Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Beautiful Summer Day!

So all this time in my previous posts I have been posting pictures of our yard during winter. But I have neglected the summer!

Our Summer is so beautiful, a little rainy, but always super green. These pictures don't even begin to show the thickness or depth of the grass in our yard. The hills that surround us are also very lush and green.

Here is our yard in the winter . . .

This is the view from our cabin door.

Our wood pile in the winter

Same wood pile during summer

We had the apple trees trimmed of all dead wood so they look much better and green.  Alas, because of the freeze during spring we did not get any apples this year! Maybe next year.

  Since we have had a lot of rain my roses have finally started to grow and bloom!

These are climbing roses and I am hoping that they will climb all over the pipe fence along one side of our yard. I planted these in the spring but they didn't seem to do very well. I thought they were going to die and then all of a sudden they started growing!  Hopefully by next year they will be fully grown on the fence.

Till Next time. . . 

Aveli



Saturday, August 1, 2015

Today is the Day!

Today my oldest and youngest daughters and two granddaughters  (Doing the happy dance!!)arrive!!

In anticipation of of their arrival we have cleaned the cabin and the RV. The rv had two leaks. One was outside and one inside. Luckily, my husband was able to fix each one fairly quickly.

This is not a long post because I have to get back to my chores...I only  have two more hours and so much more left to do.

So ta ta for now,
Aveli

Monday, July 27, 2015

Too Distracted to Do Anything??

Yesterday we went to Las Vegas, picked up my brother and went to church. We had never gone to the church in Vegas only our local church in Guadalupita. But, since my brother is now living in Las Vegas, we decided to attend the church in Las Vegas.  It was a very beautiful midsized church.

After church we went to a local restaurant for breakfast. I was really looking forward to having the typical scrambled eggs, hash browns and link sausage.  Alas!  They were out of link sausage so I had to skip that part.  The breakfast was good though!

After breakfast, we decided to go to the local VFW hall. We had heard that they held a dance there every Sunday afternoon starting at 1 p.m. We were curious to see how the music was.  I was thinking there would be a disk jockey.  But to our surprise they had a live band!

We stayed for awhile and danced a few times then left to go shopping at Wal-mart.  My brother wanted to purchase a few items. We spent a couple of hours looking and shopping.

Later we stopped at the Dairy Queen for some ice cream cones which really hit the spot as the temperature was 94! Very refreshing!

Now it was time to take my brother home and head home ourselves.  On the way home my husband remembered that the Mora street festival was happening and they were having a dance starting just about the time we would be passing by on the way home.

He asked me if I wanted to go and I thought about it and then said no.  I am so glad that I did say no because today my legs are so sore from the little dancing we did at the VFW that I can barely do anything! It's been months since we have been dancing!  We made a promise to ourselves to go more often so we can get some fun exercise. . . we'll see what happens. LOL!

Today, I am looking out the window at the rain splattering the cabin window and listening to the thunder.  I love thunder as long as I am inside.

Also trying to get things organized and clean because my oldest and youngest daughters and granddaughters are coming for a visit this coming weekend!!! YAY!

Our grass is so green from all the rain that we have been having lately.  The rose bushes that I transplanted finally caught and are growing!  I don't think they will bloom before our first frost, but at least they are growing.

Well, there is my hodge podge of things that are distracting from my sewing. Maybe later this week I can get some sewing done . . . maybe not! LOL!

In the meantime, keep on quilting!

Aveli


Thursday, July 23, 2015

Back to Sewing!

Finally!
After a long break I am sewing on my quilts again!  Thank Goodness!

It seems that life just keeps throwing obstacles on the way to having a great time sewing.

Well I decided it was time to put the string blocks that I have been working on together.  For the past nine months or so, I have been sewing just string blocks, scrappy string blocks that is. They measure 4 1/2 inches square and are a mish mash of all fabrics . . . cotton,  polyester, flannel, and some I can't identify. Now I have two plastic bins full of these little blocks.



Yesterday I started sewing them together. First I sewed a whole bin full of two blocks together; which may sound simple but it's not when you are trying to avoid sewing the same fabrics together.
So it took half the day to get the bin sorted so that like fabrics didn't end up together.

After that, I took a much needed lunch break! Then back to sewing.  This time I took the "two block" blocks and sewed them into a "four block" configuration.  That also took a long time because of the "not matching fabrics" thing.

So next time I have to sew the "four block" blocks together and keep going until I have everything sewn into a full bed quilt.  As you can see by the pictures, I have a long way to go before I am at the full quilt stage.

I decided that it was easier on my eyes and my brain to do it this way instead of rows. Last time I made rows I got the rows mixed up and had to take some rows apart.  That's a lot of ripping out stitches and big headache by the time I was through!

This way I only have to watch a couple of blocks at a time. Much easier on the eyes and the brain, LOL!

Will keep you updated on the progress of this "not matching blocks" quilt.

In the mean time . . . keep on quilting!

Aveli

Saturday, June 20, 2015

Fathers Day Barbecue

Tomorrow is father's day and my son in law's birthday. Since two of  my sons are traveling tomorrow  we are getting together today.

Even though it's a father's day barbecue, the men decided they were going to do the barbecue!

My sons's specialty is beer can chicken so that's what they are making.  Three guys working on getting it ready. Did I mention that the first batch burned?  Luckily there was enough time to do a second batch.

My daughter is making a "carne asada" a big favorite!  We are also having rice and beans and salad with "tres leches" cake for desert.

I think it's going to be a great day! Hope every dad has a wonderful day with their families.

Until next time . . .
Keep on quilting!

Aveli

Friday, June 19, 2015

Grandson Has Graduated!

We are in California for our grandson's graduation!

This past Wednesday was the big day. We took the usual pictures with the graduate. It was a very nice day and very exciting to see our grandchild graduate.

It wasnt too long ago that we were at his father's high school graduation!  It seems like just a few years ago, but in reality its been thirty years ago!

My goodness how time flies!!!  And it's because the time flies that I am working, as much as possible, on getting my quilts done.

I only brought my table topper 3/4 inch hexie project with me. I have only worked on it when I am away from home so this was perfect to have on the train ride.


We will be home soon and i will be able to get back to my other quilting projects.

Also later this summet i am planning to thoroughly clean my treadle machine.

So, in the meantime... Keep on quilting.

Aveli


Friday, June 12, 2015

Leaving Again!

Well, Tuesday I did not have time to sew on the machine, but I did do some hand sewing on my hexie projects.

Notice I said projects . . . I have three hexie projects going now.

I have my one inch "Insanity" quilt, a 3/4" table topper and as a test a 1/2" coaster sets. The 1/2" coasters are almost complete but then I don't work on them very often because the manipulation of that size really hurts my hands. It is just a test to see how to work with them. Then after I made the first little coaster, I had to make enough for a set . . . 6 or 8, I haven't decided yet.

My 3/4" table topper is another experiment! I have heard so many people describe the 3/4" hexagon size as "so cute" and "easy to work with".  So I tried it both to see how it was to work with that size and because I sell that size on my website www.avelisquilts.com

Well it seems I really like the illusion of small compared to the one inch, but I think the table topper is as big as I am going to get. I will post pictures later.

As for the title of this post, yes we are leaving again! This time, it is for a joyous occasion. My oldest grandson is graduating from high school and we are going to attend.  I will try to keep in touch by mobile posts. We won't be gone long so keep on coming back.  I will have plenty of pictures to share when I get back.

Meanwhile, keep on quilting!

Aveli


Sunday, June 7, 2015

Back Home Again!

For a short time!

We are "home again, home again, jiggity jig!"

I hadn't realized how much I missed my home until we came home yesterday.  Driving on the highway for three hours from Albuquerque is always a tiring chore.  But yesterday I drove with enthusiasm because I was going home from a two week absence.  And you know that old saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder"!  LOL!

But yes, as I was driving up our little road to the cabin, I breathed a sigh of relief ... Yes! Yes! Yes! I am home!

So today, we are doing what needs to be done after a two week absence, cleaning, washing, mowing the lawn. Unfortunately, I will not have time to do any machine sewing, but certainly tonight after chores are done, some hand sewing on my hexies!

Tomorrow would be a good day to get back to machine sewing but alas we have to "go to town" for some grocery shopping and some other errands while we are in "town".  But, again, hand sewing the hexies . . . thank God for the Hexies!!!  Since "town" is 40 miles away, we always try to do all our errands in one trip, it saves a lot on gas!  So usually a trip to "town" is always more or less a whole day affair.

So hopefully Tuesday will be my day to sew on the machine and post more pictures.

Meantime, keep on quilting!

Aveli

Monday, June 1, 2015

On Family Emergency

So we plan and plan our three year or five year plan. We go along just fine and suddenly we are slammed with a family emergency that just throws a huge monkey wrench right smack into the middle of everything we planned.

I am in the middle of just such a family emergency. It has taken longer than expected . . .doesnt it always.

There is a lot of driving back and forth and a lot of sitting and waiting in hospital rooms involved.  So I have my hexies in my bag to work on.

No pictures for now just a request for prayers and good vibes and patience from my readers. I will get back to my quilting topics as soon as I get back home.

Aveli

Monday, May 25, 2015

Memorial Day

Yesterday I promised pictures of my progress on the baby doll quilt.

I must admit that I didn't do any sewing or quilting on that little quilt.  Instead, I got sidetracked by all the war stories that are on the History channel because today is Memorial Day.

Memorial Day, an American holiday observed on the last Monday of May, honors men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.

I usually don't watch all these war stories that appear on individual federal holidays.  My husband watches them every year.  But this year, as I was passing the t.v. I noticed that a veteran from that time was talking about his experience as a bomber pilot in England during world war II.

He mentioned his training, a few months, how many missions they had to fly before they retire - 30, and the fact that 1 out of every 2 pilots sent out on a mission would not return.  That is what caught my attention!

At the end of the program they mentioned statistics about pilots during the war. 100,000 pilots were commissioned in England. 50,000 of them died, either by being shot down or from wounds received. 

I was in shock! I had never heard that before. My husband is a war buff and he is always giving me statistics or details about the war, some pretty gruesome. He had never mentioned this.

Pretty depressing isn't it?  But that's what Memorial Day is about isn't it? Remembering the dead? Not barbecues, not parties!

So this is my little tribute to all who have served and died.

Thank you for listening,

As always I am here

Stitching and Talking . . .

Aveli

Sunday, May 24, 2015

60 Degrees With Frozen Mix

What does that mean? 60 degrees with frozen Mix? How is that possible?

Usually when it is 60 degrees, it's Spring, the sun is shining and occasionally a cool breeze. Frozen Mix is a mixture of rain, sleet, hail, snow. Is 60 degrees cold enough to create sleet, hail, snow? I don't know.

I just wish all this crazy weather would wind up and go away. I know, I know, I should be thankful compared to the weather nationwide.

Anyway, I will be working in my sewing room today on the baby doll quilt.  Hopefully the power will not go out today.

Although, I do have my trusty handcrank Singer!

I will post the pictures tomorrow or maybe tonight if I am ambitious enough to do two posting in one day.  Or is that three?  Oh well!

Until then . . .

I'll be here stitching and talking . . .

Aveli

Saturday, May 23, 2015

Baby Doll Quilt Not Finished

Today it was another rainy day here so I thought I would concentrate on finishing the baby doll quilt for my little granddaughter.

Yes, I know they were coming on Friday and here it is Saturday.  But they had to postpone their trip due to unforeseen circumstances.

Since they told me that they were unable to come on Friday, I postponed finishing the baby doll quilt and did other things that were put away because of the baby doll quilt.

So today I went to my sewing room to finish machine quilting the little quilt. I was doing fine, or fine by my description.  Then . . . the power goes out!!!

At first I was upset because I couldn't sew!

Aha! Then I remembered that I had a singer hand crank machine that I bought a year ago.
YAY!

I blogged about this hand crank machine on this page if you wish to read it . . .

http://avelisquilts.blogspot.com/2014/04/another-beautiful-antique-sewing-machine.html


So I uncovered this beautiful little machine and kept on sewing.  It is a little more work to sew on this machine because you have to crank with one hand and hold your fabric with the other hand.

I stopped sewing after two hours and even though I was tired, I was very happy that I had the hand crank to help me keep sewing. Even though I sewed for two hours, the little quilt is still not finished, almost but not quite. It need two more rows of quilting and then the binding.

Our power did not come back on until 7:45!! 

I will be sewing on it again tomorrow either with or without power!!!

Until then . . . keep on quilting!

Aveli



Wednesday, May 20, 2015

Spring Cleaning! Repost

As the day is again so beautiful in Guadalupita, I can tell that we are on our way to warmer weather.

And, invariably warmer weather brings us to start opening doors and windows and "Spring Cleaning".  As I was thinking of starting my own Spring cleaning, I started thinking about a post I had originally done on my old website.  So I am reposting it here . . .

Originally published 3-3-06

Good Day to Everyone!

Today is Saturday in California and it has been raining all week; beautiful showers that are much needed in this area. We haven’t had rain all year.

Here we are in March again so quickly. Is it because I am getting older? Or is it because I am more busy? Speaking of busy, I was just thinking of a Spring ritual that my mother used to talk about. 

Spring Cleaning! Does anyone do spring cleaning anymore? I used to every year with my mother, but now it’s more like every three years.

My mother said that when she was young everyone used to do Spring cleaning. So, when I was younger she also did the Spring cleaning ritual. Pull all the furniture out of the corners, sweep all the corners and walls. If the walls didn’t have wall paper, we would wash them. Of course, we would sweep the ceiling and walls first, to get all the cob webs. Pull the mattresses off the beds wash the head boards, foot boards and frames. Sweep the mattresses and then vacuum them; flip the mattresses over so they don’t wear out unevenly.

That was the hardest job for me . . . sweeping, vacuuming and flipping the mattresses. I hated it!! And, of course with the job and my complaining came the admonition and story.

First the admonition from my mother . . . “Stop complaining! At least you don’t have to take the mattress apart and wash the wool!”

“Wash the wool???” I would say. What do you mean?

Then the story! My mother would always jump into story telling mode at the drop of a hat! The only thing that saved my sanity as I was growing up and hearing the same stories a million times, was that I liked to hear about her; “When I was young” stories. Her history and the history of the little town she was from fascinated me; as well as the stories my father told. They were great story tellers, very animated as they relived their younger days.

Washing the wool was a spring ritual that everyone did in my mother’s time. The only people that had a “store bought” mattress were people “with money”. Most people made their own mattresses. 

They bought the “ticking canvas” to sew the cover, usually from the local general store or by mail from Sears and Roebuck or Montgomery Wards. If they were lucky they could barter with a Shepard that they knew for the wool. First, they would wash the wool, because it was always dirty when first gathered from the sheep. They would stuff the home made mattress cover with the wool to desired thickness and sew it shut.

After a year of use, every mattress in the house had to be taken apart and the wool washed. There were no plastic mattress covers in those days. In my mother’s case, there were nine children and the parents. Not everyone had their own bed. But, to be sure, there were at least 5 bed mattresses to be washed. And, of course, not every mattress was washed on the same day. The mattress washing went on for several days so that there would be some mattresses to sleep on in the mean time.

No big deal you say! Take it apart and throw the wool in the washer! No way, practically no one had an automatic washer in those days. It was aluminum round tubs and washboards with no indoor plumbing. So it was done outside over an open fire to keep the water hot!

After it was washed, it was passed through the wringer to squeeze all the water out and set out on a tarp to let it dry. Then, of course, you had to stuff it back into the ticking and sew it shut, usually by hand. My mother used to say that the very “picky” people would take the time to “comb” or “fluff” the wool so you could get a fluffy mattress. Otherwise, it was a lumpy mattress because the wool would shrink and clump when washed. She never told me if my grandmother made them “fluff” the wool.

Whew! I’m tired just telling the story!

My mother had one small “old fashioned” mattress when I was young. She kept it wrapped in a mattress cover so it wouldn’t get dirty. After a few years of use, not every year, she took it apart to “wash the wool” of grit from use. Halfway through the process, she realized she didn’t have to do this anymore. She had my father gather all the wool and ticking and toss it into the trash barrel! And so ended another “good ole days” ritual.

I was a teenager at that time and it seems just like yesterday! I can still remember the musty smell of wet wool. My how time flies!

Now I am babbling; I hope you have enjoyed our visit and my story. Won’t you post your thoughts, questions or your own memories.  We would love to hear from you!

See you next time, I’ll be here . . . Stitching and Talking,

Aveli

Monday, May 18, 2015

Beautiful Day in Guadalupita

Today is such a beautiful day!

I wish I could spend the day outside! But, my little granddaughter is coming on Friday and they are staying for three days.

So, its off to the sewing machine I must go. I am working on making a baby doll quilt for her and I need to finish it before Friday.

I already made one for my other granddaughter in California.  Here is the final product.




I posted about that baby doll quilt on this page . . .

http://avelisquilts.blogspot.com/2013/07/baby-baby-baby-doll-that-is.html

This doll quilt is also made out of crumb strips. I have been making 4 1/2 inch blocks and 2 1/2 inch strips every day, they are so easy to make. That way I would have plenty available whenever I need to make a quilt.

I used only the 2 1/2 inch strips in the quilt above. I wanted to make a different pattern for this little granddaughter so I sewed the 2 1/2 inch strips around a 4 1/2 inch square and then joined those blocks together. 
The original block is the one above. It looks great by itself.  But, I see that when I put these together with nothing in between, it's too too busy for my tastes. I tried to improve the look with the hearts appliqued.  But, as you can see that didn't work too well.



This is the baby doll quilt with hearts machine appliqued onto the 4 1/2 inch squares.



These are close ups of the hearts on the quilt. There are five of them.


I couldn't make up my mind on which way to put the strips of fabric so I  experimented.



I am not going to change it. It is a baby doll quilt after all. A quilt that will be played with all the time. I am sure the baby doll won't mind and my granddaughter will love that I made it for her.

Having made these two little baby doll quilts I have discovered that making little quilts this size is a perfect way to see how I like a block in a quilt. 

 Great experiment! I am glad that I did it! Now I know not to use this block in that way in a regular quilt. Maybe I will add sashing between the blocks or maybe bigger plain squares of fabric. I see more experimenting in my future.  For now, I will just finish this little quilt.

That's it for today. . . enjoy your quilting!

Aveli


Sunday, May 17, 2015

Two Birthdays!!

My birthday was this past week. 

Unfortunately, I didn't want one!

I don't want anymore birthdays. I am getting too old! How old? Well, I don't want to publish my exact age on the internet, but I can truthfully say I am beyond 40. . . way beyond! LOL!!!

I had a great day for my day before my birthday!

My youngest son came to visit us in the mountains. He hadn't come for quite a few months. He decided we would celebrate my birthday the day before my birth date because he had to leave for home early the next day.

He made dinner . . . steaks and roasted cubed herb potatoes, also some roasted cubed herb turnips. I had never had turnips before so that was a small adventure. He has become an excellent cook. He also surprised me with baking a cake for me. What was really surprising is that he was able to work with a not too good oven. The cake came out great! No burnt edges like when I try to bake in my oven. After we ate dinner, he cleared the table and surprised me even further by bringing the cake with candles lit. He and my husband sang "Happy Birthday"!

It made me feel very special and loved! Thank you so very much for that special unexpected birthday treat!

Speaking of unexpected birthday treats .. .

A few weeks ago we were in Albuquerque for my granddaughter's birthday party. On the day of the party my youngest daughter mentioned that she had gotten a text from my oldest daughter, in California, saying the cookies for the birthday party would arrive in the morning of the party.

As we were discussing the text, my husband walked in the front door holding a little girl. I couldn't make out her face so I didn't react.  But then, my oldest daughter pokes her head to the side of my husband and I started yelling to my youngest daughter. "OMG!!!" "OMG!!" "OMG!"

She had driven overnight from California with my other granddaughter to attend the birthday party!!

We were surprised, astounded, shocked, excited!! Lots of hugs and kisses and lots of pictures taken.

But she said she had to leave the next day in order to be home by Monday.  WOW!! Short as it was it was great to have my girls together. I love when we get together, planned or unplanned! 

No quilting on this post, just a lot of love!

Until next time . . . keep on quilting!

Aveli

Saturday, May 16, 2015

Scrappy Cushion, Part One

I bought a cheap rolling office chair for my sewing desk a few weeks ago. Because of the up and down nature of ironing, cutting and sewing fabric, using a regular chair is hard on the chair and the floors.


After sitting on this rolling chair for a few weeks I noticed how hard the cushion felt after a few minutes. I decided to make a cushion from my scraps to use on this chair.

I have been saving all my tiny crumbs (pieces of fabric less than one inch square), sliver trimmings from squaring up my blocks, thread ends from taking out bastings and that small piece of embroidery thread that you can't use for anything.

My neighbor gave me a large plastic bin that she had saved from her last get together, where the cheese balls had come. See picture below. I also had a small container full of these little bits. I put the tape measure in the picture so you can get an idea of how tall the bin is.



Now what was I going to use for the cover? I didn't want to use good fabric because this was only going to be the inner casing to put the tiny scraps into.  I want to be able to take the "nicely" decorated outer cover off for laundering. Kind of like a pillow case but fitting more snugly.

I decided to use an old pillow case. As you can see by the character on it, it is very old but still in useable shape.




I draped the pillowcase over the seat of the chair and cut it down to a size that leaves enough room for the stuffing and the hem to close it.




After stuffing and sewing the pillow case closed, I had to deicde what quilt block will I use for the outer "decorated" casing?

Since I have several small "orphan" blocks, you know, those "test" blocks, blocks that came out wrong for the design or blocks that didn't quite meet my expectations; I decided to use those with some sashing around each orphan.

I will take pictures as I put the cover together and post those on another day.

Meanwhile, keep on quilting!

Aveli



Friday, May 15, 2015

Hexagon Box Pattern

I am reposting this for those of you that are working on hexagon quilts.  The Hexagon Box Pattern is still available.  If you are not familiar with this pattern that I designed, here is some information on it from a previous post . . .

http://avelisquilts.blogspot.dk/2013/07/hexagon-box-repost.html

If you would like to see what a customer did with her pattern, go to this page . . .

http://avelisquilts.blogspot.com/2013/08/customers-picture-of-hexie-box.html

The offer in the above posting still stands. If you make this pattern box and send us a picture by email and we post it on my website or on this blog, we will send you a packet of freezer paper hexagons as a thank you. 

You can always buy containers, but I like to recycle as much as I can. So, I use cereal boxes. They are a perfect thickness and easy to use. Plus it keeps trash out of the landfill.

It's a short posting today!

Meanwhile . . . keep on quilting!

Aveli

Monday, May 11, 2015

Simple Needle case


After years and years of putting my needles on my spool of thread while working on my projects (see photo) I decided to make a simple needle case (book style).


I didn't want it to be too large so I cut the "cover" fabric about 4"x 6". Of course you can make it whatever size you want. Just remember to allow at least half an inch on all four sides to turn under for the finished hem.


The "pages" where needles and pins will be placed are sized 2 3/4" x 2 1/2". One side is bigger to allow for the "binding" edge where it will be sewn all together. I used three "pages" of leftover batting in black and white. I used black in the middle so it would be easier for my aging eyes to separate the individual pages.


Position the batting inside of the cover fabric to make sure there is enough room for the hems. Also make the back cover extend beyond the pages leaving enough to hem and to bring forward to close the book. 


Fold the hem of the front cover to where it will cover the pages. 


Bring the back cover forward to make sure it overlaps the front


Sew the front hem and sew all the hems around all sides. I used straight stitch but a decorative stitch will dress this up quite a bit.



Position your pages in the middle and sew through all the layers on the left side. Notice that the back cover extends beyond the front cover and the pages.



This is almost finished! I just need to decide what fastener I want to put on the cover to keep it closed.



This is the open view with the pages sewn in.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial. I plan on making one of these to keep with each individual project. They are super easy to make because they are not fancy.  Although if you want to decorate it with embroidery or quilting you can. If you make one of these, send me a photo and I will post it on my website and here in the blog. 

Looking forward to hearing from you. . . keep on quilting!

Sunday, May 10, 2015

Hexagon quilt update

Here is the latest on my 1" Hexie "Insanity" quilt.


It has grown a little since this last picture. I will post it as soon as I can.

Today I am taking it easy for Mother's Day!
Till next time . . . keep quilting!

Saturday, May 9, 2015

HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!

For tomorrow that is!

It's been awhile since I have posted anything! It is amazing how quickly time passes.

There have been numerous upheavals, downward spirals, great challenges, and wonderful happenings since I last posted . . . too numerous to post now! So I will begin at the present!

This time of year there are a lot of graduations happening all over the nation. In our family I can think of two immediate family graduations, both of them female and both of them from college.

Congratulations Ladies!  We need more women to continue to get a higher education diploma!

Before I get on my soap box, I will start with my status on my quilting.

I have been continually working on my 1 inch hexie quilt.  Since this project only comes out when I travel in the car or train, it is still far from completion.

Once I started the one inch hexie quilt, I fell in love with the whole process and have started a 3/4" Hexie dresser scarf or table runner. I haven't decided which way it will go until I how see the completed project looks. I am not using a pattern just throwing them together.  Thus the wait and see attitude!  I like the one inch hexies for my bed quilt, but I like the more delicate look of the 3/4" hexie size for the table or dresser.

I am using Freezer Paper Hexies for both projects. Freezer paper is so much easier than any other method. It cuts down on basting and removing basting and as such cuts the time needed to complete the project. This project comes out whenever I am not working on the sewing machine or hand quilting other quilts.  So hopefully I will have this project done by the end of summer!

I have added a new page to my blog with some of the items that I sell on my website.  The 3/4" Freezer Paper Hexie is the first item I have listed because it is on auction on Ebay.  But, I also sell it on my website. I also sell 1" and 2" hexies on my website and other freezer paper shapes. Take a look . . . www.avelisquilts.com

If you are not sure about Freezer Paper and do not want to commit to buying a bunch of hexies that you will never use, please email me and I will send you a sampler to try out.  You will receive 3 pieces of each size that I sell on my website, 3/4", 1" and 2" and an instruction sheet to help you get acquainted with the freezer paper method -- at no cost to you!

Well I guess that's it for now .... Happy Quilting!