Kara J.

An Afternoon at My Grandparents'...

It's hard to believe...  On Sunday, it'll be a year since my grandfather fell down the stairs of their home.  For him, it's been a long year of recovery with still some issues to work out and strength to regain.  For us, it's been a year of helping out with the mowing and yardwork and planting the garden (Pappy had it prepared before he fell) and learning a lot about the tractor and the brush hog to mow the fields.  Now learning to work the plow (and the other equipment) to prepare the garden and amending the soil to plant again.

Yesterday, we spent the afternoon there.  There are a few pictures I wish I had gotten...  

For example...

We loaded the remains of our compost pile onto the truck.  (There was a LOT more there than we thought!  It filled the truck bed almost to overflowing!)  We took it out to spread it on the garden.  First, I drove the truck forward through the garden as HandyMan and Kid Two threw off the compost.  Then I drove while the Boys threw the compost.  But watching those Boys throw shovelfuls of compost off the truck... having such a good time because they're riding on the BACK of truck...  Oh, they were a sight!

We spread some fertilizer, lime and plowed.  

HandyMan operated the tractor.  Plowing away....

I love to see him on my grandfather's tractor...  It's an old Farmall-A.  

There's still some more work to do to the field and we have lots of stuff to plant!  Hopefully Pappy will be able to pull some weeds.  It may get him out more and doing something he enjoys.  I hope.  We share what's out there with them.  Afterall, they're letting us plant their garden for our own use.

While HandyMan was finishing with the plowing, the Kids and I went for a walk around the perimeter of the property (it's about 8 acres) picking up sticks along the way and throwing them into the brush.  Kid Four rolling down the hill in the back field.  Oh, to be 8 again...  

We were walking along the old fence row when Kid One found a deer shed!

She was extremely excited!  She took it in to show Pappy who, it turns out, has never found one.  He was pretty excited to see it and wanted to know where on the property we found it.  He also told her that the small buck this year is a big buck this year.  She also showed HandyMan who was pretty excited about it, too.  Kid Two noticed there was still hair on it.  One of those cool gross things they love so much.

All in all, it was a good day.

And they went to bed tired.  Very tired.  So did HanyMan and I.  

Very tired.

 

Some More Triangles...

It's the Monday after Easter.  A busy weekend all together really.  On Saturday, we prepared the garden here, speading some composted leaves and grass on it and tilling it under.  There was also all the baking and cooking to do for Easter dinner at my mother-in-law's.  Then up early Sunday morning to prepare the hot food and set it on time bake (I love this feature of my oven) and head off to the breakfast at church and enjoy the service.  Do I really need to mention the mess in the kitchen?  In my defense, we weren't home much yesterday.  So today is a day of catch-up... once my motivation joins me....  hopefully it joins me...

Over the last few weeks, besides reading gardening books and deciphering the reports for our soil samples, I've been doing some more simple sewing.  I like simple sewing.  And I have been working on another project from the stash.  

Coming off the A-fib quilt, I needed another project that didn't pose quite the time commitment, but would be fun to sew.  

So I cut some 6 inch strips and cut 60 degree triangles!

And really, they don't look like this...  This is a late-night iPhone photo in terrible lighting...  And I forgot to take one with the good camera in daylight.  I like daylight for photos.

It's amazing how small some of my scrap pieces of fabric are!  I probably should have used 3 inch strips...  Or smaller....
Maybe another time....

But I was able to get the 218 colored triangles I needed.  

And I got the 217 white triangles I needed.  

Then started sewing them together.  

Stayed tuned...  More progress to come....

 

On a side note... HandyMan hung a new birdhouse just a week ago, and there are already some new residents in it!

 

Easter Table Runner...

March, already....  And Easter is quickly approaching.  Have you noticed it's early this year?

When I was trying to decide on a table runner/topper for the month of March, I realized that Easter is the last Sunday of March.  And not wanting to do a cutie froo-froo more secular theme, I opted for a more dramatic scene from my Christian up-bringing.

The most difficult part was finding the perfect background fabric...  a batik that looked like a sunset.  I asked one of the ladies at the local quilt shop and voila!  She pointed me to the perfect piece!!  Those ladies are awesome!!

So here is the Easter Table Runner...

I have some simple instructions and a template for you, too.

The quilting was much fun and easy!

But, I must admit... it used a LOT of thread.  A LOT!  The whole spool, in fact.  

I made sure I went off the edges frequently so I could easily change the bobbin when necessary and it wouldn't be conspicuous.

Then some black binding to set it off.

Have I mentioned I love doing binding?  I do.  It's the end of the project.  It marks completion of one and ready to conquer another on the to-do list.  Though, more realistically, it's conquering another UFO!  haha

 

Happy Easter Everyone!

 

 

The A-Fib Quilt...

On January 27-28, 2013, I found myself back in the hospital in a-fib.  I had an ablation over 3 years ago, and here I was... again.  Coming home on medications I didn't want to take, I reached levels of anger and frustration I didn't know existed.  This wasn't supposed to happen again.  The looks of pity and the comments of, "But you're so young!" didn't help.  

At all.

I turned to quilting to give me something mindless to do while I sorted out emotions and questions and prayed.  I kept a notebook near me to jot down questions and concerns as they came to me.  It's amazing how the simple act of mindlessly sewing squares together can help you find peace as you send prayers to God to help you.  Sometimes, it's a long road.  And this road was pretty long, if not for me, then for my poor Kids and HandyMan who had to put up with me on a daily basis.

Quilting was my therapy.

I turned to the fabric stash with its unending possibilities and quickly decided on a simple, scrappy quilt.  I would just cut a bunch of squares.  Just squares meant it was going to be simple.  Smaller squares meant more time to sew.  More time to think.  More me...  I decided on 2.5 inch squares.  And started cutting from the stash.  2,025 to be exact.  1,013 needed to be colors, 1,012 needed to be white.  If you'd look at some of the colors together, they don't match.  And I didn't care.  Purples.  Greens.  Blues.  Pinks.  Reds.  Yellows.  I just cut and sewed.  

All those squares were sewn into a checkerboard design.  Then layered and quilted on my domestic sewing machine.  It's the first time I've ever quilted a queen size quilt on my sewing machine, so I kept the quilting very simple.  But it was challenging.  The size of it.  The weight of it.  It was akward to start, but then I figured out how to handle the bulk.

When I went to the local quilt shop, I took it with me.  I wanted to make sure the batting was white enough to not yellow all the white in the quilt.  I told them the story behind the quilt.  They called it my a-fib quilt.  And the name stuck.

The quilt was started and finished in the month of February.

During this time, HandyMan also worked on a wooden bed frame for us.  It's in the picture above.  The pattern can be found here.  He made some alterations to it along the way.  Of course.

I couldn't decide on antiqued white or black.  I let him paint it black.  And we antiqued it together.  But I love it!  The top of the mattress is about 30 inches high now.  

He's pretty amazing!

 

And to add a bit of an update:  in the month of February, I visited all the doctors, had most of the tests and was taken off all the meds.  Yay!  Life is (almost) back to the way it was.  

Broken Links...

Apparently some of my links aren't working correctly...

I'm working on getting them fixed.  I'll let you know when I get everything fixed.

Thank you for your patience and I apologize for any inconvenience.

 

Kara

 

Twins!!!

A sweet friend (and former 4-Her of mine - boy, do I feel old!!) recently had twins. One sweet little girl and a darling little boy.

My thought - What better way to usher new members of the family in then with some baby quilts!

I wanted the quilts to be the same, but different.  I did this once before... 12 years ago... when HandyMan's sister had twin girls.  Their quilts were the same pattern, the same colors and fabrics, both girly, but the colors and fabrics were placed differently in the quilts.

For the newest set of twins, I decided to use a simple rail fence block.  And for the sweet little girl, Kid One chose pinks and reds from the stash.  I chose blues from the stash for that darling little boy.

(Once again, stash sewing that didn't make a dent in the stash...)

The block is made of three rails.  The white rails were cut at 1.5 inches x 4.5 inches.  And the colored rails were cut at 2.5 inches x 4.5 inches.  When assembled, the unfinished block measures 4.5 inches and finishes at 4 inches.

Because of turning the blocks, the colored rails appear to float in the white.  I do like the effect!

Quilting was done by machine.  I prefer machine quilting baby quilts.  They are used very hard and receive a LOT of washings!

The decision of how to do the quilting was difficult.  Not wanting to detract from the blocks, I opted for simple stich-in-the-ditch.  

Binding to match each quilt.

Then off to be with the wee babies they were made for.

And let me tell you, they are some cuties!!

 

Oh, if you'd like to print some basic instructions for this, you can print out some here....  

Incredible Horse Fabric!

Ok.  I'm sure I'm not the only person this happens to.  You find fabric, you have no idea what to make, but you have to have it.

Yea, I knew I wasn't the only one.  :)

But I found this horse fabric last month when we went to the local quilt shop.  I'd been thinking about it since then!

Well, I'm sooooo thankful it was still there because I couldn't stop thinking about it.  I had NO idea what to make with it, so I got enough to make a reusable grocery bag.  

It's a fully lined pattern, so we found this cute dot to go with it.  It makes perfect lining fabric!

I love it when manufacturers put the color dots in the selvedge.  It make color matching soooo much easier!

I can't tell you how easy this pattern is!  And it holds a lot!  I started a little after 4 AM this morning.  I even made English muffin bread for breakfast, homemade hot cocoa, ate some breakfast, and I was done by about 8 AM.  A pretty productive morning.

We're thinking it'll make the perfect library bag!  Since it holds a lot, and we usually get a LOT of books at a time.  A lot of books.  Plus, I think it's too pretty for groceries...

I doubt the productivity will continue throughout the day.  But it just might!

There's batting to lay out again today so the wrinkles relax.  And there's homeschooling the Kids.  And the usual chores.  Also Kid Four has a low-grade fever.  It's going around...  I lost my voice for a day.  The Kids thought it was great... until I blew my whistle!  haha  

Well, I'd better get to the rest of the day!  Have a fantastic day, Everyone!

 

 

A Heart-Ful Table Runner...

February is flying by and my plans for the months seem to have been sidelined.  Oh, did they get sidelined...  

I spent some time in the hospital the very end of January.  Followed by days of sleep because they don't let you sleep in the hospital.  Phone calls to doctors and follow-up appointments.  Starting new meds with side effects.  Only to stop new meds.  Throw in a tetanus shot for one kid.  A broken collar bone for another.  And then we've had a cold running through the household.  

And now February is almost gone.....

And while Valentine's is past, I was also thinking this would be a wonderful table runner for at-home anniversary dinners or other special occasions.

A Heart-Ful Table Runner

What you'll need:

~ 14.5 x WOF background fabric
~ Scraps big enough for 4 hearts (template enclosed)
~ 1/3 yard for binding
~ backing bigger than the background fabric
~ batting bigger than the background fabric

The background fabric is 14.5 x WOF.  If this is too long for your table, feel free to shorten it.  Our table is almost 7 feet long.  HandyMan made it that big.  It's fantastic for the larger family get-togethers we have, and sometimes it's not big enough.  We spill out all over the house.

I was torn between a white background and a print for this table runner.  My indecision became my decision and I made the table runner two-sided.

One nice thing about it being two-sided...  If you get a spill on it, flip and over and no more spill!!  haha

Cut out 4 hearts from scraps.  (There's a link below to get a basic pattern and template.)  Prepare them as you would for your favorite method of applique.  We used fusible web for ours and did a machine applique technique.  Kid One actually did the stitching for me.  I think she did a fantastic job!!

Applique, using your favorite method, the hearts in place according to picture.  Or use your own layout.

I snipped the darker one and put the ends under the lighter one so they look entwined.  I really like the look of them that way.

Since mine is two-sided, I layered the white side with the batting and used free-motion quilting.  Then trimmed the edges and layered it with the other side.  

If yours is not two-sided, layer as you would a quilt with backing face-down, then batting, then front face-up.

Bind the table runner using your favorite method.

I hope you enjoy the table runner.  If you'd like some basic instructions and copy of the heart template, you can find it here.

Happy quilting!

 

 

 

Snowy Drifts Table Runner...

There was an idea that flitted through my head to do "Twelve Months of Table Toppers" all based on the months and seasons.  But honestly, I don't have twelve planned, and when I look at some months I draw a complete blank!  Ugh!

This table runner, however, was sort of inspired by the snows we've had this year.  None were overly deep (only about 4-6 inches) but were enough for the Kids to have a GREAT time!  It's been a few years since we've had snow and they've been loving it.  Of course, our snowy days seem to be followed by warmer days, which means we have muddy days and dirty floors.  hahaha  

So let's get to the Snow Drifts Table Runner....

Snowy Drifts Table Runner

What you'll need:

~ 24 inch x WOF (width of fabric) white fabric
~ 18 inch x 46 inch batting
~ 18 inch x WOF backing fabric
~ 1/4 yard for binding

First, make sure your white fabric is pressed well and the two cut edges are squared up.

Starting at one cut edge, mark a line 1.5 inches away from the edge.  I used a water soluble pen for this.  Continue marking lines 1.5 inches apart until you have marked the entire fabric.  Your last line should be approximately 1.5 inches from the other cut edge.

Fold your fabric on a line and pin. Then stitch a quarter inch from the fold.

Continue folding and pinning until your fabric is pleated.

Since I used a water-soluble marking pen, I sprayed the fabric with water, then pressed it.

Your pleated fabric should now measure approximately 16.5 inches x WOF.  Mine finishes at 15.5 since I'm using my daughter's sewing machine, and the edge of presser foot while close to 1/4 inch is slightly big.  About 1/16 inch too big.  But I'm going to go with it.

Now it's time to layer.  But first, compare your pleated fabric to your backing fabric.  Just because fabric may be be listed at 45 inches wide, doesn't mean it is.  In fact, my pleated fabric measured 44 inches while my backing fabric measure 42 inches.  

So I trimmed my pleated fabric to fit the backing fabric.  

Much better.

I have a bit more of that backing fabric and could have pieced my backing a bit bigger, but as of this moment in the process, I was undecided on binding and wanted to save the backing fabric for binding.

I should add, I've actually trimmed my batting and backing a little tighter since my pleated fabric is smaller and I'm trying to use up my stash of batting scraps.  You know, all those pieces you trim off the king size batting because you insist on make your queen size quilts about 96 inches wide.  Well, at least I insist on queen size quilts being 96 (or so) inches wide. 

Now layer.  Backing fabric right side down, then batting, then pleated fabric right side up.  I would have preferred to use some spray adhesive to stick everything together so I can manipulate the pleats, but I ran out...  So I'll be doing some very careful pinning.

I did not take a picture of that step....

Now, let's manipulate those pleats...

First, I'll measure some straight lines through, pinning the pleats as I go, and see how I like it.  

Maybe all the same width...

Or maybe random widths...

Or maybe some slightly diagonal lines with straight lines...

Or maybe a combination of all three...

Hmmm....  This is a tougher decision than I thought it would be...

(after thinking about it for several hours while we homeschool, eat lunch, homeschool some more, supper, Bible Study.... basically the next day..... ok, the next evening....)

I've decided on evenly spaced, slightly diagonal lines.

My lines are 2.5 inches apart.  The bottom of the first line is 2.5 inches inches away from the edge and the top is 3.5 inches away from the edge.

I sewed every other one first.  This just holds the pleats down.

This is where I needed the "careful pinning" mentioned above...  My duaghter's sewing machine does NOT have an even-feed or walking foot.  So I pinned right down the line with my regular pins so the layers wouldn't shift. 

Now flip the table runner over and sew the other way, flipping the pleats over as you sew.

They are some lovely pleats.

Now binding.  I use a double-fold binding for everything (and I mean EVERYTHING!) because I find it incredibly easy to handle and work with.  But go ahead and use your favorite method.

If you would like to save/print out a handy-dandy .pdf file of these instructions, you can find it here. 

And because I love taking pictures of projects hanging from my clothesline...

I should add, for a bit of truth behind the photos...  When I'm trimming fabric or thread, the snippets tend to end up on the floor of my dining room/kitchen because I sew at the kitchen table.  And the kitchen penninsula that separates kitchen from dining is covered with a cutting mat, ruler and rotary cutter. I should also add, that piece of counter space may or may not be the only available counter space right now between projects and homeschooling...  I never claimed to be the greatest housekeeper...

 

Oh, if you have any questions, let me know!

January is Flying By...

It's hard to believe it's the middle of January.  Christmas was just over three weeks ago.  I've made some plans (I'm sure God laughs at some of my plans!).  We have a few birthdays this month, too.  HandyMan and Pappy share a birthday (of course with HandyMan's twin brother), and my Mom's birthday was earlier this week.  

Pappy turned 84!  And his recovery (from his fall down the steps the day before Easter) is moving along.  You don't recover quite so quickly when you're older...

Oh, we've had some more snow!!

That's Kid Four, hanging out on the picnic table in the early morning hours just the other day.  It had snowed overnight.  And snow can't wait until schoolwork is done or breakfast is eaten or anything.  It can't wait!!  So out they go and they come back in with rosy cheeks and red noses.

Winter is great.  As long as snow is involved.  And people remember how to drive in the slop, or just stay home (but that's a story for another day...).  

We're starting to plan the gardens and getting the books we need to fix Pappy's tractor (it's stuck in gear).  

In the meantime, we're playing in the snow.  

Even on the swings. 

And hoping and praying for a bit more winter and snow fun before the spring thaws and plowing starts.