Hold Your Quilting Plans Loosely

I need therapy. I am serious! So how do I get it??? I make quilts. I have all my 2010 quilting goals lined up, but because of my need for therapy, I have to change those.....Hold Your Plans Loosely....I do that often, and good thing. I started off with some Fabric Therapy. TJ needs a new quilt from Grandma.
Doesn't that blue look like the perfect "ocean"? I think some sailboats (or pirate ships) will be just the thing!!! Emerson also needs a new quilt. I saw this on Karen's blog and she graciously sent me a copy of the pattern she got from an older magazine. I think it is a perfect quilt for Emerson!! (Those 9 patches are 3" finished!) I may add some flowers to that vine also.All I needed was some background fabric, a nice yellow and a crisp green! I have lots of blues, pinks, and lavenders to add in.I will still continue with the Hidden Star, and the Pink and Brown will stay in the hoop until it is finished, but all else will be put on the back burner until these quilts are finished and covering my grandchildren! (I think I can squeeze in a Libby Quilt every month too!)
PERFECT therapy....though it is NOT cheap!
Here are a few Sassy pictures. She has found quilting to be quite fun also. She spends much time chasing my thread as I hand quilt.....it is a race to see if she can catch the loop before it disappears into the fabric! She usually wins!Eventually she wears out.....but not before she wears me out!I sure love that cat!!!!

44 Day Crunch

Miniature number 3 is finished. Only 3-4 more to go....3 for certain and 4 if I have the time. The binding is still left to do, as with the other finished miniatures. I really like this one....the texture is wonderful and I love the colors.

So let's do an inventory....

the basket quilt is finished (sans label),

3 of 7 miniatures are done

and the fabric is set for the next 2

pillows and bags yet to make for Zach and TJ

a pillow needs to be made for Emerson

PLUS the fabric for Kyle's quilt and Charlotte's skirts are ready and waiting.

44 days til Christmas!!!

Kyle's quilt will be a simple checkerboard that I will tie. A matching pillow and curtain and he will be thrilled.The next miniature will be made with these two fabrics I picked up at Acorn Quilts yesterday.
The background (which does not show up at all in the pic) is gorgeous with a light background swirled in a creamy tan. The focus fabric is black with red berries and brown stems. Very shaker style. I plan to do a smaller version of a quilt I saw hanging on Libby's wall. I just loved it. You can see it here. It is the first picture in the post.

After that, I will do miniature number 5 using these fabrics.Not sure what pattern yet. I can only work on Kyle's quilt while he is at work, so I am limited with that one. Luckily, the miniatures will keep me busy.

I also picked up some fabrics for my Pine Ridge Quilt. I plan to get right back to that when I am finished with all the Christmas gifts. I picked up another yard and a half of background fabric (I just love Fusions by Robert Kauffmann) and 3 more greens for trees.The red 1/4 yard cut is for the binding of the last miniature. I sure enjoyed my fabric shopping yesterday!

As I am pounding away at the quilts, Sweetheart is keeping busy also. Today he and Zachary pulled the frig out and did the bi-annual cleaning.Lost toys were found and dust bunnies were killed! Charlotte did all her laundry today. After searching high and low for all the bath towels that were missing, I found 11 of them in Charlotte's closet. Yes, she did that load too! I wondered where they were all hiding!

Now, I am going to store all that fabric I pre washed and get my rotary cutter out to start making blocks for the next little quilt.

Have a blessed and productive week.

"And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you;
That ye may walk honestly toward them that are without, and that ye may have lack of nothing."

1 Thess. 4:11-12

Maidens

Friday's are a lax school day here. It is set aside for catching up (sick days, etc.), field trips, tests, and it is the day when we do our Maiden's of Virtue study. This morning the girls and I talked about preparing to be homemakers. It was a fun time. We are excited to start Hope Chests for each of them.

After our shorter school time on Friday's, they enjoy a movie time. Charlotte crochets....she is working on washcloths for Christmas gifts....Anya is working on a whole cloth quilt for her niece, and Alphia curled up in Zach's quilt....Zach is in the background on the couch. Friday's he pretty much has off, unless he needs to catch up or take a test.
I truly enjoy these girls, which surprises me some. I am so comfortable with boys, having raised 2 of them, but the time on Friday's with these girls has been very special to me.
I was able to pull all the basting threads out of the Basket Case while they started their movie.The fabric for the binding is in the dryer as I type this and I will make it and attach it to the front of the quilt this afternoon. Having a solid backing helped to make sure all the basting threads were pulled.... Plus, I just love the back of a quilt!!!
I ran into Acorn Quilts yesterday and grabbed some American Jane fabrics to replace the boo-boo I made a few weeks ago. I will add a bright marigold yellow with these and it should be a beauty!My hoop was not empty for long. Within an hour of finishing the quilting on the basket quilt, I had a little quilt top basted and in the hoop. I love this little quilt.It should quilt up very quickly and then I have several others ready to baste. I think I will be in good shape this Christmas!!
I better scoot and see how that movie is going! They are all so quiet down there!!!
Be Blessed!
Bren

A Clean Slate

My mom appreciated all your wonderful birthday wishes for her and says "thank you". She had a great day! Breakfast with a friend, lunch with her sister, and then.....well, she came to my house to take me to the doctor. Yes, I will be 49 in a month or so and I needed my mommy! She opened her gifts from us while she was there. A large cut crystal with a rod iron stand (she loves all that shimmers and sparkles) and a sunflower candle holder for her kitchen. She loved it all, but said her blog post was the best gift ever! We had a bunco night last night too, so the lady partied from morning til bedtime!!!

I have not shared on my blog the health issues I have been experiencing, but now that I know the outcome, I will share that I will be facing a hysterectomy in the very near future. I am feeling it will be a great relief in my life and am trusting God in this situation.

I was able to get to the opening day of Acorn Quilts.The fabrics are incredible!!!! Look what I got. 1/2 yard cuts of these pretties for use in upcoming gifts.I was quite disappointed that there were no hand quilting supplies. We need very little, but what we need is very important. Little did I know, the owner was just waiting to speak to a hand quilter to find out what we would want her to carry!! WOO HOO!!! I gave her my list and she will be getting those things immediately! LOVE IT! I plan on taking my camera in and doing a post on Acorn Quilts....the owner was thrilled with that!

This morning was a "no school" time, so I decided to clean up the sty my sewing room/office had become. No before pics, but believe me, it was as bad as it had ever been. FILTHY and the dust was so thick you could write in it!....really. No floor space was empty, as my mess from sorting scraps was still everywhere. My cutting table, computer table, and ironing board were loaded with clutter. The closet....well that has been bad for quite a while. I started there....the closet. Now organized and neat!You can walk right into the room and not trip on anything!The cutting table is cleaned off, and Pine Ridge is split between the design wall and the paisley box under the left side of the desk, waiting til those Christmas projects are finished!Fabrics for those Christmas miniatures are set out and ready to be cut up!A clean slate. Ready to begin again!!!!!Thanks for stopping in!! Don't forget to give part of your day to Him.

Fabric, Friends, and Farming

I can not believe July is almost over. There is something like 150 days until Christmas!! That is certainly closer than we think! I have been busy in the sewing room...and on the hoop...and on the frame. Since we took 6 weeks off of school (other than reading) I am finding all kinds of time. I need to make the most of it before school starts again!

Today I spent a couple hours with a friend. We went out to lunch (KFC) and then to a quilt shop. I bought the remainder of the fabrics I need for the basket quilt. Finally, I am in the home stretch.All washed, dried, and ready to cut. Now it would not be a "Brenda Quilt" if I did not have to rip at least one seam out!!That bottom green basket was too light. I thought it might be, but figured it would pass. It did not. I ripped it out of there and will replace it with a brighter pastel. Speaking of pastels....what will I do with all of these leftover fat quarters? There are a couple dozen or more. I only needed either an 8 inch square or a 5 inch square out of each one. I picked up the new July/August issue of Fons and Porter and this was on the cover....I love it!! Even I, who is not a pastel fan, could see myself making that! Next year...maybe.

I picked up a new thimble for my thumb today. I chose a leather one. It is tricky but I am not giving up!! I have been spending about half an hour to 45 minutes every morning at the frame. Most of my hand quilting time is given to the pink and brown. I finished the large section I was working on and now have moved to the final center motif...a very tedious one. Once that is done I will be working on the outside section of the quilt. A big goal to say the least.

This afternoon, Uncle Bruce came to spend several hours. Bruce is my friend Candy's brother in law. He lives with her and her husband (his brother) and has Downs Syndrome. Bruce is a year older than I am. He is the sweetest soul I have ever had the pleasure to meet. He works with my Kyle at a center for mentally handicapped adults. They ride the same bus, so Bruce jumped off at our house to wait for Candy and his brother Terry to pick him up. He watched a movie with the kids and colored at the table. He loved the spaghetti dinner made just for him...it is his favorite!

We sure enjoyed having Bruce over for dinner!

I have a garden update. Zach went out to water and I snapped a couple of pictures before he did. We have the most amazing soil here in Northern Illinois. Just look at that weed....it is flourishing!!!It is growing a foot a week!! Donetta wanted a close up of the leaves.Looks like it is getting ready to go to seed! Yikes!! Here is the stalk. It is as red as red gets!Everything else in the garden is thriving too. The cantaloupe has jumped the fence and headed out into the yard.Onions are bursting through the soil......and look how big my peppers are getting!Remember I have a brown thumb, so most of this is Zachary!

Well it is getting late and I have 5 little baskets to make before I go to bed. 4 to make a block and 1 to replace the light green one I ripped out. That should be about 3 hours of sewing time....It is after 8pm, so I need to go NOW!

Be blessed and productive!!!