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