Sew Sweet Bee

This month's Queen Bee of the Sew Sweet Bee is Erin at Why Not Sew Quilts.  Be sure to check out her blog!  She wanted a sampler quilt and told us to pick our favorite block.  My favorite is the pinwheel and I found this variation of  a double pinwheel and I just love it!  I would pick this block for my month if I was not already in the process of a pinwheel quilt!  What is you favorite block for a sewing bee?  Can you share any links to 12 1/2 inch blocks that you like?  My month is August and I can't pick a block!!  LOL  I want the colors of aqua, red and yellow.

 It started off cold and rainy this morning, but by three was warm and sunny!  Here is a rare picture of five of my cats together!

Starting at the top:  Oreo, Custard, Pippi, Squeeky and Cupcake.

I bought a Boston fern for my bedroom, they are great air purifiers!

 My mom is here for my surgery on Tuesday.  Thursday we went to the old fashioned soda fountain at the drug store.  (Yep, no makeup!  This is the REAL me!)

We had chocolate sodas!

 Friday we went to Silver Dollar City in Branson and had a lot of fun.

I picked her up from the airport on Wednesday and we had lunch at the Aviary in Springfield.  They have delicious crepes there and a wonderful atmosphere.  This display was in the bathroom.

We are having a cookout on Sunday after church with our friends.  Monday I am on a liquid diet before my surgery so we are staying home and can hopefully finish painting my dining room set before my surgery.

I hope ya'll have a great Memorial Day weekend!

Missy

"7  For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.
8  Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord, nor of me his prisoner: but be thou partaker of the afflictions of the gospel according to the power of God;
9  Who hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began,"

II Timothy 1:7

Cherry Basket Block and link to free pattern

I finally finished my block for the Sew Sweet Bee from April!  That handle just really scared me!  It is appliqued on and the pattern is great, but I definitely need to practice appliqueing curves!  This block is from Donna at Donna's Lavender Nest.  You can find her pattern here!  I really enjoy being part of a group that I get to make a new, different block every month.

I also won a couple of giveaways.  both giveaways were a gift certificate from Fabrics n Quilts.  The first was from their blog and the second was from Quilt Shop Gal.  I really appreciated all of the goodies they added to my orders!
I bought a bobbin winder for my vintage machines, so much easier then pulling out my electric machine!  I also bought Route 66 fabric for my husband's quilt and wonder clips for my binding.  She sent me a fabric pen I really loved and some matching thread and erasable highlighters!

 The second time I bought a lot of sewing themed fabric, she threw in a couple of pieces of fabric that matched the cat sewing fabric, thread and a specialty ruler.

 Now I just need to figure out a plan for all of this fabric!

My mom comes tomorrow, I borrowed a bed from a friend to put in my sewing room for her.

I put a rocking chair for my mom by the bed and moved the ottlight over by the bed for her.

 I bought the quilt a few years ago at a yard sale.  It is such a fun, scrappy, bow-tie quilt.

Of course, the cats think it is their new bed!

I have had several people ask me, my surgery is next week, May 26, so it will be pretty quiet on here for a couple of weeks.

Have a great day ya'll!

Missy

Quilt on the bed!

As soon as I put the quilt on the bed, the cats bombarded it!  I was not able to get one picture without a cat!  LOL  If you missed my last post about the quilt, you can find it here:

My helpers!

It's very big!

 I love scrappy quilts!

This bird material was used in a prayer quilt for a friend.

The penguin material is from some culottes I made as a teenager

Several of those blues were used in dresses I made for a friend

I'm enjoying my quilt even though it is really too hot for this time of year!  LOL

Missy

Binding the monster!

This is how I started out my week.  I spent one evening cutting my 2 1/2 inch strips for my binding and sewing the pieces together.  I changed my needle when I finished my quilting because I could not remember the last time I changed it and I had just quilted a 108" quilt.  I also cleaned out the lint real quick, nothing intensive.

 I pinned my binding on (I would love some wonder clips!) and Pippi decided that would be a great time to take a bath.  She got moved.

 My stitching was all messed up!  I changed the thread, re-threaded the top and bobbin threads, unscrewed things and did an extensive cleaning and oiling, and it was still messing up!  I asked on treadleon.com if anyone had any suggestions.  It was suggested to try a different needle since it was working just fine before.  That was it!  I learn so much from people who have been doing this a lot longer then me!  I don't know if it was a wrong needle or if maybe there was just a burr on it, I'm just glad my 137 year old was giving me perfect stitches again!

Oreo helping me thread my machine

Oreo taking a cat nap while I found out what was wrong with my stitches

 I got to the end of sewing my binding on and I needed to fold the ends under.  I did not want to take the time to pull out my iron, ironing board, move the quilt etc., so I grabbed my straightening iron and it worked perfect!  Easy Peasy!

 I am finished!  It just took me two years and five months!  Everything was done on either a hand crank sewing machine or a treadle.  The quilting and binding was done on m Industrial Singer 16 treadle sewing machine.

This thing is HUGE!

In fact, it is so big it would not fit in my home machine and I had to take it to the laundromat!

 For the backing I took my favorite flannel sheets, which is queen size and never get used since I have a king size bed, and used it.  It is yellow with penguins on it.  I also used some blue plaid flannel for a side and some very soft white for a strip.  As you can tell I was not worried about straight lines!

 Here is the front!  I just quilted circles in each square.  The squares finish at two inches.

This pattern is one of Bonnie Hunter's patterns, you can find it here:

I'm sorry I don't have better pictures, it has been raining all week.  I did get some pictures of it on my bed, which I will share in another post since this one has so many pictures!

Missy

Acts 20:24  But none of these things move me, neither count I my life dear unto myself, so that I might finish my course with joy, and the ministry, which I have received of the Lord Jesus, to testify the gospel of the grace of God.

The quilting is done!

I finished the quilting on my Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilt!  It is huge!  108 inches square!

Yes, I know the dark print kind of sticks out, but that's okay!

The cats love it!

 I have a very thick top mattress, and the quilt still almost touches the floor!

I cut the binding and sewed it together last night.  Tonight I will iron it and put the binding on!   I have a driving force to get this finished before my surgery.  

Have a great day ya'll!

Missy

We had field day at school on Friday, I got sunburned but it was a lot of fun!

Turning trash into treasure

I saw on Better Homes and Gardens an idea for making an organizer for my bills using a bird cage.  I've had my eye out for a cheap birdcage for a few months now.  About a month ago, my neighbor had moved and the landlord was cleaning the mess left behind.  I asked her if I could have the nasty, rusted out birdcage that had been sitting in the yard for a long time.  With a strange look she gave it to me.  I forgot to take a before picture though.
I scrubbed it and painted it blue.

I then cut a couple of cardboard cake boards to fit.  Found some pretty scrap book paper and decoupaged them on my "shelves".

Custard helped me cut down the cake boards.  She has a fetish of all things paper and cardboard.

My husband helped me by tying twine under the shelves and using a dab of hot glue to keep them in place.

Oreo with his fetish of all things string tried to help too.

I tried to keep the string away from him but he still managed to get it in his mouth!

The top shelf will be for bills paid this coming paycheck.  The second shelf for items to be paid next paycheck and the bottom for bills that have been paid.  I will keep it on this shelf right in the corner of my office area in the dining room.

I tried to find the original idea, but could not find it.  I did come across someone else's version of it 

here.

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I have an update about my health for those who have been praying for me.  I went to the specialist.  He does not think it is cancer but a "very advanced case of endometriosis".  The 5 1/2 inch mass has squished everything in my abdomen and may have attached itself to other organs.  I will be having surgery on May 26.  They need to do a complete hysterectomy and possibly remove the appendix and part of the bowel.  They will test the mass for cancer while I am on the operating table.  The doctor said I will be in the hospital for four to seven days.  Please pray for me, the six week recovery period will be very hard for me because I cannot sit still.  I am not worried about the surgery because I know God is in control and I am in his hands, but would still appreciate your prayers.  I also wanted to let ya'll know why it will be kind of quiet on here at the end of the month.

Have a great day!

Missy