Hexie Love

Life in the Midwest, my gift to my husband for our 25th Anniversary.

He was the country boy who won my heart...I was the city gal. Over the years we've moved to several locations and I have learned to love the things that come with country living. The barn quilts, silos with tile that looks like a quilt, the country churches you see on a drive through the country here in Iowa. The quilt shop that was once a hundred year old home, the windmills scattered through the fields in Ohio. The sunflower and wheat fields from South Dakota, the corn and bean fields from Ohio and Iowa. The pineapple, eagle, star, birds and heart all represent familiar things in quilting and country life. Even though we are back in the city at this point in our life's, the country life has been good to me, mostly because it's been such a great journey with my sweet hubby...
This quilt is in this years AQS Engagement Calendar. This week it is the featured quilt. It all started with the hexies...I love those hexies! It grew to be a bit of a story quilt and will be one of our favorite forever more!
VOTE FOR THIS QUILT HERE IN THE 5th ANNUAL BLOGGERS QUILT FESTIVAL! Thanks to www.amyscreativeside.com!
You can purchase the pattern on my website, Traditional Primitives HERE.
Thanks for stopping by today,
Missie

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A Warm Welcome...

My small quilt for this year, A Warm Welcome, is coming right along! I figured out how I wanted to finish it, so got the little border on and now it's ready for quilting! It is a very simple border. I will show you how finishing the edges will work in a few days when the quilting is done...

I may decide to do this as the inner portion of a larger quilt...this would be a nice medallion center...hmmm, interesting thought! This one needs to be finished though, so a larger quilt will come later!  Come back soon for the finishing process..

Take care,

Missie

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First day of school today!

Where has the summer gone? Well actually, it's been so hot, I am glad it is coming to an end... Seems like the kids were just home from school and here it is, the first day of another school year!

Trisha is on the left and she's no longer in school (I couldn't cut her out of this cute pic!), but Melanie is off to start her junior year at college as of last week, and Katie starts her junior year of high school today. It was a sad affair looking for school supplies this year...6 spirals and 4 folders (total!)...no book bags, no fancy pencils, no cute pencil bags, etc... Boo hooo, my girls are growing up! Of course, I stopped aging years ago! LOL

Katie will have an exciting school year because she can now be just like all the rest of the kids and eat anything she wants with no worries...her milk allergy desensitization is going great. As I have said before, it is such a blessing! If any of you know someone who is severely allergic to milk, eggs, wheat or soy, this program is literally a life saver! Contact me if you have questions and I will be happy to steer you in the right direction. It is a rare program and not many are aware that this is an option to "cure" your child of these life threatening allergies. This has nothing to do with school except for the fact that she can buy whatever is available for lunch and I won't be packing any special lunches every day. A small part of a regular day at school that's a big deal for us!

Mel will be studying extra hard this year as she is now in the business school at her college. Her classes will be tougher, but I bet she will still find time to do her favorite activities and charities on campus as well as come home now and then to bake cupcakes...her favorite hobby!

I will miss them, but will be excited to get my days back to myself...quilting, appliqué, and day trading with no multiple interruptions throughout the day. You have seen these projects posted previously on the blog, but here is another view of my two current projects happening now. I can see the end of the tunnel on both of these coming soon!

 

Take care,

Missie

 

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You Like??

I am working on my small pineapple quilt...trying to make it resemble a real pineapple plant!

I added a few more long leaves to this design after I got into stitching it.

The bottom of a pineapple plant is quite leafy. I was quite surprised to see how they really look! Big 'ole plant for a single pineapple!

I had a goal to finish the leaves over the past weekend, but when I decided it needed more leaves, I did a little ripping before I could add a few more. Took a bit longer to get all those leaves on, but it's with it I think! Won't be long and I will have this baby done...

Take care and see ya back here soon,

Missie

 

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Happy 1st Anniversary!

 

Happy 1st Anniversary to my oldest daughter and her wonderful husband!

Trisha and Chase were married a year ago today and have been living very happily ever after!

 

None of us can believe its been a year since this happy day. Proof that time does fly when you are having fun! Here are a few more pictures for you to see! (gives me an opportunity to brag a little!)

These pics above are some of my favorites. They were so happy on their wedding day and these pictures capture that happiness so well!

This is a picture of my daughters in pink with the bride, and their cousins in yellow and the tiny tux! It was a fun day for all of them...Aiden, Haley, Katie, Trisha, Melanie and Hannah!

And finally, here is the entire wedding party all dressed up and ready to go! (Minus little Aiden shown above...he was napping then!). My show and tell for this post is that I did all the flowers and the alter decor. It was so fun and I am so happy I could do this for my daughter and her new husband. It was a bright and festive ceremony for a bright and festive couple!

I wish Trisha and Chase many more happy years in the future! Life is good when you live the dream with your one true love!

Happy Anniversary!

Take care, and see you soon,

Missie

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Back to the Real World...

Can you guess where this is? I spent a few days here and felt like I was on an island...if not for the horns honking constantly! LOL

We were in Chicago and happened to be put in a corner room of our hotel. Three floors up. Views of Lake Michigan from 3 large windows. We could see the trees and the sandy beach and the water, full of sail boats and big motor boats. The busy lifestyle of living in the city is not for me, but it sure was fun to see it for a day or two. The miracle mile is a busy place. Many folks walking with their faces turned up looking at the buildings, bags of fancy purchases and music on the streets. The beach shoreline has bike paths where the stream of bikers, joggers with dogs, and couples strolling along holding hands is constant.

The number of ambulances, police cars and fire trucks racing down Michigan Avenue was amazing...lots of people brings lots of emergencies for sure. Lots of cabs and zillions of autos going and going until 2 AM...silence until 4 AM, and then the gentle noise of a few autos builds to full force once again by 6 AM.

Think I returned home to sleep peacefully in my own bed last night?!? Nope, the dog wanted out at 4 AM! LOL It's always something!

I did get a little bit of stitching done when the light was good. It was relaxing to sit near the window with my feet propped up, stitching and watching the busy folks pass by. I am glad to be home, ready to get back to the real world today! It's always good to get away, but always good to get back home too!

Take Care,

Missie

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Think Christmas!! It's Time!

I can't help but to Think Christmas now that the Think Christmas Blog Hop is in full swing! What great ideas have been posted to get us ready for decorating early this year! No excuses not to make a new Christmas Project, except for the fact that so many cute ideas have been brought to our attention! Which ones will everyone choose to make?

Here is my 12.5" block which I made into a little quilt to hang from my wire hanger. I am calling it The Partridge and The Pears...pretty plain and simple, just like primitives styled quilts. The primitive stitches are done with a normal invisible appliqué stitch, but I have used a deeper bite and pearl cotton so that it shows in primitive style. Look closely at the stitches around the pears below to see how it looks!

I saw this stitch recently, but can NOT find the email newsletter it came from! If any of you know of someone else promoting this type of primitive stitch, please let me know as I would love to give that smart girl credit for this cute primitive look!

For the quilting of this little quilt, I decided to keep it primitive and used pearl cotton size 12, with easy big stitches. I outlined the shapes about 1/8" around, then did echo quilting in 1/2" increments around the shapes. You can see that I quilted with tan, green and gold pearl cotton.. When I quilt with pearl cotton, I like to use the Fons & Porter Hand Wool Appliqué Needles, size 2. These glide through the fabric with this thick thread very easily.

Everyone can be a winner here for my give away! If you like my little quilt and would like to make one for yourself, please do these few things...visit my website Traditional Primitives HERE , and send me a comment From the guest book at the site after checking it out! Let me know which pattern or picture you like the best! Then, leave a comment on this blog REQUESTING The Partridge and The Pears pattern if you want it and make sure you are a follower of my blog. Be sure you are listed as a follower who can recieve email and I will email you a PDF file containing the pattern. I'd love to spread the Christmas Joy that comes with the season. You have until August 11 to leave your comments!

Thanks to Lesley at The Cuddle Quilter for hosting this fun Blog Hop! She has done a great job keeping us organized! You can find the complete list of blog hop participants in her side bar. And also thanks to Madame Sam of Sew We Quilt for being the ever so great cheerleader for all of us! She will be posting the 2 favorites each day on her blog, so check it out!

Be inspired to get ready for Christmas early this year by checking out the blog hop! Here is the list of bloggers for today! Take a peek by at what they are working on since they too are Thinking Christmas!! Just click on thier blog names to visit their blogs..


Creations on the IslandThat Other Blog
Sunshine Girl
Treaditional Primitives (You are Here!)
The Recipe Bunny
Sisca at That Other Blog
Polkadot Classic
Ariane's Crafts
Katie's Salt Marsh Path
The Cuddle Quilter

Thank you so much for stopping by my blog! Check out my older posts and please become a follower if you like what you see! I will do my best to keep you coming back!
Happy August and Merry Christmas!

Take Care,
Missie.

UPDATE-- this pattern is now available as an epattern in my web store Hallbrook Designs for only $3. It is listed at the bottom of the page.

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What's For Breakfast??

We have company comin'! Our time will be filled with gabbing and shopping and card playing! No time for cooking, so I have tried to prepare as much food ahead of time as I can. For breakfast I spent a bit of time today making Breakfast Burritos...went pretty quick and now we will be ready for a relaxing morning tomorrow.

First a little cheese on a tortilla...

A little sausage, egg, green chilies and salsa...

Fold over the bottom edge...

 

And one side...

 

Then the other side...squish it all in good...

Roll it up in waxed paper...

 

And Voila'! We have enough burritos to feed an army! We have small sized and large sized, steak and peppers from leftovers and sausage as shown above! Give it a try some day...schools about to start and these are super easy to take out of the freezer and pop in the microwave!

So, I know this is supposed to be a quilting blog. To keep it on topic, my quilting show and tell is my table I made with the quilting design carved and painted. What are you having for breakfast today??

Take care,

Missie

 

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Primitive Pinapple Welcome...A little treasure...

It's a good day today! I finished up two projects! Yes...they are mighty small, but it still feels good to finish up something that has a deadline! The little quilt pictured above is called A Little Warm Welcome. The colors are cozy and warm, rich and golden. You've seen the center in the works from previous posts, done in punchneedle embroidery. The border stars, twigs and larger sized leaves are wool and the berries and small leaves are embroidered. This quilt is 12" x 12" and fits on my little wire hanger perfectly! The pattern is available on my HERE if you like it!

If you have not tried Punchneedle, give it a try...it's very easy and quick and the reward is fast! You will be amazed how quickly you can see your progression. Because you can see such great detail so quickly, it really keeps you wanting to work on it. I love to put the punchneedle pieces in small quilts. There will be another one coming soon!

The other project I finished today is my project for the Think Christmas Blog Hop!! My day to present is Saturday, August 4th, so come back to see me then!! Lesley at The Cuddle Quilter is the Hostess and you can see all the participants listed on her blog.

See you Saturday...be sure to have your cuppa coffee in hand as you Think Christmas!

Take care,

Missie

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