Friday, July 17, 2020

~ Dutch Delight Quilt and Other Stuff ~

 Hello Happy Quilters!  Just thought I would pop in for a little update on the happenings in the Podunk Studio.  Lets start with my most recent new project.  It is an impulse project.  I've been admiring this quilt since seeing at quilt market.  The name of the quilt pattern is Dutch Delight by Jill Finley.  The simple design with pops of color won me over immediately.  Jill's quilt patterns almost always have a little bit of applique.  I love the way she can take a simple design and give life.   So as soon as the pattern was released I had to have it.  The temptation to buy the kit or a fat quarter bundle of her new Conservatory fabric was overwhelming.  So I told myself I could only buy the kit IF I couldn't pull the enough fabric from my stash.  As you can see I had no problem finding just the right amount blues and low volume prints, darn. I had my heart set on a new bundle of lovely prints.  You can find the pattern HERE you choose digital or traditional mailed. The quilt kits HERE.   And her new fabric line Conservatory HERE.
   

Below is Jill's finished quilt.  Simply adorable!  The pops of color in the applique is what really sold me on this pattern.  For the last three days Jill has shared video tutorials for this quilt on her Facebook and Instagram.  Hop over and check them out to see just how easy it is to construct this cute little quilt.  By the way there's a giveaway.


She used a layer cake for her quilt.  So the first thing I need to do was cut my fabrics into ten inch squares.


The hourglass blocks were a breeze to make.  I had them done in no time flat.  That's hillbilly talk or about 4 hours start to finish (trimmed).


Most of my quilts I use the raw edge method of applique.  But for this little quilt I decided to do prepared edge applique or turned edge.  That just means I turn under the edges of the applique before attaching them to the quilt top.  I was going to make a video about how to do this but life happens and didn't have time.  No worries.  Jill makes hers the same way I do.  Here's a video she made a few years ago about prepared edge applique.  Click here.



In the evenings I like to relax with a little bit of hand work.  No I'll not be hand appliqueing the Dutch Delight.  It will be done using Invisible machine applique.  If you've never seen this method you can read more about it here on my blog.  Right now I'm hand stitching the binding on my Hunkering down quilt. Quilt block tutorial and free PDF can be found HERE.  The plan was to binge on Netflix and get this done in one day.  I just don't feel like sitting all day and watching TV because I'm so excited about the Dutch Delight quilt.


The other project I'm working on is the Erin Russek's Home Again Free BOM.  You can see my blocks HERE.  And you can find the Free patterns HERE and finishing instructions HERE.  I still need to make the last three blocks and stitch down those plus 5 more.  Slowly but surely.  But there's no hurry.  This one is going to be over the top gorgeous when completed.  


In between the quilty happenings is this big ole box of peaches.  25 pounds of peaches.  We ordered them in advance from the Peach Truck and then picked them up on the scheduled day they are in our area.  I'm not a fan of peaches but my hubby says they are the best peaches he's ever ate.  You might still be able to get them in your area.  If your interested just follow the directions on their website.







See you all in a few days!  Here's an update on my girl Khaleesi.  She brings so much joy into our home.  I can't believe how much she has changed over the last year and a half.  There's no joy like a dog joy.  It's amazing what a little love and time can do for a rescue dog.


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Wednesday, June 24, 2020

~ Stitching Sunshine Blog Hop ~

Hello Quilting Friends!  Today is my day in the Stitching Sunshine Blog Hop hosted by Carla over at Creatin' in the Sticks.  


When I saw the sign ups for this blog I knew I had to join in because I was already making something yellow. My project is a quilt called Hunkering Down. This quilt block is free printable PDF here on my blog.  You can find the post with the link to the PDF by CLICKING HERE.  


Unfortunately, my quilt isn't finished due to my decision to quilt it to death.  The quilting has a lot of ruler work mixed in with some free motion feathers.   Since my Bailey Home Quilter has a 15" throat I can only quilt half of a block at a time.  This really slows down the quilting due to all of the starting, stopping and clipping threads.   


But....OH MY GOODNESS is it worth the extra effort.  I can't wait to see this big ole girl on a bed.  Yes she's a little on the large side, finishing at 90" x 90". 


The buttery yellow Andover fabric is perfect for my blue and yellow shabby chic spare bedroom.




Below is an Electric Quilt drawing of the quilt since I can't show you the whole real quilt.  I played around with several ideas for setting these blocks.  You can see them on a previous blog post HERE.


Well that's it for me but make sure you hop over to the other bloggers participating in this blog hop.  This is one creative group of bloggers.

Monday, June 22nd


Tuesday, June 23rd


Wednesday, June 24th

Podunk Pretties you are here

Thursday, June 25th











  

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Tuesday, June 23, 2020

~ Home Again BOM ~ Block 13 ~ And a Little Khaleesi Update ~

Howdy Quilting friends!  I'm super excited to be working on the last 4 blocks of the Home Again BOM by Erin Russek.  Hopefully I can have them all complete by the time she releases the setting instructions.  You can find all the FREE blocks in one convenient spot on Erin's blog by clicking HEREClick here to see the rest of my blocks.  I'm also excited to have my Hunkering Down quilt almost finished.  It's the yellow quilt in the background of my block 13 below.


This last couple of weeks have been super busy.  Summertime is full of chores needing to be done.  The gardening and yard work seem to never be done.  As soon as you think your caught up, it's time to start all over and do it again.  But I guess we have to look at it as good exercise but like many of you I'd rather be quilting.  And then there's my sweet girl Khaleesi.  She's still a pup and loves to play.  


Let me tell you, there is no ignoring her.  She will let you know when it's time to eat, play and go for a walk.  Her internal clock is impressively accurate.  There's no sleeping in when you have a barking alarm clock with no snooze button.  And that same alarm goes off if you forget any of the many rituals she has throughout the day such as feeding time, play time and heaven forbid if Mr. Podunk comes home late.  She becomes a nervous wreck pacing the floors until he arrives.


So as I write this quick post this morning she is by my side whining and yipping letting me know it's time to go outside for a walk.  I guess I better get moving!









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Monday, June 22, 2020

~ Father's Day 2020 ~

This years Father's Day celebrations was very low key.  No big family gathering with a buffet of yummy home cooked foods.  It was just me and dad doing our best to social distance.  Since dad is the oldest in the family he gets to call the shots.  As we all know the older you are the more likely you are to catch this crazy bug that has had us all hunkering down.  He felt it would best to stay as far away from the 40 and under family members.   We normally have the family gatherings at dads  house because he has a kitchen big enough to hold all of us.  Even without the virus issue right now it would not have been a good time for a family gathering.  He's having new garage/workshop built.  And when the contractors are ready to work you let them work.    


The new garage will be a place where he can restore his old truck that he has had since I was about 9 or 10 and my brothers old car.  The plan for this garage started about 15 years ago.  Seems like a long time to wait for a garage doesn't it?  But every time he would start the ball rolling on the construction something would pop up and delay the start of construction.  So finally his dream garage is being built.


I forgot to take pictures of his old truck and car that will be the first to be restored inside this garage.  So I dug through my old pictures and found a picture from Easter 2019.  As you can see dad loves cars.  He can't stop playing with my nephew's Vet long enough to take the picture.   My nephew loves car's as much if not more than my dad.   


I stole this picture from my nephew's Facebook page.  This is where he works.  The boy has been working on cars since he was just a little kid.  It's a family thing.  My brother also restored old cars.  He had so many cars in his lifetime we couldn't count them all.  He had at least 2 new to him cars a year from the time he was 16 yrs old.  


The garage was originally a retirement plan for my dad and brother.  Sadly my brother was killed in a car accident in 2007 four months after this picture was taken.  It was devastating to the entire family and community.  The funeral director said it was the largest funeral he had every had.  My brother was very well known and loved by so many in our community.
   

All in all yesterday was a good day.  I made dad some homemade low carb, no sugar vanilla ice cream.  We spent the afternoon talking and telling stories of the good ole days.  Then we started planning for a family cookout in July, that is if the bug situation keeps improving.  By early evening I was back home and ready to head into the Studio for some much needed quilting time.  But first I needed to check emails and social media.  My niece posted this picture on her Instagram.  It's my brother his wife and my niece when she was a few weeks old.  The caption stated how much she missed her dad.  I lost it, yes I cried like a baby.  I'm not sure why.  He's been gone for 13 years but it felt like just yesterday.  Maybe it's the menopause hormones. We won't even start that discussion...UGG.


Then a crazier thing happened.  Here is the second picture in her post.  Her and her step dad.  He's a great guy and treats my niece and nephew like his own children.  The little signs  gave me a chuckle as I cried.  Good grief!  What an emotional mess.  I really need some quilting time therapy.





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