Crafting, Camping, Cooking and Life! (with RA!)

Good morning all! We're into February, halfway through, and I JUST started to seriously get my blocks made. The BOTM program this year is that 2 patterns are given to you for the first few months, until you have all 12. Bonus block patterns are provided with the 2 in case you want to make a larger quilt. Sign up was in December for this and we were given our first set of patterns January. Each month, you have to take in or send pictures of the blocks to the person running the BOTM. Each block you don't have finished costs $1.00. (Sigh) guess who forked out $2.00?!? Okay, well, its not like I didn't make a stab at it. I kept misreading the patterns and making incorrect cuts. Then I walked away from it. This week, I was able to take some time to start working on them again. Which is kind of questionable, since I have a sinus infection and not feeling the best. Guess it is taking my mind off of it and the associated pain and discomfort. So, here is my first block. I haven'...

Howdy all! Wow, what a past 2 months!! Busted butt and a little help from my mom, finally got my quilt guild BOTM topper finished. The guild meeting is in, what, less than 3 weeks and just really wanted to have it finished to avoid any last minute problems. Looking back I guess June was the last block I had shared. So, my apologies for the massive gap of not sharing. Here it is.. Was just so glad to get the topper done! I will still need to quilt it but need to decide what fabric to use as backing. Can't wait to see what the new challenge is going to be like! Take care all and God Bless!

Good afternoon! I FINALLY got my June block done for the quilt guild BOTM challenge!! So excited about it! I had conceived the idea back in June, but it did take some time to get my items to create it. That plus the decisions of how to implement the idea to a design I was happy with. So, here it is! This is for Fathers Day. This block consists of a men's long sleeve dress shirt and tie that I got at a thrift store. I had actually picked up a few ties so I could decide which would work better with my shirt. I had even did a simple knot to ensure that I would have the correct height and angle for the tie to lay. I laid the collar points off just a bit to have a more "dad" look to it. The block is 12.5 x 12.5. I've been kicking around ideas of how I will be finishing the quilt and will probably have borders around the blocks. I am thinking of even having the months sewn into those borders to add a little more to it. Okay, so on to July now. Will share as soon as I comple...

  Good afternoon! Been a bit, but also been a little hectic around here. Was camping a few weeks ago, a lot of storms lately, busy in the garden and, well, pretty much everything else! So proud of the younger men here, the youngest got his drivers permit and a part-time job and the eldest just passed his motorcycle permit test today!! I'm glad that they are hitting their life goals. Okay, garden. As I said, a lot of storms lately. So, plenty of water and sunny days in between means my garden is flourishing! Hubby came in and asked if I had been out to the greenhouse of late. Of course I haven't! I got all my lovelies planted. To which he responds that he thought I should go out and take a look..... Jurassic World!! I've mentioned the Pumpkin Show in the past. They sell the giant pumpkin seeds there and I've purchased some in the past but none ever grew. When I planted the rest of the garden from seeds, I chucked a couple of giant pumpkin seeds in the compost pile, not w...

 Good afternoon all! Last week was long and hectic, so hoping that since Mom is doing better, I can get some things done around here.  I was able to get the blocks for February and March done finally!! I had found this pattern I would like to give credit to whoever, there were several people who had it listed that I wasn't sure who the original creator was. This is a log cabin heart block. I did change the pattern a bit to suit myself, so, there is that. The block for March I went with my own design. Mom and I had gone shopping for holiday fabrics for table runners and I loved these St. Paddy's Day fabrics! I found a shamrock cut out online for the center applique. Using the light weight double side, I cutout the pattern on that and the green fabric, pressed and sew. I wasn't entirely happy with the stitching. The machine kept doing this weird thing and I think I kept rushing it. After tearing out the stitching a couple of times, I left it due to not wanting to ruin the blo...

Good evening all! Long day, spent the morning cleaning. Swept and mopped kitchen and bathroom, cleaned bathroom, dishes, laundry and a little organizing. Really had fun finally playing with a Christmas present from my father. The BeaverCraft Wizard Carving kit! A lot of fun, purchased on Amazon and BeaverCraft sends you a link for a full tutorial for this. Comes with 3 pieces of wood, a knife, finger wrap, pencil, bandaids (thought this was funny! but not the brand Band-Aid) pattern and instructions. Struggled a bit, my fingers weren't very happy with holding everything and the grip on the blade but definitely fun. I like trying new crafts, you never know what resonates with you. Unfortunately, just realized I had a blister and it pulled open. So, will be a bit before I can pick it back up. The quilt guild I belong to has an annual Block of the Month. This year, it is just to make blocks based on the month/holiday. Really running behind. I have the February block cut out and the fa...