My blog...

 Taking an extended time away.

Not saying Good-bye...Hope to return in the not so far future.

Thank you for the bloggers who consistently share with us

their artwork and their talents; it gives joy to my day

 visiting at their blog sites.

Quietly Quilting

 What's in my hoop?

Not quite Spring weather here just yet.

This is how I can play with flowers.

;0)

Our family has been feeling under the weather lately;

colds seem to be passing around.

Not a lot of stitching has been happening.

Just like flowers in the garden...some sunshine helps us feel our best.

Hopefully soon the sun will shine down upon us.

Time away

 I will be taking some time away from blogging.

Much sadness in our lives right now.

My brother has passed away

after a year of fighting for his life.

Cancer.

I pray someday they will have a cure.

~

Our Spring comes much later in May.

Hopefully when the sun shines again life will feel better.

Book, Binding and a Quilt

~ BOOK ~

I have been spending a good amount of time reading. 

A book recommended by a good friend

'The Fairy Tale Girl"

by

Susan Branch.

I love the whimsical designs by Susan Branch;

her recipe's, artwork, calendars, etc.

I remember way-back-when each month a recipe

would be printed in the copy of Country Living magazine.

I would carefully cut out the page and put it in a plastic

sleeve and place in a binder.  I still have all those pages.

It has been a joy to read this book...I am almost finished.

It has been very interesting; and it has been a joy

to hear her story of how it all began.

~ BINDING ~

I have finished hand sewing on the binding on all four sides of my quilt.

I have not been feeling great lately; sickness or allergies??

 I would stitch for awhile and then let it sit.

Little by little I got all the way around.

It is so nice to have a completely finished quilt!

~ QUILT ~

What's next?

I have another quilt to get the binding on.

Woohoo!  After my DIL quilted one of my oldest sitting quilt tops;

she also grabbed my newest quilt top and she did her magic

to get this quilt closer to the finish line.

This is a sneak peek at the long arm quilting design.

The binding will be done slowly...first sewn on by machine

then flipped over and finished sewing by hand.

I haven't even started.  First up to trim the four sides.

Next cut and make the binding.

Then sew onto quilt...flip it...and start the hand stitching.

It's good to have some progress going on around here

even if it is at a snail's pace.

Victorian Language of Flowers

Victorian framed dried flower arrangements, popular in the 19th century

as both sentimental keepsakes and botanical art,

involved drying or pressing flowers to be arranged under glass.

These arrangements often featured romantic or memorial themes,

displayed on velvet or lace, and were a common,

genteel pastime used to preserve blooms and decorate homes.

The above picture was taken the day we purchased this piece.

What you can't see is the curved edged glass is not fully attached to the frame;

and the inside is filled with dust.

*

This is how it looks today.

My husband and I took it apart and cleaned the glass and artwork;

then we reassembled it back together again

 with the curved glass front securely reattached to the frame.

If you noticed I added a pink butterfly to the lower right corner;

a keepsake from my mothers graveside flower keepsakes.

I met the woman who made this framed flower art piece.

She was a lovely woman;

who had spent her life creating beautiful items for her home.

She did needlework and crochet...as well as collected antiques

to decorate her home in a Victorian Style.

She was moving from her home into a new place

and she couldn't take everything with her.

It all went up for sale and it was very reasonably priced.

I feel so blessed to have arrived early at this sale.

I bought many of her handmade items

and some of her antiques as well.

I thought how sad it must be to sell all her

lifetime handmade and collected treasures.

These should be family heirlooms.

She was happy that I was buying so many of her things.

She knew I would love them as she did.

They are in our home now, well taken care of and loved.

And someday they will become family heirlooms

for me to pass on to my loved ones.

Big Fat Bear Paw quilt

Here is a sneak peek at my 54 X 54 inch square...

Big Fat Bear Paw Quilt

 I made the quilt top many, many years ago.  I knew I wanted it to have just the perfect quilting.

I hand quilt my quilts...so this sat and sat and was displayed like this.

Well, my DIL has become quite the long arm quilter and she offered 

to do the quilting for me.  I am so happy she did; it turned out

so fantastic.  I just love it.  It's beautiful.

Now its time for me to do the binding.  I trimmed the edges

and machine sewed on the binding strip, flipped it over

and now it is ready to start the hand stitching.

This morning I threaded my needle and started the process.

I will take my time on this and work on it over the next few days.

I am happy with the way the back turned out as well.

She picked the perfect quilt design and the perfect thread color.

Soon this quilt will truly be fully finished;

 and I hope to find a spot to display

in our home for all to see.

Shamrock Blessings

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

 I will be enjoying a nice cup of Irish Breakfast Tea this morning.

 

Below is my Shamrock Blessings Cross Stitch

(a freebie design from Melisa @ Pinker n Punkin Quilting & Stitching)

It's snowing outside, 17 degrees but feeling like 0 degrees;

making it the perfect day to enjoy a cup of hot tea and

to do a little quilting and stitching!

Enjoy your Day!

X's and O's

 I've decided to call this little quilt

X's and O's.

I have finished hand quilting all the x's on neutral squares.

This morning I started hand quilting the o's.

Here is a peek at the backing; and I have the binding all cut

and ready for when my quilting is finished.

I used to often just use muslin on the backings;

but I have been trying to do better and find some pretty

fabrics that add to the quilt's overall look.

Red Work

 I am trying to shop from my stash and work on projects

previously started.  I want to add to my

"finished list" rather then to add

something new.

This morning I was looking for a project and found this

Red-Work Bears hand embroidery kit.

I will finish off this little bear and keep on stitching.

I believe there are 10 total to stitch.

Friday Finish / Crochet

I have a Friday Finish!

I try and crochet at least one afghan a year and it is worked on slowly;

whenever I have the desire to sit and stitch.

The afghan is folded in half on my craft table.

It is about lap size, long but narrow.

The pattern below.  I did chose to leave off the fringe.

From this book I purchased way back in 2006.

The yarn I used.

I am happy to have this finished.

I am a fan of Ripple Crochet designs.

I have lots more yarn and books.

Soon I will be looking for a new project to work on.

 I am a big fan of crochet.

It is the one craft that doesn't seem to come to me as naturally as some of my needlework. 

 I really have to pay attention and often have many start overs.

Still, it is something that I enjoy and hope to improve on. 

Wednesday Morning Frost

 It's early morning with haze and 26 degrees.

Frost is making life outside a little more interesting.

The winds are calm.

We still have snow on the ground.

little quilt stitching

 Ready to start the hand quilting on this little quilt.

Marked with blue lines - a good start.

I will quilt this than decide what else I may want to add for

quilting designs.

Friday Finishes

 My Winter Blues quilt and cross stitch projects are finished.

Winter Blues Little Quilt

(my own design)

Machine Pieced / Hand Quilted

approximately 18" tall by 15" wide 

front

back

Cross Stitch

Mary Elizabeth Coat's Winter Saltbox

a Country Design by:

Melisa @ Pinker n' Punkin Quilting

Winter will be hanging around here for a bit longer;

but it will be nice to have something pretty to

enjoy until Spring is here!

A special thank-you to Melisa

for sharing her patterns.

I do love a Saltbox Home design.

Quilt Shop Closing

 Visited a Quilt Shop today.

Sadly it will be closing its doors by summertime.

I focused in on the center quilt on the picture below.

The quilt shop owner designed this one herself.

It is called "Christine".

Lakota name:  Stands With a Fist

(after the movie Dancing with Wolves).

She said she saw this quilt in the movie and wanted to reproduce it;

suggesting all 1800's reproduction fabrics.

All Fat Quarters were on sale at $1.00 each.

And if you found fabric on the bolt and bought what was left

it was 35% off.

Here is what I came home with.

Just some random pieces to have on hand

when just the right quilt design pops up.

It was a fun way to spend time today.

Very sad to see this quilt shop go.

We have four in this town...and this one was my favorite.

Happy Valentine's Day quilt

My Valentine's Quilt from long ago.

Machine pieced and some hand quilting.

 A close up of the hand quilting.

If you notice on top picture I had not done any hand quilting on the red borders.

I am now adding in some hand quilting stitches.

 

I have all the heart design added on and time to start the stitching.

~

Some slow stitching to enjoy over the Valentine's Day holiday.

February 12th, 2026

 Second Hand, Second Chance Quilts

I make quilts myself from scratch; but I also look to buy quilts as well.

Especially ones that just need a little TLC to make them better.

What I am working on...

The Amish Quilt was bought as a finished quilt.

~ machine pieced and machine quilted ~

I saw room for some hand quilting to be added.

I hand quilted the first border.  I am working on the pink an blue squares now.

From blanc spaces...

 

I used the blue pen to mark the designs...

and quilted.

Now, when I feel like a bit of hand quilting I will continue on.

Another work in progress is the blue star quilt;

also purchased and listed as "needs repair".

The center of the star had come unsewn.  I simply added some stitches and repaired the quilt.

with my needle and thread

to this...all repaired.

Because this is a vintage well loved quilt I am adding more

hand quilting to help stabilize the quilt.

I hand quilted the dark blue center, and now I am moving on to the yellow.

I have the yellow marked with blue ink ready to stitch.

I am hand quilting every other row around the star...

dark blue, yellow, and next up the dark blue.

I have plenty of projects going to keep me busy.

And plenty of choices to work on

whatever catches my fancy for when the moment comes my way.

I work without giving myself deadlines;

just stitch and or quilt when I feel like it.

~ Happy Stitching Everyone ~

February 10th, 2026

Winter Stitching

my current work in progress 

* cross stitch design by Melisa @ Pinker n Pumpkin Quilting