A finish and a favorite tool

I got to make the strawberry block from Lori Holt's book for my Sew Sweet Bee.  Donna's Lavender Nest asked for this block.  

 I am very behind on my bee blocks, with the move, school and having oral surgery, I am playing catch up.  This is April's block and I am working on March's block now.  I always make two blocks of the 12 inch blocks, just in case.  My cat had a hairball on one of these blocks and I was able to get it cleaned up but one of the reds faded onto the green.  The block below is the one I will be giving Donna, I hope she likes it.

 One of my favorite tools is the rotating cutting mat.  It makes it so much easier to trim a block.

 Instead of having to rotate the block and readjusting the ruler as you go, just rotate the mat and leave the block and ruler in the same spot.  I think every quilter should have one of these mats and a 12 1/2 inch ruler.  They both make trimming blocks much easier.

 I can't remember if I showed you my backyard.  The fenced in area is also my backyard, the previous owner had dogs.

 I love my hammock, it is one of my favorite spots!

I am so glad to finally have a finish after months of no quilting!  I hope you are having a great summer!
Missy

My Sewing Room

I have my room all set up.  I am sure that I will move things around when I start to sew.

I know I have three valances but I can only find two right now.  The cutting table is a desk I bought for $1.  I also have my industrial treadle that I use for my quilting.

 I got a skirt stuck in my serger after I broke a needle, I need to read my manual and fix it.

My closet is very small and needs to be organized.   My mom painted the fabric (above the spool threads) with Tri-Chem when I was little.

 For those of you who are new to my blog, yes I do use all of my treadles for quilting.

I put the old TV in my room because I like noise while I work.  I still have a couple of boxes I need to unpack.

My cats love the bean bag chair, but it was moved out of this room.  It came from my classroom at school.

My cats love the windows in my room.

I put all of my scrap booking stuff in guest room, I'm hoping to start scrap booking again.
At my housewarming party, I met one of my neighbors.  She is a quilter and when she and her husband saw my machines, she said, "And you thought I had a lot of machines.  I only have four."  LOL
Have a quilty fun day ya'll!
Missy

I'm back with pictures of my new home.

School is out, so I now have time to get back to blogging and quilting.  I have missed all of my bloggy friends!  I did get some sewing done, I finished my curtains for my kitchen window.  Such a simple thing took me weeks to finish.  I worked on a small piece at a time in between school, church, and trying to get things unpacked in my house.

I had a housewarming party on Saturday and totally forgot to take pictures at the party!  I did however, take pictures of my home before the party.  My bedroom is a work in progress, but this is what it looks like now.  I forgot to take a picture of the wall of windows.

The king size quilt I made is on the bed and on the wall is a quilt my grandmother made.

 This next room is my guest room/library.

Custom shelves is on the bucket list for this room.

 Until we have a guest, this is the perfect place for reading and studying!

 Here is our entry way.  Before pictures.

After pictures.  I had to paint that hallway, it was too dark!  A friend painted the painting for me as a housewarming gift.

 My cats love sitting in the door.

Here is my living room, ignore the chairs I have sitting out.  I meant to take a picture of the dining room after I set out the food and forgot.

 My cats love all of the windows in my house as much as I do!

I'll share pictures of my sewing room in another blog post!  My house is not fancy or unique, but it is perfect for my husband and I.    Thank you for coming to my virtual housewarming!

Missy

Getting Settled

I have been working on my sewing room.  After hours of rearranging my treadles, handcranks, featherweight table, and cutting table:

 I at least got to this point.  I can see my floor and hopefully sew my curtains for my kitchen soon.  I will probably hang this quilt rack right here.

I have a lot of windows in my new house, which I love, but it does not leave much room for my quilt rack.  I had to move the rack over so I could open my door to the deck.

 I needed to put something to the side to help off-set the quilt, but I think my quilt rack is too low.  What do you think?  This is my dining room.

 My living room is actually more settled then this picture shows, but it was the picture on my phone and I wanted to show you all.

Hopefully I will get settled soon sow I can sew something!
Have a great day ya'll!
Missy

New home

We closed on our first home yesterday!  I have already put my flamingos in the front yard.

Today, a couple of friends helped me paint my kitchen yellow.  I have always wanted a yellow kitchen!  I think the guy who mixed the paint made a mistake because the paint chip was a lot lighter then what I got!

 This is my before picture.

 This is my dining room and living room.

Next week is spring break so I have the whole week off to move!

Missy

Thread Painting

I want to introduce you to an amazing fabric artist I met in one of my treadle groups.  Marilyn Lee makes art quilts and does thread painting on a treadle.  I asked her some questions and wanted to share the answers with you.

Me:  How long have you been quilting?
Marilyn:   I have been quilting for about 8 years and I only do art quilts although I have been sewing since I was a small child...I always tell people that I was sewing before I could walk! LOL. I learned to sew on a treadle machine but had not used one since. Two years ago in June I started using one again and I love it. I do a lot of free motion embroidery and lace making with a treadle. If you like you can see some videos on my YouTube channel where I am using the treadle for lace making and embroidery. A treadle machine is so easy to be in control of and it is quiet and very peaceful to use. It is kind of like therapy to me!

smile emoticonMe: Do you always know what you are going to design before you start a quilt?
Marilyn: No I do not always know what I am going to design when I start a quilt. Yes, there are those that are planned such as some of my recent portrait quilts and then those that start with a plan and end up evolving more as I work on it. My recent landscape scrap quilts are totally unplanned...they completely develop "free form".

Me: How long does one of your quilts normally take?
Marilyn: It depends on the quilt as to how long it will take me to make. The longest was the Obama quilt which took me 900 hours. My recent "Loon Song" landscape took me two weeks to complete start to finish. Some only take a week. It is hard to put an exact amount of time that I will expect to work on a quilt. It also depends on how much thread work that I plan on doing on it.

The frame is also material.

Marilyn is a true artist.  She even decorated her ceiling with a starburst pattern using wood!

Be sure to check out Marilyn's you-tube channel.  She even makes lace on her treadles.
Say hi to Marilyn!

I borrowed all of these pictures from her facebook page with her permission.  She is a true inspiration and I appreciate her sharing all of this inspiration with us!

Have a great day!
Missy

Happy Valentine's Day!

This month's Queen Bee for the Sew Sweet Bee wanted a heart block to make a Valentine quilt.   This is the block I made for her.  It was a super easy tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew.

 Since today is Feline Friday, I had to share a picture of Oreo being super cute on my quilt.

I also have a hint for you today.  These charm lockets are super popular right now.  I have found the knock offs are cheaper then the name brand ones.  You can even buy charms at Hobby Lobby.  The one below is me (I still need to find a sewing machine charm).  I love cats, Route 66, penguins, flamingos, cupcakes, and the Cross stands for God.  

 I call this my teacher themed one.

 To keep the charms in place, just use some of the tiny glue dots.  It works great!  Such a simple solution to keep your charms from falling!

 My husband has bought both of these necklaces for me.

Saturday night we have a Valentine's Day banquet at church.  My husband is giving the message.
Have a great weekend!
Missy