Dia de los Muertos

Have you ever had a project morph into something else as you happily stitched along... my skeleton quilt morphed into this yesterday.  All of a sudden I thought to myself, you are sewing on two separate projects, and Dia de los Muertos came into being.

 

In case you are not familiar with Dia de los Muertos it is a gathering of friends and family held on November 1 and 2nd in Mexico where they remember and pray for family and friends who have died.  Traditions include using sugar skulls, marigolds, and the favorite foods and bevarages of the departed. 

I am enjoying the third day of a three day weekend today and am looking forward to a day of sewing with pumpkin carving thrown in there someplace.

Happy Nevada Day!

Just in case you were wondering, today is Nevada Day,  and a HOLIDAY here, YAY!  Of course that means plenty of stitching time.  I'm working on my skeltetons quilt...

Wonky Houses

This panel was gifted to me from my blog buddy Stephanie .   Somehow this will be in the quilt as well.  Also cutting into these stashes ...

and more from Stephanie...

Happy Nevada Day.

Cow Quilt Finish!!

They're All Dalmations is finished!  WOOHOO!  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

FMQ

My old stand-by, straight lines.

If you'd like to see more quilting pictures of the cow quilt, click here.

To see most recent post at Kelly Girl Quilts click here!

Hope you had a great Monday.

Virtues of a new sewing machine

About a month ago I made the big purchase, and retired my little old Singer (don't worry I haven't completely forgotten her!) and bought a new machine.  My criteria was the ability to FMQ, a long neck for quilting and a simple machine.  Although there is quite a learning curve with a new machine, all in all I am quite pleased.

My quilt wrestling days are over, PHEW!

Although I mostly FMQed on the cow quilt, I did outline the words with the built in walking foot.  When the sales lady told me about the built in walking foot I kind of blew it off, but I love, love, love this feature.

As you can see, no neat folding or clipping while quilting, I find just smunching the quilt up works best for me.

My only real complaint about the new machine is that the instruction manual has no instructions!  Thankfully, the shop has been great about answering my questions.

Granddaughter Nadin with her Uncle Cort. 

In case you are wondering, Nadin is my new granddaughter, Cort my youngest son.  This was taken last weekend up at our cabin, really this was one of the only patches of snow around and it was unseasonably warm.  Nadin really wanted to wear her snow suit.

Have a great day!

Stitching with a morning cup!

Up early and stitching with my morning cup, the herd is coming right along...

Started Here

Added flowers for the green background.

A corner of an ear peeking out.

Outside Border

Outlining

I'm about 2/3 done, and aiming to finish the herd by tomorrow. 

Speaking of herds, my daughter's volleyball team travelled to another local high school for a match and look what was munching on the turf in front of the school, wild horses!  About 6 of them right there with lots of people just going about their business, I snapped this out the car window.  There was also 20 or so wild horses up on the hillside behind the school.  The school mascot you ask?   Mustangs, of course.

Those cows are staring at me!

Every day a new excuse, not to begin the quilting on the cow quilt...  seriously, I'm glad to have taken the time to practice away on this chistmas quilt.  I am gaining confidence and trying a few new designs. 

 Here's a block.

 Stars

Swirls 

A simple wave goes gives movement to the stripes.

Not really satisfied with the stitching, but love the overall look of a checkerboard.

A meandering geometric pattern.

A few things I have learned...

1.  Although I'm not yet satisfied with the stitching quality, overall, when looking at a completed block, it looks just fine.

2.  FMQ opens many creative doors, sometimes it's just tough to walk through them. 

3.  "Traveling" is a great thing in FMQ. (Not in basketball tho.)

4.  I need an open foot... mine is plastic and although it is clear, it's tough to see when quilting a small area... for instance the checkerboard pattern.  It's also tough to see behind the foot! 

5.  The old adage "practice makes perfect" applies to FMQ.

Off to close our cabin... winter is on it's way.



Nadin Comes to America

She is here!   All the way from the Philippines, 12 hours flying time... about an 23 hour trip total adding in the car ride home. Nadin, Mom and Dad all arrived safely on Monday.

Nadin! (Her quilt in the background.)

No sewing in the last couple of days, however, here's a few shots of my FMQ on the old Christmas quilt I have had sitting partially quilted for a couple of years.  I am slowly getting the hang of it and  happy that I had this to practice on.



A star and swirl pattern, good for beginners.

Working on consistent stitch length.

Also following fabric patterns. Sorry about the lint.

Hope your having a great week, we are enjoying beautiful fall weather.

Intimidation Factor

The Cow Quilt is ready, and waiting!

What now?

After pinning the Cow Quilt together,

I spent most of the day practicing my FMQ on a Christmas Quilt that was partly quilted a couple of years ago.  Also, found this fabric over the weekend.

Hippos are my fav!


And BIG news, my new Granddaugher Nadin, (and her Mom and Dad) arrive tomorrow evening from the Philippines.  I cannot wait to meet her!  They are in the air as I write this.  Nadin has a quilt waiting... Click on her name to see it.

  It's late in these parts, I'm off to sleep.

Good Saturday Morning!

I am off to a class about my new sewing machine after thinking I would just skip it... the thing is, unfortunately, patience is not one of my virtues and the thought of sitting in a class about my sewing machine sounds rather excrutiating to me.  However, I really do want to know how to maintain the darned thing, so I am reluctantly attending... two hours of time that could be used to stitch, dang it.   Anyway, here's a couple pictures of the take along/travel project.

About a 9" block



I am finding the paper piecing very relaxing.


I'm on the run!

Hope you are stitching away this fine fall morning.

Precious Stolen Moments

Just a few stolen moments of stitching this week...

and I put them to good use! 

 I will sit down for just one quick seam when I get the chance.

I used the little eyeballs for the background and lime green for the lettering. 

"Fussy" cut dancing skeleton...

I find I begin a project with just a few fabrics, but as I continue sewing get more adventurous.  Only 4 fabrics so far...  no worries, that will soon change.

Looking forward to Friday.  ;)

Tis the Season

Look what I'm digging out of the closet...

Packed away in this old suitcase...


my collection of skull fabrics, I've already cut into it.  See the white fabric on the top right of the stack, it's my favorite and it's the fabric that really started this entire skull fabric thing.  Here's a close up.

I have also started piecing the back for the Cow Quilt.


 It's feeling very fallish in these parts!  Hope your week is going well.

They're All Dalmations

The cow quilt top is finished!  So, here's the quilt's story involving my Mom and my son Andrew, then about 4 years old.  Mom's Grandfather had a dairy and Mom, always fond of cows pointed them out to us as we drove.  Mom, while driving along a country road, pointed the cows out to Andrew and he exclaimed in awe, "Grandma, they're all dalmations!"  My son Andrew will turn 24 next month.

I went with the pink border, thanks to Mary Lou's suggestion!


I had made a couple of sections of red fence, and it just did not have that pop I was searching for.  Pink was a great idea. 

Originally, I planned to put "They're All Dalmations" in the border, but it just wasn't working, so I have decided to quilt it into the green background, maybe with a couple of moos.  The final top measures 64ish" x 64ish".  Remember it's a liberated quilt :)

Now onto quilting.... yikes.  And don't tell Mom, it's her 72nd birthday gift.  It might be a lil' late Mom.  XXoo