Small Things Done

My To-Do list didn't see as much get done as I had hoped, but you cannot say that I didn't try...

❧ I need to get borders on the Memory quilt.  

This could get a 1/2 check mark since I have fabric for the final border, backing and binding on order (and fingers crossed) it will be here in time for me to get this quilt done before the close of the month since it was my One Month Goal that I linked up at Elm Street Quilts

❧ Dresden/Sunbonnet Sue top quilted for my customer.  

I started with great ideas and plans... and then I discovered that the prepared backing that my client sent was too small.  A quick assessment of the situation allowed for a fast answer...  

Use the fabric that she had intended for the binding to make the backing large enough and use some grey dotted fabric left from another quilt that she had sent for the binding.  

That little derailment set me off course and, honestly, Ummmmmmm....  the only excuse I have is that I'm still unsure of how to quilt it.

This derailing did allow for me to get most of the other items on my list done.

☑️   Prep Big Horn Sheep and Soaring Bird blocks for our camping journal quilt.

        The soaring bird block kit is in my sewing bag and ready to go whenever we are.  The Big Horn Sheep pattern has been printed out and fabric selected and in my sewing bag as well so that the pieces and fabric can be prepped on the road.

☑️ Something fun!  

On Saturday I joined the Saturday Sew-in over at the Inquiring Quilter and had intentions of continuing the quilting of the Cake Walk Quilt.  It was mid-morning that I found I had made several excuses of why I wasn't in my studio...

That was when I remembered that I wanted to do something FUN!  I printed out my bear pattern from Fiona Sandwich and began the process of making a block to mark off one of her Summer Camp Sewing Challenge items... Make a block using unusual colors.

I sat down in the recliner and hand-stitched up this little gal in purple as I watched shows on Netflix ~ something I haven't done for several weeks!  I had told myself that when this bear was done then I would go quilt... That was a big ol' NOPE!  Instead I made up two more blocks - these were machine pieced.  

I was remembering the trapper's blankets at Bent's Fort Trading Post when ever I would visit the site as a kid and thought I would use the stripes pattern to replicate such a blanket. 

☑️ Release Block #6 of the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail Sew Along.  This block is from Kathie Laposata, one of the sew along participants.  

I love her adjustment to the center patch to make it a 3-color block.

Marion Russell tells tales of learning from the Sisters at the Academy, what they taught and how they often called her and her brother "little heretics".  She shares her memories of how a man in jail captured her attention by singing and told her of his own daughter at home and how he missed her so... 

Follow the link above to find  the rest of the story, the free pattern... and get a recipe for some Molasses Cookies.

Well... it would appear that I have a few items that are obviously going to be on my To-do list for the coming week.

❧ The Memory quilt.  Once the fabric arrives this one will have my full attention!  I already know that I am going to use a super-sized Baptist Fan quilting design, like I used on my Pieces from the Past Quilt.

❧ Cake Walk quilt...

You know where you can find me!

If you were to choose a "Fun!" quilty project to do what would it be?

Leave a comment...  I love to hear from all of you!

Stay calm and keep quilting,

Melva

 Linking with:

To Do Tuesday at Chris Knits & Sews

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Stitch Sew & Show at Life in the Scrap Patch

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy

UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

Tired Tuesday

It's Tuesday and our vacation time is over.  As so many others have stated... "I need a vacation to recover from our vacation!"

Early morning visitors to our camper

The Nolan Family Camp Weekend was filled with so much joy, love, laughter, crafts, activities and food... and only one small melt-down from one of the little ones.  

In the midst of the chaos on the picnic table

Sweet Hanna was a little fussy on day 2, but there were enough adults around that we took turns soothing, walking and talking to her.  She really was happiest when she was around the group.

She has to be the most loved and touched sibling ever!  Every time one of the kids passed by her, sleeping or awake, they had to touch her, hold her hand, kiss her, pet her head or show some sort of affection.  And most of the time she was tolerant of them.

With Gramma & Gramma Carol

Arts & Crafts

But as I turn my attention to the coming week and what I need to accomplish, I remind myself, it will all get done when it gets done.

❧ I need to get borders on the Memory quilt...  I will use the blue as a narrow border and I need to find fabric for the final border and a backing.

Since it will likely take a few days to get the fabric to finish this one...

❧  I will get this this Dresden/Sunbonnet Sue top quilted for my customer...

For some reason this quilt reminds me of a cake walk!  It may be because all of the Sues are facing the same direction, and the Dresden plates are the cakes...

I remember a cake walk from my elementary school memories.  I think it was a fundraiser for something... it may have simply been a 4-H event... but the excitement among the girls of making the cakes and what kind of cake and frosting was the main talk amongst all of us for the week before the event.

Do you have memories of a cake walk?

Any suggestions for the quilting of this Cake Walk Quilt?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear your memories and suggestions!

Among other things on my to-do list for the week...

❧  Prep Big Horn Sheep and Soaring Bird blocks for our camping journal quilt.

❧  Something fun!  Maybe an improv hand-sewn hello mug rug

❧  Release Block #6 of the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail Sew Along

Quilty Blessings!

Melva

Linking with:

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

To Do Tuesday at Chris Knits & Sews

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Stitch Sew & Show at Life in the Scrap Patch

Quick Check-in

Just a quick check-in between our trips...

We were settled into our campsite in time for lunch and it was was so pleasant.

The river was nearby and we had shade over the picnic table area so after a quick and easy lunch of sandwiches, fruit and chips we plopped ourselves down in our chairs and began the decompression stage.

In the short time that we were "unplugged" I completed several postcard blocks for our Camping Journal Quilt and I was able to check off numerous items from the Summer Camp Sewing Log.

The Purple Mountains Majesty completed my color that I've not yet used, and the big dipper fulfilled the "night sky" challenge.

Those little pieces for the stars were a bugger to work with!  But worth every minute...

The fish that got away...  You may remember the story from our trip in June.  

I used a piece of fabric that has pine trees and sky on it to achieve the light and dark coloring of the water.  I even got a bit of a water splash!

By the way, Dave now has a fishing net to assist in retrieving the fish from the water.  No more lost fish or lures. 😉

The question of whether or not sewing at a National Monument or in a National Forest qualified for sewing in a National Park was posed and the answer was that it was indeed acceptable.  Mark that one off of the challenge list!

I have made several campfire blocks in the past few years, but this is by far the best fabric I have found for it!  This fabric was leftover from a memory quilt that I made for a high school graduate last summer.  Woohoo!

And the last one... sew outside.  Easy peasy... and it was easy to be organized with my new sewing bag and magnetic sheet attached to the back of a small cutting mat.  My scissors didn't slide all over and end up in between my legs or under me and the needle stayed put and easily accessible!  

I need to find some good, strong magnets to include in the bag to hold a few pattern pieces in place and ready to grab when needed.

We enjoyed several long walks in the forest.  

The area has had fire mitigation so it is not overgrown and hard to walk in...

The sunlight in this picture is inspiration for another postcard block...

We went for a drive on day two... We were headed for the Wild Rivers National Monument Visitors Center.  It sounded like an interesting place... but it happened to be closed for the week.  

But I got lucky with snapping this shot of some crows flying overhead...

We referred to our map of interests and went in search of the D.H. Lawrence Ranch... we found it, but we also learned  that it is only open on Thursday's and Friday's... it was only Tuesday.   

We were soon back on the highway looking for the Rio Grand Gorge Bridge.  It is a 1,272-foot long span over the Rio Grand River.  At one of the deepest spots, the river is 656 feet below.  

The third time is a charm, right?  Here we are.  

It was worth the drive... though not as high as the Royal Gorge in Canon City, CO, still impressive.  Heights don't really bother either of us, but we had to giggle (to ourselves) about how nervous some were while walking across the bridge, or marvel at how calm some parents were in letting their young children walk along without holding their hands.  

On our way back to the campground we had a herd of bighorn sheep cross the road in front of us...  I was so excited!  There were several ewes and a few yearlings and some babies!

Upon our return we had some neighbors setting up in a nearby site.  They were a fun family to watch.  There was Grandpa and Grandma, Mom and four children, ranging in age from 17 to 5 ~ Carter, Addie, Danny and Julie.  Oh, and a 15 week old puppy ~ Tillie.  We never did catch Mom's name...  

They came for a visit a few times as the kids scoped out the river for the best fishing spots.  They were a lovely family from Oklahoma and we enjoyed the chats.

The puppy spotted a chipmunk that resided under a large rock... which interested Shelby and the oldest boy.  It was hilarious to see them all watching intently.  The little chippy finally snuck away, but Shelby continued to watch... not understanding why the puppy and boy lost interest.  LOL!

It was time to load up and head home before a big rain storm rolled in, but not without a walk around town and lunch at the brewery.

Time to re-pack and go to the cabin! Fun! Fun! Fun!  

We camped for two nights... can you guess what blocks might be added to the Camping Journal Quilt to represent this trip?

Leave a comment... I'd like to see your guesses.

Stay Pieceful!

Melva

Linking with:

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy

UFO Busting at Tish’s Wonderland

  

Gone Camping

You won't hear or see much from me this week...

I am unplugged and will be (hopefully) sitting by a creek, watching the day pass by or enjoying a long walk and taking naps.

On Friday I I did this...

I didn't really have the time to make this travel sewing bag, but I did it anyway!

 Zippers and I are barely on an acquaintance basis and it took two tries to get it right. The first one was too short so I had to go to the store to find a longer one... it wasn't really much longer, but at least it separated, allowing the bag to open flat.

There are pockets galore and I used double stick tape to attach a large sheet magnet on the back of my small cutting mat to keep my scissors and needle handy, in addition to being able to use magnets to keep some of the pattern pieces readily available. And there is plenty of room to take a small bag full of fabric. 😃

I'll check in really quick sometime Thursday or Friday as we reset and prep for our Family Cabin Camp Weekend!

Leave a comment about what you are doing this week!

I look forward to hearing from you...

Melva

Linking with:

To Do Tuesday at Chris Knits & Sews

Mid-week Makers at Quilt Fabrication

Wednesday Wait Loss at The Inquiring Quilter

Stitch Sew & Show at Life in the Scrap Patch

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese

Needle & Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Mid-Year Review

I have been saying it for weeks... How can the year be 1/2 gone???  They say that time flies when you're having fun.  So... I guess I have been having a great time because they days seem to be zipping by at warp speed.

None the less, it is time for a mid-year check up to see if I have managed to do anything on my Annual Planning Party list.  

✔  Wrap up the Pieces from the Past Sew Along.  Did you see the quilt parade?

And if you happen to be interested in any or all of these blocks they are still available at no cost.  You can find the patterns by following the highlighted link above to the sew along page and then selecting each story to find the block and its pattern.

✔  Using all that I have learned to date with the Pieces From the Past Sew Along, I launched the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail Sew Along in April.  Following the same schedule as the previous sew along, I am publishing a new block every three weeks.  While my quilt has been finished for a few months, just recently I was able to take it to one of the local Santa Fe Trail Crossing sites.  

At this particular trail site they have a couple wagons... They had a regular passenger wagon, but they also had a freight wagon with a "pup" wagon in tow.  I chose to capture photos with the freight wagon since Marion's first journey on the Santa Fe Trail was with a driver of a freight wagon.  

If you haven't been following along, with each block I am sharing an excerpt of the book "Land of Enchantment" which is the book of Memoirs of Marion Sloan Russell.  You can get all of the details by following the highlighted link above.

✔  Continue with our Camping Journal Quilt. I wonder what amazing adventures we have before us?  

Sadly, we did not get a spring trip. In fact, the camper was not even put on the truck until June!  We have enjoyed one trip with friends to a National Forest area but have a few more adventures planned in the coming weeks.

Rachel over at Fiona Sandwich is hosting a Summer Camp with a fun little check off list for various items, such as sewing near water, or sewing in a car and more.  I haven't gotten many blocks done, but it has been great fun seeing the creativity of all the participants.

As for my other goals... I have done nothing to even plan for them!  But I still have time.

  

❧  Whole-cloth quilt   

❧  Quilt As You Go project  

Other Stats::

⦿ 9 quilts finished that are table runner size or larger

⦿  4 mini quilts, 

⦿  1 table topper ready for quilting 

⦿  4 tops quilted for others

Favorite Finishes are, without a doubt, the Paper Doll Quilts!

So, I guess it is obvious what I need to work on for the the remainder of the year.  More camping and camping journal blocks!  😁

I'm not typically a procrastinator, but I think I'll be putting off the quilt-as-you-go and whole cloth projects for a while.  At least until this fall.  I have plenty of other things that will keep me busy in the studio.

Have you done a mid-year review?  

How are you doing with your goals?

Leave a comment.  I'd love to hear how you are doing!

Stay Piece-ful,

Melva

Linking with:

2021 Mid-year Check in at Quilting Jet Girl

Scrap Happy Saturday at Super Scrappy

Oh Scrap! at Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sunday Stash at QuiltPaintCreate

Patchwork & Quilts at The Quilting Patch

Monday Making at Love Laugh Quilt

Design Wall Monday at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts

July One Month Goal

It is probably pretty safe to say we have all heard of "Where's Waldo"... but my question is "Where did June go???"  

Where it may have dashed off to, I cannot say but, I CAN say I successfully completed my June One Month Goal.  AND I can say linking up with Patty at Elm Street Quilts made it all worth it... because she gives prizes!  And I won one.  Woohoo!  I am awaiting the arrival of an Oliso mini travel iron.  I'm so excited!

Now, talk about incentive to set a goal and complete it!

The OMG for July is to complete the memory quilt that I am currently working on.

Normally, it would be no big deal, as I am typically able to do one, start to finish, in about 10 days... sometimes only one week, depending on the size and complexity of the pattern.

This one is a little more involved.  It is a 14" block with 61(!) pieces!! and there are 12 blocks... that's 732 pieces just in the blocks.  There are an additional 62 pieces for the sashing strips and corner stones.

Gosh!  No wonder it seems as though I have been in my studio cutting for... everrrrrrr.  ✂✂✂

Last week I had estimated that I would get at least 6 blocks fully pieced.  Boy was I wrong!

Oh, of course my plans went awry when we got the message that our daughter planned to spend the day with us on July 4th.  Not only did we have church in the morning, but we hosted a big BBQ for members as well as the local community.

It was great fun!

Our Little Fire Crackers 💗

A fun game of Jenga with Kampa

Great-Grandma with little Hanna, now 2 months old
She was obviously tired since she had her Momma
up early requesting a feeding and entertainment.

There was food, fun and games for all ages!

But... back to quilting.

While I didn't get any blocks pieced as I had hoped, I did get all of the pieces cut and snowball corners done on Friday. The HST sewing happened on Saturday afternoon.

It took a long time to get the HSTs trimmed to size, but NOW I am ready to roll.

I'm not going to put a time frame on it since I was so far off with my previous estimation... thus my goal for getting it done by the end of July.  

We have a couple of camping trips planned for the near future, including a weekend with the grands, our daughters and one SIL.  Two years ago we made a special trip with our oldest, her husband and the kiddos, and then last year we had a "Nolan Family Cabin Camping Weekend" with our girls and the grands (no, the sons-in-law were not brave enough to join us).  

Though with each activity there were text messages and pictures sent to them with responses that were similar to "oh, I wish I was there" or "that looks fun, or "that looks really good", in the case of the food photos.  The replies were always "You should have gone camping!"

It was filled with such fun, good food, crazy laughter and so many memories that the grands asked to do it again.  And what Grandparent could turn THAT down???  You bet we are making it happen.  The "camp crafts" have been planned and all the necessary supplies acquired.  We will be doing tie-dye shirts, "pour art" or "blow art", some nature projects with photo paper, learning gun and archery safety and shooting a pellet gun and the bow.  There will probably be some games, lots and lots of food, whittling for the oldest with the pocket knife we gifted him at Christmas, and who knows what else we might find to do.  

My Mom will be joining us again for at least one day, making 4 generations of camping memories.  There is nothing better!

I have many memories of camping with my grandparents... A three week trip of visiting Arches National Monument, Salt Lake City, Yellowstone and the Tetons is a stand out, but there were so many more!

What are some of your favorite memories with your grandparents?

Leave a comment... I'd love to hear from you!

Keep Piecing!

Melva

Have you joined the Pieces of the Santa Fe Trail Sew Along?

Linking with:

To Do Tuesday at Chris Knits & Sews

One Month Goal at Elm Street Quilts

Put Your Foot Down at For the Love of Geese

Can I Get A Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Off The Wall Friday with Nina Marie

Brag About Your Beauties at From Bolt to Beauty

Peacock Party at Wendy’s Quilts and More

Friday Foto Fun at Powered by Quilting

Finished or Not Friday at Alycia Quilts