Ben's Quilt is Completed!

This one quilted easier than Cara's....thank goodness! I think it will suit him to a 'T'! The only problem now is that I've quilted and completed all the quilt tops that I have assembled....That means I've got to 'get it together' and get the Texas Quilt put together!
I joined the Pink Ladies Group at our  County Hospital here and have been wondering what service I could do that would really 'be my cup of tea' so to speak...and I think I've decided what it is I really would like to do...A very sweet lady in the group has been making Receiving Blankets for all the newborns. This is especially nice since most of these babies will start out with precious little in this world. She would make them up ahead in pink or blue colors putting 2 in a clear gift bag with a cute little pair of socks. These would be kept at and given out from the Gift Shop which is run by the Pink Ladies. I found out yesterday that the lady making these will not be able to make them anymore and there is only one gift set left in pink for a girl. I think this would be something I would really love to do... so guess I'd better get going on a blanket or afghan for a boy!-- and a pair of booties of course!

Gammie is playing nice again!!!

Yes, Gammie (my vintage quilting machine) is still fraying the top thread fairly often, but she is quilting perfect tensioned stitches again! I knew if I fed her the thread she likes that she'd respond favorably! Anyway, here's a pix or two of her with Ben's quilt in the works.... And, Hello to old friends Sheila and Phil---they found us on Facebook! Haven't seen them in over 10 years! We grew up together here in Coleman County, Texas but as time tends to do, we lost touch. It's good to hear from you again!

Ben's hand embroidered airplane quilt set up on Gammie....

Shows quilting..... meandering and loops...

Close up of Gammie's foot....

She's an oldie....but she runs!!! LOL! Probably circa 1983...one of the first years Gammill made quilting machines. 10 1/2 inch throat... long arm machines are now common with 24 inch throats!!!

Another Sweatshirt Jacket...

Yep! This is a second one for me....so you know I love the 1st one! They are sooo comfy! Did I mention I like green?!? Who would have thought? Tomorrow is scheduled to put Ben's quilt in the quilter and work on some tabogins, mittens & scarves for the grandkids...great stocking stuffers don't ya know!?! Let's see, Black & white for Jason with red trim... Pink & purple for Cara...hmmm... What to do for Ben... I'll have to check my stash of yarn and see what 'looks' like him!

Cara's quilt is finished!

YAY! It took longer than I thought it would because I kept having tension problems on the quilting machine (Gammie). She doesn't like anything different and I used spooled thread on top instead of coned serger thread...Gammie kicked and screamed for 3 rows of quilting before I finally figured out how to get her to play nice... Her quilting tension definitely gave me tension! LOL! But the quilt turned out really nice, and I'll for sure be using coned serger thread on Ben's quilt that is going in the frame next! Gammie can have quite a temper tantrum when she's unhappy....So I'll do my best to keep her happy in the future!

Machine Knitting too!

Well, I spent Monday through Thursday morning with the two grandkids that live in Donie...too much fun! Cooked Posole, Tamales, hard candy suckers; ate out two wonderful meals, one Mexican food and the other a great sandwich with dipping sauce; listened to Christmas music and embroidered quilt blocks.... Came home and started cleaning on my punchcard bulky knitting machine- hadn't used it in years-- and found Dianaknits on Youtube. She had a wonderful video on a Swirl Baby Blanket almost exactly like I used to make...but lost the pattern to...Anyway, here's pixs of the quilt blocks and Baby Blanket....

Almost 4 foot wide...with I used to call Pie Crust Edge...Dianaknits calls it Noodle Edge.

Hoping this will be the block in Jason's pillowcase....

I've recently found a Studio 328 24 stitch punchcard machine just like my first knitting machine of many years ago...on EBay in super looking condition, with the ribber and lots of attachments... so am hoping to do much more machine knitting in the future. When we lived in Las Cruces, NM I was part of a machine knitting group that included I guess around 2 dozen members at least! It was a very large part of my life for quite awhile. When we moved to Central Texas, no one around here even knew what a knitting machine was!.. There certainly was no group for moral support and encouragement.... It seems machine knitting either has come back into favor, or I've just found the Yahoo groups on the Web... Anyway, it's very fun again now that I have people to talk to about it and I'm hoping to again become prolific!

Jason's Quilt is finished!

1 down and 3 more to go! Planning on getting Cara's in the quilting machine tomorrow & hopefully getting it quilted...then if I'm very lucky, I might get it finished with its binding Saturday & Sunday...It feels really good to at least get one completed--- I'm starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel! LOL!

Jason's Quilt Top is Together!

YAY! I think it turned out better than I even thought it would! The Superman, Batman, Spiderman, Transformer icon & the Batmobile are all here and accounted for! I think I know a little guy that may enjoy this on his Batmobile bed his Pa made for him a couple years ago...
The pinkish small quilt is made out of flannel and for ME! About 3 years ago I made 27 quillow quilts for everyone in the family---except me! Finally I have my own to curl up under on the couch or in the recliner---and I'm sure loving it!--Nothing fancy....but soft, warm, cuddly, and MINE! Again I say-YAY!

Jason's Super Hero Quilt Top...

Close up of one of Batman blocks--Colored with crayon and hand embroidered in black.

Superman block closeup in quilt setting...

My own personal sized quilt--Just for Me!

Quilting Group...

Most of you realize I go to quilting group every week now, and I thought you might like to see some of these wonderful ladies at work...I won't pretend to remember all their names, much less how to spell them, but they sure inspire me and are definitely my 'heroes'- some of them are in constant pain- some can't always attend the meetings- some I've known since I was 12, but they all have a very special place in my heart and life. If you are a person that loves to quilt, I would highly recommend joining a local quilt group. You won't regret it!

Friends....

So many stages to make a quilt... marking, ironing, piecing, etc...

We all stay busy...

Some can iron, quilt and cut all within arm's reach!

Some of us work on two things at once!

Some of us really enjoy 'handwork.'

Eating lunch together is one of the highlights of what we do!

These are all a great bunch of ladies... Here's a couple projects that were brought and shown today...

Flannel Rag quilt for a grandbaby!

Christmas time is coming!!! Hand applique no less!!!

Just beautiful! Love the red!

Nice Work!!

Oh Wow---Crazy quilt that she quilted on a long arm quilting machine---The workmanship is awesome!

Close up of one of the block...sooo pretty!

Work your fingers to the bone and what do you get? A really cute quilt!

For the Blair Family Baby Boy...

Close up of a couple of the machine embroidery center squares...

LOL! I have a baby shower to go to Sunday at church for a baby boy, so it was past time to get myself in gear and clean off the old Gammill 12' quilting machine... Believe it or not, I actually remembered most everything, making only a few mistakes here and there. I really needed to try to get back into the swing of using it because I have at least 4 Christmas quilts to get done before Christmas---and I hadn't quilted anything on it for well over a year...maybe two....For a simple Log Cabin quilt with machine embroidered center blocks, it doesn't look too bad! Anyway, thought I'd share my latest project...

Two Christmas quilt tops are ready to quilt!

YAY! I've finally gotten two of the Christmas quilt projects ready for quilting! Ben & Cara's are ready to go, and I only have one more block to finish embroidering on Jason's before I can start putting it together... So, maybe I can get it going this next week...I also have a baby quilt to do for a baby shower at church next weekend, so my week is already filling up... I also bought another sweatshirt to make me another one of those jackets.. but probably won't get to work on it until week after next...I'm planning to do it in olive greens with a dark brown sweatshirt & welting... I think it will be really pretty. Anyway, here's the latest pictures on the quilt tops...

I love how the colors came together on this...

I ended up adding a side border of the same blue material that I separated the blocks with...The quilt just didn't look complete without it...

Poor Puppy!

Life IS GOOD--you know! Even with all the bumps...Yesterday, we discovered that our latest addition to the family--Canela, the wienner dog, has a lesion on her nose...uh oh, I think, when Jack, our Min Pin, had a suspicious lesion, it was an inherited rather than contagious form of Mange that could have and would have killed him had we not taken him to the Vet early...sooo, this morning Canela went to the vet.... $100 later we now think it's a fungus...poor baby, poor checkbook... But on the bright side, Canela had a rabies tag on when we got her and the vet. was able to tell us how old she was.... 1yr. 4 months old... and the rabies shot was all she had been given... very good information...
As for what I've been doing, sorry, can't talk about it...it's a secret! If I told ya, I'd have to kill ya... lol!  Actually, Santa Clause is coming to town!---so really, I can't talk about it...sure would like to talk about it...but I can't, really...dern... but I can tell you that I'm planning to work this afternoon on a Christmas present that I can talk about...Cara's quilt.... I'm trying to figure the math to set the squares on point...I think that would be cute...I'll play with it and see how it works out...If I like it, I'll take a picture and share.  Get back with ya soon!

Ben's quilt top is together...

I have finally gotten 1 of the 4 quilt tops put together that I need to have completed for Christmas! Don't expect fancy piecing on any of these, but the embroidery is kinda nice. I also have completed 2 more of the blocks for Jason's quilt and 1 more for the Texas quilt...

I ended up only using 9 blocks for the quilt...but will use the rest for pillows & pillowcase.

It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman!

Transformers....More than meets the eye!!!!

Bluebonnets...

That boy may be worth something yet!

OK, OK....The boy I'm talking about is our Min Pin, Jack. I heard the awefullest (is that a word even?) commotion early this morning in the back yard, rolled over and went back to sleep. Jack and his sidekick, Canela, (a miniature weenie dog) are known to get a little over zealous at times running around chasing each other for the sheer fun of it, but this time they really had a reason.... Apparently, Jack (the obviously taller of the two- and thereby the ringleader) had caught and killed a 'possum, and boy was he proud of himself! I'm guessing it was his biggest 'kill' yet.... to my knowledge, he has killed several gray grass snakes, a few young rats, a young squirrel or two and a whole flock at least of dove (the bird bath is a dog feeder, don't ya know!)...Anyway, Congrats Jack!!!

Fall is Here!!!

Finally, things are cooling off to a bearable temperature for bike riding! Yay! We rode to Valera for BBQ Turkey last night....wonderful! I also finished Cara's Sweatshirt Jacket. I sure hope she likes it! Here's the pictures...