I'm Here!

Boy, when one is working on a secret quilt

that takes a LOT of time to make,

there isn't much time for anything else. 

Plus, the Blog is boring!

This week I did sneak in some other sewing though!

My History Club group started another session this month

and for this year we are making a quilt of

Bible Study Blocks.

At one point the patterns were free,

but now can be purchased here.

Our Club leader has divided the books of the

Old Testament blocks into ten months

and we are to make our own fabric choices.

Several years ago, when the red and white quilts were the rage,

I started participating in the

"Just Takes 2" quilt along.

I made it through the first quarter and became too frustrated with the quilt.

Fast forward to today.

I had purchased a number of reds with which to make that quilt

and haven't done anything with them.

Until now!

These blocks represent the first five books of the Bible,

but from right to left.

(Genesis is in the upper right corner.)

I guess I was channeling my inner "Hebrew" when I placed these blocks

on my design wall.

 

The blocks will be 6" finished.

 

At first I was going to use different background fabrics,

but I like the consistency of the one fabric.

Once again, Linda has picked a great topic for our club.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The "Secret" quilt is coming along.

These blocks are waiting to be trimmed

and then the strips below will be added.

 

This wedding isn't until May, but I am so glad I started

the quilt when I did.

It's taking a lot longer than I anticipated!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I was looking at something on line a while ago

and saw a photo of someone using a milk glass dish

as a "catch-all" for their sewing implements.

I have a small collection of milk glass,

but didn't have this piece....

until the other day.

Maybe this will keep my things where I can find them.

 

One can dream!

If nothing else, I have a piece of milk glass in my Hidey Hole!

Happy Quilting!

Secret Sewing and Not Secret Knitting

This week has seen a lot of sewing in my

Hidey Hole,

but I can't show you!

My god daughter is getting married in May

and work on her wedding gift has begun.

This is going to take a while,

so I am really glad I started early!

She reads my blog on occasion, so I can't show photos

of my progress here,

but can show little snippets.

It took me a LONG TIME to cut all of the strips

for this quilt.

Yes... it is just two colors.

 

Sewing the blocks together has begun.

It's going to be king size... my first!

(Her fiance is 6'5" tall!)

 

Lots of starch is being used.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

There are a couple of knitting projects on my needles this week.

 

While in Pittsburgh last fall, I found this wool-free yarn.

It is so soft in the skein, but not as soft knitted.

I haven't used this yarn before, so will be interested to see

how it wears.

I love the stripes!

 

My daughter with the size 1 shoe wanted another pair of socks.

These take no time to knit!

 

This week I stepped out of my comfort zone with my knitting!

No socks on these needles.

This is Under the Oak shawl.

Judy made this a while ago and I loved hers.

 

This cable goes down the middle and is the focal point of the shawl.

So far, so good!

I'm linking to Patchwork Times today.

Please visit to see what others are knitting.

Have a great weekend!

Cute Little Bags

Last week, the quilt club my friends and I started a few months ago met.

Each month we take turns bringing a project or item to teach 

the others to make.

It's a really laid back group,

full of laughter, fun conversation and, of course,

Quilting!

Mary sent us the list of items we would need for these bags

and the sizes of our fabric pieces needed.

What fun these were to make!

These bags went together so quickly and are a great size.

 

They use one zipper between the two bags, 

but you need an extra zipper pull.

 

Apparently making these bags is addictive!

I should have taken a picture of the pile of beauties

 Mary has finished!

After making this set,

I can see why they are addictive!

 

Fast!

Easy!

And Oh So Cute!!

Here is a link to the pattern for this bag,

The Becca Bag,

in case you need some!

I'm linking to Patchwork Times today.

Please visit and see what others are creating.

 

Happy Quilting!

Finished Top!

Last night I put the final stitches in

En Provence!

It's a finished top.

I just put it on the floor to get a quick photo,

but I will press it good and get some better photos soon.

Then it's off to the quilters!

Woohoo!!

I really do like this design and the colors used.

Now I can say I have made a Quiltville quilt.

Happy Quilting!

The Center is Finished!

When we get snow here in Virginia, 

it usually closes everything.

There aren't a lot of snow plows to clear the roads,

and we often get ice along with the snow.

I live in the country, so our roads are some of the last

to be plowed.

This all means that when it snows....

I am usually not able to leave my house for a couple of days.

DARN!! 

That means I just might have to sew!

And sew I did... yesterday and today.

My goal was to finish the main part of En Provence

and I did!

As I finished a block, I pinned it to the wall.

These are waiting to be ironed.

Finished sashing strips waiting to be ironed as well.

The blocks, sashing strips and corner stones are all sewn together.

I only had to use my seam ripper once!!

The top of the quilt looks so nice,

but don't look at the back!

Try as I might,

my seams did not always align neatly.

I really dislike pressing seams open

(it takes too long),

so sometimes they are ironed to the same side on the back.

As long as you don't see the back, who can tell??
:D

Next comes the borders!

One is almost ready to sew in place.

Maybe later??

Today Bonnie has a link-up so we can see other quilters' versions
of En Provence.

I'm also linking with Patchwork Times today. Please visit to see what others
are creating.

Stay warm!

Happy Quilting!

En Provence Progress

This is the first time I have participated in a

Quiltville Mystery quilt and I have learned a few things

in doing this.

First, there are A LOT of pieces in a Bonnie quilt. A LOT!

Second, it makes the process much less daunting

when the process is broken down into manageable steps.

I need to remember this when I am thinking of making

a quilt with a lot of steps... break it down into small bites.

 

Third, I'm not a really scrappy person.

I try to control the scrappiness,

but with this quilt, that is impossible.

 I Tried to just put the pieces out and sew them together

with very little fiddling, but could not do it!

En Provence is becoming a quilt!

All of the parts are assembled and ready to be put into the blocks,

Yes... I have had to use my seam ripper... a few times!

I can't totally just pick the parts and make the block.

These piles are blocks waiting to be made.

 It's coming along.

Six blocks done and the rest are waiting their turn.

I am using the sashing pieces as leader/enders for the big blocks.

Two sashing strips are pieced with each block.

Hopefully it will soon be a finished top!

These blocks are a secret for now.

The preciseness of my cutting and piecing will be challenged with these blocks.

Be safe if bad weather is headed your way.

Happy Quilting!

History of Quilting Group Quilt

I have mentioned before that I belong to a wonderful quilting group.

It's a History of Quilting group and over the years

we have learned some great things about some amazing women 

who done some unbelievable things.

Some were spies in the Civil War,

some homesteaded to parts unknown,

some headed west on the Oregon Trail,

some worked in the textile mills up north and

fought for the rights of women.... 

And all of them quilted.

 

Our leader, Linda, has given us some great projects to do

over the years, that go along with the book or subject we are studying.

They are challenging and so much fun.

Two sessions ago, Linda switched up our normal way of doing things.

She asked each of us to do a "book report" on any book we wanted.

We could have read it in High School or whenever, but we were

to give our report to the group.

In addition to the book report, she asked us to make a quilt block

that represented the book to us.

We could do anything.... but had to use the fabrics she gave us

and it had to be a 12 1/2" square.

This session was awesome!

It was so neat to hear each report and how the books spoke to each of us.

The best part was seeing the blocks that were created.

Linda collected all of the blocks and made this quilt.

Isn't it amazing how different each of our blocks is?

And yet they go together so nicely in this quilt.

Linda pieced the top,

Patti quilted it

and I sewed the binding onto it.

This quilt will be raffled off and the proceeds will be donated

to our local women's shelter.

This group of women is such a blessing to me.

I look forward to seeing them each and every month

and have learned so much from being a part of this group.

Happy Quilting!

Happy 2017...A Finish

They say that whatever you do on

New Year's Day,

you will do for the rest of the year.

If this is the case, I'm going to have a great year.

:)

I went to two church services,

visited with friends

and finished a quilt!

Not a bad way to begin a new year.

This top had been finished for several months,

but hadn't been quilted.

I had made two of these scrappy baby quilts at the same time

and had finished the first one a while ago.

This one was patiently waiting to be quilted.

 (I had to stand on a stool to take this photo, which is why

it doesn't looks square.)

I practiced some feather circles in the white areas

and then quilted in the ditch and on the diagonal over the rest of the quilt.

I love this striped binding with the scrappy blocks.

This will go on my baby quilt shelf, waiting for the arrival

of one of the many babies being born this year.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others
are doing in 2017.

Happy 2017!

Happy Quilting!