Some of This and Some of That

Everyone on their blogs have been posting photos of all the pretty Spring things outside, I thought I would go outside and see what I could find. Moose tracks! They walk through the yard frequently but now that we do not have dogs to alert us, we usually miss them and just find their tracks.

It has still been cold so it seemed like a good day to make a pot of beef stew. I have homemade rolls in the freezer to go with it.

Also because it is still so cold we ordered a load of wood, two cord, which we will be working on to get in the basement.

I have decided on my next hand quilting project, the blue Freedom's Friends. Batting is ordered and I will get it basted as soon as it arrives. 

I already had this backing fabric, I think it will work okay.

My first block for Barbara Brackman's sew along, Liberty's Birds is prepped, but then I was not sure about the background fabric. I order a different one and will decide which one to use when it gets here.

My quilting plans for the next few years include applique quilts for each of my children. My daughter's will be a twin size, while for both of my sons and their wives will be king sized.  Needless to say I had to do some pattern adjusting for the king sized quilts, but I did get the first block for my son K's quilt prepped. I will be stitching on this block for my slow stitching. I am linking up with Kathy and the other slow stitchers HERE.  I will be writing more details about these quilting plans in another post.

That is all for today, I hope you have wonderful plans for your weekend, Rebecca

Almost a Finish

 I have certainly been enjoying everyone's photos of the Spring flowers that they have been posting. Daffodils, crocus, tulips and etc. No flowers here for awhile, it got down to zero last night and warmed up to about 20*.  Everything is still covered in snow. We store our winter's wood in the basement with the wood stove and we are getting low. What we have will probably last a couple of weeks. Not to worry, we still have plenty outside, it just means a new chore of bring in wood  every few days. We will keep the woodstove going through April and part of May, then things will be warming up. Now onto Springtime quilting news!

Springtime Album is a quilt I have been working on for years! It started as a sew along, and I am not sure what happen to the other participants, I lost track. The pattern is from a booklet by Jeana Kimball, Old Voices, New Impressions. If you were a participant in the sew along I would love to hear from you and see your quilt. All I have left to do is sew down the binding, which will be my slow stitching for this Sunday. I will link up with Kathy and the other slow stitchers HERE as soon as I can.

The quilt finishes at 56" x 56",  the blocks are 7 1/2" x  7 1/2" and the borders are 5 1/2" wide. It is hand quilted, which took me forever even though I love to hand quilt. I am so glad to have this quilt all most completed!

I tried to get a photo of the quilting.

Booklet the pattern is from.

So now I want to start my next hand quilting project, but not sure which applique top I should choose. As I was looking through my photos I realized all of these tops were made doing quilt alongs with Barbara Brackman of Civil War Quilts blog spot HERE. I think you can still find the free patterns for these quilt alongs on her blog if you type in the name of the quilt into the search bar. Or you can purchase them from her Etsy shop HERE

First up is "Ladies' Aid New York Sampler" 2022 sew along.

Next is "Cassandra's Circle" 2020 sew along.

Then two versions of  "Freedom's Friends"  2022-2023 sew along.

Then "Herbarium" 2023-2024 sew along.

She had a sew along in 2024 called "Kentucky Classic" which I did not participant in and a new one this year called "Liberty's Birds",  which I may do. She also has a a sew along each year for pieced quilts, but I don't do those.

So I need to choose one and get batting and backing for it so I can get started. I am leaning towards the blue "Freedom's Friends" or :Cassandra's Circle". I had fun making all of these, applique is my favorite!

Thanks for reading, I know it was a long post. Until next time happy quilting! Rebecca

A Baby Quilt and Bramble Blooms 1 & 2

Since my last post about our computer dying we have purchased a laptop. We could not get online with 

 it because our signal was so slow. Then my daughter told me I could connect with my AT&T hot spot on my phone. So we cancelled our home internet, they had been promising faster speeds for years but never came through. We hope to sign up with Starlink, but they are at capacity in our area. On to other news!

We have a new great grandson, Briar Allen! I have been working on a quilt for him and finally got it in the mail.

Bramble Blooms #1 is a top! At some point there may be applique added to those red borders, we will see. I just wanted to get them sewn on for now. Not the usual way I do it and I may leave it just like it is. What do you think?

Finished at 73" x 73"

Bramble Blooms #2 is a finished top too.

Finished at 58" x 60"

More progress has been made on the hexie project. In the photo below the right side panel of 6 hexies is ready to sew on to the main part. (Where the red line is.) On the left side I am still working on that panel. (Where the blue line is.) I am linking up with Kathy and the other slow stitchers HERE and will be working on my hexies for my slow stitching.

On a side note, are any of you watching "House of David" on Prime? So far I have been very disappointed, I do not understand why they can't follow the scriptures if they are going to make a movie from the Bible, then follow the Bible. Just my thoughts.

Next time I hope to share some of my 2025 quilting plans. Let's see how this first blog post on the lap top turns out. What I see on my screen are washed out photos, I hope that don't look that bad to you. Thank you for reading my post. Rebecca

Computer Has Died

 So our computer has finally died the blue screen of death. I don’t know if I will be able to post or not, I am using my iPad right now to write this. We will turning off our internet service we used for the computer. It has always been terribly slow, just a bit better than dial up. We will be using our phones and iPads on our AT&T signal which is a little better. 

Happy Quilting and a Happy New Year Rebecca

Bramble Blooms Linky Party: Bramble Blooms #1 & Bramble Blooms #2

 So my Bramble Blooms #1 is still at the same place it was last time. The only thing I have gotten done on this project is cut out all the squares to make the HSTs.

Squares ready to cut for HSTs.

More progress has been made on Bramble Bloom #2. All four borders were prepped for applique and the top and bottom borders have been stitched down, I will finish up the vines and baskets once the borders are sewn on. I am linking up with Audrey of Quilty Folk blog, HERE, who has generously given of her time and talent to help us along this improv journey. Thank you Audrey!!!

It is a busy time of year and I have not had a lot of sewing time. I have been doing my Christmas baking which includes over 200 cinnamon rolls.

Happy Quilting, Rebecca

Bramble Blooms Progress

 I am slowly making progress on Bramble Blooms #1 and Bramble Blooms #2. First up BB  #1, I have decided on my final border, I just need to make 100+ more HSTs. I am linking up with Judy at Small Quilts and Doll quilts for Design Wall Monday HERE.

BB #2 I have decided on the applique border. I took it off the design wall to prep the applique.

I have made progress on my hexie quilt too

This is the pattern, Flower Garden by Edyta Sitar.

I also made an I Spy quilt for my 3 year old granddaughter's birthday. I backed it with pink minky.

We have at least 8" of snow now, and more is expected. I need to get out with the snowblower and clear the driveways. I ordered these heated gloves to use this winter. Last year my hands were freezing. The little boxes in the photo are batteries, there is a wire in the gloves to plug them in to and they heat the gloves. Looking forward to trying them out.

The kittens are 6 1/2 months old now. I had a really hard time getting photos of them! 

This is Pickles

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This is Kitty Kitty Black. This poor cat has had about 50 names, we could settle on any of  them, so I told my husband I am just going to all her Kitty, which turned into Kitty Kitty Black.

I will be working on hexies today so I am linking up with Kathy for Slow Stitching Sunday, HERE  and with Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than Housework HERE .      Happy Quilting, Rebecca

Bramble Blooms 1 & 2 and Other Projects

First my apologies for a long post, it seems when I finally sit down to write a blog post I have lots of catching up to do.

I am still working on my Bramble Blooms #1 quilt top. It has been sporadic, but I am making progress. I had tried some flying geese made Sujata Shah style, but wasn't sure about them. Then I made them larger and Nancy at Joy For Grace blog, you can read her blog  HERE, mentioned putting them all the way around without the plain sections. So I tried that, what do you think? My husband likes it!

I don't know of you can tell, but I made a couple of small changes. I removed the red strip on the upper left corner and changed the goose block in the lower left corner. I made the changes after I took the following photos of border ideas.

Ideas for the next border, one, just a plain solid border.

Two, a vine and floral/leaf border. I used some of my left over applique bits. At this time I leaning towards this one.

Three,  a vine and leaf border. 

Idea #4, nine patches, the brown is darker than it appears in the photo.

A small start om Bramble Blooms 2. The pieces are just laid out, not sewn together yet.

A Basket Full of Hope

I am still working on my 9 patches, though I think I am behinds again. As of June 2, I had 220 nine patches made.

I need to get back to these.

I have picked up my knitting again. I had started this sweater a couple of years ago and then realized I had the gauge and size wrong. I unraveled it and set it aside, I restarted it last month and I am making some progress.

12" on the back piece.

And I have made a little progress on the hexie quilt! I am ready to add the blue flower on the left.

Our biggest news is that we got two kittens!! We have not had a cat in over 15 years or more. My husband wanted them for mouse catchers. We still haven't named them, I just can't decide. Any suggestions would be appreciated! (They are both girls.) They have been keeping me busy though and they like to interfere with my handwork!

I am linking up with Kathy and all the other Sunday Slow Stitchers HERE. I will either be working on my hexies or knitting or maybe appliqueing the words on BB2!

Happy Quilting! Rebecca