Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Three Things Machine Quilters Should Stop Doing



As I've shared with you all, I have been "into" a new hobby of making quilts...specifically baby quilts for my grandchildren for Christmas. I have been addicted to 5 inch Charm Squares. I bought a lot of plain white ones, and if I get two Charm packs of 42 squares each of printed ones to add to the white ones, I can make a baby quilt.

I wanted to share this video with you. It literally brought me to tears. This girl has so much wisdom! I think we can all use her ideas not only on quilting, but in our lives in general. How many of us point out our mistakes instead of simply showing gratitude for a compliment? I know I'm really guilty of that. Anyway...I hope you enjoy this video as much as I did!

Love and hugs this Tuesday morning,

Mama Sue

Sunday, August 23, 2015

Don't forget about me!

















Hi Mamma Sue I'm still your girl Bethany!

Look who's in training to be a Therapy Dog!


Look!  It's Tiffany Rose from Tuckasegee, North Carolina!


I have many things to learn! 

I don't mind the vest at all!

Saturday, August 22, 2015

Update on Mama Sue~

Hello to all my High Calling Cocker Family,

              I haven't heard from very many of you lately, so I'm guessing you are all drifting away in cyber space..  That's perfectly understandable, seeing that we have no more puppies being born and raised for everyone to "ooooo" and "ahhhhhh" at.  They certainly were beautiful, weren't they?    But life goes on and we must adjust to whatever life throws at us.
              If you did think of me and happened to check the blog, you might be wondering what I've been up to.  Well, first of all, I think I mentioned that Mike had his right leg amputated in May.  It has been a struggle, but we're managing as best we can.  He hops on one foot with his walker to the wheel chair...to the commode, or to the twin bed we set up in the middle of the living room for him.  I push him in the wheelchair down the ramp to the car when he has appointments at the VA Hospital in Buffalo, which is 3-4 days a week.  He goes there for prosthetic fittings, physical therapy, and eye examinations.  He is still blind in one eye but we are hoping they can do something for that. He has surgery scheduled for next Friday in that regard.  He is getting his permanent prosthesis on Monday.  He is very happy about that.  He had a temporary one for a couple of weeks and was doing sooooo well with it.  But they had to take it back to send in to make the permanent one....so he's had to go back on "one-legged hopping" everywhere. Please keep him in your prayers if you think of him.  Please pray for me also, as pushing him is not easy, being that he is a big guy...6'5" and I am only 5'2".  God gives me the strength I need everyday.
              I have been busy with my new hobby.  I am making baby quilts for the grandchildren and really enjoying it.  I have one pattern I use in particular that I have become very fond of.  It uses 5 inch "charm packs" that go together quickly.  I use fleece on the back of the quilt, and then bring that backing up from the back all the way around to use for the binding. I intend to give these away for Christmas presents.  The first one I gave to "Cici".   LOL    Cici is actually the name our 3 year old granddaughter gave to her stuffed bunny.  We used to call it "Smelly Bunny" because it would get rather dirty being carried everywhere.  Little Layla couldn't say "Smelly Bunny", and just started calling it "Cici".  So the first quilt I made was for "Cici". LOL  It has bunnies all over it, coral in color, and is a simple quilt panel.

Layla with Cici's quilt.


Here are pictures of the ones I've either finished or are still working on:

Excavator Quilt for my two year old grand son, Little Martin.
He LOVES all kinds of excavators!  LOL
(This is a "michael miller" fabric called
"Tot Town Dig It")







Family of Lions for my grandson on the way, Wyatt.
Just a simple panel quilt...but soooo much work, handstitching around all the lions!
There are more along the bottom that aren't showing up in the picture.

Nature Quilt for my little 11 month old grandson, Landon.
It is a "work in progress".  I am hand-stitching around all the animals
and it's taking forever. LOL

Noah's Ark
For my brand new grandson, Gabriel. I hand-stitched around all these animals.

Pretty Pink and Yellow Flannel for Morgan, my brand new granddaughter.
This was made using

The Wild Bunch Spring Flannel Charm Pack

from Missouri Star Quilt Company

Purple and Pink Princess Quilt for my granddaughter, Julia.
This was made using fabric by Timeless Treasures called
Fairy Tale Charm Pack

Rose-colored Princess Quilt for one of my granddaughters.
This was made using
Princess Life Charm Pack by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman
from Missouri Star Quilt Company

I will be starting another quilt in a day or so for my grandson Tommy who LOVES drums.  I will have to "fussy-cut" drum fabric for this one.  I really hope he likes it.  I will show it to you when I get it finished..
Summery Quilt for another granddaughter
This was made using


Bloom and Bliss 5" Stacker

by Nadra Ridgeway of Ellis & Higgs for Riley Blake
from Missouri Star Quilt Company






































































































I use two charm packs of 42 squares each for most of these quilts above plus a lot of white 5 inch squares also.   I hate to cut fabric and I'm not very good at it.  So I order a lot of pre-cuts to help me out. The others are just panels.  On some, I added a little more fabric around the edges for borders to make the quilts larger.
 Well..that's it for tonight.  So now you know what I've been up to.
Little Ladybug, my cocker puppy is growing like a weed and is so much fun!  She really needs a haircut.  Pictures will be coming on her.

Love to all,

Sue
           

Monday, August 10, 2015

Miss Tiff from NC...LOL

Mom said I'm going to get a beauty treatment!












.....But I call it hard work!