October Sky Fall Festival

Yesterday was the festival in Oliver Springs and it was a huge success.  There were lots of vendors and a ton of people came out to enjoy the day.  Janelle Arthur did a show at the park and drew the crowds in.  There was a quilt show at the old depot and a car show in town.

I helped them set up for the quilt show and had three of my quilts in it. One was my very first quilt that I gave my Mother and it survived the fire when her house burnt a few years ago. You can't even tell it was in a fire.

I worked on the binding of another quilt during the festival trying to finish it and finally did after I got home last night.  I have one more binding to go for another finish.

I think I may try to make some items ahead for next year's show to sell.  A few people asked if there were any quilts for sale.  I will need to start now if I am going to do that.  Well that's all for now, better go fix breakfast  for hubby.

Happy Stitching Everyone!
Anna

Are you ready for fall?

Sorry it has been so long since I last posted.  There has been a lot going on around here.  First the garden really took off and there was lots of  canning going on.  Mom and I put up about 50 plus quarts of beans and we made bread and butter pickles and sweet pickle relish.  We also canned several quarts of tomatoes and about two dozen jars of salsa.  I also put up several bags of okra.

Then there was DH's left knee replacement.  He is doing great with this one.  Wish the first one had went as well.

My Nephew got married on Sunday and Mom and I made their cake.  It was a beautiful fairytale wedding and the kiddos have a wonderful new stepmother that really loves them.

But through all of this I have managed to get some sewing done.  Oklahoma Backroads and Scrappy Mountains are both back from the quilter and ready for binding.  Hopefully I will be working on them this week.  That's all for now.

Happy Quilting Everyone!
Anna

Quilts and Veggies

I finished the "Hearts in Bloom" quilt for the Hospitality House.  We had a big "to do" at the hospital as this was our guild's 10th year donating.  It was really nice and I think we ended up with between 20 and 30 quilts being donated this year.  This year's theme was a memory quilt. Mine was for my Grandparents, my Uncle and my Sister.  I chose the hearts pattern and used florals and solids for the quilt.  They all had hearts of gold and loved flowers.  Here is a picture of mine.

I received "Star Struck" back from the longarmer and am putting the binding on it now. I will post pictures as soon as it is finished.

On to the veggie part of this post. Our garden is doing great!  We have cucumbers coming out our ears and I am making a run of sweet pickels tonight and will probably do a run of sweet pickel relish over the weekend.  We are already getting ripe tomatoes off the vines and have lettuce and onions.  We have a few banana peppers and a sweet pepper almost ready to pick.  We also have green beans ready to pick and I will probably be doing that while the cucumbers and onions soak in salt and ice for 3 hours before I can make the pickels.  We will more than likely be canning green beans over the weekend also, if not before.  Lots of work but they will be so good this winter.

That's all for now! 

Happy Quilting Everyone!!!
Anna

Quilting & Gardening Progress

I have all the heart blocks completed and there are 3 rows sewn together. I have 2 more rows sewn and ready to be added to those.  Only 7 more to put together and then borders.  It is coming along nicely.  I need to have it finsihed by the 17th of June. I better get busy!

I haven't made any more progress on Oklahoma Backroads as I set it aside to get the heart quilt completed for the Guild.

The garden is coming along nicely.  We already have little tomatoes on the plants and some baby squash is starting to grow.  I will have lettuce and onions ready to pick in about a week or so.  The okra is slowly growing, seems like everything is slightly stunned this year.  Although the green beans are also coming along nicely.  If everything does as well as last years garden I will be canning lots again. But it will be worth it.

Happy Quilting Everyone!
Anna

Quilting and Gardening

I have been both quilting and gardening. It's that time of year when you do both.  Our vegetable garden is slowly coming along.  The new flower garden is also coming along and it has had a little help but not in a good way.  Last night I noticed that the deer have been eating my day lillies. Very bad deer, very bad!  I will have to get something to keep them out of it.

On the quilting side I have been cutting and marking pieces for my quilt for the Hospitality House that our Guild does every year.  The Hospitality House is a place where the cancer patients stay that live several miles away while they go through there treatments.  This years theme is a memory quilt that reminds you of someone that was special to you or inspired you.  I am doing a heart quilt out of mostly florals with lots of purples and yellows in it along with various other colors as well. 

My Uncle was a principal at the local high school and he had a heart of gold and loved flowers, he was also a cancer patient. Our school colors are purple and gold.  My Sister as well as my Grandparents all had hearts of gold and loved flowers also. This quilt will honor all of them as they all had very special place in my life. I can't think of a better way to do so than with a quilt that will go to a cancer patient.

The patients that stay at the Hospitality House get to choose a quilt to use during their treatments and they get to take it with them when they leave. 

On another note, Oklahoma Backroads row's are ready to be pressed and sewn together.  I hope to make lots of progress on both of these this weekend, especially since we have a chance for scattered showers all weekend. The garden can use the water and I can use the time at the machine. 

I will post pictures of both as soon as they are completed.  Have a great weekend.

Happy Quilting Everyone!

Anna

Sewing and Gardening

So sorry it's been so long since I posted, but I things have been busy around here.  I have all the blocks complete for Oklahoma Backroads and 10 of the 11 rows sewn together individually.  I hope to have all the rows together this week and be able to start on the borders.  I have already pulled the fabric for them.  I have also pulled out a UFO to finish the borders on to send to Jo at Jo's Country Junction for her quilt drive for the people affected by the plant explosion in Texas.  I hope to finish the borders this week as well. Then I will send it and a package of batting to her and she will quilt it and send it where it needs to go.

We also have everything planted in the garden that will fit in it.  If it does as well as it did last year I will be canning several things again.  If that happens there won't be much time for sewing.  Oh well, it is worth it because canned food does taste awfully good in the winter months.

Happy Stitching Everyone!

Anna

Slow Progress

I am still making progress on the Oklahoma Backroads quilt.  I now have 67 of the 110 blocks complete.  I hope to be able to finish about another 20 or so this weekend.  We'll see if that happens or not. 

DH is in the yard working mood and is wanting to work outside some.  If it will dry up we can plant some things in the garden also.  I am so ready for warmer weather and hope that next weekend will be nice as we will be going out of town for our neice's wedding.  Just want her to have a beautiful day for it, she deserves it.

Happy Quilting Everyone!
Anna

Progress

I am slowly making progress on the Oklahoma Backroads quilt which was the second one we did at the Bluegrass Quilt Festival in Kentucky with Bonnie.  I have 25 of the 110 blocks complete.  I should complete another 10 tonight.  I have to cut more 2-1/2" lights to be used in the block construction as it is taking more of them than anticipated.  I hope to get several more blocks completed over the weekend as well.

I have also started back to work on my hexagon quilt.  This is slow going as well, especially since I don't work on it that much.  It is all being made from batiks with white setting hexies.  I ran out of the white ones and am having to make more.  I am going to try to work on it at least a few hours each week if possible.  But that goal may get pushed aside when we start planting the garden.

Don't know about you all but I am soooo ready for warm weather.  I am over this cold stuff!!!!!

Happy Stitching,
Anna

New Pictures!

I finally have pics to show of my last two quilts.  The first one is Star Struck from Bonnie Hunter's Quiltville and the second one is Scrappy Mountains Majesty also from Quiltville.  I am starting back to work on the Oklahoma Backroads now that these tops are finally complete. 



Star Struck



Scrappy Mountain's Majesty

Happy Quilting Everyone!
Anna


 

More Progress!

Sorry I haven't posted in a while.  I have been busy. 

Star Struck is a finished top ready to be quilted.  The Scrappy Mountains Majesty quilt from the class that Cricket and I took in Georgia with Bonnie back the first of the month is steadily coming along.  All the blocks are in rows, the rows are getting pressed and pinning will begin tonight.  I can't wait to get all the rows together to see how this will look.  It is all browns and neutrals. I will post pictures of them soon.

Happy Stitching Everyone!
Anna

Steady as She Goes

I am steadily making progress on the Star Struck quilt.  I have 7 rows sewn together and I have the blocks ready to sew together to make the other 4 rows and add them on.  Then all that I will like are the borders and I have my fabric for them ready to be cut. I will post pictures once the top is together.

I have also been making the 4-patches for the Oklahoma Backroads quilt. I believe that I like 40 something having them all made.

We are getting closer to the road trip to Georgia to take another Bonnie Class.  Cricket and I are counting down, so ready for this trip.  We have so much fun with Bonnie and the other quilters and we get to make new friends to.

Happy Quilting Everyone!
Anna

Making Progress

I have finished all 99 blocks for my Star Struck quilt.  Now all I have to do is lay them out and start sewing the blocks into rows and then I can begin putting the rows together.  After the rows are done I will have 2 borders to go and it will be a flimsy.

I also managed to do our Guild President's blocks this weekend, which is a good thing since we have a meeting tonight. I have also finished my PhD list for Guild.  We are doing a Piled High and Deep list of UFO's to complete by the end of the year.  We can have a total of 6 UFO's on it to complete for a chance to win a prize.

I have lots to do today so I better get back at it.

Happy Quilting Everyone!
Anna

Getting Ready for a Road Trip

Our room is booked and fabric is cut, now if the 1st would hurry up and get here we could get on the road.  Cricket and I are counting down to the 1st and the trip to Georgia to take our next class with Bonnie, we can't wait. 

We are taking Scrappy Mountains Majesty.  I am using reproduction fabrics in browns and neutrals.  Can't wait to see what it will look like. 

On a different note, our guild is doing a UFO list this year and for each UFO you finish you will be put in a drawing for prizes.  I have to get busy and get several and I do mean several finished. 

You can check out our blog at ritzythimble.blogspot.com.  We do lots of fun stuff throughout the year.

Happy Quilting Everyone!
Anna

Plugging Away at Star Struck

I have to say that Hubby did very well in choosing the Featherweight.  Is sews great and is so quite!! I pushed my Brother 2002 ULT to the side and have been using this ever since.

I had 4 days off of work for the New Year holiday so what did I do? I started work back on Bonnie Hunter's Star Struck from the class we took in Shepherdsville, Kentucky in the fall.  I have made lots of progress on this quilt. I only like 17 of the 99 blocks having them all made to complete the quilt center.  I cut the strip sets for them lastnight. I hope to get those finished by the weekend so that I can lay out the blocks and start assembling the center. 

Once this quilt top is complete I will go back to working on Bonnie's Oklahoma Backroads which was the second class we took in Shepherdsville.  I only have 7 blocks finished for this quilt but all the pieces are cut and ready to go.

I also pulled and cut the pieces for Bonnie's Scrappy Mountain Majesties class that we will be taking in Alpharetta, Georgia on February 2nd.  Can't wait, another road trip and Cricket and I have so much fun in these classes with Bonnie and we get to meet other quilters from all over that share our passion for quilting.

Happy Quilting Everyone!
Anna