the plant so I have no idea what it is.
Sunday morning I needed to make a cheesecake to go along with the pumpkin and pecan pies to take to my brother's house. The festivities were starting at 11 a.m. Here is what was left of the cheesecake.
I ended up bringing home chocolate bunnies and some candy, a paper towel holder that my SIL's uncle made, and two amps I need to make covers for Michael.  I didn't get home until 6 p.m. I unloaded the car, sat down for a minute then fell asleep in my chair.
One piece of fun mail was this piece of hand dyed linen from Needle and Flax. Lots of floss tubers rave about her - Rachel's - linen so I wanted to see what it was like. It is cashel linen, which I don't like to cross stitch on, but I will use it for several small samplers. I just won't buy any more.
It was great seeing people I hadn't seen since before the pandemic and just catching up with everyone. I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.

Thursday, April 14, 2022

Log cabin ball quilt progress and a bit more haul

All the the centers are now sewn to the first log. There are 24 units here. I think the green centers are fun since they have the outline of a baseball diamond on them.
I received another package in the mail last night. Thank goodness the mailman put it in the mailbox and it didn't rain yesterday otherwise the chart could have gotten ruined. I have some old buttons from my grandmother that I plan on using on a couple of these smalls.
I also printed of these two PDF's for two other cute smalls that I bought.
I am taking vacation tomorrow because I have a lot to do. I need to pick up a few groceries and bake some pies for Saturday. For Easter, we are finally getting together on Saturday and opening Xmas presents! My DIL had covid for Xmas and we both finally have time to get together. Then for Sunday I need to make a cheesecake to take to my brother's house for Easter. Have a wonderful and blessed Easter!