The days grow shorter.  Today we have balmy weather and tomorrow frost.  My body craves sleep in response to sunless gray skies.  I look at my paints.  I unfold a finished quilt top.  I open a box and touch all the UFOs insid

I finished prepping this block for appliqué last night.            I didn’t get it done over the weekend.  Monday at lunch I sat in the man van and wished I had some handwork. 

I’ve been thinking………  Sometimes when I’m looking at quilts in books or magazines, I’ll see one that has me thinking, “That is one ugly quilt”.  Then a few weeks later I’ll see the sa

What’s on my design wall?                From left to right:  the mostly quilted I Believe panel, the sorely neglected Dresden plate block, and a mock up of a block usin

I finished appliquéing one block (left) and started another (right).           As I work on these I find it odd that they appeal to me.  1940’s quilt blocks don’t seem like a fit wi

  Darlene Zimmerman (the Feedsack Lady) spoke at a local quilt guild Thursday and showed pieces from her antique quilt and clothing collection.  I don’t belong to that guild, so I paid a guest fee to join the fun.  In addition to

Yesterday I went to a small quilt show at a local church.  They had some nice antique quilts and embroidered pieces displayed.  I took this picture because I’d never seen this pattern before.  The quilt owner had bought the block

While wandering the web, I came across this blog.  Patra mentioned her SINS (Stuff I’ll Never Stitch), referring to her vintage embroidery patterns.  That’s a new one.  I guess it could also stand for Stuff I’ll Never

We had a three-day weekend in the U. S. for the Labor Day holiday, giving me an extra day to play in the sewing room.  So what did I do?  I prepared another Dresden plate block for appliqué.  I dyed two runs of fabric, blue/blac

I finished appliquéing the Dresden plate block today, in just under three weeks!!  That beats my time on the last block by over eight months.  I use this quilt as a filler project, so I can laugh all I want at how long it takes. 

While preparing the next dresden block for appliqué last weekend, I decided to document the process.  I love antique dresden plate blocks, so I buy them when I find them if they are good quality and reasonably priced.  I never expect

Another Dresden plate block goes into the finished pile.  You gotta love it when a week’s worth of appliqué takes nine months to finish.  After declaring August “finish some quilts” month, I’ll take any progre

Sharon B gave us the theme of “stories that are, stories that are possible” for the June Take It Further challenge.  What a fun topic!  Whenever I think of quilts with stories, I think of antique quilts.  I seldom know the

My unexpected wins at quilt group raffle night increased by stash by 1.25 yards, while I donated away half a yard.  If you missed my post about the raffle, you can read about it and see my winnings here.  I prepped another antique Dresden f

I just finished one week of conscious time management.  I started out focusing on creating more sewing time, but I ended up reading and cleaning more too.  If you’ve set goals or have deadlines to meet, this is definitely the way to g

I didn’t buy any fabric this week.  I used however much fabric it took to make this block for my quilt group swap.  I choose this pattern because I wanted to do some paper piecing.  I saw this block in an antique quilt and wanted

In the summer, hummingbirds come and live at our house.  We fill feeders for them, and their calls and the hum of their wings become part of the daily background noise.  Sometimes they hover at the screens and watch us.  We recognize t

There’s not much fabric painting going on around here lately.  This time of year it’s hard to find time to take a breath, relax, and do things we enjoy.  I usually lose my sewing room/guest bedroom to actual guests during the ho