Tag: wild rose quilter

Late Start to a Busy Day
quilting

Late Start to a Busy Day

Wild Rose Quilter4 Comments

Today and tomorrow are my son’s days off so I’m not keeping my two littles and have my days filled with my own activities. However, I really overslept this morning. On the to do list is a workout, paperwork for our oilfield business, some stitching on a commissioned quilt for a client, and cooking up some venison. I’m new to that last one. My husband harvested his first ever deer on my family farmland, which I inherited a share of when my mom passed. I’ll share more on that as we go along here. It’s one of my favorite places on Earth. Today, the plan is to try chicken frying some back-strap. Check back later to see how this all ends up and how many things I actually get checked off my list. But first, I have a breakfast date with my hubby. Oh, and there’s a massage appointment scheduled in the afternoon for me, also. I have a feeling I’m not going to get everything accomplished that I wanted. That’s just a typical day for me though, lol.

In the meantime, enjoy this beautiful client quilt I got to do the longarm quilting on recently. One of my favorites from last year. Thanks again to Ruth Ann for trusting me with this treasure! This is all freehand and ruler work.

Orange
quilting

Orange

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I loved this orange and white Irish Chain client quilt that I had the pleasure of quilting recently. My client asked me to keep the quilting simple. I decided an orange peel design would be perfect. Sometimes less is more and simple can be stunning. I was very pleased with the end result. I usually use a ruler to quilt continuous curve, but I had gotten my Intelliquilter installed right before this one came up for its turn on the machine. So, I programmed in the quilting path row by row and watched the IQ do its thing. It was fun and exciting to see it turn out.

 

 

It’s such a bright, uplifting quilt. One I hated to see go back out the door. I really need to make an Irish Chain for myself someday.
I’ll sign off with this beautiful sunset with a streak of more beautiful orange. Goodnight all.

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quilting

Sunday Stitching

Wild Rose Quilter4 Comments

Wow! It’s been awhile since I did a Sunday Stitching post. But, I’m trying to get back in the blogging habit and I did some stitching today, so here we go. My Mister wanted to squeeze in one more day hunting before deer season closes on the 15th, so I had the house to myself. I did quite a bit of multitasking. After over a decade of longarm quilting, I finally took the plunge and added an Intelliquilter computerized system to my A1 quilting machine. I am loving being able to stitch out an edge to edge while doing piecing work on another project at the same time. I used a panto called Toys from It’s a Quilt Thing to quilt this cute client baby quilt.  It stitched out so nicely. My client brought me a denim quilt back with this one. That was a first for me and I was a bit concerned about having tension or thread breaking issues. Not one bit of trouble! My trusty A1 handled it just fine.

While the IQ was working away for me, I worked on piecing some more floating star blocks for a commissioned memorial quilt I’m making for a sweet lady that was recently widowed. Having lost a spouse myself, I know what this means to her. It’s going to be very scrappy looking, with a mix of fabrics from his shirts, a pair of shorts, and even some swim trunks. I am praying it all pulls together nicely in the end. This is such a special project.

I knew it was time to call it a day when I started sewing parts together upside down. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Un-sewing and re-sewing is not so much fun. Once I fixed my boo-boo I called it a day.

Have a marvelous Monday tomorrow! Thanks for stopping by.

quilting

Sunday Stitchin’

Wild Rose Quilter1 Comment

The orange row is sewn together! Five more colors to go. I’m not sewing the completed color rows together until all of them are complete and I can see in what order I think they look best.

 


Even though allergy season is in full bloom for me, Efren and I went for a 3.5 mile walk this morning. I really fell out of my workout routine this last month. It amazes me how fast one can put pounds on, but it takes what seems like forever to get them back off. 😩

I’m thankful to have another day off from my outside employment tomorrow. Maybe I will get some more sewing done. Happy Labor Day!

Two Blocks Shy…
death · family · losing dad · quilting

Two Blocks Shy…

Wild Rose Quilter3 Comments

I started cutting squares for baby Z’s quilt tonight. I somehow cut my piece of fabric one 10″ strip short of what it needed to be. Therefore, I am short two 10″ blocks to make up my home cut “layer cake”.  But, at least I have 40 of them cut. I will have to cut more off the yardage I purchased and get it washed and pressed before I can cut the last two.

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On August 20th, the day after my last post, all normal routine came to an abrupt halt when it became clear that it was time to call in hospice care for my father. Some of you will remember that I have mentioned his struggle with Alzheimer’s here before. His battle is over. He passed peacefully just before 4 a.m. on Monday morning, August 22, 2016, laying beneath this quilt that I made him several years ago. It was one of his most treasured possessions. He was so proud of it. It seems surreal to have it back here in my home, where I presented it to him what does not feel like so very long ago. Soon, when I can collect my thoughts on this, and have ample time to devote to sitting down and writing it, there will be much longer, very personal post about our experience with this disease, and my dad’s death. For now, I leave you with a snippet of Daddy’s quilt. Goodnight.

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family · quilting

Wrapping Them in Love

Wild Rose Quilter2 Comments

Isn’t that one of the best things about being a quilter? Being able to literally wrap your loved ones in something you made with love!? These photos from my daughter-in-law of my sweet grand baby C snuggled in the quilt I made him made my heart melt. 

His big brother C sleeps under this quilt I made for him and I love how it looks on his bed. 

I now have a plan for Baby Z’s quilt, and am anxiously waiting on an order of fabrics to arrive to go with the pieces I have pulled from my stash so I can get started on the piecing. This is the bedding his mom bought for his crib. 

It looks like it was made to go with C’s quilt! What a coincidence! So, I decided that baby Z’s quilt will  be a chevron quilt, and after perusing different ways to put them together, I ran across another tutorial video from Missouri Star Quilt Co. that uses 10″ squares and finishes out at just the size I was wanting to make. They use layer cakes for their tutorial, but I couldn’t find one with the colors I want, so I will cut my own 10″ squares from yardage I have chosen. I also plan to embellish it with some appliqué that goes with the theme my daugter-in-law has chosen for his baby decor. Can’t wait to see how it turns out! 

Blended family · nature · quilting

Sunday Stitching with a View

Wild Rose Quilter2 Comments

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This was my view this evening as I sat in my lawn chair and worked on hand stitching the binding on this one. I made the binding Wednesday, and I’m proud to say I’ve made good progress in the snippets of time I could find to spare for it. My goal is to have it finished before this week ends.

Last night, my 5 yr old grandson joined my husband, my 16 yr old stepson, and me for a sleepover at Casa de Ortega, aka Mammy’s house. I had chosen “Grammy” as my grandmother name, but it came out of his mouth as mammy, and it stuck. He has a Mimi, a Memaw, and a Meemaw, all on my daughter -in-law’s side, so it was really no surprise when he pronounced Grammy as Mammy. I had always heard that basically you can choose whatever you think you want to be, but your first grandbaby will call you what they call you and that’s that, lol.

After we dropped him back home to his mom and dad this morning, we spent the whole afternoon into the early evening out at a local lake, with one of my brother-in-laws and part of his family, and my mother-in-law. It was an absolutely beautiful day for some fishing, kayaking, and just sitting enjoying the beauty around us.


We don’t get my stepson nearly as often as we would like, because he lives 10 hours away and so we have to make the most of the too short visits we get. It warms my heart to see him and his dad having a great day together.


I hope your Sunday was blessed and have a marvelous Monday tomorrow.

Essential oils · favorite things · Sugar scrubs · wild rose quilter

Some of My Favorite Things

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Last night, while the men in the house were watching UFC fights, I stepped in the kitchen and whipped up some sugar scrubs. I absolutely love them and it’s  so quick and easy to whip up a few batches. There are lots of recipes on the internet, Pinterest, etc. for inspiration. I use organic coconut oil and Young Living essential oils to make mine. For my base, I use 2 cups of sugar, white granulated, brown sugar, mix of both, whatever mood strikes me, and 1/2 cup of organic coconut oil. My favorite I have found so far is Bountiful Baskets organic expeller pressed coconut oil. I’m going to be sad when my big jar is empty if I haven’t been able to get my hands on another. I love this stuff!! 


Then I add 10 to 12 drops of the essential oil or oils of my choice. For example, if I use one I would put 12 drops of it, or if I use two oils I add 6 drops of each and so on and so forth. Sometimes I throw in a teaspoon of vanilla extract. Blend it all together til  well blended. I use my Kitchenaid stand mixer. 

White sugar mix:


A brown sugar mix:


Some recipes call for melting your coconut oil first. I haven’t found that step to be necessary.  It might depend on the brand of coconut oil and/or the temperature of the oil when you start. 

I find  with that amount of sugar and oil that I can fill four 4 oz. mason jars with one batch. Sometimes five, depending on whether I pack it down in the jar or just loosely spoon it in. Great for pampering yourself in the bath or shower, and for gifting. A note of caution, they can make your tub or shower floor a bit slippery. So take care when using. 

In no time at all last night, I whipped up a batch of coconut lime, orange with vanilla, and a brown sugar blend with lemon, lavender, peppermint, and vanilla. Mmmmm….


There are so many more combinations to try!  I also want to try some salt scrubs. Do you make your own scrubs? What are your favorites? If you haven’t tried them yet, maybe this will inspire you to treat yourself. Have a splendid Sunday, y’all!

quilting

Absolutely Ridiculous…

Wild Rose Quilter4 Comments

…that it took me so long to put the final stitches in the binding of this one. 


At least it’s finally finished. I love the way it looks on my pine log bed. We will enjoy using it. The pattern is Quarter Log Cabin from Eleanor Burns’ Still Stripping book. Two finishes in a week! That hasn’t happened in so long that I can’t remember when it happened last. 

Blended family · family · freehand quilting · longarm quilting · quilting · quilts · Wedding · Widow

I Have a Finish!

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Oh it feels so good! I finished Baby C’s quilt tonight. I can’t wait to get it washed and take it to him. ❤️


I love the 10 Minute Block pattern and tutorial. Such a fun, fast and easy pattern. 

I have so many WIP’s waiting in line to be finished, but first, I must start a new quilt! Because somewhere near the end of October, there will be another sweet baby boy for this Mammy to love! I’ve been looking over patterns the past couple of days, trying to settle on one. It definitely needs to be another fast and easy! 

The wedding, by the way, was just lovely. My new husband and I sat on the front row with my step-daughter and her husband and the other two sets of grandparents, with one chair  left empty for the grandfather that was there in spirit and in hearts. It was sweet. It was beautiful. It was perfect. 💙