THANKSGIVING FOR A YEAR OF MANY BLESSINGS

We are thankful to God for his many blessings to us this year. First of all, the birth of our grandson, Jonah, then my DH's improving health, and of course the expected birth of a new granddaughter, Abigail in December.

We are going out to eat today and will celebrate Thanksgiving with our #3 son, DIL & Jonah at a resort in North Texas on Lake Texoma. We leave tomorrow and will be a whole week with them! Yippee!!!

This double nine patch quilt is for #3 son & DIL for Christmas. I took it to be quilted last week and didn't think it would be finished in time to take with us, but the quilter called yesterday and I was so happy! I sewed the binding on last night and will have to finish the hand sewing part after I give it to them. I'm so glad it is finished.

Some of the pictures are too light because we took them in direct sunlight. We'll take some more when it is totally finished. It is done in all civil war reproduction fabrics.


This is the Christmas quilt after I quilted and bound it. I used the meandering quilting design because that is about all I can do now except for straight lines & stitch in the ditch. Tee Hee!

Here is Jonah's Christmas stocking. It isn't finished yet, but I just have the outlining to do on the cross-stitching - maybe you can see where I have done some of it. It really helps to make the picture stand out. I'll work on it during our vacation.
Then I'll have to get the cuff sewn onto the stocking. I really like the plaid fabric that I found for 40% off!
Hope you all have a wonderful holiday and maybe get some time for quilting! Thanks for all the comments. I try to respond, but I know I miss some. I appreciate all the visitors to my blog and enjoy checking out your blogs also.

CHRISTMAS QUILT; TRADE FROM TASMANIA

I found a blog friend in Tasmania, Australia and we traded some fabric.  Below is some of what   received from Leanna in exchange for some fabric from me.   I plan to use the charm squares in a tumbler charm quilt.  It still amazes me that we find friends on the other side of the world by blogging.  It is so fun!

Here are some of the other charm squares I have collected for the tumbler charm quilt.  I will be using mostly reproduction fabrics - or fabrics that can pass for reproduction types, Tee Hee.  I will be hand piecing it, so needless to say, this will be a long term project.  No deadline here!
Here is one of the finished doll quilts that I made last week.  I sold one to a friend at work and she was real happy with it.  I hope to sell this one (if not, I will give it away).  The pillow is kind of strange (long & skinny), but I had some blocks left over and this is how it turned out.

I have been wanting a Christmas quilt, so I decided to use these charm squares to make a lap quilt for us.  It's a really fast project.
I'm kind of addicted to charm squares!
I found another charm pack of  Christmas fabrics and I think I will make this one with alternating fabrics, such as the ones I laid out below.  We'll see if I get this finished in time to give as a gift.
The LQS is having a sale - 40% off everything in the store!!!  I went there yesterday and plan to go back today.  The store will be changing hands the first of the year, so the owner is trying to clear out the inventory.  I love it!!!

BABY QUILT FINISHED & SENT

I finished the baby quilt and mailed it yesterday!  We decided we would not make the trip to Florida for the baby shower because of DH's bulging disc.  The 11 hour drive would be pressing our luck too far.  

I decided to do a meandering quilting on it and I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.  It's not a perfect job, but it's he best I can do right now.  I have a Patsy Thompson quilting DVD which I want to view some more & do the practice mini quilts - if I can find it (I "put it away" when cleaning up for company and now can't find it)!

On to the next project!

WORKS IN PROGRESS

It's been a while since I blogged.  I was planning to go on a little trip with my sister & cousin, but my DH had a bad spell again.  To make a long story short, we found out that he has a bulging disc and he was in the hospital for a week.  He will be getting a shot in the disc on Monday that we're hoping will help the pain situation.  So, I had to cancel another trip.

Of course, I have kept working on various projects and right now I'm quilting the baby quilt for the new GD expected in December.  I hope to finish the quilting today and then will sew on the binding.

A friend at work has asked me to make a doll quilt for her GD, so here is a picture of what I have started.  The backing is on top of the quilt top.  The second picture below shows 2 doll quilt tops together.  

While DH was in the hospital, my DS#3, DIL & GS came to visit.  I asked my DIL if anyone was planning to make Jonah a Christmas stocking (kind of hoping his other GM was planning to do it), but no, noone else was going to do it, so we found a cross stitch pattern and I  have started working on it.  I like to have handwork handy that I can take with me to places like - umm - hospitals, doctor's appointments, etc.  Hope I finish it in time for Christmas, but actually, at his age (5 months), he won't know the difference.
This morning I went for a walk in my neighborhood.  It was 46 degrees and felt sooo good!  I came across a garage sale and bought a few items of lace, etc.  (below).  I will probably use them for some craft projects, like Christmas ornaments or doll bed linens.  Besides the doll quilts I'm making now, I am planning to make doll bed linens for the new GD, however, won't need them for a couple years, since she's not even born yet!
Have a great weekend, everyone!

DOUBLE NINE PATCH

The Nine Patch is a great, easy block and the Double Nine Patch is even better!  I decided to make a quilt for DS#3 and DIL because when they got married, I only made them a small 60" square throw because I was relatively new at quilting.  Since then I have made both DS#1 & DS#2 large bed quilts, so I thought I better get one made for DS#3.  My DIL loves reproductions, so I picked them mostly.  I need 80 of the small 9-patches and I have most of them finished.  They are coming tomorrow, so I wanted to be able to show my DIL that I have been working on it!  :-)

Here are 3 of the double nine patches put together.
Here's my sewing machine where I am chain stitching.
I just finished a quilt for my GS who is turning 13 in November.  He wanted a new quilt for his bed (since they moved into a bigger house) and he also loves "old things" so is getting a quilt made with reproduction fabrics with a pillowcase to match the backing and border.

More Vintage Doll Clothes

My mom made the doll dress and coat in these pictures probably during the 1950s.  I have them hanging in my front hall.

See the wood spools on the little shelf?  I got them from my mom's sewing box.

Baby quilt top finished!

I just finished the quilt top for our expected granddaughter.  I was hoping to get it finished in time for my quilters guild meeting on Oct 13, but getting the top finished will have to do.  I have company coming and a trip before then, so I know I won't have time to get it quilted (I'm going to quilt it myself).  The baby shower is Nov. 1, so I will have time to quilt it before then.

My DH & I like to go to garage sales and we hadn't gone to any for months, but now, with the weather a tiny bit cooler, we decided to venture forth.  I like to look for craft items that I can use to make things to sell, or doll beds to refinish and to make bedding for.  We had some very good luck at one place where I found these cross-stitched pictures being sold very cheaply.  I got a great deal of 9 for $15!  I plan to make quilted borders for these and sell them (or keep a few).  I love cross-stitched pictures and have made many myself - they  take a lot of work, so I feel very lucky to have gotten these.





I love little doll chairs and this little rocker with the bunny was only $2!!!
The heart pillows in the basket made out of an antique quilt was only 75 cents!!!
Have a great week!  I will be binding a quilt for my oldest GS that I just got back from the quilter and will take a picture as soon as I can.  It feels good to get these two projects almost finished.

Some Very Special Treasures

The pin on this old quilt is one that my mom wore in the 50s.  I always loved this pin, so when she died I got it - noone else wanted it anyway.

My mom made this baby quilt when she was expecting her first child, my older brother (who is now 71).  I think we all used it in the crib.  I remember my little brother using it after me (I don't really remember using it myself)!  My mom loved applique.

2 more Stitcheries

The name of this Polka Dot Girls stitchery is "Sisters."  I am the one on the right and my sister is the one on the left with the cat.  She's holding only one of her three cats.  Tee Hee Hee!  I am really enjoying working on these.

This is my latest Noah's Ark BOM from Lynnette Anderson Designs .  We have a new granddaughter due in December, so I think this wall hanging will be for her.  It's not too late to start these - you can download all of them from her blog.  They are small and quick.
I have been real busy at work this week, but today the boss is gone...Yeah!!!  I can catch up & get ready for another busy day on Monday.  I took a quilt for GS#1 to the quilters this week, so I hope to be able to show you that soon.  My next project is a baby quilt for the new GD.

Have a great weekend and get lots of sewing done - or other stuff....

Received Award

Leanne at Lizzie's Page  sent me this award!  I was very pleasantly surprised.  I met her through a trade and she lives in Australia!  It still amazes me how we can meet people this way!  Thank you, Leanne!

In turn, I will nominate 5 bloggers that I admire.  There are so many out there, but I have selected the following as ones that I always enjoy.  They are all creative and have blogs that I find very interesting and inspiring!  They are Elaine,  Joan ,  Bobbin , Wendy , and Holly .  

The Rules are:

1 Winner can put the logo on their blog

2 Put link from person you got the award from

3 Nominate 5 blogs

4 Put links to blogs

5 Leave message for nominees

I haven't shown any quilting lately, not because I haven't been doing any, though.  I do need to take some pictures, but thought I would show a couple items that I am planning to put on an Etsy site, once we get organized enough to get it set up.  I have some of these little flags and the doll quilt below which I tea dyed, made from leftovers of a doll quilt I made for a grand-niece.  I have other items made and ready to be posted also.

I have been working on a baby quilt for our expected granddaughter, and I'm getting the backing ready for a quilt for our oldest grandson.  Pictures will be on their way soon, I promise.

We are getting rain today from Ike.  Hope none of you are getting flooded out.