My Sewing Room

Block swap

2012-01-27T06:26:00.003-06:00

My block swap partner Becca sent me this very sharp looking block from Spokane, Washington. It is the card trick pattern. It is going to fit in perfectly with the red, white, and black sampler that I've been working on for a long time. It was a UFO that was lost - and then found again.

The sampler has random blocks of different sizes and shapes with a narrow solid black sashing between them. I started it several years ago, and just keep adding a couple of blocks when I can. Because some of the blocks are fairly small, and some of the blocks are large, the quilt top will be very asymetrical (sp?) when I get it done.

Anyway - this block is going to fit perfectly in that project. Thanks Becca!

More fat quarter stars

2012-01-27T06:14:00.000-06:00

Here are my FQS blocks 8 and 9 done in the Ellie II fabric.

Block 8 is called the Easy Spinning Star. It looks complicated but went together very easy. The key for me was laying it all out before starting to sew. The original had about 5 different fabrics in it but I chose to stick with 3 colors. I really love this block.

Block 9 is a "twin star" block called Make Mine a Double. The original pattern called for the background fabric in the centers of both stars, but I used one of my fat quarter fabrics. It turned out OK - but doesn't WOW me! I have the same fabric with a white background and I keep thinking now that I should have made the center lighter so the stars show up better. Maybe I will still make that change before putting the quilt top together. I have time to decide since there are at least 3 more blocks to go.

Custom quilting

2012-01-26T06:30:00.003-06:00

It's great to have a super long-arm quilter to bring quilt to when I don't have the time or skills to do what I want.

Carly designed these darling quilting motifs for daughter Laura's baby quilt. The back of the quilt is this lavendar Minkee and it's covered with these cute monkeys and elephants that were designed to go with the fabric on the front. The color in my photos are not the best as it is so grey outside that even the natural light isn't good.

What can I say besides Thank You ? Just this - Wow!!!

More hexies

2012-01-25T12:17:00.002-06:00

I've actually been sewing but just too lazy to get pictures downloaded from my camera.

Sunday afternoon's project while watching football was to make 3 more 1/2" hexies for my selvage basket project. These could become very addictive.

Just a little snow day sewing

2012-01-20T10:27:00.004-06:00

We woke up to fresh snow and no school locally. Normally I would just work from home on a day like this, because my office is in our neighborhood elementary school building. By 10:00 am the snow has stopped and our street has been plowed.

However - I am WAY over my contracted days already, had no scheduled school visits or webinars or conference calls - so I decided it was the perfect oppportunity to take some ME time. How's that for rationale? I'm lucky that my schedule is flexible enough to do this occasionally.

I used some time this morning to get up-to-date on my fat quarter stars blocks in 1 of my 2 fabric choices. Here is block 8 done in Kate Spain's Terrain. It looks complicated but wasn't too bad. The tough part was laying it out so the star spins.

Block 9 follows and this one is really different from the others because it has the 2 stars kind of snuggled together. The designer is celebrating her twin babies due soon with this block.

And finally I have to show off the 9 blocks done so far in the Far Quarter Stars quilt-along. See the button on my sidebar to check it out.

Can't wait for each new block that is posted every other Tuesday!

A finished baby quilt

2012-01-19T06:31:00.000-06:00

Over the weekend I added the binding to this colorful baby quilt that I made for a friend of my older daughter. The baby boy is due in 2 weeks. I put a fuzzy Cuddle Soft backing on this one.

The quilt is a Yellow Brick Road pattern which is one of my favorites for using 6 fat quarters with no waste left over. I think this is the 5th or 6th one I've made. Easy, fast, and turns out so cute.

Carly quilted it for me and as usual she did a great job. This one has a variegated thread in a rounded off square design. Love it!

Block swap for January

2012-01-18T06:30:00.000-06:00

My partner for January is Becca from Spokane Washington. She requested fall fabrics with rust, green, and cream. I had lots of those fabrics in my stash so that was easy.

I loved the block from last month's Saturday Sampler. It goes together really slick and has a nice impact. This block is in the mail and on its way to Spokane.

A new baby quilt

2012-01-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

We are expecting a new baby in our family in March. This one is a girl so she needed something kind of girly, but not too pink. My daughter picked out this cute fabric with the monkeys, elephants, and alligators in shades of lavendar, lime, and orange.

This pattern is called Strip Tease (Heirloom Elegance Designs) and takes 3 yards total fabric. It still needs 2 narrow borders, but I haven't decided which fabrics I want to use yet. I will give this some thought over the next couple of days before deciding. I have plenty of all of them.

I've discovered hexies

2012-01-16T09:20:00.003-06:00

I'm happy to say that a quilting friend has inspired me to try something new. On Saturday afternoon I went to the Pin Cushion to attend the very last Clothesline Club meeting. We are always encouraged to bring things to share and Cindy (who leads the group) brought some very small hexie flowers she stitched. BTW - Cindy loves tiny pieces!!

I had brought my selvage basket blocks to show because we had talked about selvage projects during a previous meeting. It was one of those "light bulb" moments for me! I had planned to make some yo-yos to put on these baskets as flowers - but instead I decided to try these 1/2 inch hexies.

Cindy recommended that I go online to find printable hexie paper (found a ton of them), and I also bought a hexie ruler which was a god send. Saturday evening was spent watching TV and making my very first hexie. Now I need to make more for the other blocks. Thank you Cindy for the inspiration!!!!

Gotta LOVE it

2012-01-14T07:00:00.002-06:00

Awhile back I posted about the Heartstrings quilt top I made using the instructions from Mary in Minneapolis. This top used 24 blocks made using a muslin foundation, lime green center strips, and lots of scraps from my bin.

Well - Mary offered to quilt it and take care of passing it along to a good home through the Heartstrings project. And here is the quilting all finished. I really love the loops and butterflies she quilted all over.

If you have lots of scraps to use up and want a fun, quick, and easy project you may want to consider checking out the Heartstrings project. http://heartstringsquiltproject.com/ The guidelines are on the website. And all of the quilts are donated to local charities for distribution.

I love books!

2012-01-12T14:25:00.004-06:00

I love to read and it doesn't make much difference whether I'm reading my Kindle, using the Kindle app on my iPad, or reading a REAL book. I just plain love books! I do have my favorite genres of course: mysteries, humor, history, and quilting.

Look at what the mailman just brought this week to my house - World War II Quilts. It is full of delightful photos and stories about the quilts made by World War II era quilters.

And I'm definitely glad this one is a real book and not electronic!

First new project of 2012

2012-01-08T10:03:00.003-06:00

It's always exciting to start a new project isn't it? And the first project of the new year always feels like a whole new beginning.

This is part of the baby quilt I'm making for my granddaughter (due in March). My younger daughter is excited to be having a girl but doesn't want just pink "girly" stuff. Neither of my girls were into pink girls stuff growing up so I should not be surprised.

Anyway we shopped together for baby fabric and she picked out this darling jungle print. There will be additional sections with the lime green stipe and solid, and the tangerine stripe and solid. More about the pattern and fabrics another day, but the pattern is called Strip Tease.

Hidden treasure

2012-01-03T12:20:00.003-06:00

Cyber Cotton II (EY-4807)

Robert Kaufman

I made only 1 New Year's resolution this year and that is to de-clutter my house. I decided that I could tackle one drawer or one shelf, or one box at a time. And look at the treasure I found in a drawer last night. I was so excited that I didn't even finish going through the drawer.

I have a tall dresser in my basement that my grandfather made in the early 1950's. It sat in my sewing room in our old house, but has not been used since we moved into this house 6 years ago. I thought the drawers were empty - but instead it contained some real surprises.

I don't remember buying this fabric and know it was at least 6 years ago, but it is certainly my taste with the bright colors. So I'm thinking I must have planned to use it on the back of a quilt because I have 3 yards of it. And I really love it so this is definitely going back into my sewing room to be used in something fun!

Now I need to go through the rest of this dresser and see what other surprises it might yield.

Final finish of 2011

2012-01-01T11:22:00.003-06:00

Happy New Year!

My last finish of 2011 is this bright flimsy done in the Yellow Brick Road pattern. It is a baby gift for one of my daughter's friends who is having a baby boy in January. His room is all done in primary colors with a race car theme.

I used a fat quarter bundle of primary colors that I bought several years ago. I have no idea anymore what fabric line it was and there were no selvages on any of the pieces to tell me. Bummer! Two of the fabrics are racing themed: the black and white checkered flag and the yellow one with different flags. I added a couple of black-on-black dot pieces in the quilt to balance the corners. And the stripe is something I bought this week for borders.

My plan is to put a yellow minkee on the back and then bind it with more of the red stripe.

Design Wall Friday

2011-12-30T14:12:00.007-06:00

My design wall today is actually my living room floor. When I'm working on a large quilt then my real design wall becomes too small, and so does the floor space in my sewing room.

I cut the sashing pieces and border pieces for my black/white/bright version of this year's Saturday Sampler. We have 2 months of the sampler left to do, but this version is ready to just add the last blocks to each row and then sew the rows together. There is one full sized block to add, and then each row will get a half-width block added to one end.

This is the really fun stage, because I can see what the finished product is going to look like. I think my last block needs to have a bright pink accent to balance it out a bit. And I've started cutting the borders and sashing for my "official" Saturday Sampler blocks too. Maybe tomorrow I'll have that one in this same stage.

Saturday Sampler

2011-12-29T09:00:00.000-06:00

Love, love, love this latest sampler block! It was so simple to make and I really like the way that light background square pops out from behind the center section. And the colors in this block are so nice - that dark rich brown, the rust, and then the little hints of aqua.

I've purchase my sashing fabric which will really bring out the aqua in so many of these blocks. And my border fabric is mostly this rich brown, but with just a touch of the aqua again. I plan to start piecing my rows with the sashing this week.

And since I'm making a second set of blocks using black and white, with the bright accents I need to decide on sashing and border fabrics for that one too. I used lime green in this one. And I really like the little zebra print in the middle.

Fat Quarter Stars block #7

2011-12-28T11:31:00.003-06:00

Following directions should NOT be this difficult. But lately I've not done a very good job at reading directions before I've begun to cut and sew. You will immediately see a difference in the 2 blocks I'm showing today.

First is my Terrain block, which turned out lovely, but was only 11 inches square instead of 12.5. I love the block which used templates instead of just rotary cuts, but noticed right away that it was smaller than the previous 6 blocks. My mistake - I didn't read closely enough. We were to print the templates for this one WITHOUT scaling it to fit. What a difference that little change made!

I decided to just add a narrow background edge to this block for now. If I have enough fabric left when I finish the other blocks, then I will remake this one completely. If not - the narrow edge won't show that much when the block is in a finished quilt.
My Ellie block turned out just right - because I followed the directions!!! I am completely caught up now with my Fat Quarter Stars. And I can't wait to see what Block 8 is going to look like.

Fat Quarter Stars catch-up day

2011-12-27T11:12:00.002-06:00

This is Fat Quarter Stars block #6, called Cathedral Star, and it's done in Kate Spain's Terrain fabric. Each block is designed by a guest designer. This one is by Terry Griffin at http://thankfullysew.com/ . It has a small bit of a cathedral windows technique in the middle - done in the light blue on this one. Cathedral Windows is one of my bucket list quilts that I want to make someday. So this was fun. Now I just need to get the block finished in my other colorway (Ellie II). And then work on block #7 in both fabrics.

I fell behind since mid-November on everything connected to sewing. But today I'm starting my catch up sewing projects. Two goals: make my 2 Saturday Sampler blocks and get blocks 6 and 7 done for Fat Quarter Stars in both colorways. That means I need to finish 6 blocks today. I think I can . . . I think I can . . . I think I can!

Wildlife panel

2011-12-21T17:21:00.002-06:00

I am not usually a fan of fabric panels. I generally prefer to piece my blocks.

But I am making an exception and just couldn't resist buying a fabric panel recently. It has a wildlife theme and the colors are beautiful in it. This picture do NOT do it justice, really. This block is probably my favorite one out of them all because of the little birds and the fawn almost touching. I also bought a fat quarter set of gorgeous batiks to go with the panel.

Not sure yet what it will become, but for now I can just enjoy the fabric, right?

Sisterly birthday gifts

2011-12-19T06:05:00.000-06:00

I can finally show off the whole "Ruby Slippers" project!!

This summer my older daughter and I saw this cute little quilt at an outdoor quilt show. She later bought the pattern and kit at a quilt shop and asked if I would make it for her to give to her sister. Well that birthday was this weekend. So now that the birthday girl has her gift, I can show the whole finished wallhanging.

I added black crystals to dot all 3 of the letter "I"s. And the red shoes have a sparkly red star button on them. Just loved the scene in the Wizard of Oz where the witches striped legs shriveled up under the house and the Ruby Slippers appeared on Dorothy's feet.

Busy weekend

2011-12-18T15:24:00.002-06:00

We had a busy - but fun - weekend and got to spend it with all of the kids.

On Friday night we all went to the University of South Dakota and attended the hooding ceremony for my younger daughter. She got her masters degree in occupational therapy. Following the hooding ceremony was a lovely dinner. We even got a quick family photo taken since we were all there.

Then on Saturday my husband and I went back to USD to attend graduation itself. And since Saturday was also Laura's 28th birthday, we celebrated both with lunch.

Friends in Stitches

2011-12-17T10:01:00.000-06:00

A small group of friends came over for brunch (and a goodie exchange) a week ago to celebrate the season. We are all educators, as well as quilters. We've worked together in schools, we've traveled together to plays, concerts, and quilt shows, and we've quilted together.

Merry Christmas ladies!! And happy birthday to the two of you celebrating December birthdays!

Fat Quarter Stars - Terrain block #5

2011-12-16T10:52:00.002-06:00

The Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along is providing some really beautiful star block patterns every 2 weeks. It is being hosted by Moose on the Porch Quilts. http://moosequilts.blogspot.com/

I've fallen slightly behind. This is block #5 made from Kate Spain's Terrain line. And I still have my "warmer" colorway block to do (Ellie II).

Block #6 is already out too. My goal is to get all caught up on Sunday afternoon. It's good to have goals, right? I haven't done any sewing in about 3 weeks so it is definitely time!

Odds 'n Ends

2011-12-14T20:53:00.003-06:00

This block should have arrived in New Zealand by now for the block swap I've been doing. My partner for November said she likes roses and this piece of floral fabric seemed just perfect. I hope she likes it. I also received a very cute block from her but have not remembered to take a picture yet.

I believe this is post #396 - so I'm getting very close to another blogging milestone. 400 posts! I hope to have some things to share in the next week so that I can reach that 400th post before the New Year.

Christmas at the Capitol

2011-12-06T21:39:00.003-06:00

That would be the South Dakota state capitol. Every year the beautiful state capitol building in Pierre has a display of Christmas trees decorated by various groups around the state. When our girls were younger we took them a couple of times. But I haven't been here for this display in over a dozen years. So I couldn't pass up the opportunity this week to go walk through and enjoy the lights and trees. This isn't the best photo, but I took this from the second floor balconey looking down into the rotunda. It was really beautiful.

Check out the official website to view the trees.

http://sd.gov/christmas2011/

A quilting drought

2011-12-05T16:51:00.003-06:00

I have nothing accomplished in terms of quilting from the past 2 weeks. Nothing new started, no progress to show on a WIP, no UFO dug out of a drawer. Between long hours at work and more importantly, a couple of very significant people who have passed away - my sewing has not been very high on the priority list lately.

I did press this pillowcase that I had made as a Christmas gift. The fabric is a pretty close match to the recipient's bedroom decor which has stripes and animals. It even has the colors pretty accurate. One Christmas gift finished.

A family treasure

2011-11-30T09:27:00.002-06:00

My mother-in-law (who just passed away at the age of 90) made one last quilt almost 20 years ago. A couple of years ago she gave it to me for safe-keeping with specific instructions. Her wishes were that when she died all of the grandchildren's names were to be put into a hat and draw to see who got her quilt.

So, when she died last week, we draped her quilt over the casket. And later that evening at our house with most of the family gathered, we drew a name.

The state fair blue ribbon she won on this quilt even went with it to my niece's house. A real family heirloom!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T22:25:00.001-06:00

Gone but not forgotten

2011-11-23T10:57:00.002-06:00

My mother-in-law passed away peacefully yesterday at the age of 90. She was a farm girl from a large family, an elementary teacher, a mother of four, grandmother of 18, and great-grandmother of 24 (plus one on the way). She was fiesty and energetic up until the past year, when the energy failed.

We'll miss you Natalie!

Look what came in the mail

2011-11-22T10:59:00.004-06:00

Yesterday my mailbox had a soft squishy little package - and it contained this beautiful charm pack of Fairy Frost fabrics. The label on the back says "50 new colors"!!! Can't wait to take it apart to see all of the colors.

Thank you to Moose on the Porch for selecting me to win this lovely charm pack. Her Fat Quarter Stars Quiltalong has been such fun so far. Every other Tuesday a new block is posted. In between, she draws some winners from those participants who have posted a picture of their completed block in the quiltalong's Flickr group.

And thank you to MamaSpark for designing Block 3 and for providing this beautiful prize. I love it. Here is my finished block from that week.

Humility block is fixed

2011-11-21T16:02:00.002-06:00

As I indicated in yesterday's post, I didn't follow my own rules about laying out my block pieces before stitching and trimming. So I had to purchase a little bit of extra fabric to fix my mistake. But I'm glad to say that the final result was very good.

We received the layout instructions for this Saturday Sampler this month. Granted, this is just the designer's layout and we can certainly create our own layout. My plan is to follow her basic layout with just a little change in the borders and sashing. And I bought the fabric I want to use for those borders and sashing so maybe over Thanksgiving weekend I can start to put the rows together. That way all I will need to do is add the last couple of blocks.

My humility block

2011-11-20T11:52:00.004-06:00

I love this block! It is this month's Saturday Sampler block, so it is going into a sampler quilt. But I think it would make a striking quilt using just this block.

Most months I cut all of the pieces from the pattern, then lay them out on my ironing board or sewing table to make sure I have them all right. But not this month. I just started sewing . . . and guess what? I had made a major error with my pieces from the traditional colorway! Big enough that I had to run to the shop and buy a little more fabric to fix it. So my black, white, bright variation block is done first. I'll finish my traditional one later today. It has a new name and will now be called my humility block.

Christmas table topper

2011-11-17T06:00:00.000-06:00

Finished the hand quilting and binding on this little table topper on Sunday. My daughter asked if I could make something for her to give as an exchange gift for a Christmas party. This is a simple pattern - huge flying geese and made from 3 fat quarters. And I did some simple hand quilting inside the goose triangles.

Check another small project off my TO DO list.

Upgrading the toys/tools

2011-11-16T06:00:00.003-06:00

Say hello to my new investment. I've been thinking about a new sewing machine for quite awhile and even had money saved up toward the purchase. And this week I made the leap. I traded in my old Pfaff 2036 model for this gently used Pfaff Creative Vision.

This machine is a "two-fer". It is like having 2 separate machines - a regular sewing machine and an embroidery machine. I'm going to learn the basics first, and then will snap on the embroidery unit and learn some more. Can't wait for the weekend and some time to play!

Another donation project

2011-11-14T11:51:00.001-06:00

My regular readers may recognize this quilt because I blogged about when I finished the top. Now it is quilted beautifully - thank you Carly - bound in blue, and ready to deliver this evening.
I am donating this one to a silent auction being held this coming weekend for an old friend who is battling cancer. There are no words to express my sorrow to hear that his cancer has returned. But this is my way of helping right now.

Fat Quarter Stars block #4

2011-11-11T11:24:00.003-06:00

Block number 4 is finished, in both of my fabric choices. This one is using a couple of fabrics from Kate Spain's Terrain line. The fussy cut center is one of them, and the flowers in the stars is the other. I really love the purple in this line, but didn't have a solid purple that looked good and I wanted the star tips purple. So I bought a fat quarter of the purple dot to add into the mix. It is not part of the Terrain line, but really fits in to showcase the purples in several of the pieces.

Since I'm making 2 of these at once, my other fabric choice was the Ellie II line. It has lots of red, orange, yellow, blue, purple, green, black - right out of a primary crayon box. I played with this block a bit before making a decision. Red tips or blue tips? Blue won out and I really love the results. I fussy cut the center of this one too.

Clever ideas from friends

2011-11-09T12:15:00.001-06:00

Inspiration comes from many different directions, and I must say that I'm often inspired by what I see on blogs or by comparing notes with friends. Friends are the source of much inspiration!! Well I must share a very clever idea that a friend (Tina) shared with me just this morning. She is a very talented quilter, and our little quilting group usually relies on her mathematical logic when we are working on a group project. I hope she doesn't mind my sharing her idea here.

Tina found several Christmas panels in her fabric stash recently and decided to get them quilted and bound for holiday gifts. The panels were all different. But she has come up with a fabulous way to quilt them faster and more efficiently. She is going to zigzag them together into one big panel - adding a small piece of muslin to fill a corner - and then quilt all of the panels together like a big quilt top. Much faster than loading several small projects onto the frame. Then she can cut them apart again and bind each one separately. How clever is that?

Missing in action

2011-11-07T09:47:00.003-06:00

I have been missing from blogland for the past week. Too much going on and no time for sewing lately. I did spend a little time yesterday finishing the hand work on a couple of small projects. Nothing worth photographing however.

My husband received a 25 year award at his company's employee recognition party on Saturday. It was a year late because with the merger last year they didn't do any awards at all. Now he just needs to slow down and not work 80 hours a week! No awards are given for that! We had a few people in for a "pre-party" gathering before the actual party.

I was in Chicago for some training last week and picked up this book in the airport. But I didn't really get a chance to start reading it until yesterday. I love the Elm Creek series so I'm always glad to see a new book come out.

Too young for trick or treating

2011-11-02T15:32:00.002-05:00

Just because he's too young to go trick or treating, and too young to eat candy - doesn't mean he completely missed Halloween. My grandson Mason will be 5 months old next week. His outfit was a big hit at day care.

My cousin knitted the darling punkin' hat for him!! I guess the other kids would pull it off by the stem. I'm surprised he actually leaves it on.

Fat Quarter Stars - Block #3 in Ellie II

2011-10-31T06:00:00.000-05:00

Here is my quiltalong block #3 done in the Ellie II fabric line. I'm doing the Fat Quarter Stars quiltalong in 2 fabric lines. One is very cool spa-like colors, and the other is hot, spicy colors. Love them both!

Click the button on the right side for more info on this great quiltalong project.

Fat Quarter Stars - Terrain block #3

2011-10-30T11:02:00.002-05:00

Yum - I really love Kate Spain's Terrain line! Here is my third star block for the Fat Quarter Stars quiltalong. I used more green this time. The first 2 blocks had more blue in them. The fat quarter pack I bought also had a couple of Bella solids in it - and I used 2 of those in very small amounts this time.

These blocks are turning out just beautifully. Click on the button on the right to find the designer of this month's block, Mary Lou at http://cheaperthantherapyquilting.blogspot.com/. Moose on the Porch is hosting the quiltalong and designed block #1. Then every 2 weeks she has a guest designer add another star block. This is a perfect block for me since I love stars and pinwheels.

Welcome to my house

2011-10-29T07:30:00.003-05:00

My Amish House quilt is now hanging in my dining room where I can see it and enjoy it every day. This wall has needed a focal point since we moved here, and now it has one.

The dining room gets only north light, so no direct sunlight will touch this wall. And this quilt will be one of the first things a visitor will see once they step into my front entry.

So - welcome into my home!

An unusual project

2011-10-28T11:26:00.004-05:00

My younger daughter is in her final weeks of clinicals for her master's program in occupational therapy. She will graduate in December - and has already had one job offer - YAY!!!

She asked me if I could help her make some vests for a project. I don't do any garment sewing these days, but I said yes because they look fairly simple to make. And because she is my baby - how could I say no?

She borrowed 3 vests (buttons, snaps, zippers) to show me what was needed, and these are sized for elementary school children to use to practice buttoning, snapping, zipping their own clothes.

But she wants me to make similar ones in a larger size for older students. I have the fabric and binding, so this weekend I will cut the patterns out of brown paper or newspaper, and get started on these vests. Only 2 shoulder seams and then binding. The button holes, zipper, and snaps will take me longer probably than the basic construction. I'm out of practice with those.

October block swap

2011-10-27T06:31:00.000-05:00

This blue and white block is headed to Texas for my swap partner for October. My inspiration was the Fons & Porter episode on Saturday morning on PBS. They were making the Old Maid's Puzzle block, but renamed it Bachelorette and used contemporary fabrics. I love this block, although now I notice it needed better pressing before I took this picture. Hope that my partner likes it too.

Wordless Wednesday

2011-10-26T06:37:00.001-05:00

Coming soon - November

2011-10-25T06:44:00.000-05:00

It's all fused down, and ready to add the blanket stitching. I love fall colors! Check back tomorrow and I'll show you REAL fall colors.

A sneak peek

2011-10-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

I am working on a project for someone else for a change. That "someone" doesn't sew, so I'm helping her out. Here is stage one - with more fun layers to come on this applique project.

Sunday finish

2011-10-23T18:26:00.003-05:00

My heartstrings blocks have finally become a complete quilt top! The color is much brighter than this photo looks - with bright lime green strips running diagonally throughout the blocks.

This top is being donated to the Heartstrings project where someone else will tie or quilt it, and bind it. Then it will go to a deserving project.

This was a great way to use up some of my scraps and make something for a good cause. Check out the heartstrings project at this link.

http://heartstringsquiltproject.com/

Odds 'n Ends

2011-10-22T15:12:00.004-05:00

First of all I must thank the readers who gave me some great ideas for what to do with my blue/white star blocks. Now I have to make a decision and actually get these put together.

This whole week was spent in Spearfish for a meeting and a conference. The Black Hills and especially Spearfish Canyon are looking beautiful this time of year. There really wasn't time for shopping during the week, but yesterday afternoon when the conference ended I took a couple of detours to visit some quilt shops on my way home. Spearfish, Sturgis, and Rapid City all have shops very worth visiting if you are in the area.

This cute Thanksgiving fabric was my find in one shop. It is a border print, so I think I see a couple more 60 degree table runners in my future. This is a Henry Glass fabric called Hearth & Home.

Now that I'm home again I can finally get a little sewing time in, which is just the relaxing activity that I need.

I need some advice

2011-10-18T11:09:00.003-05:00

I have been struggling with a plan for these blocks since winning them at Saturday Sampler last winter. I've played with several different layouts, with different sashing ideas, with solid blocks to add to the mix, etc. I think I need some advice.

I keep coming back to just putting them together without sashing so that I have a solid white background. There are 15 of these star blocks, so now I'm leaning toward an assymetrical layout with just a few solid white blocks thrown into the layout. Or maybe I need to make some white star blocks to add into the layout. What do you think?

This took some thought . . .

2011-10-17T06:30:00.003-05:00

Thank you to Sandie at http://crazyboutquilts.blogspot.com/ for honoring me with the Versatile Blogger Award last week. I had to give this a LOT of thought over the past few days before I could blog my response. This was hard work!

There are 4 rules for this award, and I'm afraid I'm going to break one of them a little. So I will apologize in advance.

1. Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.

2. Share 7 things about yourself on the post.

3. Pass the award on to 15 bloggers that you think deserve it.

4. Lastly, contact all of those bloggers you've picked for the award.

So here are the 7 things about me . . .

1. I grew up as an only child in a small town in Minnesota. No other kids to distract me parents, so they had plenty of time to keep an eye on me. I hated being an only child!!!

2. This is my 28th year in education. I've been a high school teacher, district technology coordinator, and now work with staff development for a regional agency.

3. I used to do a lot of drawing as a creative outlet. I really liked working with inks. But quilting has taken over completely and I haven't done any drawing in at least 15 years.

4. I have 2 married daughters that I'm very proud of. They have brought into our family: terrific sons-in-law, one grandson, and another baby on the way in the spring.

5. I love to travel, but don't get to do it often enough. Maybe in about 7-8 years when I retire. I hope!

6. Reading is my other way to relax and escape stress. Currently I'm on a mystery kick, but love lots of different kinds of fiction. Not a big fan of non-fiction - I think I read too many professional books in my job.

7. My paternal grandmother quilted, but I only have a doll quilt from her. My mother, her mother, her sisters, my daughters, and several of my female cousins all enjoy fiber arts in some way: knitting, crocheting, sewing garments or home dec, quilting, scrapbooking, tatting, cross stitch, etc. I think my maternal grandmother started that love for fiber.

And - finally the bloggers I wish to nominate for the Versatile Blogger Award. This is the rule I'm going to break (SORRY), but I just can't decide on that many who have not already been nominated. The other thing is that I follow quite a few blogs that are really built around a business they run or charitable program and I just don't feel right asking them to do this. You can always check the blog listing on the right side to see more "award-worthy" blogs.

So - here are just 5 of my faves!

Fat Quarter Star #2 reconstructed

2011-10-14T08:51:00.007-05:00

OK - I am really glad I took the time last night to take the original all-white corners out of this block and put in more color. The fabric line Terrain was my choice because it had such rich colors. What was I thinking to put in too much white?

BIG improvement, don't you think? And it didn't take very long. I've even put the 4 white triangles that I took out into a bag with the other small scraps from this project, just in case I can use them in another block later on.

I am really excited about this particular quiltalong. I've probably said many times that I love stars and pinwheels. And I really love sampler quilts as well. Since I decided to do a second set of blocks, I'm even more pleased with the results. The Ellie II fabric line has more primary colors in it. Terrain has a more oceanic or spa-like feel to the colors. YUM - both are gorgeous and both will make beautiful quilts.

Fat Quarter Stars - Terrain block #2

2011-10-13T12:06:00.003-05:00

I made block 2 last night for my Fat Quarter Stars quiltalong using my Terrain (Kate Spain) fabrics. Now I wish I had used the background and another color in the 4 corners. Instead I decided to just use a solid with that background. Boring!!! It needs more color!

I may "unsew" this block tonight and replace those corners to make this blocke more interesting. And I still need to make this block using my Ellie II fabrics. Wish I had time to tackle that now, but my lunch break is not going to allow that. Bummer - work always gets in the way of play.

Boxed squares

2011-10-12T11:19:00.002-05:00

Just had to show you one of the other projects I've been adding to during my recent random sewing. This is a set of 6" Boxed Squares blocks that I'm building from an old jelly roll that I had. Each pair of jelly roll strips will make 4 blocks. 2 of the 4 blocks are just reversing the colors of the others. The strips are all in cream, dark red, purple, green, and black.

I made 12 blocks on Sunday to add to the growing pile. They are very quick to cut and make.

Saturday Sampler

2011-10-11T06:30:00.002-05:00

One more block for Saturday Samper is done - in both the "official" traditional fabrics and also in the secondardy black, white, bright colorway I'm doing. We also could choose to participate is a batik or a bright contemporary colorway. I chose the traditional because I really felt I needed to step outside of my normal gravitation to brighter colors. This is very spa-like colors: soft pink, soft aqua, soft browns and creams. I think it will be a very pretty quilt.

My extra set of blocks in black, white, and bright is also taking shape. I have not fallen behind this year at all which has to be the first time in all of the years I've done the Saturday Samplers.

More non-focused sewing

2011-10-10T11:00:00.001-05:00

Since making a dent in the UFO population in my sewing room, my brain seems to be back in a "attention deficit sewing" mode. All I seem to be doing right now is making individual blocks for a variety of projects. I'm doing a monthly block swap online, I have my Saturday Sampler going in 2 colorways, I'm working on block from a charm pack swap, I have blocks going from a jelly roll, and I just recently signed up for a Fat Quarter Stars Quiltalong.

But since most of my sewing opportunities lately have been short, maybe this is not all bad. The first block for the Fat Quarter Stars quiltalong turned out so pretty, so I just had to start a second set. This FQS set is going to use the Ellie II line from Studio e. This line came in 2 sets of fat quarters with 8 fabrics each. There is a light set and a dark set. Only 2 of the fabrics are repeated, so I decided this would work really well for this project.

Now - can't wait for FQS Block 2, which should be posted this week. Check out the button on my sidebar for more information on this quiltalong from Moose on the Porch.

Roller Dollz PINK

2011-10-09T17:47:00.003-05:00

My daughter was hoping I would have a quilt to donate to a fundraiser that the Sioux Falls Roller Dollz are having to raise money for a big upcoming road trip. To London, England! This is the one she decided was just perfect because of the Dollz' color scheme - pink and black (with a little green).

I made this quilt top a few years ago, and then it became a UFO. But last January I promised myself that I would tackle that pile of UFOs and finish them up. This one got quilted and bond, and then was just waiting for a home. Now it has one. Hope they raise some money with their raffle tickets.

Halloween is just around the corner

2011-10-06T12:29:00.003-05:00

My kitchen table is now the home of this little octagon which was done with the leftovers of my 60 degree runners (see below). I made 2 of the 60 degree runners out of the border print I had.

My mother would be proud because I "used it up" - meaning these are the scraps left after cutting the 60 degree pieces for the big project. These end up with the design reversed. The lime green is on the outside of the big project, and on the inside of the little one. And the size is perfect for my small round kitchen table.

Fat Quarter Stars - block #1

2011-10-04T12:15:00.000-05:00

As if I didn't already have enough projects in the works - I've started a new one - Fat Quarter Stars Quilt-Along.

Go to Moose on the Porch to check out the quilt-along they are hosting. I'm using a Kate Spain fat quarter set called Terrain. Yummy blues, greens, and lavendars - with just a touch of orange.

Block #1 has a small star set on point inside of a larger one. I decided to fussy cut the center to show off the orange.

Can't wait to see block #2.

Halloween pillowcases

2011-10-03T20:03:00.003-05:00

I finished a cute pair of Halloween pillowcases that I started over a week ago. The eyeballs even glow in the dark on that lime green one!!

The instructions for these gives a finished product with no raw seam allowances showing. And they are fast to make. http://www.allpeoplequilt.com/millionpillowcases/instructions/RollItUp.pdf

My mini-vacation

2011-10-02T15:34:00.004-05:00

One guess where I was for part of last week . . .

My husband teases that once in a decade the moon and stars align so that we can travel together. They aligned briefly last week, and I flew to Orlando to join him for a few days of R & R for me. He was at a conference held at a Disney World resort hotel. I spent Thursday exploring on my own, but both Friday and Saturday we bought "after 2 PM" tickets. We visited Epcot and Magic Kingdom. This was our first visit, and we found ourselves thinking it would be fun to return with grandkids some day.

No sewing or quilting time for me today. I am trying to get the laundry done while he mows the lawn, because it's back to work in the morning. So much for relaxation.

September finish #3

2011-09-28T12:52:00.000-05:00

Here is the 3rd quilt I just had quilted. This one is my 2010 Saturday Samper. It has 12 different blocks with this triple sashing with 9-patch cornerstones.

Love this pink and brown and cream colorway. It is so soft and tranquil looking. Carly put this simple loopy motif in each block, and did a floral in the sashing and border.

Another finish

2011-09-27T12:27:00.003-05:00

Red, white, and blue - accented with golds. Love this color combination. This is another pinwheel project and it is also one of the quilts I just got back from the quilter (thanks Carly!).

She did this one in a large all-over swirl pattern. Looks great.

And I should mention that when I dropped off the 4 quilt tops to be quilted - I no longer have any tops laying around waiting to be quilted. Lots of sets of blocks waiting to be made into tops - but no UFO tops. That is a milestone for me.

Amish Houses are quilted

2011-09-23T12:30:00.000-05:00

This one is just as pretty from the back as it is from the front. For my regular readers, this is my Amish House quilt, and I spent most of July and August working on this. It's a bit outside of my usual projects - with each of the 12 house blocks having a unique 6" square miniature quilt.

But it's all worth it when I see this finished up with beautiful quilting. Carly put a different quilted motif over the miniature quilt in each block. The house parts were outline quilted. The sky is a very small stipple. Then beautiful leaf shapes in the first border, a geometric design in the second border, and finally another soft swirly design in the third border.

I absolutely LOVE it! Carly did a great job!

UFOs no more

2011-09-22T16:46:00.003-05:00

These 4 quilts are no longer UFOs!!! I dropped them off with Carly at The Pin Cushion a couple of weeks ago, and picked them all up today. And let me tell you, they are all beautifully quilted!!! Now I just need to get the bindings on. I know which one will be first.

I will show them off one at a time over the next few days.

Thanks Carly!

October Count On It

2011-09-21T06:23:00.000-05:00

This will be the first thing you see upon entering my kitchen from the garage. This is October's Count On It design.
Love these little monthly wall hangings! They are so easy to applique because most pieces are fairly large. I added some beads for eyes that are a golden orange color. And the bat fangs are tiny little candy corn motifs cut from fabric and fused on.

Using up the leftovers

2011-09-20T06:20:00.001-05:00

A close-up of the leaf design octagon shows how the 60 degree leftover cuts fit together perfectly to make this small table topper.

I decided to just quilt around the leaves in the black background. I'm doing the same on the long 60 degree table runner made of this fabric. This simple stitching allows the fabric to be the star.

60 degree and simple stitching

2011-09-19T12:17:00.002-05:00

I ended up making 2 identical 60 degree table runners with this fabric, plus a bonus octagon with the leftover cuts. Then I made 2 identical ones using a fall fabric with a beautiful leaf design, plus the bonus octagon.

One of the Halloween runners is now hand quilted and bound. The Halloween octagon is also quilted but still needs binding. And the fall leaf octagon is quilted. I decided they all needed very simple hand quilting. It is so simple in fact that I just pin basted it and didn't even use my usual lap-sized quilt frame. I just held it in my hands and stitched, following the fabric designs. You'll have to click on the photo to make it bigger in order to see the stitching lines. I'll show the leaf design one another day.

The verdict is out . . .

2011-09-18T06:30:00.001-05:00

The verdict is still out . . . I'm not sure how I feel about paper piecing yet. I tried some paper piecing years ago, and decided it was NOT my style. But then I saw this block - called Circle of Geese - and really, really wanted to make it. However, it was paper pieced. And I still decided to give it a try.

I like my finished block - a lot. So now , what is it going to be when it grows up? Maybe a pillow? Or the center of a doll quilt? I used scraps left over from another project and I still have enough to add something to it. I just have to decide what that will be.

A slow week

2011-09-17T13:44:00.002-05:00

It has been one of those weeks where I have very little to show for the time spent in my sewing room. I did get my Saturday Sampler block done for this month, along with my secondary colorway block. We're over half way through this progam. And I'll have 2 quilts done when we finish up.

Headed to Canada

2011-09-12T12:04:00.002-05:00

Not me, unfortunately. But my block is on its way to Ontario. Wish I could deliver it in person and meet my partner.

This block is called Follow The Leader. I got the free pattern from http://www.quiltmag.com/resources . This website has lots and lots of delightful block patterns and quilt patterns. And the instructions are well written.

I think this one would look really good in a quilt. There would be so many different ways to arrange them for different designs.

Hope my partner likes this one!

Swap block from Canada

2011-09-09T12:30:00.001-05:00

Mary, from Ontario Canada, is my partner for September and she is really speedy. We received our partner information about Sept 1, and I got this cute bowtie block in the mail on Wednesday this week.

I absolutely love it. And ironically it is a 12" version of the 4.5" blocks I'm making with the charm pack swap fabric I just got.

This is a great dotted fabric and the block is going to fit in with the others perfectly. I now have 4 blocks from this swap.

Thank you so much Mary! My block for you will be in the mail this week yet.

Another 60 degree table runner

2011-09-08T16:30:00.001-05:00

I have loved the pattern for the 60 degree table runner since I bought it a couple of winters ago. I've made 3 Christmas runners using the pattern in the past.

But yesterday in The Pin Cushion I saw that pattern done in this fun new Halloween "stripe" fabric. And I already owned a perfect sized piece of it. How lucky is that?

So on Wednesday night I spent less than an hour and put together this table runner. It just needs quilting and binding to be ready for the spooky season. And because the pattern repeated 4 times across I still have enough for another one.

Sometimes we need a treat

2011-09-07T20:10:00.004-05:00

I decided a couple of weeks ago that my cutting mat was really worn out and that I needed a new one. That old one didn't owe me a thing since I've been using it for about 15 years.

So today after work I stopped in at The Pin Cushion and treated myself to a new mat. This one - from Martelli - is even reversible. So when this one gets worn out - or when I get tired of purple - I can flip it over and use the yellow side.

Of course the mat wasn't the only thing I bought. I picked up some batiks to use in some swap blocks I'm working on. And I picked up an idea for a piece of fabric I already own. And when I got home tonight I tested out my swap block and made a cute tablerunner. It was a productive sewing night since my husband was not home. No distractions! More on those projects another day!

Design Wall Monday

2011-09-06T12:36:00.003-05:00

This is the first look at what I chose for the Rainbow Charm Pack swap fabrics. This won't be my final arrangement of course, but it's a start. The white background fabrics are scrappy - from various white-on-white fabrics.

The pattern is called . . . well it depends on where you are searching for it.

In the book, Schnibbles Times Two, it is called Bennington. If you are a fan of Me and My Sisters patterns, it is called Charlotte. The block itself - which measures 4.5" - is the same in both. The layout used is unique in each source. It's a pretty traditional block and perfect for charm squares.

This will be one of those on-going projects. Whenever I have just a few minutes to sew, I'll be able to add a couple more of these to the pile.

Amish House quilt top is done

2011-09-04T17:09:00.003-05:00

I've finally finished my Amish Houses and am so happy with the results. These house blocks each have a unique miniature quilt that is 6 inches square. Some were easy and some were more difficult. But I like every one of them now that the top is all assembled.
My plan is to have it machine quilted and I have enough of the medium brown inner border to do the binding. I know this one I'm going to keep for myself. I think it needs a good place to hang where I can enjoy seeing it often.

A whole rainbow of charm squares

2011-09-03T08:50:00.001-05:00

What would you do with a charm pack with 112 different fabrics in 8 color families?

A month or so ago I signed up for a rainbow charm pack swap and my rainbow arrived in the mail this week. Each of 56 participants was assigned a color family. We bought a yard of 2 different fabrics in that color and cut 56 charm squares (5") of each to send to the swap hostess.

That means we each got 14 squares in each color family. I won't show them all right now, but here are the orange ones. YUM!

Orange, Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Pink, Aqua, Purple. I can't wait to start a project with all of these. I have a pattern picked out, but have promised myself that my Amish House quilt top will be complete before starting this new project. Maybe I'll get to cut into these on Labor Day Monday . . .

Babies change too fast

2011-09-01T06:30:00.000-05:00

Grandpa and Mason spent some bonding time after breakfast last weekend. I'm so glad that baby only lives about an hour away so we get to see him every couple of weeks. They change so fast at this age and we don't want to miss the fun.

More Heart Strings blocks

2011-08-30T06:30:00.000-05:00

These blocks are my "15 minute" projects right now. If I only have 15 minutes to sew, then I add a few strips to these Heart Strings blocks. I now have 11 done, and 13 to go.

The muslin foundation pieces and the lime green centers are all cut and just waiting on my sewing table for attention. And the strips all come from my scrap basket, so I am using up leftovers from lots of other projects.

Sunday progress

2011-08-28T15:51:00.003-05:00

I have made some progress putting my Amish Houses into rows with sashing. I have the top half of the rows done.

There is a 1" black framing strip sewn around all 12 blocks. Then the sashing strips are going on. These end up making that framing strip a narrow 1/2 inch.

After I finish putting the rows together, there are 4 borders added - 3 narrow ones and 1 wider one. I have a very busy week for work, so the rest of this may have to wait for next weekend.

Family fun

2011-08-27T14:57:00.003-05:00

I love it when there is a large family event - happy events of course. Last night we attended my niece Melanie's wedding to Travis. Mel grew up across the street from us, so the cousins were frequent playmates as kids. They went to school together. And when we moved to Mitchell about 6 years ago, Mel lived with us for awhile as she went to college.

This was a fun wedding with both the bride and the groom wearing their cowboy boots. The groom is a rodeo bull rider - which is a dangerous hobby. In the picture is my older daughter Jerilyn, younger daughter Laura, my husband and I, and the newlyweds. Congratulations and best wishes to Melanie and Travis.

A friendship block

2011-08-24T12:00:00.000-05:00

This lovely purple and black block went into the mail on Monday and is headed to western South Dakota to a blogger friend. Moneik and I read each other's blogs on a regular basis, and actually met in person a couple of weeks ago at Quilts and Vines.

She is doing a friendship block project and I offered to make a block for her. She sent me the link to the pattern called Lovers Lane. It is found on http://quilterscache.com/ , which I visit frequently for free block patterns. And the request was for 3 purples and a black background.

Turned out pretty nice. I may have to use this block pattern again.

House construction is finished

2011-08-21T13:54:00.002-05:00

I am very excited because my Amish House blocks are all finished - all 12 of them! Hubbie left at 10:15 this morning for a golf tournament and I headed right to my sewing room. My goal was to stay put until my houses were done. Easy-peasy!!!

The flying geese block was much easier than the last one because the geese were larger. But that blue/green pinwheel was a tough one!

My next steps will be to find border/binding/backing material for this quilt. The pattern shows multiple narrow borders, then sashing, followed by narrow borders and then a wide one. We'll see if that ends up being MY PLAN. . .

Light at the end of the tunnel

2011-08-20T14:11:00.003-05:00

I can check off 2 more Amish House blocks from my "to do" list. Now there are only 2 more to make.

In a post earlier this week I mentioned 15 flying geese in block 9 but I was wrong - there are 18 geese in that block but it went together fairly well. The instructions said to press open which I did when making the individual geese. But when chaining them together into the vertical row I pressed to one side so the seams nested better.

And the star block has one imperfection that I'm not happy with, but have decided to live with it. Can you spy it?

Saturday Sampler Block 7

2011-08-19T08:30:00.001-05:00

My rainy Thursday evening sewing was pretty productive. Block 7 of my Saturday Sampler is the Water Wheel block. This whole year of sampler blocks are done from 5" charm squares and sew up very quickly.

The top one is my "official" sampler block done in the soft traditional colorway with the aquas and browns. Not my usual choice but I am really liking the "spa-like" soft colors.

The bottom left block is my bonus block done in the requested fall theme fabrics. This would be a very nice month to win the bonus blocks!

And the bottom right block is my alternate sampler set that I'm doing in black and white with bright accents. Some blocks have just one bright color and a couple of them so far have more than one bright. These are really turning out to be fun.

I also did one version of this block a couple of evenings ago for a block swap. It is done in purples and cream. It's in the mail to my partner, so I'll have to show that one later after she has received it.

Amish House #8

2011-08-18T07:00:00.000-05:00

One more house block is up on the design wall. This one is house #8, so I only have 4 more to go.

This one had larger pieces than the last so I assumed it would be easier to piece. No so!!

The next miniature quilt has flying geese - 15 of them squeezed into 6 inches of space. Yikes!!

A small UFO finish for me

2011-08-17T06:41:00.001-05:00

I have not focused the past few days on any of my own projects. Partly that is because I have not had the time to do much sewing last week or this week due to my work schedule. But I did get the binding finished on this tablerunner over the weekend. Love the colors in this one and the center fabric in the dark squares is such a beautiful floral. I hated to cut into that fat quarter when I started this.

More binding is on my "to do" list for the next couple of weeks, including on a quilt for my niece's wedding.

A glimpse at Quilts & Vines

2011-08-16T06:21:00.001-05:00

These just a few of my favorite quilts displayed at the 2011 Quilts & Vines. This pink self-portrait was particularly intriguing. My aplogies for the bad angle - but I was shorter that the vines this quilt was hanging on. It is done with applique and what I would call "thread painting".

This blue and white quilt was actually for sale. Each year there is one section with quilts that are available for sale. Since we didn't get there until about 12:30 I'm sure we had already missed the best bargains.

This was my favorite children's quilt. The animal manes were 3D and the colors were just wonderful.

And this quilt honors a family farm. It was pieced and appliqued both. Lots of little objects could be found that added dimension - such as the weather vane button and the overalls.

Shoes, shoes, shoes! Isn't this one fun? Appliqued high heels. And each shoe was unique. The great border and backing fabric added to the whole impact.

2011 Quilts & Vines

2011-08-15T06:05:00.001-05:00

I love this annual outdoor quilt show. It isn't as large as some in other parts of the country - or draw the crowds. But it is held each year at a lovely little winery just outside of Sioux Falls and showcases local wines and local quilters.

This is part of the view that greets you when you step off the shuttle bus at the end of the driveway to the Strawbale Winery. The quilts are all displayed on the actual grape vines. For the entry price you also receive a punch card that allows you to sample 5 wines. MMMM!

In previous years I've gone alone and I've gone with friends. But this year I went with my oldest daughter. That was very special - and I can't believe we didn't think to take a picture of the TWO OF US instead of just the quilts! What were we thinking? Neither of my girls is a quilter or even sews at all. They just were not interested. But they do enjoy the finished products!

And attending with her this year I found myself looking at the quilts differently. In past years I didn't pay much attention to kids' quilts unless it was really special. But this year I was drawn to those through the eyes of my new grandma status and her new mommy status.

Tomorrow I'll show you a few of my favorite quilts from the show.

Meeting a blogging friend

2011-08-14T08:58:00.003-05:00

I had the opportunity to meet a blogging friend yesterday. Moneik (from the Rapid City area) came to the eastern part of the state with friends to attend the 2011 Quilts and Vines event. We discussed trying to meet there, but I wasn't sure if we would find each other in the crowd of people or the large area. But Moneik was one of the first people I saw when my daughter and I got off the shuttle bus at the Strawbale Winery!!

It is really fun to spy someone you've only seen pictures of and realize you do recognize them. Moneik actually knows my sister-in-law through quilting in Rapid City so we had a connection already and both started reading each other's blogs. Now we havea "real" connection too in addition to the virtual one! What fun!

Quilting and binding

2011-08-08T18:06:00.001-05:00

I picked up 2 quilts and a table runner that I had Carly quilt for me. As always, they turned out beautiful. Here is a closeup of the quilting from the back of my Stepping Stones quilt. As soon as the binding is on I'll show the whole thing.

I worked on binding on Sunday afternoon until I was sick of it. I cut, connected, folded, and ironed about 75 feet of binding. So now the binding is ready to put onto 3 quilts and some other smaller projects that are laying around.

Rethinking pinwheels

2011-08-07T15:01:00.002-05:00

I've mentioned several times that I really love pinwheel blocks. But I have met my match with this one!

This is block #7 of my house blocks and I will admit it was the most frustrating one so far. Remember - the miniature quilts are 6 inches square.

I sewed the pinwheels on Saturday and then UN-SEWED some of them today because I didn't like the way they came out. The edges were stretching and twisting, so I am not totally happy with the centers of these. But I do believe this is as good as this one will get because I don't think I have the patience to make more of them.

The good news is that mini quilt section #8 has larger pieces and not as many of them.

Strips become strings

2011-08-03T07:30:00.001-05:00

My post on Saturday was about my attempt to organize and clear up my messy scrap bin.

A couple of months ago I decided to work on some string blocks to use up some strips I had that were too narrow for much but too big to just throw away. A blog I've been reading for a couple of years, Making Scrap Quilts From Stash, had the perfect inspiration. The project is called Heartstrings and there are groups all over the country. Mary (on the blog above) gives the dimensions and suggestions for this project. Check it out.

So this spring I cut the muslim foundation squares and chose a lime green solid for all of the center strings of 24 blocks. That is enough for a quilt. I now have 6 string blocks completed, using various strips out of that scrap bin. This is turning out to be a good solution for my need to switch projects. Whenever I've felt the "urge" to do something else, or when I only have a few minutes to sew - I add another string or 2 onto a block. This block looks pretty weird, but when I laid out all 6 together the random colors are great with that lime green center to pull them together.

When I get 24 of them done, I may put them together with a border and donate a top, or I may just donate the blocks themselves to the Heartstrings project. Either way I've used up a bit more stash. Baby steps, baby steps . . .

July block swap

2011-08-02T06:30:00.000-05:00

Wow! I just love the fabrics in this block and the design is great too!

This is my swap block for July and it came from Lucy in Texas. I've mentioned before how much fun it is to receive packages in the mail. Well Saturday's mail included this pretty block and a little note from Lucy.

Only 2 months into this swap, but I've had partners with excellent taste.

Tiny pieces

2011-08-01T06:30:00.001-05:00

OK - I have to admit it didn't take all week - just a little over an hour on Sunday morning. Like the others in the series the miniature quilt section is 6" square finished.

That means the smallest of the yellow squares near the center started out only 1" square - and you end up seeing only half of it. Those were difficult to hang onto as I fed them through the machine. I think this one would have been easier if it had been paper pieces.

And with this block done I now have half of the mini quilts complete.

Amish house update

2011-07-31T12:09:00.001-05:00

I have 5 of my House blocks completed and all 7 of the other blocks are ready for the miniature Amish quilt section. 6 of the finished blocks will be grey houses and the other 6 will be brown houses.

These tiny quilts are 6" square finished size. That means the pieces are really tiny. They are difficult to hold straight as I feed them through the sewing machine. Some are pretty easy, but some are looking kind of scary. And I've reached one of the scariest of the set.

My next house block's mini quilt section is kind of a pineapple block with tiny little corner sections. I refuse to allow myself to skip it and just leave it for last because I am afraid it could become a UFO if I do that. So it may take me all week to actually cut and sew that one, but I'm determined to have it done.

Attempt at organization

2011-07-30T13:56:00.005-05:00

What do you do when your sewing room begins to look like the scrap bin has exploded? I decided it was time to do something about the messy collection of scraps that is threatening to take over my space. I really hate throwing away fabric scraps so unfortunately it was either do something now or buy a much larger bin.

So I pulled some of the bigger pieces from my scrap bin this morning and cut some 5" charm squares, some 3.5" squares, and some 2.5" squares. For a few months I've been cutting 1.5" postage stamp squares from the ends of binding strips and other little scraps. And I've been collecting narrow strips (2" or less) to use in some string blocks. I've made a small dent in that scrap bin and it feels good to tackle the mess even if it is small

These squares are going into labeled plastic shoeboxes and when I have enough to use in a scrappy quilt they will find a home. I'm making no promises about those postage stamps however.

2 more houses

2011-07-24T17:39:00.005-05:00

Sunday afternoon was pretty quiet around here because my husband was playing in a golf tournament today. So I spent some quality time sewing while the cat napped on the window sill.

These 2 house blocks join the first one of my design wall. And I have a lot of the rest of the house and sky pieces cut out. The tiny little quilts (6" square) are the most time consuming part. As I mentioned in a previous post, there are 12 blocks and each one has a different mini quilt.

Pink charm squares

2011-07-23T12:28:00.001-05:00

Here is my 2nd cutting project from Friday morning - charm squares. I'm in a Rainbow Charm Pack Swap hosted by Ellison Lane Quilts.

Each participant (56 if us) is assigned a color and we cut 56 charm squares (5") from each of two fabrics in that color. There are 7 people assigned to each of 8 colors. The group shares and everyone ends up with a RAINBOW of charm squares.

My two sets of 56 are ready to mail off to the swap host. She asks that everyone use high quality fabrics. I chose both from Robert Kaufman lines: Fusion and Patina Handpaints (by Lunn Studios).

Fast and Easy Dresden Plates

2011-07-22T12:03:00.009-05:00

Took the day off and I spent the morning with my rotary cutter and cutting mat - having some fun. This is the first project I worked on. They are Dresden Plate slices that I cut from a set of 6" blocks I got in a swap a couple of years ago. As you can see there are 26 different purples already cut and I have a few more on my ironing board waiting.

From each 6" block I can get 2 of these slices. Smaller blocks make smaller Dresden Plates. I only had 1 of some of these blocks, but had 2 or more of some others. Most of the blocks were from the swap, but a couple of the fabrics were from some purple fat quarters I had as well. Depending on what I decide to make with these, I may trim some down to make some smaller plates as well for variety.

I believe that the correct ruler can save so much time. For this project I used the Easy Dresden ruler. It has very clear markings to allow you to select any size of slice you want. I chose the 6" slice. I folded each block in half so I could cut 2 at once. Once the slices are cut, then you sew across the wide end, set the stitches briefly with a hot iron. Then you turn that point right-side-out, center the seam and press the point into the piece. And as quickly as that you are ready to put the Dresden slices into the plate shape by sewing up the long sides to make pairs, then makes "4-z's", etc until you have the complete circle. Applique this unit onto your background and add an appliqued circle over the center if you want.

My second cutting project this morning will have to wait for another post.