Grandmother's Choice is a Wrap!!

Well, I did it!! My first bed sized quilt all machine quilted and bound!!! This was Grandmother's Choice a BOW hosted by Barbara Brackman. We got our last block the first week of August (I think), so I feel pretty good about a total finish so quickly!!

I had a lot of fun "practicing" my fmq. This was a sampler quilt with 49 blocks, so I quilted each of those blocks differently. The chain setting blocks are all quilted the same with diagonal lines and fleur-de-lis (one of my versions) quilted in the edges. On the back, those quilting lines made "on point boxes" with the fleur-de-lis in the corners and the custom design for each pieced block in the middle. I quilted hooked feathers in the borders.

My family really likes this quilt. They say it looks "old fashioned". I know that this SAL was called "Grandmother's Choice", but I would like to name it differently - so I need your input. I kinda thought about "Nene's Royale". My grandma name is "Nene" and I love the royal purple in the quilt. What do you think?

Other news on the Fullagar Home Front:

Two weeks ago our oldest daughter (lives next door) was riding her young horse and he fell with her. Result - broken medial malleolous of the tibia in the left leg. Splint cast, non-weight bearing. So....Gramps and I have had to help with all her activities - which includes some care of Gracen - really hated that!! LOL Hated that she broke her leg - but love taking care of sweet little Gracen!!

This is the only photo that I have right now of Gracen's "Ice Cream Social" B-day party! A little fuzzy - but isn't she sooooo cute!! (Nene made her cake!)

I got our porches all cleaned yesterday, and put up a few simple fall decorations. Now that the weather is getting cooler, Gracen loves to play on the porch and I love to sit and do handwork while she plays!

Hope this finds each of you filled with Joy!

A side note: If you click on the "Bluebird" in my side bar, it will take you to my etsy shop. I do have four quilts for sale, and if any of you are interested, make me an offer.

Blessings!

Autumn Splendor

Howdy blogging buddies!!! I have got bunches to post about - some quilty, some not quilty, but this post is a short one. I entered a quilt in the weekly contest (I usually don't do this kind of thing - but others have and I have enjoyed going and voting for them! Plus, what great inspiration  - like we need more!!) over at Quilting Gallery. So if you are so inclined, hope on over and give me a vote - plus any others that inspire you (there's a bunch of great ones!!) Plus, you might win a prize just for voting!!

Here's my quilt - "Autumn Splendor".

 Here's a few close ups of the fmq. I've found that I LOVE making leaves!!

Today, Gracen is ONE YEAR OLD!!!! I'll post more later!!

Be filled with joy!!

Cotton Candy!!

I have been finishing up some quilting projects and starting a couple more!! Thought I would share the third baby quilt. This one was commissioned by my DIL - a gift for a family friend. Lyn loves more modern, bold fabrics and I always feel "challenged" that I will be able to make it look the way she envisioned it. I do have a few little "things/mistakes" in this quilt, but overall I think it will be okay. I did really enjoy FMQ several different motifs, especially the lollipop flowers in the top and bottom rows. The colors remind me of cotton candy, and the motifs were fun, so thought "Cotton Candy" fit for a name.

Hope this finds each of you filled with JOY!!

Lil' Cowboy Blue

Lil Cowboy Blue
Come swing your rope,
The cows in the meadow
Better hit a lope.

Where's the lil boy that looks after the beast?
Nodding in his saddle fast asleep!

Another finish! This is a baby quilt for friends - who are of course having a boy and live on a ranch!
Simple machine quilting - mostly straight line cross hatching through the blocks and fence rails in the border. I did FMQ the setting triangles and the white blocks of the nine patches. Look at the toes of a pair of cowboy boots - the FMQ in the setting triangles is my version of "toe stitching"!

Cool down?????

I know many of you have been getting rain, and some have had fires, but here in Texas we've just been HOT!!! But yesterday evening, at chore time (about 7:00) it was only

So, I thought is was cool enough to try on my new, hand knitted socks!!!! No, I didn't knit them, though I would love to learn. My dear blogging friend Nancy knit them for me and I received them yesterday! (For you knitters and any others that just want to know - be sure and visit Nancy's blog - she does some amazing things with those needles!!)

Thanks Bunches Nancy!!! As you can see, they fit perfectly and I love them!! (does anyone else think is weird to take pictures of your own feet!!! Weird perspective! LOL)

"Tickled Pink"

That's the name of my latest finish...and it's how I feel about it!! I think this is one of my all time favorite quilts that I have made! It's a quilt for my oldest daughter's best friend and her husband's little baby girl due the first of October!

This is one of those quilts that "just came together". I looked through my stash and put together three fabrics bought at three different times for three different reasons. They had gotten set aside, and I'm so glad that they came together just for this quilt!

I also had fun "practicing" more FMQ motifs! I quilted 5 different ones! Pumpkin seeds in the big pink squares, my version of a 'fleur-de-lis' in the white triangles, triple looped leaves in the brown triangles, the heart leaf vine from Lori's Tuesday Tutorial in the white border and then I did echo scallops below the vine to finish out the pink border. (now I know mine don't look like Lori's - but that is the beauty of FMQ - making it your own!! I think I'm getting a little "radical" or "free spirited" in my aging life!! LOL).



Hope this finds each and every one of you with joy in your heart!

Silvia...I'm so glad she's here!

In 1980, Silvia 'I' came to live at my house. She wasn't computerized, but she was the top of the line DSM made by Necchi, manufactured in Italy. And she was "Brand New"!!!!

I didn't call her Silvia - just my wonderful, wonderful, wonderful sewing machine. She could stitch almost anything and she did a bunch of it - many shirts for Mike and Rygh,  and matching Easter dresses for Mikkie, Mandie, Mollie, and me plus countless other clothes! She stitched up curtains, cushion covers, pillow shams and yes of course a quilt top or two. She patched countless jeans and shirts, fixed many a tarp, sewed up blankets and covers for show animals. Even stitched a little light leather on occasion. She stitched and stitched and stitched and her crowning achievement was this:

Mikkie's wedding dress. She sputtered a little as the last stitches were put  in and then...she just stopped. (That was in 2008). She visited two different sewing machine doctors...but alas, she had stitched her last and no replacement motor could be found (she was vintage, you know  - parts are hard to find for us old girls! LOL). So Silvia I was replaced with the next model (used of course, made in China) - she wasn't called Silvia any more - just a Necchi 4575 - same stitch selections, same basic mode of operation, and she didn't cost much off ebay - (you know, I always thought I could find "someone" who could resurrect Silvia, just needed something to sew a little).

But "ole" 4575 has stitched a bunch too. She does a fair job patching jeans (a true test for a rancher's wife's sewing machine!!), she's altered prom dresses, bride's maid's dresses, suit jackets and a couple of wedding gowns, and she's stitched a plethora of quilt tops. She's even helped me learn to FMQ. Not as sturdy as Silvia, but with frequent oiling and cleaning, and lots of prayer (and holding your mouth just right) she's stitched away right nicely (sure better than no machine - even if I was still pining away for "Silivia"!)

Well, Mikkie is sewing some now, and she liked "ole" 4575, so we talked about finding another one, so she could have one, too (right now we share the sewing room, so we were "taking" turns at times!) But I was tickled that Mikkie wanted to sew!! So, I was perusing ebay one evening and "what to my wondering eyes should appear..." (no not the reindeer silly, it's not Christmas yet!!) but alas, "Silvia II" was found!!

And she now lives at my house!! No she's not a new fancy one like others have gotten, but I couldn't be happier!!! She purrs (and I think I do, too!!) and just look at the harp space for a DSM!!!!! Her first test (after I adjusted the tension, etc) was to patch a pair of jeans!!! She passed with flying colors!!! Then she pieced a 3" nine patch - ooooo sublime! Now the real test - FMQ!!! But alas, my darning/fmq foot doesn't fit "Silvia II" - "ole" 4575 is a short shank and Silvia II is a high shank.. So...you got it: I ran right downstairs and got on ebay and ordered the right foot - should be here in a few days!! So, really, it is nice to have two machines and not just for two of us sewing - I can piece and normal stitch on one, and leave the fmq foot on and a quilt in progress on Silvia!!!

Enough of my sewing machine saga!
 Happy Stitching Ya'll!!!!!!