Back to Applique

Last night I didn't have enough pieces to piece together for the Honey Bee blocks. So, I pulled out my applique. The first applique piece I pulled out was the basket block that is on my guilt wall. 

I was able to applique all the basket pieces down. 

Now I just need to add the basket top, bottom and sides. Once that is done, I can start working on the flowers. 

I also found this block and I remember thinking I would have to take all the pieces out on the top flower. Today, I decided it wasn't that bad right now, so will leave it. It will be a little off with the tip, but I'm going to let it be. I'll just make sure the other three don't have the same problems. 

This afternoon I worked on getting the pieces cut so I can continue working on the blocks. 

I will probably need to cut more for the last block, but for now, this will keep me going. Tonight I will be marking the fabric and see if I can get another block done. I can go between blocks now, and that should make it a little easier to getting the blocks done. Wish I enjoyed piecing and much as I love applique, but that just isn't the cash. 

Looking forward to having more done, and getting back to being Happy Quilting!

A day of Quilting...

Today was a fast and fun day!  I spent the morning as usual. Then I headed off to mom and dad's for our "Myron's Girls" quilt group.

I finally got the photo of the Honey Bee quilt block. Mom has been working on the bee's and I'm still piecing the blocks. At least I only need 8 more. lol

While quilting at moms, I was thrilled to see Hildi back. She was the one that was in a car accident about 2 months ago. She's still re-cooping, but she's looking good.

I took over some linen for mom to do some hard-anger when she's ready. When she's done, I'll do the cross stitch work. It's a really pretty pattern done by Stoney Creek Magazine.

Because of the "deal" I have with my mother, I worked on her quilt by quilting on it today. I did the "L" shape and the square. I started the "L" shape last time I was over there. I finished it and finished the square. I was starting the smaller square when everyone decided it was time to leave.

Mom didn't want to do any quilting in the red stripped area. So, it's going really fast. I was surprised to find that the red thread (basting) is bleeding. I found a few red spots where the holes where part of the basting. The gal that basted this is really good about making sure her fabrics and threads are "bleed proof."

The flash on my camera made the white one white fabric look pink. I really did have fun quilting on this quilt. I was thinking, I'll probably be the one who quilts this quilt! lol

Having fun being Happy Quilting!

Last count - 21 Blocks done.

Last night I was able to get one more block done. I need to cut more fabric, so I've slowed down some on the blocks.

Today was a busy day. I did find a few "slugs" on the walk that I couldn't believe were out there.

We came across so many bushes that had at the very least - 10 slugs. I was really surprised at how they went from one stem to another and still hooked to both at the same time.

As much as I hate slugs, it was still interesting to see.

All this was at 7 am this morning. Goes to show how cool it got. I was thrilled they weren't in our yard!

After winning two games in cribbage, I headed over to mom and dads. Mom and I went up to Costco today. Mom got a lot of groceries, and I came back with a few things. I had to have my can of cashews! I love nuts, and I can have them, so it helps having a healthy snack. I also picked up some raspberries and some angel food mini cakes. That was dessert for tonight.

Mom finished block #3 of Pearl P's block of the month she has going. I have been given permission to post her information, so I'm going to add that to my blog as well. She's a very nice lady, and I recommend you check out her stuff. (P3 Designs)  You can like her on Facebook as well.

Mom has 3 of the Honey Bee blocks done. We are looking into going to Michigan in August to visit Patrick's family. So, I''m betting the quilt won't be done by then! lol

In the meantime I'm hoping to be busy and Happy Quilting.

Actually Quilted!

The last two days I've been doing some quilt stuff, but not enough to write about. I've been doing the same thing for the past couple weeks and figured reading the same stuff would be BORING. Trust me, I know. I get bored easily.

On Monday we went to be with my parents. We played games and of course - I didn't win! I sat next to Patrick and every time he went out - I could have gone out if I had the chance to play! That was getting old!

I made brownies for dessert. We had brownies with ice cream and some chocolate syrup. It was really good!

Yesterday and Monday, I knew I needed to cut more fabrics for the blocks, so I "stalled." I really didn't want to cut more, and I REALLY am getting bored doing the same block - over and over again. So, I pulled out my Hawaiian quilt to take a night or two off from the blocks.

The poor quilt was looking lonely there without attention, so I pulled it out and finished the corner! I'm so thrilled I was able to get the corner done!

Now I can head around the side. I do believe this is the third corner, so I'm getting a lot closer than it looks.

I did get a photo of my quilt block with the bees on them, but it was on my tablet and I haven't figured out how to get those photos to my photo gallery. I'll take another photo with my camera on Friday or tomorrow and then you can see the quilt block. It's dark, but that's what my mother-in-laws wanted.

Patrick decided we would be going to see them in August. So, I need to get my rear in gear and get the blocks done so we can put it together and start quilting on it. UGH!!

Looking forward to having this block done and get back to being Happy Quilting!

Happy Memorial Day!

THANK YOU!

Today is the day I like to thank my family for their service. So, I pulled out some photos to show you some of my family who have been an inspiration to me.

 First, is my father (still living and 81 years old). I also have two brothers who served. One retired last year from the Air Force.

This is the photo I have on my "letters From the Past" blog - with my father and three of his buddies. Two of them have since passed.

This is my 2nd great grandfather - James M. Hodge, who served in the Civil War. He was injured in Jackson, Mississippi. He served in the WV regiment.

This is my 2nd great grandfather - John Wineland. He was injured in the Civil War, and spent the rest of his life in a wheel chair.

This is only a small portion of my family that served in the many wars. I have more that served in both WW's.  I could fill this page of my ancestors who made this country FREE for us. So, now you know I'm very patriotic!

Thank you to all those who served for this country! May God Bless you. Thank you for letting me be free and Happy Quilting!

Getting Closer

Yesterday wasn't a good day for getting much done. We went to the casino instead. So, I did get the block done that I had planned to have done. I'm closer to having another one done as well. I need to go and cut more fabric pieces to finish the rest of them. 

 

One is this far along and the other one need one more purple piece added. I need to cut the purple out so I can finish a few more. I have two other centers with 2 rows done. 

Charlie hasn't been in as much lately. She seems to like the warmer weather we are having - EXCEPT for today - RAIN! 

We did go to the movie "Blended" and I do recommend you see that. I laughed more than I thought I would. It was really a good movie. I'm thinking if I get the chance to see it again, I will. 

Tomorrow we are heading to my folks. I'll try and remember to take photos while there so I can post them. I need to take more brown fabric to mom for the bees. I may end up quilting on her quilt while we are there. Depends if we play games or if we watch TV. Usually we lay games, but mom may want to show Patrick her new Netflix shows. 

It's been slowing down here with the blocks. I'm finding myself getting bored working on them. I can't wait to get them all done and put together so we can start quilting on it. May have mom take it to a machine quilter to get it basted. 

In the meantime, I am really trying to be Happy Quilting!

20 Blocks done so far!

Today was a pretty good day. I took my walking partner up to Olympia for a doctors appointment. While she was in the doctor's office I was able to get a lot of piecing done.

This one was done last night, I believe that makes #19.

This one is #20 - I'll add the ends on it tonight and it will be official - 20 blocks done. Not bad considering I started back at them when it was at 12. The block from last night, I had to take out one side because it didn't fit right. So, I turned the strip around and it fit great.

I pieced all of these today at the doctors office. That will give me 3 more centers done.

I did all of these last night. It went really fast. So, I'm thrilled to see they are going faster than I thought they would.

I did find myself getting bored at the doctors office. You can keep sewing the same stitch so for so long and then it gets boring after awhile. I'm trying really hard to get these done. I can't wait till I get the rest of the blocks done! 10 more to go. At least mom is doing the bees and then I can piece them all together.

I just had to show you this! It's a sewing "kit" that belonged to my 2nd great grandmother. It's in awesome shape!!

When you open it, there are three pin holder "wings" for your needles. It all in red velvet. I'm really surprised it's lasted this long! Mom said she used this all the time.

When I got home today, I ironed all my pieces on the block. I even washed some "linen" that was part of mom's stash. It has some stains and I'm trying to figure out how to get them out of it.

OH! I just have to tell you how my day started! I knew I had to be down at my neighbors this morning at 7:45 am.  Of course, I didn't want to get up at 7 am, but I did. I showered, looked at the clock and thought I had plenty of time to get down there. I then got on the computer to check my email for a message, then realized I needed to do my exercise. Just as I was getting done with that, I heard a car honking out front. I popped up to find Ruth waiting in the car for me! I didn't have my shirt on (I was in my tank top), hadn't brushed my teeth, or even got my shoes and socks on! You should have seen me running all over the place, going to get my teeth brushed, sock, and shoes! I yelled out after brushing my teeth, that I had to get my shoes on! Poor Ruth, she ended up waiting on me for a good 5-10 mins! She was laughing at me when I got in the car. She's so used to me being right there, 10-15 mins early. She keep looking for me and thought she'd just drive the car over to get me. I couldn't believe I was off track of time! Once that happened, everything got back on track. The trip back from Olympia was through the back roads because there was stop and go traffic on I-5. We made it back in good time.

Okay, I need to get off the computer and get started quilting again! I'm happy to be Happy Quilting!

A Day of Quilting

Today started out early, as I'm back to walking at 7 am! I was feeling great and got up on time! lol

Quilting was at Quilter's Junction today, so I was able to get another block done at the meeting. I figured out I needed more black center squares.

I cut out a few more squares and will mark them tonight. I need to have them ready for tomorrow, as I'm going to take my walking partner up to Olympia to have her noise worked on. It will be a good wait, I'm sure.

Patrick and I were in the mood for pretzels, so I made some tonight. It was pretty good. I had bought a box mix and it actually turned out great.

Before I got home, I went to the cemetery in Chehalis, to look for some friends. It is memorial weekend. I did find one of our quilting friends, and I couldn't find the other one. I also went to look for my dad's Aunt. I couldn't find her either. I'll check again another time when I get an idea of where they are. I need to go see my great grandmother in Centralia as well.

If you look closely, the mountain is in the background. This is a really pretty cemetery.

I have 19 blocks done so far, so it's going pretty fast with getting them pieced. Mom told me today she has 2 of the blocks done with the appliqued bees.

Okay, I did say I would have the link of another app to put on to save money - here it is:

Ibotta

I've been saving a lot on this site. Okay, need to get the blog written with our group - so may you be Happy Quilting!

Garden Planting today...

Today was one of those days, that no matter how you schedule the day, it wouldn't help. I started the day off by going to the folks. No one was home, so I sat and quilted on mom's quilt. We have an agreement, I help with the quilting and she's going to help me with my mother in laws' quilt. I took over another 3 blocks - that puts us up to 18 blocks, so far.

Dad showed up and I had to leave for my physical therapy. I had a few more exercises addedto my already long list. lol - But the good news is that it's helping.

After the therapy, I had lunch with my parents. Then mom asked me to stick around and help her go through her "stuff."  The stuff ended up being several boxes of great grandmother and grandmother's costume jewelry. I ended up taking a lot of it home. So, now I need to go through it, group up necklaces to earrings, etc. Then I need to go through them with my daughter to see what she wants. That took all afternoon. I also had the pleasure of seeing my great grandmother (Lizzie Little White)'s sewing box and sewing supplies. 

When I finally got home, Patrick was already home. Cooked supper and then he reminded me we were going to plant our veggies in the garden. We spend another 2 hours outside planting all the veggies we bought this last week. After we were done, I decided to go around the yard and see the beautiful flowers blooming! I don't think we have ever had this many flowers blooming in one year. We did have a couple plants that didn't bloom, but they are working on new growth. 

Not sure I'll be quilting tonight, but I'll be quilting tomorrow at our quilt group. I'm going to drop off the box that LouAnn had. 

I'm looking forward to tomorrow and being Happy Quilting!

Helping a Neighbor out

On Friday (at our quilt meeting), my neighbor and friend, asked me to help her with the wallet we were doing.  She was taking out just as much as she was putting in.

So, while I was doing the blocks, I took a break and worked on her wallet.

Edith had the left side done, with about 2 1/2 rows of the right side done.

I finished it in no time. It was fun and quick to do.

This is the inside of the wallet. I had to cut another "x" for it, as the one I had was too short.

The wallet works in the way where you put your "bill" in the wallet (didn't have $1), and then the wallet does the work. Close the wallet,

and open it from the other side. Then close it again, and

open from the other side. As you can see, the dollar is behind the plastic canvas.

Now, I just need to get this to my neighbor. I think she'll be thrilled to know she didn't have do try and figure out how the needlepoint works. - I love to do needlepoint.

While I was at the quilt group today, I marked the fabric that wasn't marked for the Honey Bee quilt. I got all the fabric that was cut, marked. I need to cut more of the darker color so I can finish a few more blocks. I have enough to finish two more blocks, then I need the center black fabric cut to finish off a few more.

I'm having a great time working on the Honey Bee pattern and Happy Quilting!

Another Day....Maybe Another Quilt?

Yesterday I was checking out the different blogs, and the different patterns that I wanted to see out there. Applique is my favorite, and found a pattern I wanted. I checked on Bing and Google to see what there was out there for that pattern. It's in high demand, so that means it's HIGH priced. I couldn't find the pattern any cheaper than $25 and that didn't include shipping. UGH! I don't want to pay that much!

I was looking at the different blogs as well Kathy's Quilts was so funny! I love the video where she shows the racers! I feel that way with quilting all the time. Can't make up my mind if I'm going to make this or that. Am I going to work downstairs or upstairs. Am I really going to pull all that out and work on it, or can I find something with less mess to worry about? AND then the laundry bell goes off - YES, I need the laundry bell to ding or the laundry wouldn't get done! lol

I finally went to Staples and made a copy of Jeannie Austin's pattern. This is the one with the Rooster dragging the cart. It's a big pattern and it's really cute. Now I can take it back to Jeannie. I also copied her eagle patterns, and I'm so excited about getting one of those done. I'm almost thinking of doing one, and donating it to the Quilts of Valor, so they can give it to a Veteran. I know of a few veterans that would love to have a quilt. I may do that yet. (Again - may and doing are two different things - but I have been known to do it!)

I've been doing surveys again. This one survey I signed up for will pay me each day for only eating red meat one day this week. (Next 7 days!) I know what your thinking - 'cause I'm thinking the same thing! I'm NUTS!! I'll keep you posted on how it goes. They say the survey is for "Greenhouse admissions" but I'm not really buying that one! I figure I'll be eating a lot of chicken this week! Wish me luck. I wonder if they are trying to get me to go vegetarian. lol  Trouble with that is, I can't have potatoes, carrots, or even breads! This is going to be fun! LIKE I SAID, I'll keep you posted on the progress. May get me to quilt more and think of less food! - Yea, right!

I do have a great couple apps for everyone that wants to save on shopping - And YES, I'm cheap!! If I can make money or get a great deal, I will! So, here are a few links for you to get apps! And trust me, I have been making money on them. I do a lot of online shopping and I get paid back by eBates. No, it's not a scram! My daughter-in-law got me two apps that are worth having! They pay you back on your receipts, so check them out as well.

eBates

Checkout51

I have more, and will post them later. Today, I need to be Happy Quilting!

Enjoying my Birthday Weekend!

Life is good. I love Birthdays and this weekend was awesome so far. My son and daughter-in-law will be here this afternoon. I'm going to  make pizza for everyone!

I added my daughter-in-law's blog on the "Fun Blogs" list. She is a vegetarian and has awesome recipes for everyone - even those of us that eat meat! I am using her Pizza crust recipe and I will tell you it is better than any I have tried so far. It's really close to those ones we used to get in a box by Chef Boyardee! I miss those boxes!! lol

This is the weather right now in the yard. RAIN. That's okay, because I wasn't planning on going anywhere today. lol

While I'm inside - out from the rain, I have plugged in my NEW LG Tablet. I can't wait to get on it!! I'm going to wait on my son and daughter-in-law to show me how to get it set up and then I'm a HAPPY CAMPER!!

I love the leather case! It's awesome! I would recommend this case if anyone is looking for them. Some people were complaining about the fit, and I found the fit to be just fine. I love the feel, and the price is a heck of a lot better than the other ones out there.

I'm loving my flowers!

This was another gift from Patrick and I'm so glad he got them for me! They are awesome!

So, this weekend so far I have received a gift card for Starbucks (not a coffee drinker, but their tea is awesome!), a gift card for the Dressbarn, which will come in handy as my clothes are getting to be too big. lol  And don't forget - the tablet - so my Birthday weekend is turning out great. We went to Tacoma last night for the Spaghetti Factory, and it was just perfect! My parents went with us, and we all had a great time

As for quilting this weekend - I've finished the block I talked about yesterday, have another one close to being done. I'm not getting a lot done, but I'm getting there. I took over the 3 I finished this last week - so mom could work on the bees. I forgot to take a photo of the bees when I was over there. Mom was saying it was hard to get the points to match up on the bees, because of the seam allowances. I told her what she did was great and you can't tell unless your on top of the blocks.

I did get a couple of my points off, but didn't feel like trying to remark the fabric to get them to line up so left them alone. I think once the bees are in that corner, you won't notice it like you would a quilt that "has to be" lined up. Then again - there are no rules to quilting and anyone that tells you otherwise is crazy!

There are problems in TAS again. I'm thankful I'm not back in there. I gave up fighting to keep it going. I'm planning on dropping it till the time is right. So, I have removed it from my blog, and will put it back when I feel they have come out of their "issues." I wish TAS all the best, but I'm staying out until the time is right.

On a better note! I'm having a great weekend, and hope you are too! I'm going to get back to getting those blocks done, and if the weather stays like this, I'll be able to quilt on the Hawaiian - which I'm going to name "Patrick's Garden." It's so close to being done! I need to get in gear and finish it!! I also have Phillip's quilt to finish and can't wait to do that either. BUT we are going to see my husbands family this year and I need to have this quilt done for my mother-in-law! Keep your fingers crossed that I'm Happy Quilting!!

Birthday Weekend

This week is my Birthday weekend. It's been fun and surprising how many people have a Birthday around mine! I love Birthdays, so let it come.

I realized I had my last two posts close together. I tried to schedule the last one and it didn't work. One of these days I'll have this blog figured out! lol

I'm still working on the Honey Bee quilt block for my mother-in-law.

Went to mom's for our quilt group. It turned out great. Mom was working on the honey bee for one of my blocks. I love what she is doing. Not that crazy about the "gold" color that Judy picked back 20 years ago, but it works for the quilt. I didn't get a photo of it, but will try and do that today when we go out to eat for my Birthday. I did get 3 more blocks to mom, so they are coming along pretty fast.

Worked on about 3 sets of blocks last night while watching a John Wayne movie, "The Man Who Shot Liberty Valance."  Love that movie! Afterwards started wondering about how John Wayne lived after Jimmy Stewart went to Washington DC. Funny how you want to fill in the blanks.

Looking forward to today and tomorrow. My schedule is being with family. Games today and hopefully games tomorrow.

So, while I wait for the day to come, I'll be Happy Quilting!