New post on Traditional Primitives Blog!

Please hop on over to my new blog and join my site as a follower! I'll keep reminding here for a few more posts but eventually I'll stop. Sorry if I'm bugging anyone by continuing these reminders! :-)

Click here to get toTraditional Primitives Blog!

Take car and See You There!

Missie

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Binding Time!

The quilting is done and now I am binding DD and SIL's new quilt! The good news is that it will be done in time for the movers to pack it up and take it to Georgia to their new home. The bad news is that it is over 400" of binding! Ha Ha! Ginger feels the same way I do about binding!

She is snuggling up to it this morning. Last night she was laying on the part that was at my feet while I stitched one side of binding down. I had to keep moving her as I adjusted the quilt to get to the next part for stitching. I guess she is making sure to get the snuggles in before the quilt goes to it's new home. Funny how pets love to snuggle on quilts!

She had a good report on her broken leg last week! It is healing well. She now has freedom to walk slowly on the wood floor and have freedom throughout the main floor of the house. No big flight of steps allowed yet, but she got a little energetic and ran up and down when we weren't looking! So now we are doing the baby gate thing for a few more weeks while we build her strength back with daily walks. She is still limping a bit at times and I hope that will go away soon. I hate that she is hurting even a bit when she walks!

How do you like to make a binding? I cut bias strips 1 3/4" wide, sew the strips together and then press the long length in half. Actually I offset this seam a bit as you can see in the picture below. It is offset about a scant 1/8". I use a walking foot and a 1/4" seam when stitching on the folded binding.

Using this method gives me a nice small binding. I like to use one goodie clip as a pin to hold the folded edge in place a bit as I stitch up to it. I only use one clip because it is easier to handle one as you move it along the binding. Using more clips ahead of my stitching does not do me any good because I am placing the binding in it's exact place one stitch at a time. I usually place the clip about 4" ahead of my stitching and work up to it as shown in this picture below. The clip helps me get the folded edge in the approximate location needed and reduces the pull the binding makes with the double layer as it is folded to the back. Make sense?

Have a great day and take care ! I will show a picture of the quilt on a bed when the binding is done... Until then...

Missie

 

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My House on the Hill

Just finished up revamping My House on the Hill in Valdani pearl cotton 12! This is a mini quilt, 12" square. These are so fun to lay around the house or hang on the wire hangers that are so popular now. I have several different little quilts hanging out of baskets and laid out on coffee tables. So nice to finish up another project! This pattern is available at Traditional Primitives HERE if you are interested!

Take Care,

Missie

PS... Here's a nice give away I stumbled on...cute blog!

COBBLESTONECORNER AND GRANDMAS BISQUITS, 50 FOLLOWERS GIVE AWAY! ENDING JULY 25TH...

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Happy Belated Holiday and thank goodness for cooler weather!!

I hope you all had a wonderful Fourth of July! This is an antique quilt I saved a picture of long ago. It's one of my favorite patriotic quilts of yesteryear.

We just got home from a trip to see family and attend a wedding in hot hot Indiana! My goodness it was HOT and humid. I feel for all the folks stuck in the heat wave with no power all these days. So glad cooler and less humid weather arrived today! We attended a wedding Saturday and we were sure glad the church and reception were nice and cool! Always fun to see a new couple in love getting married!

I finally have time to post a good pic of my wool Quilt, Charmed Beginnings, made from Blackberry Primitives wool. It's lovely wool to work with.  All pieces are appliquéd. No piecing except for putting the blocks together. This is a pretty quick quilt to put together as wool appliqué is so easy since there are no seams to turn under. It is hand quilted in primitive stitches with Valdani 12 pearle cotton. Hmmm...gives me the itch for another wool project!

We came home to blooming hydrangeas...the only thing that was not burned up in the heat! I'm glad to have enjoyed these a few days.

I hope your weather is pleasant where ever you are...we are pleasant in Iowa the last few days! Take care!

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Banned From the Sewing Room!

Well, it's a very hot morning here in Iowa...I had plans of getting some sewing done in the cool basement sewing room this morning...ahhh, it will have to wait! There is currently a floor full of teenage gals sleeping in late! LOL! I guess I am banned from my sewing room this morning. We have a big open room down there and my sewing area is down at one end. So I didn't wake them I turned on the fan, found a good movie and did a little more Punchneedle upstairs this morning. This coaster went really quick... Started and finished punching this morning! I ran out of glue so will finish it completely another day. The Valdani thread looks so nice with it's subtle shading.

The design was based on the circle block on the top row of my quilt, In the Orange Grove. It's bright and colorful, yet it's also got that prim feel I love. The colors mimic those in the quilt. When it hangs in my living room I will surely enjoy this coaster along with the quilt! Take a look at the pattern on my website HERE.   The coaster pattern will be listed soon! I plan to make a group pattern offering 4 coasters to coordinate with this quilt. Won't be long and they will be available!

Have a cool relaxing day! Take care!

Away at the Beach! Punchneedle was an easy project to take along!

 

Last week we went away for a visit to Orange Beach, Alabama. A beautiful place for sure! Here was the view from our balcony while I did a little stitching. The sound of the waves was very relaxing and when I'd had enough watching the waves roll in, I picked up my project.

 

For those of you who have not done punchneedle, this is how it looks as you begin punching the shapes. They are a bit messy, but as long as you stay within the lines, the shape will sharpen up nicely when you fill in around it. Notice the berries and pineapple shapes...before and after filling in a bit!

 

I am auditioning background colors for the blocks in this little punchneedle quilt. I don't think this is quite right, yet I do like the varigated look.

Here you can see I have added a bit of solid ivory around the star.

Punchneedle was a great little project to take along on my trip. I was able to check with TSA at the check in desk and they approved me taking the needle on board. It was flat and small in my carry on bag and I got quite a bit done when I felt I was being to idle with my hands. I took it to the poolside, worked on it on the balcony and at the airport. You know us quilters and stitchers can't be empty handed for long!

Have a great day!

 

Mmmm Fresh Salad Please!

We moved to Iowa about 8 years ago from a 2 acre lot to a standard cookie cutter sized lot. We had a big garden in Ohio...squash, strawberries, tomatoes, peas, etc. Here, I have learned to mix the veggies in with my flower pots on the porch..it makes for a small garden, but it works! This year I only have tomatoes and lettus, but it will be enough for a few fresh salads now and then!

The big pots of light purple petunias all came back naturally from last year! We thought they were weeds, but then noticed they were petunias. It was nice to have those pots ready to go at planting time

Spinach is in the three tiered planter...can't hardly see it since I just cut it! More leaves will be grown in a few days though! On the right is my new Stawberries 'n Cream Hydrangia ...the blooms are only yellow so I need to figure out what nutrients it needs to get the pink color to come!

The back porch flower garden...helps us feel a little less closed in and gives us something nice to look at besides the neighbors! LOL. You can see the lettus bowl on the railing next to the three tiered pot where the lettus is growing. My tomato plant is just off view of the camera to the left and has some nice tomatoes ripening. When the lettus is done we will put out more seed for the next round. Lettus grows quickly so it works well!

And since this is a blog about quilts...here is an old quilt I made in the early nineties during the mauve and blue phase of my life. It is called Cottage Flowers. I haven't had it out for a while, so it's nice for me to see it again! Have a great weekend!

 

 

Spring has Sprung and so has my Blog!

Good Day and welcome to my new blog! I hope to bring you inspiration to get some fun quilts and projects done! I am a a wife and mother of three daughters. There is no one better to make a quilt for than those you love! To introduce myself, today I'll share a few quilts and other projects that I have designed.

This quilt is called In the Orange Grove. It started off with a new obsession with wool applique and moved on to mixing cotton with the wool. I've included reproductions along with Kaffe fabrics to add a whimsy to this traditional looking pattern. I really got out of the box on this one...my usual colors are reds, blues, greens, browns and tans. I love the mix of fabric styles and colors in this one. It was so much fun to work on!

These are the window treatments I made for our family room. The windows are facing east and the sun is blinding bright in the morning so I had to cover them very soon after moving into the house seven years ago. These add a personal touch to our home and keep us comfortable in the mornings since they prevent the sun from shining right into our eyes during our morning coffee.

Once the window treatments were finished, I had to try something new on our table! Our oak table was damaged in the move, and this was my old crafting table. It had paint globs and scratch marks and was very used and abused. It is over 50 years old and was my parents' first table. I gave it a stripping, then drew and painted the pattern from the window treatments on top, carved around the borders of the shapes, stained and varnished it and covered it with glass so it would not get damaged again! This is sitting just outside our family room. It is an old heirloom made new again.

This quilt is called Brookshire Star and is one of my favorites. This quilt matches my window treatments and kitchen table. Once the window treatments and table were finished, I had to make a quilt to go along with them! I'm not usually this matchy matchy, but it all coordinates well without being too much. The long room consists of the kitchen, dining and family rooms so all these items are spread out. This quilt is done all by machine; machine applique and machine quilting. I would like to make another someday with needleturn and hand quilt it for a more rustic look. Maybe I'll use some of the wools that I'm so in love with now!

~~ Happy May Day by the way!! This is my garden at the front door and my grand-dog Jersey on the left and my dog Ginger on the right!

That's all I'll post for now...I'll post more pics soon so we can get to know each other!