Catching up

Good evening,

I love the fall weather, I am hoping that we have some wonderful cooler days as I watch the leaves fall. Halloween is around the corner too and it is one of my favorite holidays with the grandchildren.

Finished my pentagons and hexagons, loved using the pillar for the border. I just really love English paper piecing, so much fun and so relaxing.

The blocks around the center are from Di Fords Primarily Quilts, that wasn’t the original plan but after working and finishing the center, they just seemed to go together so well. It ended up finishing 115 in.²

I love working on the birds of liberty, still doing one a month but I just love the way they’re coming together. It’s going to be a large quilt, I believe about 105 in.²

The Forest Park friends is another project that I’m trying to do one a month, three more left to work on and they’re turning out so cute. Plan on putting them in a large baskets for the little ones to play with.

I know that some of you are doing the Kingfisher hexagon sewalomg, here is the link if you want to find out more.

https://www.stitchedincolor.com/blog/2018/5/15/the-kingfisher-stitch-along

Four more hexagon diamonds to make, I have really enjoyed it, I think I’ll be sad when it is finished but I’m sure that they’ll be plenty of other English paper piecing projects to work on.

Love these elongated pentagons too, not sure how I will put them together but I thought joining them and making a floral border around a future quilt.So thankful for my quilting, it amazes me even after so many years, there are so many quilts that I still want to make. I am so inspired by so many things. My next post I will share with you what is on my list to start.

Have a great evening and keep stitching,

Rosemary

AQS Show Smilebox

Personalize a digital slideshow

 

New granddaughter, projects, and a couple finishes.

Dear friends,

Summer is coming to an end, and I don’t think I will mind this year, we have had so many hot and humid days. Too many I think.

The best news that I have to share is that I became a grandmother again this month. Naomi Rose was born a couple weeks ago and is doing very well. I think someday she’ll be happy to be sitting in my sewing room. Such a blessing, we are so happy to have her as part of our family.

So just to update you on my projects, I finished the every day best quilt that I started on Mackinac Island. I really enjoyed using the brightly colored fabrics, something I normally wouldn’t use but lately I seem to be drawn to them.

I’m almost finished with my 3 1/2 inch basket quilt, I have about 40 more baskets to complete and add to the top and the bottom and then another smaller border. It will finish over 100 in.², just not sure what the final measurement will be.

Started another project, it’s the Kingfisher stitch along. I started when they were almost finished but it’s so much fun to just sit down and work with the hexagons and again I am using brightly colored fabrics.

This quilt still needs a couple borders, looks like it’s time to do some more work with hexagons and pentagons.

I am trying to finish up some of my projects, somehow I was so inspired by so many things and that definitely has caused me to start too many things all at one time. My list is so long of the things I still want to start. Here is a photo of my Forest Park friends, really enjoying embroidery, four more to go.

Spent this week at the AQS show in Grand Rapids. So many beautiful quilts, will work on getting a smile box finished next. Hope you all had a wonderful weekend,

Happy stitching, Rosemary

Fabric, fabric, fabric

Good evening,

I cannot believe that it is the middle of July and summer is half over. Definitely keeping busy here, certainly has been a hot summer in Michigan. I am working on plenty of projects, some days it’s hard to choose which one.

I have been contemplating writing about fabric downsizing, I don’t think that fabric downsizing is something that I will do. I know I have more fabric then I ever will use but it seems like with each piece of fabric, there is a different memory that arises, where I bought it or what I was going to do with it . I love that and I love fabric. I try to stay organized but it looks like I could definitely could use some refolding.

It just warmed my heart when my daughter recently started another project. I think she has as many as I do now. She wanted to do some small blocks. I love that she is pulling reproduction fabrics out of my stash to use. She is definitely better at color than I am.

I have spent the last six months cleaning and downsizing my sewing room. It’s been fun to part with somethings that I knew I was never going to use. I am appreciating the extra space. The room definitely is not as cluttered and so far I have not missed anything I have parted with.. Thank you all for following me on my journey. I hope some of you were inspired to do your own downsizing.

Here are some of the latest pictures of the projects I’m working on.

Cold wind blows

Birds of liberty

Pentagon’s and hexagons with antique sampler blocks

Forest park friends

Shipshewana baskets

Every day best

I love the different variety of projects that I’m working on and I know there are others that I have not even posted pictures of. I hope that you are finding some time to work on something special..

Enjoy the rest of your summer. I am having a blast with the grandchildren. I also am looking forward to the big AQS show coming to Grand Rapids again and my 10th grandchild to be born next month.

Happy stitching,

Rosemary

Downsizing of books and projects that I am working on now

Dear friends,

I hope that you are enjoying the warmer weather, I am looking forward to my grandchildren having summer vacation, a lot easier to do overnights and other activities.

Downsizing of books. You probably would be really surprised but I don’t have very many books.

I actually only have a couple of shelves for books, and some of them I could easily let go of. I used to have many books, but the fact is I really don’t like to read. Yes, I know I am an author and I don’t like to read. 😊 i’m not sure that I know any other authors that do not like to read. If I do sit down to read I love to read Amish fiction.

I own about 50 or so books that are Amish fiction and I hate to even say I’ve only read two or three of them . 😊 just don’t tell my grandchildren that because I’m always encouraging them to read.

Some books are my absolute favorite, I love looking through them and I won’t show you pictures of others that are not. So this week I will organize my books and part with the ones that I will never use.

So my quilt room is getting pretty organized, Two topics left, Tops I don’t know what to do with and the big one, fabric.

So, on to what I am working on.

Our group in Shipshewana is working on 3 1/2 inch baskets. I love working with reproduction fabrics, I think I always will.

Working on these large embroidery blocks of the state birds. I love the fact that the blocks are pre-printed in color. Working on this project with my daughter and some friends. We do one block month, very doable.

The Forest Park friends, another one a month project. Three down seven to go.

Every day best, a project started in Mackinac Island, fabrics are definitely out the box but so much fun to try something different.

My English paper piecing project using reproduction fabrics. I have a couple other projects I am working on but not enough started to post pictures of.

Enjoy your weekend, hope that you find some time to work on a special project.

Happy quilting,

Rosemary

A gift and blessing 69 years later

Dear friends,

I know I probably should be posting about downsizing my books like I was going to but something really awesome happened this week and I just would like to share it with you. It really doesn’t have anything to do with quilting but I felt like it was such a gift to me and I thought why not share it.

My grandmother whom I never met was shot and killed when she was 49 years old. I really didn’t get a chance to have any pictures of my grandmother until about 10 years ago when my mother passed. I always wondered what my grandmother was like but I always felt connected to her. I never had anything of my grandmothers except for the photos. I think it’s hard when you have a relative like a parent or grandparent that you’ve never met, it’s easy to spend time wondering what they were like. My mom never really talked much about my grandmother so I didn’t have very much information.

This week I received a text and a phone call asking me if I was My mothers daughter, which leads to my very interesting story.

My Grandma was married in 1933 , She was 33 years old at the time and had my mother a couple years before that. She decided that she wanted a better life for her and for my mom and even though divorce was not something that people did back then, she did file for divorce. One of the great great nieces of my grandmother’s husband came to visit this week with this story.

She talked about my grandmothers divorce and that her wedding ring was returned to her great great uncle. You know how you pull the shades down in a room to keep the room dark, he used her ring on a pull shades in the house for many many years. When the house was sold one of the other nieces took the wedding band with her to North Carolina, it was since sent back up here many years later. I don’t think anybody knew what to do with it. The Niece knew that the ring never did belong to them and so it sat in a box for another period of time.

Recently the niece decided she was going to take it to the jewelers, she went to the jewelers and was telling him a little bit about the story. She wanted to pawn the ring and the jeweler told her no, you need to follow the story of the ring.

She said that began the journey of looking for me, She said she wanted to bring the ring home where it belonged because it never belong to them.

Grandma Rose died 69 years ago, I can’t even tell you how much I was moved by the niece stopping here with the ring. Just to have something of the grandmother I never knew. Who would know something like this could happen 69 years later.

It was such a gift, one I never expected but I am so blessed by it. The wedding ring and the story of the ring will get passed down to my children and grandchildren.

Have a great holiday weekend dear friends and I will get back to downsizing soon.

Happy quilting,

Rosemary

Mackinac Island quilt week

Dear friends,

I have to tell you about my wonderful week last week. I went to Mackinac Island and stayed at the Grand Hotel for a week.

To be able to take quilt classes while you are there, was such a gift. I took four days, two classes with Jen Kingwell learning how to handpiece blocks together using acrylic templates. I loved it. The rooms that our classes were held in were just beautiful.

I also took a one-day class with Becky goldsmith on learning how to foundation piece curves. So much fun and I can’t wait to make the quilt because it certainly is going to use up a lot of scraps.

It was absolutely a wonderful week and even though we were on an island, vendors came to the retreat and I found plenty of beautiful things to bring home with me.And yes even though it doesn’t look like it, I am still downsizing. 😊😊

Next week the topic with downsizing will be books.

Happy stitching, Rosemary

Smile box

I sent a smile box in the last post, it actually is a little white clear box at the top of the page that you just have to click on. I am not sure why it appears like that when I posted the link. If you’re having any trouble let me know

Smile box from the Jane stickle retreat April 2018

Good afternoon,

The smile box is finished, I hope you enjoy the show And tell and other things that are on the smile box. It was a great retreat and a great time in Shipshewana as always.

I know that some of you were wondering especially since I’ve been downsizing if I bought a lot of things. I did buy some shirtings and that actually was the first fabric I have purchased this year. It is for a new challenge so it wasn’t just to add to my stash

Hope you enjoy the smile box and more downsizing next week. I’m thrilled I am almost finished with downsizing. I am not missing anything that is no longer here.

Have a great week,

Rosemary

Reproducing an antique quilt

Dear friends,

I just returned from Shipshewana and will be working on a smile box of show and tell and shopping.

I thought I would enclose a special event that took place in Shipshewana. Some of us quilters were reproducing the quilt below that is hanging in a church cabin in Shipshewana. It was a quilt that was made about 1900, we didn’t know the size of it so we all interpret what we thought from a photograph. It was so much fun to be able to visit the original quilt and have a picture taken with it.

We had so much fun reproducing the quilt,

This was so much fun, and I recommend it for any quilting group or just a group of friends. Stay tuned for more Shipshewana news and downsizing.

Happy stitching,

Rosemary