A Little Sewing Time

It's Friday already!

Another week has zipped past us,

but I did get a little play time in my Hidey Hole.

When I started making these blocks,

I was thinking it would be a baby quilt.

I am loving these fabrics and design together,

so I might just keep making blocks and see where it goes.

It's amazing how the blocks come together.

They look like such a mess when first sewn

and then a few trim cuts here and there

with the Quick Curve ruler

and then a square ruler, and...

 

Voila!

Ten inch square blocks!

I'll be sewing more turquoise strip sets together!

Happy Quilting!

Slowly coming along...

I'm finding snippets of time

to come play in my Hidey Hole

as the wedding plans are being finalized.

Over the weekend

I managed to press all of the curved pieces

for the Metro Rings quilt.

There will be triangles added to the

sides at the top and bottom of the arcs.

 

These colors just make me smile.

I used to not be a huge fan of gray,

but it's become such a great neutral color.

 

Once the triangles are sewn in place,

the block is squared up and looks like these do.

 

I am loving this quilt and am pleased

with my first attempt at working with curves.

I'm doing a late link up to 

Design Wall Monday

at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Happy Quilting!

Applique Flowers

This finished quilt top has been a long time

in the making.

I'm not sure when I began appliqueing the blocks,

but it was a least two years ago.

A little work would be done,

it'd get put away for a while

before being pulled out and a little more 

work would be done.

Earlier this year I decided it was going to be finished.

Finally, it's a completed top.

I am pleased with the finish,

but had the most difficult time finding the outer border fabric.

Do you ever have something in mind

and nothing works because it isn't that?

I'm not sure how many quilt shops I visited,

how many online sites I checked and

how many times I looked at my stash,

but nothing was working for me.

 

Several pieces of fabric came home with me and were scrapped.

Finally, I found this piece the other day.

While it isn't even close to what I had in mind,

it works.

I'm pleased with it and think it looks nice with

the applique.

 

 

Now to get it quilted!

Happy Quilting!

Scattered.....

Things are a bit scattered around here lately.

I can't seem to stay focused on one thing for very long

and that's okay.

My daughter is getting married in less than 4 weeks,

so this could be part of the reason for being scattered.

I did start a new quilt the other day

and am taking this one slow.

I've never worked with curves

and it's a challenge!

Usually I start something and zip right through it.

Not this time.

This pattern is called

"Metro Rings"
and uses the 

Quick Curve Ruler.

Cutting the curves with this ruler takes some getting

used to, but I really like using it.

 

Thankfully there is extra fabric built into the design,

so things square up and even out nicely after trimming.

Sewing these curves does take time and patience!

I'll keep plugging away and hopefully have enough blocks

for a quilt top soon.

Happy Quilting!

 

 

 

Dresden Mini Finish

Can I just say that I love this little quilt!

This is one of those quilts that I kept putting off making.

I'm not a huge fan of 30's prints...

I don't want to work with the little blades in the Dresden plates....

What am I going to do with it once it's finished?...

Then the day came....

Out came the fabric and

the mini plate template

and the fun began.

 

Why did I wait so long to make this cute little quilt?

30's are still far from my favorites,

but they grew on me just a bit.

 

Thanks, Mom, for the kit and pattern you bought for me.

It's a keeper!!

Tumbler Finish

Boy...

Time is really getting away from me this summer.

Here we are at the end of July

and I feel like I have done very little in the blog and quilting

department this month.

Part of the reason is the upcoming wedding of my daughter

and who knows what the other part is!

I do have a finish to share today!

Last week, before going to Charlotte for some wedding things,

I quilted this tumbler quilt and sewed the binding to it.

While in Charlotte, I was able to stitch the binding to the back

and finished it!

The photos were taken after dinner,

so the sun wasn't as bright. 

The colors are a bit brighter then shown here.

 

The tumblers are all Kaffe fabrics

and from my collection of text fabrics.

They alternate except for the first and last two rows.

 

I found this fun text fabric for the backing, too.

 

This quilt was an attempt at a 

leader/ender project

and worked for a while.

 

I get too impatient with the

leader/enders and just want to finish the top.

This is a late graduation gift for a dear family friend.

 

I quilted it with organic lines from top to bottom.

Now it just needs a label and to be wrapped.

Happy Quilting!

Retreat Project

Two weeks ago I was on a quilting retreat

at a small Quilt Cottage in upstate New York.

There were five of us there

for three days,

sewing away.

While I was there,

I worked on one quilt...

for my daughter and her fiance,

who are getting married in September.

Most of the blocks were made at the little cottage.

The blocks I wasn't able to finish up there have since been finished.

Rows are being sewn together now.

Yes... I am making another

"Diamonds in the Deep" quilt.

My future son-in-law is NOT a big fan of quilts.

(I know... I'm allowing my daughter to marry him anyway! :D)

When he saw the first Diamond in the Deep quilt I made for my

goddaughter, he asked me to make one for them.

How could I not do that?

He chose this deep teal color with the white.

 

I hope to have the rows sewn together this week and

to get it to the quilter after that.

Thankfully this is for a queen bed,

so I won't need to add borders.

Here is the unbound but quilted California King size quilt

I made earlier this year.

I do love this pattern,

but WOW!! is there a lot of cutting, sewing and pressing.

I'm linking to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts today.

Happy Quilting!

More Red and White

The quilt group I belong to does not meet the month of June,

so we had a month off from making the Bible book blocks.

This is a year long project for the group,

each month making 5 blocks that represent books of the Old Testament.

I hadn't made the blocks for May 

until last week.

I didn't like the blocks for Ecclesiastes or Song of Solomon,

so I made different blocks.

These blocks represent Ecclesaistes to Lamentations.

 

These are all of the blocks I have made so far

I am loving the reds and white/red background.

 

Onto the next five blocks. :)

Happy Quilting!

A Dilema...

First of all,

I have been away...

on a mini quilt retreat!

My SIL in upstate NY invited me to join her and three others

at a little quilt cottage in upstate NY

to sew.

I hopped in the car with all of my stuff and headed north.

It was so much fun,

but I don't have any photos to share!

It was 2 1/2 days of sewing to our hearts content and I did.

I'll show what I worked on soon,

but the best thing is,

they invited me back next year!

Now, onto my dilema....

I have been working on these applique blocks for far too long.

They are finished (Woohoo!),

but not trimmed.

Where I am struggling is what to use for sashing.

Normally I know exactly what I want to use,

but this time I can't see what the blocks need.

Option #1:

Red plaid..

I'd use either blue or polka dot for the corner stones.

(I don't have any more of the background fabric.)

Option #2:

Blue Polka Dots...

(the blocks REALLY need to be trimmed!)

I would use either the red plaid or another polka dot for the sashing.

Option #3:

 It's a bit hard to imagine,

but I thought of using this blue and red polka dot along with two strips

of the blue for the sashing.

These are the fabrics I found that work well with the blocks.

Option #4:

Keep looking!

What do you think?

I don't know why this is difficult for me,

but nothing is jumping out and saying

"Pick me! Pick me!"

I don't want to put these blocks away...Again!

Any comments would be greatly appreciated!

Linking to Design Wall Monday at
Small Quilts and Doll Quilts today.

Happy Quilting!

30's Dresden Quilt

A while ago I mentioned a kit my mom had purchased for me

on one of her trips.

It's a mini Dresden plate made from 30's prints.

I am not a fan of 30's prints,

but my mom is.

Let me tell you....

this is one of the cutest little quilts I've made!

The Dresden plates are machine stitched and

hand appliqued to the backround fabric. 

 I saw the border fabric the other day

while shopping for something else and

knew it was perfect for this little quilt.

 

The sashing pieces were randomly chosen,

but I should have moved the green strips that are

next to each other.

Oh well....

 

This is pin basted and ready for quilting!

I'm not a convert to the 30's prints, but I really do like this quilt.

Happy Quilting!

Annual Patriotic Quilt

My dad died in July, 2002 and was one of the most

Patriotic people I know.

He served his country in the Navy

and always had a flag flying outside of his home.

Five years ago my mom, my siblings and families

had a little vacation together and I decided to make

red, white and blue table runners for the six of us.

(I am the oldest of five, plus my mom.)

These were made in memory of Dad.

Well,

that tradition has continued.

This year I made the fifth table runner/wall hanging

in reds, whites and blues.

A while ago I taught my friends how to make

the Cathedral Window

using an easy, all sewn on the machine, method.

My friend, Mary, made

some GORGEOUS table runners

using 5" squares.

For this years runners,

I used her idea.

 

There is an extra runner here for a friend.

All of the fabrics for these came from my stash.

 :)

 

These went together pretty quickly,

once all of the squares were cut.

 

I guess I should ask my siblings if they are tired of

receiving these runners.

:)

 

The binding was made from a large piece of star fabric from my stash

and this is what I had left after finishing all seven runners!

Phew!!

Here are the other little quilts I've made.

It's fun to think of the "next pattern" and begin planning for next year.

Let Freedom Ring!

Happy Quilting!

Tote Bag

My sister has a new granddaughter.

The little one was actually born in May six weeks early

and has been in the NICU since her birth.

Recently she was diagnosed with cystic fibrosis.

The poor little thing has had three operations on her intestines

with more in her future.

She is finally gaining weight and has passed her birth weight,

but feeding continues to be a struggle.

If you are one to pray,

prayers would be appreciated.

Last week my sister asked if I could make a tote bag

for them to use to take the little one's clothes and things

back and forth to the hospital.

Tote bags I can do!

Out came some cute fabrics and my Go! Cutter

and the fun began.

She wanted the bag to be about the size of a plastic grocery bag.

No pockets or zippers...

Just a tote bag.

I couldn't just sew fabric into a tote bag...

it needed to be quilted!

This bug is checking out my quilting!

The bag has been delivered to my sister and has been put into use

carrying things back and forth to the hospital.

Hopefully the little one will be able to come home soon.

I'm linking to Small Quilts and Doll Quilts today.

Happy Quilting!