It's Halloween

It’s Halloween!!   I got the urge to do some embroidery, and I saw this cute pattern on Melisa’s blog, Pinkernpunkinquilting.  It’s stitched, but I’m not sure I’ll get it all the way finished by Halloween this year.  

Our grandsons came over and decorated the outside of the house the other day.   The oldest grandson, age 13, took the hand full of cords and lights and did most of the decorating.  The other grandson is 8 years old.  He had more fun decorating inside.

The ghosts are made from upside down tomato cages.  You can see my tutorial for how I made those here.  

This ghost has been in our family since my kids were young.  We made him from a round piece of foam and a piece of fabric.

The topiary is 3 different sized pumpkins with a hole drilled through the middle.  A dowel rod holds them all together.

My daughter made the diamond painting Happy Halloween sign.  

This is Snarky Cat a counted cross stitch design from Teresa Kogut.  He is one of my favorite decorations.

                                                  

I don’t remember who the designer of this pattern is.  I have lots more decorations, and some cross stitching that I didn’t get finally finished. 

 I hope you all have a happy and safe Halloween.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today. 

Fall Quilts, Pillows and Wreath

                                           

I’m slowly bringing out the fall quilts and decorations.  They probably won’t all come out this year, but that’s ok.   I have more fall and Christmas decorations than anything else, so I’m bringing out my favorites first. 

This quilt will go on my guest room bed.  That center block was an orphan block from another quilt I started.  It might have been a block from the book Old Voices New Impressions.   It looked like fall, so I added some squares and half square triangles and a border.

                                              

This pumpkin quilt hangs on the wall in the kitchen.  It’s from a pattern by Cluck Cluck Sew.

 The fall tree is from back in the day when we did watercolor quilts.  I used to have several books with ideas on how to make this style of quilt.  

The witch embroidery in the center of this quilt was from Sentimental Stitches from years ago.  I’d made these pinwheel blocks with no real purpose so used them for this lap quilt. 

 

This quilt is one of my favorites.  It is a Judy Martin pattern, but I rearranged the blocks when I put mine together. 

 

This star quilt is made with a product called Quiltsmart  You sew rectangles to a foundation so there are no set in seams.  I’ve made several of these quilts and have taught others the method. 

I still love to crochet.  Crochet was the first craft I really learned and did a lot of years ago.  My Mom was a crocheter, so it was natural that I did the same thing.  I find the granny square pattern so relaxing to stitch.  In this afghan I just started in the center and kept making rounds with the yarn that I had.  

The pillow is from my first pattern, Charming Hexagon Pillow.  You can use a mini charm pack or a regular charm pack cut into quarters.  You can find the link to the pattern in myEtsy shop in my sidebar.  The pattern is also available at Back Door Quilt Shop.    The fabrics were given to me by a nice lady in one of my classes.

 

The little pumpkin on the stand is another of my patterns called Pumpkin Patch.  You can find my patterns in my Etsy shop and at Back Door Quilt Shop.

 

The cross stitch in the middle of this pillow is Farm Girl Fall by Lori Holt. 

 

This cross stitch is by Primrose Cottage.

 

I made the wreath using a video from Still Waters Wreath Designs on You Tube.           

                                               

Until next time.....

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today. 

Happy Fall - Back to Blogging

Hello Everyone   Where have I been?   After my last post I went to physical therapy for my hip and after a while I began to have a problem with my knee.  I think maybe one might have been the result of the other.   At the end of July I had my right knee replaced.   (That's my driving leg!)  If you have had this surgery or know anyone that has, you know that recovery is a slow process.  I'm doing ok, but there are still some things I need to work on and exercises to do every day.   I still don't have the stamina I had before the surgery.   That will just take time.   So as much as I hated to, I've canceled the two retreats that I'd signed up for - the Jane Stickle retreat in Shipshewana and Stitch Away at Hueston Lodge in Ohio.   I'm looking forward to next spring when I’m ready to retreat again.  

 

You all know that I have a few lot of projects here at home to keep me busy.   But I thought why not start something new to work on while recuperating.  So, before I had surgery, I started cutting hexagons for the Insanity quilt.  I’m using some of my collection of Tilda fabrics for the hexagons.   I knew it would be a while before I could stand at the cutting mat for very long.   There’s a lot of white tone on tone fabrics used as background, and an online friend, Theresa, sent me a nice box full of background strips like those she is using for the background hexagons of her Insanity quilt.  If my math is correct, there are 10,339 total ½” hexagons in this quilt.

 

In the original photo the solid borders are done in pink.   I’ve decided to do mine in this teal fabric.

 

 

This quilt by Rhonda Pearce was pictured on the Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine Volume 16 Number 6.  I don’t see a date on the magazine, but the quilt won first prize in the Traditional Professional category in the 2007 Quilter’s Guild of NSW annual exhibition.

 

 

It’s fall in Indiana.   This photo was taken about a week ago in our front yard.  We’re having some chilly nights, so the leaves are really turning now.  

 

My mums came from my oldest grandson’s school fund raiser.   They have really filled out.   I love the colors!

 

Thanks to those of you who are still reading my blog.   I’ve done a lot of handwork so I plan to keep posting.

 

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

 

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.  

Catching Up

I didn't mean to stay away this long.   If you read my April 1 post, I'd helped move part of a bookcase upstairs.   The pain from that has gone from bad to worse.   I've had x-rays twice and an MRI.   Today I start physical therapy - 8 weeks 2-3 times a week.   I've twisted and pulled things in my back and legs that I can't fix.   If I sit too long, it's getting harder and harder to stand.  Hopefully they can help me figure out what to do.  

Here are some of my spring quilts.   My husband has been great to help me hang these.  I still have my Easter decorations out.  I'll take photos of those and post them. 

This quilt is done using a product called Quiltsmart.  

This is a Shabby Fabrics pattern.  

This is one of my patterns Dresden Blossoms.  

This spool is a project I did along with two of my cross stitch buddies.  It is a Jeanette Douglas pattern.  It's stitched on 36 count mystery cloth that one of my friends shared with me.

My  daughter-in-law is into making charcuterie boards, so I tried one when the family came over to celebrate my birthday.  

This is what I've been working on.  This is the 1797 Revisited quilt.  The photo on the left is the before photo.  I just wasn't happy with how long and narrow this quilt was.  So instead of taking out part of the top and bottom, I added 4 rows to each long side and reworked the corners.  It took a couple of weeks, but I'm a lot happier with the size.  

 Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you're finding some time to stitch today.

Retreating in Shipshewana

I had a wonderful time last week at the Jane Stickle Quilt Retreat in Shipshewana, Indiana.   The town is a fun place to visit, and it's always nice to catch up with friends that I haven't seen in awhile.   Our group came together over 25 years ago because we were all making the Dear Jane quilt.  I started attending the retreat in 2001.  I've missed a few retreats, but for the most part I've been there.  

Here are some photos from around town:

Yoders Department Store.  

At the side of the building there are several barn quilts.

The Free Manure sign always makes me laugh.

The gazebo out in front of Yoders.  

The Blue Gate.  

There's popcorn at the north end of town.......

and popcorn at the south end of town.  

Things are quiet on Sunday mornings.   Everything is closed.  

There are a lot of different shops and restaurants in the Davis Mercantile building.  

These are just a few photos from around town.  In my next post I'll show you some of the shops I visited while I was there.  

I did a lot of socializing at the retreat, but I really did sew.   Here are the hexagons I worked on.  They are 3/4".   I don't really have a plan for a quilt just yet.   I just like cutting and sewing them.  

I also did some needle turn applique on the leaves in the border of my Just Judie quilt.  The center hexagons are all done in Tilda fabrics. 

I was able to sit out on the porch yesterday afternoon and stitch some, but it's a lot cooler today.   We have another freeze warning for tonight.  Our frost free date where I live is May 10 so I won't plant any flowers until at least that date.  

Until next time.....

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.