"Be the kind of woman that when your feet hit the floor each morning, the devil says...."Oh crap! She's up!" Unknown

Friday, March 31, 2017

Vintage Chenille Baby Quilt

Last week I was playing in my Hidey Hole
and could not settle on working on one thing.
I found myself jumping from thing to thing to thing.
I finally stopped and looked around me
and realized that I had a LOT quilts
"In the Works"....
Too many.

Something had to happen.
Some of these quilts needed to be finished and out of my room.

Several quilts needed to be quilted and bound, 
so this is where I started.



The Vintage Chenille baby quilt is finished!




It is pouring outside, so very dark and dreary today.
This photo shows the colors of the various
vintage chenille squares the best.
 


 I bought the precut squares at the Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show
from a vendor who had the most beautiful baby clothes made from chenille,
 antique doilies and embroidered table runners.

Two packs of precut squares made this little quilt.
I backed with a sweet little rosebud print,
cotton batting was used
and it was stitched in the ditch.

 


This was more difficult to make then I anticipated.
Sewing over the "chenille" parts was a pain
and stitching in the ditch took some effort as well.

 

It is finished
and ready to be gifted to the next baby girl born in the family.

Woohoo!
One quilt is out of my room.

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

In addition to finishing the baby quilt,
one of the neon socks is finished.



I am VERY disappointed....
These don't glow in the dark!

:D

I'm linking to Whoop Whoop and Patchwork Times today.

Happy Friday!

Thursday, March 30, 2017

Even Weave Finish

Two weeks ago I picked up two quilts from my LAQ;
the first one was En Provence
and the second one was Even Weave.
This quilt is in Kaffe Fassette's book
"Shots and Stripes."

There is something about his striped fabrics
that just make my heart sing.



This quilt is so soft and drapey (Is that a word? :D)
Years ago I made another quilt from Kaffe stripes
and shot cottons and to this day, this is the favorite quilt
of everyone in my family. We fight over it some nights. 
This one might have to stay in my house to give us two to fight over.



I love the quilting design and the deep purple thread my 
LAQ used to quilt it.
 


The most difficult part of making this quilt was making sure
the blocks stayed in order when sewing the rows together.
 It went together very quickly otherwise.

 
 
I picked a solid fabric for the back...
perfect for showing off the quilting.
The back looks like it could be a Hawaiian quilt.

Love it, love it!

Happy Quilting!

Monday, March 27, 2017

Flying Geese

Last week I started cutting and sewing the blocks for a
quilt I have wanted to make for some time.
As I was placing the blocks on my design wall,
they took on a new life of their own.
I loved the new direction these blocks were taking
and decided to go with it.



The blocks are sewn together and will have another black border
added to all sides... probably more of these strips that outline
each block.

Does it need another wider border?
I am thinking maybe a yellow one...
with a few geese flying in spots?

(The top is square... I had to stand on my stool to get the photo!)

 


These geese were so much fun to make
and just pop with the yellow and black.

 


I'll let it hang on my wall for a bit and see what it tells me.
Is it finished or not?




I made these two blocks when I was planning on using
the first design.
What to do with these?
Maybe I'll make at least one more of each and make a small
table topper. 
Time will tell.

I'm linking to Patchwork Times today.

Happy Quilting!

Friday, March 24, 2017

Sunglasses Needed!

One of my niece's LOVES bright things...
the brighter the better.
And Neon is the best!

Did I find the right yarn for her.


I'm not wild about the wide stripes in the yarn pattern,
but she will love these socks.
 


I'm looking for the plug to unplug them!
I wonder if they glow in the dark??

They sure brighten my mood.
:D


And then there is this sock...
made from yarn my mom found at Tuesday Morning
for $1.99/skein.

I'll start the second sock after the neon socks are finished.
 
 


I'm linking to Patchwork Times today.

Happy Friday!

En Provence is Finished!!

Earlier this week I picked up
En Provence
from the Longarmer.
The binding was already made,
so I trimmed the quilt and sewed the binding onto it that night.

The handwork was finished this morning,
finishing this quilt!


This was my first time participating in a
Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt
and, while I am pleased with the results,
I'm not sure I will participate in another one.

 


I love the yellow in this design.
It brings in so much light and brightens the quilt.

 


Normally I am not a fan of purple,
but really like it in this quilt.

 


It's an overcast day here, so the colors didn't pop in these outdoor photos.

 



It is finished and I am thrilled.
Now I will wait until it tells me where it wants to live.

 


Happy Friday!

Wednesday, March 22, 2017

New Direction

The other day I posted photos of blocks I was making
for a quilt I had seen in a book a while ago.
I had gathered the fabrics for this particular quilt
and began cutting and sewing.

All was moving along nicely until I started playing with the finished blocks.

Let's just say plans have changed.

After looking at this layout on my design wall for a day or so,
I am using these blocks for a totally different quilt.
The original plan will be made another time with
different fabrics.


Flying Geese are one of my favorite things to make.
For some reason, though, I cannot make them accurately
without over sizing them and cutting them down to size.

I have tried the technique where four are made at the same time
and they are always off or too small.


Therefore,
the Wing Clipper by Deb Tucker
 is my friend when making Flying Geese.
I make them big...

 


And cut them down to size.
Perfect flying geese every time.

 


You can't go wrong as long as you line up lines and seams and trim.



 The first batch of geese have been trimmed and are waiting for the
black and white sashing.

 

Today was my lucky day for sure!
Since I changed my mind regarding the design of the quilt,
I didn't have enough of the yellow fabric to make the size quilt I want.
This morning I went to the quilt shop, with scrap in hand,
planning on purchasing something close
and Lo and Behold....
the exact same fabric was there!

Praise Be!!


Happy Quilting

Monday, March 20, 2017

Flying Geese

A while ago I collected some orange Kaffe fabrics, 
preparing to make a fun quilt I saw in a book.
I needed to get some black/white and white/black fabrics, too...
something I don't have many of in my stash.

The time has come to begin making this quilt!


After seeing these blocks on my wall,
I might have to make a quilt like this!

These blocks will be sewn together with other blocks
to make the quilt.
I haven't cut the other blocks yet,
or made the middle block.

I am loving this combination!

***Edit***


How fun is this??
I see more flying geese in my future!
And I need to get more black and white fabrics.
:)

Linking up to Patchwork Times today!

Happy quilting!

Friday, March 17, 2017

Blocks and Socks

Last night while listening to my basketball team play
their final game of the 2016/17 season,
I made blocks for a new quilt.

More mindless sewing.


I had another layer cake I wanted to use
and paired up the squares for the Hourglass blocks.

After playing around with the blocks on the design wall,
here is what I have.
I see more tweaking needs to be done!


Once the blocks are where they need to be,
I'll sew them together and have another quilt
to give to someone or donate.


Some knitting has been going on here, too, with the travels
I've taken lately.

 

This pair has actually been finished for a while.
The stripes almost match on these...
totally accidental!


This pair I finished while in Pittsburgh
watching basketball.


My mom found this sock yarn at Tuesday Morning
for $1.99/skein.
Pretty inexpensive pair of socks!

I'm linking to Patchwork Times today.
Take at look at the knitting people are doing.

Have a great weekend!
Happy Creating!

Thursday, March 16, 2017

Mindless Sewing

After finishing this wedding quilt
(which is going to the quilters today!)
and a couple of other little things,
I needed some mindless sewing yesterday.

Out came a layer cake and my white yardage
and the cutting and sewing began.




I've wanted to make this Starburst Quilt
for some time and decided yesterday was the day.
Half Square Triangles are one of my favorite things to make,
so this pattern was fun!

 

I usually have a few quilts on hand to give to people when the 
mood strikes or the circumstances call for one
and I am down to just one.
This one will go into that pile once it is finished.
 

A border will be added to make it a bit larger.
(Ugh!! I just saw a mistake that will need to be fixed....
the yellow HST in the second row in the upper left quadrant
needs to be turned. Photos show everything!)

These fabrics are so bright and happy!

Have a wonderfully quilty day!

Tuesday, March 14, 2017

Snowing Inside!

Where I live in Virginia,
we are getting rain, mixed with some sleet and snow today....
outside.

However,
Inside.... it has snowed!

Yesterday I sewed the squares of vintage chenille together
and the floor is covered, I was covered, the ironing mat is covered
in fuzzy white and pink lint.
(I say "is" and "was" because I haven't vacuumed yet, but did
delint myself before leaving the house.)


I took this photo outside to try and get a photo of the true colors.
This is the closest one.
 

These blocks were a challenge to sew together...
stitching over all of the bumps and rows,
but I love the textures in the blocks.
 

The random little pops of color are fun, tool.
 

It will be backed and bound with a rosebud fabric I just ordered this morning.


Now that the wedding quilt top is finished and
 I am back from our conference basketball tournament,
I am looking forward to getting more sewing and quilting done.


Happy Quilting!

Tuesday, March 7, 2017

Empty Design Wall

This afternoon I put the finishing stitches on the
Wedding Quilt
I'm making for my god daughter.
I can't wait to show it on my blog,
but she reads it, so it will have to wait.

Since my design wall was empty,
I put these 5" squares of 
vintage chenille I purchased at the 
Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show on it.

The vendor who was selling these had some
beautiful quilts and tops made from
vintage chenille, doilies and embroidered table scarves, etc.
She also had precut 5" and 6" squares.

I bought two packs of the pinks and white.


There is a nice variety of the chenilles in each pack.
 

The true colors of the squares is somewhere in between these two photos.
The squares that look brown are more of a pinky peach color.
 

This will make such a feminine little baby quilt.
Now to get the squares all sewn together!

Happy Quilting!

Thursday, March 2, 2017

March Already??

Here we are in March of 2017 already!
The day started off like a lamb, but ended like a lion,
so what does that mean for the rest of the month?
In any event, spring has sprung here in Virginia,
with the trees and bushes blooming weeks before they would normally bloom.

I'll take it!

Bible Book blocks are blooming in my Hidey Hole.
In January I blogged about my History of Quilting group's
theme for this year.
Last month we were given the patterns
for the next five blocks representing
the next five books of the Bible.





I completed these this morning and continue to love the
red and white theme I started.


This block is "Girls Favorite" and represents Ruth.
Let me tell you...
this was NOT my favorite to make!
I am pleased with the results, though.

The Four Patch block represents 1 Samuel
and I was going to do something different to make it more interesting,
but after fighting with "Girl's Favorite," I was very happy to have
a block I could make in minutes!

Here are the first 10 blocks.
My one concern is whether or not I will have enough of my background fabric.
I tried to find more on-line, but had no luck,
and I had purchased all there was when I bought it earlier.



Work on the secret wedding quilt continues.
I'm hoping to have a finished top very soon!

I carried over two goals for March.
Maybe third time will be the charm for quilting the
Pinwheel quilt??
We shall see!

Happy Quilting!