Slow Sunday Stitching with Lucy

Today is my first day for Slow Sunday Stitching.....don't you just love that concept? Come home from church and lunch out with the family, change into your comfy clothes, prop your feet up and stitch. So that is just what I did.

I am linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching over at Kathy's Quilts.

Since I have chosen the background for my Lucy Boston blocks, I decided that I had better start adding background as I go.  There are as many background blocks around a Lucy block as there are in the design section......twenty four!!

This is what I stitched on today.........

And here are blocks nine and ten with background attached......

The background blocks are, at least, simple to cut.  I will be adding to the blocks I have already completed a bit at a time while I continue to stitch more blocks. I have four cut and ready for basting and assembly.  They are simple to work on when I only have small slices of time.

Take Care,
Jennie

ScrapHappy Saturday

Today I am linking up with SoScrappy for my first ScrapHappy Saturday with my RSC2015 block, which I posted here yesterday . This is my first link up, so I hope it works.

Tonight I am working on the binding for the scrappy churn dash that I started early last year. It has been quilted and awaiting binding for sometime now. Hopefully, by tomorrow it will be my first finish for 2015.

The last couple of days have been mostly spent "in the road".  Bernina to the shop over an hour away, Christmas flowers picked up at distant cemeteries, Chrysalis training, yarn shop (30 min. away), Petsmart.....well, you get the picture. Not much stitching time.  Some days are like that......things just have to be done.

Egg production is down due to the dark winter days.......but the flock is fat and sassy.

GRATITUDES:

Generosity.

Take Care,

Jennie

Projects for the NY

First of all, after receiving several nice comments on the sweet silhouette on my header, it occurred to me that I had not properly credited the source.  Thank you, Graphics Fairy, for your sweet images and generosity.

I am a BOM junkie. I have a gazillion neat little bags crammed into bigger bags of BOM kits....started and not.  I cannot resist. Yikes! So, what do I do????? Well, start new ones, of course.
I do think I can stay focused on these. They are pretty simple. One comes in the mail, the other is free online and uses my stash.

The first one is Prairie Burgoyne from Temecula Quilt Company. It is a reproduction of a lovely red and white antique quilt. I am not so sure this first block reads as red and white as I expected, but this shop consistently turns out a nice product, so I will just trust.

The second, from So Scrappy,  is not exactly a BOM, but yet it is.  Called the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, it is a plan for using scraps monthly by color, and there is a block plan that you can use in anyway you like.  Sounds like fun.  I decided to make the suggested Sawtooth Block, but with a scrappy black star setting and solid white background,  using the color of the month for the six inch sampler blocks in the center. You get patterns for 2-3 blocks a month.  This month is blue, but not navy or indigo.  You can also challenge yourself to use your blue scraps for other projects.  I rather like the way this one turned out....very crisp and not my usual choice of colors.

I started free motion quilting a UFO wallhanging, but my machine was not cooperating. Off it went to the shop today.  So, I cut the last two blocks of the Country Threads 2014 BOM. It is mostly assembled, so once these two blocks are done, it will be a cinch to complete.  It is going to be a big quilt!

GRATITUDES:
The generosity of others.
Winter greens from the garden.
Creamy lotion on dry, chapped skin.

Take Care,
Jennie

Maggie B's Pennies

First of all, Happy New Year to All!  Nothing profound here.....actually, I am a bit "thought out".....so I will try for something better perhaps a few days down the road.

Hopefully, this is the final 2014 finish post.......Pennies, which I hooked with Maggie B. I love this rug, it's superficial simplicity with the underlying color planning challenges, the softness of the colors, the size of it, the chocolatey (if that is a word) background.  One of those rare rugs that turns out even better than you hoped.

GRATITUDES:

Unexpected successes.

Pajama days.

Traditional Southern NY's food.

Take care,

Jennie

Family Christmastime 2014

Better late than never.  The Christmas season was busy and beautiful.  Lots of family, friends, food and good times.  Always remembering our sweet Lord, Jesus Christ, who was born on that day so many years ago.  So thankful for so much.

O Christmas Tree

The Estes Family

The Horne Family

 

Matt

Ashley

Rob

Christi

The Cousins.....Macy, Jackson, Sara Ashley and Robert

The Girls....Ashley, Me, Macy, Sara Ashley, Christi

As per our tradition, we had my family over on the Sunday before Christmas for a big late lunch of traditional Christmas fixings, followed by gift giving, desserts and merriment.  We were full......of food, laughter and love.

On Christmas Eve morning we entertained Blake's family with brunch and gift exchange.  Once again, there was lots of food, gifts and fun.

The Boys.....Colten, Christopher and Dillon

The Cates Family

John

Ricky and Colten

Pop and Chef Christopher

GRATITUDES:

Families to share and make memories with.

Traditions.

Food on the table.

Love all around.

Sweet recollections of many family Christmases with my very special mother.

Take Care, and Happy New Year,

Jennie

Farewell Quilting Year 2014

Trying to cram in a lot on this last post of the year.  Haven't done my totals for the year.  I wasn't too good about keeping the finishes list current, so I am going to have to backtrack through the blog.  I do know that I got quite a few large quilts finished, some of them UFOs many years old.  All said, what I got done was okay.  Would like to finish more UFOs and pare down the stash a lot more.....but hey, it is a hobby, not a job.....and I want to enjoy what I do.

This was probably my largest finish.  It is Comfort and Joy.  If you recall, I started this one the first of 2014 and was thrilled to have it finished and in use by Christmas.......it was close.

 

Whirling Stars is a You Tube pattern from the Missouri Quilt Company.  I actually finished the binding on it a couple of months ago, but never shared the finish.

Nines and Vines, an oldie from AP&Q,  finally got it's binding done this week.  Another UFO finish.  I love this quilt.  Makes me wonder why it took so long to finish it.  The fabrics in the nine patch blocks are early CW reproduction fabrics and it is so much fun to look at them.  Wish there were still a few of them in the stash now.

Another UFO finish .......hopefully the last of the pieced LQs SS Samplers.  I learned so much about machine piecing from the several years of participating in this program.

Ashley with Snowmen A-Z.  She loved it.  Actually, I did too, even though it was a push to get it done.  She has the top border folded down so that I could see her face.

Bad photo, but this is the label and the backing fabric for Snowmen.

My favorite quilting activities this year were collecting materials for and stitching these dog beds for a local rescue group..........how can you not love these sweet babies?????  And, of course, our QOVs that I shared in an earlier post.  The Sew Crazies rock!!!  Dog photos were lifted from Sandy's FB page.

I still have a couple of quilts to bind, but it will be nice to have a couple of UFO finishes to start the NY.  And I am working on my Lucy blocks.  Got a two more finished and put the background around one of them.  I love the way the background changes the blocks and makes the designs pop.  I will share those in a day or so.

Have some thoughts about the NY and what I would like to accomplish.  I always want to be more focused.  But mainly, I just want to love doing what I do.  That seems more important than how many things I finish at this point in my life.  Funny how your perspective can change when someone you love is fighting for the privilege of life itself.

GRATITUDES:

Hobbies that lend to doing something greater in the scheme of things.

Reflection.

Plans.

Take Care,

Jennie

Merry Pumpkin

Okay, I know you think I am losing it....and you are probably right, the way things have been going lately.  But....I am behind on my Christmas posting, and I knew that if I put off posting these it would not get done.

In an effort to clear my cutting table the day after Christmas, I came upon everything to make these guys, including the wool which had already been cut to size and the sides stitched. Why I didn't finish them in October was because of the deadline for Snowmen A to Z.  They are finished now, and I will pack them away until next Fall and enjoy them then.

Sweet old Roxie snoozing on her mama's slippers. Love this old girl.

GRATITUDES:

My family who forgive me when my brain cells take a break.

The promise a new year always brings.

Dogs.

Take care,

Jennie

Peppermint Forest

Sometimes it pays off to covet someone's creation. When Debi showed me her adorable Peppermint Forest wall hanging I was in love with it.....imagine my surprise when I received my very own version for Christmas!!! So cute....note the fussy cutting.

Last week was busy with performances by five of the seven grands. We are so fortunate to be able to attend so many of these activities.

Jackson and friend at his school performance.

Macy and I after her school chorus performance.

Robert and Sara Ashley performing at O Holy Night in the NFUMC Youth Choir.

GRATITUDES:

All of those dedicated people who work to make these special performances possible.

The excitement and innocence of the little ones.

Twinkling of Christmas lights.

Take care,

Jennie

Merrie Winter

It is hard for me to believe that Christmas is nearly here. Honestly, I just got my decorations up this weekend. As a child, we always decorated a week before Christmas and took them down the day after. Decorating on Thanksgiving is just not going to happen here.  My shopping is done, and this week I will wrap the gifts.  I have two quilts to bind and a small gift I might make, so I am in good shape.

I hooked this little mat for my friend, Debi.  It is a pattern by Robin at Bird in the Hand Primitives.  I love all of her designs.....you buy them as line drawings and they can be used in so many ways.

Yesterday we visited my sister at her assisted living residence.

Christopher made his first ever trip to visit Santa.

The Estes made their annual trip to Perimeter Mall to see Santa.

And had a booth for Can't Never Could at the Bedford Dasher.

Meanwhile, Blake, Buddy and Daisy enjoyed some lap time .

GRATUITUDES:

The simple things.

Handmade gifts.

Warm memories evoked by Christmas decorations.

Take care,

Jennie

Lucy Boston 8

I took a break from things Christmas this week and finished my eighth Lucy Boston block. I do love these blocks and this is one of my favorite color combos.

Matt celebrated his fortieth with the usual birthday dinner here....Chicken Enchiladas and Strawberry Cake.

Old Roxie has never wanted much lap time.  Seems that the example of Buddy and Daisy has changed all of that!  100+ pounds of dog.....

Only Poppy isn't interested. Okay, I have to admit....I love it.

Take Care,

Jennie