The First Hand Quilt Along of Autumn

This is the first Hand Quilt Along post of Autumn, but the second one of September. I marked the second short end of the inner border earlier this week and have been quilting it when visiting my mom. 

I finished quilting the braid yesterday and started the flower. I still have to finish quilting the corner flower, but I think I will stencil the other long border today so that it is ready to start quilting tomorrow.

Soon I will have to decide on the stencil for the outer red and white checked border. 

The HQAL is an opportunity for hand quilters to share and motivate each other. The talented quilters below post every three weeks to show our progress and encourage one another. Stop by their sites to see what they are working on. If you have a hand project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Cathie 

Thanks for stopping by!

September Stitch Along Update

 A lot has happened in the three weeks since I last posted. First of all I became a Grammy to Natalie. You can see that post here. Hubby and I traveled to Boston and met here last weekend!

The onesie that she is wearing in this photo is one I had saved from when my daughter was an infant. It was virtually brand new.

I have been stitching away to get the birth announcement finished now that she is here. This is how it looked for the last Stitch Along update in August.

Here is an interim update where I had started the vines and flowers up the sides.

This is where I am now.

I have finished the side vines and flowers and have started stitching the raccoon on the upper left. There are still an owl and a squirrel to stitch as well as the name, birthdate, etc. in the middle. I think it should be done by the end of the month except if we take another trip to see the baby. 

Thank you to Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea for hosting this Stitch Along every three weeks and sending us the needed posting reminders. 

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other talented bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. There is a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post. We are welcoming Mary Margaret back to the stitch along. I am looking forward to seeing what she has been up to. 

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie, MaryMargaret

Thanks for stopping by! 

She's here!

On September 4th I became a Grammy. My daughter and her husband welcomed Natalie at 4 am.

 My husband and I are overjoyed! We can't wait to meet her.

I have been busily working on the birth announcement. I now have the name and all the vitals to add to it. All that info will go above the tree. You can see that I have rolled the scroll frame.

I have been busy this week cooking meals to freeze for both my mother and for my daughter and son in law.

 I also started organizing my fabric this week. I recently saw a video where fabric was wrapped around comic book cardboard and stored vertically.

I discovered that I have more fabric than I realized. I have organized the fabrics colors you see above as well as browns and blues. Unfortunately there are many fabric pieces that are a little too small to fit on the boards, but too large for my scrap bags. I don't know what I will do with those pieces yet. Any storage ideas that you wish to share would be appreciated. 

That is all for now. I have to go visit my new granddaughter.

I will try to join Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Hand Quilt Along

I have been stitching one of the long borders on the baby quilt when I visit my mom. You can see that the bottom portion is completed here.

I am up to the flower that is in the middle. I will work on that today when I visit. I might be able to finish this border today.

My mom often asks me if she can help me, but sadly I know she can't. I am glad that I am able to sit with her and hand quilt on a quilt that she hand pieced.

 The HQAL is an opportunity for hand quilters to share and motivate each other. The talented quilters below post every three weeks to show our progress and encourage one another. Stop by their sites to see what they are working on. If you have a hand project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, and Cathie 

September is here!

September is here and I don't have to go back to school. WooHoo!

September 1st was my mother-in-law's 89th birthday. We brought her dinner from a local Italian restaurant and bought a cake to celebrate.

We thought my daughter might have her baby girl on that day, but we are still waiting. 

I have gone back to sewing the quilt for my daughter and son-in-law. I am working on the next 10 blocks. I had gotten up to the last two fiddly logs of each block. Friday and Saturday I worked on the next to last log and finally finished all 10. Below is the first part of the log, two diamonds, that I need to iron before adding the green/blue trapezoid.

Here are all ten blocks with that log on the right hand side.

 I have to add a similar log to the bottom. I chose the fabrics for each block after I finished those logs. I might work on them a little today.

Hubby and I went to a Belmont Lake State Park on Friday to take a walk around the lake. We were glad to see that it still had water as we have drought conditions here on Long Island.

There were some ducks in a really shallow area where you can see that the water level has gone down. The water is usually right up to the plants you can see in the background.

There is a nice path through the surrounding wooded area. It is just about a mile around the lake.

I am still stitching the birth announcement. I have started working on the vines and flowers that work their way up the sides. I have also added the little bee. 

I just think this piece is so adorable. I am loving each stitch that I add. 

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are stitching. I will be adding some stitches to that birth announcement for sure. 

Thanks for stopping by!
 

Second Stitch Along Update of the month

I am thoroughly enjoying stitching the Woodland Animals birth announcement. Here is where I was three weeks ago. 

I had just finished the tree. Now I have several animals completed. 

You can see a frog, a lady bug, two butterflies, a fox, a chipmunk and a deer. 

 Aren't they all so adorable? 

Thank you to Avis at Sewing Beside the Sea for hosting this Stitch Along every three weeks and sending us the needed posting reminders. 

Grab yourself a cup of coffee or tea and take some time to visit the other talented bloggers below who are part of this stitch-along. There is a wide variety of stitching projects. These talented stitchers are from all over the world so please allow for the time differences and check back for each post. We are welcoming Mary Margaret back to the stitch along. I am looking forward to seeing what she has been up to. 

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny, Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie, MaryMargaret

Thanks for stopping by!

Slow Sunday Stitching

I have been busy since we returned from our California trip. You can see the second post about that trip here.  I have been adding creatures to the Woodland Animals birth announcement. Isn't the fox just so adorable. 

Trust me, there are many, many different brown colors in that fox. Speaking of color changes. Those little butterflies are each made up of a mere 30 cross stitches in 10 colors. 

I was so happy to get to the back stitching because I could at least stitch more than 2 stitches at a time.

I have also, finally, added some rows to the first sock that I am crocheting. I have stitched the heel flap that I now have to shape. At first I didn't understand the directions, but I found a video that helped a lot. Now I can start the heel shaping. 

I finally got a photo that shows the true color of green of the yarn.

One of my friends on Facebook had some of her mother's fat quarters for sale. She had 5 different groupings of which I liked 3. I'm thinking I can used these reds for some Christmas placemats or table runners.

Blue is one of my favorite colors and I really like these fabrics.

I am not sure what I will do with the light colored fabrics below, but the colors and patterns appealed to me.

Hubby and I took an afternoon trip to the east end of Long Island. We stopped at one of our favorite places, Macari Vineyards. We shared a bottle of chardonnay and a cheese platter.

The weather was clear and not too hot with a light breeze.

The vines were heavy with grapes.

I have been dabbling in the kitchen also. I made a Blueberry Breakfast Cake midweek. It is not good for my weight loss goals, but it is very delicious.

Yesterday, I was in the mood to make my red cabbage slaw. This will last us for several days and is a nice, light healthy side dish.

I don't know what magazine I clipped this from years ago, but it has become a family favorite.

I am joining Kathy for some Slow Sunday Stitching. Pop on over to her site to see what other bloggers are up to. I will be working on the chipmunk that is just to the left of the tree in the top photo.

Thanks for stopping by!