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!

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!

Tree Skirt #2 and Bags

This week I've been working on finishing the 

Secret Wedding Quilt

and am making good progress on it.

I found out that my goddaughter does indeed read my blog,

so I am very glad I haven't posted photos of my progress!

I also was able to have a few finishes this week.

My bag obsession continues!

Three more Becca bags were completed

and I think this will be it for these for a while.

This weekend my nephew is getting married,

so these will be gifts for my sisters-in-law.

 

I bought these fabrics to make a chenille rug

and that never happened.

I'm kind of glad it didn't!

Christmas Tree #2 is about finished.

The ties need to be added and the label made.

This is for a wedding gift later in the spring.

This pattern was supposed to have pinwheels instead of the

squares on point,

but you make one little mistake and it changes everything!

:)

(Thankfully the mistake was consistent!)

 

I love the deep red and green fabrics.

After making the two tree skirts this month,

I need to restock my Christmas fabrics.

Darn!!

 

The ties and label will be sewn on and this one

will be ready for gifting.

Happy Quilting!

Friday Start and Finish

As some of you know,

I make Christmas Tree Skirts to give as

Wedding Gifts when appropriate.

The past two years I have had to keep my

Christmas Tree Skirt production line open.

This year I have completed one

and have this one ready to quilt.

 

I have to confess.....

This isn't the design I started out making,

but after all of the pieces were sewn,

this is the result.

 

 Connie at Freemotion at the River

has a Christmas Tree Skirt pattern

that I have made before and loved it.

You sew two little pieces in the wrong direction

and the whole look changes!

:)

 

Thankfully, I like the new look.

Now to get this quilted, bound and wrapped!

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Today I have a knitting finish!

A few months ago Judy at Patchwork Times made this shawl 

and I knew I wanted to make one.

I am a slow knitter,

but I finished it last night!

All it needs is to be blocked.

I love the cable down the middle of this shawl

and coming from a rookie cable knitter,

it was pretty easy to knit!

 

Hopefully I'll get it blocked this weekend

and will be able to wear it soon.

 

 

I'm linking to Patchwork Times today.

Please visit to see what others are knitting.

Happy Friday!

Bags Abound

This week I needed some quick finishes.

I have a couple of large projects in the works, 

which are going to take a while to finish,

so I needed a finish fix.

Out came my Becca Bag pattern.

For some reason,

beyond my memory,

years ago I bought a bunch of this fabric line.

I must have bought a fat quarter bundle along with some yardage,

so it's being used to make these bags.

 

These bags go together very quickly.

The most difficult part is getting the zipper pull back onto the zipper

after it's sewn to the bag.

 

I have a few more in mind to make for gifts.

After making the Becca Bag,

I made another Sew Together Bag.

I'm addicted!

After adding the different fabrics to the outer panel,

I straight line stitched the quilt sandwich.

 

These fabrics are so soft and feminine.

 

It's so much fun to play with the fabrics and choose different

pieces for the pocket linings, etc.

I have one more of these bags cut out and ready to go.

I've had the inner part of this little quilt done since before Christmas.

It's paper pieced and was waiting to be made into something.

The border fabric was added,

the quilting was done

and it's a finish.

I should have taken the pins out of my design wall or moved the piece

before taking the photo.

Oh well.

:)

Happy Quilting!

Kellen's Tree Skirt

Last night I put the finishing stitches in the

Christmas Tree skirt for my nephew's wedding gift.

Yay!! I have a finish and a completed goal!

The sun was so bright when I took this photo on my deck

that the colors aren't as sharp as they are in person.

This pattern is the "Joyful Jelly Roll Tree Skirt"

from the Fat Quarter Shop 

and can be found here.

The tree skirt went together very easily,

although there was a lot of waste,

especially in making the squares.

If I make this one again,

I'll string piece the squares.

I found the fabric for the back on sale.

I  love this piece.

Now I just need to put a label on it, wrap it,

and wait for the wedding at the end of the month.

I'm linking to Patchwork Times today.
Please visit to see what others have done this week.

Happy Quilting!

Tree Skirt Progress

The Christmas Tree Skirt that needs to be finished

by the end of the month is ready to be quilted.

This is a new pattern for me

and it's been fun to make.

The points have been trimmed off so the sides are straight.

The pattern called for white fabric on the border,

but it was just too much white for me.

 

I am using a lot of my Christmas fabric stash for this tree skirt.

Lots of metalic gold here!

 

Waiting to be pin basted.

Hopefully the quilting will be done by Sunday.

 

I also finished another

Sew Together Bag.

This one was used when I taught my friends how to make it.

There might be a few more of these in my future.

 

This one will be given to a friend of mine.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Happy Quilting!

Finished Bag

Over the weekend I had some time to sew

and finished one of the

Sew Together Bags

I started to teach my quilting buddies.

This bag is so much fun to make.

Picking the fabrics and

seeing it all come together is addicting!

For me, putting the binding on the sides is the

trickiest part. Stitching through all of the bulk

and making sure the binding is stitched down takes patience.

 

And then you end up with this!

 

How fun is that??

In addition to the secret wedding quilt I am making,

another wedding gift is needed by the end of  this month!

You know what that means.....

Christmas Tree Skirt time!

I am using a new pattern for this one.

Hopefully it will be a finished top by the end of the week.

 

Happy Quilting!

Finished Blocks!

The Wedding Quilt blocks are finished,

but I can't show them here!

Now I will begin putting the quilt together.

In the meantime,

I have done a little "non secret" sewing

and have a couple of things to show here.

My new quilting buddies all wanted to learn how to make the

Sew Together Bag.

Yesterday we all gathered here with supplies in hand and began the adventure.

I am making two bags at once.

The exterior piece is straight line quilted with variegated thread.  

This is the exterior for the second bag.

I've had these fabrics for years!

It's good to get them out and made into something.

 

The zippers are in on the interior for the second bag.

Following this tutorial helps so much in making these bags.

Hopefully I will have finished bags to show soon!

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I have been able to knit some on my 

"Under the Oak" shawl the past couple of weeks.

After ripping it all out because of TWO mistakes

and starting over,

things are moving along nicely.

The pattern calls for one more cable, 

but I may make two more.

After the body is finished,

a band is knitted onto the shawl.

For all of you more experienced knitters,

how do I knit so the little openings don't form on the side of the

cable twist.

I have pulled the yarn as tight as I can when knitting

these rows, but get the little openings.

 

This isn't quite as portable as a sock!

Happy Friday!