Catching up...

✓ paper-pieced block drafted
✓ fabrics pulled
✓ iron warming up
✓ sewing machine cleaned and oiled

It feels so good to catch up on things. This block will be for the very lovely and talented Charise for the  cocorico bee. She wanted houses so this is my take on that. I love seeing these paper-pieced blocks come together. I REALLY love seeing the blocks from the other girls in the bee. They are all so talented and inspiring. Oh, and patient too! This block was due in April. A few of us are behind and so are group is taking August to catch up. I really need that. I have a list of bee blocks due. I'm just checking them off as I go.

Have a great weekend! xo Erin

Finally Sewing ... with Electric

I'm going to sew tonight, on my machine, for the first time in 2 1/2 months. I am beyond excited and I have a million things I want to sew. I plan on catching up on my bee blocks and working on a new block I've been thinking about. I've been trying to organize my sewing "stuff". I had a nice sized sewing room before we moved. Now I'll be sewing in the dining room and I have to put things away when I'm done for the day. I will admit that I am embarrassed by the amount of fabric I packed and moved. I told myself that I don't really have too much (do we all do that?). But now trying to fit it all into a tiny space I can see that I have a problem :)

I found my Farmer's Wife book and blocks and I will be working on those when I can. I'm really excited to see my quilt come together.

When I was unpacking my fabric I found this old quilt top I made a few years ago. I think I'll finish it for a fall table topper. I can't wait for fall. It's my favorite season and I am so looking forward to seeing what it will be like around here.

So far other than a few set backs we are loving it here. The countryside is beautiful and the people have been friendly. We've met several neighbors and one of them even brought us some absolutely delicious heirloom tomatoes. Probably the best tomatoes I've ever tasted. I'm a sucker for a good tomato and mayo sandwich. Our little garden is doing well and we have had yummy crookneck squash with supper several times already.

My cucumbers are wonderful and pole beans are growing like crazy. My beets didn't do well but that was because a little deer friend of ours found them. So no pickled beets for us this year. But this was just a "for fun" garden since we started it so late. I'm excited for next year's garden!

Isn't this beautiful?! We found it nestled along the road on one of travels. My mother said she and her friends used to go camping here when they were teenagers. I'm not sure if you can do that anymore, but it sure would be fun.


Girls, girls, girls. I have been trying to visit your blogs. My reader says you have posts. When I click on your blogs the little thing on the url bar just spins and spins. I waited 20 minutes for a blog to load the other day and nothing. Nada! It's crazy. I can't wait to have faster internet. I hope you all have been well and getting lots of good sewing in! I wish I could see what you've been up to!! I'd love to know what have been working on. Talk to you soon!

Quilting Unplugged A.K.A. No Electric for 2 Weeks

Hi! It's me. I can finally make a post from our house. With pictures too! Although it is dial-up, I am so grateful to have internet access again. I just have to get used to how slow it is. Yikes! I hope you all have been well and I am working through e-mails, again time or should I say speed is the issue. Thank you for all of your e-mails and comments.

We had a pretty crazy storm come through on June 29th and nearly all of West Virginia was affected by it as well as many other states. We only had our power restored Thursday. It was a crazy, HOT 2 weeks. I did manage to FINALLY get my hand pieced quilt top sashed and the borders put on. This picture was taken before we had electric so the quilt top is not pressed. I'll be doing that today. My next post will be about hand quilting and finishing up with the hand pieced quilt along! If you've been waiting, thanks for your patience. I feel so behind. I have bee blocks to make and my Google reader says 1000+. It has been a nice break but I am so ready to get back into quilting and blogging. I am also really excited to meet with some of the girls from the West Virginia Modern Quilt Guild.

It has been really nice being in our own place. We bought a mobile home to put on our property and we hope to be building a log cabin in the future. I am so proud of my husband. He did all of the electrical, plumbing, phone hook-ups himself. He saved us a lot of money in labor. Our family has helped us beyond words. It's taking some adjusting going from about 2500 square feet house to just shy of 1000 square feet. But I purged a lot of junk and things we didn't need. It's nice to have a cute little uncluttered home. I hope by spring we will have our chickens and maybe even our dairy goats.

We did get this cute little guy from our neighbor. He was bound for the pound and we wanted a dog so it worked out great! He is so cute and the kids love him. Especially my son. He has always wanted his own dog and now he has one. His name is Rosco.

Thank you if you read this long winded post. I was planning on writing about our adventures in our new place but after the 2 week power outage I am just ready to veg out in front of the fan :) Nature and adventures will have to wait! Can't wait to see what you all have been up to! Going to TRY to blog hop now :)!!!!

xo Erin

Checking In...

Hey there friends! I am at the library using their computer as I have no internet service yet. I am hoping that we can get satelite service soon and that I will be back to quilting and blogging shortly. I miss you all so much! I have such an adventure to share with you. I am very happy with our move and we are settling in nicely. I hope you all are well. I appreciate the e-mails I have received. I will try to reply to them as soon as we get internet service. I just want you to know that I am thinking of all of you also and will be talking with you soon.
xo Erin

1 and 2/3 rows...

I am so behind. This is all I have for the sashing on the hand pieced blocks. This is the busiest time of the year for me with practices and games, portfolios, yard work and what feels like a million more things. I have not had time to sew a stitch. So I'll be back later with some hand quilting discussion. If I haven't answered your e-mail yet, I will, and thank you for sending them :) Be back soon...hopefully with more sewing done!

A Finished Granny

Yay! I finished the Flea Market Fancy Granny Squares quilt! It's washed, dried and all crinkley!
I chose to bind it in red. The print has microdots. It's one of my favorites. (Please forgive the fold lines. I had the quilt all folded and ready to go when the sun decided to show itself and I thought I'd try for some half decent pictures!)

For the back I used the leftover Granny Squares I had from the strip sets.

I hope she loves it! Have a great weekend!

Quilting, Quilting, Quilting

I finished quilting the Granny Squares quilt for my friends wedding gift. I was so indecisive about the quilting on this one. At first I was going to quilt fans and include some hand quilting but couldn't find the right template for the fans and I was nervous about marking on the top.

Then I decided to do some free motion loopy quilting. I didn't like that at all.

Then I started hand quilting around the squares. I really liked the way it looked but I was having some puckering / poofing issues. After asking the opinion of my family they agreed that I should stick with the old favorite. So I picked all of the hand quilting and machine quilting out and settled on stippling. I guess that's a little boring but I know that it usually turns out great and it did! I do plan on hand quilting the other Granny Squares quilt I am making though. Now I just have to bind, wash and dry this one!!!

I also made 2 blocks for April for the Believe circle of do. good stitches. They were to be made with cool colors, blues, greens, purples and some kind of grey solid for the center and background. The tutorial can be found here. They were pretty fun to make. I'm looking forward to seeing the quilt that will be made with them.

That's all the sewing I have for this week. Hope y'all are having a great week and getting some sewing time!

I'm linking up with :
Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday
JAQS studio for Made By Me