Kountry Kin Quilt Shop Closes

Carol Farley decided it was time for her to retire as

she was turning 66 this last week, so Kountry

Kin Quilt Shop had it's last day of business

on July 28th, 2012.

I will miss this place.   Carol was the one that started

me on the path of making quilts.  That was something

I had wanted to learn to do for many years.  When

I finally had to give up my last part time at the end

of 2005 I went to learn to make quilts.  Carol is who

I had my first lesson from. I saw a sign advertising

her class on a table runner in Oct. 2005 and walked into

her shop and signed up.  She worked with me one

on one that first day and the rest is history.

I am hooked....when my time and energy allows it

I like to make quilts.



This old sign greeted us at the front entrance. 

That dang knob on the front door always stuck on me

when I went to leave.....I never did learn to turn it the right

way. 

When you pulled up and parked the first thing you would notice

was one of Carol's latest quilts hanging from the front railing, weather

permitting.  I always liked that because that was what

caught my attention the first time I went to her shop.

It was a quilt flapping in the breeze with a sign on it

to advertise a beginner class.



 When the sun was perfect at the right time of day the

stained glass window at the back of the shop was beautiful.

See, this once was a church located west of Rich Hill that

was moved into town in 1992.

I went up to do a little shopping at the first of this last week and

it was already starting to look a little bare ......lots of good buys.



 I loved how she had this old trunk display set up for kid's

fabrics.  There was a little red wagon on the back side

of this and it came home with me.  Wish I had gotten

a picture of it while it was sitting here.

 I think the little bear looks a little sad that Kountry Kin

is closing and he won't be seeing us running in and out

any more!!

 This was Marie waiting on customers the last Monday the

shop was open.  That cluttered table had seen a lot of

quilts made, classes taken, friendships formed, tears shed

and plenty of laughter and good food..

It is where we sat at our monthly Stitch in Time Guild meeting.

 Pretty Christmas display.

This is the very last Shop Hop Quilt from the Spring of

2012 made by Carol, each block was made by a different

shop owner on the hop.

 I love these scripture quilts and have the fabric to do this, it's

in my "WIP's" work in progress.

This is a quilt Carol made that sat on a table at the

entrance/ exit...where the door always stuck on me.

Good bye Kountry Kin and thank you to Carol Farley

for 19 years she gave to the business community of little

old Rich Hill, Missouri and all she of gave of herself to

the manywho entered her store.

Happy RETIREMENT...enjoy.  See you at the

local quilt shows and guild meetings.

I am gonna miss this place.

It was a therapeutic place for me at times!!!

Antique Pink Churn Dash Quilt Finished!!

The Pink Churn Dash is finally finished. I purchased this

top at a sale well over 20 years ago and stuffed it away.

I had to do some repairs and finishing on it but it

was worth it.  It is a beautiful piece of work that

some lady put a lot of love and time into.

I decided I was going to try and do the binding by machine.

I sewed the binding to the back and brought it around

to the front and secured it down with a decorative

stitch.  It came out ok... I think it will take a lot

of practice to be able to machine finish a binding to suit me.

I just didn't have the courage to tackle it by hand

after doing the Crazy Quilt binding by hand the first

of the month. My hands were sore for days.

I got all the quilts washed (warshed) and put away that I took to

the 4th of July Quilt Show up in Rich Hill.  I don't think I

will show another one again this year unless it is my red white and

blue crazy quilt. I like it, it is different than most quilts.

My Nine Patch will go back on the foot of the bed when the

weather gets cooler.

       When visiting at the show a few of us ladies were talking about washing

our quilts, how to and what not to do. Well then we got off on the

topic about how most of us say "warshed" when the proper way is

washed.  I know I tell the grand kids to go warsh their hands and get

a funny look once in a while. I guess it's all in what you grew up hearing

and I believe that in Southern Missouri we heard warshed more in my

day. I won't even get started on windows....

Bright Words Quilt

This is the block of the month quilt

at Kountry Kin Quilt Shop that we are

starting.  I like the bright colors and

the positive words.

I have never made blocks with words before, it looks fun.



 Carol did a great job putting this together and

I hope mine looks half as good as hers

when it is finished!

I can see this being a quilt I will use on a depressed

or draggy fatigued day

and hope its words and colors will lift my spirits when

I am under it!!

Finish It Up Friday Round Robin

Well it has taken me a while but I finally have the last border on this

Round Robin quilt top. It will have one more border added then

we return them to the person that made the original middle block, which is

next week!  Can't wait to see mine. 

 You can tell how I hang my  piecing by looking at the pic below.  I just have a flannel

backed table cloth tacked to the wall. Works great for me.  I would like to have

 a more stable one but this works great and it pretty much out of the way.

I was going to applique some flowers in the white sections but ran out of time.

It is already delivered and can't wait to see what the next person adds.

It Is Almost Done....3 1/2 inch 9 patch

I was so happy to have all these pieced together.I got this done a week ago and now all that is

left is the borders and it will be ready to

go to the quilters!!!

Thank you God....seriously ....thank you!

Old Singer Sewing Machine

My Mother gave me this last year.

See the little key hanging down on front?

There is a little round hole on the left end of

the case that you put the key

in to unlock the case.It is OLD.

The cat had to snoop, she was not sure what was in that old brown case. It runs smoothly.

I can remember my Mother repairing denim

jeans and overalls on this machine.

I have not sewn any of my quilt projects

on this machine but have gotten it

out and just sewn to see how it

is working.

It was manufactured in Elizabeth, New Jersey on

August 29, 1927.

15000 of this model were made.

I keep it sitting on top of my old Kenmore sewing machine and cabinet. I have sewn a lot on that Kenmore. It was the one Mom taught me to sew on .

A Bright Happy Quilt Top

This is another brown bag or round

robin quilt I worked on.

I am not sure why I only took a picture

of one corner, must not have

had anyone available to hold it up. I ran into the lady that it belongs to and she told me she finally had it quilted. She is supposed to email me a picture of it when she has time. I really like the bright happy colors and patterns on it. Today I need bright happy feelings. Spent way to long on the phone trying to get a bill lined out correctly with AT&T.....Lord I hope I never have to do that again, or at least not for a long time.

Quilted and Fragrant

The lady from the quilting shop called and told me

my Churn Dash Quilt

was finished and ready to be picked up!!! I was

so anxious to see it, but did not have the energy to

drive the 45 minutes to her shop. Luckily my red head

Daughter-in-Law had a little free time before an appointment

and she drove me to pick it up.

When I got home I spread it out over the love seat, went to

get the camera and look who found it!!

The Cat!!

The lady that quilted it for me said she believed the top was pieced

around the late 1920's.

Years ago, when I bought it at a sale, I had no idea

how old it was or anything about what I was getting.

I am sure glad I hung onto it.

The feed sack prints are really unique. I had heard people talk about the feed sack material

of old days, but at that time I did not know how

precious those materials really were.

She did a great job quilting it, quilting brings a "quilt to life". Now I need to get the binding made and sewn on. That is my least favorite part of making quilts. As soon as I took it out of the plastic bag I detected some air freshener and knew I'd better get it out on the porch to air out. I hate being so sensitive to smells....it makes life hard at times. I will not be able to work on it until it is "smell free" and can't wash it till it is bound. Hope the sun shines tomorrow so I can put it out again.

I get sick very easily from bleach, paint, perfume and other chemical smells. I guess that is part of the CFS as I have read this and heard others with CFS mention it.

Brown Bag Christmas Quilt 2007

This is my brown bag Christmas quilt. I just started with the 12 1/2 inch Santa and did not add

extra fabric to the sack. I think everyone did a wonderful job on it. I need to

get the backing pieced and have it quilted before Christmas. It is a little wrinkled as they were just removed from the brown bags

and hung on the wall at the quilt shop. We all went to the shop at the

same time and oohed and awed over all the different

quilts. It was fun . Hope to do another sometime

soon.

Old Churn Dash Quilt Top

I am really fond of this old quilt top. I bought a box of quilting "stuff" at a sale well over 20 years ago. In the box I found 2 finished tops, an unfinished top and many blocks. I don't even remember now where that sale was located. These Churn Dash Blocks appear to be made of a variety of fabric. I have been told it is mostly feed sack material and 50's fabric with maybe a few pieces that might have been early 60's.

I have been working on repairing it and getting it ready for quilting. It may not be the most perfectly constructed quilt top but it is has history that I wish I knew more about. Someone put a lot of work into making this old top.....who knows, there may be blocks made from fabric salvaged from old family clothing....or scraps from making a new dress.

Anyway, I can't wait to see what it looks like when it is all quilted and bound.

I had no idea 20 some years ago how much I would come to value the old "stuff" in the box, but I am sure glad I bought it!!

Painter's Tape

I was getting my quilts bagged up to go to a quilt show and the quilt I was getting ready to quilt is already on the table. I forgot I had taken this picture...wish I had taken it without all the piles on top of it. If you look closely you can see where I have ran strips of blue painter's tape across the area I wanted to quilt. I removed them as I went along then ran the strips across the other direction. I think it worked real well. No marking and guessing, just follow the tape and rip it off.

I think it turned out pretty good for my first try at quilting using this method.

Red White and Blue Quilt

This is one of the last quilt tops I have finished lately. It is a crazy quilt of a mixture of techniques. Each block measured 12 1/2 inches before finished in the quilt. I tried some Wonky Log Cabins, paper pieced Crazy Quilt Blocks and some scrap blocks. It was a fun quilt to do and I can't wait to see how it looks when it is quilted.

Nine Patch Scrappy Quilt

This is my Singer Featherweight that I do my quilt sewing on. It really is a good little machine. I sew on the bindings of my quilts at my kitchen table so I have plenty of room to spread the quilt out and keep it even.

I am always glad to have it sewn on ......but then the hard work starts of sewing it down on the back of the quilt by hand.

Someday I am going to get brave again and try machine stitching the binding down.....did that on my first quilt and I was not very happy with how it looked. The blind stitching is really more exact but takes a lot of time.....or it does for me.

I was really happy with the quilt and entered it in a local small town Quilt Show.

It won a RED RIBBON!!!!!!!

The competition was not too stiff, but still....a second place...I am happy with that!!!

I got my idea for this quilt and design over on crazy mom's blog......THANKS CRAZY MOM for the idea.......http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com. Her blog has a lot of fun ideas on it and usually a quilt along taking place.