Red/Green Crazy Quilt Square

I finally finished a crazy quilt square. It took me longer than I thought it would. I always seem to have 3 or 4 projects going at the same time. Even though it was a green/red color scheme, I didn't want to do it as a Christmas block. I did the spider with some black beads and a black sparkly floss, but it didnt show up well, so I ripped it out and did it over again with the purple and silver beads. All in all, I think it turned out OK.

Surprise on the patio

We have 70 degree weather today, so we spent the morning cleaning up part of the yard. We decided to barbecue some hamburgers for lunch. After pulling the patio furniture pads out of the shed we opened the barbecue and SURPRISE:




Some birds had decided that they had found a perfect place to make a nest.






After we cleaned it out, we let it run for a few minutes and cleaned the grates before we cooked.

Greenhouse

My sister, Nyda, has been starting her plants from seed for several years. Over the last 4-5 years she has invested over $3000 in her greenhouse. she covered it with greenhouse film the first year. We get so much wind here it tore the film apart in 2 years. Originally the greenhouse was 8 x 12 feet. Before we put the fiberglass on, we added another 4 feet, making it 12 x 12. It's still not big enough. Last year, Nyda added the propain heat. We had tomatoes until November, last year.

I took these pictures today. As you can see, the tomatoes need to transplanted outside, but it's been too cold and wet until this week. Hopefully, by the weekend we can move them out.

This A-frame stand was setup in the house, in March, with lights hanging above the seed starting trays, until it got warm enough to move them out to the greenhouse.



The hanging plants on the left are cucumbers, on the right are fuschias started from tiny plants about a month ago. The fuschias will hang on the patio this summer, the cucumbers stay in the greenhouse along with 4 large pots of greenhouse tomatoes.



Tomatoes and below them, peppers.



The outside of greenhouse, attached to garage. My studio is on the other side of that wall.

New quilt tops,quilt, flying geese

I have been piecing flying geese blocks. As I was sorting through my stash, I found that I had a lot of small pieces, 1/4 yard or less, that were related by color, either violet, purple or green, and all mixes. I found speed piecing instructions on the web. I couldn't find the original site, but it is also here: http://www.quilterscache.com/H/Howtomakegeese.html
I used method B. I started putting them in a shoe box and when it was full I had enough for the two quilts shown.

The stripped quilt is double bed sized. I found the lilac print and the pink in my stash. I used white on white prints for the white.




I used the leftover blocks to make the smaller quilt. Its about 55 x 66 inches. I didnt put the outer border on at first, but it felt unfinished. Adding the darker boarder framed it and it looks better.

Help Identifying image.

I copy images from all over the web to use for inspiration. I want to try to make a quilt out of this striped star image, but I can't remember where I got it. Does anyone know where it came from? I'd like to give credit if I make it into a quilt.

Sewing, Sewing

Hi. I'm sorry for taking so long to post. I have been job hunting and have only had 2 interviews in 4 months. I'm a bit more depressed than usual. I have a friend that rented a spot in a flea market and offered to put some of my items for sale. I'ts been a bit slow. I also put some of my collectables up for sale. They are doing better than the crafts!

I made some small purses with my beaded appliques on them. My sister wanted a small purse/wallet to use for the summer. She only carries a debit card, cell phone, and a small amount of cash. In the winter it goes in her coat pocket, but for summer she wanted somthing with a long handle that could be removed.

I sew an outline of the motif in chain stitch on the fabric before I bead it. So I trimmed to about 1/4 inch from that outline, clipped the curves and folded the extra fabric to the back and basted it to the back of the beading.



Then I appliqued the motif to the front part of the purse, sewing through the chain stitch so the applique stitches dont show.



After that I sewed in a zipper, added a lining and a handle. I put two pockets inside. I think they turned out ok.






This is a bag I beaded on a dark blue velvet. It is lined with a sparkly blue satin.



These are a couple of purses I made from my stash of fabrics.




And here are some flower dolls.



My sewing machine tension went crazy, so I had to take it to the repair shop. I was in the middle of a new project. About 2 years ago I bought a reproduction treadle sewing machine, but I had never used it. So I opened it up and figured out how to make it work after a little trial and error. I have a lot of admiration for the women who sewed on these machines. After about 30 minutes, my legs were getting sore. I didn't finish my project, but now I know I have a resource if the power goes off and we need some sewing done. I got my machine back after 3 days. Joy! It's not the best machine, but it is way better than the treadle.

Happy sewing.