Random quilts I've been meaning to share

Nickel square quilt I made up- yellow and green

I traded  for these squares with my friends in the CyberBees. Then I got to designing the quilts with the squares I received. The red one looked a little plain so I appliquéd flowers & leaves that I drew myself!

Another nickel square quilt I designed

My House

These are photos taken by my Mom in 1955 of the house we lived in while I was growing up. It  is the house we raised our children in with a few modifications.....well quite a few. First it no longer has that great porch. My parents took it off in the early 60's as it was in need of repair and home improvement stores weren't just around the corner then. BTW the boy standing in the front is my first brother just two years younger than me (born on the 10th of October to my 7th). He passed away on February 28 2007 at the age of 58. The house is really about 200 years old give or take a few and has all the character an old place should have.  This means uneven floors, walls of varying widths, doors that don't close and some that don't open.  When we were young it was the only house one the street with a bathroom. Everyone else still had outhouses. Our well was the best in the neighborhood and people would often come, mostly in the day, to pump from our well. We would be eating breakfast and hear the pump working. I don't remember when the water borrowing stopped but I know that pump came off when the brother in front got his two front teeth broken with the pump handle. Eleven acres came with the house and there were potatoes growing in the front yard. The driveway was lined with iris (yellow and purple) along both sides. It was a sight. To the left of the bottom photo was where myp parents planted the lilacs that still grow there today..The front yard has a very large peony bed that was my addition. In the early 70's my parents built a new home on the property closer to the greenhouse business the had started. We bought the house and things began to change. But more on that another time along with more photos.

It's been a tough year...Dad passed away, my B-I-L's tumor started to grow, my grandson broke his toe just before our trip west. When we returned his Dad broke his leg.  Well, can someone tell me why a 43 year old man would decide he needed to play semi-pro football? Through all of this I sew! It's what I know and can do. It keeps my mind and hands busy. I learned to sew in 4-H. Is there 4-H anymore? I was about 7 and I think with 2 brothers  my Mother thought I should have a friend or two. My first project was an apron made from a feed sack. Somewhere in a box is the album of all my accomplishments in 4-H. When I was a senior in high school that album got me into college. I learned to sew but that was not the end.  There was cooking, canning, caring for animals, gardening and cleaning. Oh how we learned to clean! In that album is a newspaper clipping of we girls using a vaccum cleaner is an historic house. That house is now part of a National Park here in Schuylerville New York. Little did I know then that I would find an ancestor that fought in the Revolution here in Schuylerville and that would lead me to join another 'club' the DAR. Of all the things I like I think history ranks high up there. But that's another day.

Usually I sew 4 days out of the week ...that's an average...but I sew alot..I like to sew more than most things I do...I also read alot...mostly Historical fiction and historical mysteries.....this WIP is for my sister and my b-i-l......they are lighthouse people and own a second home in Maine...lovely little place that they worked very hard to buy...they flipped several houses to be able to afford their dream and then 3 years ago he was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer...the asbestos related type...as his primary job is as a mechanic....he's a trooper tho...looked it up on-line found the best DR. and has been using the Cancer center in Houston...flying back and forth for treatment and then in-between going to the nearby hospital for the 'extras'....he has been diligent about giving up meat and sugar....Cancer I'm told loves sugar....he is on a vitamin regimen that would send me overboard....too many pills.....their wedding anniversary is in June and I'm hoping to have this finished for them ...it will be 28 years ...not sure he can make it to thirty....it breaks my heart because they are so compatible ...never seen them so angry they weren't talking...they have 2 sons both of whom have disabilities...neither will ever leave home....I often wish there was some magical thing to say to make it all better...just the right words ...BUT....so because I sew...I have made a quilt...with seashells, footprints in the sand, fish (B-I-L's passion),beach pebbles and lighthouses.....I put the lighthouses in attic windows and then made blocks of  flying geese, friendship stars, lover's knots and the last of scraps.....I ran a little short on fabric so I have to make a quick run and get a batik I think....then I' going to take it to my long arm gal and see if she can pusg it through for me...the blocks are 18" so it's too big for me to do here.....

The centers of these court house square blocks were fussy cut from a Martha Pullen design......I have 18 and they are 11" sq....My question is should I use sashing or no ...should I just sew them together as they appear in the top photo...it looks really cute all set up as in the top photo......sashing would make a bigger quilt...I plan on adding a border but nothing else..... 

just came from KC Framing and Fabrics with this quilt...do any of you remember your blocks...there were more but these are the only ones I used in this project...the quilting design is Sun Bonnet Sue...it is soooo cute ....what say you all...

This is our 1969 camper...did you know that there are people who re-do these things...just like old cars ???   I did not...but I'm learning...the new toilet is on order and we need to test the water system before my husbands treks it to New Mexico...at the end of next month.....We are hoping to put our house on the market but with the size and the age of it selling is going to be a test of endurance.  I would like to rent it and then I could join him in New Mexico by September.  The weather is so good there I should be able to quilt outside in a little screen house...Also we could travel and see some more of the Southwest.We are headed into the Silver City area....I really like it there.haven't spent any summer time there tho...we shall see...can always come North again to visit...