Tracy at It’s A T-Sweets Day and I have just successfully completed our very first Mystery QAL. We had such a great time watching the progress of the many participants. Chosen as the winner of our Mystery QAL was Abbie from Sparkle On. Abbey made this beautiful table runner.
Abbie’s Beautiful Mystery QAL Table Runner
Abbey’s prize was one yard of free fabric. The fabric was chosen by Tracy to be the designated fabric for Mystery QAL # 2. Yup, that’s right! We have decided to host another one! But, before I give those details let me first give a big THANK YOU to the participants of Mystery QAL # 1: Abbie, Susan, Edith, Elana, Kathy, Lori,Michelle and Roseanne. Without their enthusiastic participation our QAL would not have been successful. In my mind they are all winners! Of course, I would also have to thank my cohost Tracy! Tracy helped to get the QAL off the ground and added her own special flair to the festivities. Now, let’s move on to Mystery QAL # 2.
The second Mystery QAL kicked off on April 1, 2018, and ends on June 30, 2018. Tracy had the privilege of selecting the mandatory fabric for this QAL. Chosen by her was Tea Flowers from Connecting Threads.
Please note: In order to be entered into the drawing for Mystery QAL # 2’s prize you must complete your item, and post a story about it on or before June 30, 2018. The story must include a photo of the finished project along with a link to Tracy’s blog as well as this one.
Here’s a list of the ladies that have already signed up to participate in Mystery QAL # 2:
We went on an excursion recently to parts west of our home. Our destination was a restored log cabin hidden amongst the trees in a quiet part of Missouri. The purpose of our trip was to relax and unwind with family and friends.
Cabin from a Distance
The restored cabin, originally built decades ago, was disassembled and moved from one side of a lake to another. With all of its pieces carefully put back together, along with the addition of modern day conveniences, the restored log home provides shelter and comfort for a growing family. It was hard not to be enamored with the history of the building, the logs, and character.
I side view of one of the logs
When the process of reassembling the log home was complete their remained several unused pieces of wood. A decision was made to convert them into benches for the front porch. The Benches were delivered during our visit. This is a glimpse of one of the benches.
A Bench Fashioned from Leftover Log Cabin Logs
Yucky Weather!
The weather outside was a mixed bag of rain, wind, and clouds along with an occasional teasing glimpse of sunshine. Not exactly what we had ordered; these days the weather leaves much to be desired. As if to thumb our noses at the chilly temperatures, and ever so present falling precipitation, we donned layers of sweaters, coats, hats and gloves and went outside to explore the wonders of the property.
Fungus
Grass
Cattail
Leichen
Our feet were protected by waterproof footwear to keep the soggy earth from spoiling our fun. We spent hours traversing the terrain enjoying the early spring sights and sounds. Among the sounds heard were the rain as it fell upon the leaves, the muffled noise of twigs breaking beneath our feet and the squish, squish of the rained soaked earth as it moved beneath our feet. Also heard was the monotonous sound of water spilling over a bank.
Texture
I walked around the log home several times taking in the surroundings. The landscaping is simple and easy to take care of; which is important when you would rather enjoy your visit than spend all of your time doing chores. On one of my many circles around the outside I spotted this rock. The natural markings caught my attention. The two, richly colored orbs on either side reminded me of eyes and the peach colored indentation in the front looked like a mouth. Combined together to me they resembled a fish.
A Fish or Just A Rock?
This is a view of the rock from the side.
Side View of Fish?
So what’s your opinion?
A Swing Set
During our visit we also helped to build a swing set and climbing tower for the youngest members. Being able to complete 3/4’s of the structure was quite an accomplishment given the amount of precipitation that fell.
Miss A
Mr. B
Swing Set
That’s All For Now
We had such a great adventure at the restored log cabin and with so much to tell I simply must divide this post up into several pieces. It wouldn’t be fair to tell you the whole thing all at once; your eyes would glass over and your mind would go crazy. So for now…bye from Missouri!
Mr. B, Ms. A and Beaker the Energetic Corgi
Thank You!
Thank You so much for taking the time to visit today. I’m so glad that you were able to stop by.
The week of March 18-March 24 I had planned on attending a do-your-own-thing retreat at the Woodland Ridge Retreat center. My plans changed, however, when we were given the opportunity to go on a long-awaited trip to our daughter and son-in-law’s restored cabin. The dates for the retreat and the visit to the cabin overlapped. Even though I had really been looking forward to the opportunity to sew to my heart’s-content the trip to the cabin was much more important.
Rather than totally giving up on my desire to overdose on sewing I decided to declare the previously designated retreat week as my in-home sewing palooza. Once I had decided to do that, the BIG question was—-what would I work on? My list of available options was longer than my arm. After much thought I decided to finish a quilt top I had started last summer. The quilt is called LuLu’s Garden.
LuLu’s Garden by Washboard QuiltsFabrics and Pattern for LuLu’s Garden
LuLu’s Garden was designed by Pat Riley and published by Washboard Quilts. I first introduced you to this quilt on September 8, 2017, in a story called Quilt Retreat Day Seven. The project was one of three being considered as my next adventure. Rather than choose this quilt I decided to make my Teacup quilt instead.
My Teacup Quilt Top
After completing the Teacup quilt I found time to cut out the pieces for LuLu’s Garden. LuLu’s Garden had sat idle ever since.
Day One
Now that LuLu’s Garden was chosen I went in search of the tub containing the pattern and fabrics.
Project Tub Containing LuLu’s Garden Parts Department
After opening the tup I briefly read through the instructions for the pattern, then removed the previously cut fabrics. With all of my supplies at hand I began stitching together the 294 pieces.
LuLu’s Garden Blocks Started
Piled High LuLu’s Garden Parts
LuLu’s Garden Blocks Almost Finished
LuLu’s Garden Blocks Stacked and Ready
By the end of the afternoon I was ready to begin assembling the seven rows. Before I could to that I had to shuffle and arrange the blocks into a cohesive arrangement. After photographing several options I decided to go with this one.
LuLu’s Garden Block Arrangement
Next up…adding the sashing between the blocks and stitching the rows together.
Day Two
Picking up where I had left off I dove right into the process of making the sashing strips for between the blocks and rows.
Sashing Strips for LuLu’s Garden
From there it was onto row assembly.
Sashing Added to LuLu’s Garden
By the end of day two three of the seven rows were finished.
Day Three
The remaining sashing pieces were added to the last four rows on day three. To finish the quilt top all I had to do was add the outer border. The strips for the border had already been cut but not stitched together. Before stitching them together, into one long strip, I added 45° cuts to the ends of each fabric strip.
LuLu’s Garden Ready For Borders
When all of the border strips were connected I took measurements of my quilt top. The first border to be attached was the sides. I calculated their length by running my tape measure vertically through the center of my top, from the top edge to the bottom. After cutting and attaching those pieces I repeated the same steps for the top and bottom borders. This time I used my tape measure to calculate the distance from side to side by laying it horizontally across the center. The two remaining sections were then attached and with that my LuLu’s Garden quilt top was finished. LuLu’s Garden measures 47”wide x 52 1/2” long.
Here is a peek at LuLu’s Garden.
LuLu’s Garden Ready for Quilting
My next task is to create a quilt sandwich and apply the longarm quilting.
By the time my LuLu’s Garden quilt top was finished I had chewed up the majority of my sew to my heart’s content week. The remaining days were needed for laundry and packing to go to the log cabin. I had hoped to get a lot more of my sewing projects accomplished but you know how it goes. So many projects, so little time!
Thank You for visiting with me today! I look forward to our next encounter.
