Halloween Figs and National Sewing Machine Day

We are changing things up a little this week.  In recognition of National Sewing Machine Day, this post will focus on quilting progress and sewing machines instead of cross-stitch.

First, here is Block #14 of the Halloween Figs Block of the Month

Shooting Star Block

It measures a very wonky 8.5” and is pinned to remind me to try making it again after the other blocks are complete. I am sure I will have enough fabric.

This is Block #15

Goose in the Pond Block

It measures 15.5” and I love it! I may replace one of the same sized appliqué blocks in the quilt with another one of these blocks.

Next, is a sewing machine parade…after all, it is National Sewing Machine Day.

From the internet…

June 13 marks National Sewing Machine Day, a celebration of one of the most transformative inventions in textile history. The sewing machine revolutionized how we create clothing, textiles, and other fabric goods, making it possible to create more complex and intricate clothing patterns and stitches at a scale and speed not possible with hand-sewing.

 

#1 is Hattie. This treadle machine belonged to my husband’s maternal great-grandmother of the same name. We are not sure how old it is, and I have not been successful in researching model numbers for the Consew brand machines.  It works like a dream, according to my machine repair man. I just need to attach the new belt I purchased and give it a whirl.

Early 1900s (?) Consew Treadle Machine

She came with several attachments and needles.  Apparently, you could also get this machine wired for electricity. This is purely a treadle.

#2 is a bread box from the same great-grandmother. I name her Mam-may because that is what her grand and great-grandchildren called her.

99-13 with knee control, born January 20, 1926

I used Mam-may to make a temperature quilt back in 2018. She also sews very well.

#3 is Flossie. Flossie is my mama’s nickname and she, along with my husband, gave this one to me a few years ago for my birthday. This little work horse goes with me on camping trips and was used to make a farmhouse quilt. I will share more about that quilt in a future post.

Featherweight 221, born February 15, 1939

#4 is Myrtle. Myrtle was my husband’s maternal grandmother and this was her machine.

Kenmore 158.850, born March 1965

I used this one to make a baby quilt…ok, it was for my granddog.

 

#5 is Keni. This is my very first sewing machine and it truly is a beast. It will sew materials that give newer domestic machines a fit. For instance, I reattached leather straps to a backpack once. This was before I bought my current everyday machine.

Kenmore 385, not sure when it was manufactured.

#6 is Pfaff. I purchased this little machine when I was taking some classes at a local quilt shop. I needed something that would provide more than just a straight stitch. It is a great travel machine as it only weighs 12 pounds.

Passport 2.0

#7 is Minni. I gifted this machine to my daughter when she was in high school. I had hopes of turning her into a quilter. Just so you know how that went…I have the machine 😊

We have a fondness for Kenmore

#8 is Jani. This is my everyday “go to” machine.

Janome Horizon Memory Craft 9400 QCP

#9 is Sergio. My mom gave this to me in the mid-1990s when my children were small and I used to do a lot of garment sewing. I use it today to serge my cross stitch fabrics.

Brother Overlock 1034-D

Randy at Randy’s Sewing Center in Fayetteville, NC services all of my machines. He had a shop in Stuart, Florida when we lived there. He and his wife moved from Florida to North Carolina to be closer to their children. He is fourth generation in the business and knows both vintage and new machines very well.

I used to own two Brother sewing/embroidery combination machines. The first one was limited to a 5x7 hoop and the second one was, I am convinced, built on a Friday afternoon before a holiday weekend. It caused more frustration than enjoyment. I must note that I did not purchase those machines from Randy.

 

If you read to the end, thank you for allowing me to share. Each machine has a purpose and a very sentimental attachment.

 

My cross-stitch update will be tomorrow, Saturday.

 

I hope you have a wonderful weekend.

Joining Alycia for Finished (or not) Friday.

 

See you soon,

 

Floss Friday – A Honey of a Tiny Town FFO

Good day, friends! 

I finished stitching A Honey of a Tiny Town a couple of weeks ago. It has taken me a while to decide how to fully finish it.

I put together this flat finish on a board, but I’m not sure I love it. The cross-stitched piece is attached to sticky board with two layers of fabric behind it, also attached to sticky boards. Those three pieces are hot glued together. Then the entire piece is attached to the board by removable putty. This will allow me to take it off the board if I change my mind later.

A Honey of a Tiny Town is designed by Heart in Hand. I stitched it on 25 count Lugana in the color Barley by Lori Holt. I used two floss threads over two fabric threads.

The word "Hive" was supposed to be backstitched on the middle house but I attached a bee button instead.

Finishing this has inspired me to unpack my other bee stitching. 

Since this piece is so large, I may not be able to recreate the display I had last year. You can see that one in this post.

I have my May stitches counted but I need to photograph the projects, so I’ll share those with you next week.

Tonight is Friday Night with Friends hosted by Cheryll at Gone Stitchin'. I'll be hanging out and continuing to attach bindings to quilts.

The weather this weekend is supposed to be rainy. I'll be running the Farm Fresh 5K on Saturday to raise money for a local food bank. The remainder of the weekend will be cleaning my house. Sounds exciting, doesn’t it?!?

What are your plans? How is the weather in your area?

I'm linking up with Alycia for her Finish (or not) Friday.

See you soon,

 

Halloween Figs – Month 6 Block

Hello, Friends!

This will be a quick post as I do not have much to share regarding quilting. Since my last post I’ve been spending time outside of work with my mom, exercising and running errands with my hubby.

I’ve also been attaching bindings to quilts but no photos yet. We’ve had some gloomy and rainy days. The sun finally started shining this week.

This is Halloween Figs Quilt Along Month 6 assignment. It is the only pieced block from that month. I am still not planning to do the applique’.

Milky Way Block

It was an easy block to assemble.

That is all I have to share today but I’ll be back on Friday with some finished cross stitch.

Linking up at the following:

Wednesday Wait Loss

Finished (or not) Friday

See you soon,

A Weekend of Binding Quilts

Happy Day, Friends!

We had a rainy Memorial Day weekend. We still did our shopping at the local farmer’s market, and I baked some sour cream cookies. Unfortunately, we were unable to take a hike at the Biltmore. We will try again next weekend.

I was able to finish binding two of nine quilts.  Both quilts have bindings attached to the front by machine and then I hand stitched them to the back.

The photos were taken inside because it is still raining here.

The first finish was my hubby’s “Dad” t-shirt quilt.

58.5" x 72"

My long-armer suggested a simple meander since I added the pocket from one of the special shirts.

I found swirly wide back fabric at a small quilt shop in Maggie Valley.

Quilt #2 is what I call my $5.00 quilt. It was a Saturday Sampler project at the local quilt shop when I lived in Florida. You pay $5.00 the first month to get a block pattern and the fabric to make it. If you returned the finished block at the next meeting, then you received the next block pattern and fabric at no additional cost. I purchased the border fabric separately so technically, it cost a little more than $5.00.

52" x 65"

We selected a floral swirl design. I do not know the proper name of it.

The gray(ish) backing fabric is from my stash.

These two quilts are all I have to share from the weekend…only seven more to go!

I’m joining Jennifer at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

And I'm also joining Alycia at Finish (Or not) Friday!

See you soon,

 

Floss Friday – Cross Stitch Progress and Weekend Plans

Well Hello and Happy Friday, Friends! 

Someone recently said to me that everyday is Friday for them. Sugar, I am so happy for anyone who doesn’t have to keep up with what day it is. I, for one, still work for a living and to support my crafting. So, Fridays are a big deal 😊

 

Today I am sharing my cross-stitch progress on Christmas at Hawk Run Hollow (now, don’t laugh!)…

And I’ve gotten a bit more done on A Honey of a Tiny Town…

I think cross-stitch is going to slow down just a bit…not too much…so I can make progress on some quilt projects. See previous post.

 

Memorial Day is this weekend in the United States. This means a three day weekend for those of us that work Monday through Friday. My plan is to work on binding quilts. I’ll start tonight but tomorrow we are planning to take a 6-mile hike at the Biltmore.

And I hope to do some plant shopping. These are the doors of the garden shop at the Biltmore.

Wishing you all a wonderful weekend.

Never forget…

Linking up with Alycia for Finished or Not Friday

 

See you soon,

 

And Then There Were Nine and Halloween Figs Month 5 Blocks

Hello, Friends!

I hope you are doing well and those in the US are safe from the terrible storms that have passed through in recent days.

I mentioned in last week’s post that we were taking a trip on Friday. We went to Florida to surprise our baby girl for her 30^th birthday. She was so excited because we had just been there three weeks prior and she didn’t expect to see us again so soon. No photos as we just enjoyed being in the moment.

This trip gave me an opportunity to pick up the five quilts I left with the long-arm quilter last month.  So now, there are nine quilts that need to be bound.

I have plans to start on those this weekend. It is a long weekend here in the United States, so I expect to get at least a couple done. I can’t wait to show you each one as they cross the finish line.

Progress was made on the Halloween Figs quilt.  Here are blocks for month five…

Another Crown Star Block. Made from different fabrics
than the block made in Month 2

Box Star Blocks

Month 6 will include appliqued, as well as pieced blocks. My plan for now is to just make the pieced ones.

It is definitely spring here. These fellas visited us yesterday. They were just babies a few weeks ago.

I’ll be back on Friday to share progress on a couple of cross stitch projects.

Joining these linky parties because they are chock full of inspiration.

         Jennifer’s Wednesday Wait Loss

         Alycia’s Finished (or not) Friday

See you soon!

 

Halloween Figs Month 4 Blocks and Quilts to Bind

Good day, Friends.

I hope everyone had a nice Mother’s Day weekend. My children (young adults) called very early and gave me some great laughs to start the day. My husband prepared a lovely dinner for my mother and me.  My mom watches her sugar intake due to diabetes.  The results from her lab tests last week were great, so I made her favorite pie for dessert.

Coconut Cream Pie

She had one small piece and really enjoyed it.

Even though the quilt along has since ended, I’m continuing to work on the Halloween Figs quilt per the monthly instructions.

Here are month four’s blocks…

Nutmeg Star Block

More Simple Star Blocks

I will be getting FIVE quilts back from the long-arm quilter soon, and that means I will have five quilts to bind. Then I remembered that I have four additional quilts that are ready for binding.

Quilt #1 has binding attached to the front and only needs to be sewn to the back. Quilt #2 has the binding strips cut but not sewn. Quilt #3 has the fabric for the binding, but nothing has been cut. The last one doesn’t even have fabric chosen for the binding.

This, my friends, is the epitome of pathetic! My husband’s assessment is that it will take me until the end of the year to get all of these quilts across the finish line. (he may not be wrong!)

I’ve made very little progress on my cross-stitch projects since last Friday. We enjoyed walking around the Biltmore grounds last Saturday and I was reading for this week’s book club meeting. This means there will not be a Friday Floss update this week.

Also, we must take another trip on Friday. I’ll share more about this in next week’s update.

Enjoy the remainder of your week and weekend ahead.

I’m linking up with Jennifer at The Inquiring Quilter for Wednesday Wait Loss.

See you soon.