Life is Precious

 I think we all know life is precious but when referring to my daughter I feel it even more. You may not know but my daughter was in a serious high speed car accident this past summer. She is recovering but it is a slow process.  We had to drive into Portland on an unrelated matter and met our kids for lunch. Rene made that gorgeous bluebird embroidery!!

The note is personal and touching for me but I wanted to share it with you, 

So, on that note, I found that amazing lovely blue print above but am not quite sure of a plan. If you have any ideas I'd love to hear them. If you've made a small quilt with embroidery I'd love to see it.

My email is humblequilts@gmail.com

Thanks for going on the journey of life with me!

Embroidery

I started looking around for a small hand project to bring with me to Houston. I may not touch it, but, who knows, I could get stranded in an airport to or from! I was supposed to fly through Denver and they got a big storm, but was able to change my route to Houston. Always good to have too much than not enough!

I have my small toile hand quilting and couldn't find it! Looked high and low...

then pulled out this old French General embroidery I started in a class a couple of years ago. 

 I forgot how much I LOVE it!

This was Kaari's sample in class. 

I tucked this away for now because I did find the toile I want to finish. 

I'm looking forward to a fast and furious few days in Houston. Looking forward to seeing some lovely friends that I don't see often enough!

Take care friends!

Fun on Friday!

 I knew I'd have to remedy the "no handwork" situation.  I found this fun embroidery that I started in a class with Kaari of  French General.

Here's what it looks like when it isn't a wrinkled mess! It's really fun to work on. 

Gay has released another set of Dear Daughter blocks. You can get them HERE Love the inked names with sayings and the year. 

My son is arriving back to the lower 48 very early this morning.

If you missed it, he's been in Kenai, Alaska setting fish nets for a cannery. His girlfriend flew up a few days ago and they are exploring together before coming home to Oregon. 

This was a king salmon he was showing us. WOW! My son isn't super tall but that is a really big fish!

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Rainy Days and Mondays......

Always get me down....

But I pull myself back up by the bootstraps!

Lots of rain yesterday- I live in the high desert and don't usually get a full day of rain. I grew up in Seattle area and thought I left the wet for good! 

I am scheduled to do a lecture and class on this quilt later this month in Victoria, TX. I was warned that the guild doesn't like to take classes but I do not have anyone signed up :( 

I'll try not to take it personal. 

 Blue Ridge Rendezvous is such a fun class! It is based on an antique and includes the fun 1/2 blocks and this great zig zag setting!  It is called that because I made it when I was with Bonnie Hunter at her first cabin in the Blue Ridge Mtns. 

I've also had 2 guilds say they were interested, then back out when it came time to fit me in their schedule. I really am trying to stay positive about the whole thing. I use the money from the lectures and workshops to finance a good portion of my mission trips, so I guess I'll need to find an alternative plan. 

 I met this lovely lady, Debbie,  in Houston when we both volunteered for the first time in 2016. We were roommates and hit it off instantly. I'll be spending time with her in TX 

and I am really looking forward to that. 

And because I embroidered this date on my Liberty quilt, we'll need to go full speed ahead to finish it this year! The designer of the quilt we are working on, Cheri Payne,  passed away from cancer on Sunday. She was surrounded by her family and she knew she was loved deeply by her family and the quilt community.

Let's make it a great week!

..

French General

I've been a fan of all things French General and was was happy to be able to take a class from her in Houston. She talked about her new hoop based on an antique one. 

It's lightweight and although it has a bit of a learning curve to get your embroidery in it I like it a lot.

When I ordered it I got these wonderful scraps too!

I read about a French general challenge on Instagram and made this block for it. I think I'm eliminated quick cause it said use up to 4 fabrics. It's a fun wintery block and maybe I'll use it as a center for a small holiday quilt. Read more about the hoop and challenge HERE. 

And I'm only stitching on this between projects, so it'll be a slow one. 

There is something pretty magical about it.

And Randy was having a giveaway. 

Instead of choosing a "winner" we were all winners- more French General scraps!! 

Thank you Randy!

Have a wonderful week!

Stitchin' on the Weekend

It was a cold and foggy day most of the day on Sunday. Good day to stay in and prep a little stitching and clean house before the holidays. 

 I found this cute free primitive pattern on Notforgotten Farms. I had this great piece of  Moda toweling that is perfect for stitching on. Check it out HERE. I usually find these in the remnant section of Fabric Depot and seriously pick them up for a few cents. They are seamed on both sides and I just trim it even and sew a small hem and use them as napkins or towels, depending on the size.

After looking at the finished piece I realized I needed to add a few needles to my feather tree. I think it looks better.

I started this cute piece this weekend too,. It was in the latest issue of Primitive Quilts and Projects and was designed by Buttermilk Basin.

It looks like winter has shown up for several of you. We may get a little snow later in the week. I hope it is after Thanksgiving so my kids will be able to make it home.

Have a fantastic Monday!!

New Projects

I'm interrupting the old quilts for a day to show you this little ditty I made for a friend. It was simple and fun to do.

I made plans to attend my nephew's wedding in Ventura, CA mid August and I thought a quilt would be great. I have never made an Irish chain quilt amd figured that owuld be an easy, effective quilt that they would like. Do you know there are many versions of an Irish chain? And I'm not just talking about single, double or triple. I brought out my blue scraps and am now in the process of machine quilting it. We leave on the 14th so that only gives me 10 days to get it done! Yikes! Better get back into my sewing room and off the computer.

More antique quilts tomorrow.