RSC14 - Yellow!

With all of the renovations still going on this month, and a new puppy (more on that later this week), I still can't say that I got too much accomplished.  I finally sat down tonight to work on my yellow on-point 4-patches for "4-Patch Revisited."  And while I was at it, I made some gold ones, too.  I don't think gold ever comes up in a rainbow challenge, lol, but if it does...this time I'll be ahead of the game!

I also got all of my yellow/gold lozenges done...but I put them away before remembering to take a picture, sorry!  Isn't it exciting to see piles of units growing...I only have 4 more color sets to put together for this quilt (red, orange, black and brown) and then I can begin piecing units together! It may be a finish before the end of the year...wouldn't that be great???

So what color will be chosen for July???  Any guesses?

Linking up with RSC14!

Beginning Gardening

The front of the house and the planting that was already established when we moved in...

This rose bush will be moved sometime in the near future so that I can define the lines of the flowerbed on this corner.  Plus, I have a better spot for it!

Just a few pictures of the newly planted gardens around the house.  The plants have been in for approximately 4 weeks now and doing well.

And...for Talma, a photo of a frequent visitor to our pond.  In think he might be a Heron?  Really, I don't know; I know nothing about birds, but I just recently started watching them, so maybe more photos to come...

Dufflebag Decor, Oh My!

When our contractors first began work on our house, I was still tearing down and putting away all of the materials from my old sewing room.  One of the guys kept teasing that he was gonna get me to make him a quilt with some of his dad's old Army gear.  Well, one day he brought me a dufflebag and asked if I could make a quilt with it.  Uh, no, I'm not putting that heavy thing on my longarm!!!

He really wanted something that he could give to his dad for Christmas, so I came up with the idea to make a couple of pillows using the canvas, camo print fabric and the original hardware from the bag and I think they came out pretty good.  I strategically placed the original handle on the top of one and the pullstrap (through grommets) on the other.  By, the way, I purposely made them a little bigger than the pillow form...I wanted them to have that slouchy duffle-"baggy" appearance!

I had them ready to go the week before Father's Day, so I asked if he might want to give it to his dad then and he came to pick them up.  I still had a bit of leftover canvas and the camo fabric, so I offered to make a remote holder for his dad, too, if it was something he thought that he could use.  Of course, he said "yes" or I probably wouldn't even be mentioning it...

This baby hold 6 remotes (3 on each side of the chair arm).  I added a piece of the strap to the top and a pen and notepad (or newspaper, or crossword book, etc) can slide right in.  And look at those grommets on the front!

Linking up with Sew Many Ways, Sew Darn Crafty this week!

June's UFO is finished...Lockridge Mill

"Lockridge Mill," the third project in Prairie Women's Sewing Circle - Journey 3, was my project completed for this month.  I'm well on my way to getting caught up with all of the past projects!  And thanks to my friend, Debbie, I came home from a trip to MO earlier in the month (more about that here) with the top fully completed and ready to layer, quilt, sleeve, tag and bind!

Since my sewing studio is still under construction (week 7), I chose to just meander this little quilt on my Bernina.  That wouldn't have been so bad, except, I kept getting little nests on the back of the quilt.  I got really frustrated with ripping them all out that I finally just left a few in for a reminder to not use basting spray adhesive - I really think that was the issue...grrr..... 

Before I left Debbie's house in MO, I made us both matching tags for the backs of our quilts, but I chose to write on mine upside down - more room for the name of the quilt that way!

Lockridge Mill  

Prairie Women's Sewing Circle - Journey 3, Gathering 3

22x28"

Pattern Designer:  Pam Buda, Heartspun Quilts

Quilting Design:  Freehand Meander

Linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes, 12 Finishes in 2014, Sew Darn Crafty, and Can I Get A Whoop, Whoop?  Go check 'em out!

Prairie Huswyfe

"Prairie Huswyfe" was meant to be my June UFO project, but I guess I couldn't wait a second longer, because...well, I pulled it out and whipped it up before I had to tear down my old sewing room.  

When I pulled it out last month, all of the pieces were cut out and that's about as far as I had gotten.  

The little basket blocks were so much fun to assemble, but boy are some of those triangles TINY!  Looking closely you'll see that there are 4 of each of 4 different versions of baskets (I used the same fabric for each version).  Only the center area of the basket changes.  Fun!

And...a couple of pictures of "Prairie Huswyfe" quilted...the last picture does best to represent the true colors of this quilt.

Prairie Huswyfe  

Prairie Women's Sewing Circle - Journey 2, Gathering 2

28x28"

Pattern Designer:  Pam Buda, Heartspun Quilts

Quilting Design:  Freehand Meander

RSC14 - Green

With all of the renovations and chaos going on last month, I can't say that I got too much accomplished, but i did manage to get my green 4-patches on-point for "4-Patch Revisited" and a respectable stack of green "Lozenges!"

Now, to dig out a little yellow for June...

Linking up with RSC14!

June UFO Goal

After finishing my "Prairie Huswyfe" basket quilt (which was supposed to be my June UFO), I started yet another Prairie Women's project...this time, from Journey 3.  

"Prairie Huswyfe" PWSC J2

My friend, Debbie, and I have been talking about having a "friendship project" to work on together 9 even though we don't see each other too often.  When we started talking about how behind we were in our PWSC projects, we decided that they would make the best friendship projects and we could encourage each other to get caught up!  When I went down to MO last month, Debbie showed me the "Lockridge Mill" pattern for this month's meeting...next thing we knew, we were pulling the fabrics we needed to get it going from Debbie's extensive stash!  

"Lockridge Mill" PWSC J3 (Debbie's - L, Mine - R)

Our tops are both finished, but as usual, mine's stacked on the pile to be quilted.  Since I did manage to get my original June UFO completed, I figured, I should make it a goal to get this one quilted up and finished as well.  I chose colors to make my version coordinate with my "Prairie Huswyfe" quilt (above).  They will both be decorating my living room, so I really can't wait to have "Lockridge Mill" done!  

And...an update on our basement renovation project.  It has begun!  Walls are all framed out, wiring has been all put in.  Plumbing is in the works.   Drywall is going up tomorrow!  The upstairs bathroom has gotten a new heated jetted tub and a tiled surround and granite bathroom counters for both of the upstairs bathrooms are going in tomorrow.    

Linking up to A Lovely Year of Finishes.