I've Succumbed....

I am jumping on the

"Tumbler" band wagon

and have cut a bunch of

Tumbler pieces.

Using the "Go!" Cutter made quick work of cutting these pieces.

 Plus, the corners are cut so there will be no

guess work as to how the pieces should line up to stitch.

These will be used as a

Leader/Ender project...

something I have not done before.

I am getting ready to start another quilt and

it is time I try this concept.

I have been collecting "Text" fabrics for a while

and am ready to make a quilt with these fun fabrics.

I've cut the squares and rectangles from the text fabrics

and obviously a non-text fabric as well! :)

I'm using Kaffe fabric for the color in this quilt and have

those squares cut, too.

Now all I need is my

Sewing Machine!

Actually,

I am going on my

First Quilting Retreat

in two weeks (Woohoo!!)

and may save this project 

to work on then. 

Happy Quilting!!

Waiting....

  For my sewing machine to return home.

 I had sewn the HST's together a while ago

and cut and trimmed these over the last couple of days.

This baby quilt will be donated to the group at my church

that collects them for various needs.

Hopefully it will be sewn together soon!

Happy Quilting!

August 350 Blocks Report

August was a busy sewing month for me,

but there were not many blocks sewn.

The August "Gravity" blocks were made.

 

A new applique project was started.

I made 4 blocks in August, 

giving me a total of  346 blocks for the year.

I'm still ahead of the goal for 2015. 

Onto September!!

Happy Quilting!

Another Applique Block

Boy, I am slow going this morning!

After spending a wonderful week at the beach

with my family,

Monday morning came too soon!

While at the beach,

I did get another applique block stitched.

I am really enjoying doing applique again, 

but I'm not sold on the

"Starch" method of preparation. 

There are little bumps in the edges at times.

I know it is operator error...

I didn't get the seam allowance turned under smoothly,

but I don't have that problem with needle turn.
Practice makes perfect...
or at least makes it easier!

No pretty beach background today...
just my design wall.

Two finished,
a lot more to do!
  
My sewing machine is in the shop getting the yearly maintanence done.
Hopefully it will be finished soon....
so the shaking can stop!!
 (hehehe)

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!!

Knitting Friday

This sweater I am making

is the never-ending project!

It seems like I have been working on it for Years!

(It has definitely been over a year... I think!)

Anyway,

I finally blocked the sleeve insets and will

now begin knitting the bands around these insets.

In case you have forgotten...

Here is the sweater pattern and the body of the sweater I am knitting.

Hopefully it will be finished before the cold weather hits!

I also finished a pair of ankle socks this week.

These were fun to make!

I loosely used this pattern to make them.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are knitting,

Happy Friday!

First Block Finished

I started appliquing the

Red, White and Blue blocks

and have one finished. 

I'm surprised at how rusty my applique skills are
after not doing it for a long time.

This block may get a "Do Over"...
Especially the larger leaves.

Isn't this a great backdrop?
It's near the beach.
:)

Onto the next block.

Happy Quilting!

Friendship Quilt

As I have mentioned before, 

I belong to a 

"History of Quilting"

group and enjoy spending a couple of hours

once a month with the wonderful group of ladies.

Each session we are given a challenge project to make if we choose

to participate.

Two sessions ago we were given the pattern for the
"Friendship Block"

and were asked to put something that spoke to us

on the 5" square in the center.

It could be a quote, a picture, applique, a Bible verse...

anything.

At the final meeting of the session we would exchange the

blocks with each other.

During this session,

one of the ladies was being treated for breast cancer.

We decided as a group that she would be the

recipient of all of our blocks.

We "exchanged" the blocks at the meeting

and then gave them all to her at the end of this gathering.

She was very touched.

Well,

fast forward a few months.

I volunteered to sew the blocks together for this friend.

The top was delivered to her this past week and she was so pleased.

 It isn't a great photo of the top since I had to use my

"Design Floor"

but you get the idea of what it looks like.
It was neat to see what each of us chose to put in the middle of
our blocks.

The best thing about this group is the friendships made.


Happy Quilting!

        

New Applique Project

It has been a long time since I have worked on

Hand Applique

and I have the "itch" to do some.

In the past I have only done 

Needle Turn Applique,

but this time I am trying something new.

I have read about the

"Starch Method"

on a number of blogs

and decided to try this.

There is a lot of prep work

before the stitching even begins,

but once the prep is finished,

the stitching goes very quickly.

So,

I gathered my supplies...

 

 

 Isn't this little travel iron cute?

I have the Clover mini iron, but have not been able

to get it hot enough to do anything.

 

I ironed two pieces of freezer paper together,

using my teflon pressing sheet.

(The freezer paper was ironed so both shiny sides were facing down,

one of top of the other.) 

Then I traced the necessary pieces onto the freezer paper and cut them out. 

I then ironed these pieces to the backs of the fabric, 

leaving plenty of room to cut my seam allowance

and cut each piece out with a scant 1/4" seam allowance.

 

These pieces are ready to have the seam allowance pressed to the back.

The starch was brushed onto the seam allowance of each piece

and allowed to dry a bit.

Using the travel iron, I pressed the edges over the

freezer paper, clipping curves and "v's" where necessary.

I am a rookie at this, so it isn't as neat and precise as it could be.

Ready for applique!

I have my sewing machine on my cutting table

and decided to use my acrylic machine table as a 

light box instead of getting my actual light box out.

 (That's my mini travel Ott light under the machine table.)

It worked really well to get the pattern traced onto the backing fabric.

Now that the prep work is finished,

the stitching can begin!

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Gravity Grows...

The fabric for the August

"Gravity" blocks arrived

and the blocks have been pieced.

I really like these colors and design.

I just realized these fit with my

"Christmas in August"

theme I have going right now.

Happy Quilting!!

More Christmas

Last year for my birthday a friend gave me a kit to make 

a quilted wreath wall hanging

that you add lights to once it's finished.

This kit was pulled from my cabinet of
"To do " projects and is almost finished!

I wasn't sure how to quilt this, so looked on line to see what others had done.

Most had quilted just the outside and inside of the wreath.

That worked for me, too.

All that is left is to stitch the battery pack pocket on the back and

cut the openings for the lights.

This will be a nice addition to my Christmas decorations

and bring some sparkle to my house.

Thanks Ellen!!

Happy Quilting!

Christmas in August!!

A few months ago

I showed these felt stockings I made from

Bucilla kits.

These kits are so much fun to make

and are pretty foolproof,

as long as you follow the directions.

This week I made the quilted stockings that I attached

these felt stockings fronts to to make them very sturdy.

 This way they can be stuffed with goodies at Christmas.

 

 

I make a "quilt" from my fabric and then use either the

felt backing that comes with the kit or the felt stocking front

as a pattern.

I cut the front and back for the stocking from the quilt I made.

A hanging tab is made.

The front and back are stitched together around the outside.

Biased binding is made and stitched onto the front of the stocking

and turned to the back and stitched down.

The tab is stitched to the inside before the binding as added to the top.

This is the completed quilted stocking before the felt front

is stitched to it.

And here are the two completed stockings!

These are very sturdy and can now be filled to the brim with goodies.

Yay! Two gifts finished for Christmas.

Happy Quilting!

The Floor Mat...

I gave my sister the floor mat I made for her

and was promptly told

"There is no way this is going on the floor!"

It's hers...

she can do with it as she pleases.

:)

I have to say,

I was worried that in washing it,

the pictures in the panel would be lost.

Before washing...

 (This is square and straight... for some reason the photo makes it look uneven.)

And after.

It's softer, but still very recognizable. 

Happy Quilting!

Chenille Floor Mat

Have you ever purchased the items

necessary to make something

and then put it off 

FOREVER,

thinking it's going to be too difficult or take a long time?

Two years ago or so I was in a quilt shop and saw

this great chenille floor mat.

I asked the owner how to make it

and purchased what was needed to make one.

I was going to make one for my sister.

Well....

I'd plan to make it, but wouldn't because I was

afraid it would take too long

or be too difficult

or not turn out the way it should.

Yesterday I finally decided

"Today is the day."

I pulled out the fabric and cut the four layers plus the canvas for the bottom.

A piece of batting was cut and the 

stitching lines were drawn on back of the canvas.

The stitching began.

This went together so quickly!

 

And turned out great.

I haven't washed it yet, but will before I give it to my sister.

(Act surprised, Deeda!)

 

Here I was almost dreading making this floor mat,

put it off for two years

and it took all of 

Three Hours!!

Happy Quilting!

Beautiful Dresdens

I have mentioned before that I belong to a

History of Quilting group that meets monthly.

This is one great group of women!

The talent in the room is amazing

and we have a great time at our meetings.

A few sessions ago we were given a challenge to find inspiration

in an antique quilt and create something from that inspiration.

This was my creation for the challenge.

Our wonderful leader, Linda, was inspired by my quilt

and asked if she could use my design to create something of her own.

"Of Course!!"

Well, yesterday her quilt came back from her Long Arm Quilter

at our monthly meeting

and it is gorgeous!

Isn't this wonderful??

(I apologize for the blurry photo... )

I love the colors Linda used and the different Dresdens.

The quilting is so much fun, too....perfect for this quilt.

Each month I get so excited when it's History Club Saturday.

Talk about inspiring!!

Keep those creative juices flowing!!

Happy Quilting!