Oldies from the quilt shop!

 Well, I got a phone call from my local quilt shop this weekend. A gentleman's wife had passed away.  He brought in a ton of her quilts, and just gave them to the shop.  The gals at the shop selected some, and then called me to see if I was interested in the remainder.  YOU BET I was!!  I love oldies!!  Above is a familiar double wedding ring.  I think it is from the 1930's, at least is has some 1930's fabrics in it.  It is exquisitely hand quilted...really gorgeous.

 A closer look.  A faded pink background...it is so soft!!

 Unfortunately, all the edges are totally frayed and used up.  It had an additional border around it, and an applied binding turned to the back.  So very soft and pretty...and all used up, except for a pretty thing to show.

 The whole thing...about a full bed size.  Maybe the quilter's mom made this, because it is older than the rest of the blocks.

 I think the quilter must made these.  Hand pieced, all of them...not a one the same size.  There are about twice as many blocks as I pictured  here...1950's??  What is your opinion on age?

 Honestly...this is straight!!  This is as straight as this wonky top gets!  How much fun she much have had piecing this top...I love her free form spirit!!  It will never, ever, ever quilt out...so that must be why she just left it as a top.

 Some of the pretty fabrics in the stars...strings!!  Yummy!!

 And this top...square in a square.  Some old, old plaids in here...our quilter liked plaids!!

 And hexies!!  Lots of hexie blocks.  All pieced with the craziest assortment of fabrics.  I love that...

 Makin' do here!!!  The muslin surrounding the blocks is frayed and I think it is beyond me to salvage these.

Some string stars, with a red large gingham background.  I think I like our quilter of yore!  She was a scrapper...a fun lovin' lady with no rules to bind her...she had never heard of the quilt police!!  When do you think she lived, based on her quilts?  Ages of fabrics, anyone??  I wish I could have seen all the quilts...maybe the gals took pictures...





Have a great day, all!!!


Julie

I listened!!

 Hi everyone!  Well, the scraps are just so much fun, aren't they?  I put all the blocks together, and then put this narrow border of red.  I am liking it!!  THANK YOU!!  so much to everyone who gave an opinion last post about what to do with this scrappy top...I listened, and thank you so much for all your input!!  I still have to search the stash for a border fabric.  I also decided to make this a much smaller quilt, for a baby...mainly because I almost ran out of 2 inch squares.  Oh the horror!!  Running out of squares!!  Hee!!  It is not like I could not CUT some, now is it??

 I also put the outside borders on our quilt along quilt from Lori and Randy!!!  I am loving this...it is to be an applique border....kind of a clean slate.  I could applique anything I want!!!  I love the border that is designed for this quilt...but the wheels are turning...who knows what could end up here!!

My poor 2 inch box...nearly empty.  Well, these  squares will definitely breed more, don't worry!  I am sure of it...and I feel good about using some up!  Some of these squares were my mother's fabrics..they are precious to me...now she was a REAL scrappy quilter!!!!  In those days, she did not go to the fabric store...she made do with scraps of dresses, aprons, whatever she could find...and her quilts are the absolute best ever!!



Have a great day, everyone!!

Julie

Maybe too scrappy? Is there such a thing?

 Would you mind giving me an opinion about this?  It is all from the 2 inch square bin, and the 3.5 inch bin.  Seems like to me it is muddy, or something.  It is better from far away...you know the old saying, "If the quilt looks OK from the back of a running horse, it is OK!"  Or something like that...

Hmmmmm?  I like it better if I squint...




Julie

quilt along part three, with Barrister's Block and Humble Quilts!

 Here is my version of Randy and Lori's quilt along.  I had these four inch blocks on the outermost border sitting around, practically begging to be in this quilt, so I put them in there!!  I love the original border too, but the practical gal who uses everything up won out this time.  The stars are four inches, finished.  I can't wait for the finale!!

 Some things are growing in the garden...a lily.  So fragrant and so pretty!!  These are so easy to grow.

 A gift from last year at Mother's day.  I put the plant in the ground, and it came back wonderfully!!


I hope everyone is having a wonderful day!!

Julie

Slow Stitching Sunday!!

 I was recently on a road trip...so those hours were hand quilting time for me!!  I am big stitching this plaid one, and decided to make little stitchie stars in the tiny nine patches.  Can't wait for another trip so I can work on this, it is great fun!  Who says quilting has to be just running stitches!?

 I hand quilted this one too, just a diagonal across the patterned background fabric...fun and fast!

And I am still hand stitching this one...I am all the way around the flying geese background pieces now, so just have to add the heart quilting on the flying geese.  I love hand quilting!  Hope you have had some time to slow stitch too!!!

Julie

Little Leftovers

 Good morning!!  Playing with the leftover half square triangles here; you know, the ones you get when you sew that extra seam on a flippy corner?  I save them, of course.  Do you??  I just have been wondering what to do with them!!  Above is a table runner...

 and the same blocks, arranged in a more quilt like manner.  I did not have enough to make a big quilt, so the table runner it is!!  The runner still needs a border, but that will come.  So here is how to do it...

 Maybe you have a bag (or two) of these half square triangles.  First thing is to trim off those dog ears, and make the squares all a uniform size.  It doesn't really matter how big, but they have to be uniform in size...pretty much!

And here is the block!!  Not perfect piecing here, but I am sure you can make them perfect, LOL!!  In my opinion, this would make a marvelous leader and ender project, with all your pieces trimmed to size and ready to go.  I used the whole bag of triangles I was wanting to use up, so yahoo!  Alas, I have several more bags to use up still...



*********************Just some thoughts************************


I recently was at the cemetery, visiting a loved one's grave, on Memorial Day.   Dear husband went back to the car, but I wandered a little bit...and saw so many flags adorning the graves of our veterans.  The VFW had placed flags on all the Vets headstones.    I looked at the dates as I wandered, and was struck by so many generations of young people, who put their bodies in harms way, to protect me and my family, and all of us...and was overwhelmed with gratitude and sorrow.  Those brave soldiers were born in 1919, perhaps, and served in World War 2.  Born in the 1930's, and served in Vietnam and Korea.  Born in the 1970's and 1980's...and served in Afghanistan and Iraq.

As I quietly walked back to the car, my eyes filled with tears, I am filled with such gratitude that so many brave soldiers protected me, and mine...and yours.  This includes my Daddy, who was in World War 2.  God bless our Veterans and all the soldiers who did not get to come home, from all those far away shores.  Happy Memorial Day, a little late...


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Julie

Narrow Gauge through the Rockies

Hi to everyone!  I made another 48 blocks, for a total of 96...and that's all, folks!!  Next is the narrow black border, when I get all the blocks sewn together.  Then...maybe that's it!!  I love these blocks, they are just great fun to make!

I received a gift from the heart.  A long time blog friend gifted me with this gorgeous crocheted piece...I left it on the wrapping paper to photograph, so you could see the detail.  It is truly beautiful, and truly appreciated!!  Thank you so much, Nines!!


**************************Nurse's Notes***********************

I floated yesterday at the hospital...this is where administration takes a nurse, and send them to another totally unfamiliar unit to work, to help with staffing. Once I went to labor and delivery...once to the ER.  It is like taking a commuter driver and sending them to run the Indy 500...a totally different scene than the one the nurse is familiar with!!  Yet, this happens all the time...scary stuff, really...and the prayer is that you don't mess up!!  Any of you nurses...do you float??  I lucked out and had simple, fun patients...whoohoo!!!




Have a great day, all!!

Julie

Coons again this spring

 Can you see these pretty eyes peering up out from our chimney? This is the view down from the top.  Yes, I got on the roof...but dear husband took the pictures.  And yes, we did have the chimney covered!  The coons deftly torn the cover off, and squeezed down here during the tornado storms the other night...

Babies!!  Three babies and a Momma coonie...I love them.  I know a lot of you don't like them, but they are gorgeous creatures to me.  So, we again wove a rope ladder for them, and I am sure they will be gone before morning.  Our poodle goes crazy when the coonies move in!



Have a great weekend!!

Julie

Quilt along, part two

Well here is part two!  I used scraps for my pinwheels, and muslin for the background fabric.  I loved making this border!!  It was just so much fun, and fit...FIT!!  Yippee!!

Please see Lori and Randy (just click on their names), to see their blogs and join in on this fun quilt along!!


Julie

Quilt along!!

Happy Monday!  I am quilting along with Lori and Randy on a fun medallion style quilt.  Here is my center block.  It is not too late for you to join in and quilt along too!!  This was fun and easy to do...I forget sometimes how much I love applique!!


Julie

Days off!!

 Today, interspersed with cleaning and laundry, I have made four Carolina Lily blocks.  I think this must be an old pattern...does anyone know?

And on the other end of the spectrum, I made some blocks from batiks.  I have very few batik fabrics, but love them for their vibrant color and crisp texture.


Other than that, it has been a quiet day.  Hope each of you out there has a wonderful Mother's day!!


Julie

A perfect storm

Here is my progress on the crumb plaid string X quilt, "Narrow Gauge through the Rockies". Little pieces of plaids comprise this quilt, and it was just a blast to piece!!  I was inspired by several of you, but the biggest influence was Regan!  Please click on her name to see her blog, and her quilt is from her April 16th post.  It is phenomenal!! Love her cheddar!!  She has had some terrible news this week, so a caring note from everyone would be wonderful.

And so far, this is what I have.  I am rethinking the piano key border  because it does not continue the diagonal feel of the quilt.  Hmmm...I will dream on it!!  Please...what do you think about a border??

And another little one...I have made two of these quilts so far!  Three inch blocks...wheeeee!!!!



*******************Nurse's Notes***********************

Down the back hall at work is a wide sunny space.  I love to walk there in the morning, and stand with my eyes closed, just for a minute, in the sun.  It is wonderful!  I catch wiffs of patient flowers here, sometimes...I really like this big wide quiet hall at the hospital.  But then!!


THE PERFECT STORM hits!

The patient comes from a procedure, doing OK  not great...not good blood pressure.  Then I noticed her distended neck veins.   Blood pressure continued to drop minute by minute.  I listened to heart sounds...very muffled.  She was in Cardiac tamponade!! Now here is the amazing thing...I just took a class on this, two weeks ago, in a CCRN review, and was able to recognize what was up immediately.  ( A God thing!)   Now this is where the perfect storm comes in....

Pharmacy...mixed my emergency drugs so fast and shot them up to me in perfect timing...fast, fast!!
Echo...the tech was right on the spot and did the cardiac echo, confirming that the patient had blood around her heart, constricting her heart beating!
Nurse Practitioner...was right there ordering things left and right for me!
The Doctor...was right on the spot too and quickly went to work!
The cath lab team...moved another stable patient and got my patient down to cath lab right that very minute!
The nurses and staff...hung drips and IV's, monitored,  helped get her to the cath lab, pushing at a run down the hall!


By the time we got her to cath lab, she had no discernible blood pressure at all.  The end of the storm?   By needle aspiration, 500 cc of blood was removed from around the heart of this patient, trapped in the pericardial sack.  Results?  Blood pressure, and heart tones all back to normal!  A save!!!!!

So the teamwork was the perfect storm...a good one!!  Instead of a death...we have a life.  The lady will go home this week.

****************************************************************


Julie

Making a new cloth

This quilt greets you from Germany!!  Angelika made this quilt, all out of plaids. Isn't it wonderful?  And best of all, her HUSBAND quilted it for her!!   I love it!  Thank you, Angelika, for sharing this quilt with me, you made my day!

Here is a close up of the quilting and pretty plaid fabrics.  All this plaid makes me want to sew plaids, plaids, plaids!!

So....I made string strips out of plaids...this was the most fun piecing I have had for such a long time!  I can heartily recommend it for just fun piecing, without having to think much, LOL!  Sometimes we can all use a break like that, right?

Then I added the black strips on each side of the pieced rectangle.

Then trimmed the corners...

And added muslin triangles to finish the block.  Pieces and parts of plaids...all I have left of the littlies went into these blocks.


When I was little, I lived in Colorado, and was born there in the mountains.  One trip I remember very well was a trip to Durango, Colorado, to ride the Narrow Gauge Railroad through the mountains to Silverton. It was the old train back then, before the new and improved version. Oh what a treat it was to me, to see those breathtaking mountains of home.  Those mountains never fail to awe me, and seem to envelope me in a big hug when I get to go home. These blocks remind me of the old railroad tracks...so the name of this quilt is Narrow Gauge through the Rockies.


It is now short work of making the rest of the blocks, and putting it all together with a piano key scrappy plaid border.  I have truly loved making this quilt!!



Julie

Weekly progress

 A few more of these blocks...these take about 30 minutes each for me to make.  Wonder why I am not faster at this?

 Some hand quilting on this...this quilt is just not straightened out, it is not this wonky!

 A dark picture to show the quilting...

 And a couple happy flower blocks!!

And that's it, folks!!!



**********************Nurse's notes*****************************

I am having to take a review course, for CEU's to renew my CCRN certification.  I attended a class today, and I learned a ton!!  Just listened...and absorbed...and bound a quilt!  I asked permission from the instructor before I did this...I did not want her to be offended at my quiet stitching.  That's right, a whole quilt bound...it seemed like I learned more as I just relaxed and listened and bound!  Wonder why?  Is this the "Zen" state that people used to talk about?  Anyway, it was a wonderfully productive day for me!!

********************************************************


Have a great day, everyone!!


Julie

Finishing things, and a brand new bag!

Do you ever get an idea, from a previous quilt?  I made a wonderful table topper from Marcie Patch's pattern this week, and then got to thinkin'...how about making a bag with strings and this pattern?   So here it is!!  I am not going to use it for a while, I will just admire it until I am ready to change purses.  I truly love sewing my scraps into something useful!!


I am working on finishing some things up.  This is an overwhelming task, but little by little, I am persevering!!


Hope you have a great day today, everyone!!


Julie