Quilty Updates

Hello!

I've been lucky enough to be able to spend some time with my sewing machine lately, and after my previous successful attempts with foundation paper, my confidence level has certainly grown!

First, I have printed out a lot of the Moda Blockheads instructions - that is, the ones that look beginner friendly. I attempted Blockhead 5 from 2023, as it seemed pretty easy. It's not perfect, but I am pleased with it! I definitely still need to work on matching my seams up.

Now onto foundation paper...

I had been playing around with my stitch length while working with the foundation papers, and it seems that the sweet spot on my machine is 1.2 - and since moving to that, I am much happier with my results, and of course, the removal of the paper.

I wrote a blog post about my first attempt at using foundation paper, and of course I started with the easiest block I had - the Economy block. I made a few more blocks, and I am really happy with them!

These Economy blocks certainly boosted my confidence, so I took a deep breath and decided to give my Log Cabin block a whirl - not expecting much at all, but much to my surprise...

I was very worried about this block, considering the instructions state that the first two cuttings for the middle blocks must be cut exact - and of course, like with all of this, I'm still practicing my cutting! But somehow, this all worked out, and I couldn't believe my eyes!

Am I crazy? It seems it would be difficult to mess up with foundation paper, but then, maybe it's just the way my mind works? Maybe I need to sew on the lines that foundation paper provides, just like coloring in a coloring book. I am definitely more confident with the paper than I am with written instructions and what feels like "free sewing". I know that confidence will build with patience and time.

Now, for my final blocks. I made these the other day, and am considering making an Economy block with coordinating fabric, piecing them together and making a small table runner for my coffee table for autumn. 

The woven star was another one that was very intimidating to me. I rewatched Kimberly Jolly's video demonstrating how to use it, and I am so glad I did. I actually had to break out my seam ripper as I had incorrectly pieced together parts of the star. In the end, it came together, quite nicely, I feel, for the trouble I had with it. Next attempt should be easier, and I did learn something from it! After I finished the woven star, I quickly put together this coordinating Log Cabin block. Like I mentioned, I may make a third block and piece them together for a runner. I will need to find a good backing fabric, as well as something eye catching for the binding. I am really drawn to striped binding, I really think it adds a fun detail. But, my binding certainly needs work and maybe stripes would show too many of the mistakes I'm bound to make!

Thanks so much for reading, and please, I need some wise sewing eyes to please kindly point out any mistakes I may be making!

Stay tuned for more updates! 

-Bunny

My Grandma's Hutch has arrived!

SHE'S HOME! 

I mentioned in a previous post that I was inheriting my Grandmother's hutch. My Mama has been keeping it in her very unused family room for many years - it was storing glassware and glass art she makes. It was also starting to collect cobwebs and dust, so she offered it to me!

I live about 3-ish hours south of the town I grew up in, so while realistically moving the piece and getting it to my house wasn't a really big deal, it was something we were dreading! Of course, illnesses in the family, a sick dog, a flooded basement - all these things would put off our truck rental to "next visit, hopefully"....

I made the promise to Mama (and myself) when we made the trip up to celebrate her birthday this year, that we would finally bring it home. I sure didn't realize that her birthday coincided with back to school dorm room move-in times! Rental truck prices were CRAZY! But we went ahead with our plans anyways.

The hutch has now been sitting in my dining room for 48 hours and honestly, it looks like it has always been here. Somehow it is a perfect size for my room, its not too tall, and will provide all the storage I need, and have needed for years. It's a really beautiful piece as it is, but I AM planning on painting it - and my Grandma did give her blessing on that long before she passed away.

The things I am noticing - 

The hardware - while beautiful, definitely not my style, so that will be replaced. I'm saying that now, but who knows, once the piece is painted, who knows?

The glass doors - THE GLARE!! Oh goodness, we have realized just how bad the glare is coming in from our glass sliding door with the sunlight and pool water reflecting on the glass. We will most likely be removing the glass.

We love the feet, as well as these decorative carvings. I had forgotten what the carvings looked like, and for some reason was picturing "wheat" - and was planning on having my husband fill it in. Thankfully, my memory was wrong, because we both really like it!

We have settled on a color - after painting our kitchen walls 'Olive Grove' by Magnolia, we decided that will also be the color of the hutch. The dining room is separate from the kitchen, but we wanted to pull that tone of green into the dining room since we like the color so much. Olive Grove also plays very well with our blue and white transferware. 

With all these shelves and drawers, I FINALLY have a place to store my holiday Spode collections. You always seem to forget what you already have when it's packed away for most of the year, so I am so looking forward to unpacking everything and taking inventory. 

I am so excited to have such a large family piece in my home, and so happy to finally have something on that wall in my dining room!

Stay tuned for her makeover!

XOXO, Bunny

Pottering around in July

 How is it July already?

This is the first year my husband hung our Tommy Bahama bunting on the front porch. It has certainly turned some heads!

This has to be one of the fastest years I have experienced in a while. Maybe because it's been a busy (but also laid back) year for us so far. We have worked so hard to finish up some home projects that desperately needed to be done before Miss Thelma Lou joined our family (thankfully we succeeded!), that to be honest, a lot of our "usuals" got put on the back burner.

For once, we actually DID NOT garden this year! The only harvest we have for this year is our annual garlic we put out every Autumn. We were able to harvest that this past week and it is hanging on our covered porch to cure. It's one of our saddest garlic harvests yet! But, we are thankful for what we were able to salvage. After it cures, we will dehydrate it and grind it up for granulated garlic to cook with. We do have some volunteer tomato plants, as well as some zinnias, and our berry patches of course, but vegetable wise, nothing! We will see how those tomato plants do! Because of our lack of a garden, this will also be the first summer I won't be canning anything, which feels weird. 

Our usual garlic harvest is about 6-7 times this amount!

We definitely planned to take the summer off from gardening, of course, to get the main part of our deck finished (will stain it this fall!), and get the house ready for a puppy. We also knew we were going on our anniversary trip, so gardening just really wasn't a priority for us.

This fall, however, we do plan on relocating our garden. We will be having a massive (dying) tree cut down, which will open up the sun to a back part of our property. We will be purchasing new galvanized raised beds, and re-designing everything. I’m really looking forward to it, and I will keep y'all updated. My artist husband will be drawing up plans for bed layouts soon!

July so far has been slow for us. Lots of puppy kisses, and pool time, after a glorious 9-ish days of beautiful summer weather. It was a heatwave, and I will admit the word glorious would not be coming out of my mouth if I didn't have a pool! It was really nice after working so hard on our deck, to be able to enjoy grilling, eating outside, and lounging in the pool. It made all those late evenings so very worth it. Next up, we will tackle some small repairs on our connecting gazebo, then we will be skirting everything hopefully by the end of summer, and like I said, staining it all in the fall. 

This morning my husband and I went to the back of the property and picked some blackberries and mulberries. I'm thinking....blackberry ice cream? 

These are our first pickings - so many blackberries on our bushes this year, and the mulberry tree was well!

Also, over the holiday weekend, we dove head first into a very small project on the east side of our house. We have 3 hydrangea bushes over there, enjoying the morning sun. For years we have been fighting the weeds, and of course it was a losing battle. I decided I wanted to do something simple, with some small cottage stepping stones and pea gravel in a checkerboard pattern. I was very unsure how this would look, but decided to just go for it. We aren’t done with it yet, but I am so happy with it! 

Luckily the pea gravel is a good match to our concrete/gravel walkway.

My hydrangeas are doing much better this year, after some much needed TLC.

That's all that's going on around here these days, hope to have some fall gardening updates and a finished hydrangea area to share soon - and some sewing! Fingers crossed!

Thanks for reading!

-Bunny

A Fat Quarter Shop Haul

I had a browser window open on Fat Quarter Shop for a few weeks, with quite a few items sitting in my buggy. I was having such a hard time deciding, plus a few things I had my eye on were being released soon. I decided not to wait, and will place another order next month! Here’s what I purchased, with links:

Shown: Autumn Quilt Seeds Pumpkin 8 Block KIT by Lori Holt $25.98

Bluegrass Charm 5" Stacker - Melissa Mortenson for Riley Blake Designs $11.98

Grand Haven Charm Pack - Minick & Simpson for Moda Fabrics $11.98

Sunnyside MINI Charm Pack Camille Roskelley for Moda Fabrics $4.98  - Sold Out?

 

6' Woven Star Quilt Block Foundation Paper | It's Sew Emma $10.98

6" Economy Quilt Block Foundation Paper | Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet for It's Sew Emma $10.98

6" Log Cabin Quilt Block Foundation Paper | It's Sew Emma $10.98

Sewline Blue Fabric Water Soluble Glue Pen $7.48

Kimberly's Color Alphabitties Specialty Marking Tools $7.48

Schmetz 5 Count Universal Size 90/14 Machine Needles $3.98

Black Frixion Ball Erasable Gel Pen $2.98

Add a Quarter 6" Plus Ruler | CM Designs $9.48

I have a reservation in for:

Blueprint Charm Pack | Camille Roskelley for Moda Fabrics

Nantucket Summer Charm Pack | Camille Roskelley for Moda Fabrics

Wishlist:

Morning Mist Quilt Kit | Featuring Nantucket Summer by Camille Roskelley

Backing Set for Morning Mist Quilt Kit

I love all the blues and greens of Camille Roskelley's fabrics. I have a lot of blue and white china displayed in my dining room, and recently was gifted some Borallo Pinheiro cabbage ware from my Mama that I will be decorating with as well. If weather permits towards the end of the summer, I will be hauling my Grandma's hutch down to my house to give it a makeover and a new life! It's not 100%, but I'm thinking it will be painted 'Kudzu' by Dixie Belle Paints. Here's to big plans, and praying they happen!

Thanks for reading!

-Bunny

Happiness is a warm puppy!

 

We have a new baby dog! Meet Thelma Lou! 

At the beginning of June we drove across Kentucky, picked this little lady up, brought her home, and instantly fell in love. She’s been a long time coming, even though we weren’t expecting to get a puppy until this fall, our breeder contacted us and let us know someone backed out, and we were next on the list. We couldn’t believe it! We were days away from leaving for a trip to Nashville, but we knew this was our girl! 

My husband had been dreaming of an English Springer Spaniel for years. He had big dreams of hunting with a spaniel and all the training he could do with it. I had always wanted a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel, but this is a great compromise for me. I still get the sappy eyes and curly ears.  He did a lot of research on the breed itself and breeders. We had never gone through a breeder before, as we have only had two dogs during our 20 year marriage, and both of them could have been considered “rescues”. This was all new territory for us. I really wanted my husband to experience a puppy, since he was deployed or away at training so much during the beginning of our dogs’ lives, and he was never around for those fun early years. 

After some months of research, many books, YouTube videos, etc, we decided on a breeder last year and got in contact. Then, last fall, we randomly decided on a name, after spending a lazy Saturday morning in bed watching the Andy Griffith show. Thelma Lou was decided! 

We made it to the one year mark of losing our chihuahua this past February. We always knew we would wait a year until we brought another dog home. Fifteen years with a dog is hard to get over, but honestly, we never truly get over it, do we? We just make the decision to open our hearts again and make new memories with a new friend. 

So after all the research, decision making, planning, waiting, and dreaming, Thelma Lou comes home, and SO FAR….

She’s a HUGE Mama’s girl!!!

Sorry babe! 

XOXO, Bunny 

I kinda did it!

 As promised, here is my first ever update: Overall, I'd have to say I am pleased with my first attempt at a nine patch quilt block! 

I am very thankful for the suggestion of purchasing a 1/4 inch foot for my sewing machine. I did order one, and it arrived before I even started sewing! Being so new to this, I did order a Brother branded foot, because I'm just not sure that the generic stuff is compatible. These are all things that will be learned in time. Of course, I am quite wobbly with my machine still, and I will need a lot of practice keeping my fabric straight as I run it through. And I definitely need a ton of practice lining up my seams! I pinned a lot, or what I thought was a lot, but again, this will take practice.

Even with just this tiny taste, I can FOR SURE see how quilting can be addicting, and my Mama said, "It sounds like a good addiction to have!" I agree!!

In other news, all of our snow melted over the past few days from the big snowstorm of what, two weeks ago? It was lovely to see the grass again, even if it was all just a big muddy mess. Fast forward to today, and we woke up with an another inch or so of snow! And once again, everything is pretty again! I just looked out the window as I am typing this, (its just after noon EST) and it's STILL snowing.

I hope to practice with my sewing machine some this week when time allows. We have two very large furniture deliveries heading our way, one large delivery for my husband's home office furniture, and another for a couch and loveseat for our family room. The family room furniture is surprisingly due this coming week, so my time will be busy preparing for that. Funny, I just ordered the furniture this morning! To see a delivery date this week caught me by surprise, so my plans for today's snow day have altered. You know how some parts of your home just become a catch all? Well, the top of our stairs leading to our downstairs has become just that. It has a large landing, and we tend to just sit everything that needs to go downstairs at the top of the steps. You know, 5 gallon buckets of sugar for canning, our large crockpot and roaster, flats of empty mason jars, etc. We have a storage room with shelves downstairs where we store these things, but isn't it just easier to sit it on the landing? LOL! We have a lot of putting stuff away and staging we will need to do, and I'd like to list a few items on Facebook Marketplace as well.

I also need to finish up painting the trim in my husband's office and clean up any painting mistakes, in preparation for his furniture delivery, which should be coming in the next few weeks. (Fingers crossed!) I am so excited for him that he is finally getting such lovely furniture! If I haven't mentioned it before, my husband works from home.

Up next will be a MASSIVE painting project in our family room. The walls are primed, a color is picked, we just need to get started. It's a huge project, with our large family room, a landing, hallway, and the staircase that all needs painting. I will be so happy when its all done, and we can just relax and enjoy our family room. I think knowing the furniture is coming will help me get moving!

I hope you all have had a lovely weekend, wherever you are. 

Thank you so much for reading!

Stay warm out there!

-Bunny