Celebrate Hand Quilting!

Do you hand quilt?? Do you love piecing in any form by hand a great source of satisfaction?? Applique, hexies, circles, squares or triangles...

As you work on your quilt top, by hand or machine - are you dreaming and planning how you will quilt it?? On your lap, in a hoop or in a large floor frame??

Do you sometimes feel as though you are out there alone in your love of handwork?

Well - come on over to a very special gathering of people who will welcome you warmly, share tips and offer enough inspiration to last forever!!

Caron Covert Mosey has done a super job organizing Celebrate Hand Quilting and helps to keep us all on track (no ads or marketing!)

Quilters from all around the world participate - from the US, Canada, Great Britain, Germany and the Netherlands to South Africa and on to the continent of Australia. We all speak the same language.

I have only recently returned to hand quilting after a long absence - the hands and eyes are much older now and my stitches show it but being part of this wonderfully talented group of people has given me the support and encouragement to keep trying.

Wait 'til you see the beauty of trapunto work, stunning Welsh wholecloth works of art, appliqued flower baskets and intricately pieced blocks.

So click on the big Celebrate Hand Quilting button on my right side bar for instructions on how to join via Facebook...the membership count is over 900 now -

Come join the fun...

Pat

 

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A work in progress....

...and long overdue... A wedding quilt for a nephew and his wife - married last year. (Picture - hanging my quilting head in remorse...) this is one of the Mystery Quilts Aunt 'Reen offered back in May.

The rows will be going together now and I am determined to wrap this up soon and off it goes to be quilted.

I have always tried to be more prompt but life sometimes does not give out enough hours in the day. Here in the northcentral part of Wisconsin, summers are much too short - this one especially with the very late Spring arrival we had. The gardens have finally started to offer up their harvest for the season. Green beans are slowing down but tomatoes are still very green and we usually get frost in September. Summer squashes are prolific as always - no matter the weather...

And these carrots were just thinned out this morning - will be so tasty in winter soups and stews. Lots more left in the row!

Another work in progress is my favorite play house - our potting shed.

No! That is not it!!!

Ours is a working potting shed - not made for lounging in and reading a book of poetry while sipping a cold glass of lemonade...it holds tools, soils, buckets, baskets, umpteen pairs of gloves and all the other "stuff" gardeners need - kind of like a quilters sewing room only more earthy! And my favorite feature - a big sink for soaking vegetables or washing up.

Moving through the weeks of summer, what is hanging to dry will act as a calendar. Sage leaves are getting dry to the touch and and tiny marjoram and thyme leaves lay on the racks of the dehydrator. Annabelle hydrangeas begin to show a hint of cream to pale celery green - just right for hanging from the hooks Mr. Outback positioned in the rafters.

When the time allows to "sit a spell" -

...out comes my garden journal where notes are kept...where veggies were planted in each bed from year to year; what seeds performed well or not so good; thoughts for the next growing season..

Check out these herbal markers that were a gift from my friend, Barbara Jean. Trying out 2 of them now and when the new herb bed is finished next year, all of them will find a home - aren't they great!!

So the summer goes...each day growing a bit shorter as it winds down.. Too fast...I want it to linger, to gather up each moment in a huge apron and make it last...

Thinking of our son and dear daughter-in-law too - so far away in Alaska - and hoping this time next year we will be together taking in mountain views or watching whales in the water.

Wishing each of you a week of progress...

Pat

 

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My new friend....

We have just returned from a very fun mini-vacation to the Upper Peninsula...Mr. Outback got to shoot skeet for 4 days under blue skies and cool temperatures and I got invited to join some of the other wives for antiquing.

Sitting on the floor of a vendor's booth inside a large antique mall, was this little Featherweight - kind of dusty, neglected and looking for a new home. I asked if we could plug it in...turned on the switch...after a little fiddling, it worked! And the vendor had a sign up that said 20% off any purchase over $100...I said "I'll take it"...

As it looked in its case

When we arrived back home, the RV needed some things brought in and loads of wash started...we have a quick turn around this week and are off to Green Bay for another shoot...but with wash going and dinner started, I just had to take a close look at my new little friend. She needed a good cleaning, oiling and a fresh needle. My goodness, oiling a machine from around 1955 is a far cry from my newer Berninas (which are probably pouting now in the sewing room). I discovered the 221's have ALOT of oiling holes for such a small machine!

Of course, I just needed to thread it up and run a scrap of my own fabric through it...a nice stitch. My main intention? She will travel with us on trips. Small, lightweight, compact...perfect...I am in Featherweight heaven.

Now she just needs a name...

Hope you have a fun week filled with your own discoveries!!

Pat

 

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