More Red!

I am still working on my Red Delicious and getting close to the final assembly. I have trimmed all the blocks but still have two to to finish the final cuts. There is one part with the pretty swirl strips that go down one side and under one of the blocks and that is tricky. If it is done right, it will look like it is continuous. You will see later when I post the finished piece.

But in the meantime, I am also working on some new blocks with the red fabrics. I posted a basket block a few days ago that I did as a sample to work on in the class I taught week before last. Above is another block to go with that-----

and here is another one. These are big blocks and go very fast with the machine buttonhole applique. As I said in an earlier post, I have plenty of the background and am working towards making a big quilt to go on my bed. Looking through my books and files for patterns is always fun. And it's so easy to make them any size you need either by doing it yourself on the copier or with the scanner or taking it to someplace like Staples. How things have changed over the years. (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

Here she is, my Aunt Nelle, posing in her yard in San Francisco. This photo was probably taken in the late thirties or early forties judging from her pretty outfit. She is more mature now but still has the rather elegant air about her that comes across in almost all of her pictures. She is wearing a pretty two piece outfit with a double tie under the white collar. The ties, sleeves and jacket are all trimmed in a lace. The dress beneath the jacket has buttons about three-quarters of the way down. Her hat has a wide brim and a pretty band around the crown. White gloves and a purse complete her ensemble. (Click to enlarge)

A Post You Might Like

I just did a post on washday as it used to be and I thought maybe some of you might enjoy it. It is on my other blog http://piecesofthepast-funoldhag.blogspot.com/. I started looking for pictures for it (on the internet) and found some neat old stuff. Wow, how life has changed!

Working on Red Delicious

All of the blocks are appliqued and the finishing instructions are downloaded so I have been working on trimming my blocks down to size and cutting out the sashing. These blocks are trimmed but not sewn together yet. This is going to be so pretty! Love, love the red. Promise I won't post another picture until I have it all put together. Now to watch Dancing with the Stars. (Click to enlarge)

October Basket BOM

Here's the scarey little witch and black kitty for October. Ten down and two to go and the 12 months will be finished. I used an earring for the little hanging doodad and may change that. It's just lying there anyway and won't be attached until after it is all quilted. Again, the designer came up with cute patterns. (Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

They come around so quickly - Fashion Fridays, I mean. On this rather gloomy day here in Michigan, I am posting a picture of little Carol (who grew up to be Funoldhag) as she sits on the bannister of her grandparents' porch. What a fashionable little girl in a faux fur coat, cute little tam and shiney shoes with straps. She is wearing stockings and mittens so it was probably kind of chilly that day.

And here she is again, this time with her favorite Aunt Leah. It was a different day most likely since she is wearing laced up shoes but the same coat. Probably a little cooler since there is no tam or mittens. Aunt Leah is looking pretty with a chic hairdo, very pretty fur trimmed coat and strappy shoes. This would have been in the early 1930's. So many of the pictures taken at my grandparents' home were taken in the front yard and you can see over time that they enclosed the porch and made a sunroom and closed entry. If you want to see more old family pictures, go to http://piecesofthepast-funoldhag.blogspot.com/ my other blog. (Click to enlarge)

Estate Sale Purchases

My kitty corner neighbors have moved into an assisted living facility here in town and have their condo up for sale with an estate sale to further clear things out. A really nice couple, they will be missed here. Their home is beautiful and has been remodeled in a way that I would love to have at my house, but of course that won't happen. They are in a lovely spot, too, one of the very best in our complex.
I walked over a little while ago and bought a few items. There is not much I need but I found these two pretty dresser scarves and pair of pillowcases.

Don't know whether the pillowcases are hand done or not but they are pretty and were not expensive. Would look really nice with lots of other pillows on a quilt on a bed.

And in the basement, I found this - an ironing board that is quite a bit wider than the ordinary ones with a place on the end for the iron. A good place for pressing large pieces of fabric or quilttops and backs. Only $10 so a good buy. I think I could just fold and pin fabric on for a cover when a new one is needed. My mom used to do that all the time. There were a lot of pretty items and some very nice furniture - all good buys. However, my house is chockful now so I am not in need of anything like that. Estate sales and auctions are good places to find things to furnish a home, though. (Click to enlarge)

Another Red Applique

This is a block I put together for the class last week. When I did it, I decided to use the reds that I have all together for the Red Delicious BOM which is now waiting for the sashings and the final construction. Yesterday I finished doing the buttonhole stitch around all the pieces of this basket of flowers. I love red anyway and can see this as a full size quilt. There is enough of the background fabric, which I really like, to make more than enough blocks. The blocks are large - 16 inches - so easy to do.

In this picture, you can see where I tried using a different stitch around the flower center. It is really no big deal, but I did the feather stitch and it turned out well. That could really be a nice feature on, for instance, a block that you used black thread as a contrast - or gold. I don't have many fancy stitches on my machine but the sky would be the limit for the quilters that do. (Click to enlarge)

Almost Forgot Fashion Friday

All dressed up and riding his favorite little tricycle is my cousin, Ken, who is the son of my Aunt Nelle. Like Nelle, Ken is looking very nice in his handsome attire. His suit with the short pants appears to be almost a velvety fabric and his shirt has a ruffle on the collar and cuffs. Knee socks and high top shoes complete his natty little outfit. He is also sporting a very fashionable haircut.

A Class in Machine Buttonhole Applique

Yesterday I taught a class in machine buttonhole applique for my guild. Fourteen of my fellow quilters signed up for the class. I thoroughly enjoyed doing this and I hope they enjoyed it as much and came away with a desire to do more of this very fun method.

Carrie and Linda working on their blocks. Fun to see the great combination of fabrics and colors the individual quilters select.

Nancy and Kathy and their blocks. This is just a sample of the work that was done there. I am in hopes that they will bring their pieces - finished or unfinished - to the November guild meeting for show and tell. You were a good class, girls, and each one of you passed with flying colors! Thanks for a fun day. :-) (Click to enlarge)

For more pictures that I will post sometime later today, just click on the little yellow duck on my sidebar to the right and it will take you over to Pass the Tiara!

Some Little Odds and Ends

Isn't she pretty? These are the few pictures with thermometers that were given out for advertising. This was actually from a gas station in Chillicothe (note the phone number) many years ago. Van's son was in my class in high school.

These two were both found in antique stores. How I love this old stuff. Certainly haven't added anything like this for a long time, but you do reach a saturation point and walls do get full.

(Click to enlarge)

My Birthday Present Came in the Mail

For my birthday last August, those three pretty girls that are pictured at the bottom of my sidebar (my dear granddaughters) told me I would be getting the Ally McBeal series in October. It has arrived as they said it would and I want Norah, Molly and Hannah to know how much I am going to enjoy this gift and that I thank them so much for such a great gift and that I love them so very, very much. This is one of my all time favorite television series that I just hated to see go off the air. So quirky and cute. Any series that David Kelley had anything to do with has always been a favorite of mine. Picket Fences, Boston Legal, Boston Public are the ones I think of right now. This will take a while to watch, but it will be there for me on the long nights this winter and I will enjoy it as much now as I did then.

October ATC

October the theme for our ATC group is "What's your sign" - and here is my Leo the Lion. Julie (http://justtickety-boo.blogspot.com/) already has hers done and posted and looking good. You can check it out by going to her blog.

She also has a card found on the net pretty much like the one above except for her sign, of course. I happened to find this as I was looking around for some inspiration. Thought she would get a kick out of mine, too. That's where I got the Born to Rule! I am feeling a nap coming on!

(Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

Our models for almost all of the Fashion Fridays have been from the twenties, but today we will advance to the year 1957 to the town of Ft. Madison, Iowa. Here we find Carol and Sherry all dressed up for church. Sherry is looking adorable in her pretty little dress with the full skirt, her white shoes and anklets and a sweet little hat that has a ribbon around the brim. Wearing a dark two piece suit with white buttons and a corsage, Carol has topped her outfit off with a hat that looks rather like a flying saucer, a term that had not even been thought of back then, at least I think I am right on that. Big white earrings complete the look. On the front stoop under the mailbox is the insulated box where the milkman left the milk. It's been a while since milk has been delivered! (Click to enlarge)

More Tisket A Tasket

Here is a shot of the nine blocks for Tisket a Tasket. Some are without little embellishments in the way of buttons, mostly, that I will add after it is all together. Three more to go - one of which I have just downloaded and it is a darling little witch and black cat for October's basket. I have thoroughly enjoyed doing these cute, quick little blocks.

Anonymous left a comment (thank you for the compliment) and wondered what foot I used, thread and settings on my machine. The thread I have been using for the past few months is Sulky and I really like it. It's expensive but the coupons and sales at Joann's bring the price down nicely. The foot above is an open toed machine embroidery foot (I think that's what it is called) and it gives you a clear view of where you are sewing and also where you are going! I use this the most of any of the feet I have. After I got my Bernina, my son asked me what I wanted for Christmas and I told him about this foot. He went to a shop and asked for a shoe - close!

Here are the settings I use on my 21 year old machine. They actually are the default settings and I love the way they look. It is very easy to adjust them to another size if you wish, especially when you are coming to a point or doing a small piece. I look forward to teaching a machine buttonhole class for our guild next week and hope I can do a good job and not get all rattled! As I have gotten older, I am not as glib as I used to be when talking and, like most old people, get hung up on words occasionally. I am sure the gals in the class will give me a nudge and help me along. (Click to enlarge)

Tisket A Tasket Sashing in the Works

I decided some time ago to do a multi-colored sashing for Tisket a Tasket Block of the Month. There are now nine blocks done and three to go. If I figured correctly, there will be 28 2 x 8" sashings plus cornerstones. I like these little squares on point and could have pieced them or paper pieced them, but I decided to take the easy way and just buttonhole applique them, also. Using fabric in the blocks, of course, and think it will look pretty. I do believe the border will be very plain but will make that decision when I get there. Just spent a couple of hours cutting the little pieces and ironing them on the white. When I start appliquing, I will pick a color, do all I can in that color, then switch to the next. There are already a few done as you can see in the second picture. (Click to enlarge)

Last Red Delicious Block

Finally - this block was the hardest to do but probably the most beautiful design of all. Although all of the blocks are gorgeous. I think I could have done a better job even though there is quite a bit of time in this one. When they are all together I doubt if I will notice anything that I wish I had done differently. My fabric for the cherries does not have as much contrast as I had thought, but the contrast is still there and it is a pretty, rich batik. I have loved working in the reds and actually used almost exclusively fabric from my stash. But, by golly, there is still a lot of red there! The next time Esther will put up the directions for the sashing and finishing the quilt.

This is the layout that was in with the last pattern downloaded so, even though it is not to scale, you can get an idea of how all the blocks will go together. As I was making them, I made them a little larger and will have trimming to do, plus things to add such as some red buttons on the middle block at the bottom. There will also be some little black buttons around the center of the flowers of the upper right block. Anyway, I am glad the cherry basket is done. (Click to enlarge)

Polka Dot Girls

Here are the two blocks for the third section of Polka Dot Girls. Have the fourth ones on the fabric and ready to start the embroidery. Will also piece the section these two belong in.

(Click to enlarge)

Fashion Friday

Nelle, in a provacative pose and with an unknown friend or suitor, is looking her usual lovely self. She is wearing a simple dark skirt and white blouse topped with what looks to be a very pretty sweater. Her hat, however, is the standout in this picture with the brim turned down in front and a pretty plaid band. As for her friend, it is hard to tell what his outfit looks like except for his hat which is hard to describe. I always love Nelle's expressions - she had an air about her that shows up in every picture, even the ones as she grew older. (Click to enlarge)