Happy Sunday! The weather here in South Texas is my favorite. 40 to 50 degrees and 60’s for a few days and then cold again! A real Texas winter.

I have FINALLY finished the Medallion for Brinton Hall. There are a few more hexagons that will need to be added at the top to even it out. Compared to the others 5 more is nothing. My hands just are not made for EPP!

Tomorrow I will decide how I will do the next border and the blocks. I will not follow the original pattern. Only pieced blocks. I am so ready to do that and let my hands rest. Applique and piecing blocks (no paper piecing) is much easier than EPP.

Another finish is Mountmellick. I decided to make mine a Mini-Mellick. I am so happy to have completed this quilt as far as I want to go with it!

I feel that I can complete Brinton Hall by the end of this month. I would love to have it finished by Christmas. I will have met my goals for finishing all UFO’s from prior years. Only 3 Applique projects will be carried over to 2019. YEA!

Have a wonderful Sunday.

Nanette

I thought that I would take some time to show my UFO quilt projects (they are all in flimsy stage along with the 2 quilts this year I quilted) that I have completed this year.  If I can finish Brinton Hall by the end of the month I will have finished 10 quilts.  The only UFOs that remain or completions of Stonefields (5 more chapters to complete), A Bountiful Life (about 13 more blocks), and applique my Dresden Plates to back ground fabric and sew together!  So based on this, I will TRY to not start anymore applique projects until I have completed the 3 hold overs from 2016-2018!

My Regatta Quilt – It has a new home!

Baltimore Applique Society (BAS) BOM – Ms Potts

A Year of Flowers and Holidays – a Sierra Vista AZ Quilt Guild BOM

First Appliquer Quilt – 2003 Xmas Quilt Quilted by Nanette in 2018

A 2004 Bear Paw Quilt – I quilted it in 2018

Stars Across Texas – an Embroidery project

Decided to make a wall hanging from this Baltimore Album block

A May 2018 Heart SAL. Fun to do.

Nesting – Ready for hand quilting!

Block 6 Completed for A Bountiful life

My version of RSC 2018 Challenge

A LONG Labor of Love to make this quilt! It too me about 3 1/2 months to make (along with interruptions)!

Mini-Mellick A Final!

I am so happy that I have accomplished all of my UFO’s.  Now to just finish Brinton Hall!

To close, God Bless President George H. W. Bush and may he Rest In Peace!  What a testament to this President as a Man!  A wonderful person who had so many friends who loved him and he loved them back!  God be with the family and especially GW and Laura Bush as they have suffered the loss of both loving parents and in-laws within 8 months.

Nanette

Good afternoon from South Texas where it is cloudy and humid and 60 degrees.  In a couple of days (after the rain) we will then receive a cold front.  This is definitely quilting weather!  This morning after our walk, we decided to try out a new restaurant in La Vernia area (about 5 miles from us).  They have great Mexican food and were able to fix my eggs and for a treat I had a serving of their retried beans.  For me this was so wonderful to be close to a Restaurant without having to drive 35 miles to an IHOP!  Clay had Soft Taco’s and they looked so good and not greasy like the other Mexican Restaurant that we normally go to.  Their food has gone down in quality the last year or so.  Rumor has it that it will be taken over by another owner – hope they bring the food quality up.

So far I have shed 15 pounds.  Our scales went belly up early this week, although I really liked what they were doing!  It would give you the weight that was accurate, the jump to 6 pounds lower!  Clay thought he was 6 pounds lighter until the scales did it to me.  I had to break the news to Clay – darn!  We will find out tomorrow when the new scales arrive!  Maybe I have lost a few more.  My goal is to lose at least 10 more pounds and would like to lose at least 3 more before the 17th when I go back for repeated blood work!  Now back to quilting!

I have been determined to finish the last 2 UFOs by the end of December and yesterday I finished my version of Mountmellick.  I will call it “Mini-Mellick”.   It will not qualify for a Show quilt because I decided to put my remaining time on Brinton Hall as that project will qualify to show in the San Antonio Show in September 2019.  I have decided to add 4 more 1/2” hexagon flowers for the corner blocks but if I do they will be made from the black fabric I used on the black border.   I should be able to fussy cut them and they will fill in the “blank” area.  (The quilt is square, but the picture did not come out that way!)

Mini-Mellick

The other day I was looking at the sale at The Stencil Company for quilting stencils.  After ordering a few, I looked through my “stencil stash” and low and behold – I found this group of blocks that were made in 2002 when I first started appliqueing.  This is a Sue Garman pattern called Yuletide that was designed in 1998 and distributed by Quakertown Quilts in Friendswood, Texas.  I believe that this was before Sue started her own business!  The shop is permanently closed now so I have a wonderful piece of history along with many other patterns purchased from Quackertown Quilts designed by Sue Garman.  I am ‘thinking’ that Mama Said is going to be on my 2019 list!   This was before I started investing in “real” quilt fabrics.  I would like to make another quilt, but will put this one together because it is one of my first applique projects.

Here is the pattern:

Next on the list is to finish my Brinton Hall.  I am hoping to finish it into a flimsy by         31 December 2018!   This would bring my UFO finishes to 10!  I will do another post on my progress!

I did forget to add 2 pictures from the Van Horn Cattle Company Restaurant in Van Horn, Texas where we had supper on the way home from Arizona.  Van Horn is a very small town and to find such a wonderful place to have a quiet supper (except for the screaming 2-year-old).  After listening to the child scream as her younger sister kept egging her on I took myself over to the table and politely asked the Grandmother to please quiet the child as her screams went right through me!  Clay slid under the table, but it stopped the screeching!  LOL

The employees had just finished decorating for Christmas and I meant to share the pictures with you on my previous post.  Such a beautiful Christmas Tree!   This should get you in the spirit of the Season!

Have a wonderful week-end and enjoy working on your projects!

Nanette

Greetings from Sierra Vista, Arizona – This is one of our favorite spots to visit in Tombstone.  I will provide more pictures of our journey next week!

The Crystal Palace in Tombstone Arizona – Original Bar!

The Stage!

Roulette Wheels – Caught my eye!

I would like to wish all a Happy Thanksgiving.  Clay and I have so much to be thankful for and we appreciate all that we can do in retirement.  It is such a blessing that we will be retired 20 years in March and April 2019.  The years have flown by!

Sometimes I wonder if I will be able to make 1/5 of the quilts that I have in the ‘que’!  Most quilters begin to realize after building the cache of patterns and yards and yards of fabric that it may be an impossible task.  But, alas, they sit patiently waiting to become an Heirloom quilt!  I continue to live each day doing the best  I can with the blessings I have been given in life and make quilts and enjoy our home! (And I miss our 5 acres)

We will be home this week-end just in time for a cold front.  I am looking forward to it.  The weather has been perfect here, but I am now ready for winter time!

Clay and I have learned that travel time plus 1 week in a Hotel is the way to go.  We have been use to loading the 36’ Fifth Wheel and heading to Arizona for the winter and enjoying having our own home on wheels since 2000, but now it is Hotel time AND only a week at a time in the same place!  I have now learned that I do not need to bring all the clothes I packed!  Clay kept telling me, “you forgot the kitchen sink”, but it just did not get through, but believe you me – I HAVE LEARNED MY LESSON!

Pray for this Nation as there are many powerful people filled with hate and anger who are trying to destroy our Nation by erasing its’ history and destroying the very Constitution that the country was based on.  The next 2 years will be challenging to those of us who have seen the best of the United States of America and want that path continued.  I pray for our President every day for his health and steadfast leadership.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Day with family and friends.

Nanette

Morning all! I am AWOL from quilting until the end of the month! We are in Sierra Vista Arizona enjoying a change of scenery.

Of course I missed our record breaking cold at home but there will be more coming this winter.

Today we will be heading to Tombstone, our favorite spot to people watch and play Touristo!

We are staying at the Garden Place across the entrance from Ft Huachua. Great hotel.

Today is picture taking day so I will post them later. I am ‘slightly beginning’ to think about working on my Mountmellick flowers in the evenings as things are settling in after the first couple of days.

Have a great day. Happy Stitching.

I have been trying to finish the Center Medallion for Brinton Hall UFO.  I am down to only one corner remaining and will complete this today.  The next step is to select the next border.  I will more than likely change the pattern at this point.  My goal is to have that completed and the Medallion ready to stitch down before I began preparing for our trek to Arizona.  I am so ready to have a change of pace!

I will again admit that sitting all day long in my Studio doing had work is just not for me!  I will be working on those lovely small flowers for Mountmellick border while we are in Arizona.   Hopefully I will be able to finish them and upon return home, that border will be ready for completion and the remainder of both quilts will be piecing, along with some hand work, but not the constant hand work which I have been struggling to stay focused on.  It would be great if I could finish both quilt tops by the end of the year!

The weather will be humid for 3 days the cold front comes in just in time for the beginning of our trip!   YEA!

I am still struggling with the idea that I “am diabetic”.  My weight loss is maintained and beginning to go down again I almost saw another pound going away but those 2 ounces kept it at 10 (oh well).  I will meet my weight goal of 10-15 more pounds in the next couple of months, but my food list is down to eggs and chicken!  In case anyone out there eats cough drops and struggling with weight gain, here is a TIP!  Each cough drop contains 5 grams of SUGAR!  YUP – that was something that I did not know and when I had the flu in December last year I developed a habit of eating those puppies during the day!  My glucose levels have dropped like a rock since I quit those and potatoes!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day.

Nanette

Linking To:  My Quilt Infatuation; Confessions of a Fabric Addict; Finished or Not Friday ; Sew Can She; Em’s Scrap Bag; BOM’s Away; Fiber Tuesday;    Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHOW; Sew Fresh Quilts; Crazy Mom Quilts;  Oh Scrap; Scrap Happy Saturday; Show and Tell Monday with Bambi; Quilt Fabrication