Thanksgiving Blessings

Hope you all have a wonderful and Blessed Thanksgiving!!!

Even though some of the family is not able to be here and everyone will be eating at different times we still have so much to be thankful for today and everyday.  
 Kristie

Fun in the Sweat Shop!

 First off, thanks so much for all of the wonderful comments on my Sweet Annie quilt.  She is very special to me.  

Lot's going on in the sweat shop this week.  Hunter is grounded from everything so he has been bored and has spent some time with me in the sewing room only out of boredom.  :)  He also has a ton of extra chores....like splitting endless amounts of firewood and keeping all of the dishes done.  He has even scrubbed a few toilets!  LOL!  Before you think I am being too hard on him by making him chop firewood, we do have a log splitter so that makes it a lot easier.  Oh he has also even washed a few walls!  :)  I think the dishes has been the hardest on him.  He has dared anyone to eat out of anything other than paper!  LOL!  

Anyway....back to sewing....we made our first folded star potholder.  It is not perfect and still needs binding but it was fun.  We found the tutorial on Youtube.  

 We also cut and pinned more hexies for handwork. 

 Another Youtube tutorial that we found was for this little ornament.  Someday I plan on having a little Christmas tree in my sewing room.  This was a fun and quick ornament to make. 

 Hunter's job was to dig through the old buttons and find one that would look nice on it. 

 Here is our finished ornament. 

 I decided to add this border to the little quilt.  In this photo they are not sewn on but you get the idea.  I think I will add another border or two and call it finished. 

 In my next post I will show you the strips and pieces that we got cut out for my OMIGOSH! quilt.

Last night was Andrew's first 12 hour night shift out of the tugboat and barges.  Shew....the mother in me was stressed all night and worried.  I found it hard to sleep.  I kept worrying and wondering if he was cold.  He has a whole week of 12 hour night shifts and then a week of 12 hour day shifts.  He just called a few minutes ago and was on his way home.  It is a little over an hour drive.  He will sleep and do it all over again tonight.  
Kristie

Sweet Annie

 I completed my Sweet Annie top yesterday!  You can read more about it here.  This quilt will always be very special to me and this quilt will be my comfort quilt for myself. 

 My dear friend Annie sent me the fabrics and this is what I made.  It is just a simple 9 patch but this is what I wanted to do with it. 

 Annie will never know what a comfort and joy she has been to me and my family.  She is like family to us.  Everyday my husband or kids asked me, "how is Annie today?" or "have you talked to Annie today?" 

 It will probably be after the first of the year before I get it quilted as I have a few other quilts that need to be quilted before the holidays.  
Kristie

Special projects for some special kids

 I am still cleaning my sewing room but I did piece a few blocks for a very special project.  I will not go into all of the details right now but my friend Annie and I are making quilts for 4 little children.  They are brothers and sisters.  She is making the girl quilts and I am making the boy quilts.  

Annie sent me some fabric that she had in her stash and I have some also that I might add if needed.  This is a "no buy" project, just using what we have so it is fun and a little challenging.  

At this point, I don't have a clue how this quilt will end as I am still working on it in my mind.  LOL! 

Annie has her 2 girl quilts being quilted at the moment...I am just starting.  I will get them done but I am always a last minute person.  This quilt is for the youngest boy that is 2. 

 I have plans to work on this more today so stay tuned to see what I come up with!
Kristie

Photo Heavy Post Part 2

 In my last post I left you with a photo that looked like this.  There was a sofa and table under there....somewhere. 

 Here is the after photo!  Better? 

 I moved my current hexie project to the table. 

 I also quickly prepped my little tub with a few more hexies for this project so that I can just grab it and go. 

 Sadly this is the table that was in the center of the room.  Like every other surface in the room, it ended up being a catch-all for everything.  I cleaned it off and removed the table from the room.  It will go outside in the storage building. 

 So by cleaning these areas, I found lots of goodies!  More hexies for different projects along with just some regular English Paper Piecing. 

 More books and patterns that I had received...

 Patterns....

 Another pattern and a book....

 Next up...this area!!!  :(  After all of this cleaning that I have been working on so far, I will move to the other side of the room that is behind my quilting frame. 

 Wish me luck on cleaning today!  I also pieced a few blocks last night for a special little project.  I will tell you more about that soon.  

BTW...thanks for the comments yesterday.  I truly enjoyed reading them.  Yesterday was a bad day so it was a nice little pick-me-up.  
Kristie

Treasure Hunting...photo heavy post

 I'm on a treasure hunt!  I'm trying to find my cutting and sewing tables!  LOL!  I have lots of sewing that needs to be done before Christmas and at this point I can't find anything or even work on anything.  During the summer I don't sew upstairs as it is just too hot and I have been sewing up there on and off since the weather is cooler but I am messy!!!  I get in a hurry and things just get piled.  Sadly this room hasn't been truly cleaned since last year.  Trust me some of these photos are GRUESOME!  I'm not holding anything back.  This is what I am starting with.... Mess and dust everywhere, yep that is a cobweb in the corner!  LOL!  I even see 2 empty cans of Diet Pepsi. 

 My cutting table....tons of different projects, more empty Diet Pepsi, I even see a pack of crackers that I was actually snacking on while I was cleaning.  They were fresh as I brought them with me as I went up to clean.  I am only doing one corner at a time until I get it finished and then I will have to buckle down and sew. 

 Now to all of the things that I found on the tables and below....Burp cloths for my sister!  Here are 9 of tem in various stages at this point.  The monkey ones on top look more suitable for a boy and she is having a GIRL...but she is getting them anyway as all she will be doing is spitting up on them, right.  The others underneath are pinks and more girl looking fabrics.  These got boxed up to finish after the first of the year as she is not due until April. 

 A pile of strips that will eventually be made into an Omigosh quilt.  I love the pattern and the pieces are so very tiny.  I figure I will just cut a little at a time until I have enough.  These got boxed up also but I will keep cutting strips from my scraps as I can. 

 I also found some 4 patches in a few different sizes.  These finish at 2"  most of these are in sets of 2 right now so they need to be mated and sewn on into 4 patches.  At this point there are only 23 of them finished.  No particular pattern for them, I just figure I will use them somewhere down the road. 

 More squares for 4 patches.  Lots of blues in there so I need to cut different colors to mix in.  These are 2" squares. 

 I have several 4 patches already made with the 2" squares.  Here are 140 of them that finish at 3"

 All of these 4 patches and squares are neatly stored away now in this little tote. 

 After putting those away, I found more in sets of 2 that need to be finished.  I will put those by the sewing machine to finish up and then they will go in the tote with the others.  Yep....that's my crackers in the corner of the photo.  :)

 I closed up my 1906 Singer treadle and moved it in front of my big window.  Not sure if it will stay there or not.  This is the first time that I have had anything in front of the window.  I originally planned on a big comfy chair by the window when we were building the house, but that hasn't happened yet.  I thought it would be nice to do some handwork by the window as it is great lighting.  If you look close in the windowsill you will see a pair of binoculars.  :)  That window is 4x8ft and with the location of the house on the property, I can see forever out that window.  I do occasionally watch deer, squirrels, coyotes, and our horses running around on the property. 

 Hmmm...I sure got off track, didn't I?  So this is the after of my sewing and cutting tables.  Not perfect but better!  This is a huge room and sadly this was the cleanest corner in it so I started there.  :)  You can see in those photo that I also straightened up my fat quarters and I have several empty cubes.  :(  I need to work on that and fill it back up.  I also have a few scrap tubs on my cutting table. 

 In this photo I have the top case to my 1911 Singer sitting on top of my treadle but I have moved it now.  I also moved my ironing board back over there.  I need to staple the new cover on it, right now it is just laying over the top of it.  This is an old wooden ironing board that belonged to Richard's grandmother. 

 Now if I can only keep it clean while I work on the rest of the room.  :(

 I almost forgot...I found my hexies under some of the mess too. 

 I have 94 of them in this stage... I need a few hundred more of these sets of 4.   

 Next area up....the sofa and table...  :(  It's horrible.  I promise there is a sofa there and a table!!!  LOL!  I see lots of leftover backing pieces, bubble wrap?  LOL!  some baby stuff, oh and a sewing machine in the floor beside the table.  It's in the box...I need to find a place to store it. 

 So I'm going to try to get this all cleaned and be more organized so that I can get things done.  I also plan on posting more regularly as I my comments are way down and I miss reading them.  

Okay...break is over.....back to cleaning....maybe...
Kristie

Design Wall Monday

 My design wall is still the same.  I have my 4" windmill blocks on there.  I do have a few more of them pieced but I just haven't added them on there yet.  I think I actually have around 60 of them finished.  For the size quilt that I want, I will need 528 of them.  I hope to add to these blocks this week. 

 I did get my 2nd turtle quilt quilted and the binding finished.  It now lives with it's new owner. 

 I have my aunt's HUGE quilt on the frame which measures 120+ inches!!!  I am getting huge skips...like 8-10 inch skips!!!  I have got to figure out why!  I've tried a million different things but I finally just walked away.  I will go back to it with a fresh mind, that helps sometimes. 

 My oldest son, Andrew dressed for work!  He just started his new job with Marathon Oil.  I am very proud but I just worry myself sick as it can be dangerous at times.  He has training for 28 days STRAIGHT before heading out on the riverways.  I'm not even sure at this time where he will be headed or if he will even have cell signal when he does.  It's hard to watch your babies grow up sometimes.  He loves it so far and is very proud of his new job. 

 Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday!  
Kristie

My Marine...

Thanks to all that have served.  Here is a photo of my hubby, Richard Layne.  He served in the Marine Corps.  He looks so young in this photo.  He joined straight out of high school. 

This is how I remember him.  We dated a little in high school.  He graduated, joined the Marine's, married another and then 13 years later we found each other again.  We were both divorced and have been together ever since.  He is such a wonderful husband, father, and a good Christian man.  I love him more than he will ever know.  I am proud that he is my husband. 

Turtle Quilt #2

 Here is turtle quilt #2...ready to quilt.  I need to get it quilted this week and off to it's new owner. 

 I also have 54 windmill blocks that are my leader/ender project.  I need to cut out more of them.  I will probably cut more out as I am cutting out for the mystery quilt in a few weeks. 

 If my math is correct, I need a total of 528 of these little 4" windmills.  I have 54 of them finished so I will need 474 more.  This should make a quilt that measures approximately 88/96.  

I've been up since 4am as Richard was getting ready to go deer hunting.  I have to get Hunter up at 6:30am for school and Andrew up at 9am for work.  This is his last week at this job and he is moving on to what is hopefully a career job for him with Marathon Oil.  This is the same company that my mom and BIL work for.  He is super excited and I am a nervous wreck.  LOL!  As a mother I am torn between wanting him to stay my little boy and under my protective wing but I also want him to be able to do for himself, have a career, further his education in this field, and so on.  Now on the other hand....this can be a fairly dangerous job out on the water and he will be gone for 28 days at a time.  So that means he will miss several holidays at home as a mom this makes me sad, but I just pray that the good Lord watches over him and keeps him safe for me.  

I'm off to do some laundry before getting Hunter up and then hopefully some quilting later today.
Kristie

Elna Grasshopper!!!

 GUESS WHAT IS IN THIS CASE!!!!!!! 

 An Elna Grasshopper!!!! 

 It came with a few accessories and 2 oil bottles. 

 This photo is after I did a little bit of cleaning but I still had not cleaned the outside of the case at this point.  I took her completely apart and oiled her but she was as clean as a whistle!

 She sews really well.  This is my first Elna and I just love it! 

 This was found at an antique/thrift store.  Mom an I also picked up these spools to use to decorate in my sewing room.  They are pretty big.  I placed a regular spool of thread in the photo so you could see the size of these.  I love them!  All of this.....for well UNDER $50!

 This machine makes me 25!  :)
Kristie