Bow Tie Quilt

In my collection of quilts I have this bow tie quilt which we purchased at an auction.  It hangs in our downstairs bedroom/playroom.

  Looking at this photo makes me realize how I need to do some decorating on that shelf!  The bedroom has purple walls and I don't have many quilts with purple or lavender in them.  This quilt does have some in it, so it goes well in the room.

Each square is a bow tie with two white corners.

And four squares leaves a circle in the middle.

And of course it is hand quilted. I love a quilt that is in perfect condition. I'm guessing it was made in the 30's, but I don't really know.  Can anybody help me?

Baby Shoes

Sometime while surfing around blogland I cam upon baby shoes someone had made that were so cute!  I can't remember who.  I searched for a free pattern and gave it a try.  This is my first pair.

I used three different coordinating purple fabrics.

Trina really liked them, but clearly Grayson won't wear these!  So, I made a denim and fleece pair for him, but we put them right on his feet and they went home.   So, no pics.

I am not happy with them as I think they pull in one spot, but I tried several different things with it and never got it to look just like I wanted.  I guess I'll look for a different pattern before making more.  Anybody made any of these who could help me?

Weekend Fun!

Friday evening we met Trilby, Payton, and Cael, Tasha and Clara, and Trina and Grayson for a trip to the Kalona Fall Festival.  We went to the Fall Festival the first few years we lived here then we quit going.  The kids were in sports and we were just too busy.  The kids all went to sing or play in the band during the school day, so they got some time to be there.  Last year Bud's sister and brother-in-law were here so we went  again.  We decided it was time for the grandsons to go, so we made plans to go this year.  As usual the food was delicious, but I only got a picture of these homemade onion rings just before they were scarfed up!

It was sunny  but a little chilly, so Clara was dressed for the weather.

Grayson was a happy little guy.  

I bought him a balloon later that he had a ball with!

Payton and Cael made their own ropes using this old fashioned machine.

Of course they made one for Nate who stayed home.

Saturday morning found us with Travis and Kerry at a VERY soggy football game.  After sitting in the rain for almost three quarters, we left.  At least the outcome was in our favor.

Hawks too tough to handle--45-0 over Ball State.

Then we came  home to spend the rest of the weekend with Trina and Grayson.  Tanner was fishing in MN, so they came down to stay with us.  We had a great time spending time with them. Grayson enjoyed his bath in our kitchen sink!

After a little cooking and a little sewing today, it's back to the work world tomorrow.  Weekends always go too fast!

And what did you do this weekend?

Christmas Gift

I've slowly been working on a few Christmas gifts.  This table runner is one that I showed a peek of a while ago.  It was my second free motion quilting project.   I was happy with how the quilting turned out.

I used some 5 inch charm squares from Wiccaset and Portebello Market both by Moda.  I thought the colors blended well.

If you wanted a plainer look I think you could turn it over and use it with the  other side up too.

I had it folded in my hand sewing bag waiting to get the binding finished so it wouldn't lay flat!  I hope the recipient likes it.

Oldie But Goodie!

This spring, thanks to my brother, I purchased a new Baby Lock quilting machine.

I took it into the store for them to "tweak" it a bit, and I needed to do a little sewing, so I got out my old machine.  This machine was purchased for me in 1974.  I was just getting ready to begin my senior year in high school and it was my graduation gift.

It has sewn prom dresses, suit jackets, leisure suits, Christmas dresses, cowboy shirts, Halloween costumes, doll dresses, curtains, stuffed animals, and many blankets, bibs, quilts, and baby items.  It has mended waaaaaay too many pair of jeans, coveralls, shirts, and even canvas from a camper.  I was so thrilled with the machine because it had a finishing stitch so that when I sewed a new garment I could finish the seams so it would look more professional.  It has a double needle that I used many times to trim up the topside of a collar, front band of the shirt,  or the cuff of a shirt.  It has a button holer which made making button holes easy as pie.  

I still have all of the attachments in the original holder.

If you look closely you'll see the toothbrush I always use to clean all of the lint out, and of course the can of oil to keep it running smoothly.

The book that accompanied it became my sewing machine "bible".  It helped me with the settings for different stitches and more importantly for the troubleshooting when things didn't go quite right.

I'm not sure I realized how fancy it was at the time.  As I have sewn with it this week I am really appreciating it.  I saved so much money making clothes and other things for my kids, my husband, and myself.  I earned so much money with the craft items I have sewn over the years.  And I have enjoyed it so much.  I now vow to take it in for a tune-up(its running great now) and keep it running forever.

Not too long ago I went to Sears to get a new bobbin case.  I didn't see them on the shelf, so I asked a sales person where they were.  He asked me if it was an antique machine.  I told him it certainly wasn't, that it was new in 1974.  Welllll, yeah, it is antique!  I don't know what Mom and Dad paid for it, but they certainly got their money's worth!!  I wonder if my brother and sister still have their graduation gifts??????

Weekend Fun!

Football: Iowa shuts down Iowa State, 35-7

This weekend was an important one if you are a Hawkeye or Cyclone fan.  Saturday was the big game.  The fun started Friday  with some staff in our building showing their preferences.

To be fair the fight songs from all three state universities were played during the morning message.

We camped at the res for the weekend, but spent our day Saturday tailgating and going to the big game.

This morning Bud did a little fishing while I watched a movie--27 Dresses.  Yes, I know it's an old one, but I don't have a lot of movie watching time!  Anyway, he did have some luck fishing.

Yes, the bait was bigger than the fish!!! He did catch a few catfish that were big enough to keep.(3-4lbs.)

After a stop at Joann's I headed home to sew.  I do have several projects I'm working on, just no finishes.

I'm doing my second project with my own free motion meandering on it.

I think I'm getting better, but I certainly have room to improve!

And what did you do this weekend??

A Little Sewing

I have been doing a little sewing, but not getting many big things accomplished.  With the start of school I don't have much energy left when I get home.  A while ago I made a couple of coffee cup cozies using a pattern from the fall 2010 issue of Quilts and More.

You can see a photo of them in the book here.

I gave one as a gift and didn't take a photo, but I have one laying around I thought I'd show you.

I'm not sure if I like the busy fabrics together, but I'm loving the brown/aqua combination.

It should keep my coffee nice and hot!

Would you like it better if either the words or the background was a plain fabric and didn't fight with each other so much?

Labor Day Weekend

Don't you just love three day weekends?  I know I do!  We left about 2:00 Friday afternoon to head to NW Iowa.  The traffic on I80 was awful.  It was windy, and it seemed the slower people chose the left lane!  Then road construction on I35 helped raise Bud's blood pressure a little higher!  We made it to Newell just in time to eat at rehearsal supper.   We stayed in Storm Lake at a hotel.(That is another story.  Let's just say complaints were rampant.)  On Saturday after the Iowa Hawkeyes won their game, our nephew Kevin was married in a beautiful ceremony. (This is not their wedding photo.)

We had a good time at the reception, and all of my children, their spouses, and grandchildren were there.  Sunday morning the kids swam and the adults visited until checkout.  We then headed home with a little tour of places we lived when we were first married, a stop at Blaine's in Cedar Falls, and lunch at Famous Dave's.  It was a great family weekend.

Then the bonus day--Monday.  I did some cleaning, laundry, and sewing.  I haven't had my camera out for a while, but I will soon.  It was hard to get out of bed this morning.  In fact, I made Bud check that lottery ticket before I got up just to make sure I HAD to go to work!!

And how was your weekend?

Cousin Love!

Not so long ago I posted some photos on our family blog of CJ getting the best of Grayson.

Well, Grayson is finally getting big enough to try to get in a couple of pokes.

He didn't have CJ in tears like CJ had done to him, but I think he was pretty proud of himself!

I see many more "scuffles" in store along with a ton of fun as these two cousins grow up!