Saturday Sampler applique

The pieces are fused down and ready to begin the hand blanket-stitching to hold them. This will join the other floral applique blocks and the pieced blocks in my Saturday Sampler quilt. 

The basic color scheme of this one is red and aqua, but the applique blocks have a touch of green and gold too. The heart shaped sections were supposed to be 2 layers, but I decided to make them using just the red stripe with no small heart on top. So I cut the center out of them. 

I think we'll get the final block in January. 

An Old UFO

This is one of my oldest UFOs.  This top has been hanging in my closet for about 5 years, but the pieced blocks are actually from a 2003 Saturday Sampler.  That is 13 years!

And I know exactly why this became a 13 year old UFO - it is flannel, and I really don't enjoy sewing on flannel. It stretches, it creates a ton of fuzz, and it's heavy.  In this case I made it twin size wide but extra long. 

A couple of days ago I did some cleaning in my sewing room and found 3 yards of a black flannel with tiny pink flowers and green leaves. Digging further revealed 3 yards of a forest green flannel. The 2 seemed to be coordinating colors but come from different manufacturers. Did I purchase these for backing? I have no idea. But those 6 yards were just enough to make a pieced backing for this quilt. 

This will go to be quilted sometime in the next few days, and I'm hoping this will be the first finish of 2016.

Allietare clues 4 and 5

Today I am working to catch up with clue 4 and starting clue 5 for the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt. 

I am amazed at how many people post pictures to the group showing they are completely up-to-date. And others are just starting. 

All I know is that there are a zillion pieces so far. So it is stretching my skills and my attention span. 

Busy, busy, busy

This whole crew just left our house a few minutes ago and it is sure quiet. 

Mason, Olivia, Jonah, Jack, Sophia - all under 5 years old. You can imagine the noise level for the last 3 days at our house. What a blessing!

Merry Christmas

From our house to yours - blessings of the season. 

More small mistakes

The small version of my Saturday Sampler block is done now too. And I had a mistake in this one too. But this time I did take it apart and fixed it after I took this picture.  The blue section on the bottom center was turned the wrong way. GRRR - I was so close to having this one conquered! 

Oops!

My mistake is obvious - now. But I didn't notice it until the block was sewn, pressed, and laying alongside the big version. Oops!

The big block is Winter Star from the Farm Girl Vintage book. The little block is what happens when the "slanted" sections are sewn together wrong. I should have matched the sides with the lower part of the slant, but did it just opposite. And it's interesting how that creates a whole new block.

The result is still pretty nice and I'm NOT going to take it apart to fix it. These may - or may not - even end up in the same quilt, so it really doesn't matter in the long run. 

Saturday Sampler block 11

This is block 11 for our Saturday Sampler and it is a fun block. I am getting very bored with HST, but am loving the looks of the blocks as I've finished them. The small version is partially done and just as cute.

Design Wall Monday - Allietare clue 4

All 720 little pieces are cut and organized for clue 4 of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt Allietare. 

No wonder it took me so long to cut these - 720 little individual pieces!  When I took this photo I had 3 of the sets of 4 blocks completed, 26 sets ready to sew, and 1 set of 4 under the needle. I did finish that set, so now I have 4 sets done and 26 left. I'm guessing these won't all be sewn together when the next clue comes out next week. But that's OK because I refuse to stress over keeping up with this one. There is no rush. 

Check out the other design walls at http://www.patchworktimes.com .

Stash report

Last week I forgot to do a stash report, so this one will cover 2 weeks.  Last week I bought fabric for Olivia's apron, plus some fat quarters for the stash. Nothing was added this week. Olivia's apron used up a touch more than 1 yard, and the new pillow shams used up another 4. So a bit of positive progress was made on the stash.

• In this week:  3 yds
• In this year:  223 yds
• Out this week:  5 yds
• Out this year 198 yds

Status of the Stash:  Stash is still winning by 25 yards. Not bad, and I really thought it would be worse because I know that I buy a lot of fabric every year. The really good thing about this number is that I had at least this much FREE fabric this year from The Pin Cushion because my generous husband gave me a BIG gift certificate for Christmas last year.   

Ironically I've done quite a bit of sewing on the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt in the past month, and have used a significant amount of the fabric so far in the 4 weekly clues. I just have a good start on clue #4 so far and that one will involve 120 small blocks (approx. 4") with 6 pieces in each. But I can't count any of it until at least the top is done.

Pillow shams

These pillow shams are from about a dozen years ago in Thimbleberries Club. I didn't have a plan for them until recently so they just hung in the closet . . . waiting.

I had them quilted this fall and today I finally added envelope backs to both of them. So they are ready to be wrapped up as a Christmas gift.  They are about 18 x 22" and counting the fabric for the backs, and for the inside of the quilted fronts I'll be adding 4 yards to my used stash. And checking off another UFO.  

Olivia's apron

It's done! I just sewed on the buttons and tried out the 2 mini spatulas in the pocket.  This is going to be wrapped up for Christmas along with some "play" kitchen items to add to her little play kitchen. Or she can wear it when she helps mom in the real kitchen. I'm kind of liking the paisley.

 

To Do list

Many of the state's school districts have a snow day today, but I'm not so lucky.  I'll be headed to a nearby school for the afternoon. So, my "to do" list will have to wait until I get home.  I'm going to make granddaughter Olivia an apron for one of her Christmas presents. 

This pattern is so easy and has 3 different sizes for kids to adults. I've made several of them. Plus it's a great way to showcase some beautiful fabrics.

Design Wall Monday

What a fun weekend. I had a couple of "quilty" events on Saturday followed by my husband's company Christmas party. And we had friends (we hadn't seen in a couple of years) who stayed at our house on Saturday night.  The best man at our wedding 39 years ago is joining my husband's company and so he and his wife came for the party and stayed to visit. It was so good to see them again and catch up.

I finally fit in a little sewing time Sunday afternoon after our friends left for home.  I made another Farm Wife block.  These cute little 6" blocks are all named after women and are from the 1930's Farmer's Wife book. Not sure how many I'll actually make, but I have been enjoying the stories and the blocks from this book. 

Then I worked on Clue 3 of Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt Allietare.  I've cut all of the pieces for all 3 clues. Clue 1 is done (294 HST).  I have sewn half of the Clue 2 sections (40/80 "santa hats") and have sewn 1/4 of the Clue 3 sections (30/120 four-patches). Actually for Clue 3 I have all of the two-patches sewn and ready for become four-patches. And 30 of the four-patches are done, so I guess I'm more than 1/4 of the way through those.

Check out what others are working on this week at Patchwork Times' Design Wall Monday.

Just a little progress on clue 2

I'm trying to do the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt called Allietare. A new clue will be posted every Friday until we are done, but I'm realistic enough to know that I'll not be keeping up with every clue. But I'm going to do my best. Find her mystery quilt info here, including the fabric requirements and first 2 clues. http://quiltville.blogspot.com/p/allietare-mystery.html

I did get clue 1 done last week (295 HST) and clue 2 has been started. This week we are making 20 sets of 4 little sections (4.5" square). I have 5 sets of 4 made. The pieces are all cut and ready to sew for the other 15 sets.  And I have the additional 2" squares cut for clue 2 out of black and the green. The only color we haven't touched yet is the gold.

I'm linking up to Freemotion By the River's Linky Tuesday. Go check out what other quilters are working on today.

A family Sunday

My youngest grandson, Jack, was baptized this morning and I'm so glad that I was able to be there. 

Laura and Jamie were spending the weekend in Sioux Falls and had contacted their former church to see if they could get Jack baptized. They haven't found a church in Rapid City yet so they were delighted that this worked out.  Jamie's mom and grandmother came too, even though it was about a 3 hour drive for them. But my husband couldn't be here because he is away on business.  

Can't wait for the weekend after Christmas when we'll all be together again for a couple of days. These kids grow much too fast.

Busy week and weekend.

This has been a crazy busy week with not too much to report on the quilting front. And not much time this weekend either.  It is that time of year isn't it? And I've decided not to stress over what I don't have time to do - and just enjoy the things I do have time for.

But on the positive side, the contractor finished our porch yesterday. The new railings and square posts really make the front of the house look finished. That porch was just an open slab of concrete with 4 skinny round posts and always looked so naked. I love the new look and couldn't wait to hang the lighted Christmas garland and bows. Maybe in the spring I'll add a couple of rocking chairs.

Last night I joined 3 friends for supper and a high school show choir concert to celebrate a birthday. I'm always blown away by the talent these high school kids have. I had goose bumps during some of the songs. These girlfriends are all retired teachers and have the right attitudes. They are making the most of their retirement to spend time with friends and family and doing things they enjoy. The evening was a good boost to my own attitude.

This afternoon is our guild Christmas party so I get to spend a couple of hours with a bunch of great gals, enjoying some good food and friendship. This morning I'm baking some Christmas cookies for a work related cookie exchange. These will go into the freezer later today so I can't eat them before our staff party. 

And tomorrow morning I'll head to Sioux Falls for my grandson Jack's baptism. My husband won't make it there as he is still on a job site working hard. But I'll get to see all of the kids and grandkids at least for the morning. Kissing a baby and hugging a kid is always good for the soul. 

Looking back at November & ahead to December

I was thinking that November wasn't a very fruitful month for quilting.  But then I looked back at my blog - which is my journal - and discovered that I did quite a bit of sewing.

I finished 2 small UFOs including the Hawaiian applique table topper that had been folded up in a zip lock bag for years. And the background for the wall hanging is made of the 12 cream/off-white blocks from an old Saturday Sampler. I made some holiday towels, a couple of table runners, and lots of pillowcases. All in all, it was a good month.

Most of my November goals were achieved plus some new projects:

• Saturday Sampler blocks - pieced blocks DONE
• 1930's Farm Girl Vintage blocks - made a couple more
• Sew Vintage blocks - - not yet
• RSC15 quilt top - DONE
• Hawaiian applique - DONE

Thinking ahead to December - I'm thinking I need to keep it simple again because there is so much going on this month.

• Saturday Sampler blocks (pieced & floral applique)
• Sew Vintage blocks
• 1930s Farm Girl Vintage (make 5 blocks)
• red/black/cream 60 degree table runner hand quilted and bound
• finish pillow backings for quilted Thimbleberries pillow shams

Half square triangles are piling up

There are 295 half square triangles (2") in this mess. Only 70 of them were pressed and had the dog ears trimmed off when I took this photo yesterday. The other 225 of them were pressed, trimmed, counted, counted again - and again - and finally zipped into a baggie after supper last night. Clue #1 of the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt is done.  It's called Allietare.

I know I didn't need anything new to work on right now and I know that I may not be able to keep up with this mystery quilt as the clues come out each week. But I am going to give it a try.  Good thing we are having a 2 day winter storm right now - 10" so far. Otherwise I might not have had time to get these done. Clue #2 comes out on Friday.

Check out Bonnie Hunter's website with the 2015 mystery quilt info.

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/10/quiltville-winter-mystery-2015-allietare.html