Sneak peek

I'm sewing! I started putting the blocks together and my shoulder feels okay. It really isn't bothering it at all. And it feels so good to be back at the sewing machine. Here are just two of the blocks. They are perfect for chain piecing. So far I've only done the tans and a few reds but I think they will look great when all the colors are together.

Now for the good news/bad news. Did I mention that I need this for Monday? I may just be giving the quilt top and finishing it after the birthday. (Don't you love those gifts you can give again and again?) And the good news is we are in for a Nor'easter on Saturday. Perfect weather for a day of sewing, don't you think? I can't wait to continue...

I hope you all have a wonderful weekend doing whatever you please!

                                                                                                                 Nancy

Step one is done

I cut the fabric tonight!! I wasn't sure how my shoulder would feel but it is not too bad. I am going to ice it now. Not surprising, most of the food fabric was either red or green. Since I had so many to choose from, I repeated a few of the tans and yellows. The others will only appear in the quilt once.

 I hope you can see the words on this fabric. Not sure where I found it but it will fill in perfectly too. I love the cooking expressions and I think it will be a great little surprise in the quilt.

And finally, the black sashing strips. It was really easy to cut and as you might guess, the food fabric is bounded on the long sides by the black strips. How easy is that! I would love to start sewing now but have to get up early in the morning. I'm having my first day of school tomorrow. I am finally going back to subbing. I started my strengthening exercises today in PT. Hard to believe it has only been seven weeks since my surgery. And now, I am going to sew!

Getting close

Okay, so here are the fabrics I'm going to use for my next quilt. I'm making another birthday quilt for someone who cooks a lot! Loved the Farmer's Market collection so I'm using them with black sashing. I found a really simple pattern. I'm ready to cut. I was hoping to do it tonight but time got away from me. So, tomorrow will be the day. I'm cutting and getting ready to sew!

Getting closer

A friend was visiting me the other day and I asked her to help me set up the sewing machine. It looks so good back in its place. I am getting stronger each day and feel that soon I will be able to actually do some sewing. I can't wait. My PT even suggested I could try 15 minutes at a time or even keep ice on while I'm sewing. An interesting look, I think. Soon, very soon, I hope. 

 I was at a meeting last night and was the lucky winner of not one, but two prizes. The first prize is in my car since I can't carry it in by myself. In a basket and needs two hands, it's not that big! The second prize was this darling turkey and the Thanksgiving pumpkin. I love them. Decided it's not too early to set them out. After all, it is already the 20th of October !

I love the sunflowers on this white pumpkin.

And, sad to say, I did go and visit a fabric store that is closing. Always sad to see.  On the first day, they had a very generous 50% off everything. I found a few things that needed to join the rest of my stash. (One friend did remind me that 50% off does not mean free. Really?) 

A few special project fabrics. 

Check the black and white sewing tools. Not sure you can see the sunflowers in the yellow fabric.

My fingers are crossed that the next post will have a project on the machine, ready to sew!

All of a sudden

When I was out yesterday, I noticed that the trees seemed to have changed color overnight. The day before they were green and some were brown and then all of a sudden you could see bursts of fall colors everywhere you looked. These are just a few of the trees in my neighborhood. The middle island will soon be filled with bright yellow trees. I do so love the fall colors.

I am happy to report that both the surgeon and my physical therapist are very happy with my progress. I am farther along than they would have expected. My sling is gone and I was told I could drive but to start slowly. No three hour trips for me! At least not with me driving. But perhaps I can visit a local quilt shop soon? Unfortunately, I haven't yet been able to sleep in my bed. My shoulder still needs the support of my favorite chair and pillows. Good thing it is so comfy!

 As my friend pointed out when we were getting out fall decorations, "You don't even like Halloween!" I told her it was the holiday but I do like the decorations. Who doesn't smile at a happy jack-o-lantern? I do and enjoy seeing the jack-o-lanterns I have around the house.

His hat is a little askew. I was going to fix it but thought he looked cute. 

Love the look of a field of pumpkins. 

Aren't they cute?

I sure hope you have a day filled with smiles and bright colors!

And so it grows...

My stash that is. I am still not able to do any sewing but luckily, or maybe not, I can surf the internet and find some great fabric. Of course, you do realize that since I haven't done any sewing my stash is the same as it was before I had surgery. I found these two charm packs on ebay. They are on other sites but I was looking for a bargain and found it. These were aptly photographed on my empty sewing chair. It is waiting for me. I was talking to a friend the other day about how nice charm packs are. You get a little taste of each fabric. Maybe they should be called Lifesavers!

Another ebay find. This is Moda PUNCTUATION by American Jane. I collect fabric with words and this is a perfect addition. Maybe I need to make a quilt with just words?

The last one was this alphabet twill tape. I think this would be fun on a child's quilt. Aaaah, I love new fabric finds.

I've had two PT sessions which have gone very well. My PT was very happy with the progress I had made up to this point. I asked the "When can I sew?" question yesterday. The answer, not quite yet, but I can try hand sewing so maybe a chance to do some of the redwork.

We are having a glorious weather weekend. Hope yours will be a good one too. 

Silly Stitching?

Dawn, at the As Sweet as Cinnamon blog, posed a question today to find out where blogs get their names. It did make me stop and realize that I may never have explained that when I first started this blog.

At the first meeting of our little quilt group, we were trying to think of a name for our group. We did want something that was a happy name so we were throwing out words like happy, fun, silly... That first night we never did think of our name but when I got home I really wanted to start the blog right away. I tossed around some other names and finally settled on Silly Stitching. Happy and having to do with quilting. The name says it but more important is what I wrote in the header. Our group became the Good Enough Quilters and we use that phrase often at our meetings. I live very happily in the Land of Good Enough.

No, the picture at the top is not a quilt. It is a bit of an homage to the Hot Air Balloon Festival in Albuquerque, NM. It is being held this week. I went there the first year I was retired and had so much fun. It is a fabulous event!

Some quilts to share - at last!

I do wish I could say that I was going to share quilts that I made but, alas, that is not the case. No sewing is happening in this house yet. I started PT yesterday and hope to get back to sewing soon. Fingers crossed. 

Anyway, we had our meeting of the Good Enough Quilters last night and there was some sharing of quilts in progress and a finish or two. 

The patch above is the beginning of a table runner that Cindy is making. This is what the finished product will look like. She is well on her way to getting it ready in time for Halloween. Great beginning. 

Laura shared the three blocks she has completed for the BOM that several of us started. I have to say that I think I've done only 2 or 3 of mine from that BOM. It is moving to the top of my list very soon, I hope. I love the colors of Laura's colorway.

Fran just got her quilt back from the quilter and she brought it to share. It is a huge quilt and we love Fran's blocks and the quilting is fabulous. I hope you can see the quilting on the green backing fabric. The quilter put hearts which mimic the hearts in some of the fabric. Don't you love the interesting stripe down the center of the back?

And with some leftover fabric, Fran made this pretty small quilt. We have such a productive group of quilters!

 Cindy brought a quilt from work that we had some discussion of making. Each of the cabins were made by different people. They were given the pattern and went from there. I think that Fran made the cabin in the top right. Wouldn't this be wonderful to snuggle under on a cold winter night?

This was Lynn's applique quilt. She copied this from a collage made by a former student. His was construction paper and she replicated it from great fabric. Isn't it just wonderful? She said she had put it on the same color green that he used. I just love this one.

And a little baby bib. Lynn made 5 or 6 of these for a charity project. Isn't it cute?

Love yoyos? Well, Lynn makes these when she is riding in the car on long trips. I think she has over 1,000. Now she has started putting them together to make a large coverlet. This one has 100 sewn together. Inspired? I know I am.

It sure felt good to be back at our meeting last night and to see such wonderful projects. We might get to work on a special project next month. More on that later.

Hope everyone is having a wonderful, sunny day!