A Story in Photos...

 Me Mum's new bed ensemble...

one 23" pillow cover

two 12" pillow covers

three pillowcases

one bed quilt.

 

 

 

 

   

Me Mum loves it all!

 *With love, from her 4 J's.

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Small Projects...

I have been working my fingers nearly to the bone.  Well, okay.  Not so.  But, I have been diligently working on the small projects that I need to complete this month.  I think I may actually accomplish the goal I set!

Here are a few more things...

One large cover (~23" square) for a pillow for me Mum to use to prop herself up with when she reads or works word puzzles in bed...

Two covers for 12" pillows for me Mum's bed...

Three covers (2 @ 18" square and 1 @ 12"x18") with zippers for pillows for me Mum and Julie's new sofa...

There are a few small projects that I have finished that I cannot show until they are received.  And, a few more that are almost completed that I will show you when they are.  

I am so excited to see how Mum's complete bed ensemble looks...will be putting it all together for her in a few days.  I will definitely take photos to show you all.  




"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Jingle All the Way!!

I know that it is Spring.  Well, supposedly.  With all the cold weather and snow everywhere, it is sometimes difficult to tell.  Being in the mood for something quick and fun, I put together a doll quilt...with flannel!  

 Jingles Flannel by Minick and Simpson (2009).

Measures 18 inches square.

Tied with red perle cotton.

 Now, that should make the warm weather come...don't you think?  ~grin~

I received a surprise package from my older sister, Joyce, this week.  She just learned how to read a knitting pattern, so has been busy knitting some fun dish cloths with designs!  The first one she did was a church design...

The note included with it read, "I am giving you my very first Church dishcloth because you were so instrumental at getting me back on track with my faith and I thank you for that and love you very much."  That is so special and made me tear up, that's for sure!   

The other one she sent was this...

The state I live in...Wisconsin.  Pretty cool, hey? 

Joyce is such a special person and a wonderful older sister!!

This week, I have been working on some other projects which I cannot show you quite yet.  And, I finished hand sewing the binding on me Mum's quilt...  

I don't have anyone to hold it or anywhere big enough to lay it out, so will need to wait before I am able to show you the entire thing.  I will be getting it laundered and photographed soon, though...I will be taking it to me Mum in 2 weeks!  I am so very excited to see her bed all decked out with her new quilt and pillows and bed skirt.

I should be able to show you a few more things before the end of the month.  

Wishing you all a Blessed Easter weekend!



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

What's Going On?

I haven't blogged for a week, but I have not been idle.

I have been working on several different things...knitting and sewing...sewing and knitting.

Here are some photos...

in the process of sewing the binding on me Mum's quilt

two pillowcases for me Mum...to match her new quilt

face cloth

dog design face cloth

church design face cloth

So, you see, I have gotten a few things done.

This is the month of finishing up small projects, so I'll have more to show you as the month goes by.




"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

All in a Day's Work...

Today was the appointment at The Electric Needle...to quilt me Mum's quilt. 

I had a very pleasant time and learned a lot!  The girls took very good care of me.  Thank you to both of you, but especially to Jen, the owner of the shop.  

I decided to go with an automated design today.  I want this quilt to be special and so I didn't want to play around with free-motion quilting.  With 12 quilts waiting to be quilted, I'll have plenty to play around on.  The design I chose is called 'open swirls' and softens the 'squareness' of this postage stamp quilt.

Here are some photos:

I was there for a total of 3 hours.  I was happy about that...thought I might be there longer.  I am so happy that I found The Electric Needle!  I will definitely be quilting out there again, soon!  




"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

For Rent...

Some of you may remember that I bought a Handi-Quilter frame and Janome 1600-DP aka 'the big bad boy' back in 2009.  I had several problems with thread breaking and tension, so I never put the machine to use.  It's going in for a tune-up this next month, so hopefully, I'll be able to use it.  However, I don't have the table or the space to set up the quilting frame here in my small apartment.  But, at least with the larger throat the machine has, it'll be easier to do quilting.  I also have no place to pin baste anything larger than a baby quilt sized quilt (hence, all the flimsies waiting to be put together and quilted).  I would love to send out my quilts to be quilted by a longarm quilter, but my budget doesn't allow that.  

What to do?  Well, I have found the solution!  This quilt I am making for me Mum is going to be the largest quilt I've made.  It's to be a Mother's Day/birthday gift to me Mum from me and my 3 sisters (who are paying for the quilting).  I was in the process of looking for a local longarm quilter when I ran across 'The Electric Needle', a sewing machine service center and Pfaff dealership.  In addition to sewing machines, they sell longarm quilting machines and frames, etc.  AND, they rent out their longarm quilter!  I am so excited, I can barely stand it.  I have an appointment on Thursday, this next week, to use their machine.  They help as much as is needed, which will be a lot for a first-time user, that's for sure!  One is able to do free-motion quilting, or use their computer programs.  I think I will program the quilter with one of the patterns available for this first time.  

I worked on the quilt yesterday and got all the sections finished and laid out to my satisfaction.  Now to sew the sections together and add the borders.  I need to put the backing together, too.  Only 4 days to get it completely finished and ready to take to my appointment.  

Here is a peek at the sections together on my bed...

The light colored squares are actually a creamy color...very soft-looking.

I plan to take several photos of my time with the longarm quilter to show you all.  

Here's a photo of Tag with his sidekick, the warthog.  I know, it seems all he does is sleep.  Not so.  Just always a good photo-op.

 

Have a great Sunday!

"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Dandelion Girl aka Me Mum's Quilt...

Today is the first day of Spring...YAY!  We are having seasonal weather, even!  Makes me feel good to know that warmer days are coming.  After this long, cold winter, I will do my best not to complain about the heat of Summer.  It's easier for me to be too warm than to be cold.  Plus, it's difficult to take the brown boy for walks when it's so cold and the sidewalks are icy.  Ya know?

I've been working on me Mum's quilt.  You know, the one I had difficulty deciding what pattern to follow?  I finally got it all figured out and started cutting fabric a few weekends ago.  

Here's one of the sections...

I am half done with the main part of the quilt.  And, I am liking how those first seven sections are looking.  I am placing the vertical strips differently, so the squares are not always next to the same other squares.  I will be adding borders, though I haven't yet decided what kind of borders...all I know is that to get it to the size I want, I need at least two borders.  The finished quilt will be about 80 x 95...like a bedspread for me Mum's twin bed...almost to the floor rather than like a comforter with a bedskirt.  I cannot imagine pulling all of that around on my Naomi Janome, so it is going to be professionally quilted.  I guess I should start looking for a local longarm quilter, hey? 



"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11

Is That Your Final Answer?

YES!  

Remember, back in January when I was having difficulty deciding on a quilt pattern to make me Mum a quilt for her bed?  Well, I thought I had it all figured out.  I wrote about it here.  I even made a practice block to make sure I could get out of that jelly roll all the blocks I would need.  Yet, here the fabric strips sit...

Aren't they pretty?  

I haven't done anything else.  Why?  Well, I had no clue.  Until now.  Lately, me Mum has been talking about getting a twin bed.  Though the quilt I was going to make would look okay on a twin bed, I had designed the top to fit a double bed.  It would look okay on a twin.  In my opinion, just not as good as the size it was designed for.  Know what I mean?

So.  I am going back to one of my original ideas.  I am going to make a postage stamp quilt.  

Remember this one I finished in September of 2011?

I love this quilt...it is so comfy and old-fashioned looking.  My sister, Jill, took one look at it and had to have it.    

I also made this one, though it's not finished...

I think a postage stamp quilt will be perfect for me Mum...and it won't matter what size bed she has.  

Though I have a few other things I need to work on right now, I am going to try to get this started this weekend!   

Stay tuned!


"For I know the plans I have for you," declares the LORD, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.". Jeremiah 29:11