Where the wild things are

I just LOVE living where we live, right in the middle of forested north Idaho. We don't see as many animals since moving into this house but every once in awhile we have a day that makes up for it. Last Monday was one of those days. On the way to VBS, my son and I saw a mama moose and her baby crossing the road in front of us. On the way home we saw a young buck in velvet just off the side of the road. Later on the two of us were in my sewing room and I was fitting some fabric to my son to fashion a cape for a costume we saw the teeniest spotted fawn out in the backyard. Well my camera was upstairs and I didn't get a photo then but I got my camera and then watched and watched all day for him to come out again. In the afternoon something caught my eye and I looked up expecting to see the fawn but was surprised to see a bear instead! It was a bit bigger than our Golden Retriever. I ran to the sliding glass door to get a picture and it was gone. Weird. I ran up the stairs and looked out the windows - no bear. I went out on the deck and looked all around - no bear. Hmph. Then I saw my son out by the front porch signaling me. I went out front and this is what I saw;



The structure on the left is our house and that is the neighbor's driveway that the bear is walking up. We were so excited to see him (yeah I know the picture isn't great but I wanted to show it to you anyway) in addition to all the other animals we had seen that day.

Praise - that the young men from Chile, that visited us this weekend, had a wonderful time and that the injuries they got in an ATV incident were not worse. 15 stitches were required but it could have been worse. I thank God for guardian angels.

Prayers - for the prospective buyer of our house. The showing fell through today but we are hopeful that it will happen this week.

Quilt Sandwich

On Tuesday I tackled the sandwich making. I had never done a quilt this large with this method. The wood floor was a great surface to tape to but it was insanely hard on my knees! It is Saturday night now and my knees are Still bruised! I wasn't even on them for very long since I used the spray baste method, and I did put in a few pins. I was almost finished when my hubby suggested that I use his volleyball knee pads. WHAT A DIFFERENCE! Next time I will start out with those.

So here is the gadget that I was all excited about getting with my Bernina last summer, the stitch regulator. I tried it out and really didn't get it so I put it away. After doing some more research on it (nothing helpful from Bernina!)I decided to give it another try. I needed to get a mirror to get it plugged in, although I could feel the place it needed to be plugged I could not for the life of me get it positioned correctly until I had the mirror.

Here are some of the resulting stitches done with it! I was pretty pleased, although it is not perfect by any stretch of the imagination and I still have long stitches in places and lots of beeping by the BSR. I stippled for about 5 hours last night! FIVE hours! The kids had friends over and were playing games and I was just in here sewing away listening to them have fun. I got 4 out of the 7 columns of the quilt along quilt done. When I finally walked away from the quilt it was almost like I just got off of a boat. I was swaying and a little woozy. It might have had something to do with the fact that it was 2:15 A.M. too.


So this morning I came down to fill up a few bobbins and get back to work and nothing would work correctly! I was getting tons of long stitches which made me think that the bobbin was empty. I would cut my top thread and go to look and nope, that was not the case. I have no idea what was different this morning from last night. Now I wish I would have just gone a few more hours last night and finished it. I started on a block today and no matter what I did I was not happy. I finally picked all of that out (which takes WAY longer than putting the stitches in, in case you were wondering).

One thing I experienced with the BSR last night, that I did not experience with the Pinwheel Baby Quilt that was also spray basted but used the darning foot, was a gumming up of the works. The BSR would get this gummed on layer of 'lint', for lack of a better word, stuck to the bottom of the foot and sometimes on the needle. I'm wondering tonight if that is part of the problem with the long stitches today. Does anyone have any thoughts on that?

On Thursday night I decided to look up the closest Bernina dealer's website and they have a BSR class coming up on the 8th. It will require a one and a half hour drive to get there and a shuffling of cars so that everyone can get to work yet I can have a car all day. Hubby thought it would be great for me to attend the class so that I get the most out of that feature. I'm excited about it too (except for the part about hauling my machine and such). I'm thinking now of leaving the quilt along quilt to finish once I have taken the class but then I don't want to be dissatisfied with the portion I have finished already. There is NO WAY I would unpick all of that. NO.WAY.

Praise - Hubby heard back on his interview and he did not get the position. Although we are both sad about that we know that it is all part of God's plan and we just need to continue trusting in Him. We have been able to host two young men from Chile this weekend and feel we have made two new friends.

Prayers - There is someone interested in the house that we have for sale. They are going to look at it again on Monday and we are hoping that it will meet their needs and that they will be making an offer on it sometime this coming week.

One year!

One year ago today I began blogging! Thanks again to Des from Quilt Taffy for giving me the push. It has been so much fun and I have 'met' so many wonderful people. I was going to have a giveaway for my blogiversary and/or my 100th post. Since that should happen within the next couple of days I will do something to combine the two when that happens.

Thanks so much for joining me!

On the level now

With all my blocks sewed into rows and my rows sewed into the quilt top I told hubby that he could have at the sewing table and he got right to work! Measuring and masking off the area;

Hole cut and building the shelf to support the machine;

Looks like he's might be doing an oil change here or some fine tuning of the machine shelf.

All ready to go!


I'm so excited that it is done! Hubby actually wants to build up the machine shelf area so that I can use the plastic 'table' that came with the machine. It would then sit right on top of the table and I wouldn't have the small space in front of and behind the arm. The cut out area has a base built to it so that when I want the machine up on top of the table I just plop it back into the hole and I have a smooth table surface once again. SWEET! It is so nice having a handy hubby, he has built quite a few things for me over the years (including the 8' long sewing table that he is modifying).

I must get to bed! I need to be at the church for VBS registration by 8:30. I can hardly wait to get home and get my quilt 'sandwiched'.

Praise - that hubby IS handy and capable to make repairs, build things from scratch and maintain items around our place. That he had a great Father's Day just hanging out with the family.

Prayers - again for hubby's job interview Monday morning, for college girl's first day on her new job, for my son to be comfortable playing guitar for the VBS song time and that he would be safe when he goes to cut firewood.

Still playing catch up

So I am still behind on my Red Barn Quilt Along. Here are all my BLOCKS on the ping pong table;


and here are all my ROWS on the ping pong table;


and here is my FLIMSY hanging on the line (I had to fold over one row so it wouldn't drag on the ground);


and here is the FLIMSY on a CA King size bed (it just hangs over the top edges);


This is going to be for a LONG twin as I am going to give this to my daughter to take back to college with her. It is all ironed and ready to make a sandwich. I am thinking that will have to wait until Monday afternoon, being that tomorrow is Father's Day (and we will have church until noon and then lunch) and Monday morning I need to help out at VBS for registration. I am going to measure it now and start getting the backing ready since it will need to be pieced.

Stay tuned - I have something to show you, probably tomorrow

Praise - college girl got the job that she interviewed for and my hubby got a call for a job interview on Monday. My son and his friend have been safe while cutting firewood.

Prayers - That the woman looking at the home we have for sale would make an offer. For my hubby's job interview on Monday, that they would see his potential and offer him the job (it is a GREAT company to work for!!. For all the children attending VBS and their parents, especially for those that don't know the Lord.

Home again, home again

I tried to post last night when we returned home with college girl but Blogger would not cooperate even though it was not time for the scheduled maintenance. I have had 'issues' with my internet connection all day today and it has been pretty frustrating.

I wanted to share some pictures of the finished Pinwheel Baby Quilt. My 7 1/2 week old great nephew didn't get too excited about it, all he wanted to do was sleep, but his parents liked it.
I am still working on taking well lit photos of my projects. I really dislike flash but when the wind is blowing it sure does help.




Here is the tote bag that I made for my sister using Tanya Whelan's Practical Bag pattern. My sister and I were travelling buddies when we were children and I thought she would like this Alexander Henry print as much as I do. She can use this bag for toting her library books or taking stuff to the beach.


THIS is what we were met with when we got my daughter's dorm. ALL of this stuff was supposed to be put into our vehicle! I am not even sure you can see everything in the picture! She insists that we took it all there in the fall but I just can't believe that. Let's just say it is a good thing we were driving a suburban with the back seat taken out.


The kids are getting back into the routine of being home together. My son spent most of the day helping his sister unpack, move things from her room into the spare bedroom and generally harassing her.

I did a little bit of sewing today but I need to get caught up on my Quilt Along quilt! I am hoping that I can make huge progress on Tuesday.

Praise - for safe travel to and from college and that my hubby will make that drive basically alone when I fall off to sleep and don't keep him company.

Prayers - for our young friends that are on a mission trip in Mexico. For their health and safety, for cooler weather but most importantly that they would be sharing God's love with those that He puts in their path.

Pinwheel Baby Quilt - Update

The Moda Bakeshop Pinwheel Baby Quilt is FINISHED!!!

Here are some pictures of the progress - bad photo taken when all the stippling was finished;


The binding sewn on - another first for me (so much in one week!). I printed out and used Heather Bailey's tutorial for sewing the binding on. Thanks Heather!


the binding all sewn on by hand now and you didn't even hear any whining about that beforehand! No one was home to help me get a better picture though;


The quilt has been washed and dried now and it is all crinkly and wrinkly now. Mmmmmm. I will get a picture taken of it tomorrow. By the time it was out of the dryer I would have had to use flash and I don't think that would have been the best lighting. I'm REALLY happy with it though. I did NOT make a label. Bad me. I thought about it but I really just wanted to be done. So I can regret that after I hand it over to baby Jack on Friday.

Now a question for you. I am considering a clear acrylic extension table for my sewing machine because when working on this small quilt I really put a lot of pressure on the plastic table shown on my machine. It just isn't very strong and I really don't think it is going to last. While talking to my hubby about the acrylic table it came up that maybe dropping the machine down into my existing table might be the way to go. Hubby has a friend with the right tool to use and some expertise in this area so he could help or advise. I looked around online at sewing cabinets and they don't seem to fit tightly around the machine like the acrylic table does but would that matter? I am thinking it would not be an issue but am I missing something??? Give me some feedback here! The sooner the better :D If hubby is going to do this I would love for him to do it before I start quilting the Red Barn Quiltalong quilt.


Praise - College girl is DONE with her first year of college!! WOO HOO!!!

Prayers - that college girl would get a good night's sleep and feel better tomorrow and that she would have no problems packing up all of her stuff. For the kids in our Truth Project group, that each of them would continuously strive to honor Him with their lives.

SEWN Giveaway WINNER!

I couldn't wait and I figured that you might want to know before midnight PST too!!

The winner of the apron is A JOYFUL CHAOS!

A Joyful Chaos said...
I am now a follower.

Please post here and I will email you for your mailing information.

Thanks so much everyone for coming by and entering and special thanks for those that have become followers of my blog. I hope that we get to know each other a bit in the posts to come.

I am coming up on my ONE YEAR Blogiversary and I am close to my 100th post...just sayin'. You might want to check back in, again, just sayin'

Entry Cut-off

I will be accepting entries for the SEWN Launch GiveAway until 11 A.M. PST, Monday June 8th. After that I will be making my spreadsheet and figuring out how many entries each person gets (followers of this blog get an extra entry).

I will announce the winner here and via email before midnight, Monday June 8th.

The ENTRY post is dated May 31st.

Update with PICTURES

I went to bed way too late. I was wound up from my stippling, afraid I would not set the alarm right, not sure we were leaving enough time to get to the testing site. I tossed and turned. I woke up before my 5:40 alarm. But prayers were answered and God saw us safely to and from the testing site. My son said it all went well and he felt really good about how he did. Thank you for any prayers said on his behalf. I am so tired now though and I dont' trust myself to work on the quilt. I do have pictures to share though!

First of all a couple of close up shots of my first attempt at stippling a quilt. Now don't enlarge the image and get out your magnifying glasses. I TOLD you it was not great and you don't have to point out my flaws. Just look at the good parts. :D




Then here are a couple of pictures of my son's Cakeball Birthday Cake. That is a dinner plate it is on.




I need to make a graduation card, get the ingredients out for Caesar salad (church picnic/potluck tomorrow after church) and get ready for bed. If I can make it until 9 I will be doing good.

Tomorrow when we get home from the church picnic hopefully the guys will be full up and not need another meal. I hope to be well rested and ready to finish the stippling on the baby quilt. If I get that done then I want to finish sewing my strips together for the Quilt Along quilt. I am hoping not to fall behind with that so that means I need to finish the strips, iron them all and then cut the blocks. I love having a plan all laid out. What do your Sunday plans look like??

Praise - we had safe travel and my son was happy with how he did on the SAT. Praise that it is behind him!

Prayers - college girl is on the home stretch - just a few more papers, another test, a couple days of classes and then the packing. Praying that she would keep her priorities straight and not sweat the small stuff.

Groundbreaking News!!!

Okay here's the deal, I MUST GET TO BED RIGHT NOW! I am taking my son to take his SAT tomorrow. We have to leave the house at 6:30 AM! It will take us about an hour to get to the test site. Living in PODUNK and that is what you get, BUT I just had to share the news and will post pictures later, maybe when we get home from the testing. I stippled my first quilt!!! OH YES I DID! The Pinwheel Baby quilt mentioned a few posts down. I was stalling and today my son said JUST DO IT! So I did. It isn't perfect and it isn't 100% beautiful but I just kept telling myself three things. Only GOD is perfect, only God is 100% beautiful and the baby isn't going to be pointing out my mistakes (at least for a few years). I have only done the center portion. I will do the outside borders tomorrow evening if I am not too tired.
I am excited about it! That has to be a good sign!
Okay, night all.

Praise - I bit the bullet and tried something new and it wasn't a disaster. :D I'm so thankful for my sewing machine and this hobby and all the help I get from other bloggers.

Prayers - for safe travel to and from the testing site. That my son would do his best and that he would have clear thinking and good concentration.

SEWN Giveaway Update

I just wanted you to see which fabrics I used for the apron I am giving away for the SEWN Launch party.




Won't THAT cheer up your kitchen? Remember to go to the May 31st post to comment for the giveaway. Thanks for visiting and come back often. :D

My Baby's Birthday

That chubby cheeked 6 month old pictured above turned 17 today. He doesn't have an ounce of pudge on him despite my best efforts. He is now 6'6" and just as happy as he was when that picture was taken. Where has the time gone???

I spent the day with him, just hanging out. This evening when hubby got home we went to see the new Night at the Museum movie. I will have to post a picture of the cake, all his idea, a cake sized version of Bakerella's cake balls!!

This is the first birthday he has celebrated without his sister here, that was different and kinda sad. She will be home next week though and they will catch up then.

Praise - for the wonderful Godly young man my son has grown to be and continues to grow into daily. That I have had the privelege of being his mother.

Prayers - for my son, that he would continue to desire God's will for his life. That he would seek to please Him above all else.

Joining in the fun

I don't remember how I got there but I came across the Old Red Barn Co.'s blog right before they started a quilt along/giveaway. I decided to join in.






Here is a look at what the quilt is going to look like. This is one that Dana made last summer I believe and then she GAVE IT AWAY!! I know! My quilt will look a lot like the sample because I am using those same fabrics that I had in my stash. I think that is a bonus! I decided to buy one piece of fabric for the front, the orange with little clusters on it. For some reason I didn't have that one and I only needed a half yard.

Here are my fabrics,Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossom. I ended up not cutting the striped one. I have more than the required 12 so I am mixing it up more and I think I will do a mixed border with my leftovers.

Here are all my strips ready to go! Well the orange one is missing. That fabric should arrive in the mail today or tomorrow. It will be pretty easy to catch up at that point. I do have that baby quilt to be thinking about in the meantime.

Check out the quilt along and if you don't join at least follow along in Flickr to see all the gorgeous quilts. Many are being made from Paula Prass's Flights of Fancy line. I get so caught up in the quilt I forget that there is a huge giveaway at the end and many great giveaways along the way. If you use the Flights of Fancy line you get more entries. As much as I love that line and see how gorgeous those quilts are going to be I really needed to avoid buying more fabric.

My son just came in with the mail and told me that my new fabric is here!!! Now I can get to cutting strips WOO HOO!

Praise - the weather has cooled off and the temperatures are in the 70's. Much more comfortable!
Prayers - for the group of young people that God would like to be assembled at our home for a study.

HAPPY JUNE!

Can you believe it is June 1st already??? ALMOST summer! Spring here is so slow to be 'springy' that by the time it really looks like spring it is June 1st and almost summer.

Thought you'd like to see some of the wildlife that I see right out my window. This was actually taken from the car window on the way to Bible study. He was just standing there chewing away on the tender young leaves and I told hubby to stop!! He rolled down his window and I leaned across and took this picture. Moosey didn't like the intrusion so he started moving on. We've had a moose about this size tromping through our property lately, might be the same one since this was just down the road a ways.

This is one of my latest projects in progress. This is the Moda Bakeshop's Pinwheel Baby Quilt done in the blues and greens of Moda's Neptune. I don't think I had ever made these half triangle squares before. I didn't do them the way the instructions said to. I knew I had seen a different explanation that would be much quicker. I went to Quilt Taffy and found some help there. Thanks Des and Corrie!

Here are my 12 blocks all sewn together. I am even further than this now, I sewed the inner border on and made all my prairie points and sewed those on and then I sewed on the outer border. I did take a picture of that but it is horrible.

Now I am procrastinating/stalling. I don't know what to do for the quilting!!!! The other night I decided to attempt free motion quilting. My first attempt was small and tight and close together and not at all pretty. I watched Amandajean's video again as well as emailed her with some questions (that she so kindly answered right away). My son came in to see what I was up to and he watched the video with me while I explained what this was all about. I asked him if he wanted to try it and he did!! He did amazingly well for his first time then he asked can't you slow the machine down?? Well I had read that some people did indeed change the speed of their machine but that wasn't something I had ever done. I checked out the manual and sure enough it was a simple adjustment and then we tried again. The slowest speed was way to slow but right in the middle range was perfect. I took over on the sample where my son left off and just did a small area but what a difference! I just don't know if I could do the entire quilt. I realize I need more practice - LOTS MORE! But I am still doubting whether I am capable of doing the entire quilt. I am toying with the idea of some sort of straight line quilting following the lines of each block and then straight lines all around the inner border. I was then thinking of either stippling the outer border or getting those paper rolls that you sew over the top of. I need to decide. I want to have this done and ready to present to the baby on the 12th!! That means quilted, binding made and applied and sewn down. Yeah, I'd better get busy on that.

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Over on The Fabric Shopper you can enter for a chance (or two or three) to win a stack of 30 fat quarters of Katie Jump Rope fabrics! Wouldn't THAT be a lovely giveaway to win??

At the end of this month I will be celebrating my ONE YEAR Blogiversary and maybe sometime this month will be my 100th post as well. Those could be worth celebrating. Just sayin'

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Praise - we have a wonderful church and pastor and church family! College girl will be finished with school the 11th and we can pick her up on the 12th!!

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Prayers - that college girl would put forth her best effort in her year end studies, final papers and projects and then final exams.