Vintage Sewing Machine

This week I received my Mother's vintage White Rotary sewing machine from my brother in Alabama. He had packed it very carefully and it got here in great shape, even though the motor is shot, my husband and fixer of all things thinks that he can get it running again. It runs just by turning the wheel and sews that way so we know it is in working order. The manual says 1927 on it so we think the machine is 81 years old. (Marvelous that the manual and cabinet are still with it and both in good shape!)

This is the machine that I learned to sew on and I remember making many 4-H projects on it. Also I remember Mother had gotten a zigzag attachment and was thrilled with that! My brother thinks that our grandmother also sewed on this machine before our mother, so it has seen a lot of fabric in it's day! The stories it could tell, huh?!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Last BOM for Rosebud Lane Done!

Finished the house blocks for the BOM Rosebud Lane and now next month will be the assembling and setting instructions. This one is the "Rose Petal Tea Room" and has stained glass windows. I couldn't decide what to start on next and can only do so much hand quilting (on the purses quilt) at a time and my shoulder tells me to stop, so I opted for some Boxy Star blocks from Bonnie's Quiltville site made from scrappy 2.5" strips. I thought I would use up more of my stash than I did--isn't that always the way--it never goes down as fast as we think it should! I just love Bonnie's Quiltville site--she makes the best use of scraps I have ever seen and her blog is lots of fun to read, too!

Thanks to everyone who left such kind comments about our doggie's passing--we still miss him and Buster, the 14-year old black poodle still goes searching for him each night outside--at least that's what we think he is doing!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

A State of Grace puzzle goes together!

The puzzle is a finished quilt top! The quilt is called State of Grace on the pattern and it is a finished quilt top now. I love how the pattern made the pinwheels.The fabric is Shangri-la by 3 Sisters for Moda. I used a jelly roll and yardage to make the quilt top.

Yesterday I lost a good friend--our little white dog, Cleo, a bichon friche, died. He was 18 years old and lived a long, happy life. Thank you Cleo, for many happy times and lots of good memories. The picture shows him under a quilt, what else?-- ready to take a nap! (That's Buster, the black poodle beside him.)

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

The Puzzle Fits Together

Here are pictures of the "puzzle" with 2 rows sewn together and with 4 rows sewn together--it's fun to see how the patterns emerge. This is called "State of Grace" and is the pattern that came with a jelly roll of Shangri-la fabric by 3 Sisters by Moda. It looks complicated and can be if you lose your place, so you have to keep close watch on what you are doing as you sew the pieces together! There are 80 blocks.

We had a wonderful week-end trip to Alabama to visit by brother and his lovely wife--so nice to spend time with them. We had a lot of fun shopping at all of Gadsden's thrift shops and one great fabric discount store where fabric was $2.99 a yard. We drove to a nearby State Park and watched the deer come up to the campgrounds where people were feeding them and had dinner at the Lodge---even got to watch a wedding that was taking place there--added bonus!!! We enjoyed time in their lovely home, too. It's good to spend time with relatives that you love and really like being with!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Pieces of the Puzzle

These are pieces of the quilt and 1 block for "State of Grace" from Shangri-La by 3 Sisters by Moda. I have made one quilt from this line of fabric already, but Maynard picked this jelly roll up for me , so I'm making another one---big grin!!!! But I don't mind in the least because I like the fabric so much!!! It's just beautiful and so lovely to work with! I have this "thing" for jelly rolls now--they are so much fun to work with and so neat to look at before you start working with them!

Still quilting on the purses quilt which will probably take a long time! I had a migraine yesterday so just look longingly at it and didn't do one stitch in it--ah well, today will be a better day!

Packing my bags today because tomorrow we fly to Birmingham, Alabama, where my brother, who lives in Gadsden will pick us up. We will stay with him and his wife for a couple of days. We haven't visited them for quite a number of years so will be good to see them. We have been teasing each other back and forth about mowing the lawn because they live on a huge, beautiful property that they keep mowed. He's telling me that he uses a push mower--I say more power to him (pun intended-ha!). I say he should get some cows and goats--free fertilizer, too!!! Fun to be able to joke with a relative, don't you think!!!??!! I look forward to a good visit!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

New fabric and new "toy!"

Newest fabric line that I have fallen love with is Prairie Paisley and so I just had to have some and will make a star quilt from it. It's beautiful country blues and reds and tans. Can't wait to get started on it-- great friend, Debi was nice enough to get me a charms pack of them, too--they will be the centers of the stars.

I picked them up yesterday at our DFW Gang Guild Sit and Sew held at Quilter's Connections quilt shop in Dallas. We had 6 people that joined together for a day of fun, sewing and lots of laughter. We played games and laughed some more. One gal had found a bargain at a closeout store and brought many (I lost count) wonderful, handmade quilts for Project Linus--some just need labels and others need to be quited --so dear friend Debi and I divided those up to take home and finish and add to the growing pile for East Texas Project Linus group! Love to see those piles and stacks growing. We also got in a trip to The Golden D'or fabric shop where quilting fabric is $2.99 a yard! We (I) did some serious shopping there, getting lots of fabric for Project Linus tops and some 60" backings! What fun the whole day was and thanks to everyone for making it such a grand day!

On another note--I purchased a new toy that I am very enthusiastic about---a Q-Snap floor model quilting frame. It is small as far as quilt frames go--29"x36", but just right for me and the room that I have. I have my Heirloom Romance purses quilt on it right now and am hand quilting it--it's coming along very nicely, too! I had tried tying it off, but that just didn't seem like enough and I don't think I did it right because a couple of the ties popped off when I lifted the heavy quilt up to put it on the frame (I was originally going to tie it off and then just quilt around the purses---great plans go astray, don't they???!!) But I am liking the quilting on it very much!

I hope you all had a very nice Mother's Day! I had calls from my 2 lovely daughters and my dear husband gave me a lovely card and some quilting items--what could be better than calls from kids and quilting stuff??!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Part of Grandmother's Flower Garden!

Part of Grandmother's Flower Garden is appliqued and it's beginning to come together. I'm not sure that I'm liking this one or not. Maybe it will look better when I get the tendrils embroidered on among the flowers and leaves and I get more applique on--like leaves--I think I need more leaves---what do you think? There will be more flowers on the right hand side and some half flowers at the top and part way down the left side. That will change the look of it quite a bit. I guess some projects aren't as exciting as others--have you had projects like that? I've been working on this one for more that a year and I really should just get it done and over with!!!!

Another block is finished in the Rosebud Lane quilt. This is block number 4. This is called the Rose Cottage. I tried and tried to get those shutters to hang correctly but finally gave up, guess they have that "weatherbeaten" look about them!!!LOL!!!

The third picture is of a whole cloth quilt for Project Linus that I named "Sweet Babies" since I thought the baby animals were so cute in it. The pile is growing bigger for Project Linus. Maybe next month we will have to take a trip to Quitman and deliver them. That means a shopping trip to Stitch' Heaven quilt store which is a delivery point---won't that be awful??? NOT!!!! Love those shopping trips!!!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Block Number 5 Mystery Round Robin

Debi is doing a fantastic job of picking out blocks for the Nesting Mystery Round Robin that she is hosting each month. Here are my block and row. I'm loving the way these are turning out!

Anybody have a Q-Snap floor quilting frame? I'm thinking of buying one and wonder what the concensus is on them--good, bad or never would buy one again or love it!!! I don't have room for another large one in my house since we have the Little Gracie Pro II and thought this one would take up less room and would take apart easier to store. Anyone have any words of wisdom for me? Thanks in advance!

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan

Granny's Garden Quilt

Granny's Garden is a quilt that my husband got me the "ingredients" for instead of flowers when I was in the hospital for my surgery for my torn rotator cuff. Debi got me the pattern a while back and I picked out the fabrics. Maynard says that these kind of flowers last longer than cut flowers!!!! He is right about that! Sorry about the picture being so dark, but that is the best I could do with the black background. The flowers and 9-patch really are very bright!

The second picture is a faux Baltimore Album small quilt that was a panel for the Baltimore Album part that Debi also gave me. The idea is to have a BA quilt without all the applique. The look-alike appliques are actually BA patterns.

The third picture is the pattern Fuji Afternoon (free at the link shown) using Indulgence fat quarters and 1 yard of fabric. I called mine Hearts and Hugs. It is for Project Linus.

Let quilting help you make someone smile!

Jan