Home Tours and Quilt Backs

As promised, I am here to talk quilt backs. First I want to share that I spent some time this morning updating my "Welcome To My Home" post. I decided not to "re" post it, but just leave it back in the archives. If you want to see the update, just click on the link. Those of you who read my blog regularly already know what every room in my house looks like ;) If you want to visit other home tours, visit Keeping The Home for a list of tours (at the bottom of her own tour).

Now on to quilt backs. WILL I EVER LEARN!!!!???? Maybe not. I always pick out backing fabric that is busy. Busy is usually pretty where fabric is concerned, but plain unbleached muslin is ALWAYS the best choice....at least for a hand quilter. Here is the back of my sister's quilt.

A gazillion hand quilting stitches and not one of them shows up! Sure you can see texture, but, oh my goodness, what a waste. I did the same thing with Emerson's quilt....
All that cross hatching and the back is just fabric...beautiful flower fabric, but any hand quilter will get what I am saying here. I have made this mistake more times that I can count. Every time I tell myself I will not do it again. On this little wall hanging (it is yours, Donetta) I used a pale yellow which did show the quilting.
Thankfully I did not make the mistake on the Pink and Brown, (which is back in the hoop once again).
Where I make my mistake is here....I go shopping for the back and end up looking for a coordinating fabric. Something that is pretty and seems to match the front. I pass by the best choices for a quilt back...unbleached muslin, and light solids. They seem boring, and they are!!.....until you get the quilting on it, then they turn into works of art!!! Maybe this will be the time I learn....I already basted the Peter Rabbit quilt with muslin on the back, and I have 3-4 other tops to be basted this year. I plan to use extra wide muslin for all of them!!!! What do you choose for quilt backs??

Seeing Stars

My day has started out rough. I think being cooped up in the house has made everyone crabby. Zach is shouting and growling at everyone....though he is in time out so is quiet at the moment. Charlotte's cycle of behavior is still going, though Daddy caught on and seemed to gain control where I can not. (Yippee!!!) and I am melancholy for some reason. Well, let's not dwell there. Before I forget, again, I wanted to share the room make over Sweetheart did a while back. He did Charlotte's room before he did my sewing room, but I keep forgetting to post pics. Here is the before....And here is the after....He hung new drapes (clearance priced to almost "here, just take them for nothing") and new bedding for just about the same 90% off! He put up a strip of white wood trim around the middle of the room and painted a lighter lavender below it.He painted all the dark green trim on the furniture the same lavender. When he bought those, almost free, drapes, he came home and noticed they were different prints. Quite funny, but it worked out. He went back and bought (or took) the matching ones and used the other pair to reupholster the desk chair. Much cheaper than buying fabric and it matches!!The carpet is still ruined, but is on the other side of the bed so I don't have to look at it. Daddy is checking her bedding and room regularly for destruction. It is a huge relief to not worry about that, and she seems to be doing good listening to him.

Zach's room is 90% redone. I will share pics soon.

I got the border on the Star Sampler. Borders are difficult for me. If you cut them, sew them on and trim, you have a big ripple effect. Sooooo, you must measure. My quilt measured 48.5 inches exactly in width. That means all my seams were a perfect 1/4 inch...yeah, me!!! So I cut my border 48.5 and attached it. Still it seemed the border was about an inch short, even though it was not. Why?? Cause you measure the middle of the quilt. So I worked at fudging it on all 4 sides and now, with borders attached it measures a perfect 60x72 with no ripples.

Since it no longer takes up my design wall, I put up my next project. An, almost 1/2 finished Hidden Star. 40 blocks total, laid out 5x7.Forgive the lighting. I have been working on this quilt, on and mostly off, for 11 years. I pulled it out last year and was going to finish it. I had it laid out on the floor, and a friend walked in and sucked air in utter horror. She said, "YOU ARE NOT MAKING THAT TO GIVE TO SOMEONE ARE YOU?? THAT IS UGLY!!!" So I put it up. She is not a quilter, and I realized....She has never liked one quilt I have ever made, so I pulled it back out. Everyone has their opinion and I happen to like these fabrics and the block is ok....not a favorite, but I still like it. It is a quilt for someone else and I think it will be loved. (My friend really does love me...she feels close enough to share her opinion and many of her's are different than my own...it is ok)

Some of you have wondered why I dislike quilting classes. Well, I am self taught and I have never taken a quilting class. I did go to a lecture class once, and learned from some "classes" taught at my old guild, but I am so set in my quilting ways that I would feel very insecure, plus I can get a block together with out paying some one to show me how...it seems a waste. However, with Sweetheart's encouragement I did sign up for a BOM class at my little fabric store up here. It will be one Monday a month and we will be making...what else??...a star quilt! I told Winona, 2009 is my year for star quilts!! I also decided to try the lecture class for the kit I bought...not committing to sticking with that one though.

Changing the subject....I joined Sharon's Diet Challenge.
We update on Monday's and I need to take a before picture....yikes!!! I have lost 29.5 pounds so far...I still have a ways to go. I am doing low carb, as it makes me feel great and corrects many of my health issues.

It is basically Atkins, though I do not eat fast food burgers, nor do I eat pork or shell fish. I had a big stall in my weight loss for a few weeks. I could not figure it out and then looked carefully at everything I ate. I found I was getting 40 teaspoons of coffee creamer a day!!!!! MAN! That is an extra 40 carbs. I lowered that WAY down and the pounds started to come off again.

That is about it. I pray the day turns around here. I guess as long as I am on the computer it will stay the same, so off I go!

Company and a Couple of Bows

Niki and Rob will be here tomorrow. I am very excited and wonder if I will sleep tonight. I think I will, since I am SO tired. Busy, busy busy...I am thrilled to have a day off tomorrow. Sweetheart goes back to work on Monday and that will be a break too. He is a work horse that guy, and likes me to work along with him!!!

He painted the bathroom today. It is a beautiful lavender color. Not as bright as the first picture appears, and not as muted as the second...think, in between....We had an interesting storm come through this evening. It was called a bow arch.
Look at that curve...lots of lightening and wind. We missed out on hail and damaging winds, but it was all around us. The skies were amazing....
The pictures do not do it justice, but it did get very dark for a while.

Then......

He did it. God put His bow in the sky...2 of them actually, right next to each other. It was breathtaking! The colors were so sharp, you could see each one with clarity.

It makes you think. What an awesome God we have. He is still reminding us of a promise He made thousands of years ago.....

A Break???

Not likely! Things in our nest are still needing to be done. A week was not enough time, though we DID get a couple of the things on our "want to do" list completed. I messed up the date Niki was coming. I thought it was Thursday the 10th, but it is Friday the 11th. It was fine either way, but the extra day, means extra work, which really is a good thing. Can you tell I am trying to convince myself? I am tired. Yesterday we painted. I really dislike painting! And sponge painting is not my favorite. I have feather painted, sponge painted, rag painted. My last home had this style of painting all over the place. I am more a solid color kinda girl because of that.
There is LOTS of sponge painting to look at now. It did not turn out "bad" and actually Sweetheart really likes it, so that is the important thing. I did paint the walls in the upstairs hallway a solid in the same "Peanut Shell" gold/tan as the sponge painting. Oh, and the entire house smells like vanilla. No paint smell at all! Zach thought I was baking something! The additive is a great thing. I will never paint without it again!!! I think there were 6 scents to choose from.
Maybe I need to add a 3rd color, like a cinnamon sponged very lightly and sporadically. It would maybe have more of a wall paper look then. We are not professionals by any means and reaching 17 feet up with a sponge on the end of a pole while standing on a ladder was not an easy task! This paint job also meant a color change. The entryway was predominately blues and pinks. With the gold tones added, I needed to change things. I am thinking my Spring wall hanging will be a center point in an arrangement over my couch when my mom takes back the portraits I have hanging there now. In the meantime I grabbed a picture from the basement. It is my sister's so I will need to replace it too, but for now it is mine. I also placed a birdhouse and a family picture there, along with a little candle I got in Galena. I could never find the right spot for this candle. It is perfect here.
The picture is of my husband's family at their first homestead in Malta, Illinois. It is not far from here. I need to ask my MIL where they came from. I believe this was their first home in our country, but I could be wrong. In the picture there is the horse and the wagon has runners on it. You can see a little snow on the ground. The entire family is on the porch or in the yard. It is a GREAT picture!!!!

Today, Sweetheart will paint in the upstairs hallway. I did it all, 2 coats, but close to the ceiling is his job. He can do it free hand and not get paint on the ceiling or need to tape! He will also mow the yard. I plan to do laundry, my basic household duties, and shop. Grocery shopping and a trip to pick up some cloth napkins that match my dinning room. I want to pick up new rugs for the entryway to replace the blue ones that no longer match. My blue ones are in really good shape still, but I have other places I can use them. The rug by the back door was losing it's "grip" and sliding all over the place. The runner can go there. The large rug can go in Zach's room to cover a "sin" on the carpet...a box of red jello he tried to "make" in his room a couple of years ago. What is it with my kids and carpet??
I received a beautiful note card from Debi in the mail. She was just thinking of me. I was very touched. Thank you Debi! More than that, I have been in such a quilting slump. No motivation, which is really bad since I need to have my swap in the mail by the 30th! The beauty of the card gave me a spark. I am feeling that pull to my quilting needle.

Beautiful. It is breathtaking to me. Like a mountain scape or an ocean view, the beauty of a quilt is inspiring beyond words. Well, I pray this desire lasts a few more days, because my priorities at this moment only allow for a minimal amount of time to quilt. Next week, though, I will have the time!

Problem Solved

My computer is back with a new motherboard installed! I guess I was loaded with spyware also, even though I had McAfee installed. Hmmmm. I still need to play with the settings, though I am not sure I can fix them. Everything is smaller than before. Maybe my eyesight changed...I have done ALOT of reading in the past couple of weeks. I am anxious to get caught up on my blog reading. I sure missed everyone. I hear I won a giveaway from Kim. I unashamedly asked Linda to enter me in the giveaways concerning support of Sharon. WooHoo!! It pays to be shameful sometimes!

So, I mentioned in my last post (not Linda's last post) how my children were evicted once again. Yes, I took back more of my house. We had given them a small TV room where they could watch movies, play games, and give us some down time in the evenings. This worked well and served it's purpose for quite a while. Most recently, however, things had changed. Bickering and arguing were more common than not. Sweet Hubby and I decided we would get control. The kids are different ages and different genders and their interests in movies and games are not the same anymore, plus they were just not appreciating each other. Some of this is understandable and some is not. We put their things in their rooms and re-organized the "formal" dining and living rooms. We put the formal dining room back where it was suppose to be (in the room the kid's occupied) and the formal livingroom, was once again in it's place (where the formal dining room had been). The kids actually began to miss each other's company and get along much better now. Plus, Sweet Hubby and I have back our morning coffee time in a room with no television. I have spent much of the last 2 weeks in this room. I already showed you my corner of the formal living room, but here are the other views.It really is not "formal" at all, but very cozy. I have my favorite fountain next to my chair and I so enjoy the relaxed atmosphere. The formal dining room is beautiful. We painted and put up wainscoat and chair rail a while ago, but chose the color and idea based on the dining room. We knew it would again be the room it was intended to be. I put my parents console stereo on a dining room wall and placed photographs of family on it.
Well I think I will spend some time reading your blogs. I have alot of catching up to do and it may take a while. One thing I learned on my forced blogging break, was that I accomplished much more during the day than I thought possible. Today, I have a clean house, but there are a stack of 9 patch blocks that need my attention, and I have a movie I promised the kids we would finish. Plus there is school...Zachary, at this very moment, is shouting from the other room, "Mommy, how many tummies does a dog have?" I guess I need to incorporate biology into our studies. God Bless, and thank you all for hanging in there with me!!! A BIG (((hug))) and a thank you to Linda for doing a couple of posts for me! I will be back tomorrow with a Tackle It Tuesday!!

Welcome To My Home

Updated: April 2009

I decided to update this post as I have changed so many things in the past, almost two years! You can see more home tours by visiting Keeping The Home (the list is under her own home tour).

I love to see other people's homes! Is that odd? A person's home speaks of who they are. I have seen homes with 4 rooms that said, "welcome" and homes with 20 rooms that cried , "not welcome." I try very hard to make my home a welcoming place for any who enter, but especially for those who live here. In my adult, married life, I have lived in a one bedroom apartment, a mobile home, a 3 bedroom cape cod, a 3 bedroom split level and this 2 story home I live in currently. In every home I have ever lived in, one thing stays the same. It is home! So once again, welcome to my home.When you come through the front door, you will come into the entryway. I change things here so often that it would probably never look the same on any two visits!
To the left is the formal dining room.To the right is the formal living room, though we use it as any other room, so I hesitate to call it "formal". This is one of 2 rooms on the list to be painted. We can not decide on a color...what do you think?Down the hall through the entryway is a coat closet and the powder/guest bathroom.From there you enter the eating area. This is where we home school and eat most of our meals. I change things in here a lot too. From table cloths, quilts, place mats and table runners...always something different.
The sliding glass doors going out to the back yard are in this room. To the right of the eating area is the family room. This also opens to the formal living room. We spend a lot of time here. We love our heritage library.To the left of the eating area is the kitchen. Here is where I almost live!I love a clean sink!!!!!
I love clean counters too. My kitchen is open to a large part of my house, so I need to keep it clean and uncluttered. I change things on my counters pretty regularly too.My aprons hang on the side of the pantry.
From here you go to the back hallway and the laundry room. That same hallway enters the formal dining room. The main level of our home is like one big circle. The laundry area is more like a closet. I keep cleaning supplies here also.The back hallway leads to the garage. There is also a large closet which we converted to a pantry and the opposite wall holds my sign collection.That is the main floor. Recently, we finished a room in the basement. There is a door next to the powder bathroom which takes you downstairs. We call it "The Man Room" because it was where Sweetheart would hang out. Our kids have some how taken it over.My son Kyle has a room downstairs also. He likes his own space! Can you tell he is patriotic?Let's head back upstairs to the second floor.Upstairs there are 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Here is my 11 year old daughter's room.My 7 year old son's room....In the hallway there is a linen closet. I converted it into our home school closet. It is perfect for all our supplies.The kids bathroom....Here is the office/sewing room. It is my favorite room in the house. It has a story all it's own which you can read about here. By the way, I have a number of sewing room/studio tours listed on my sidebar. If you have a tour of your own sewing room/studio, please let me know so I can add you to the list. You do not need a "room"...just a space where you create!Finally, my (and Sweetheart's) bedroom and bathroom. This is the other room in the house that needs painting. I am making a pink and brown quilt for this bed and plan to paint the room a soft brown. The quilt on the bed (under the top quilt) is so worn I had to cover it with this smaller quilt. Yeesh, that top quilt has been all over my house!! From the kitchen table to the family room to the bedroom! It sure gets around!That is my upper level.

I hope you enjoyed your visit! Don't forget to let me know if you do a home tour! Come back soon!!!Blessings, Bren