Quilt Top finished

I finished the quilt top last night!  I do still need to add the applique today.   I hope it turns out the way I want it to.

I decided to do a tan inner border and save the red for the applique and the binding.  I did a five inch border.  I was not sure I had enough material (I did in hindsight), so I made cornerstones.  My first time to make cornerstones, and I am glad I made them.  I was originally going to make shoofly blocks but liked the way they looked when the pieces were turned.

They are only five inches unfinished, the smallest blocks I've made.

I hope the applique turns out today, I hope to get the quilt basted this evening.

Do you see Cupcake behind the quilt?

I think I made the throw big enough!  LOL

My helpers:

Have a great weekend ya'll!

Missy

Progress

I have half of the top sewn into rows and will have it finished before bed tonight.  I had saved back one yard of my Route 66 fabric for the border.  The only thing is it is off white and would blend in with the rest of the quilt.  I thought I would make a small 2 inch border of red to separate it. Or would the red be better as the binding and use either the dark tan Rte 66 fabric you see in the picture or a blue?   The off white fabric will be four inches.

What do you think?  I also thought I would use the red to make an applique of the words Route 66 across the bottom corner of the quilt.  I thought it would give the plain quilt a "pop".  I have no idea what I am going to use for the back of the quilt though.  Red is also my husband's favorite color.

I am making this quilt for my husband for our 20th Anniversary, he loves Route 66.  I wanted it to be a surprise but he walked into my sewing room as I was laying out the blocks, I don't know if he realizes the quilt is for him though.

I had someone ask me what fussy cutting is, but she is a no-reply blogger.  Fussy cutting is when you have a printed fabric and you want to showcase part of the print.  For example:  I wanted a car not to be cut in half so I cut around the car to showcase it.  You can see the block in the above picture.   This can cause a lot of waste in material, but I just use those parts for scrappy or string quilts.

I have a helper who likes to rearrange my blocks.

Our anniversary is August 5th, but there is a lot of stuff planned for next month, not to mention school starts August 17 so I need to start getting my classroom ready for the school year.

How is your summer quilting coming along?

Missy

New Blocks

I've been busy sewing today!  When I was taking a break, Pippi and Cupcake declared a truce long enough to sit next to each other.

I have been making four patch blocks all day.  Most of the blocks I am using were left over from my uncle's prayer quilt.  I am making a Route 66 quilt for my husband for our twentieth anniversary.  I added several blocks with the Rte 66 theme, however a lot of my fabric needed bigger blocks to showcase the design.

I fussy cut 8 1/2 inch blocks to spread randomly through the quilt.  So far I have 14 of them cut and 16 - 4 patch blocks sewn.  I have several ready to be sewn together.

I am still loopy from my pain meds and need some help to figure out how many blocks to make.  My blocks are 8 1/2 inches.  To make a throw for a man, I was thinking 40 by 60?  Is that right?  What size would you recommend and how many blocks do I need?  I do have a fabric to use for the border.  Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Missy

Sewing Machine Upset

I started sewing again today!  I put my 66 Redeye Singer hand crank sewing machine in an old sewing machine cabinet when I first got it.  We went to the store and I came home to this.  Somehow one of the cats must have off balanced the cabinet and knocked it over!

 The machine landed on a coaster on my table which prevented any dents on my table.

 My blocks were still attached though!

This happened the night before my surgery also, but that time the machine had been thrown across the floor.  I praise the Lord none of my cats were hurt!  The only thing I had to do was fix the tension a little.  A plastic machine would have been broken.  Maybe I fixed the off balance problem though.

In case you are worried, my husband picked up the machine and cleaned up the mess for me.  I'm feeling a little better every day.  I even made cookies, although my husband did have to finish baking them for me.

For those of you who have never picked up a vintage machine, they are made of cast iron and very heavy!!

Have a great day ya'll!

Missy

Prayer Quilt

I had a sweet surprise today.  My bloggy friend from Dora at Dora Quilts ( http://doraquilts.blogspot.com/ )  has a prayer quilt ministry at her church and they sent me a prayer quilt!  Dora does all of her quilting on a treadle also.   I cried when I got it.  My emotions have been wacky since my surgery and I was feeling kind of low today.  My quilt came at the perfect time!

Isn't it beautiful?  I love the big flowers and the fabric used.  The striped fabric on the back is also fun.

Here is the label:

I love the card she sent, I'm going to frame it and hang it in my sewing room.

Dora, thank you again for my blessing!

Missy

How to sew a button quickly

My husband lost a button today.  I know a lot of people hate sewing on buttons, here is a quick and easy way to do it.  Please excuse the phone photos.  And yes, I do have a pillow on my lap, I have found it makes a comfortable table since my surgery.

I start off by folding my thread in half and threading it through the needle at the folded edge,

I tie my knot by wrapping the thread around my finger;

And then rolling it and pulling it tight.

This gives me a four strand threaded needle.

I only need to thread it twice on each side of the button since my strand is already strong.

After sewing the button on I need to tie the button off.  I thread the needle under the thread on the pants and pull through.

I make a loop and pull my needle through that loop.

I do that twice to make sure the button is secure.

All done!  It took me a lot longer to write this post then it did to sew on the button!  LOL

I was curious how many staples were in my incision.  I lost count but, it was more then 30 staples!

Have a great day ya'll!

Missy

Feline Friday

We bought some catnip bubbles from Wal-Mart and my cats love them, especially Oreo!  He is like a little child playing with them.

Just don't tell my husband I posted a picture of him!  LOL  My lap top died so I can't download any pictures off my camera. I'm glad I have a tablet to do my blogging on, but that means the only photos I have to use are off my phone.

I got my staples out yesterday, it is not supposed to hurt, but I thought it really hurt!  Some of it had scabbed over and my skin hurts on my abdomen from where the insides are healing from the surgery.  I think that is why it hurt so bad for me.  The good news is that I feel so much better now and I have a lot more mobility without those staples tugging and pulling.  

I'm linking up at Feline Friday at Sarah Did It!  http://sarahdidit.blogspot.com/

Have a great weekend ya'll!

Missy

Hand Quilting

I have picked up an old hand quilting project to work on.

I am outlining the portrait.  I know my stitches are not tiny, but I had a lady tell me that is okay as long as they are consistent.

I added some texture to the tail.  As I work on it I am sure I'll be adding more texture to different areas of the quilt.

I bought this thimble last year at my LQS and so far I really like it!  I usually have long nails and I like there is room for my nails.

This will be my project for a while.  I found some small beads I might add to some of the flowers also.

Have a great day ya'll!

Missy

Recovery

Recovery seems to be very slow but a little better each day.
Evenings are spent with Cupcake in my lap.

My husband has been great.  He spends his evenings keeping me entertained.  We have been playing triple yahtzee.

He works from home, so he is able to help me through the day, which is great since I still have trouble getting out of the cahir sometimes.  I can't take a shower without help since I can't bend over to turn the water on and off and he has to help me in and out of the tub to take my shower.  I can finally get out of my bed on my own so I don't have to wake him up every time I need to go to the bathroom during the night.  The downside is that he doesn't have time for stuff like mowing the lawn.

I have been keeping my meds in a basket with a small dry erase board so I can keep up with what time I took my meds.  This system is working pretty good for me.

I'm hoping to be able to start hand quilting today, my hands have been too shaky until now, not to mention my habit of fallin asleep in the middle of doing things.

It's time for a nap - again!  LOL
Have a great weekend ya'll!

Missy

Update on Surgery

Today is the first day I have been able to stay awake long enough to get on the internet.  I had my surgery on Tuesday.  They took out part of my colon because the mass was attached to it.  They also had to take out my appendix and a complete hysterectomy except one ovary, and of course the 5 1/2 inch mass was removed.  They they think they got all of the endometriosis and there was no cancer.    The one ovary was left so that I will experience menopause naturally.  My incicision is from my bikini line to a few inches above my belly button.  I came home on Sunday.  I am very naseus and have thrush in my mouth which makes it hard to eat or take my pain pills.  Basically,  I'm just miserable.  Please continue to pray for my recovery.

Missy