Garden Bouquet Quilt: Month 13- The Daffodil

After the members had finished the tiger lily design they had put the white diamonds in place. This gave them three rows of white triangles with two rows of white diamonds.

These white diamonds, cut 12 ½ by 12 ½ inches square were attached in this manner. One of the 12 ½ inch sides was seamed to lower right of primrose urn block and to another side was seamed to lower left of zinnia. Another diamond block was seamed on two adjoining sides to lower right and left of zinnia and phlox blocks, respectively.

A third diamond was seamed to lower right and left of phlox and lily respectively. And that left the lower right of the lily to which was seamed a 12 ½ inch side of a triangle of white.

Now comes the fourth row of flowers and urns. The first flower in this row is the daffodil, that spring flower which heartens all of us who are tired of winter.

“My heart with rapture thrills and dances with the daffodils,” thus quoted Nancy Page and this echoed the club members.

The flower is made from the palest yellow with a center of rich orange. The French knots in the center are done in green or in orange. The leaves are long and slim as daffodil leaves should be. They, like all the leaves and flowers, are made from color fast material such as gingham or print. This flower calls for plain colored material. The stem may be made from bias tape, already turned and ready to appliqué or it may be made from the same green material as used for leaves. The lower part of the diamond block is the pieced urn. On the upper triangle are appliquéd the birds and the flower. After the members had cut the pattern with its accompanying directions from the paper they traced the flower and leaves lightly on the upper triangle. Then they traced the pattern onto lightweight cardboard. Next they put the original design away for safekeeping in the Nancy Page quilt scrap book. The cardboard pattern was now cut into its pieces and there were laid on the material of which the design would be made. The cutting allowance is always one-quarter inch on all sides unless the flower and leaves are being appliquéd by using buttonhole stitch. In that case, no seam allowance is necessary since the buttonhole stitch covers the raw edges.

After the pieces are cut out they are prepared for appliqué by turning under raw edges, basting and pressing in place. Then the pieces are pinned onto the white triangle and appliquéd with fine, slanting invisible hemming stitch. Just so soon as the birds are appliquéd the block is ready for placement in the quilt. It is coming along nicely and is it popular- oh my!


I haven’t been able to work on my Daffodil block so I don’t have anything to show off. I will update this when I do get the chance!

Do you have any Garden Bouquet Quilt blocks to show off? Leave a link to your blog post about it in the comment section or email me a photo at heathers_custom_sewing{at}yahoo.com so I can share with everyone!

I hope you are enjoying this series!
~Heather


Quick Links to:

Month 1: Beginning Instructions, Urn, and Basket Instructions
Month 2, Part 1: The Tulip
Month 2, Part 2: The Saucy Bird
Month 2, Part 3: The Meek Bird
Month 3: The Cactus
Month 4: Lily of the Valley
Month 5: The Wild Rose
Month 6: The Trillium
Month 7: Canterbury Bells
Month 8: Nasturtium
Month 9: The Pansy
Month 10: The Tiger Lily
Month 11: The Primrose
Month 12: The Zinnia

Hand Appliqué
Machine Appliqué
Alternate Method of Appliqué Tutorial
Biased Binding Tutorial

Garden Bouquet Quilt: Month 12- The Zinnia

“I suppose that I should have kept the zinnia for the last flower since it comes last alphabetically, but I am so fond of the stocky, sturdy blossom that I had to put it in sooner. Zinnias always make me think of autumn luncheons with decorations in the warm, soft tones. There are the dull old yellow, the faded pinks, the sooty purples and lavenders and the burnt orange shades. As you can see I have suggested petals by scalloping the edge. And the gradation in color is made possible by the four sets of circles on top of another.”

“How would we appliqué those circles, Nancy? Should we have four complete circles with an upper layer always superimposed upon the lower, or shall we cut for scalloped discs?”

“You will find it easier to appliqué and keep in shape if you cut the four circles and then lay one on top of another. Of course, that means that there will be four thicknesses of cloth at the center of the flower but that is not serious.”

The members had pieced the lower half of the diamond-shaped block. It made the urn to which was seamed the upper triangle of white. On this was appliquéd the zinnia with its stem and leaves and the two birds. Some of the members appliquéd the birds ahead of the appearance of the flower. They had spare time and could do it easily. These women usually used the same material for all the birds. But those who changed the coloring of the birds to match or contrast with the coloring of the flowers waited until the new pattern appeared.

In every case the urns were all made of the same colored material. This gave a repetition in the quilt which made for beauty. The pattern as given in today’s paper was cut, along with its accompanying directions, from paper.

Then a light tracing of the design was made on the white triangle. This helped to place the pieces correctly when they were ready for appliqué. Next a tracing of design was made on light-weight cardboard. This was cut into its pieces and laid on the color fast materials which are used for the pattern. The zinnia petals were made darker toward the outside. That is, four shades of the color chosen were used. Plain color is better for this flower than a figured pattern material. In cutting the pieces of cloth a quarter inch allowance was made on all sides for turning under of raw edges. These were turned, basted and pressed. Then they were laid in place on the traced outline on the triangle, and the pieces pinned in place. They were appliquéd with slanting, invisible hemming stitch.

Sometimes Nancy advised making the flower stem a little longer than shown here. This raised the flower above the birds’ heads. Because of the limitations of size in the paper it is impossible to make the stem quite as long as Nancy would like to see. Bias tape is used for stems.

The members were so enthusiastic about the zinnia they wanted to make another one, but Nancy said no. She promised them a phlox for the next flower.


I haven’t been able to work on my Zinnia block so I don’t have anything to show off. I will update this when I do get the chance!

Do you have any Garden Bouquet Quilt blocks to show off? Leave a link to your blog post about it in the comment section or email me a photo at heathers_custom_sewing{at}yahoo.com so I can share with everyone!

I hope you are enjoying this series!
~Heather


Quick Links to:

Month 1: Beginning Instructions, Urn, and Basket Instructions
Month 2, Part 1: The Tulip
Month 2, Part 2: The Saucy Bird
Month 2, Part 3: The Meek Bird
Month 3: The Cactus
Month 4: Lily of the Valley
Month 5: The Wild Rose
Month 6: The Trillium
Month 7: Canterbury Bells
Month 8: Nasturtium
Month 9: The Pansy
Month 10: The Tiger Lily
Month 11: The Primrose

Hand Appliqué
Machine Appliqué
Alternate Method of Appliqué Tutorial
Biased Binding Tutorial

Jameson’s Birth Story!

I had a c-section with my first son, Ian, when I was 18. The only reason for the c-section was that he was breeched & I didn't know any different. He was a big baby (9 lbs 2 oz) and by the time we discovered he was breeched (at 37 weeks) it was pretty much too late. My doctors tried to turn the baby, via an external cephalic version, but it was unsuccessful. I was scheduled for a c-section at 39 weeks. Everything went well but recovery was very painful.

When I found out I was pregnant with my second child. I began researching VBACs (vaginal birth after cesarean). I knew that I wanted a VBAC because of the extra long recover time after my c-section, very little memory of the first 2 days after my first son’s birth, and the failed breastfeeding. There are several reasons why I didn't/couldn't breastfeed Ian including pain medication, hospital nurses who were well meaning, formula being conveniently dropped off, & high levels of stress.

I also decided that after much research I was much more likely to achieve a VBAC if I sought out a midwife. I tried to find a midwife through my insurance company but they didn’t have any. I also came up against a negative view of VBACs in general by most doctors and many hospitals who refuse to allow them. I was very surprised by this! Well, I decided my only option for the best possible outcome was to find a midwife and plan a homebirth.

I finally found a great midwife, Cheryl, at about 10 or so weeks into my pregnancy. She was happy to take me on and saw no medically necessary reason to have a repeat c-section. We began to plan the homebirth and I received great prenatal care from her!

About half way though my pregnancy we ran in to a bit of a problem. I did the required blood tests, which all pregnant women get, only to discover I had gestation diabetes. My body wasn’t processing sugars properly which put us into a sort of predicament. Gestational diabetes can cause a range of complications. Or have no effect at all. We just couldn't be sure on which end I would be. I began testing my blood sugars 3 times a day and went on a pretty strict diet. By the end of my pregnancy I was eating meat & vegetables only. All breads, fruits, juices, etc were off limits. That was so hard! Luckily, I was able to keep my blood sugar under control with just my diet & I didn't need to take an insulin shot.

Because of this new complication, Cheryl decided that it just wasn’t safe to have the baby at home. I was upset for awhile but I decided to keep my ultimate focus on having a successful VBAC. We were worried that we couldn't find a VBAC-friendly doctor so close to my due date but Cheryl found a great doctor, who fortunately accepted my insurance and who was willing to let me continue with my VBAC plans. We changed our location of the birth to be at the hospital where my new doctor delivered at. I began seeing Dr. Hurley at 38 weeks. I only saw her twice but I liked her anyway.

One of the complications of gestational diabetes is a higher chance of still birth the longer past your due date you go. Dr. Hurley didn't want me to go to far past 40 weeks. She was willing to let Cheryl & I try some natural methods to try to get my cervix ripened as quickly as possible. I began taking evening primrose oil and blue and black cohosh. I took those for approximately 2 weeks. On my last visit to Dr. Hurley she also stripped my membranes to hopefully help labor to start. Being a VBAC patient, I was not allowed to have my labor artificially induced (with drugs). However, on my due date Cheryl and I also decided to try to kick start labor by having me take castor oil. That was the most disgusting thing I've ever eaten. I mixed it with chocolate pudding & gulped it down as fast as possible. If you don't know what castor oil is… it's a laxative. There is a lot of controversy over using this & I would only use it as a last resort & for me it was a last resort.

Well, we succeeded! I went into labor on my due date! I had the castor oil at about 7 in the morning & I began noticing regular contractions at about 8am. A little after noon I noticed a slow leak (which was my water breaking). Contractions became intense around 3pm or so and painful around 5pm. I was in contact with my midwife during this time and we made the plan to meet at my parents house at around 6:30pm so I could continue laboring there since they were closer to the hospital. My doctor had agreed to let me labor at home until I got to 5 cm. Once we got there Cheryl checked me and I was at 2 to 3 cm. My mom was also my other labor coach and my dad was babysitting my older son, Ian. Justin was just really nervous & I was worried his energies would transfer to me so I didn't ask him to do too much but he was there!

I was in a lot of pain and sick to my stomach so Cheryl got me in the bathtub and had me gulp down some water because she was worried I might be dehydrated from taking the castor oil & because of throwing up earlier. I didn't feel like the bath was helping so I told my mom that I wanted to get to the hospital to get some pain meds. She took Cheryl aside and told her what I wanted. I guess my mom was worried Cheryl would fight me since that's what she's supposed to do. (The sooner I go to the hospital the more interventions I would receive & I originally wanted an unmedicated VBAC). Cheryl decided that she wasn’t going to fight me on it because she could tell I needed to go as I had my mind made up.

As I got out of the bath my water fully broke and gushed out everywhere. I was upset because I was trying to get dressed at the time and needed to undress & put on clean clothes. I was really surprised at how much came out since I'd had a slow leak most of the day. We left my parents house around 8pm. Justin drove me. On the way I remember becoming very quiet and withdrawn. I think it freaked Justin out. He was worried something was wrong but I think I was actually transitioning. We had an hour drive to the hospital & arrived there at about 9pm.

My mom & Cheryl followed in their cars. Ian and my dad stayed back to wait. Cheryl needed to stop by her office to pick up my records so she was a few minutes behind us. We went in through the ER and I waited in a wheelchair. I remember being watched by all the other people in the ER. It was a busy night! They called labor and delivery and someone came down and got me. She started pushing me so fast that I got dizzy and yelled at her to slow down but I don’t think she did. Anyway, once we got to the right floor they put we in a triage/holding room where I changed and where we were supposed to get my information put in the computer.

Here is where things go fast. By now it was 9:30 pm & pretty quickly after I changed I told my mom and Justin that I felt a lot of pressure and that Justin needed to get a nurse. He brought one back and she immediately checked me and said I was already at 8 cm. She rushed out to get the labor room set up, to call other nurses and to page Dr. Hurley. I was quickly taken into the labor room. One nurse was trying to get my info into the computer so I was being asked a lot of questions, another nurse was checking my vitals, & putting in an IV (or attempting to, she wasn't very good & had to try several times while I was painfully trying to hold still for her), and the pediatric nurse was setting up the baby station.


My midwife and doctor arrived at the same time. Apparently, they met on the way up and were both surprised at how fast my labor was going. Later Cheryl told me that Dr. Hurley got a page that I was ready to push while on the way up in the elevator & they were both stunned as they thought I would progress much more slowly & the baby wouldn't arrive until 2 or 3 in the morning. But the baby had other plans.

Anyways, I was having a really hard time with the pain and wanting to push and trying really hard to hold it all in that I became overwhelmed and asked for some pain meds. It was too late for an epidural & I didn't want one anyway so a got something in my IV. I can’t remember what it was called but everyone made sure that it was what I wanted and Cheryl made sure I understood the potential hazards of the medications as a VBAC patient.


Within 10 minutes of receiving the medication Dr. Hurley checked me and said I was ready and fully dilated. I remember I had so many plans in how I wanted my baby's birth to go but there are a place for plans and a place for when you need to go with the flow. I had wanted to squat to push but I completely forgot about that or anything other than the need to push. I rolled over onto my back and put my feet in the stirrups like I was asked to. Cheryl was an excellent coach & told me that the fastest way to get the baby out was to curl up over my belly & push with all my might.

I pushed. Let me tell you, there is no way to describe how that felt. It is a deep, primal need. One that comes from within. It is inevitable & not to be feared but embraced. I embraced it whole heartedly.

Dr. Hurley let me feel the baby’s head as "it" crowned. We had a sonogram when I was 35 weeks pregnant but we did NOT find out the sex of the baby so we didn't know if we were having a boy or girl!

Dr. Hurley helped me deliver the head by applying pressure around. I learned later that they kept loosing the baby’s heart rate on the monitor so the faster I delivered the better outcome we all would have. I tore but I asked to not have an episiotomy. (I researched that getting an episiotomy could potentially cause more damage if you tear on top of it resulting in more damage that needs repaired.) I'm glad I didn't have one because if I had I probably would have needed more repairs.

3 pushes later and our SON was born!

Jameson Maddox was born at 10:23 pm! He was 8 lbs 3 oz and 19 3/4th inches. We call him "Jamie".



We were only in the hospital less than an hour and a half before he joined us. From the beginning of my first labor pain to delivery was only 14 1/2 hours with only about 4 hours of that being active labor. No one realized how quick it would be and we’re all glad that I asked to go to the hospital when I did. He was born so fast that my pain meds hadn’t kicked in and they hadn’t time to affect the baby (make him sluggish).

Jameson was doing really well and having no breathing problems or any other immediately noticeable issues due to the gestational diabetes. Once he was out he was put on my belly where I got to cut his cord. Justin didn’t want to cut the cord. He pretty much stayed up by my head the whole time. I'm just glad he didn't pass out.


The pediatric nurse was really great. She made sure she asked me or let me know anything before she did it and she let me nurse as soon as possible because she knew how important that was to me. She cleaned up Jameson while I was being stitched up and before we realized it everything was said and done.

We were taken to the recovery room where we all stayed the first night. I wanted to be discharged from the hospital as soon as possible. But we wanted Jameson to be circumcised and the pediatric doctor said they wanted to wait until he was a day old so there wouldn't be any complications. We ended up staying for 2 days and I got to observe the circumcision. I’m surprised but very glad that they let me. If I ever have another boy (which is highly unlikely) he won't be circumcised. I don't think I can put another child though that.

I had a great day nurse but I didn’t really care for the night nurse. They woke me up more than the baby did to constantly check my vitals and temperature. I also had my blood sugars tested a few times & they returned to normal. Jameson also had his tested and his were normal. I guess the gestational diabetes was just a fluke!

I am so happy to have given birth vaginally. I was up on my feet the next day and while I’m a little sore I’m not in any pain. I remember how much pain I was in after the c-section and this was nothing compared. I’ve also had no major issues breastfeeding, which is great!


It’s nice to be able to relax this time around! We’re all adjusting slowly but nicely to having a baby in the house and I hope things just keep getting better!

Garden Bouquet Quilt: Month 11- The Primrose

When Nancy showed the primrose pattern there was a chorus of disapproval. “Oh no, Nancy, you can’t have a patterned petal. Why a primrose has petals of plain color.” “That’s true, I know. But the primrose petals are often of a deeper color as they reach the center of the flower than when they are at the petal tips. That is difficult to show in appliqué unless on dyes the material. I thought I’d draw the design with small figures in it but you may use plain color if you want. The innermost circle, though is usually quite light and it has stamens in it of a darker color. I suggest that you work those in colorfast embroidery cotton.”

“Now for the flowers themselves, you have a wide choice of colors. Some primrose blossoms are yellow, others are apricot, and there is a purplish blue. I have seen them in lilac shades, in purple and even in crimsons. You see this gives us a splendid chance to use off scraps of material. Don’t have the colors too strong or violent for then it makes one flower stand out from the rest of the quilt. And besides that, it makes it difficult to put the quilt in various bedrooms. Pastel colors allow one to cover the bed in any room, whether it be a blue, a pink, an orchid, a yellow or a green bedroom.”

The primrose with the two birds, the saucy and the meek one, are appliquéd on the upper triangle of white which us seemed to a lower triangle of the pieced urn. The two block when finished is twelve triangles united to make a diamond by twelve.

The upper triangle is cut 12 ½ by 12 ½ by 17 ½. The half inches are used in seaming pieces together so that the finished block measures 12 by 12. The leaves used in the design today are nice big fat ones. They are made of green color fast gingham or other soft material. The stem is made of the same material or of bias tape in green.

The pattern as given is traced lightly on the triangle of white. Then it is traced again on lightweight cardboard. The original with its accompanying directions is out in the Nancy Page quilt scrap book. The cardboard design is cut into its pieces which are laid on the material from which the flower and leaves will be made.

In cutting, a quarter-inch on all sides is allowed for turning under raw edges. The petals of the primrose are all alike, so only one cardboard pattern is needed. The dotted lines show the overlapping of the one petal on another. It is best to cut them full size however, they hold their shape better.

After the pieces are cut, the raw edges are basted under and pressed, the pieces are pinned in place and then appliquéd with the fine invisible hemming stitch. The flowers and leaves may be appliquéd with a buttonhole stitch. In this case cut the pieces the exact size since the edges do not need to be turned under. The design may be worked in outline stitch or it may be filled in with colored crayons. Pressing these crayoned pieces with a hot iron sets the color.

I haven’t been able to work on my Primrose block so I don’t have anything to show off. I will update this when I do get the chance!

Do you have any Garden Bouquet Quilt blocks to show off? Leave a link to your blog post about it in the comment section or email me a photo at heathers_custom_sewing{at}yahoo.com so I can share with everyone!

I hope you are enjoying this series!
~Heather


Quick Links to:

Month 1: Beginning Instructions, Urn, and Basket Instructions
Month 2, Part 1: The Tulip
Month 2, Part 2: The Saucy Bird
Month 2, Part 3: The Meek Bird
Month 3: The Cactus
Month 4: Lily of the Valley
Month 5: The Wild Rose
Month 6: The Trillium
Month 7: Canterbury Bells
Month 8: Nasturtium
Month 9: The Pansy
Month 10: The Tiger Lily

Hand Appliqué

Machine Appliqué
Alternate Method of Appliqué Tutorial
Biased Binding Tutorial

Garden Bouquet Quilt: Month 10-The Tiger Lily

“Here we are with a stately flower which becomes the fourth and last in the third row across the quilt.”

This tiger lily is made in shades of yellow and black or dull orange and black. The turned-back petals use a figured material, preferably a polka-dotted one. The outside of the flower is made in plain material. All of these materials are color fast, of course. They should be of some soft material like gingham or print.

The stem is made from bias tape, although the same material as used for leaves may be chosen. It is more work to make the stem than it is to use the already turned-back tape. The stamens are embroidered in outline stitch with the very ends done in satin stitch. Choose a brown for these embroideries and be sure the embroidery cotton is color fast.

This flower has a rather spreading head, so you may find it better to increase the length of the stem slightly. This cannot be done in the paper because of lack of space but there will be plenty of room to do it on the white triangle which makes the upper left of the diamond block.

The lower half has the pieced urn, the pattern for which was given some time ago. In the upper triangle there is the flower and also, the two birds. The patterns for these were given earlier also.

The birds may be made of colors which contrast or harmonize with the flower or they may be made from the same material in each and every block. The urn does not vary in color in any of the twenty blocks but is made from a soft background material, say tan or ecru.

The members had a regular procedure which they followed in making the block. First they has the pieced urn ready and to it they seamed the upper triangle of white, cut 12 ½ by 12 ½ by 17 ½. On this they traced lightly the outline of today’s pattern. Then they traced it again on lightweight cardboard. Then they put the original with its accompanying directions in the Nancy Page scrap book. The cardboard pattern was cut into its parts. These were laid on the materials to be used for flower and leaves. In cutting the material one-quarter inch allowance was made on all sides for turning raw edges under.

These were turned under, basted, and pressed. Then the pieces were pinned and basted in place on the triangle. Then they were appliquéd using the slanting, invisible hemming stitch. Some members were appliquéing by using buttonhole stitch. In their cases they made no allowance for raw edges when cutting, for the raw edges were covered by the buttonhole stitch. One member was making her quilt in outline stitch. Another member was filling in the traced outline with colored crayon. The crayon was set by pressing the material with a hot iron. Of all the methods the appliqué with invisible stitch was judged the prettiest.


I haven’t been able to work on my Tiger Lily block so I don’t have anything to show off. I will update this when I do get the chance!

Do you have any Garden Bouquet Quilt blocks to show off? Leave a link to your blog post about it in the comment section or email me a photo at heathers_custom_sewing{at}yahoo.com so I can share with everyone!

I hope you are enjoying this series!
~Heather


Quick Links to:
~*~
Month 1: Beginning Instructions, Urn, and Basket Instructions
Month 2, Part 1: The Tulip
Month 2, Part 2: The Saucy Bird
Month 2, Part 3: The Meek Bird
Month 3: The Cactus
Month 4: Lily of the Valley
Month 5: The Wild Rose
Month 6: The Trillium
Month 7: Canterbury Bells
Month 8: Nasturtium
Month 9: The Pansy
~*~
Hand Appliqué Machine Appliqué
Machine Appliqué
Alternate Method of Appliqué Tutorial
Biased Binding Tutorial

Vacation 2009, Part 5

Thursday, August 6th, 2009 we drove the Grand Loop around Yellowstone. Yellowstone is such a large place and it took us most of the day to drive just the loop. We did stop and watch Old Faithful. I got some really good photos of it! We stopped at a few other spots but it rained most of the day so we just enjoyed the sights from the car. There is so much to see even if you don’t get out of the car!

Friday, August 7th, 2009, I stayed back at our camp site because I wasn’t feeling too well from the elevation changes. Missouri is around 1,000 feet above sea level while Yellowstone is between 7,000 and 8,000 above sea level. So I decided to stay back and relax for a bit. The boys took off again to Yellowstone to go hiking and do other things that I physically couldn’t do being pregnant. They were gone all day long! I believe they went to see Old Faithful again and walk the trails around it to look at all the other geysers. They also stopped at lots of other places and took tons of pictures.

Saturday, August 8th, 2009, we drove around Yellowstone again, this time taking a different route. We drove clear to the northern part to see the Mammoth Springs. Everything was so beautiful! On our drive we also saw 2 bears, 2 elk and lots of buffalo. The buffalo were all over the place and didn’t care anything about traffic. They had no problems just walking right down the middle of the road! It was very neat to see such a large animal so close.

Sunday, August 9th, 2009, we left Yellowstone and Cody, WY and drove to Castle Rock, CO. It was about a 6 hour drive. Justin’s friend Mike lives there and it was a good place to stop on our way back. We stayed overnight in the Walmart parking lot there. LOL We weren’t the only ones either!

Monday, August 10th, 2009 we left Castle Rock, CO and headed home Missouri! It was a 9 hour drive and the longest length of time we’d spent actually driving. But we were so ready to be home!

And that sums up our Vacation 2009! Click on the link below to see photos of Part 5, but be prepared, there are well over 300 photos in this section!


http://s723.photobucket.com/albums/ww239/heatherscustomsewing/Vacation%202009%20Part%205/?albumview=slideshow

Vacation 2009, Part 4

Tuesday, August 4, 2009, we drove to Sheridan, WY. I took lots of pictures along the way. The landscape changed drastically from green and hilly to flat, dry and sandy then changed to sharp peaks but it was still dry and sandy.

Wednesday, August 5, 2009, we drove to Cody, WY. On our way we drove through a mountain range. The roads were the worst to take an RV on. They were windy, back and forth, to climb up the mountain side and windy back down. I didn’t handle it very well! A good portion of the windy roads going up were also being worked on… all the road was ripped up & we took the RV off roading on the dirt path, literally. It scared the crap out of me! On our way down the other side we stopped at Shell Creek to let the breaks cool down. We were very lucky that we did because the breaks were both smoking. We got out and Justin was looking underneath the RV at the breaks on one side and Ian looked at the other side. Ian then yells that he sees flames! Part of the rubber covering on the breaks was literally on fire! Justin yelled at me to get a bottle of water to pour on it. Luckily, I was holding one! We got the fire put out and decided to take a break from driving and let the breaks cool down for awhile. In the mean time we walked the trail at Shell Creek and took lots of pictures. It was very pretty! When we were done the breaks were cool enough and had suffered no serious damage so we drove on and we eventually made it to Cody, WY. Once at our campground we unloaded the car & drove through part of Yellowstone, just to the fishing bridge, took some photos and walked around a bit and went back to rest! What a day!

Click on the link below to view all the pictures of Part 4!
http://s723.photobucket.com/albums/ww239/heatherscustomsewing/Vacation%202009%20Part%204/?albumview=slideshow

Stay tuned for the final Part 5!

Vacation 2009, Part 3

Friday, July 31, 2009 we went to Mount Rushmore. It was very impressive! They had a trail we walked that went down from the entrance towards the foot of the mountain and back up again. There were lots of steps and I didn’t do too bad! At one point in the trail there are several buildings where the original artist’s studio was. We stopped in there and listened to a talk about the artist, the tools used, and why they didn’t finish the carving. It was very interesting! Of course, we took lots of pictures!

After visiting Mount Rushmore we drove around site seeing the Black Hills area. The roads were very winding and curvy! I’m so glad we took my car on the trailer so we didn’t have to drive the RV everywhere. One of the roads we drove has a tunnel through the mountain side that no RV could fit through and the hair-pin turns were a little too exciting for me.

Saturday, August 1, 2009 we went to Crazy Horse. Actually we went there twice that day, once in the morning to see the statue in daylight and to tour the grounds and once at night to watch the laser light show. Crazy Horse is a non-government funded project that was started when a bunch of Native American Indians asked a sculpture artist to carve a monument for all Native American peoples. The artist who designed it worked on the mountain until his death when his children took over for him. They have a wonderful museum full of all sorts of artifacts from all the different tribes. You can also walk through the artists original home. At dark was the laser light show. This basically told the story of the Crazy Horse Monument in laser pictures cast up on the side of the mountain and set to Native American music. We all enjoyed it!

Sunday, August 2, 2009 we drove to the Wind Cave. This cave is one of the largest caves and still hasn’t been totally explored. We took a short tour of the cave. We walked down for awhile and looked at all the different cave features and then we road an elevator back to the top. Ian really liked the cave!

On our way out of the Wind Cave National Park we saw a large herd of buffalo. They were actually all over place and had no fear of our cars. I rolled down the car window to take some pictures of them and Ian kept telling me the put the window back up! He only wanted to look at them if the window was up. He was a little afraid of them!

After that we went to the Mammoth Graveyard in Hot Springs, SD. It was a pretty hot day but luckily the graveyard has had a building built over it so we got to go inside to tour everything! I took lots of pictures and we walked around on the walk way and listened to the tour guide talk about how the place came to be. They still aren’t done excavating everything.

Monday, August 3, 2009, I was too exhausted from all the walking the day before so I decided to stay back at the camp ground to clean up and do some laundry. Justin and Ian took off to go visit Devil’s Tower. Devils Tower is the remnants of the center of a volcano. They took lots of pictures and it looks like they have fun!

Click on the link below to view all the pictures of Part 3!
http://s723.photobucket.com/albums/ww239/heatherscustomsewing/Vacation%202009%20Part%203/?albumview=slideshow

Stay Tuned for Part 4!

Vacation 2009, Part 2

Welcome back for the second part of our Vacation 2009!

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 we left Omaha, NE and headed towards Mitchell, SD. We spent most of the day on the road so when we got to Mitchell we found a camp ground and just stayed there for the rest of the evening.

Thursday, July 30, 2009 we got up and packed up to drive towards Custer, SD. On our way we stopped at several places and took our time driving on this day. We first stopped at the Corn Palace in Mitchell, SD. The place was pretty neat! It’s great how some people can take an ordinary item and turn it into art. After we left the Mitchell area we stopped at a car museum. The boys loved this! We also stopped at Wall Drug, a huge drug store with everything you could imagine. It’s more of a tourist trap then anything. We also drove through the Badlands. It’s really surprising that a place to barren is in the United States. We tried to walk around a little bit but the heat was too much. Our last leg of the drive was driving through Custer State Park in the dark trying to make it to our camp ground. This was really scary for me! I don’t do well on really windy roads in a big RV especially in the dark. We eventually made it to our camp ground that night at about 11pm and somewhere we crossed the time zone line but we didn’t realize it for a while! I was just glad to make it to our destination that day!

Click on the link below to view photos of Part 2!
http://s723.photobucket.com/albums/ww239/heatherscustomsewing/Vacation%202009%20Part%202/?albumview=slideshow

Stay tuned for Part 3!

Vacation 2009, Part 1

We had a great vacation! We took 2 weeks off, borrowed my parents RV, and set off with no clear plans set in place other than our ultimate destination being Yellowstone National Park.

We took off Monday, July 27, 2009 from our mid-Missouri home and headed north. We drove most of the day and arrived in Omaha, NE in the early evening. We managed to find a decent camp ground that didn’t require a call-ahead or reservations. That night we spent relaxing around the campfire and teaching Ian how to not burn marshmallows!

Tuesday, July 28, 2009 we went to the Henry Doorly Zoo and Train Museum in Omaha, NE. We did a lot of walking that day! I took tons of pictures at the zoo and we had a great time. We didn’t spend much time at the train museum since we got there a half hour before it closed and I didn’t take any pictures while we were there but it was still neat to visit it.

Back at our camp ground we sat around the campfire again eating marshmallows. There was an interesting bike sculpture at the entrance of the camp ground. The place was actually part of a biking and walking park. There were also baseball & soccer fields nearby. Ian had fun on the nice playground and we just enjoyed ourselves!

Click the link below to view photos of Part 1!
http://s723.photobucket.com/albums/ww239/heatherscustomsewing/Vacation%202009%20Part%201/?albumview=slideshow

Stay tuned for Part 2!

Garden Bouquet Quilt: Month 9- The Pansy

“I want to make a purple pansy,” “I don’t, I want a yellow one.” “Not for me, I want a reddish brown.” Thus spoke the members of the Nancy Page quilt club.

“I don’t see why each one of you can’t make the pansy the color you please. Your choice is dependent on the scraps of material you have and the color you chose for the flowers close to it. If you made a red-orange nasturtium you scarcely want to repeat those tones in the flower next to it. Look your pieces over while I tell you how we will make this flower.

First get the urn block ready, the pattern for that was given much earlier. It is the pieced triangular block which is the lower half of a diamond measuring 12 ½ by 12 ½.

The upper part of the triangle, 17 ½ by 12 ½ by 12 ½ is the piece of white on which the pansy and the two birds are appliquéd.

The patterns for the birds were given much earlier. They may be appliquéd in spare time ahead of each new flower.

Or, if you are varying the color of the birds to match or contrast with the color of the flower you will want to wait until you see what the flower is going to be and until you decided in just what colors you will make it. Once that is decided the rest is simple.

Trace the outline of the flower lightly in place on the upper triangle. This is not necessary. It simplifies the placement of the flower later, but with the small from the paper trace the flower and guide inset given each week it is often omitted.

After the pattern, with its accompanying directions, has been cut leaves and stem onto light weight cardboard.

Now cut out the pattern and you have cardboard cutting pieces.

Lay these on the materials and cut out the cloth. Be sure to allow one-quarter inch on all sides. This is basted under and pressed. And is done before the flowers are appliquéd.

In making the stem use bias tape in green. Other material may be used. If this is done, cut the stem on the bias and cut the material twice as wide as the finished stem will be. Turn raw edges back until

(Pieces of this article are missing along with the ending, seeing as how it was written back in 1931. I have typed out what I have. The main part that is missing is the description on how to appliqué and create a biased stem. You can refer to previous Garden Bouquet Quilt posts on how to do this.)

I haven’t been able to work on my Pansy block so I don’t have anything to show off. I will update this when I do get the chance!

Do you have any Garden Bouquet Quilt blocks to show off? Leave a link to your blog post about it in the comment section or email me a photo at heathers_custom_sewing{at}yahoo.com so I can share with everyone!

I hope you are enjoying this series!
~Heather

Quick Links to:

Month 1: Beginning Instructions, Urn, and Basket Instructions
Month 2, Part 1: The Tulip
Month 2, Part 2: The Saucy Bird
Month 2, Part 3: The Meek Bird
Month 3: The Cactus
Month 4: Lily of the Valley
Month 5: The Wild Rose
Month 6: The Trillium
Month 7: Canterbury Bells
Month 8: Nasturtium
~*~
Hand Appliqué
Machine Appliqué
Alternate Method of Appliqué Tutorial
Biased Binding Tutorial

Garden Bouquet Quilt: Month 8- Nasturtium

Perhaps it was the color of the sunset sky, perhaps it was the coming chill of snow and whiteness, perhaps it was just homesickness for the spicy tang of nasturtiums, but whatever it was Nancy found herself drawing a nasturtium for the seventh flower block in the garden bouquet quilt.

Her club members loved it. “I’m so glad you planned to make one of those for I have just a scrap of red and yellow print that I want to use.”

Nancy told her to be sure that the scrap was color fast. Cora assured her it was for she had used some of it for beach pajamas last summer, and land knows they had plenty of sun and water.

The long point of the flower had best be made of yellow material. Of course, the leaves and stem are green. And the stem is made from bias tape. The members had made the lower half of the diamond block when they pieced the urn. They had seamed this to the super white triangle cut 17 ½ by 17 ½ by 12 ½.

They had made the two birds which perch on either side of the flower. Sometimes the members had difficulty getting the flower and the birds on the block. In some blocks Nancy suggests that the stem be lengthened slightly. This brings the flower head up farther in the triangle point and gets out of the way of the birds. She told them to use their own judgment.

The first thing the members did when they received this pattern was to cut it, with its accompanying directions, from the paper.

Then they traced the flower lightly on the upper triangle of white. This gave them an outline to follow when they were appliquéing the flower later.

Next they made another tracing of the design onto a piece of light weight cardboard. This they cut into its separate pieces so they had patterns to use for cutting.

The original pattern was now put for safe keeping in the Nancy Page quilt scrap book.

Laying the cardboard patterns onto the cloth the pieces were cut, marking a quarter-inch allowance on all sides for turning under raw edges. These were basted and pressed.

Then the pieces were pinned and basted in place and appliquéd.

Nancy advised the use of the slanting, invisible hemming stitch. Had any member wanted to buttonhole the edges she would have cut all the pieces the exact size as given. No raw edges are turned under when pieces are buttonholed.

Nancy might have colored the space within the traced outlines on the white triangle with colored crayon, pressing the color in by using a hot iron after the crayon has been laid on. Or, she might have made the flower in outline stitch.

The dark spot in the center is made with satin embroidery stitch, using fast color embroider cotton.

The dotted lines in some of the petals indicate the overlapping of one petal over another. The petals are cut on dotted line and covered by upper petals.

I haven’t been able to work on my Nasturtium block so I don’t have anything to show off. I will update this when I do get the chance!

Do you have any Garden Bouquet Quilt blocks to show off? Leave a link to your blog post about it in the comment section or email me a photo at heathers_custom_sewing{at}yahoo.com so I can share with everyone!

I hope you are enjoying this series!
~Heather

Quick Links to:

Month 1: Beginning Instructions, Urn, and Basket Instructions
Month 2, Part 1: The Tulip
Month 2, Part 2: The Saucy Bird
Month 2, Part 3: The Meek Bird
Month 3: The Cactus
Month 4: Lily of the Valley
Month 5: The Wild Rose
Month 6: The Trillium
Month 7: Canterbury Bells
~*~
Hand Appliqué
Machine Appliqué
Alternate Method of Appliqué Tutorial
Biased Binding Tutorial

Summer Recipe!

My favorite summer recipe is fresh homemade lemonade! Yummy, refreshing & easy to make!

You will need:
· 4 lemons, peeled & quartered
· ¾ cup sugar
· 6 cups water
· Ice cubes & lemon slices to serve

To make:
1) Place the lemons in a blender or food processor with all the sugar and 1 cup of the water. Processes for a few minutes until the lemons are finely chopped.
2) Pour the mixture through a strainer into a pitcher. Add the remaining water and stir well. Add ice cubes and a few extra lemon slices before serving.
3) Enjoy!

New Windows!

2009 seems to be the year of changes in my life. So far this year I worked for my mom during the tax season, came home again, got pregnant, got a new sewing room, and got new windows.

We finally replaced half of the 60 year old windows in our home. The backside of our house is fairly unprotected by the elements and the windows had severely deteriorated. They were also single paned windows. Imagine how hard that is on our heating and cooling bill! We opted to replace those windows this year and take advantage of the economic stimulus package. Our budget allowed us to replace half of the windows this year and the other half in a year or 2 to come. It feels strange but I’m so excited about the new windows! I can’t imagine why. LOL I can already feel the temperature difference and that’s a big deal with the heat index being around 110 degrees these past few days.

I opted to keep the window casement style but change the layout from a 3 window unit to a 2 window unit. All the hardware works, unlike the old windows where half the handles were missing and I had to use a pair of pliers to open them or they just wouldn’t open. The new windows are double paned glass, a huge improvement from the single glass. All the windows sills were also replaced because the previous owners had a large dog that destroyed them. I’m going to either stain the sills to match the other woodwork or paint all the trim to match the new windows. I haven’t decided yet and I’m already arguing with my husband who balks at any mention of painting wood of any kind.

We purchased the windows through Home Depot. They were very professional throughout the whole process. They are very serious about doing good work and making the customer happy. And I’m happy!

I took a ton of photos of each window for my husband who’s been out of town these past 3 weeks attending his annual training with the National Guard. He always seems to be gone when major projects like this happen. That’s just a minor hazard of being in the military I guess.

I’m only going to post a few of those photos because it takes forever to upload them.

Before:

During:
(Of course, Ian had to help.)

After:

My New Sewing Room!

All the hard work has finally paid off! My new sewing room is complete!

We started off with a messy basement corner…

After it was cleared out, we put down sub-flooring and built a couple walls with doors.
Here I painted a test patch on the ceiling. I was trying to envision what the whole thing would look like painted.
Once I’d completed the drywall I primer painted them white.
New carpet was installed June 12, 2009. It feels great under my feet!
Once I bought the paint I painted a test patch. I chose pale yellow for on the walls with a little darker shade of yellow for the doors and trim work.
My dad came over the weekend after the carpet was installed & sprayed the ceiling white. That was a huge job! The first coat went on Saturday and the second coat went on Sunday. I also painted the doors over the weekend.
Monday, June 15th, I painted the walls and trim work in the morning. Luckily, one coat was enough. Once that was done I moved all my sewing things into the basement. My brother-in-law and a friend came over in the evening to move all my heavy furniture into the new room. He also moved all the baby furniture up into what is now the baby’s room.

Moving out of the baby’s room…
Moving into the new sewing room…
The next few days I spent putting all my sewing stuff away. I got rid of a few things and did my best to organize everything else.
This past weekend I bought a folding table to serve as my sewing table. The other table will now be just for computer stuff. I love having so much extra room! The room is much larger then my old sewing room and I now have more of an ideal place for my sewing!
The last few things that will need to be finished up are extra lighting and electrical outlets. My dad plans to do that in the near future. The lighting isn’t too bad as it reflects off of the nice white ceiling and I’m making due with an extension cord to run my sewing machine. I’ve already put the space to good use!

Next on the to-do list is the baby’s room…