New Year's Eve

OH! MY FAVORITE HOLIDAY!!!!!

It's so funny. I was in such a different place last year and I didn't enjoy my New Year. I looked back on my 2011 goals and I have accomplished quite a few.

So, I'll be making some goals for 2013. I'll be putting it on a separate page for your perusal, and I'm also going to put my goals on the sidebar so I'll read them every day. I really think that's the key to accomplishing a goal. A goal is only a wish until you write it down!

So, I'm going to be working on goals today.

I did finish a little quilt this morning. This is a little doll quilt for my girlie and her American Doll.

Oh, I'm SOOOOOO excited for 2013!!!!!!

Hope you have a quilty day and make sure that you check out what everyone else is up to at Judy's!

And make sure and leave comments when you see a quilt or a post that you really like. It warms a blogger's heart!

Floppies, Floppies

I've been finishing tops the last few days.

I belong to an online 1930's exchange group and we do several exchanges a year. It's really fun, but that means lots of blocks lying around, lol.

So, I worked on using some of them up these last few days.

The first one I finished was this quilt with lots of different blocks and another block that I had made every other one so that there would be some kind of symmetry.

I know this isn't a very nice picture, but you get the idea.

Then, I finished another smaller top using a block called "Depression Block," the pattern for which you can find at Quilter's Cache. We used HST with half white.

It makes this little diamond in the middle and so I wanted to extend that into the border.

Here's a close up of what I did. I think that I may put a colored border to finish it off, but I haven't decided.

What did you all do the last few days?

We're having a little family time...going to a hotel to swim for a couple of days.

Hope you have a quilty day!

Merry Christmas

Take a few moments today to remember the Reason for the season. Thank Jesus for coming to earth for you. Remember:

Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. John 15:13

Hope you have a blessed day with your family...and maybe get some time in to quilt! 

New Look for the New Year

OK. I realize that things are looking a little jumbled on my sidebar, lol. I've been messing with the templates, etc.

How do you like the new pic and the new colors? I think maybe the picture makes the header too big. What do you all think?

I promise to "clean house" later and rearrange the "furniture."

More Blocks

I got some more blocks done last night at my Stitchin' Sisters meeting.

I LOVE Stitchin' Sisters. It's a group we started after my first beginners class. It's starting to grow and it's SO exciting. I love that the dynamic changes as new people start to come. It's so fun to watch where everyone sits...how we sit in little groups and then we all flit around during the night to each group like butterflies drinking in the nectar of companionship.

Last night, one of the members was able to bring her daughter who just moved to North Dakota from Texas! Her hubby was able to get a job here and now my friend has her daughter back with her in the same state. Yeah, God! He's so good.

Design Wall Monday, November, 26, 2012

On my design wall this morning are a couple of blocks I'm doing for a sampler quilt for my sister.

The line is Botany, which is probably all gone in most stores. When I started this quilt, it was way out of my comfort zone, but that was a while ago and now I really like it!

Make sure you check out what everyone else is doing at Judy's!

Design Wall Monday, October 22, 2012

I'm working on 1930's blocks this past week. I'm doing Depression Blocks for an online swap group and also, I finished my log cabin blocks.

I'm actually getting through some of my 1930s stash! I'm thinking that I will clear out the pieces that I don't really like and maybe have a giveaway!

I went on a shop hop on Saturday with my bestie! We had fun., but I was REALLY BAD! :-)

Hopefully, I'll have some new quilts to show you soon.

Make sure and stop at Judy's to see what everyone else is up to!

Making a Log Cabin Block

Log cabin blocks are one of the most recognized blocks in quilting. Many different things can be accomplished with only log cabin blocks. I would encourage you to Google Log Cabin Block and study all the different quilts you can make with this simple block.

I would like to take a few minutes to help you get started on your own log cabin project.

These blocks I'm making are 12" finished blocks. I'm making them to go in a quilt with other 12" blocks.

You can make your log cabin block to finish whatever size you wish.

It is customary to make the center red or yellow. This center can match your log width or sometimes start with a larger center square. Again, there are many ways to make the blocks.

You can also make log cabin blocks with different size logs. The most common would be 2½" or 1½". I'm using 1½" blocks here because I like the look of the smaller logs. The blocks would obviously go together quicker using 2½" logs.

Before I started, I drew out my block to make sure that I would end up with exactly what I wanted. Have fun with it. You can draw and color just like when you were little...before everyone told you that you couldn't draw.

Step One: Start with 1½" white square and 1½" red square.

The next step is to add your first log. Here, I'm adding dark logs first, following my colored block. I'm working in a clock-wise manner.

Make sure that when your log goes one, the last log that you placed is away from you as in this picture.

Getting close to the end!

Ready to place the last log.

My "helper" was snoozing by the end of this project, lol.

That's a sketchy tutorial for a log cabin block. There is SO much information about how to put the finished blocks together, I wouldn't know where to begin. There are whole books about making log cabin blocks! I hope this will encourage you to try out this classic block.

A Nice Problem To Have

Well, the good news is, we have so much grain harvested that we ran out of bin space. Hubby decided that they would use one of the metal buildings to store some of it until we could haul it to the elevator. (The elevator is full, too!) He and his brother cleaned out the back half of the building and started pouring in the grain and after 15,000 bushels or so were in, this happened...

Hopefully, insurance will cover the losses, but now, all that grain had to come back out of the building!

My hubby borrowed a grain vac. I'll bet you didn't realize that there are vacuum cleaners for grain, lol!

The vacuum is run by the power train of the tractor and it sucks up the grain...

...and then dumps it into the grain truck.

So, my hubby and his brother are busy vacuuming, loading, and hauling grain. Hopefully, things will go well for them. Thank goodness, harvest is done and praise God no one was hurt. (My BIL had been in the building a few minutes before.)

I'm working with Sophia this morning and also working on log cabin blocks. I'm hoping to have a tutorial soon.

Have a quilty day!

Design Wall Monday, October 15, 2012

I'm working on a little wall quilt. I started it this week end and hope to finish it today.

It's a cute quilt that I made a LONG time ago, so it will be good to get it off the UFO list.

I'm quilting it in an all-over vine with curls and little leaves.

And, this is my daughter snoozin'. She has decided that home schooling is better than public school, so she's at home again.

Make sure you check out what everyone is up to at Judy's blog.

Hope you have a quilty day! Gotta help with Math right now. :-)

Finished the Inside

I finished the inside of the horse quilt yesterday afternoon just as Olivia was coming home from school.

What?!?! You may ask...Don't you homeschool?

Well, that's one of the things that has changed in my life.

I put the kiddos in public school for a bit.

I needed a little break.

So, for now they're in school.

Anyway, back to quilting. I hope that you can see that I used pebbling on the bottom, then a paisley echo, then a swirl.

I'm really happy with the way it turned out.

Olivia wants feathers in the larger border, which I'm getting really good at if I do say so myself, lol.

Today, I'm going to work on log cabin blocks because I'm teaching my Sisters tonight. YAHOO! It's Stitchin' Sisters night!!!!!

Hope you all have a quilty day.

And if you don't belong to a guild or a quilt clutch, or something, PLEASE consider starting one. It's SO wonderful to have a group of people who love quilting and meet together regularly.

Transition

An update on the horse wall hanging. I have made the first transition between pebbling and another filler. I think it's just a paisley echo, lol. I don't know what else to call it.

How does it look?

Design Wall Monday - October 8, 2012

On my design wall this morning is a wall quilt that I'm quilting for my daughter.

She is horse crazy, and when she saw this laser cut horse, she just had to have it.

I've stitched in the ditch and started pebbling.

I plan to quilt pebbling at the bottom, then change to another fill pattern as I gradually work upwards.

This is my helper for the day...

She feels the need to be in the middle of everything, lol.

Be sure and head over to Judy's to see what everyone else is up to this week.

October is my "finish it up" month, so I'll be working to get as many of my finished quilt tops quilted as I can.

Hope you have a quilty day!

Hang Head In Shame

OK. I tried to think of a way to start blogging again without apologizing and trying to explain my absence, but I just couldn't do it. Sorry!

Major changes have taken place in my life and it's quite a bit different now, but I think I'm ready to put blogging back on my plate.

Didja miss me? ;-)

I'm hoping to get all the tops quilted that I have finished. That's a good goal for October.

Also, I'm going to make sure that I think about what I'm thankful for on Thursdays...Thankful Thursdays I shall call it.

Today, I'm SO thankful for my best friend. I can say anything to her and she doesn't turn away, or make a face, or judge me. She just loves me for who I am. I don't think that I have ever had a person who accepts me so fully or makes me feel as loved. She's a special lady! So, today, I'm thankful for Jolene.

What are you thankful for?

Heading to Kansas

I'll be taking off tomorrow morning for Kansas. Twelve hours in a van with two kiddos. Should be fun, lol.

Can't wait to see everyone, though.

My nephew is getting married on Saturday. I can't believe that my nephews are old enough to get married. It's so out of this world crazy. How did the time pass so quickly?

Hope you all have a quilty day, but I'll be driving.

Changes in Farming

My BIL, Alan, loves old machinery. He recently bought an old combine...which is still working, by the way.

According to my FIL it's probably from the early 1940s. He and his brother had one similar to it in the late 40s and this one was a bit smaller than they one they had, so he thought it was probably from the early 40s.

Anyway, I thought the contrast between this combine and the one that we use today was really striking.

Wooden Pick-Ups

Pulls behind the tractor

Even though this combine had an engine, the engine actually ran the pick-ups (which funnel the crop into the machine to be cut and thrashed. There was no engine driving the machine forward, so it had to be pulled behind a tractor.

Look at all those pulleys!

The combine that we use.

Makes me glad that we live today. The "hopper" which held the grain that was thrashed was only about 20 to 25 bushel. It had to be emptied often, but of course, the yields then were a small fraction of what we get today. The "hopper" on our combine holds over 300 bushel.

I took these pictures this morning on my way over to pick up my van. Hubby was getting it ready for the trip on Wednesday.

This is what greeted me right outside the door, lol.

kittens and mommas

This is only a fraction of the kittens that we have, lol. They were cuddling for warmth early this morning.

We have six momma cats that all had kittens within days of each other. They bore 18 kittens and they all nurse whoever latches on. It's quite humorous as the momma cats can't sit down for a moment without getting mobbed by whichever kittens happen to be in the vicinity.

Hope you enjoyed the pictures of the combines. Hope you're having a quilty day!

Design Wall Monday, July 30, 2012

On my design wall this morning are some sampler blocks that I'm doing for a beginner's quilting class.

I joined it so that I could take my friend and I have been enjoying it so much! Even when you've been quilting for a while, going to a beginner's class is really fun, I think. You meet new people; you hear all about how others teach; and at the end, you have a finished quilt! What more could you ask for?

We're working from one of Eleanor Burns' Quilter's Almanac series.

August, Tumbleweed

June, Wedding Ring

May, Young Man's Fancy

April, Farmer's Daughter

March, Irish Chain

February, Road to the White House

January, Wandering Star

Last, I'll show you a practice piece, lol. I've been practicing as much as I can on my HQ Sweet 16. I LOVE her!

Make sure you check out what everyone else is up to at Patchwork Times.

Hope you have a quilty day!