August 2022 – Piecing Life Together One Stitch At A Time

HQAL: Jane’s Quilt Update

August 14, 2022Sharon14 Comments

Three weeks and time again to update you on Jane’s Quilt. This beautiful log cabin was pieced together by Jane Rogers – mother of one of my dearest friends, Jeanine Rohder. The quilt top was given to me as a gift by Jane’s granddaughter Raeleen. I started the task of hand quilting this beauty in January.

At our last posting I had completed 31 darker colored log blocks of the outer ring of the medallion middle. I had already completed the lighter ring of blocks. This was the picture I shared. ( I am not sure if I realized Skye – our mini schnauzer was in the picture, regardless it came as a surprise to me posting this picture again)

I added 13 more log blocks to this amazing log cabin. It’s been difficult for me to photograph this as a whole. Stretching it out as best I could I got a good look at my progress. I feel like I am close to half way done in quilting the whole piece. You can see from the picture below that I have moved down and completed the outside darker blocks. I will continue to work on this corner.

I will be passing on our next posting date as my daughter and 2 grandchildren will be here visiting from North Carolina where her husband has been stationed on the Camp Lejeune Marine Corp base. They just returned in June from Okinawa where they have been for the past 5 years. So much time has passed and so many changes in all our lives. Ross made Lieutenant Colonel and has just taken a command post at Lejeune. Liam left as an 8 year old and is returning a teenager/young man. Tori was 14 and now is all grown, out of high school. Joining our celebration visit will be another daughter, (her daughter) my granddaughter and her 3 year old little boy (who we have never met do to covid) coming up from Oregon. There is so much to celebrate and little quilting time 🙂

And now while I have the time, I am off to check in with the others in this HQAL. If your not a part of this group please join me in seeing some beautiful hand quilting projects by clicking on the links below.

Hand Quilt Along Links

This Hand Quilt Along is an opportunity for hand quilters and piecers to share and motivate one another. We post every three weeks, to show our progress and encourage one another. If you have a hand quilting project and would like to join our group contact Kathy at the link below.

Kathy, Margaret, Deb, Nanette, Sharon, Karrin, Daisy, Cathie and Tracy

SAL: Snowman & Reindeer Update

August 7, 2022Sharon13 Comments

August hello to everyone 🙂

Time for another SAL update and I am here continuing with my Snowman & Reindeer project. At our last check in my project looked like this

I have been a bit slack in working on her but added a sweet cardinal sitting on the antlers.

This project has really taken form but it is a lot more slow going than I anticipated.

Before I sign off and head over to check out the others in the group I wanted to give a heads up and say I most likely will not be posting and missing next weeks check in. My daughter and grandchildren will be here from N.C. visiting and it has been 5 long years since we have seen them. In fact, they just recently returned from living 5 years in Okinawa where my SIL had been stationed. 5 long years, lots of changes to both households, ours and theirs. He is now stationed at Camp LeJeune and I am proud to say he has just accepted a Command 🙂 They bought a home in the town of Swansboro and are settling in. Very excited for the upcoming visit.

Now I off to indulge in some eye candy.

Avis, Claire, Gun, Constanze, Christina, Kathy, Margaret, Heidi, Jackie, Sunny,

Megan, Deborah, Sharon, Daisy, AJ, Cathie, Linda, Helen, Connie, Cindy

The next updates will be posted on the 28th August 2022.

About the SAL

Please note this SAL is not accepting any more new members until further notice but this is what it’s all about anyway. This SAL (Stitch Along) is slightly different to other SALs in that we don’t all stitch the same design at the same rate. We choose ONE unfinished project, or ONE new one, and show progress of its completion over a series of three weekly updates. There are no deadlines and no set amount to stitch. The result is that the space in our drawers full of WIPs (works in progress) is gradually being freed up to store lots of new crafty goodness. It’s surprising how much motivation I’ve gained from being in this SAL.

Weddings and Babies

August 6, 2022Sharon8 Comments

It has been a busy week with cooler temps bringing relief from a 3 day heat spell. Here we are in August and I feel like summer has actually arrived. The big news this week was a sister in law is expecting a 2nd grand baby. She had posted some birthday gathering photos on her FB page and the ‘couple’ were photographed and I thought – hmm do I spy a baby bump? Our phone call – “I may be out of line but” “I know what you’re gonna ask, I have been getting quite a few calls” “do I need to start a baby quilt?” “Yes – we were waiting to let everyone know till they found out the sex” …. The picture was so cute. The couple standing with Dad behind Mom and his hands and hers were cupped under neither her tiny baby bump. It was not meant to indicate a baby and was purely accidental. Now we know the sex, its a boy!

So this week I got busy looking through my fabric stash. Most of my fabrics are flowers and feminine prints and patterns, lots of Christmas too. I was able to come up with a few choices, mostly bits and bobs of stuff but enough of 2 to make a simple 9 patch baby quilt. I had just enough of the sweet material with the children to get enough blocks for this. So far I have 4 made. I will need to get to the store to find backing and sashing material.

I wanted to share another journal I made that I am presenting this evening. We had a wedding in our family back in January. My husbands brother was married and this late afternoon much of the family will be gathering for a bbq and surprise party for them. I am all prepped and ready so I thought I would share the journal with you. It is a 2 ring bound book made from a cereal box. The cover is from a Chagall themed calendar. Many of the printable are from thegraphicsfairy.com and wedding photo prints from my collection of wedding photos.