Pieced Leaf

Or else that is what I am calling this one..This is the largest quilt I have ever made from the ground up. 360 half square triangle blocks about drove me crazy piecing, pressing and squaring them to size...I am glad it is finished! I really enjoyed the quilting process though... Just low end custom..Nothing too fancy...Just keeping with the leaf designs...

Some Of My Stitching

I would like to thank you all for coming by my blog to see what I have to share.  I dabble in a little bit of a lot of things but one thing I am trying to sharpen, are my embroidery skills.  I love to crazy quilt and embroidery skills are a must.  Before I started crazy quilting I basically had never embroidered anything, but fast forward 8 years+ and my skills are getting better.

I have been a needleworker most of my life, creating my first quilt blocks by hand at the age of 8.  My granny Ella taught me but would not let me use her sewing machine.  Those are the only quilt blocks I ever hand pieced but I have been quilting, sewing and using a needle ever since!
Next to a needle and sewing machine is my favorite place to be.

Although I have been a quilter for the past 36 years, I have found that I can find contentment and enjoy just sitting with a different kind of needle in my hand at various times.  I love to cross stitch, embroider, knit and needlepoint.  But not in that order.  I actually don't have a favorite any longer...
I just love to Create! no matter how!

The first photos I will share with you today are of some pieces I have done that involve creating trees.  I want to do a study in trees eventually.  My idea is to create trunks with various elements and then create the tree tops with as many materials as I can possibly find that will work.

First up is a tree that I did with a water theme.  This is the likings to a weeping willow growing by the side of a pond.  I used silk ribbon french knots to create the tree itself and did basic embroidery for the branches and other elements within the piece.

A close up of the embroidery work on the background of the piece.

This tree I call the fairy Goddess.  I used large leaf charms and buttons to create the tree top and embroidered a simple chain stitch for the tree itself.  I want to re-visit this tree and maybe do a satin stitch to fill in the trunk so you don't see the block background as you do here.

This tree is one of my favorites!  I call it my Apple Tree... hence the red and green vintage buttons.  I used tons of small buttons to create the tree top and then using silk ribbon, I created the tree trunk itself.  I did not do french knots in the tree but only pulled the silk ribbon through so far and then stopped each time before pulling it tight.  

I love the texture it gives the trunk.

To get away from the trees a bit, I have quite a bit of embroidery on this grandmothers fan piece.  My chain stitch and back stitch still need some honing but I am getting there little by little. I enjoyed embroidering and beading this piece and the use of the birds all hand dyed is the perfect finishing touch.  My friend Nicki hand dyes laces and I get my pieces from her.

I can't end without showing all of you my best masterpiece to date. In 2010 I had achilles tendonosis and was recliner bound for over 4 months so this piece was started for my oldest granddaughter as her 8th birthday present.  It took me a couple of months beyond that to get it completed but it is my best work yet.  There is a ton of embroidery work in this piece.

Allie's Tea Party

 

When I started this Allie's favorite color was pink... everything in her room was pink and just about every piece of clothing she owned had to be pink!  She also loved to have tea parties in her bedroom with friends or whoever would oblige her... sometimes that would be my hubby. :)

Fast forward 5 years and her room has changed quite a bit.. now it has horses, lassos and camouflage everywhere.  I asked her if she would like for me to bring her tea party piece home with me to safeguard it for her until she got married and she promptly told me it was not leaving her wall.  So  Allie's Tea Party hangs out with all the horses and camouflage and they all live happily together in her bedroom.  She makes this grandma smile. :)

Here are several close ups showing detail work.

Thank you for your visit today.  I hope that I have inspired you in some small way to go and pick up a needle and thread and stitch something. 

The Tree Is Up and Another Gift Out The Door!

We put up our tree tonight... and if you remember, it isn't any ole' tree.  it is our non-traditional piggy tree. And what is laying under it... but a stocking, Tammy bag, candy and lots of surprises for someone! Another Christmas gift out the door. Hope she likes what she is getting from Santa. :)

A stocking with a vintage piece of linen to adorn the top.

A matching Tammy bag because the stocking just isn't big enough to hold it all. :)

The matching stocking and Tammy bag.

I just love the handle on this Tammy bag.  It has scroll type swirls in the metal that match perfectly with the scrolls and swirls on the fabric.

My sweet hubby is playing hard to get! ha!

Comfort Quilt Presentation

I have been traveling all week and wanted to share some things with you this morning. On Monday, my friend Libby and I drove up to Fredericksburg, VA for a 3 day sew-in with friends.  We were on a mission to deliver a quilt that a group of 100+ quilters made for a friend who had lost her son.  Our friend Tammy is the recipient of this quilt of love and was very surprised when we presented it to her.  Some other friends on the forum had sent her a pillow and others had sent her something as well so she had no idea something else was in the works.

Friends who could not make blocks sent funds to help with backing, sashing fabrics and batting and all left over funds went to purchase a couple of extra keepsake gifts.  Tammy loves sea turtles so I bought her a glass sea turtle at the Hallmark Store.  I also had enough funds to purchase the friends hugging figurine.  This symbolizes all of the many hugs she was sent and is still being sent by all of her quilting friends.

This is Tammy and her mom...

And friends Karen (left) and Libby (right)

I got home around 6pm on Wednesday evening and left again on Saturday morning at 7am to take my mother in law Mildred and sweet Aunt Neva to see their sister in Havelock, NC.  We had a blast! Aunt Lynda made us right at home with foot soaks when we got there and a wonderful dinner of homemade beef vegetable stew with stove top cornbread fritters! yummy!  We drove down the coast to meet up with Aunt Lynda's daughter for lunch on Sunday before heading home. Aunt Lynda treated everyone to a delicious seafood lunch! Mildred, Aunt Neva and I all ordered fried shrimp, Aunt Lynda had fried oysters and Leanne had the fish tacos.  The food was excellent so we were all stuffed when we left!

And oh yes we spied a quilt shop... and yes.. we had to buy something.. But it wasn't fabric.. Actually it is the first quilt shop that I have been in that did not sell fabric.  they had tons of ready made quilts for sale, gift ware, and antiques.

It just so happened to have been Leanne's birthday the day before so we bought her a set of placemats for her dinner table and a potpourri bowl that had the aroma of vanilla, actually called a wax pottery vessel. The Habersham Candle Company makes the potpourri bowls right here in the United States, down south in Georgia.  These are not candles... they have a fragrance built right in so you only display them and enjoy the aroma without having to search for matches.

They did not have a photo of the vanilla vessel that we purchased at the Quilt Cottage so I will show you a couple of others.  Go to the candle website to view them all and the other items they have on the market.

And my birthday is this coming Friday so my mother in law bought me this sweet and cuddly piggy for my birthday.  It was between this and a new leather satchel (the satchel was not at the Quilt Cottage), and the piggy won!  I just love him!  Thank you Mildred!

We had an excellent time all the way around but on the way home it started to mist rain and the sky darkened up.  It was a miserable 3+ hours drive home and I was so glad to be safely tucked under my quilt and in the recliner resting before bedtime.

Quilted Living Book

Have you ever seen a copy of the book "Quilted Living".  The book is filled to the brim with so many inspiring projects!  You will have a hard time deciding which project you want to do first!  Mix and match design elements of more than one quilt to create an entirely different look for a new project!

There are 10 designs inside the book and after a bit of deciding and undeciding,  I chose "Liberty".  There was a quilt and a tablerunner made from the design and I chose to create the tablerunner.  I modified it a little in order to fussy cut the fabrics for the inner light colored strips.  I wanted to showcase the farm animals in the print so I cut the strips 4" instead of 2".  I also continued the border to the ends so it wrapped the entire tablerunner.

As you can see the model in the book is made from red/white and blue fabrics.  My first initial thought was to stay with the patriotic theme but my kitchen decor is pigs and apples with black appliances so I knew I wanted to  choose fabrics that would compliment my breakfast area.  I wanted to be able to use the runner year round.

My husband and I collect pottery from the Western part of North Carolina and some parts of GA, SC  and AL.  When I was getting ready to make the photos I decided to show off a few pieces of our pottery with the tablerunner.  A few extra quilted pieces never hurts anything either, right.

First up to adorn the runner, allow me to show off a couple of our many pigs we have collected over the years.  Albert Hodge's swirl pig and David Bellar's round belly pig.  The teapots in the display are also all by David Bellar.  Last, but certainly not least, is Charlie Lisk's red pig in the chair, one of our favorites!

This is actually how we will use the tablerunner. The water pitcher is by Kim Ellington and the pasta bowl and mini dressing pitcher are by Sylvia Harrison. The tablerunner is a perfect backdrop for these pottery pieces!  These pottery pieces have sat on the table for quite a long while and now they have a gorgeous runner to add a softness to all the hardscape.

I free hand quilted the runner with square spiral, ribbon candy, cross hatching and meandering.  All of this was done free form so when you look closely, you will see nothing is really even. And rightly so, when you think about farm living.  There is nothing like the carefree nature of living on a farm surrounded by nature and quilts!

Thank you for visiting my blog today!  I hope I have inspired you to create something today!

Allie's Summertime Visit!

My granddaughter Allie came for the summer so in lieu of staying online, I spent many a day with her as top priority.  I think she spoiled me as much as I spoiled her.  She was very good company for me while hubby worked in the tobacco field.

 I worked on 3 projects over the summer, including one of those being made from Riley Blake gingham check fabric.  I ordered mine from the Fat Quarter Shop, my favorite go to place for fabric.  I love their customer service, the way they pack my fabric, and most of all the way they give back to quilters all across the world by allowing bloggers to host giveaways!

I have been working on a group project all summer trying to finish hand quilting a gift that is going to someone very special.  I was waylaid by carpal tunnel when I was a little over half finished and then I obtained a very bad cut to my middle finger on the right hand. It was a really nasty cut that took almost 4 weeks to heal!  No hand quilting for me during the entire time because it was my right hand on my thimble finger. I had offers to help finish but I was determined to finish what I started and finish I finally did! I was hoping to finish and get it delivered before my day on the hop but it is not delivered so only a small sneek peek will have to do for today. Once the gift is delivered, I will create a new blog post with a full size shot, close ups and a little story behind the gift.  For now, you will just have to imagine the work that has gone in to it.

(I just noticed the 2 pieces of gingham in the cropped photo... How appropriate.)

Allie and I went fabric shopping to make her 3 dresses to wear to church while she was here.  We got dress number one completed before the nasty cut to my finger happened  and then the rest... well, they will have to be made next summer when she comes to the farm.  She looks so pretty in her new dress.

 

 After my finger healed I dabbled in a little bit of crazy quilting and finished this 6 inch block. I really like the way the background colors and the colors of my embellishing and stitching came together.  It was nice to actually get lost for a day in my stitching.  Allie worked on blanket stitching a cowboy boot to a batik background while I worked on my stitching.  She gave orders not to show her work until she can finish her project.  This is the crazy quilt block that I did.

I also did some canning and freezing which are shown in the post below this one.  We make peach ice cream every summer... several times because it is hubby's favorite... not so much mine, so I put away 2 buschel of Big Red peaches.  I also make 3 or 4 peach cobblers in the winter so a few were canned in jars... the ones for ice cream were frozen.  We love strawberry freezer jam and this summer I have tried my hand at some peach freezer jam.  I will let you know how it tastes when we break open the first jar and spread it over warm biscuits.

And now for my Riley Blake gingham project!

Madame Samm designed the Tammy Bag back early on in the blog hops and I have fallen in love with them.  It has been a while since I made the last one so I knew I wanted to make one out of gingham!  You can find the pattern HERE in her Craftsy shop!  But beware, they are like a Lay's potato chip... you cannot stop with just one!

The hand dyed lace flower is from a shoppe on Etsy, RavioleeDreams, owned by my friend Nicki Seavey.  She literally takes a paint brush and paints her laces! They are incredible!  The light teal flower was perfect for this Tammy bag!  Teal beads finished the frame perfectly and the vintage teal button was the icing on the cake!  The heart shaped white lace adorns the front and the back.  If you need laces by the yard for your projects I have it on good authority that you can find plenty with great prices at Crazy Quilting Supplies.

Allie and I are on to more adventures before she has to go back to Bama so I will catch up to you later.

Thank you for stopping by today!