Packer Bliss Quilt and Halloween Ghost and...

I decided to make my sister and sister-in-law a ghost pillow.  These ones are in Halloween fabric and are super fun.  I posed them here with my pillow.  If I have time today I may try to whip up one more for my aunt since I am headed to visit mom (my sister and bf are coming to visit!) tonight.  

You can see my Spiderweb quilt in the background on the couch.  I change the couch quilt with the month or seasons, etc.  I also change the quilts hanging around the house and the ones on the end tables.  I should take pictures of those with the seasons and show them.  

I finally quilted my tiny Twister Harvest Quilt.  This tiny quilt top has been for more than three years, but I can not find pictures of it on my blog or my facebook.  I also tried quilting it a long time ago and did not like it so I ripped it all out and put it back in the pile!  This time I used a template and this awesome chalk pounce pad that Barb sent me.  I LOVE how it came out!  

I hand tacked the binding on the back of this one.  

                                        

My favorite iron died, I bought another on ebay a year or so ago and the button broke off and eventually it died.  The first one last a LONG time (thanks Ann!) so it was worth finding another.  They are antique irons, but they get very hot and are travel size.  I have a modern travel size, but the shape of it is different and I do not prefer it.  I could see from the picture online that it needed cleaning, but I have Dritz Iron-Off Hot Iron Cleaner, so I was not worried about that.  It came in the original box!  It is a Black and Decker Small Wonder iron in case you need a great iron.  Snap it up when you see it!

The iron cleaned up in a jiffy and works great!  Super happy to have it!
Lora finished quilting my Packer Bliss quilt!  I picked it up yesterday and got it bound so I can send it with my sister back to Arizona for my brother Sam and his wife Ashley.  They do not have a big Packer quilt and they are huge Packer fans, so I hope they love it!

This quilt has my grandpa DeLos' pajamas in it!  I am sure there is also the ticking fabric that was from Great Grandpa Tony and Great Grandma Myrt's quilting frame.  

It is a bit hard to see here, but the quilt says GREEN BAY PACKERS and GO PACK GO in big block letters! (it is sideways here).

You can see the quilting a bit better on the back.  Football helmets and footballs.

My cousin's daughter Maggie Lou had her baby boy.  Since my children and my goddaughter did not want Hannah and Jay's baptismal gown, I asked my cousin if they would like it for the baby. They want it, so happy to have found it a new home where it will hopefully get passed down.  My friend Cheri in Colorado Springs made this (I commissioned it, she also taught me to sew) and it has a matching bonnet and baby slippers.  It is so beautiful, but I have dragged it around the country long enough!  I also sent her the light brown open sweater that my Grandma Nan made for Coleman.  All my kids used it and the grands here, but now it is outgrown and needs a new home.  I know Grandma Nan is smiling down to know that more babies will use it!

Hazel is now 5 years old and Indie is 2!  The time flies!  We just had a party for Hazel and did dinner at Olive Garden last night with family.  Being their Lala is the best!  Hazel keeps asking if we can sew (we did make her a skirt and I do not think it made the blog) so I need to start teaching her!  Hopefully one or both of these two will get the quilting bug!

A few weekends ago we went to the apple orchard.  This was the third one I have gone to with them over the years.  The one we like had run out of apples for that weekend.  This was a bit too much walking for me, but thankfully they towed us back and forth on a tractor train.  We got a picture of the three us with everyone smiling!

 HAPPY FALL!

Two Quilts Back from the Long Armer!

I picked up these two quilts from Lora Thursday and got the bindings on them pretty quickly!  I LOVE them!  This one is Jelly Snowflake which was a mystery we did the summer or 2020!  Five years in the making, but worth the wait!

This is Merry Mayhem Mystery # 148 from New Year's Day 2024. For some reason the colors and fabrics in this one just make me happy.  I used the border fabric to pull colors and it really works.

 

A Forgotten Quilt (Tula Pink's City Sampler) and a Reading Retreat!

A few weekends ago I attended my fifth Booktube Besties Reading Retreat!  It is 24 hours online (we do sleep) reading, sharing about favorite books, discussing a book topic, and playing a game or two.  The time goes really fast!  Now that I have a book club with five people from a previous retreat, we have a running side conversation, and it really is even more fun!  We usually get a bookmark and do a small craft that they send us.

This year we made bookmarks from napkins!  You peel off the lining(s) of the napkins and apply mod podge to the bookmark.  Then you apply the napkin and put some cling wrap type stuff on top of it and get all the wrinkles out with the nail file.  You mod podge on the top too.  Use a hair dryer to dry it.  Flip and repeat, add the tassel! Here is the other side.

There are about fifty four total people in the retreat, so this is just some of us.

In other news, I have been sewing a few of Bonnie's leaders and enders this year.  It is called Four Patch Fun.  I have not done one in a few years, but the diagonal line of this one really appealed to me!

Mark Lipinski is making Tula Pink's City Sampler, so I wanted to show him mine.  In searching my blog I could not discover the completed top so I apparently never posted it to my blog!  According to Facebook I posted the top on September 1st, 2020.  I do not think this one has been quilted yet, but I need to dig in my quilt top bins to make a backing and get it in line for quilting!
Here it is without borders.

 Here it is with borders.

A Few Finishes and some Art Smock Gifts!

I have not been sewing a ton this summer (maybe once a week) but I did make Indie and Hazel paint smocks for their upcoming birthdays.  One small, one medium.  I have a large one in progress for the future.

We planted a container garden again.  Mostly so the kids can enjoy watering it and collecting the vegetables.  They love it.  We have tomatoes in two or three types/sizes and tiny cucumbers as well as green beans that are thriving.  Our sunflower is looking good.  Our zucchini died fast and the yellow squash is slow to grow.  We also have basil and oregano that are doing great and I am cooking with both. The radishes came up quickly and the kids loved pulling them!

I did whip up another Streak of Sunshine quilt.  This one is most likely going to Maggie Lou and Jair for their upcoming baby boy.  (My cousin Carla's youngest daughter's kiddo). 

My new long Armer, Lora put I love you hands on this Princess Crown quilt.  It has a pink back so it is waiting for a baby girl.  I did recently send two quilts to California since Hailey had a baby girl (Sterling) and Physicity will soon have a baby boy.  

Lora also quilted my modern quilt from a few years ago.  This one is called New Day and I am super proud of this one.  I really worked hard to get the edge of the curve right and the colors from my scrappy fabric as well.  I love how it came out!

 I do have the Secret Agent quilt back from Lora and need to make the binding and attach it and get pictures.  Mom and Aunt Nancy are coming to stay for a few days and to attend Indie's birthday on Saturday (how is she two already?) so may try to get it in before they get here.  I jacked up my knee and am hobbling around and struggling to walk.  Makes me crazy!

Four Month Catch Up!

Where does the time go?  My last post was in January!  I have not been sewing as much as usual, but I have been sewing.  

It took me until April, but I got the flimsy finished for Old Town.

Old Town 2024

Finally did a little baking with Indigo.  We forgot to put her apron on.  We have passed Hazel's apron on to her and I found a cute apron (and hat) on Etsy for Hazel since she is too tall for her old one!

I finally found a local longarmer and took three of my quilts to her.  She got the first two smaller ones done quickly.  Her name is Lora and is has a fabulous studio and is super talented!  She designed I love you hands to put on this quilt for Kelsey and Tony's baby boy (baby shower in ten ish days).  I hope she loves it.  Kelsey is also a sign language interpreter so hopefully this is extra special to her.

                       
Lora also quilted my wall hanging for my sewing room.  I had her put sewing stuff on it and it turned out so cool!  i have it rigged up on the closet with velcro and I hope it holds!

My sewing machine faces this way so now I have something pretty to look at!  When I look to the left I can see through the door of the room and since there is a half wall where the stairs are, I can see through the stair area, dining area, and in through the living room out the front window of the house.  Love that since I really miss sewing in the living room in the Milwaukee house!

For Easter we just did a small brunch over at Hannah and Jeremy's.  We did not even get organized enough to see if Jay was available.  Fail!  The kids really enjoyed coloring eggs with this cool spinner.

                                                    
Hazel had us take eggs home.  I watched her for a few hours on Monday and she brough the spinner and colored all the hard boiled eggs in my fridge too!  We started doing some science experiments with her (bought a kit) and she loves it.  

Barb and I also worked on two consecutive civil war mini quiltalongs.  One was Kathleen Tracy's Civil War Mini Quilt Sew Along 2025.  

The other one was Kim Diehl's Midnight Snack.

I also finally finished the New Year's Mystery Quilt that Debi Montgomery did.  I did not like all the white space in the center of her mystery quilt so Barb (via camera) and I figured out a different layout using the blocks I had done and making a few more.  I wound up with this small quilt and pillow topper.  Likely to be donated somewhere along the way.  

The last mystery from New Years was the Stitchin Heaven one.  Since I had it all cut out I decided to put together a block of each to see if I liked it.  Not too bad, I may go ahead and finish it.  My sister in law loves Halloween so this one is intended for her one day.  

I think that catches us up to present.  I will redouble my efforts to blog my timely!  I hate having to try to remember back four months and get the pictures in order!