Mariner’s Compass

I gifted this quilt in late October to my sister-in-law Carolyn’s husband, Monty. Several years ago Monty and I discussed a Mariner’s Compass quilt for him and this summer I finally made that happen!

I started creating and drawing out the pattern in the Spring, gathered fabric and finally completed the quilt this fall. It became my summer sewing project. The fabrics used were Batiks and Stonehenge,  my two most favorite fabrics. The compass was paper pieced and the entire quilt was pieced on my 1952  Singer 301. It was quilted on my longarm using a wave pattern.

I’m thrilled it’s finally out of my head, off my machine, and in their possession. Making this quilt from draft to quilting was a challenge that I welcomed. Will I do it again...probably not!!

Love you Monty!

Quilt On!

Live On!

Here's a Peek at My Week

April 23rd - April 30th

Welcome Spring! 

The pecan trees are leafing out in Oklahoma and that means no more freezing weather!  The tulips are blooming at our home in Pennsylvania (where my husband works) and the Azaleas are blooming at our forever home in Oklahoma.

Mom and I planted tomatoes, cucumbers and squash in our storage container garden. The plants receive water from the bottom using PVC pipes and a reservoir system.

I've been wanting to raise bees for several years now and in February I ordered all the needed supplies and the Bees. My bees arrived this week! I was so excited! It reminded me of the excitement I had as a young child at Christmas time. The Bee introduction to the hive went well and I'm anxious to look inside to see if the Queen has been released from her cage. I'm impatiently waiting until tomorrow afternoon to accomplish this task!

The Bees in their shipping package

The chickens are enjoying the Spring weather and I'm enjoying their increased egg production. Roscoe the Rooster is a new addition to the flock (adopted from a neighbor this winter).  He does a good job of protecting the girls but is a bit aggressive toward humans. I do my chores with my Rooster stick in hand for protection. I have to say though our relationship is getting better but we still are in the adjustment phase.  I'm trying to figure out if Roscoe is jealous of me or I'm jealous of him since the girls have been solely dependent on me for their needs since their chick days. 

I've been playing with the Free Trial version of Wilcom Hatch Embroidery Digitizing Program and I'm really loving it!  I've waited, did my research and have pretty much decided I'm going to purchase the program. It's user friendly and not as expensive as some of the other brands on the market.

  

I digitized these owls from a picture of the above fabric panel. It was my first real attempt with the program after watching the awesome tutorials. 

 I know I need more practice but it sure was dog-gone easy to do. 

This I'm going to make...soon. The guild I attend is doing monthly door banners. Members meet before guild and we receive the instructions and pattern for the monthly banner and have a show and tell of banners for the previous month. The banners are designed by one of our talented guild members. I'm looking forward to this banner hanging on my door.

This was on the sewing machine this week. A friend asked me to quilt, bind and embroider a label for a baby quilt. Cute quilt in Orange and Black....OSU colors.  

Hope your week brings happiness and peace.

Happy Sewing! Happy Living!

One Monthly Goal - May

Linking up with One Monthly Goal for my May WIP. It would be great to get this project completed now in order to use this coming Christmas.

Not sure when I pieced this 36 x 36 table topper/wall hanging...maybe 7 or 8 years ago.  It seems all my UFOs were started around that time. I wonder what was going on in my life?

My goal is to machine embroider a simple Christmas themed design in each of the white squares and the snowball centers, using silver or gold thread...not sure which. I'll then quilt and bind to have another finish! This is a Snibbles pattern from long ago...well 7 or 8 years ago.

You can go here to see what other projects are linked up for May.

Happy Sewing! Happy Living!

One Monthly Goal April Finish

Linking up with One Monthly Goal to highlight my April finish. Yes! A finish! It feels so great to have another item off that UFO list. I eventually hope to have a list that contains only NEW projects that I want to start instead of works in progress as I'm sure that is most everyone's goal.

My goal was to quilt and bind this two color quilt. 

Here is the finishing process and the finished quilt which will go to my sister in support of her Prayer Quilt Ministry. I hope this quilt will bring comfort to someone in need.

Long arm quilting

After quilting I finished the edges using my serger. The serger cuts the extra fabric and batting off and I'm left with a nice finished edge. I don't like fighting with the quilt sandwich as I'm sewing on the binding and serging the edges really helps.

A smooth even edge to now work with. The serged stitch width is set for one quarter inch and doesn't interfere with the binding stitch. The added serger threads give the binding a nice stiffness.

 I ALWAYS use my domestic machine to sew the binding on (No hand sewing in my sewing studio...too many projects, not enough human years). I sew the binding edge to the quilt back, iron over to the front side and sew down the binding edge to the quilt front. 

The reverse side of the quilt with the binding sewn on.

The finished quilt and another project checked off my UFO list.
Yay!

Click here to view other linked projects. They are all awesome!

One Monthly Goal - April

I've linked up this month with Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal April Linkup 
and hope to get this red and white UFO transferred to the completed bin. It was a kit I bought maybe 8, no... probably 10 years ago. I started and finished piecing it a year ago and it ended up back in the UFO bin waiting to be quilted. The poor thing was then promptly forgotten about as other projects became a priority.  It's the same old story.

My goal is to throw it on my long arm and get this baby quilted and binded. It will then be donated to my sister to be included in her stash of quilts that support her Prayer Quilt Ministry. In a very short time this quilt will be covered in prayer knots, bringing comfort to someone who is experiencing health or personal challenges.

Gracie Mae cat walked up, sat down, looked over at me and said "Okay, now you can take the picture". I appreciate her letting us live with her. 

Hope your day is filled with blessings!