Time to tell all – the strips are cut 3/4” wide and I’m making eyeglass/cell phone cases for Christmas gifts.
Yes, you could make the log cabin blocks with wider strips but they wouldn’t be nearly so cute as 1/4” finished strips. I’m going to make all the blocks first before I start assembling the blocks into cases. Here are some blocks I have finished.
I took these colorful pictures this morning before the thunderstorms, rain, lightning, thunder and wind. Most of these leaves are now on the very wet ground.
And here’s Norma with her 150+ cards!! She recently had part of her foot amputated – the cards will cheer her up. Thank you, Everybody!!
Reader quilts – thank you for sending these pictures! Love the quilt show!
If you don’t see your quilt posted please tell me – as you can see I receive MANY photos and I have to post every night just to keep them organized. You can help me by letting me know.
And a reader sent this picture of Red in yellow! Chevy made it in only red, yellow and black. Would any of you have ever noticed this funny little car before you met Red? I wouldn’t have.
Hi Mary, looks like we will all get eye glass cases for Christmas, there are so many strips! Just done the second top from. Odd blocks, will make a couple more while I’m on a roll.Very wet and windy last night, Bella changed her mind about midnight pee when we stepped out of the door thank goodness! Take care everyone, best wishes from Sandy
Hey there Mary!! What a wonderful post tonight. All sorts of great pictures. Beautiful quilt show, especially the star quilt from Teresa in Indiana. Love it!! And your log cabin blocks for the eye glass holders. What a great idea!!
Keep doin’ what you’re doin’ girl!!! Richie would be so proud!!
Sorry about Floyd of Rosedale. . . 😂🤪🏈
Peggy S
Peggy – I have quoted you many times since the game – who wants an old cement pig anyway? Hahahahaha!!?!!!! Hilarious!
I guess it’s brass rather than cement. . . 🤷♂️ 😉
Beautiful eye glass cases.
Love the eyeglass case idea, they are cute! Beautiful pictures of your leaves. We have all pines on our property, but get to see some beautiful aspen just up the road from us. Lovely quilt show also, Teresa’s star quilt sure caught my eye! It has started raining here and we might get some snow. It’s still too warm to stick though, that will come later. I am working on a couple of Christmas stockings. Guess I better get busy!
I love this- they are so cute- I can’t believe how straight they look with such a narrow strip!
I always feel so nostalgic for County Threads this time of year when I put out my Halloween decorations and 90 percent are from patterns we made at camp or great decor items in the shop. A decade later, I finally added a new non-Country Threads wall hanging to the line up.
Heather – haha! New blood in the lineup – some great memories, huh?
The blocks for your eye glass/cell phone cases are beautiful. Sewing with a 3/4” strip has to be a tad bit tedious, but the cases will be adorable.
We have enjoyed all the beautiful foliage in our neighborhood lately, but our leaves will probably be down tomorrow with the rain. It will be a nice soup and sewing day.
Thanks, Mary
Jeanie – yes, it’s tedious but I like combining the fabrics!
Jeanie – yes, very tedious – I can only do one a day.
Mary,
Great eye glasses holders!
Wonder if our Border Collie, Pepper, will step out into the SNOWING . Started about 8pm!
Launa
Launa – oh, say it ain’t so!!! I’m just not ready for cold weather and snow but I know in the mountains it starts early. Glad to hear about Pepper!
Love the quilt show and love your courthouse step blocks! Interesting concept and a way to use up scraps. Love your color combinations! I had a neighbor who had a silver “red” truck. Love your red one though. My favorite color! Take care! Nice to see Norma with all her cards! How fun to give her joy and keep her busy! Love the idea! Want to send her postcards soon!
Nicole – now that you say silver I know I’ve seen a silver one, too! What I read online can’t be right, can it? I wish my Red was silver!!
We all know that online has something to be desired don’t we. My son has a bright blue SSR truck – very rare. The local Chevy dealer wanted to buy it from him but not for sale. Whenever he takes it out, people ask about it.
Another great quilt show today. It sure tells me to get in gear. The glass cases are a wonderful idea.
Janet – BLUE?? I’ve never seen or heard of a blue one – was it custom made? I’ve never even seen a picture of a blue one!
I’m so glad I sent my card to Norman rather late; she needs the cheering up with loosing part of her foot. Norma, you keep on keeping on and smiling, we love you. The quilt show was wonderful to see. I came to Osage to help my mom button up her yard for the winter, bring the cactus plants back inside, cut back all of her perennials and empty her pots of red begonias. The weather has been nice and tomorrow we are going to Madison County to see the covered bridges and the boyhood home of John Wayne and his museum in Winterset, Iowa. Happy Fall Y’all
Kim – such a fun trip!!!
Kim, I was in Winterset only once but thought it was absolutely charming. Does it still have the fun shops downtown or did covid destroy that also? It would be a fun place to visit once again.
What beautiful pictures!! I love your eye glass cases and all the readers’ quilts. I loved Red when it first came out. I wanted one and I think if my husband would have liked it as much as I did, we would have had one! You don’t see many of them! Great idea of putting your grow lights on timers. My mother-in-law used to put her violets in the window wells in her basement and they loved it there….the basement was heated too.
Your eye glasses cases are so cute. They’ll make great Christmas gifts. I enjoy seeing all the readers’ quilts. Fall has arrived in Wyoming, too. We are headed to the mountains tomorrow to winterize the cabin.
Your eye glass cases are beautiful- each recipient will feel your love each time they use the case.
The cell phone cases will be adorable, Mary!
A day or two ago I saw a quilt panel advertised in Quilted twins’ daily email that had a picture which looked to me just like little red…it seemed to be a standard baby quilt size.
I love seeing the blog quilt show, but pictures around the farm are my favorites! Thanks for everything you do.
Elizabeth – I will look in the shop – I think I bought that panel you’re talking about! I just haven’t done anything with it yet.
i love your log cabin blocks – are you quilting as you build them – or did you just attach them to a backing and batt. i have a bin of itty bitty court-house steps blocks. haven’t decided whether i’ll make something small – or several small things – or put them all together. decisions can be hard sometimes. i love all the colors of your foliage. we don’t see that in florida. the quilt show is wonderful. so much talent among the readers. i see greta ventured to the basement. i’ve got a couple more tops almost to the point of tops, ready for backings and bindings. need to somehow get upstairs to find fabrics. new roof is on, waiting for gutters, and then the a/c fan broke saturday. it’s still hot here. got that fixed today. was an unexpected $$$. love that norma is loving all her cards. hugs to all. patti in FL
Patti – they are pieced on top of batting and backing so are quilted as they’re pieced.
Love the post! The tiny blocks for the eyeglass cases are precious. Maybe I should make some🥰😻
I LOVE your eyeglass cases!!!! And yes, much cuter with 1/4” finished strips!! I’ve never made the Courthouse Steps version of a log cabin block. I should try it!
So fun to see Norma with such a big smile on her face! Glad to know she really enjoyed her cards!
Mary, Loved the glass cases. Thought you might like another way to use those strips when you get tired of making eye glasses cases. Make pin cushions from them. I’m sending a picture of mine that I made several years ago. Mine is filled with sand, but some I’ve filled with crushed walnut shells. This one stays where you put it and doesn’t slide around. It’s getting a bit faded and not quite as square as it was when I made it, but it’s still my favorite pin cushion. It was a fun project at one of my small quilt group retreats back in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Yes, the strips are 1/4” when sewn, Have a blessed week everyone. Jeanne in Co.
Jeanne I once belonged in the Cedar Rapids group until we moved from Marion to the country near Stone City. It was such a large group. Not always easy to get to know others unless you were an outgoing person. It must be beautiful in CO.
Jeanne – I wonder what year you made that pincushion because Connie and I made over 100 of them when we did the shows in Chicago. Between the two of us we probably took about 150 of them to each show. We sold them for $20 each and customers sometimes bought a new one each year to add to their collection.
Mary, were the pincushions paper-pieced? I remember seeing (on your blog) some paper-pieced log cabin pincushions that Connie made and gave as gifts at a retreat or class (not sure of the details). I loved those little pincushions and always wanted to make some. Have a great fall day. We got snow yesterday … all gone and sunny today … yay!
The ones she made for that retreat were probably paper pieced because she loves it so much. Years ago I think she just pieced them like I did and still do. I hate paper piecing!
Hi Mary,
I love your courthouse steps blocks – small and scrappy! They will make great Christmas gifts! The weather is starting to tun here too: finally getting some grey/rainy days and colder nights, but still warmer than usual. There is some spectacular Autumn colour developing: hopefully if we don’t get a hard frost we will be able to enjoy it for a bit. On my way to work I pass through an area with lots of pin oaks, and they are currently a riot of red, orange and yellow. It looks as if someone painted them in the night. I love fall.
Fiona – tell me again what you do for work – I can just about remember but not quite. Cold weather will arrive here soon.
Your eye glass cases are awesome! You must never just sit with idle hands….always busy accomplishing something! I love your blog and visit it several times a day as I don’t want to miss a single thing. It’s not yet 5AM here in Michigan but I’ve grabbed my coffee and read your blog….that’s a perfect start to my perfect day. Thank you for putting a smile on my face with your blog about nothing😂
Sharon – wow, thank you for a great start on my day! It’s very rewarding for me to write this blog because many readers join in – I wish we could get acquainted with more readers.
Love the quilted eyeglass cases!! Great idea 💡 So nice to see Norma and all her cards – pls keep us posted on who we can send to next!!
Kelli – I need to get back to Concord and find us another person to adopt!
Love the eyeglass cases!! Great idea for Christmas.
Did most of my yard cleanup yesterday so laying low today. Beautiful weather yesterday reaching the mid seventies!!
I love the eyeglass/phone cases. I have made some in the past, but with solid pieces of fabric rather than pieced. I love Teresa’s scrappy quilt and the Halloween quilt. I have made Halloween table runners and table toppers, but never anything bigger than that. Perhaps it is time. The outdoor/tree pictures are beautiful and soothing. Our ash tree finished losing all its leaves with the wind yesterday. Oak trees are still hanging onto their leaves, but give them another two weeks and they will be gone, too. We have had two beautiful days to get outdoor fall prep work done. Yay! One more day of this weather and then rain and cold. So, today will be another very busy day.
Those eyeglass cases are beautiful! Lucky friends to receive those! Love the quilt show; Teresa in Indiana, that Star quilt is wonderful.
What a great picture of Norma!
WOW those are tiny pieces, but they do make cute eyeglass cases!
Those log cabin blocks are incredible!! Love them! My husband is a district sales manager for Chevrolet. When the SSR came out, he drove a yellow one as a company vehicle!
Jill – oh, my gosh! In 2024 it becomes a vintage vehicle – mine is a 2004. Does your husband think they’ll ever be so rare they’ll be collectible and sought after some day? I’m going to give mine away to someone someday.
I will ask him. I’ll also ask him about the blue color too.
So I finally remembered to ask my husband about the SSR. Will it be ever be collectible? He doesn’t know. He does know that they were eventually made in a blue and a silver color also. Maybe not in ‘04.
Jill – thanks, I was just curious – I’m going to give mine away some day anyway so I don’t care what it’s worth.
It is lovely to see Norma’s smiling face with all those cards! We are a nice group😀. Great quilt show. I always get ideas from you and your readers. I will try the adorable mini blocks! We had a huge buck with his two “ladies” come by last night. I talk to them so the does are used to me, but he is shy. They were all born about 4 years ago. Our neighbor named one Sparkles!!
Diane – oh, how fun! Have I ever told you about Eleanor, the young doe who visited me at dawn and dusk every day for months? Early 1980’s
I don’t remember hearing about Eleanor. It coukd have been in the Goat Gazette and I have forgotten🙀🙀—old😹. Please do tell us her story. I think I mentioned once that cat Pyramus, who was in the Goat Gazette,, swatted a large deer under our bird feeder, then sauntered into the garage like a Queen!😹. Live to hear all about Eleanor.
Diane – gotta find the pictures first
Nice quilt show. The eye glass cases are a nice idea and so cute.
Rain and wind since Sunday. Lots of leaves to clean up when it dries up. Yup— we love what we do!
I am using my husbands phone “hot spot” so we’ll see if it works posting my comment where we are camping. It’s just so beautiful here with the colors of the trees but I equally loved the beauty of your yard with the trees. We are raking leaves and debris and picking up acorns galore coming down with the squirrels jumping from tree to tree branch. Fun sitting out this morning with our coffee and pajama pants watching it all and our dog like your Telly sat and loved it all too on her long leash attached to the picnic table or she would have taken off after them. There’s a municipal dump nearby so we take bags down to it to empty and start over again but it’s what we do to keep going and have pride in our places.
Love the eye glass cases. I use to make larger ones out of quilted fabric for seniors who needed a larger size for sunglasses to go over their regular glasses who had MD or glaucoma. All the quilts are so stunning and I am once again grateful for the readers who share their creations with us. Halloween fabrics just make me smile! And Norma too with her stack of mail to fill her day.
I love your blog and a steady reader. I don’t know how to post pics to it or I would. But then I enjoy your eye candy so don’t need to. You show interest in so many areas and that’s a joy to me. I love weather and scenic pics too.
Hi Fran, we can’t post pics to the blog. You can email pictures to Mary to post in a future blog.
Thanks to all for the great quilt show. Very inspiring! You must be proud when you see another version of your Bullseye quilt. Definitely still my favorite quilt I have made.
We had temps in the 60’s yesterday- very unusual for this time of year. Snow predicted by the weekend!
Connie – yes! I am thrilled over and over with each Bullseye quilt I see – although most don’t know where it originated and it’s been copied and stolen so many times!
Mary.. I have a pin cushion made with the log cabin block. I acutely found 2 blocks made for them just the other day. Didn’t you tell us how to make them at one time? I remember you made them to buy your piano didn’t you?
Are your phone cases bigger than the eye cases? I love working on little projects.
Finally got some rain yesterday. It is just so dry here.
Brenda – yes, I think we did them at camp. Nite rows on the block to make it bigger to accommodate eyeglasses. Yes, they were called grand piano pincushions! What a great memory you’ve got!
I’m not sure how many years ago we made those pin cushions, Mary, maybe 15 or more. Oh dear, I hope the pincushion isn’t another of your patterns that was stolen. One of the gals brought the pieced centers and we each made our own pin cushion from directions she gave to us. It very well could have originated from Country Threads; she never said where she got the idea. Mine just got a workout as I just finished a Trip Around the World quilt that had 1240 3” blocks. It couldn’t be strip pieced since I had taken another quilt top apart and used the fabric from it, so each corner had to be pinned before sewing it. I did send a picture for a future blog posting. Jeanne in Co.
P.s. to Rita, I joined the quilt group in Cedar Rapids when it started, back in the early 1980s. I still am a member, even thought I moved to Colo. 4 years ago. Lots of fun memories and lots of friends still there.
Jeanne – when did you send the picture? I’ll look for it. I’m pretty sure we had not seen this pincushion but it’s just log cabin so couldn’t be copyrighted
I love Little Red! When I turned 50 I purchased a red Volkswagen Beetle, with a sun roof! I truly loved that car! When I purchased a MazdaCX30, I sold my big to my great niece. I think I want it back!!!
Jill – I heard a story in the news about a woman who raffled her bug off at her funeral. Anybody who came and signed the guestbook was eligible whether they knew her or not!!! I think I’ll do that with Red!
Mary, I have one of your pincushions I purchased from you at the NQA quiilt show in Columbus, Ohio. I paid $20 for it . They were in a bowl and so hard to pick just one. That was years ago. I also bought some quilt kits from you and Connie. Your booth was at an end of the aisle and our group came back to your booth 2 or 3 times as we loved your things. I remember your rug hooking frame setting there showing how you make your rugs. (I have one of those frames too.) I remember your booth from years ago, but I can’t remember what I did last week. Go figure!! I’m old. I love all the quilts you show. Love reading your blog each day!!
Louverna
I went to those shows, too, Louverna and loved every minute. I have tried to get Mary and Connie to come back and even said they could stay with me. Those were some great shows and their booth was so much fun. 😍
Louverba – haha! We’re all old so we understand!
Louverna – you go back quite a few years!
What is Hayek’s gift?????
Well, I’m left in the dark because I didn’t find Mary’s blog until just a few years ago because I was reading Jo’s country junction! Thank you Jo! So I never got in on the pin cushions! I still have a pin cushion my grandma made for me. She knitted
a circle and then a littler circle and on and on until the center. They she took crochet thread and crocheted a bottom. All done with leftover yarn. Precious!
I am working on binding quilts. I only had 3 stacked up this time. Not so bad. I have one left.
A very gloomy, foggy day! Ugh! Stayed dark all day! Jay has all his field work finished. So he has some fix it jobs to do, he likes to putz in the shop! Just like I like to putz in my cave! It’s only 5 pm and the lights need to be on!
Talked to my daughter in law yesterday and she was baking a turkey (one of their home raised turkey)! Yum! Sounds so good! They have an old Mac Donald’s farm like you Mary. 12 Feeder calves raised from bottle calves, 3 pigs for meat, chickens, 4 turkeys, plus more bottle calves, and a goat and her baby, gives the boys chores and something to do!
Have a good night!
Mary, I sent a picture of the pin cushion last evening about 11:00 Colorado time. I didn’t send a picture of the quilt. It is not quilted yet. Don’t they have to be quilted and bound before we can send pictures?
Jeanne – oh no, you can send them at any part of completion. I’d have to say most are not quilted. Your pincushion is well loved!
Be sure to stop at the Iowa quilt museum on the square and visit the covered bridges!
Is there a pattern on how you make your eye glass holders?
Vicky – no pattern but I can tell you how to assemble it after you make the block. Will that work?
Thank you, that would be helpful.
Vicky – do you know how to make a log cabin block?
Sure do.