He has risen and is there for all who accept Him as their Lord and Savior.

Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching and that is what I'll be doing today, at least for a little bit. 

I've back working on my EPP in little doses in hopes that my achy finger will eventually stop hurting.  This is Rosette 6 and I'm currently working on the last round.  It contains six stars and I have two completed except for the last star point that I will add after it is all attached to the kitty round. 

A fast stitching project that I completed this week was a rice filled heating pad for my husband who has been wanting me to make him one for quite awhile.  I figured since he was in Alaska for a couple weeks it was a good time to make it.  You can go here to find the tutorial for it.

I also made another quick and easy hexie tray.  Marsha over at Quilter in Motion blogged about it in her Friday Finds.  I did make it a bit larger than the tutorial (found here) and instead of handstitching the points I sewed them on my machine.  I really, really like this and will probably be making a lot more of them.  Thank you Marsha.

For those of you that follow me, you know I had made a counted cross-stitched Christmas stocking for my granddaughter and needed to make another one for my granddaughter-in-law to-be and I finally decided on a pattern.  It will be the one in the middle with the snowman and friends.  I purchased to pattern book from 123Stitch.com which is a great place to get supplies.  They ship quickly and the shipping costs are minimal.  I went to the local big box store and only found 2 of the 19 DMC embroidery flosses that I still needed for the pattern.  Luckily, I will be headed for Las Vegas on Tuesday morning to pick up my husband and we'll stop at Jo-Ann's to get the needed floss and material so I can get started on it. 

 

This week I completed Blocks 11 and 12 for the Splendid Sampler.  Block 13 came out today so I'll be working on that soon.

 

 Block 11

Block 12

 

One last non-stitching project while the husband has been gone was to paint the "Ws" and get them up on the wall above one of the slides in our 5th wheel (a/k/a home).  I still have a couple more to paint and then tomorrow I'll get them all hung up.  Here is a glimpse of what I'm doing.  Each letter is a different shape and size.  Why the Ws?  Our last name is Wiltrout.

 

That's it for now.  Happy stitching.





I know it's a shock that I'm posting mid-week.  I'm linking up with Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts and also Midweek Makers over at Quilt Fabrication.  I hope you'll check out both Linky Parties and join in if you're a blogger.

I have a couple finishes this week.  First is the baby quilt that will be donated.  It was a kit that I had bought in Oakhurst, CA when we lived close by to that town.  I had blogged about it on Sunday, but still needed to get the binding sewn on and now it is.  I didn't add a label since it is being donated.  Do you all put labels on your charity quilts?

The next finish was a pillow that is for my husband and his recliner.  It is a foundation paper pieced pattern called No Y Seams Feathered Star and is by Jessie over at Threaded Quilting Studio.  Click here for the pattern and a 9-part tutorial that is fantastic.  I had so much fun creating this and I'm sure you will too.  Thank you Jessie.

Yesterday I found a pattern to make a rice filled heating pad for the hubs as he's been asking for one for a long, long, long time.  Did I say a very long time?  The best instructions I found in my search came from Finding Pins and Needles.  Here is where you can find the instructions if you are interested in making one or several of these. 

 

 

This is what mine looks like so far:

 

 

It is the only manly flannel I could find at Walmart yesterday and it will match the colors in his recliner.

 

I've also gotten on the Kona Cotton bandwagon.  Here is what was in the mail yesterday and I have two more pieces coming and one I wanted that wasn't available so now I'll have to hunt that color (Clover) down.  I sure wish that had just put it on backorder rather than refunding me the money.  I hope to use some for the borders of the Spiral Strips quilt top I pieced while on retreat as well as for a pattern I hope to design.  We'll see how that goes as I have several things in mind, but not sure how it will all come together, if at all.  Don't hold your breath.

 

 

I haven't been doing much in the way of handwork as my index finger on my left hand is still painful.  Going to put some BioFreeze on it today to see if that helps.

 

Happy stitching!





I have had a busy stitching week while Miles has been in Alaska visiting his daughter and her family.  Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching today.  Be sure to hop over and visit all those participating in her linky party.

I finished quilting the baby quilt that I will donate.  This morning I started hand stitching the binding down and it will be a finish by the end of the day.  I had no idea how to quilt it and I had never done any cross-hatching so that is what I did using my walking foot and some painter's tape.  I don't really like how it turned out, but not taking it out.  :(

The Splendid Sampler blocks are moving right along.  Here is a picture of my Block 9.  I need to complete 10 and 11 to catch up.  I'm always a bit behind, but that is okay.  It is never to late to join in this year long project.  Click here to see all the blocks so far. 

My redwork project is on the move again and I finished "IT" and now working on "LET".  A couple of my fingers on my left hand have become very painful with this stitching so I'm not sure what is going on there, but probably arthritis.  I have a doctor's appointment mid-April and will see what she has to say about it.  I will continue to stitch on these blocks with breaks inbetween stitching days.  GRRRR!!!

Another finish was Rosette 4 on the LaPassacaglia quilt which I have now joined to Rosette 2.  Rosette 6, which will be joined to 4 and 2, is all prepped and ready to stitch together.  Hopefully, that will be a finish this next week.

 Rosette 2 and 4 finally together

 

Rosette 6 in pieces

 

I found and ordered a pattern for a counted cross-stitch Christmas stocking for my granddaughter-in-law to be and it has already been shipped out.  I'll need to get some more material for it and I'm sure I'll need to by more embroidery floss.  

Heidi over at Fabric Mutt has posted a must-read article entitled "9 Steps to a Happy Cutting Table". 

The Shadow Mountain Quilters met on St. Patrick's Day this past week and we had a pot luck.  All the food was delicious.  I took a Lemon-Lime Salad which is a old family favorite.  Here is a the recipe for those of you that might be interested in trying it.  This recipe came from my aunt about 40 years ago and I apologize if it was copyrighted and I'm not giving credit where credit is due.

1   3oz lime jello
1   3oz lemon jello
20 oz can of crushed pineapple
1 cup cottage cheese
3/4 cup mayonzise
1/2 cup pecans
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup cold water

Dissolve jello in 3/4 cup cold water and set aside.  Drain juice from pineapple into a large measuring cup and add enough water to make 2 cups.  Add salt to that and bring to a boil.  Add this mixture to the jello mixture and stir until well mixed.  Add balance of ingredients and stir to mix.  Put in refrigerator to set. 

Are you looking for something fun to do this summer to cool you off?  Hop on over to Yvonne's Quilting Jetgirl site (click here) to read about her upcoming Snowflake Shimmer QAL.  I'm sure it will be chilling and thrilling. 

Linking up today with Slow Sunday Stitching at Kathy's Quilts.  Please stop by and see all the wonderful projects being worked on.

My first quilt retreat was fantastic.  I got so much accomplished and enjoyed getting to know some of the women better.  The first project I worked on was a quilt top called "Spiral Strips" from the book "Jelly Roll Quilts" by Pam and Nicky Lintott.  I still need to add borders so will need to do some shopping, maybe today as my LQS is only open on Mondays and the second weekend of each month.

We also made a "make and take" which was a holder for our rotary cutters.  Here is a picture of the one I made.  It was a fun and quick project as they had it cut out and all quilted for us so we only needed to add the binding and the buttons.  The cutter fits down inside, but thought I'd have it poking out so you could see how it fits.

I got a child's quilt top made and all the corner monster and spaceships appliqued on except for one which I finished up when I got home.  I have ordered some of the black/stars fabric that is in the corners for the backing and will probably bind it with lime green.

I took Stella to sew with and we had a lot of fun together except that she is skipping a stitch now and then so will see what needs to be done to fix that problem.

When we got home from my quilt retreat, I made Blocks 6, 7, and 8 for the Splendid Sampler.  Today Block 9 came out which is a cute little house.  I'll be tackling that today.  The blocks are all 6" when finished so some of the blocks have really small pieces. 

Yesterday I started working on my EPP project again and hope to finish the last round of this Rosette 4.  I will need to make 9 of them, but with different material choices for each one.

 

My husband left Thursday morning to visit his daughter and her family in Alaska so I'm batching it until the 29th when I'll pick him up in Las Vegas.  So far Lola and I are having fun going for walks around our park and me stitching while she naps.

Once again I'm going to try and finish up the baby quilt this week.  I really dislike ironing and trimming threads which is where I'm at on it.  I'll piece some batting for it as I have a lot of large batting pieces, and get it basted and quilted.  I really want to get it finished and keep putting it off.  Bad me.  It will get donated.

I was trying not to buy and fabric, but I caved and ordered some Kona solids and a FQ bundle that were on sale on Craftsy.com.  Then I caved and ordered another FQ bundle from Massdrop that should be arriving this week. 

My husband hung my wall hanging for me before he left for Alaska.  Living in a 5th wheel RV you don't have wall space for hanging things.  And 5th wheels are notorious for holding in the heat in the summer and the cold in the winter.  I had made this Kimberly Einmo mystery quilt from Craftsy classes a couple years ago and wanted to hang it up over the back window to help keep the sun out in the summer and the cold out in the winter.  Now, I want to make a couple matching panels for the two windows beside the large one.  I had to do a lot of online searching to find the same material and have ordered it yesterday and it should arrive in the next week or so.  Here is a picture of the one hanging up now.

That is about all my news for this week.  Happy stitching.

It's Sunday so I'll be linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching and hope you visit Kathy's Quilts to see all the beautiful stitching that has transpired over the past week.

We are currently at Longstreet's RV park in Amargosa Valley, NV which is only about 50 miles from our home base.  We came over a day early as today is a bad weather day with high winds and rain headed this way.  For those of you not familiar with desert life, rain means flooded roads which we did not want to encounter.  Tomorrow I'll be attending my first ever quilt retreat which is being put on by my local quilt guild, Shadow Mountain Quilters.  I can't even begin to tell you how excited I am.  Below is a picture taken this morning from our RV.  On the other side of those mountains is Death Valley National Park which we visited a couple times last spring.

 



This week, I finished Rosette 2 of the La Passacaglia Quilt.  This is the first of three Rosette 2s that I need to make.  I have one other Rosette finished so I have a long, long way to go before I have the quilt finished.  I'm thinking I will probably hand quilt it when I've finished the top since all the Rosettes will have been hand pieced.

Over the last two days, I have prepped one of nine Rosette 4s that I will need.  I may be working on this Rosette during the retreat.  Here is what all the pieces look like as of today.

 

I also completed blocks 4 and 5 of The Splendid Sampler and now need to make Blocks 6 which came out Thursday and Block 7 which came out today.  I brought 4 small tubs of material with me so I should be able to get these made before the next one comes out next Thursday.

 Block 4

 Block 5



All 5 Blocks together

 

I also prepped several of the redwork blocks that I'll be stitching this month.  My goal was three blocks a month, but I'm going to step that goal up to at least 4 a month.  I want to have the quilt finished and hanging up by Christmas and there is sashing to add as well as quilting it.  I'll most likely be working on these today since it is too windy to be outside.

 

My iPhone was dead this morning and I'd love to throw it into the desert as I've hated it since I got it last year, but will see if it can be brought back to life.  We're thinking (hoping) that it is just the charging cord and not the phone itself as it was working fine last night.  I don't have an extra cord so will ask around at the retreat tomorrow to see if anyone has one I can borrow to see if that is the problem.

 

I have brought several projects to work on during the retreat.  The main one is using a Strip-It Bundle that I had purchased on sale last year.  I'm using a pattern (Spiral Strips) from the book "Jelly Roll Quilts".

I also brought fabric for a baby quilt and some moose material with a panel that I plan to make into a quilt that I will need to design.  I'm not going to use the panel as is, but will be cutting it into pieces and used somehow in the quilt.  So far I've been thinking of using bear paw squares.  Time will tell.

That's about it for now.  Happy Stitching.