More Bible Book Blocks

I realized that I have not posted about my new set of

Bible Book Blocks.

This year the History of Quilting group I belong to has been making

blocks that represent each book of the 

Old Testament.

We could chose any colorway we wanted

and use other block designs if we felt so moved.

I had a box of red fabrics I had collected to make

the first "It Takes 2" and didn't get too far into that process.

I am loving these blocks made with the red fabrics, though.

Here are the blocks for September.

There isn't a lot of contrast in the 5th block,

but for now it's staying as is.

 I love putting all of the blocks together on my

Design Wall.

When I'm ready to make the quilt top,

I'll decide on fabric for sashing and cornerstones.

Right now, nothing is coming to me 

except navy or dark blue.

We shall see!

There are a lot of different red fabrics in these blocks!

For the most part, these blocks have been fun to make.

Some were a little frustrating,

but thankfully not many.

 

Four more to go with the Old Testament Blocks.

I don't know if I have enough background fabric to make

the New Testament blocks.

The quilt may stop here.

Happy Quilting!

Pumpkin Finishes

I love Pumpkin!

Pumpkin pie, Pumpkin bread, Pumpkin cookies,

Pumpkin roasted with some onion and mushrooms,

Pumpkin Ravioli, Pumpkin cake,

Pumpkin anything (except ice cream).

When I saw this quilt with pumpkins,

I knew I would be making one.

Instead of one large quilt,

I made four smaller wall hangings.

I didn't make any of the pumpkins with 

2 1/2" squares as the pattern called for,

but love the striped pumpkins.

The wonderful thing about these pumpkin quilts

is they were all made from my stash.

 I didn't have to buy a thing!

 

They are ready for gifting

and celebrating fall.

After all of this talk about pumpkins,

I might have to go make some pumpkin muffins...

or scones...

or..... 

Happy Quilting!

Frustration....

I have another finish today

that almost wasn't a finish....

several times. 

Several times I almost threw this little quilt in the trash.

It has been one of the most frustrating things to make.

In the amount of time it took me to make this little quilt,

I could have made a queen size bed quilt.

It was started over a year ago.

I'd work on it, get frustrated, put it aside,

work on it, etc.

The strips of color were not the difficult part to make,

but, boy, do they have stretch!

The edge of the color strips are all bias and it was really hard

to get them all the same length.

I swear I used a can of spray starch on this little quilt!

I finally decided to finish it no matter how wonky it ended up being.

And it is wonky!

This quilt is 18" x 18".

I would say 18" square, except it isn't square.

:D

These little pieces of color are 1/2" wide finished.

No matter how much I starched, stretched, pinned and pulled,

I could not get it straight.

Oh well... lesson learned.

It's finished and the pile is gone from my Hidey Hole.

Onward and Upward!

If everything was easy,

where is the challenge?

Happy Quilting!

Another Finished Tree Skirt

My quilting seems to go in cycles....

start a number of new projects,

then finish a number of projects.

Start of number,

finish a number.

Right now I am in the

"Finish a Number" phase.

Thank goodness!

My Hidey Hole is being overrun with piles.

I started a Christmas Tree Skirt to be donated

for a silent auction item.

My stand-by pattern was used...

"Fruitcake Under My Tree"

at Moda Bake Shop. 

It's finished and ready for delivery.

This is such a quick and easy pattern to use

and really shows off the fabrics nicely.

 

The glitzy, sparkly Christmas fabrics

are my favorites.

 

I used a Layer Cake for this tree skirt,

but I don't remember the name.

:(

Another finish and another pile cleared!

Happy Quilting!

Tuffet for my Niece

My niece just finished the work on her PhD and has defended it.

She is moving to a new city to begin a new job,

teaching at a university and seminary.

Knowing that she would be needing to buy some things for her new home,

I asked where she would like a gift card.

(She isn't a huge fan of quilts.)

She shocked me with her response.

While here visiting for my daughter's wedding shower,

my niece asked if I would make her a tuffet!

Well, Of COURSE I would!

She let me know what colors she wanted

and I headed to the quilt shop.

:)

A local quilt shop holds classes for the

construction of the tuffet periodically.

All of the sewing of the top is done at home

and then the instructor brings

the foam, base, upholstery tools and her know how

to the class.

This is the third one I have made

and each one amazes me.

How a bunch of 2" strips of fabric could turn into

something so cool is so much fun!

Once my niece moves,

it will be shipped to her.


I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today.

Happy Quilting!

Pumpkins Quilted

For some reason I am not one to decorate for fall.

I have a few things people have given to me over the years,

but don't often pull them out.

This year I got the urge to make some

Pumpkin Quilts,

so I found this pattern and started cutting and sewing.

There are four of these wall hangings,

each with four pumpkins.

They are all quilted and have the binding sewn

to the front.

 

After quilting the first one,

I thought the pumpkins looked more like

orange apples.

I, then, quilted the "Pumpkin Lines" on the inside of each pumpkin.

 

I've had the border fabric in my stash for a while

and was happy to use it with these.

 

Hopefully the binding will get stitched down soon

and these will be given to their intended owners.

Happy Quilting!

Nine Patch Bliss

I haven't had a chunk of totally mindless sewing time in a while.

The other day I came into my Hidey Hole,

pulled out some nine patches I had made quite some time ago,

found my box of Kaffe scraps

and began to cut.

Making nine patches is totally mindless sewing to me

and Nine patches I made.

I had made a few of these some time ago

and had put them aside, 

not knowing what was going to be made with them.

 

A lot of the 2 1/2" Kaffe squares were already cut,

but the polka dots needed to be cut to make the nine patches.

 

I just sat in here with Netflix playing

and sewed and sewed.

One thing I like about Kaffe fabrics

is how the colors are the same tones

from the older fabrics to the newer fabrics.

They can be paired together and they look 

like they are from the same time frame.

Last night I prepped four projects for machine quilting.

The Christmas Tree Skirt will be quilted today and tomorrow....

I hope!

 

I was hoping to have these pumpkin wall hangings done

by now,

but we had visitors over the weekend!

I'm linking to Design Wall Monday

over at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Happy Quilting!

Christmas Tree Skirts

Last night I pulled fabric to begin another

Christmas Tree Skirt.

**Edit**

The blocks are made for the new tree skirt
and are arranged on my design wall.
Some tweaking has been done since this photo was taken,
so the blocks are in place and ready for sewing.


 

As some of you know,

Christmas tree skirts are my "go to" wedding gift.

The one I am getting ready to make

is not for a wedding gift, however,

but for a silent auction item for an organization I support.

The auction will be in October

and I thought this might be a fun item to have in the auction.

While deciding on the design for this tree skirt,

I looked back at my photos to see

which designs I have used in the past.

I thought it would be fun to  have them all in one post.
Some of the tree skirts I've made did not get
photographed for some reason,
but most are here.

This is a Bucilla Kit I made for my younger daughter
one year for Christmas.
I think the kit has been discontinued.

My own design.

Made from the Moda Bake Shop pattern
"Fruitcake Under My Tree."
I made two of these this particular year
and made a HUGE mistake on this one.
The hole is not centered!
It actually works out well, though,
because we put a tree up in the corner of our foyer and the
skirt fits it perfectly with the hole off center.

This was made with a pattern that I can't find.
It uses the wedge ruler and was pretty
easy to make.

A bright skirt!

Another "Fruit Cake Under My Tree."

This pattern came from "Freemotion By the River"

I made this for my now Son-in-Law for
Christmas last year.
It's another discontinued Bucilla Kit.

An adaptation of the pattern from
"Freemotion By the River"

Another "Fruitcake Under my Tree."

I love this pattern and am using this one again for the
silent auction tree skirt.
It uses 10" squares and goes together so quickly.
It really shows off the prints nicely, too.

There are other patterns in my stash, waiting to be used.
They are such fun things to make for gifts
and people seem to appreciate them.

Happy Quilting!

Pumpkins, pumpkins....

Fall is creeping in a bit here

with cooler temperatures,

lower humidity

and leaves falling from the trees.

I hate to see summer end,

but it isn't up to me.

:)

Things are slowly getting back to normal

after my daughter's wedding last weekend.

I didn't spend as much time in my

Hidey Hole

as I would have liked,

but did have some fun making

Pumpkins.

I found this pattern at Cluck, Cluck Sew

and gathered a lot of my orange fabrics.

Instead of making one big quilt,

I'm making a few small quilts.

They will be given as gifts

and shared with others.

 

 Some of the pumpkins look like apples to me,

but quilting should help that.

I'll quilt the curved pumpkin lines in the solid one especially.

The pumpkin on the right is gold metallic....

quite glitzy!

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My thoughts and prayers are going up for those

in Irma's path and continue for those in Texas.

May God bless you and keep you all protected.

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I'm linking to Design Wall Monday today

at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts.

Happy Quilting!

Wedding...

What a week we have had here!

My younger daughter was married on Sunday

and things could not have gone better.

The weather didn't cooperate for the rehearsal party at our home,

but we just moved it all inside and

talked and laughed and ate and

visited with family and friends,

new and old.

Sunday was a picture perfect day for the wedding.

Cooler, clear skies and little humidity.

It was gorgeous.

Now that the gift has been given,

I can show the finished wedding quilt

I made for the happy couple.

This pattern is called

"Diamonds in the Deep." 

It's made with four different blocks

and then several different blocks

cut for the setting triangles and corners.

I had it quilted with a swirl pattern

in the teal color thread.

It isn't difficult to make

but takes precise sewing and trimming.

My new Son-in-law chose the color

and my daughter was thrilled.

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I am not one to put photos of people on my blog,

but will make an exception here.

These are a few photos that family took of the wonderful day.

I can't wait to see the photographers photos!

Drew and Jillian were married at our church.

The Bridal Party

 My older daughter, Emily, is next to Jillian.

Next to Emily is Colleen, my god daughter. 

(I made the other Diamonds in the Deep quilt for her back in the spring.)

The Groomsmen are Drew's brothers in law.

A family moment before the wedding.

It was a wonderful weekend and we are sad for it to be over,

but thrilled that Jillian is starting her life with such a wonderful man.

Happy Life!