One Block Wonder

 It's been a very long time since I've made a

One Block Wonder quilt.

When I saw this fabric, I immediately wanted

to make another one.

The pieces were cut and were waiting for me to put them together.

 

With all that has been going on here,

this was a good project for me to work on

when I had snippets of time.

I could go in and sew for a few minutes

in between doing things for my husband.

 

Eventually all of the blocks were sewn into

half hexagons and then arranged on the wall.

 

 

 

 

The border fabric is what the hexagons are made from

for this quilt.

 

As I was sewing the rows together,

I found three blocks with pieces placed the wrong way.

I started to take them apart and put them right,

but then decided to leave them as they were.

These last few months have been

chaotic and difficult.

These three blocks show that even in the chaos and hard times

there is still beauty in life. 

 

 

Below are some of my favorite combinations in the quilt.

 

 

 This one is ready to send to my long arm quilter.

 

Happy Quilting! 

Sea Glass Finish

 Several years ago I saw a Sea Glass quilt on Pinterest

made by the Exhausted Octopus  and I immediately

knew I was going to make a quilt like this at some point.

Last year when I was Queen Bee for the Gridsters,

an on line bee I belong to, I asked my bee mates

to send me scraps of fabrics in colors of the sea.

Boy, did they come through!

 

After hours of drawing the shapes,

 then redrawing the shapes after realizing I made them too small,

cutting them out, ironing them to the background and

the quilting around each and every piece of glass,

it's finished.

 

 

 

 

 

This was so daunting to me when I got ready to start this quilt.

How to I place the pieces?

What design should I use?

I finally just jumped in and started playing.

 

 

 

 

 

I used an 80 wt thread to quilt the pieces

so it isn't as noticeable, but still stands out.

White was used on the entire quilt.

I don't mind the white showing on the

colorful pieces. 

 

 

 

 

 

It was actually very relaxing to do some mindless quilting around

each piece of glass.

 

 

I did learn some things making this first quilt.

If I make another one,
I need to draw or tape a frame to the background

so I have boundaries and know how far out

to place the pieces.

 

Even redrawing the pieces of glass,

they were still too small.

I do like the look, but would

make bigger pieces next time. 

I also need to take the pieces all the way to the edge of the background.

There is a bit of a wave to this quilt because

of the denseness of the quilting,

but I'm okay with that.

After all, it's sea glass.... there are waves in the ocean.

:) 

 

 If you are interested in making one of these quilts,

the Exhausted Octopus offers a class. Above there

is a link to her blog.

 

Happy Quilting! 

Granny Square Patriotic Table Topper

 Elizabeth at OPQuilt and her friend Caroline

are making Granny Square quilts and have invited others

to join in on the fun.

Elizabeth has a free tutorial on her blog for these blocks

and has directions to make them in different sizes.

 

The blocks she and Caroline have made and posted to IG

inspired me to make some of my own.

My daughter asked for a patriotic table topper for her room

and I thought PERFECT!

I'll make it with four granny squares.

 

 

 

 

I chose to use 2 1/2" squares for mine,

so the block trimmed is 12".  

 

 

 

These four blocks went together quickly 

and were so fun to make.

 

I added a border, 

did some really simple straight line quilting

and bound it.

 

 My daughter was very happy with the end result 

and took it right up to her room.

 

There may be more granny squares in my future!

Thank you, Elizabeth and Caroline, for your inspiration. 

 

Happy Quilting! 

 

Halo Finished Top

 I have been working on this Halo quilt for months and months.

I actually don't remember when I started making the blocks,

but it was a long time ago.

Then life kind of took over.

During the last few months I was able to cut the rest

of the pieces needed and waited for my sewing machine

to come home to finish the blocks.

 

It is now a finished top and I am thrilled. :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is Jen Kingwell's Halo pattern.

The colors are brighter than pictured.

I used a lot more color in mine than the pattern showed,

but I love color.

 

 

 

 

This is my favorite block of all.

 

 

 

 

I had so much fun shopping for fabrics to use in these blocks

and then fussy cutting and playing with them. 

 

 

 

 

 

This is the most challenging quilt I've made so far.

 

  The backing has been ordered and I need to find a quilting

design.  Then it will be off to my quilter.

 

I can't wait to have it completely finished!

 

Happy Quilting! 

Good News Bad News

 The good news is...

I finally have my sewing machine back!

It was gone for 2 months to the Bernina factory.

It came back not working properly,

but Lucy at Bobbin and Bolt

found the problem, ordered the part

and it's working great now!

 

 The bad news is in this 2 months time,

my husband had a medical crisis,

ended up in the hospital for 3 weeks

and can't be left alone for very long.

He begins treatment for his metastatic myeloma

on Tuesday and we are really hoping

that this makes him feel better quickly.

 

Needless to say,

not much sewing has been going on here,

even though I bought a little Brother machine from a friend.

I'm not going into details,

but this machine could not be used for quilting.

I did, however, make two dresses for my granddaughters.

It felt good to accomplish something!

 

 

 

My older granddaughter asked for a dress made

with fish fabric.

This pattern was fiddly, but turned out so cute.

AND...

is the BEST. TWIRLING. DRESS. EVER!!

:) :) :) 

 

I have started a quilt,

but I can't show it yet.

 

In the meantime,

my garden is doing really well!!

 

 

 It feels good to be sewing again,

even if it's for a little bit.

 

Happy Quilting! 

Somethings Missing :(

 

 

 

  

I haven't had anything to post here recently,

because my sewing machine has not been behaving.

It's been in the shop three times in the last 2 months

and is now being sent off to Bernina to see if they

can fix the problem.

 

In the meantime, I'm cutting out quilts,

cleaning my Hidey Hole and knitting.

 

I'd much rather be sewing.

:( 

 

Hopefully, I'll have something to share in the

not too distant future.

 

Happy Quilting! 

2026 Ornaments Finished!

 Each year I try to make my grandchildren

an ornament for Christmas.

Some years I'm successful and others, not so much.

 

I absolutely love mmmcrafts felt ornaments and

have made a bunch of her patterns.

Her directions and attention to detail are the best

and I love her designs.

 

So far I have made Santa and Mrs. Clause,

the Little Elves, and Not Even a Mouse

for my daughter, son-in-law and the grands.

This year my goal is to make By the Chimney

for the grands and All Through the House

for my daughter and son-in-law.

 

My sister-in-law and I decided to do our own

challenge for this year

and listed 12 projects we would like to make or finish.

The first one on my list is the By the Chimney ornaments. 

 

They are finished!!

 

 

 

 

These little stockings and stuffers are SO cute!

I had to make a set for myself, too. :) 

 

 

 

 

Larissa's patterns are so well written and easy to follow.

They are challenging and she suggests starting with her

12 Days of Christmas ornaments to learn some skills.

(I made those a number of years ago.)

 

 

 

 

Each grandchild will get their own stocking and stuffers.

I could make a little doll or a teddy bear.

Both won't fit into the stocking, unfortunately.

 

 

 

 

 

It feels so good to have these finished already.

Now they will be put away for Christmas.

 

Shelly and I will decide which number will be next

to work on from our lists.

 

Happy Quilting! 

 

Sea Glass

 For a long time now I have wanted to make a Sea Glass quilt.

I saw one on Pinterest a few years ago and knew I had to make one.

Last year I asked my Bee Mates in the Gridster Bee to send

some scraps to use in this quilt and they sent some good ones! 

 

Last month I pressed the small pieces of fabric to

Steam a Seam and drew the shapes on the backing.

After cutting them out,

I began to have fun.

 

 

 

 

I probably made my glass pieces a bit smaller than others have,

but I'm really happy with the results.

 

 

 

 

 

 

One things I learned is to cut a lot more than you

think you'll need.

A big variety of fabrics is nice, too.

 

 

 

  

 

These are all pressed to the backing,

so it's ready to quilt.

This is going to take a while!

 

Happy Quilting! 

Zinnia's

 I love zinnias.

They are one of my favorite flowers.

I love that the more one picks them,

the more they produce.

AND the deer and rabbits leave them alone.

 

When I was looking for backing fabric recently,

I came across this gorgeous zinnia fabric.

It would have worked well with the big

print quilt I made recently,

but once it arrived, I couldn't use it on the back

of a quilt. 

Instead, I made 8 napkins and a table runner

for my summertime table.

 

 

 Isn't this fabric gorgeous?!?

I'm excited to be growing zinnias again in my garden this spring.

In the meantime, I'll enjoy them on my table. 

 

 

Happy Quilting! 

Protest to Winter

 Planning ahead with my quilting projects

is not something I usually do,

but last month I had made a list of quilts

I want to make this year.

One of the quilts was made using 9 patches

in solid fabrics, along with some other blocks.

 

After pulling out my solid fabrics,

I cut a bunch of 2 1/2" squares with my

Accuquilt cutter and was ready to do some

mindless sewing.

 

The 9 patches were made and placed on my design wall.

After making a bunch of them,

I decided to change my plans and make something simpler.

Now I needed a fabric to alternate with the 9 patch blocks.

To the quilt shop I went.

 

My thought was to find a neutral fabric, maybe white

with some colorful polka dots or design.

I carried my 9 patches around the quilt shop

and found this fabric.

 

 

 

 

 

It was perfect!

It has all of the colors I used in the 9 patches

and has so much movement to it.

It isn't for the faint of heart, though!

Another quilter saw me put the 9 patches

with this fabric in the quilt shop

and said she loved it together.

SOLD!
I'm not the only crazy one. :)

(My daughter asked me what drugs I was taking

when I was shopping for the fabric.:D) 

 

 

 

 

I'm calling it "Protest to Winter" because

it's nothing like what I am seeing out my windows right now.

It's drab, blah and white outside and I need color!

 

This will be simply quilted... it doesn't need anything else!

 

Happy Quilting! 

 

By the Sea Finish

 A dear friend of mine has a beach house

in the Outer Banks and has invited me to join her

a number of times over the years.

 

I had pulled the beach/sea fabric to play with

and decided to make this friend a quilt for her beach house.

I was amazed that I had all of the fabrics in my

stash except for the striped backing fabric I used. 

 

 

 

 

 

For this quilt, I kept the quilting very simple.

 

 

 

 

 

I did want to do a little something in the peach squares

and stitched a starfish in the middle of each one.

 

 

 

 

 

I have used the frixion pens for years

and have had no problems with them, 

except on solid fabrics.

(They leave a bleach line on solid fabrics.) 

Before using it on this quilt,

I tested it on a piece of the peach fabric

and it ironed out perfectly,

so I traced the starfish on the first block and stitched it.

When I ironed it out,

these lines were left on the fabric.

They are lighter in person than they are

in the photo, but they are still noticeable. 

I debated on what to do about the lines

and decided to just leave them.

Anything I would do to correct it

would be more noticeable than the lines.
I don't know why this happened,

but I'm going to have to be very selective

when using these pens. 

 

We live and learn!

 

Happy Quilting! 

 

 

Knitted Blooms Finish

 January was a great month for getting quilts finished

in my house.

I had taken three quilts to Jennifer, my awesome quilter,

so had these to bind.

I had also made and quilted two other quilts that needed binding.

What a perfect activity to be doing with snow and ice falling outside

and it being a little chillier inside.

Thankfully, we never lost power during this storm.

 

Here is the third quilt I had sent to Jennifer to be quilted.

It's Knitted Blooms by Lo and Behold Stitchery.

This pattern was a bit challenging to make

because there is so much information in the pattern.

It took me reading it a number of times

before I knew what I was supposed to cut for this quilt.

It was a kit from them... I love the color combination.

 

 

 

 

 

Even though it was a kit,

I didn't follow the color placement on the pattern.

My seam ripper was very busy in the construction

of this big quilt,

but it all worked out in the end.

 

 

 

 

 

I love the quilting design and pink thread. :)

 

 

 

 

Since this quilt says Christmas to me,

I chose this poinsettia fabric for the backing and love it.

 

It's good to have this one finished and ready for this coming Christmas.

 

Happy Quilting! 

 

The Ori Quilt Finish

The Ori Quilt is designed for layer cakes

and, since I was on a roll with using Kaffe fabrics,

I pulled out a layer cake I had of his fabrics.

 This pattern is great for showing off these big prints

that are often challenging to use in quilt blocks.

 

In addition, these blocks went together very quickly

and were easy to make.

 

 

 

 

Kaffe is one of my favorite designers,

so it was fun to make these blocks with his beautiful prints.

 

 

 

 

For the backing fabric,

I found this beautiful floral with hummingbirds.

It isn't Kaffe,

but I loved it.

 

 

 

You can see how large these flowers are in this fabric...

perfect for backing fabric.

 

  

 

Jennifer did a beautiful job on quilting this one. 

 

Onto the next quilt!

 

Happy Quilting! 

 

Carbonation is Finished

 When I saw the Carbonation pattern online,

I knew I had to make it and I knew it would be

made with Kaffe fabrics.

 

I really enjoy sewing circles,

which is a good thing with this pattern!

Those tiny circles were challenging, though.

A few had to be seam ripped and made again.

In the end, I love the quilt!

 

 

 

 

This background fabric is one of my favorites.

I wish I had ordered a bolt of it!

 

 

My longarm quilter, Jennifer,

did a beautiful job on the quilting,

as she always does. 

 

This one is now hanging in my family room.

 

Happy Quilting!