Sometimes It's All About Perspective

While it appears that I have not been doing anything much, I actually have.  

I don't have much quilty to show for my week (hand stitching some binding down) but there has been a mission at our parish all week long that I have been attending.  

I came home from work, ate a quick dinner and drove to my church.  

These were some later nights but with a lot of spiritual growth for me!  

I belong to a very traditional Catholic church but became a Catholic only just before I got married.  This week has taught me a LOT and 

I am thankful that I was given this amazing opportunity to grow in my faith.

The mission ended last night and on the way home I said to my husband 

that I had not gotten much done this week.  

He reminded me how very much, very important things I had actually done this week.  

Sometimes life is all about perspective isn't it?

I have a few fun photos to share with you of Beep.  

My friend at work has a grandson, Drew, that has a class project.  

His older brother had done the same one a few years ago.  

You may remember Flat Jack.  This time it is flat Drew.  

The kids in the class take a photo and make a "flat" version of themselves.  

Then they ask friends and relatives to take photos of them visiting wherever they live.  

We send the photos back to the class with the info on where they were taken 

and maybe a story or two. 

 I sent Flat Drew to visit Beep.  

Beep was very curious about Flat Drew.  

I also sent along a link to the video of Beep playing the Xylaphone!  

So as we head into the weekend remember not to neglect your spiritual health, 

it is even MORE important than quilty content.  

I think I needed this reminder.

Enjoy your weekend my friends!

~XOP~

WIPs With Friends

I was busy, busy BUSY over the weekend!  I have loads to share with you all.

I got 2 count them 2 quilts back from my fabulous long arm quilter, Kathy, at Thread Bear Quilting.  The first one is the baby Big Foot quilt.  

I had to put away the fishies to work on binding this one.  T

he baby is due any minute now so I need to have it trimmed and bound.

I chose an aqua and white stripe binding for this one.  

The aqua matched the chest and face on the Yeti that is on the back.  

I did get it all sewn on and turned and glue basted in place. 

 I even managed to stitch about 1/4 of the way by hand too.  

I will take a photo of the whole quilt once I get the binding finished.

The other quilt that I got back is the Hallowedding quilt!!!  

As you can see Hallie (short for Halloween) claimed it for her own!  

This while I was trying to sew on the binding.

I will show some close ups once I can gift it.

The groom is working out of state for awhile so not sure when that will be.

Maybe a few sneak peeks though!

I had a friend ask me about what did I mean "glue basted" the binding. 

 I use Elmer's School glue 

(it's washable)

 and put a thin line between the stitch line and the raw edge of the quilt.  

Then I carefully turn the binding until the fold is just over the stitching line 

and using my iron, press it into place.  

This allows me to take the quilt anywhere and bind and not have to worry about pins. 

 It is also MUCH easier on my hands not to have to hold it in place while it stitch 

(or have pins or clips in my way)

The quilting detail is amazing on this (Thank you Kathy!)  Again, Hal thought this was hers!

I managed to get my 4 bee blocks done too.  

I did work on another chenille blanket and some burp cloths but since the baby shower is this upcoming Saturday, I won't show these until after the shower.

I will link up with Sew Fresh Quilts Let's Bee Social

Now it's your turn. 

 Show me what you are working on! 

 Please link up using the blue Inlinkz button.

Don't forget to share on social media using #WIPsWithFriends and link back to this post!

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

WIPs With Friends

Is it Wednesday already??  

I have some new fishies to share with you.  

I am continuing the school of fish.  

They are fairly labor intensive and I am struggling with the lack of actual directions. 

(as you will see on fish number 3)  

I am working off a beta version that I got from Sarah when she was making this pattern.

I am using the Folksy Fish pattern by No Hats Quilts

So far I have three completed fish.  I finished fish number 3 last night and started on fishy number 4.  

Fish Number 1 (He has the best eye)

Fish Number 2 (I think he is a Beta fish)

Fish Number 3 (I am loving his body fabric!)

I decided to keep going and this next fish is a lot more complex then these first three.  

It is my nod to MSU (school that the mama went to) in that it is green and white.  

I spent about 2 hours on the top half of the fish last night.  

There were 33 pieces in the top section of the fish.  

The mama of the baby's mama asked me what I meant by paper piecing so I took a few shots to show what I meant and will share those here.

This is what the paper side looks like with the fabric all sewn on to it from the "back" 

(or the side I actually sew on).  

It is kind of a mess, but you can see how I sew on the lines.

Flip it over and you can see what it looks like on the front.  

This particular pattern did not include the 1/4" seam allowance so when I piece I need to remember that my outer edge needs to include that.

Here it is from the front once it is trimmed (don't worry the odd bits will be caught in the seam)

This is the whole pattern for the fish without the background.  

You can see I have a wee bit more to do!

I thought this captured the whole thing nicely too.

I am going to link up to Let's Bee Social too.

So that takes care of what I am working on.  

What are you doing?  

If you are on IG please use the #WIPswithfriends

Please use the Inlinkz button to link up and let us all know what you are working on!

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

Counted Cross Stitch Nora Corbett

I realize I usually write quilty content but I recently rediscovered my love of cross stitch.

I dug out an old Nora Corbett (Mirabilla) pattern to work on in the evenings as my hand work.

It is a mermaid and it is AWESOME, but daunting. 

 I am going to post this as a WIP and try to make progress.  

I, just today, came across her Christmas Courier patterns and know I have to make Prancer.

My kids used to LOVE watching the movie Prancer.  

In fact it is one of my favorite Christmas movies.  

Here is where you all come in.  

I am not a huge fan of stitching on linen.  

I prefer the even weave fabrics when possible.  

I love the look on linen but my old eyes don't do as well with it.  

I love the color of the linen but there is a Lugana that is a silvery moon that is pretty too.  

(Lugana is an even weave)

Here are the colors:

This is the one in the photo above Twilight Blue Linen

 And this is the Silvery Moon Lugana

I am going to order but need to choose.

If anyone has any other suggestions of choices and where to get them that would be helpful.

Happy Sewing

~XOP~

Ocean Waves QAL Check In

I know you think I have not had time to work on this but I have!  

Last night I made one more block. 

 I have a total of 10 blocks finished.  

Only 26 more to go!  

Here is my latest block.

I am finding that each block (after the HST are sewn and trimmed) takes me about 2 hours to make.

I have one more set of HST all sewn and trimmed and ready to put together.

I have to take a break after that to work on the fishy baby quilt.  

I also have another chenille baby blanket to make for a baby shower.

THEN I can get back to the Ocean Waves blocks.

I am finding that I am really enjoying the process and working on my precision.

Hallie has become my new sewing buddy.  She is overweight and uses my chair as a step to get up to the table.  She does not like to lay down so I have to coax her, but once there she is fine.

I bought a new mouse to use with my lap top.  I thought it was funny to see her with her head on it.

How are you progressing on your OW blocks?  

I would love for you to link up here and show everyone your progress.  

Use the blue Inlinkz button to link up

If you are using IG then use the #oceanwavesQAL

Happy Sewing!

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

The Traveling Quilter

My husband is a real trooper!  

I just have to say that before I write another word.  

He indulges my *need* to stop at quilt shops when we travel.  

I didn't used to keep track of the places we stopped at but I have changed that. 

 I now write down the name and location,

 the website as well as what I liked or didn't like about the shop.  

This will allow me to know if I have already visited a shop, 

or still need to as well as if a return visit is worth the trip.  

I thought I would share with you all the shops we stopped at on our way down to Sarasota 

(just off I-75) and on our way home.  

Keep in mind it matters which day and the time of day you hit these things in your travels.  

This year we left on a Thursday morning.  

Most quilt shops don't open until 10am so that meant at least 3 hours of traveling before the first stop.  Same was true on the way home.  

In previous years, Saturday and Sunday present their own issues and often shops are closed on a random week day so be sure to check the website for each shop you plan to visit!  

Here we go!

 We stopped at Sew Ezy Quilt Shop in Sharonville Ohio.  

It was a cute little shop and I bought some great background fabrics there.  

The one on the top right is sparkly silver dots! 

We stopped at the Fabric Art quilt shop in Lake City Florida.  

The shop exterior is purple!  

We had stopped there before so I knew it was one that I liked.  

I didn't buy any fabric but I did find some really nice varigated embroidery floss here.

Then we were in Florida and The Cotton Patch is really near to my In-laws place.  

I adore this little shop!  

I bought this adorable seahorse pattern there.

And you may recall my saying that Fred the Bassett Hound lives here too.

I found these great "fishy" prints and this amazing fish fabric.  

I bought enough of the fish to use for the back 

of the baby quilt I am making for an amazing special someone.

Next up was Deborah's Quilt Basket in Venice.  I found a few copies of one of my pattern!

I found a few more fabrics for the fishy quilt as well as that great stripe for binding!

Then it was time to head home.  

I had asked my friends on Instagram for suggestions and two shops were mentioned as "must see".  They were completely correct, they were!

The first one was called Pinwheels Quilt Shop located in Valdosta GA.  

BEAUTIFUL shop and super friendly people. 

They had a lot of Elizabeth Hartman patterns and samples which was fun to see. 

 I was able to find some of the Kate Spain North Woods fabrics there that I used for my Christmas stockings last year so I picked up a bit more.

Then we stopped at an amazing shop called A Scarlet Thread, located in McDonough, GA.  

 Wowza, this shop was huge and had so much fabric (much of it modern fabrics).

They also had this adorable vintage sewing machine too.

I picked up a few favorites as well as that cute blue gingham!  

The last stop on the way home was near Cincinati, OH in the city of Waynesville.

The Fabric Shack!!!!

This place is unbelievable.  They now have an anex too.  

This is where I had to restrain myself.  

There were a few things I was actually looking for on this trip and they had BOTH of them!!! 

 I wanted some of the mermaids from Sarah Jane's line and they had those.

The other one is Tabby Road by Tula Pink and OMG they had the entire line!!!  

I bought the tuna cans.

And the cats and the mice in two color ways.

The mouse print on the top in aqua was by FAR my favorite print in the entire line!  

I need some of the cat eye prints but could not afford to buy any more right now (vacation y'all).

So there you have it.  

The quilt shops we stopped at along I-75 on this trip to and from Florida.

I hope you enjoyed traveling with me and stop back again!

~XOP~

WIPs With Friends

I can't say I have much new that I am working on as I was on vacation all week last week.  

We got home on Saturday and I did some sewing on Sunday though. 

 I am working my way through the Ocean Waves quilt but have to stop to work on a baby quilt. 

 Here is my latest OW block.

 The pattern I am using for the baby quilt is called Folksy Fish, by No Hats  

I love Sarah's pattern but this fish was VERY time consuming!  

The paper piecing was what paper piecing is and even though it takes time it is not really difficult.  The curved piecing on top of the paper piecing though was KILLER! 

 I don't have a lot of curved piecing experience so hopefully it gets easier!  

I love how this fish turned out though.  

The 8 x 10 block took me just over 5 hours to complete.

My plan is to make more of the fish in various shades of blues and greens.  

I plan to use lots of low volume prints to make the "water".  

I will be making some pieced water blocks and have a little more negative space in the quilt.  

  If I find out the baby's name (ahem, hint, hint) 

I have an adorable paper pieced alphabet that I could put his name on the quilt.  

I think I would really love that.  

I'm not sure how many fish I will end up making.  

There are 8 different fish with each one facing left and right (so 16 total).  

I'm a sucker so will most likely end up making them all and then adding the water and name.  

I am linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts too.

Your turn.  What are you working on?  Take a minute and link up using the blue Inlinkz button.  If you blog about the link up please link back to this post.

~XOP~

An InLinkz Link-up

I'm Back From Vacation

I wonder if you even noticed that I was gone?  LOL  

We took a road trip from MI to FL and just got back.  

I have lots to share with all of you about the trip so here goes. 

First few days we spent by the pool.  

Ahhhhhhhh.

On Monday I visited the Cotton Patch and bought this adorable Sea Horse quilt pattern.

Fred is the local inhabitant at this shop.  He was very friendly and helpful!

 I found the perfect backing for my newest project too.  

Aren't those fish adorable?  

The 2 FQ I will use for a fishy or two.

One day we drove down to Venice Beach and it was the absolute perfect beach day!

What a crazy surprise when I walked into the local quilt shop and saw one of my patterns hanging!

Even my hubby was enjoying the warm weather with a drink at the local Daiquiri Deck!

I got the shrimp tacos and they were amazing!!!

I spent a little more time at the pool over the course of the week.

One day we drove to the area that Mote Marine is and walked out into the bay.  I found these shells.

and these weird little tube worm things.

We had the company of this heron.  A black heron maybe?

I thought it was interesting to see this large footprint with the smaller ones imprinted in the mud.  There was water covering these! 

 It was fascinating that the mud held the prints even under the water.

Then there was this elegant fellow.  He let me get really close.

He stretched out his very long neck when the fisherman on the next pier caught a fish!

We drove to Anna Maria Island and walked out on the pier.  We even saw a dolphin!

My SIL and BIL bought a beautiful home on Bird Key.  This is on their patio overlooking the ocean.

We had a fabulous time!  

We stopped at a few quilt shops on the way down and back and I will write about that in a future post.  I picked up lots of goodies along the way. 

 I am hoping to do WIPs With Friends tomorrow so please stop back to link up!

Have a wonderful day!

~XOP~