My grandson Walker and I!

First off here is a picture of my grandson Walker and myself….it’s a horrible picture of me…but boy is Walker a cutie! He’s 20 months old and he’s Grandma’s boy. College football started this Saturday and my team won….Go HUSKERS!

I’ve got all 111 of the Farmer’s Wife blocks sewn together, I just need to decide what to use for the borders now. Over all I’m pretty happy with how it turned out. I had quite a hard time with the cornerstones and I’m not sure why. I ended up ripping out a lot of those and doing them over. I was very frustrated by the time I got done.  I think I might quilt this one myself…we’ll have to see if I’m in the mood when it’s all done.My cat Morris wanted to be in this picture…..Sorry that he’s covering a couple of blocks….He’s a very large cat!

And here is the 5th BOM from my wool Primitive Garden quilt. I’m done except for the vine embroidery….which once I get going on it won’t take very long. I’m thinking I’m going to add a heart or something to the black star….I’m kind of debating on it right now.

My mini Hexie quilt is growing…..it’s a pretty slow process, but I enjoy doing it.

When I went to the Wooly Mammoth in Kearney a couple of weeks ago, I bought a skein of yarn to make a scarf for one of my daughters….It was very expensive, $15.49 a skein….It’s the black one…..I found the gray and orange yarn at Walmart for around $5 and it is basically the same…a little different, but for one third of the price it’s very nice. One skein will make a pretty long scarf. It’s not as fast knitting as regular yarn, since you have to get the knitting needle through a hole in the yarn instead of just looping it around the needle. These will be very nice gifts, relatively cheap to make, and I’m having fun doing it. I hope Lesley, my daughter will like them.

I’ve had a great day off today and I’m having a great time sewing and knitting.

Happy Quilting, Kris

My Vow……I won’t start any new quilts until I have at least one that’s started completely finished.

We’ll see how my vow works out….I’m going to do my best to get some things finished before I start another new project. I am getting the itch to start something new, and I just can’t let myself do that. I did finish all 111 blocks from the Farmer’s Wife Quilt. I need to pick out the sashing and the cornerstone fabric soon. I’ve come to the conclusion that I’m a ‘piecer’ not a ‘quilter’…..I love piecing a quilt, I just am not too interested in doing the free motion quilting to finish it. I have to make myself do it.

 

My mini 1/2” hexie quilt has been very fun to work on. I’m ready to start the 4th color around, I’m enjoying this one more than the 1” hexie quilt I’m working on also.  My hand is in this picture so you can see how small these hexie flowers are. My next  color round will be green flowers. This will be a very special quilt when it’s done….all hand sewn!

This picture is of the larger 1” hexie quilt I’m working on too. I’m not sure how big this one will end up…..it will have white borders with some flower, vine and leaf applique in one of the corners.

Here are the four blocks that I’ve completed in my Primitive Garden Quilt BOM….I just got the 5th block in the mail yesterday and I’m ready to start on it. I’m having a wonderful time doing this quilt. And yes….I really do believe I’m obsessed with quilting, my house isn’t as clean as it used to be, and I could stay locked up in my sewing room for 10 hours a day and not think anything of it.I might come out every once in a while and get something to eat and drink, but other than that…..I could stay there forever!  This is an expensive hobby too. Fortunately, of the quilts I’m working on now three (both hexies and the Farmer’s Wife) are scrap quilts, so I don’t have to buy lots of fabric for them.

It’s time to go back to my sewing room and have some more fun!

Happy quilting, Kris

1/2” Hexies are more fun!

I’ve been inspired by a blog I read the other day to make smaller hexies. I like what I saw so much I immediately started in on a smaller hexie quilt. This one will literally take me a very long time to complete, but once I’m done I will really have a very special quilt. This will mostly just be a scrap quilt, the only fabric I will purchase is the neutral   color between the flowers. It will be in color rounds and I’ve decided the center of the flowers will all be from the red/pink family….the only exception will be when I make red flowers and I think the centers will be a yellow then. My little sister Val is busy cutting out the 1/2” hexies from card stock, so that is one nasty job I won’t have to do! You can find hexie templates on many different websites for free.

The large blue hexie is made from 1” hexies and the smaller is 1/2” hexies. They are very tiny compared to the larger ones. Lots of stitching  by hand! I love it! I think I might have a hard time being motivated enough to finish my larger hexie quilt now! I am very close to finishing it….so maybe I’ll get it done…..I can only hope.

I’ve been horrible about working on my Farmer’s Wife Quilt….I only have 9 more blocks to make and it will be done. These last few are taking me as long as it took to make the first 100! It’s like torture to finish these last few…..I will force myself if I have to……Ugh…..

And last is a picture of my new toy….my husband came home with this yesterday afternoon. A Samsung tablet…..it’s been fun to play with. Tons I don’t know yet, but I can get around on it a little bit. I love the kindle book app on it, much better than reading from a kindle.

I also got 35 bags of corn froze this weekend. It makes me feel good to have it in the freezer. Yummy!

Well, another week has started. Have a great day!

Happy quilting, Kris

Vacation is over already….and I feel like I need another one

I really didn’t get too much done this past week except to visit my mom in the hospital every day…..so I made the 30 minute trek to Cambridge Mon.-Sun. So that doesn’t leave a lot of time to sew or make jelly. I did get a bunch more hexie flowers made since I could do that while visiting my mom.  And as you can see….I had to throw in some ‘Husker’ hexies. I am a huge Cornhusker fan! GO BIG RED!

I also got the chance to shop at Cottage Inspirations while in Cambridge. I returned a wool kit that I had bought with a gift card back in January……that gave me $50 plus $20 I had in bonus bucks given to me by my friend Kelly Kreft. It was enough money for a shopping spree, and boy did I have fun. I ended up getting a few spools of Valdani perle cotton and some wool…..the wool is a 5 inch square, with  5 pieces in a pack.

I also found some wool scraps I had while digging through my tubs of fabric. I felted it right away. This was an exciting find! Quite a few years ago, I was making wool vests with appliques on them, so I had bought a few pieces of it back then. I also did some tailoring with it. I think I have a wool skirt I made in the closet that I’m going to cut up and felt. My sister Val and I are going to try our hand at over dyeing also….We are kind of excited to give it a try.

And last, but not least…..I’ve made 5 more blocks for my Farmer’s Wife Quilt. I am cutting out number 99 this morning. Only 12 more to make! Oh Happy Day!

Well, work is calling me, and after the week I’ve had, I’m going with a smile on my face.

Happy Quilting, Kris

Vacation time!

It’s a great week to be inside…..very warm temperatures again this week. I’ve been sewing a little, making jelly and going to the hospital in Cambridge to visit with my mom. It’s been a good week to have a vacation just so I can be with mom. I would appreciate prayers for her, she’s getting old and is having a rough time with her memory and just getting around. My sisters and I have some tough decisions to make in a few days. It’s nice to be able to get lost in my quilting and to forget about the ‘hard’ things that we well be discussing and deciding about our wonderful mother. Mom is my sounding board for whatever project I’m working on, she definitely has opinions and ideas about any current project I’m doing…..I love you mom!

I made Strawberry/Rhubarb Jam and Pinecot (pineapple apricot) Jam this morning! Yummy! It’s fun to get some more jams and jellies put away in my basement. They are wonderful gifts and taste so good on toast or bagels. I’ll be making some chokecherry, and wild plum in the coming week……I think I can make jelly out of anything….I have an ‘eye’ for berries in the ditches!

I should be done with my fourth Primitive Garden Wool BOM in a few days, it’s going very well. I enjoy all of the handwork.

I am up to Block number 91 in my Farmer’s Wife Quilt sampler…..I can see the light at the end of the tunnel now. I am having fun with this quilt and will probably start on the Farmer’s Wife Pony Quilt Club Sampler as soon as this one is done.

This is a pattern I bought in Kearney on Monday, they had a sample of this made in the store and I really liked it. I thought it would be really cute done in wool. I wanted to go to the Wooly Mammoth and see what they had for wool and over dyed wool, and found out they are closed on Mondays during the summer. I was extremely disappointed since that was the main reason for my trip to Kearney. Hopefully I’ll get there in the next couple of months or so.

Happy Quilting! Kris

Jelly Making with Kris!

I normally keep over 200 jars of jelly in the basement……but my stock is running kind of low and I decided it was time to get some jelly made. I’ve picked some tart pie cherries, apricots, rhubarb and tame plums, and I’ve literally got gallons of frozen juice in my freezer down stairs. Elderberry, Chokecherry, Wild Plum, Tame Plum, Grape, and about 3 gallon bags of apricots. I’d say I’m pretty prepared! I have other juices too, I just can’t think of them right now without making a trip to the basement to see….and that’s just not going to happen.

So anyway, since it’s been so hot outside and Jelly making is quite a hot job over the stove, I figured the best way to get this job done, was to start early in the morning and make a couple of batches each day. It’s been working pretty good so far too. I’ve made: Elderberry, Almond Cherry Jam, Cherry Jelly, Tame Plum and Rhubarb. I forgot how much I really enjoy doing this.

My daughter and son in law came from KC for a visit this week, so I haven’t gotten a lot of quilting done. I did make a few more Farmer’s Wife blocks and I’ve been stitching on my BOM for my Primitive Garden Quilt. I just got my next BOM in the mail so I’ll be ready to start it this weekend. I am on vacation next week too, so just think of how much I’ll get done!

This is my favorite block so far…..and I’m up to block #84.

I’m almost done with the embroidery! I have a little bit more to do, probably about an hour or so of handwork and it will be done and I’ll be starting on the next one….which is the shovel and some flowers. So far this is my least favorite block of this quilt.

Well, have a great rest of the week!

Happy quilting and Jelly making! Kris

Happy 4th of July! God Bless the USA!

I have the day off and was pleasantly surprised by my younger daughter, Lesley  who lives in Kansas City. She called me in the middle of my jelly making to tell me they were on their way to visit us. Erik and Lesley haven’t been home since Christmas, so it’s time for a visit. I got up this morning with the intention of making at least two batches of jelly, I would have liked to have made more, but I would have needed to make a trip to the store for more SureJell, sugar and lids. By the time I got my Rhubarb Jelly and Cherry Almond Jam made, it was getting pretty hot outside, so I figured it was time to quit. I would like to get some more rhubarb juice in the freezer before the rhubarb quits this summer, if you like rhubarb, this is the jelly for you. It is absolutely yummy! I have a real red rhubarb in my garden too, which makes such a pretty dark pink jelly. I’ve been doing a lot of hand sewing on my hexie quilt. I twisted my ankle at work last Thursday when I got out of my van to deliver a package and  stepped in a pothole. I was down so fast I didn’t even know what  happened. I’m too old to be falling like that, I have a fat ankle, foot and toes. I’m black and blue half way up my calf. I’m still swollen and a little black and blue, but very slowly it’s getting better. I’ve been sitting in my chair with my foot up and stitching away! I’ve managed quite well at work too. I feel very fortunate that I didn’t get hurt any worse.

My hexie quilt is made with 1” hexies and is now 13 rows by 11 rows. I still have lots more to make, but it’s looking like a quilt now. When I get the white border and the applique on the border I think it will really look nice.

I’m up to block number 78 on my Farmer’s Wife Quilt. I am having a wonderful time with this quilt, I never get bored with making the same block over and over as all 111 of the 6 1/2” blocks are different. I ordered the Farmer’s Wife Pony Quilt Book this morning. It uses about 90 8” blocks and is along the same lines as this quilt. I’m excited to get it and just look at all of the different blocks. That will be a project I’ll get started when this one is done.

And here is my helper ‘Wilber’….he loves my fabric about as much as I do!

Happy quilting, Kris