A little machine quilting....

 I wanted to show you a couple of quilts that I just got off the frame.  This one belongs to my aunt.  She made it for a lady that lost her daughter due to domestic violence.  The lady loved daisies and the quilt in the photo is upside down but it has an angel kneeling down in a field of daisies, praying. 

 This is a baby quilt that I pieced last year when I had my surgery.  I am in need of a baby shower gift next week so I pulled this out and quilted it.  I still need to add the binding on it.  Just sweet and simple. 

 I have another huge quilt that I quilted before these two but I forgot to take a photo of it.  I'll post it next time as it is upstairs and I'm too lazy to go up there and take a photo of it right now.  :)

I need to try to do some more adjusting to my machine and then I think I will pin this quilt of mine on next.  It is something that I made a year or two ago from scraps that I wanted to get rid of.  It is brighter than I tend to work with but I called it, "Signs of Spring" 

 Hope everyone has a wonderful and Blessed holiday weekend.  No plans here.  Richard and Andrew have to work Saturday and Sunday night...
Kristie

What would it take?

 What would it take for you to choke your husband?  LOL!  The reason that I ask is...I took a nap and look what Richard did while I was asleep!!!  He set this up in my quilting room!!!!  :(

 It is probably 8ft from end to end!  So when we moved in the house everything was quickly packed and moved in the guest room that is not finished and sadly you have to step over things to get in the door.  I need to get in there and unpack everything and throw some away, most goes in the attic but the plan was to set the bed and stuff up in there along with this thing!!!  As mentioned, with everything in there this thing couldn't be set up so what does he do, he puts it in my sewing room so he can use it!  Let's just say...that I was NOT happy and I will be cleaning the guest room out real soon.  LOL!  BTW...there is an exercise bike in that room somewhere too.  LOL!  

Stopped by a yard sale Friday on the way to the grocery store and found these goodies for $1 each.  Not sure yet what I will do with the brass thing but it will probably go in my living room after I find something to go in it.  The sewing machine photo frame was just too cute.  I figure I will put it up in my sewing room.  I thought they were worth a dollar a piece. 

 I had a few extra peppers laying around so I thought I would make some sweet and spicy pepper jelly. 

 After that I made a batch of grape jelly too. 

 Hopefully tomorrow night I can get back to some sewing.  
Kristie

Two New Machine Additions...

 I was up late again last night and was looking around on Craigslist at old sewing machines.  I found one that I would love to have, a Singer Red Eye.  Of course, I'm not getting it even though I really wanted it.  I posted on Facebook about it, just joking around, wondering if I could sneak it in the house without Richard knowing.  He doesn't really care, he just usually rolls his eyes when I mention another machine.  

So I received a message from a dear friend of mine on Facebook.  We used to work together 20+ years ago at a sewing factory and we made jeans, Levi's and Arizona brand for JCP.  Anyway....her message said that she had two old machines that if I wanted them, I could have them FREE!  LOL!  Ummmm....my mouth just dropped, of course I want them....wait do they work?  She said they did but hadn't been used in years so I figure they will need a good cleaning and oiling.  She was at work so I had to wait until today for photos of them and she couldn't remember right off what kind they were but here are the photos that she sent to me. 

The photos are a little blurry but this one is a New Home.  I asked her if it was a New Home and she said it was. 

 This photo shows the cabinet a little better.  She said the cabinet on this one was in good condition. 

 The second one is a Morse 600.  She said she bought it at a yard sale years ago for $10 because of it's color. 

 She said the cabinet on this one was a little rough.  If it is, I will probably just take it out of the cabinet because I really don't have the space for a ton of cabinets.  I'll just wait and see. 

 Of course, I told her that I want them and I will go pick them up in a few days.  I'm excited to get two more babies!  I'll take better photos of them once I get them home.
Kristie

Something new on the design wall...

Tonight I figure I will show you something else on my design wall instead of my Double Wedding Ring that I am still working on.  I have 2 different projects up there tonight.  

The first one is my new leader and ender project.  Honestly, I'm not crazy about it because I don't tend to work with brighter colors but I have a tub of 2.5" squares that I just keep moving around so I figure if I use them then I will not have to keep looking at them.  LOL!  This will probably be a donation quilt once it is finished. 

 You really can't tell from this photo but there is a little bit of everything in there, from Christmas fabric to 80's fabrics.  Even some ducks and taxi cabs too.  LOL! 

 The second one I believe I will like.  Don't worry, I'm not working on it right now, I just wanted to make a couple of sample blocks to make sure I liked it before I started really piecing on it.  It is Bonnie's Rectangle Wrangle.  I have a few others that need to be finished before I jump in on this one.  I'm thinking this will be a nice winter project. 

 I am still working on my Double Wedding Ring quilt too.  Actually, I figure this will be another sleepless night for me so I will probably work on it for a bit.  Richard is off tonight but he is to the point that he can't sleep on his nights off either.  LOL! 

 That's all for now...
Kristie

Quilts and Wedding Decor...

 I'm still working on my Metro Rings/Double Wedding Ring quilt.  I have a few more pieces ready to square up and add to my design wall but hopefully I will get those squared up tonight or tomorrow. 

 I'm sure I will be up late again tonight since Richard is working and I am having a hard time sleeping.  Hopefully I will have a chance to work on it a little more.  

Earlier in the evening I did get to work on it a little. 

 I'm hoping that I will be able to get this finished before my sister's wedding shower but it's not looking good.  :(

 I have been very busy working on other things besides quilting, like stuff for my sister's wedding.  Here is her bouquet to throw.  Most of the flowers in it are just leftover flowers from the other bouquets and stuff. 

 Here are the 3 bridesmaids bouquets and again her throw bouquet is in there too. 

 Two mother's corsages. 

 Next I will be making 12 boutonnieres, pew bows, archway decor, all of the wedding ceremony decor, and all of the reception decor too.  So if you don't hear from me for a bit you will know why.  LOL!  Her wedding is October 5th.  
Kristie

What I've been up to...

 It's been a while since I've had a chance to post, but I have been up to my eyeballs in apples!  I finally got those took care of but soon we will have more that need to be picked.  Sadly, this has cut into my sewing time.  I've done very little sewing lately.  

The heat has cooled off some here so I made my way upstairs to clean!  UGH!  Shamefully it is a mess!  For the past few months it has mostly been a catch all room and stuff is piled everywhere, nothing is organized and a thick coat of dust covers everything.  :(

So I decided to start in one corner...the cleanest corner...and clean.  This is a 3x7ft table and actually I had cleaned some of it before I took this photo. 

 See the dust...

 After photo of my sewing table...

 Directly to the left of my sewing table is my cutting table.  It is the same size.  I didn't get a before photo but let me tell you, I was starting to wonder if there was even a table under that mess.  :(  These are my scrap baskets except for the crystal and silver fruit bowl, those are fat quarters that needed to be put away.  I had pulled them for a quilt but I never got around to making it so I just put them all back. 

 A shot of my bookshelf that has some fabric on it.  It all needed to be dusted and straightened up.  Oh and you can see Hunter's little sewing machine.  It is a Singer Featherweight from the 80's or 90's I don't remember the date right off.  Anyway, that baby is heavy.  I think I paid something like $4 or $5 for it at a thrift store several years ago.  It sews great. 

 While digging through the mess, I did find my dresden plates that need to be worked on.  I think after I get some of Chantal's wedding stuff done I will bring those downstairs to work on them while having some downtime. 

 These are some blocks that I had recently been working on, you probably remember them.  They were laying on top of the mess but I am still looking for the strips that I had cut as sashings.  I know I cut them and do not want to recut them.  They were not in that corner so hopefully I will run on to them as I move on around the room and dig through the mess.

 Leo kept me company while I was cleaning. 

This morning after Hunter left for school, I went upstairs and did some adjusting on my quilting machine.  Sheww...it has been a mess.  I haven't been able to use it because I was having some major tension issues and thread breaks.  I had replaced some parts on it and it still just wasn't right.  So this morning I decided that I either needed to try again or just send it off to be fixed again.  I tore it all down and put it all back together again, did some adjusting along the way.  Knock on wood....it still isn't right but close.  As I was testing it on scraps it did okay but still a few issues that I will have to pay close attention to while trying to quilt.  If it holds up as it was with the scraps I will be able to quilt a quilt...or at least try to.  I loaded a quilt on the frame but haven't started it yet.  I loaded a big one 115x115 on there which now I'm thinking may have been a mistake.  Maybe I should have tried a baby quilt first.  Oh well...

Anyway, Richard is sleeping so I will probably try to start quilting on it after he leaves for work this evening.  Wish me luck!  Speaking of Richard...his new job is turning out well.  The long hours, he is used to but we are all having to adjust to him working nights.  He did it several years ago but not lately.  Hunter is having the most trouble with it.  He was really young when Richard worked nights before and doesn't remember that much about it.  Right now Hunter gets home from school around 4:30pm and Richard has to leave at 6pm so Hunter does have a little time with him during the evening but not as much as he wants.  :)
Kristie 

Apples Galore...

 I am up to my eyeballs in apples!  Between mom, my sister and I we have 7 apples trees to gather and process.  These apples came from my sister's.  This box is huge, it is a big sink box that I saved for this.  We have apples in boxes, buckets and anything else that will hold them. 

 These are going to be jelly, apple butter, apple sauce, and some in the freezer for fried apples and apple pie filling. 

 Like my grandmother that did not waste anything, we are saving the good parts of the apple peelings for jelly. 

 And last but not least...I also put up a bunch of corn! 

 So my day is filled with apples!  Anyone have any good simple apple recipes that they would like to share with me?  My sister made a batch of apple dumplings the other day with Mt. Dew.  We love those things.  I try to make them for every holiday dinner because everyone in the family loves them.  
Kristie

Bubbles and school...

 Night before last I realized that my sister is getting married in 2 months.  October 5th to be exact and I am doing all of the wedding decor and bouquets.  Let's just say....I'm really behind.  For some reason I thought that I still had 4 months!  DUH!  

So yesterday I spent the day decorating her wedding bubbles.  Here are all 100 bottles finished and ready!!!! 

 Here is a closeup of one of them.  It is a little hard to read but the ribbon says, "Our Wedding"  Just a simple bow tied with double wedding rings and a watermelon colored rose glued on it.  Oh and I almost forgot the added bling on the bottom!  Expect to see lots of the "bling" rhinestone stuff on her wedding things. 

 Next I guess I will work on the mother's corsages. I have Chantal's wedding bouquet finished too.  I'm not sure if I have posted a photo of it or not, I'll have to look.  

This morning makes me a little sad.  Hunter started back to school.  First day of 6th grade.  Our county starts back before any of the others around here.  He did pretty good this morning but of course I shed a few tears when the bus ran.  Yesterday was a bad day for him.  He had "meltdowns" all day!  Just unhappy about everything from school starting to the pillow on the couch was getting on his nerves.  LOL!  Just a bad day! 

 Richard is off today and is at my mom's working on building her porch roof.  I am currently upstairs in my sewing room having my coffee.  The weather has been a little cooler so I am going to clean up here before I head to mom's later.  With the heat I've just been piling things everywhere up here and now it is horrible.  
Kristie