Polka Dots and Paisleys

I love Polka Dots

and

I love Paisleys.

So when the new line from

Minick and Simpson came out...

I had to have some of the fabrics.

And to top it all off...

They are reds, whites and blues!

I ordered a Jelly Roll

and some yardage

and began to cut and sew.

This is what is now on my

Design Wall.

This pattern is in the latest edition of

"Block" by the Missouri Star Quilt Company.

It went together so quickly.

Sew four jelly roll strips together,

make 4 1/2" HST's from yardage

and stitch to each corner.

I love the pinwheels in this design.

This quilt may be given to

Quilts of Valor.

I need to check on the measurements to see if it is the right size.

These pieces are what is cut off from the corner pinwheels.

They are supposed to be used as a border,

but I haven't decided if I'm going to do that yet.

If they aren't used in the border, they will be used for something!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Text Top Finished

The blocks I made during my weekend retreat last weekend

are sewn together and the top is completed!

This quilt is so much fun to look at and see what the blocks are saying.

The pieces with color are making circles throughout the top.

Some of the color is subtle and blends a little into the background.

 

It took a while to collect all of the text fabrics and

I was able to find some fun pieces. 

Here are some of my favorites...

just happenstance... not fussy cutting.

 

This top is ready for quilting.

I found a pretty orange fabric for the backing and binding.

The seventh block of my applique quilt is finished.

This block has a lot going on in it

and it's not my favorite.

This block will be added to these...

only five more to go!

Happy Friday!

Happy Quilting!

Retreat Experience

This past weekend, I attended my first

Quilting Retreat

at Needle in the Haystack

in Sherman, NY.

I met two of my quilting friends from upstate NY.

We meet somewhere once a year and spend a weekend

laughing, chatting, stitching and exploring.

This was the first quilt retreat for all of us.

Needle in the Haystack is located in an

old dairy barn in the country.

Judy and Jeff, the owners of the business,

have turned this old barn into a lovely retreat space.

The barn is surrounded by beautiful flowers and

has gorgeous views of the sunset.

Judy and Jeff own a quilt shop in Erie, PA and then

have a fabric outlet here at the retreat center.

The fabric was $7/yard or less.

There were three different groups of quilters there for the weekend... 

making 21 total.

The retreat space was great.

We each had our own sturdy table with a light and comfortable chair.

There were ironing stations throughout the room and one big cutting table.

It would have been nice to have one more cutting station

and a design wall, but every available space was used.

 

The sleeping arrangments were different...

Most of us had to share a room with several other people.

The rooms were comfortable, though,

and the food was delicious.

Breakfast and lunch were provided.

There were quilts everywhere!

On the walls, on the backs of chairs, on the beds,

on the deck railings, in piles on shelves....

everywhere we looked there was quilting inspiration.

While I enjoyed the retreat,

I learned that this is not my thing.

Maybe I would feel differently if I had been with more people that I knew,

but I'm not sure I would go on another "sleep over" weekend retreat.

There are some hardcore retreat quilters out there!

One woman finished three tops,

having stayed up until 3 or 4 in the morning sewing!

It was a beautiful place and I did get a lot done,

but the best part was being with my two friends.

Happy Quilting!

Retreat Sewing

Early Thursday morning

I headed north to my first Quilt Retreat

and I have a lot of blocks to show for it!

 (I'll tell you about the retreat and the retreat center tomorrow.)

Before going, I took some time to cut all of the pieces for

a quilt I have been wanting to make for quite some time.

I had collected all kinds of "text" fabrics

and added some Kaffe fabrics to the pile.

At the retreat, I just pieced blocks...

all 36 blocks for this quilt.

 

I found this pattern online about 4 months ago and knew

my collection of text fabrics would work well with the design.

 

It's been a lot of fun collecting the text fabrics and now using them

for this quilt!

I'll continue to play with the placement and then start

sewing the blocks together.

While I was stitching these blocks together,

I used the "Leader/Ender" idea for the first time.

I jumped on the "tumbler" train and used my

Go! cutter to cut the shapes out of the text and Kaffe fabrics

before leaving.

 

A nice pile of tumbler pairs was made while assembling the other blocks.

Now that I am home and have the blocks on the 

Design Wall,

I can begin sewing the top together.

I'd say it was a very successful retreat!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

 

Finished Fingerless Mitts

Knitting with the Alpaca yarn sure goes quickly!

My sister in law gave me two skeins of this

black and I found this great pattern for

Fingerless Mitts.

They are finished and ready for cold weather,

which I sure hope doesn't arrive for a long, long time!

I changed tha pattern a bit...

made the section after the thumbs longer

so they cover more of my hands

and I didn't add the buttons.

They are so soft and will be very warm.

Progress has also been made on my latest pair of socks.

These are going much more slowly than the mitts!

Size 1 needles versus size 8 needles...

Makes a bit of a difference.

:)

 

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting.

Happy Friday!!

One Top Finished

My Wool Basket quilts are coming together!

Yesterday I cut borders and decided to add nine patches

to the corners.

Plain and simple...

but enough for these busy blocks.

The spot is a spray of starch that hadn't dried.  :)

 

One finished... two to go.

Happy Quilting!!

More of the Same...

This weekend my goal was to finish sewing the

Friendship Star blocks together with the

Wool applique in the center of the blocks.

I had four more to make and they are finished!!

Yay! for a rainy Saturday!!

I have twelve of these blocks and I'm thinking of making

three quilts with four blocks each.

I don't need another large Christmas Quilt

and this way I can share my creations with others.

:)

I love this whimsical basket.

Lesson learned....

Make sure the block being used as the pattern is

 made CORRECTLY!!

 Yep... I made four blocks like this!!

Pay attention, Ramona!!

I have added another finished block to my

Red, White and Blue applique project.

This is the last block I had prepped, so time to prep a few more....

Using the starch method to prep the blocks does allow for much faster

stitching of the blocks.

Six done... six more to stitch!

Please visit Patchwork Times and Main Crush Monday
to see what others are creating!

Happy Quilting!

Bits and Pieces

This has been a bit of an odd week for me

here in my Hidey Hole.

I can't seem to settle on doing one thing for very long.

Therefore....

I have several different little projects to show today.

Last year I appliqued some wool baskets and flowers

on 5" squares and wasn't sure what I would end up doing

with them.

Here they are without the embroidered stems.

Throughout the year I have been making Friendship Blocks 

with these little basket blocks. 

My thoughts were that this would be a 

large Christmas quilt with the reds and greens.

As you can see, I have four more Friendship blocks to make.

The larger this quilt becomes,

the more I am inclined to make three smaller quilts with four blocks in each one.

I have to add the outside sashing strips and then will decide what to do.

Another applique block is finished for my new project.

At first I wasn't sure about the fabrics I picked for this block,

but now that it's finished....

I love it!

(The little circles gave me fits this time for some reason.)

I have one more block prepped and ready to stitch.

On the knitting front,

I made a Fingerless mitt

using this pattern.

My sister-in-law gave me some alpaca yarn 

and, boy, is this yarn soft!

It's heavier yarn than what I am used to working with,

but it knits up so quickly!

I decided I didn't want the buttons that the pattern called for

and just stitched the cuff ends together.

 The second mitt should be finished in the next day or so,

but I don't want to have to wear these for a LOOOONNNNGGGG time!

I'm linking to Whoop Whoop and Patchwork Times,

so go see what others are creating.

Happy Friday!!

It's Baaack!!

My sewing machine has returned!

All tuned, oiled and cleaned... ready for action.

So,

I had to take it for a test drive!

The blocks for this baby quilt have been stitched together

and the top is waiting to be quilted.

This one will be donated to the
Baby quilt closet at my church.

My sewing machine wasn't needed to complete this block.

It's number four of my new applique project.

This project is coming together!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

It's Friday

Again!

The weeks just seem to fly these days.

It must be because of all the fun we are having!!

I've had fun cleaning, organizing,

 cutting fabric and hand stitching this week.

AND...

Another applique block is finished.

It took a while to stitch all of these leaves down.

And, no, those aren't chalk lines...

they are part of the design in the fabric.

Three finished!!

I haven't been doing as much knitting since I have

the applique project going,

but I have done a little while in the car.

These will be fun socks for someone to wear.

Black and Gold! VCU!! Go Rams Go!!

Only 70 days until the first Basketball game... Woohoo!!

(I don't want the days to fly past, but it is the best time of the year!)

:)

Please visit Whoop Whoop Friday
and Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Friday!!