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I got a call from my quilter on friday I could pick up my quilt.  I was in 7th heaven. And I already have it bound and if you look on back where extra plate block is ; that is my label.  Enjoy! Have a quiet night! martha

Yesterday I showed you hoe to make a thread catcher from squares and today it is triangles we will be useing.  I use my 60* triangle ruler and cut two  co-ordinating fabrics out the largest size (the larger the triangle the larger the thread catcher)  . Which for my ruler is approximately 8". I put a knit interfacing, to give it a little body,but not stiffness, on one  back side of one piece. I then sew around the triangle with  1/4 " seam allowance,  making sure to leave opening in the middle of one of the sides.  This is so you will not have to hand stitch the opening closed. It will be sewn together  later. Once sewn , clip off points to reduce bulk. Then you will be able to turn fabric to the right sides out.  Proceed to the iron and press flat. Pull two points together and sew 1/8" away from edges and only half of the way up.  This is where you will sew over opening(that is why it is in middle). Either mark each side with a pin or soluable marker so

Today  I find myself playing with hexes.I received acute little fob or bookmark in the mail today from Cheryl Goss of  Willowberry Designs. It was so cute that it inspired me to make some hexes !  I will finish this later. A little  tutorial for you on a small thread catcher.  Cut two squares (can be of any size) these are five inch squares .  I put an iron knit interfacing on one side to give it some body.   This is a mini thread catcher for beside my chair while watching tv. With right sides together  sew around useing  1/4 seam allowance and leaving an opening for turning. Turn right sides out and press. Fold  a side in half and sew only half way up leaving half of top tip unsewn. Keep sewing each side to the one next to it until all are sewn half way up.  You will have little triangle points flaying in the wind ,Ha Ha!  I then sewed buttons on each side to hold it down. I put a mouse button on one side of this one.  When you empty your threads leave them outside fo

 Slow in some spots and busy little bee in others. Doing house work , dishes,  laundry , making beds and such. I do have a washing machine and dryer.  I do have a dishwasher.  And i only have one bed to make ; so why do things take so long. It must be me ,  wanting to get to the fun part of sewing.  However my car needed a little attention today also. My husband had the fuse it needed for the cruise control.  We did have to make a trip out for the bulb for my license plate.   So I would like to show and share with you Block #5 for my stitch therapy group that I finished. I also prepared the pieces for Henrietta whiskers block # 9.  I placed them down and hopefully tonight I can begin sewing them down.  I also promised a friend I would try and make her some yo yo's.  I hope you all have a fun and productive weekend.  Delight in each breath you take.  martha

My grandmother and my mother  both raised peacocks on thier farms. They enjoyed the beauty of the bird.  It does make  a shrill call that resembles a woman's  scream .  My mother had the top of her cage covered because hawks would come to steal them. While sewing this wall hanging I was reminded of these things.  My mom has since moved off her farm and into town. There is still a border to be added on, but I just had to show you how pretty the blues are in the fabric. I just love it. But I do love my peacocks quiet though.  Make every day count,  martha

Getting there is half the fun.  The process , that is , the learning process. I do enjoy the challenges and the experiences.  Sewing can be an adventure just like life!  Until Just Takes 2   I had not attempted much paper pieceing ; They seem to prefer it.  I have noticed that I am getting much faster at it.  Here are two more blocks. I have finished my mystery blocks for February. I also have my free bom from Raspberry Rabbit    laid out and stitching started. Today I go to my Stitch Therapy class and bring my five flower  blocks to show .  There are 16 all together to do.  I enjoy getting together and seeing what they have accomplished too!  Everyone has a different vision for the same pattern and it is remarkable.  Love all the different thoughts and ways they bring out thier ideas in cloth.  Keep plugging away out there, the more you do the better you get!  Life nor stitching does not always go according to plan.  Variety is the spice of life!  I can take it as long as it i

Had our meeting of Kansas Troubles at one of the local quilt shops today. It was inspiring  and soul searching. By soul searching I find out more about myself  and my likes and dislikes.  Today's patterns are being streamlined to keep more people (young and old )  in the sewing loop , which is good in one respect.  But I find I value more of the traditional ways and visual pleasures of quilting. Not that I am an expert at them by any means.  However I do take pleasure in the effects of traditioal ways of doing things.  An example would be I like hand applique , does not mean I am any good at it .  But I appreciate it!  I am also of  a mind set the more one does of a thing the better you get.  In hopes that theory is true in its heart ,  I am trying , even though sometimes it defintely is not perfect.  So that being said here are two of the next JUST TAKES 2   blocks. Feeling a little under the weather I did not get much else done , I even baked pizza for supper and took a nap.

This was my first dresden plate quilt .  I learned a few things along the way.  1)  When sewing the blades start from the point end, and sew down .  That way if some gremlin gets into your sewing and blades do not match  ;  the not matching will occur in the center of the dresden plate and eventually be hidden by your center circle. 2)  If you intend to use light colored fabric for your center circles , make sure you either trim the blades even with your light center's seam allowance so that it cannot be seen(or a shadow appears) .  Or perhaps a light interfacing may be applied to back of circle.  You do not want to see your blade ends thru the center after you have applied it to your backround square! My quilt ended up 54" x 54"square. I did do scallops on the border and a 1/4 of a dresden plate block on the corners trimmed to size of border width.  I took it to my favorite quilter this morning, Mary  was not there today because of sick child,but i was able to drop

I hope everyone had an agreeable Valentine's Day yesterday. Mr. M took me out for lunch and gave me a box of Turtles (chocolate,  pecan,  and carmel kind ). Told him he would have to eat half.  Not to worry only 11 in box.  He was ever so sweet also. Now for pictures of my natural progression of Anne Sutton's (aka  :  bunny hill  )  Dresden plate quilt. I am now working on the last border with the scallops. I will show that as soon as I am finished with it.  All for now , will come back and chat when i can stay longer.  martha

Lately mjust finishing up a few ufo's. I have been hand quilting at night while stuck in front of the telly.  I have been practicing on my Devil's Puzzle quilt.  I really have not done much with respect to hand quilting; it is more like the big stitch quilting of Kim Diehl.  However i would like to get better so practise practise practise!  I put the binding on and tonight will finish it.  I also made in January two Twelve Days of Christmas quilts by Temecula Quilt Company. I quilted and bound one of them and have the binding finished. So now have one left to do. I have also been working on my Dresden Plate quilt by Anne Sutton.  Four more are put to thier backround pieces.  You will notice these have blue centers , not yellow. What have you been up too ?  A little ufo - ing too?  Seems we can never finish what we would like too.  Keep on keeping on. martha

I ran across this on a blog. Thought it was soooo cute.  There is a contest and you still have some time to enter.  There are prizes and everything! There is even a tutorial for you. You can see all the info for yourself at   http://quiltjane.blogspot.com and i hope you have a giggle like me. Finished these little things last night.  They are stuffed with lavender oil scented stuffing.   Going out today to look for fabric.  Such a hard life i lead!  Enjoying each and every minute!  martha

The weekend is here and so much to do.Today i worked on my scrappy dresden plates i put six of them onto thier backround squares and put six more together. They are waiting to be put on.  Did a little shopping for borders and sashing strips. Found one fabric which i might use as the large outside border.  Have to work on the rest later. I also finished my first two blocks of a block of the month ,Moments of provence.  Block one  Block two The color of the first block is the truest to the color.  Hope you all enjoy your weekend  ,  talk to you later,martha

JUST SENT OFF VALENTINE'S AND SMALL GIFTS TO MY GRANDKIDS.  I LIVE PRETTY FAR AWAY AND DO NOT GET TO SEE THEM REGULAR SO I LIKE TO SEND THEM MAIL AND PACKAGES . I WANT THEM TO KNOW THEY ARE SPECIAL AND CLOSE TO MY HEART .  I WAS BUSY THIS AFTERNOON MAKING A VALENTINE TABLE TOPPER / WALL HANGING.  ALL I HAVE LEFT TO DO ON IT ;  IS TO MAKE A HANGING SLEEVE FOR THE BACK.  MODA MAKES PACKAGES OF FABRIC SCRAPS THAT GO TOGETHER FOR SALE.  I BELIEVE THEY ARE CALLED STEW MEAT.  THEY RANGE FROM TWO INCH WIDE TO FIVE INCH WIDE.  THEY ALL HAVE A SELVAGE ON ONE SIDE.  A QUILT MADE FROM A JELLY ROLL CAN BE MADE FROM THIS PACKAGE SIZE.  USUALLY I CAN GET A LAP SIZE QUILT QUITE EASILY OUT OF ONE.  THIS QUILT IS MADE FROM THE STEW MEAT PKG.  I HAVE ALREADY GOTTEN TWO LONG TABLE RUNNERS OUT OF IT ALSO. SOME RED ROSES FOR THE BACK. GOOD NIGHT ALL, THANKS FOR STOPPING! MARTHA