Iceland Part 9

This was the last waterfall we visited in Iceland.

After that, we headed back to Reykjavik. You’ve likely seen photos of this church with Lief Ericsson in front.

There was an interesting art installation inside. This first piece is thought provoking!

This was at the harbor.

There was a who,e store dedicated to Thor!

When we had enough of the city, we headed out into the surrounding area.

This was a cool cave that hubby found.

Still more to come. Have a great day!

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Finish It Up Friday ~ Baby Stars

One more UFO to check off the list! I made these star blocks ages ago from my hand dyed fabric.

I finally came up with an arrangement for them. And used this long hoarded Ikea print on the back.

Gotta love that texture!

I’m sure I will find the baby that it will belong to in time. Until then, it looks great in the room E3 takes his nap in when he is here.

Have a great day!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Posted in Baby Quilts, Finishes, UFOs, Uncategorized | 10 Comments

Independence Day

IN CONGRESS, July 4, 1776.

The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America,

When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature’s God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.–Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.
He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.
He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only. 
He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures. 
He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.
He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.
He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.
He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.
He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.
He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.
He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.
He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.
He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:
For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:
For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:
For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:
For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent: 
For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:
For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences
For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:
For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:
For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.
He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.
He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people. 
He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.
He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands. 
He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

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Finish It Up Wednesday ~ Thistle

Now it’s done!

I had crosshatching in mind for the quilting, but as soon as I got it on the frame, I decided to do pebbles and swirls instead.

I’m loving the background, but less than thrilled with the quilting in the thistles themselves.

The piece I found in my stash for the backing seemed perfect. The color is more true in the photo above.

Now that it is done and quilted, I’ve decided that I actually like it. In fact, I like it so much that I hung it…..

….in my bathroom. 😂

I also like that it is no longer mocking me from the design wall.

Have a great day!

Posted in Finishes, Small Quilts, UFOs, Uncategorized | 6 Comments

Thistle UFO

This little piece has had so very many setbacks. I thought it was done at this point, but couldn’t bring myself to move forward with finishing because of that blank space in the middle.

So I decided to add another flower, but there was no room for another stem. That looked ridiculous.

So I added a leaf to try to camouflage the lack of stem. Nope. Just nope.

So, I thought I would add more leaves.

I think it’s time to finish it before I make it any worse. Have a great day!

Posted in Applique, UFOs, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Bliss

Isn’t this pretty? Daughter #1 surprised me a while back with a box of goodies from Missouri Star. This layer cake was in the box.

I’ve had a quilt in my head for a while that I wanted to make and this layer cake had the perfect distribution of colors for it. I used this set of triangle dies from Accuquilt to cut my pieces.

When I cut my large triangles from the black fabrics, it looks like I have a lot of waste.

I snipped those pieces apart and rearranged.

Sewed them back together and ran them through the die cutter.

I did press the seam open in the back and made sure the seam was offset so it didn’t add bulk to the corner.

I cut four smaller equilateral triangles from each of the pink and green fabrics.

I think this will make an adorable baby quilt.

Have a great day!

This post contains affiliate links.

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June/July Goals

Here are the goals I set for myself for June:

1. I Spy quilt! Done!

2. Quilt 5 QOVs Done! Actually, I only had three to do this month.

3. Finish a secret sewing project for reveal this month. Done!

4. Ten string diamonds. Not done. 😐

5. Work on one UFO from the list. Done!

6. Baste another top for hand quilting. Done and quilted! Small, but a finish is a finish!

7. Make a t-shirt quilt for a gift. Done!

What else did I do?

I made this little Modern Beads quilt.

And made this little experimental piece.

And on to July!

1. I want to cross another item of two off my UFO list.

2. I want to make progress on my hexie project.

3. Get a hand appliqué project done .

4. Quilt five QOVs.

5. Ten string diamonds.

Kind of vague, but I have a couple trips so I’m trying to stay flexible!

Have a great day!

Posted in Finishes, Goals, Uncategorized | 3 Comments

Me? Appliqué?

Shocking, right? Well, quilter Jeanna Kimball, recently shared a tutorial on Instagram for her back basting method of appliqué. I tried it out and couldn’t believe the results!

I’m no expert and I’m only comparing myself to myself, but this is the best appliqué I’ve ever done. It motivated me to prep a project I’ve had in the back of my mind for years.

Checkout Jeanna’s Instagram or her web site for more details. Here is a quick rundown of the process on picture form.

This looks to be a perfect travel sewing project.

Have a great day!

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Finish It Up Friday ~ I Spy

Done and dusted! Or perhaps done and gifted is more accurate. This is the quilt I made for E1 for his fifth birthday. Where has the time gone?

I used pairs of 117 different prints so it could be a matching game as well as I Spy.

Sorry for the sideways pic here. I used these two panels on the back.

I hate Piecing quilt backs so you know I love my boy! The map is so he can see where all his family lives.

And here is a map to use with his little cars.

Here are pics from his party.

And all tucked in later that night.

I think he liked it! ❤️

Have a great day!

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Posted in Baby Quilts, Finishes, Uncategorized | 15 Comments

Baby Quilt UFO Progress

The top is pieced and quilting has commenced!

This is the pantograph that I’m using. It is available from Urban Elementz .

I love how this is looking!

The binding is even ready to go!

Have a great day!

This post contains affiliate links.

Posted in Pantographs, Uncategorized | 2 Comments