Log Cabin Quilt

I just finished the binding on my Broken Star log cabin quilt. This quilt took some time to complete, since I decided to hand quilt it. I stitch in the ditch over the whole quilt. It measures 42 x 42 inches. Each log cabin piece sewn was 1/2 inch finished width. The picture does not do the quilt justice. I purchased the pattern and material in Shipshewanna, IN at Lollie's Fabrics--one of my favorite places to shop for fabric. We visit Shipshewanna each time we travel to Michigan to see our son, daughter-in-law, and 5 grandchildren.

Mystery Quilt -- Borders

Here are two pictures of my mystery quilt. I wanted to take a picture with it hanging and decided to go to the front porch. Well, the wind was blowing and the sun was not quite right, but here are the pictures. I really have enjoyed making this quilt and watching it take form and turn into a lovely quilt. I have also enjoyed looking at everyone else's quilt -- they are all beautiful! Thank you, Helen, http://hugsnkisses.typepad.com/hugsfromhelen/.

I bought my backing yesterday and will soon begin the quilting. (Moda fabrics)

My Front Yard

My jonquils (daffodils) are just now blooming. I wanted to post this picture taken from my front yard. As the flowers open up, I will post other pictures.

Mystery Quilt Step 7

Well, step 7 of the Mystery Quilt is complete. I am eager for the final border. Again, I have really enjoyed making this quilt. (I should have ironed it again before taking the picture. Oh, well, next time I will get it ready.)

February Wall Hanging

My husband got my shelf up and ready for my monthly wall hanging. Posting this on my blog will hold me accountable for completing a new 12" x 12" quilt each month.

Heart Wall Hanging

Well, Sunday afternoon while my husband was watching all the Super Bowl prelims, I decided to go to my quilt studio and work on a small heart quilt to hang above my kitchen sink. It measures 12.5 X 12.5. The heart is paper pieced. The pattern is from "Quilts in My Cubicle". I plan to make a small wall hanging for each month of the year. This is my first one.

I will place it on the bare spot to the left of the other photos. (See below.) The dark spots on the wall are shadows--not dirt. :-)

Thought I would share a close up of the other two pictures. This first picture is of my husband's grandfather's country store.

This next picture was given to me by my daughter-in-law. She purchased the print from a street artist in Cuzco, Peru. She was on a mission trip at the time.

Beau

Today I finally got a shot at Beau. Just wanted to share. Beau is a labradoodle and is just precious. He enjoys running after our big lab, Jack.

Mystery Quilt

Mysteries 1-5 completed. The mystery quilt is a bit clearer. This has been so much fun. I like the idea of choosing fabric before seeing the pattern. I usually work the other way and then I copy the colors of the particular quilt.

Ellen's Cookbook

Our niece, Ellen, has published her own cookbook with great, low-fat recipes. You can find recipes and lots of useful information on her website http://www.cookingwithellen.com.

Prayer Quilt

Just wanted to share the prayer quilt we have just finished. We are a prayer quilt ministry of three people. This was given to our pastor. His last day was Sunday, January 25. We will miss him so much. He was a wonderful pastor, teacher, and friend to all.

Sharing

My daughter-in-law, Jaime, is so talented. She can paint, sing, act and is a great mother. She is working on a new room for my 2-year old grandson, Jase. He needs to make room for his new sister, Josie Clare, who will be here in June. Here are two pictures Jaime has painted on a wall in Jase's bedroom. She is installing a new floor also as you can see from the mop handle.

Mystery Quilt #2

Here is the second block for the Mystery Quilt. It sure looks like a tie to me. Hope it improves after it is added to the quilt. I have made 16 of these pieces.

Mystery Quilt #1

Here is the first block in the mystery quilt. This is fun!

Wednesday Morning

Here's my material for the Summer Mystery Quilt. Is it summery enough? I loved the diagonal stripe and could not resist.

Monday

Well, I have been retired for 7 months and still have not gotten myself organized. Well, today I planned to do differently and try to tackle my house and get organized. I am using http://www.flylady.com/ to help me organize. You tackle the task of decluttering by completing a little at a time--work for 10 minutes. This week's goal it to work on the kitchen. If I post this info, maybe I will follow the plan. I did clean my stove top. Tomorrow I will need to dust the tops of cabinets, refrigerator, and clean light fixtures. Let's see how that goes.

I was a little distracted because I checked on my new puppy, Beau, every few minutes. I just had to give him a hug every so often. He is so cute sitting on my porch like he owns the world. He even barked at a car on the road which is 1/4 mile away.

I did my grocery shopping for the week with a planned week's menu (part of organizing). Tonight I fixed Tortilla Soup. It was so good. Sonny really enjoyed it.

4 chicken breasts
4 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can Rotel
1/2 C chicken broth
1 Tlbs. fajita seasonings
Monterey jack cheese
Tortilla chips

Boil four chicken breasts about 45 minutes. Cool and cut into bite-size pieces. Reserve 1/2 cup broth. In saucepan, combine four cans cream of chicken soup. Add one can Ro-Tel tomatoes and 1 Tbls. fajita seasoning. Stir in 1/2 cup chicken broth (I added a little more). Heat thoroughly. To serve, put tortilla chips and grated cheese in the bottom of bowl and pour in hot soup.

Must go finish my Nightime routine of by picking up and putting away of items like shoes, newspapers, quilting books :-), then make sure kitchen is clean leaving with a clean, dry sink. Also--check on Beau.

This is Big Day Friday

Today we travel to meet our new addition to the family. His name is Beau and he is a labradoodle. I will post a picture later when we get him home with Jack and Coco. Hope he likes his new home. It is a bit cooler here than in Houston, TX; however, I have blooms on some of my plants while my son in Michigan will fit cold weather for a while.

Big Day

First, let me catch up. We had a busy Thanksgiving and Christmas season and posting to a blog was at the bottom of the list.

I would like to show a couple of my projects. I love my Christmas quilt and do not want to put in up for a year but must. Want I be thrilled next year when I can get it out?

The quilt with the gathered sashing turned out so lovely but my camera just would not do it justice so I am showing only a portion of the quilt. I made this quilt for my niece, Mary Hogan.

The pink, pink quilt is for my new granddaughter, Maggie Elizabeth, who is a month old. I plan to quilt it next week.

I am going to pick out my fabrics for the new mystery quilt posted on the right in my sidebar. I will post those fabrics later.

Our Cookbook

In 2004, my family published a cookbook of family recipes. My mother has absolutely enjoyed the whole process from gathering the recipes to giving and selling the cookbooks. In one section of the cookbook, Mother added many memories that we will enjoy for years to come. I also added a page showing how to set a table. I was raised in a home where we sat down together for our meals with a properly set table. My husband accuses me of learning that at college (a female college). Ha!

Mother wanted a few more cookbooks so we decided to print a few and the family members decided they wanted more cookbooks SO we have just received 150 cookbooks of the seventh printing.

My Quilt Shack

Many quilters will understand my predicament--I did not have a suitable place for all my quilting tools. I would take over the kitchen counter to cut out a quilt. Then I used the kitchen table for my sewing machine. Threads and pins would be all over my house. Then I would need to move everything to serve a meal. So my wonderful husband, Sonny, decided to build me some place to put all my quilting tools. See my shack below. The size is 12 by 16. (I did not plan for a quilting machine.) I love my quilting shack. It is all mine and I love spending time in my "studio". I will later share inside pictures.

Quilts by Martha

Hello, welcome to my blog. I recently retired from 30 years of teaching school. I am enjoying my retirement. I love to quilt, read, and play the piano and organ. I have been quilting for 15 years and enjoy every minute. I once asked an experienced quilter how many quilts I need to complete to be called a quilter. She laughed and said, "one". So I guess I can call myself a quilter.

My husband, Sonny, and I have five sons, 3 daughter-in-laws, and 7 wonderful grandchildren and two more on their way.

My first quilt was a SunBonnet Sue quilt created from a kit with everything already cut out. I was clueless to all aspects of quilt making. It took me 12 years to complete. Needless to say, I have learned lots since that first quilt. I handquilted the Sunbonnet Sue quilt as I traveled to Michigan to see my son and his family and on a school trips to Denver, Myrtle Beach, Nashville, Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, and DisneyWorld. I especially loved the backing material I purchased in one of my favorite places to shop in Shipshewanna, IN.