a stitch in time . . .

I haven't done a design wall Monday post in FORever, but I made such great progress on my Noel doodle tree yesterday, I didn't want to not post a pic!

I back stitched all the silver and then whipped stitched those stitches to (1) make it stand out nicely and (2) to help hide my pattern lines.  I love the look!

With the green, I'm either stem stitching or outline stitching, depending on which side of the letter/curves of the letters I'm working on.  Yes.  I use the two stitches interchangeably, depending on my need.  Don't tell the embroidery police on me. Ha!  Now that I'm seeing the word stitched in part, I think the NOEL will stand out quite nicely.  

My big problem (and where the design wall comes in) is what to do with this little stitchery once I've finished it.  I worked a red and green patchwork frame for a stitchery design I sketched out last week (based on the same design I used for my November cornucopia piece, last year) . . .

Here's the stitchery colored . . .

I'll probably raw edge applique the words and stitch the heart, manger scene, star and holly.  And gosh, the patchwork frame works rather perfectly for that, so I hate to use it for the doodle tree.  Plus I don't think it's the right shape.

Which brings me back to, "What do I do with it?!"  Hmmmmm....I may have an idea.  Just maybe. Just. Maybe.  Linking up to Patchwork Times.

Have a GREAT week!

:)

old block revisited . . .

Waaaay back when, I got a wild hair and for about three weeks, played around with Barbara Brackman's Civil War Sampler quilt blocks, as they were posted on her blog.  I happened to catch weeks #33, #35, and #36 .... and then I forget what happened--maybe a foot surgery?--and that was it for me on the Civil War blocks.  But I'd faithfully uploaded the three I'd done to the Flickr photo stream for the group, and lo and behold, several months later, I had an e-mail from Ms. Brackman herself, asking if she could use the photo of one of my blocks in her book, Civil War Sampler.  Uh, yes!  That was a no-brainer for me! (I blogged about it here and here.)

So, back to the present, I stumbled across that block (Block #36 - Kentucky Crossroads) in the transition from RV to Nook. It was kinda sad, just seeing it in a box of unfinished stuff.  It really bothered me.  So after some thought, I've decided I really need to do something with that published block! I'll never do the entire quilt (I'm just being honest), but that one block deserves preserving. I mean, it's sorta famous, right?? LOL!  So I thought I'd set it, do some really fancy, pretty quilting on it, notate it's page in the book (of course!) and make it a candidate for my mini quilt stand! Here are some setting ideas I've come up with so far . . .

So on point or straight?  

Use the original fabrics to set it, or use different solids to make the original block stand out?

This is just another example of how EQ is so cool!  I was able to take a photo of my block and break it up into 2" squares of each print . . . and import it into my fabric library. So the first image up there is an actual photo of my block.  The rest are EQ generated images.  Pretty nifty, eh?!?  

Anyway, that's the extent of my design wall this week.  What are *you* working on??  Linking up with Patchwork Times today!

:)

a head-spinning weekend . . .

(First:  A very special HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!! shoutout to my youngest sister, Laura!!!)

Whew . . . it's Monday and I'm *worn* out!  Not that there's too much I'd change about this last weekend, it was just so action-packed, it ended too quickly!  I just asked if I could get a weekend do-over.  I was told yes, in four more days.  LOL!

Thursday night a group of ladies from church went out for dinner and a movie.

We went to see Into the Woods, and it was fabulous!  It was quite fun and a musical to boot, which is one of my favorite genres.  It was a great pick for a group of girls ... the theater was almost empty and we giggled and sang through it!

I spent a good portion of Friday hanging out with the Panter kids! We had fun just playing around with blocks and toy cars and baby dolls.

Olivia was my baby doll of choice!

June pretty much stayed in/on/over my lap for the entire morning.  She's such a ham!!

Sawyer's gotten too cool for pictures (although he's not too cool to take a piggy back ride), but he obliged me with a selfie . . . and his unsmiling silly self! Such a stoic face!

Friday evening everyone met at Joc's house to celebrate Ellie's third birthday. WOW!  Where has the time gone?!?  I can only hope that Jason will share some of the pics he took, because I didn't take the first photo!  (What kind of Neesey am I?!?! One that's too busy holding babies of one sort or another to be holding a camera!)

Joc was kind enough to text a sweet pic of three-year-old Ellie in a new costume:

Ladies and gents, the famed Elsa of Frozen!!

Saturday was filled with errands and whatnot, then I headed to "Little Gym" for Ellie's friends party. 

The theme was Tinkerbell and Joc did a terrific job on it!  Again, very few pictures, but again my job was to hold wee ones . . . 

One that was not so happy to be held by Neesey!  Poor Everley ... though she's not looking too happy here, after mommy slipped in a quick feeding, Everley went right to sleep and slept quite happily in my arms, almost through the entire party, which was nice, because it allowed Jason *and* Joc to be with Ellie and enjoy the event.

My stash report is unchanged from last week . . . 

I really don't see a whole lot of change coming my way in the 'in' department. That's my plan, anyway!

My slow Sunday stitching was mostly done on the road, yesterday.  Sundays have gotten to be such busy days.  I'm helping teach the pre-school SS class in the mornings and then I'm teaching the ladies' discipleship class on Sunday evenings. Add choir practice and the probable meeting (or two) and Sunday afternoon is gone.  But we've got a thirty minute car ride to and fro and I've gotten a good portion of this POTC block whip stitched together . . . 

Because it was cut and ready to be assembled it's what I'm stitching.  I haven't had time to get into the Nook and get the strips cut and ready to stitch on the pineapple quilt.  Maybe this week??!

Linking up today to Patchwork Times (fabric report and design wall posts) and Kathy's Quilts!

Happy Monday . . . make it a great week!!

:)

some assembly required . . .

I have had the most marvelous time putting "Neesey's Nook" in working order! My darling hubby did the hard stuff . . . hanging insulation and pegboard, painting, laying linoleum, and hanging shelves! But then I got to come in and do the fun stuff!  So let's start at the front and I'll give you a little tour. First off, no door of mine is complete without a wreath:

This is the perfect place for this very "campy" wreath (although after looking at it, I think I will move the hook up to the top part of the lattice)!  And then if you look directly down...

You'll see I purchased (with a Bed, Bath & Beyond gift card I got for Christmas) a lovely, heavy-duty mat -- which is an absolute must when you leave in the middle of the woods.  Trust me.  

Probably the first thing you see when entering is the ironing corner:

Oh gosh, I do love pegboard!  Let me get in a little closer here . . .

Isn't that fun?  I love those little baskets!  And my sprays looked much neater and easier to grab. My "Count it *all* JOY!!!" mini won't stay there . . . I'm just trying to hide the worst of the ironing board stains!  

A quick peek up here . . . 

Todd installed this shelf so I'd have a place to put my fabric bins!  These bins are my stash (usually a fat quarter or less), organized by colors.  I have a couple of rubbermaid tubs of yardage.  Shhhh.  We left the roof unfinished.  I may go back and paint it white, later.  But for now it was good as it was and I rather like the rustic look.

On down and around is the cutting corner. I can't think of anything more phenomenal than having one's rulers and templates all available at one's fingertips.

Well, most of them are in finger reach.  If you move on past the window, you'll see where my bigger rulers and templates are hanging:

You see that there is the door (where we came in).  Just to the right of the door (or to the left, if you're outside looking at the front) is my sewing corner . . .

Isn't it darling?!  I found a nifty pegboard hanger that was just perfect for my scissors!  And then right above the window:

JOY!  And buttons!  Both very good things. Would you believe I got two of the "JOY" decorations for Christmas?! It actually made me very happy. First of all, that people associate that word with me (and that's all Jesus) and secondly, because it gave me one for the RV and one for my nook!  Perfect. Each one of the windows has open space above it. This window has the entire width, and the other two are divided by a 2X4.

Now that Neesey's Nook is open for business, we also have our dining nook back in the RV:

Yay!  We can have breakfast at the table together again! LOL!!

So that was nook assembly . . . now for quilt assembly.  On the 'wall' this week is, of course, the pineapple quilt. I finished the hand-stitching and now to prepare the top and bottom pieces to attach:

My seam coverings will be a LOT longer. But gauging from the layout below, all my black lines are going to line up perfectly.  Whew!

This may be the biggest quilt I've ever pieced *and* quilted by myself! And there's still an 8.5" border to go all the way around. I cannot wait to have it on my bed for real!

Linking up today with Patchwork Times.  Have a GREAT week!!

:)

designing walls . . .

Quite literally, that is!  I was a bit of a tease, yesterday, showing off a *tiny* portion of one of my 'quilty' Christmas presents . . .

The rest of it is this beautiful building . . .

OH MY GOSH!  I was so thrilled/surprised/shocked/awestruck when I opened this present on Christmas morning! It was actually a picture, since it arrived the day after Christmas.  It's all for me!  My very own quilting cabin! With a lovely, covered front porch for a rocking chair and a little table.  Room for tea and hand-stitching:

Perfect, right?  Inside is bare, for now . . .

But I've got an idea of how I want it to look!

And what magnificent views I'll have, regardless of which window I'm looking out:

Today, Todd's purchased the insulation and pegboard for walls and he'll get the electricity hooked up:

And then I'll do my magic with paint and curtains and shelves and tables! And move all my quilty things and fabric out of the RV and into the QC!

Best. Husband. Ever.  :)

In the meantime (aka, inside the RV where it's warm and dry), I've resurrected The Pineapple Quilt.

I've determined that it will be my first finish/UFO finish for 2015 (if not earlier)! Linking up with Patchwork Times! 

Happy quilting!

:)

HeLP! a giveaway . . .

Look at me . . . I *finally* finished stitching together my very first Patchwork of the Crosses block . . .

All that's left is to press it and remove my basting stitches. I love this fabric combination and it was such fun to stitch! I'm now thinking quilt, not just a one block exercise! Yeah, I fell hook, line and sinker.

Which means I needed all the appropriate tools!  To that end, I ordered the "Magic Mirror".

It's a simple enough gadget and very easy to use, but it makes a *world* of difference when you're fussy cutting fabrics for kaleidoscope-like effects. Take this brown fabric, for example . . .

The mirror allows me to preview how my center will look, once I've cut all my pieces out and stitched them together! This will make my designing so much easier . . . since this project is now officially on my design 'wall'! I use my clear acrylic template to determine where I want my design on my honeycomb template and butt the mirror up against the 90-degree angle of the template.

Remove the template and you've got a great view of your center!  Pretty nifty, eh?  I was so enchanted with the process, I had to try out a couple of different fabrics.

The pink was fun, but then I had this beautiful gold print with a really ornate design. Do you see how by just moving my template around, I was able to get a totally different look??

Even with a simpler design, like the scroll and leaves on the bottom row, a slight re-positioning of the template gave it a whole new look!

Once I've chosen the "look" then it's a simple matter of cutting out my pieces . . .

And I'm ready to start basting to my templates! Isn't it fun?  Aren't you itching to give it a try??!  Well, always the enabler encourager, I just happen to have an extra brand new mirror that I'd love to give to someone who's got to have one!

You can also use the mirror for a variety of angles . . . 90, 60, and 30, just to name a few!  So, is this one going to be yours?!?  Leave me a comment -- just whatever is on your mind -- and that will afford you one chance.  If you're a follower, leave a second comment and let me know how you follow -- I'll give you a second shot!  And . . . if you link an appropriate post to the HeLP for hexi-aholics linky party over to sarah did it!, leave me a third comment saying so for a third chance! 

Make sure if you're a 'noreply' blogger that you leave me a way to get a hold of you.  I'll leave this open until Friday and then randomly choose a winner! In the meantime, head on over to Patchwork Times to check out design walls all over the blogiverse!

Make your Monday matter!!

:)

**Comments closed - I'll post the giveaway winner later today!**

working design wall . . .

Rather, what my design wall looks like, even though I'm back at work this week! I'll be filling back in at the Madison Baptist Association three days a week through December. That'll leave me plenty of time for creating, which is good, since these fabrics are spread across my work table right now . . .

The multi-colored squares were calling to me, telling me they'd like to be in a NICU quilt. Our guild regularly gives comfy quilts and NICU quilts, and I wanted to give. I've worked out in EQ a simple design of shoo-fly blocks that I like . . . 

Now it's just a matter of deciding whether the setting color will be in black or in white . . .

I think I'm leaning toward black. What do you think??

Linking up to Patchwork Times.  Have a GREAT Monday!

:)