WIP Jelly Roll Part 2

It's been awhile since I worked on my jelly roll/ wall hanging project. Since I decided that I wanted to make it into a wall hanging some fabric purchases were required. You can read about when I first started it here.

part one

 I didn't have anything that I liked for leaves on the tree branch or even the tree bark.  Finding the perfect fabric was not easy. I went to all my LQS and found something I thought would work. These were a few of the fabrics I picked up. Also needed was some fusible web, I like steam-a-seam lite as it's repositionable, great for doing applique.

auditioning fabric 

Next up fusing and cutting out leaves and daisies. One good thing about all the cutting it sure keeps the mind occupied and time does go fast. This is as far as I got. I don't like the bottom bush and need to work on that, but I did make a lot of progress and it is starting to look like it might be something worthwhile. It still needs to be fused down and I need to do some stitching. I also might make it narrower, by trimming it just past the end of the leaves. I think there is too much open space on the right side.

leaves and daisies added

 I also purchased from the Len's Mill store in Port Dover a heavy vinyl flannel backed piece to use as an additional design wall. My hubby put 4 grommets along the top and is going to put up 4 of the command removable hooks. I really like the size of it and it is completely portable and can be folded and put on a shelf when not in use. Like that will ever happen. The vinyl was 56" wide and I got a yard and half of it for a total cost of $7.99,  bonus we already had the grommets.  

new design wall

 

Family Fun

Our daughter and son in law were taking their three kids to Marineland in Niagra Falls, Ontario and asked us to go along. We haven't been to Marineland since our kids were younger, that was quite awhile ago. Of course it had to be three H ( hot, hazy and humid) weather. It may have been hot, but we had a great time. We left at 8 am and didn't get home til 8:30 that night. Our granddaughter wanted to see the dolphins, that's all we heard about during the hour and 45 minutes it took to drive there. 

The dolphins were wonderful to watch, we had third row center seats allowing us to see the dolphins up close.

Dolphins

The dolphins are part of the King Waldorf Show, which also included the seals and Beluga whales.

King Waldorf Stadium Show.

We also saw the deer and bears and bison and fish. The grandkids fed the bears and the deer.

Feeding the deer

Bear

Of course no amusement park is complete without rides. These were just a few of the rides they went on. Unfortunately I wasn't able to do the rides, but that was fine as I did enjoy watching my 2 year old grandson, while they were doing the rides. His dad tried to take him on one of the rides, but he wanted nothing to do with any of it.

some of the rides

Our oldest grandson and his sister did as many of the rides as they could. Some more than once.

our oldest grandson and grandaughter

Mom, Dad and the oldest two

Our daughter and  two year old grandson

All in all a wonderful way to spend a Sunday. I hope your Sunday was as good as mine. 

Have you been to an amusement park this summer?

Having Fun with Bonus HST's

I decided it was time to clean up some of my bonus/ leftover HST's. I pressed and trimmed  forever, at least that's what it felt like.

HST Trimmings

There were quite a few of them, as I just toss them all in a small container. When it gets full it's time to deal with them. That time was now.

1 1/.2 inch HST's

These HST's trimmed up at 1 1/2 inches. There were 108 of them, evenly split between the blacks and the reds. I started playing with them and one thing led to another, next thing I knew I had this cute mini. Just taking time to play can be so much fun.

Minis

It uses 96 of those HST's up, and measures approx 9 x 13. My seam ripper decided it wanted to play too and got into the act on several occasions. Someone might have sewn a couple of the arrows in the wrong direction. Oh well all's good now. 

I'm not sure whether to add a border or  just quilt and bind it the way it is. 

Do you trim up your bonus HST's or are you like me and wait till they pile up?

Unforseen Sewing Hiatus

I haven't been doing much sewing lately. Since I am the favourite DIL I take my MIL to all her doctors appointments, she ended up in the hospital with heart problems. She is home now and doing better. Back to the being the favourite DIL, it might have something to do with being as I'm the only DIL, so that indeed does make me her favourite. She is very easy to get along with and a very caring person. I am lucky and have no MIL horror stories to tell. Running back and forth to the hospital and takes a lot of time and I didn't feel like sewing when I got home. I am also dealing with some medical problems of my own. I did however work on my block for the Fabri Quilt Blog Hop. You can read more about it here.

FAbri Quilt Blog Hop

I even made a test block already. Want to see a sneak peak.

sneak peak

Can't really tell much by that picture can you? I guess you'll just have to wait until Sept 2nd to see more.

I did do some mindless things like, getting my alpha beads glued to the flower head pins. I used Gorilla Glue, I like it better than super glue. You can read more about the alpha beads here. I glued the beads to the flat side of the flower head. See the yellow pin on the right side the bead was glued to the other side. They are super cute.

Alpha Bead Pins

They work great no more sticking little papers on my cut fabric pieces. Why didn't I think of this before?

Do you have a favourite way of keeping track of your cut pieces?

Little sewing

My oldest son bought a small sewing machine at a yard sale for $2. He thought his 9 year old daughter could use it. She has taken an interest in helping grandma sew. I have let her sew on my machine at different times and she enjoyed it. A budding quilter in the making.
So back to the $2 find. He brings it to my place sets it on the table and says ' here don't know if it works, but when A is at your place she can sew with you'.

$2 machine

I had never seen a machine like this one. I took it out of the box and was surprised to see all the parts and even a manual. It was in excellent condition.

Machine and manual

Now the big question would it stitch and how good would those stitches be. I took a look at the feed dogs and bobbin case area. It was clean, the feed dogs are plastic but in really good condition. Now to  open the manual to find out how to wind the bobbin and thread the machine. So far so good, bobbin wound and machine threaded. Now the scary part, would it sew. I grabbed a scrap piece of fabric and held my breathe. It worked I just needed to adjust the tension.

granddaughters sewing

The biggest test of all, how would it hold up to my granddaughters using it. I pulled out a box of scraps and they dug in pulling out various colours. A huge success, two granddaughters happily sewing. I couldn't believe it they spent a couple hours just stitching away. 

Stitching

The stitches are pretty darn good on this little beauty. Lining up of edges will come later, it is just so nice to be able to share some of my passion for quilting with these two precious girls.

Do you have a special someone to share your passion with?

Final Week of the New Bloggers Blog Hop.

I am sad to see the end of the New 2015 Quilt Bloggers. I have learned so much and found new quilty friends. Thank you to Yvonne @Quilting Jet Girl  Cheryl @Meadow Mist Designs, Stephanie @Late Night Quilter, and Terri Ann @Childlike Fascination. They did a splendid job of mentoring us.

Please take a few minutes to visit the following members of my hive the Quantum Quilters.

Geraldine @Living Water Quilter (Instagram: @livingwaterquilter)

Andrea @The Sewing Fools (Instagram: @andrealovestosew)

Irene @Patchwork and Pastry

Martha @Once a Wingnut…Always a Wingnut (Instagram: @onceawingnut)

What's Blooming today.

Daylilies

I love gardening as much as quilting and thought I would share a few garden photos with you today.
First up are some of my daylilies. I got some of them from here and here. I have a lot more than these four, but they were the ones blooming so nicely this morning.


An Asian lily and one of my many Hostas.

Lily and Hosta

A mini Hosta, it is less than 1 1/2'' tall and about 3 to 4 inches across.

Mini Hosta

A moon flower. These bloom at night, when the sun hits them they close up. They are drought resistant and seed themselves for the next years growing season. They bloom all summer long.

Moon Flower

Balloon Flowers also known as Chinese Bellflower. An easy to grow perennial.

Balloon Flower

Gerbera Daisy, this one is 3 years old. I bring it in for the winter before first frost and once the frost danger is over in the spring I take it outside for the summer. The blooms on this one are big, they are about 6 inches across.

Gerbera Daisy

I hope you enjoyed a glimpse of what I get to see everyday in my backyard.