Some Things Old-Some Things New

Harvest is in full swing here in NW Indiana so the long hours have begun here in the elevator. Working 7 days leaves not much time for quilting but since I am an early riser I get in at least an hour of sewing a day. I take what I can get at this time of year.
I wanted to show an old quilt that I did back in the early 80's when I was really getting into quilting. This took me alot of time but it was worth it. I made it out of scrap and quilted the motifs in pink thread. I usually keep it in my quilt chest but I pull it out periodically to just look at it and remember when....

This next picture is filled with tons of memories! The "boot" picture was done in pencil in art when my son was in high school. The tennis shoe picture my youngest daughter drew. The bear is made out of an old quilt and it is sitting on an old sewing machine cabinet that does have a machine in it that my husband bought at a yard sale many years ago. Someday maybe we will get it restored. The quilts under the bear aren't that old but they look it. Many, many memories.
The something new is my OTR quilt. I funished putting the flying geese border on it last night and cut the final border this morning after church and before work. I hope to attach it tonight when I get home. This quilt is made entirely out of Halloween fabric and is a little bright but it is growing on me. I just can't seem to get this stuff used up, I think it is haunted and just keeps multiplying!!
I am missing blogging right now but try and check as many sights as I can when I get a chance. Everyone that is going through harvest I wish them abundance and safety and hope to catch up on all of you when it is all over. :D

Weekend Sewing

It was a very quilty weekend at my household this weekend. Being it will be the last free weekend before harvest starts I packed every minute I could with sewing! Here is Jenna working hard to finish up her bag that she started 2 weeks ago. She is doing so much better each time she sits down at the machine. Here she is working on the handles of the bag.Here is the finished purse, isn't it cute! I attached the handles and the buttons for her but otherwise she did it all. I am so proud of her and our next project will be a quilt. She has the FQ's all picked out and the pattern so she will learn to cut out her pieces and then assemble them. What a great winter project this will be. :D

Finally on Sunday late evening I finally got the OTR partially pieced and am now working on cutting out all the flying geese. I had a hard time with this quilt, I had to have the pattern in front of me at all time to get the edges pieced right, but I think it was worth it. I love it and am excited about getting it finished. I am definately on the dowhill side of it!

Primitive Walking Stick

While on vacation in Canada one of the guys whittled on a stick before getting ready to go hunting. I watched him, amazed at how he could make this cane by just cutting away at the bark with his hunting knife. When they got ready to go hunting he threw the cane into the bushes. I immediately went and got it and brought it home. I love hand made things like this and to me that is a talent to be able to carve. Here are a couple of pix. As you can see it is a nice size. You never know, I may need to use it some day.

If you look real close you can see he made the heart and stripes on the cane by just cutting away the outside layer. Pretty cool!
Have a great weekend!

OTR Quilt in Progress

Yesterday I finally got some work done on the OTR quilt. I spent a little time on each process wanting to start putting the pieces together to get an idea what it would look like with the fabric I had chosen. This is how it looked before I started sewing it together-just laying it out.


I changed a few and this is what is looked like this morning after actually sewing some of the pieces together. It will be pretty colorful but I love it!

Pinwheels & Hurricanes

I'm still plugging away at making the pinwheels for the OTR quilt. I had 90 done before I left for work this morning so I will take the phone off the hook when I get home and finish piecing them and then get them ironed. I swear someone came to my house and kept unstitching them yesterday after I left for work!
Hurricane Ike has really affected this area in Indiana. It had rained so much in Chicago, IL that part of the interstates have been closed routing traffic through our area. We had backed up semis for over 3 miles, waiting on a stop light to change so they could continue on. What a sight that has been. Tomorrow the interstate should be open and then all will be back to normal. Who would ever have thought that a hurricane in Texas would cause many traffic jams in a cornfield area of Indiana! Go figure. :D

Weekend Quilty Fun

I have heard about a quilt shop in a small town not far away and decided to go and check it out. It is about an hour from home so a Saturday road trip was planned. Since my quilty neighbor had to work till noon I finished up this jewel of a quilt. Pretty isn't it? It is huge, and I know it will be stunning made up on a bed.

At noon I went and picked up my quilty friend and off we went to Rossville, which is about an hour south and east of where I live. I am sure you have heard Ruthie post about this shop on her blog and I agree, it is a great shop!


The ladies in the shop were so helpful and friendly! One of them was telling me about their embroidery classes they have. Well, I have a Bernina with the embroidery attachments that I have never used and so I may just have to take some classes and learn how.
They were just cutting this group of FQ and I absolutely love this group, Cotton Blossom I think the line is, and I love the group on the right but not sure what line it is. Love the colors.

My Grandson wants me to make his girlfriend a quilt for Christmas and so I will use the Cotton Blossom fabric and since I needed a pattern for it I decided the "Strip Delight" book would have what I needed.

My last and most important purchases were a couple of backings and bindings for 2 quilts that are just waiting to be finished. One is for a UFO that I have had for at least 5 years and so I hope to get it quilted this fall yet and the other for a Christmas present that I am currently working on. And the best part they were all on SALE!


If you are ever in the area be sure to stop and check it out. You will be glad you did. :D


Last but not least, I am still plugging away on the OTR quilt. I have over half of the pinwheels done so the end of those are in sight. I must say, pinwheels are not my favorite block to make. I just keep thinking about the finished quilt. I have seen such wonderful OTC's so far so I know it will all be worth it!

Old Tobacco Road Quilt

Another Quiltville Mystery has begun and I love the ones I have seen so far so I finally got started cutting mine out. I am using the leftover fabric from my Orange Crush quilt and adding FQ's from the Pumpkin Gone Wild stack that I have. I am really liking the way it is looking so far.

I have got a good start on the pinwheels last evening and worked on them again this morning. If I have learned nothing else since doing the Quiltville Mysteries, learning to use the Easy Angle ruler was a blessing! I get almost perfect HS triangles every time and there is no waste, which is great with the price of fabric these days. Thanks Bonnie!!!
These are the stacks I did this morning before work. I just zipped right through them. :D

I look forward to each step in the process and will post pictures again when the whole quilt is done. I pre-ordered Bonnie's book yesterday and am looking forward to more great scrappy quilts in the future. Again, thanks for all your work Bonnie, it is greatly appreciated!

Weekend Fun

I love weekends and this last one was exceptionally fun. Saturday morning before I left for a visit with my mother, I noticed this big spider web and knew I had to have a picture. I have never seen one quite this large and with the dew it looked like silver thread. Isn't it wonderful!




I just had to have another pix so I got as close as I could and still keep it in focus. Amazing!!




When I got to moms house I noticed the little quilt I had made for her almost 10 years ago and decided to get a shot of it to show. I saw a pattern of it in a miniature quilt book and thought I would give it a try. When it was done I had it framed and gave it to mom one Christmas I believe and she has had it in the same place all this time. It was not an easy quilt to make, and I will never make another one, but I do love it!
Here it is next to a coffe cup to give you an idea how little it is. I have all the respect in the world for these women that make these little quilts. They are true artists in my book.



Saturday evening after returning home from moms, hubby and I went to a nearby town for dinner and this time I remembered to bring the camera and get some shots of all the wind mills they are building in our area. They are so huge and were really eerie looking when they first put them up but we are getting used to them now. I am glad we are finally using all this wind that we have here to help save other natural resources for our power. The negative part of this is that all the power these windmills are generating is for people in the south and eastern part of the country. Wouldn't you think we would get some benefit from this? Maybe in the future.

Last but not least, Sunday was Jenna's sewing day with Grandma Carol. She decided she wanted to make a bag. I had purchased a few of them in Paducah this last spring and so she picked out the one she wanted and the sewing began. I love the jelly rolls that this purse is made of, it sure saved us from the cutting process. I am not quite ready to give the rotary cutter, they are just too sharp!

This is what she got done before our time was up, good job Jenna! Next weekend we should be able to finish the assembly process and make the handles. What you see in the pix is the front piece and the back piece of the bag.
Since Jenna was with me, Leah had her cousin Allie come and spend the afternoon with her. What a cute group of girls we have here-Jenna, Allie, and Leah.

That was my weekend. As you can see I am truly blessed and I thank God everyday for my family!

Quilt Shops and Plays

Over Labor Day weekend, Hubby and I went to Columbus, Ohio to visit our daughter. The first thing I had on my agenda was to visit "Red Rooster" quilt shop in Dublin. I love this shop and the women are always so pleasant and helpful.

They were having great sales but I ended up with fabric that wasn't. DD found a new quilt she would like to have and I bought fabric to make some skirts for the Grandaughters, sorry no pix were taken of the fabric. Here are a couple of quilts that were hanging outside on the fence by the parking lot. If you ever are in the area be sure to stop, you will be glad you did. :D

After a little more shopping we had to get ready to go downtown to see "Lion King". DD only lives 12 minutes away so it didn't take long to get there. It was wonderful! There is nothing like sitting in a theatre and watching a performance like this. Absolutely amazing! As we were waiting for the play I had a pix taken of the ceiling. I thought it would make a great center for a quilt!
Here is a great keepsake of the theatre!
Isn't this beautiful! Maybe someday I will try and recreate this in fabric.

We always have such a good time when we go to Columbus and when we come home here is what we see as we cross the border into Indiana. We are half way home at this point. Look how blue the sky was, isn't it beautiful!

AND THE WINNERS ARE............

The day to find out who the winners are is finally here! There were 36 who left me a message and here are all the names in this pitcher for my Hubby to draw from.

Here are the prizes that will be awarded to one of the 3 lucky winners!



The first name drawn for the quilt kit is.........

Barbie Jo!!

The second name drawn for the FQ bundle is.....

And the last name drawn for the little quilt is.....




Congratulations to all you ladies! Please drop me a note with your addresses and I will get them out to you asap! This has been alot of fun and I will do it again in the future. It is fun to see who drops by and reads your blog and now I have more blogs that I can visit!!! :D