This and That

After finishing the big quilt on Friday,

I decided to get a few little things done that have been

hanging around my Hidey Hole.

First,

I hadn't made the Westering Women block for May.

This was a fun and easy block to make.

Below are the blocks I've made for this 

Westering Women BOM.

I've also had a Bucilla stocking front finished,

but needed to make the quilted stocking to which I attach the 

felt front.

This Santa is one of my favorites and will be put away

to be given as a Christmas gift.

Isn't this fabric fun?? Found on the sales rack at one of my LQS!

Then, since I finished one quilt top,

I had to start a new quilt. :)

Out came my Go! cutter and a stack of fat quarters.

I bought most of these fabrics while I was in

Houston in April.

This is going to be a happy little baby quilt.

 The top row is partially sewn together.

The Kaffe "Lazy Daisy" is one of my favorite Kaffe fabrics.

My Prayers go out to the victims, families and all touched by the 

horrible act of terrorism in Orlando, FL.

Peace to all.

Amish with a Twist II Top Finished!

There was a time when I didn't think I would make this quilt.

The colors just didn't speak to me.... blah and boring.

Why did I sign up for this BOM??

Well, I decided to pull out the patterns and fabrics last month

and started making the blocks.

At first I wasn't thrilled,

but when I got to MY colors...

the jewel tones, I became more interested.

Let me just say...

I could not be happier with this finish!

The blocks are all sewn together, waiting for the borders.

The borders have been added!

I almost left off the 2 1/2" square middle border, but am so glad I didn't. 

It just pulls it all together.

(It is really difficult for me to get a good photo of this quilt. It's Huge!!)

My husband loves this quilt.

I said I was thinking of giving it to my

goddaughter, who is newly engaged, as a wedding gift

and he said "NO WAY! This one is staying here!"

 :)

One downside to using this fabric...

 

it frays like CRAZY!

This is just a Small portion of the threads removed from this quilt.

I think I could have stuffed a pillow.

Now to get the backing pieced and then it's off to the quilters.

I'm excited!!

Happy Quilting!

Coming Together

The blocks for "Amish With a Twist II" 

are about 1/3 of the way together.

These are coming together pretty quickly...

they are big blocks and there are not many seams to match.

This is crooked on my design wall.

My wall isn't big enough so it's pinned to the window frame.

:D

 

There are so many solid fabrics in this quilt

and, boy, do they fray!

There are threads EVERYWHERE!!

Hopefully today the whole top will be sewn together and I can begin work

on the borders.

 

I really am loving how this is coming together.

On a different note,

after some comments from my quilty friends who have

taught a lot more quilting classes than I have,

I changed the design I'm going to use

to teach my friends to quilt.

You can't go wrong with nine patches!

We are going fabric shopping on Thursday....

(the sacrifices I'm willing to make for my friends!!)

and the teaching will begin on Friday.

Happy Quilting!

Finished Blocks!

This morning..... early this morning....I sewed the last

few pieces onto the 28 Log Cabin blocks for my

"Amish With a Twist II" quilt.

These blocks seemed to take FOREVER!

I do have to say,

as I have been making the blocks for this quilt,

it has really grown on me.

Now...

How will all of these blocks go together?

It's time to get the pattern out and start playing.


**Edit**

I couldn't wait so I had to lay the blocks out on the floor.
My design wall is not nearly large enough for all of the blocks
and I couldn't get the full effect with just part of them.

The picture isn't the best.
It's dusk, the lighting is poor,
but you get an idea of what this quilt will look like.

 I am amazed that people can come up with these designs.

 

At one point I didn't think these blocks would ever be finished.
That's one problem with waiting several years
and making them all at once.

When I get ready to sew all of the blocks together,
I'm going to sew them in sections instead of rows.
I have to do that with this center star and it will be less cumbersome.

The quilt is coming together!

Happy Friday!

Log Cabin Blocks and Something New

I've kind of stalled on making the blocks for

"Amish with a Twist II"....

The last set of blocks are Log Cabin blocks and I

need 36 of them.

Eight are made with light and dark strips.

These eight are finished.

The remaining 28 blocks are being made with medium and dark strips.

I'm not quite half way on those..

hopefully they will be done in the next few days!

(My camera is not working properly, so I am using my iPhone

and do not like the photos at all. Hopefully my camera will be back in action soon!)

Next week I am going to be teaching three of my friends to quilt!

None have done any kind of quilting and really want to make baby quilts.

I am playing with a pattern to see if this is doable with the newbie quilters.

This will be the body of the quilt.

I imagine their fabrics will be a bit more serene than what

I am using.

:)

 

I had all of these fabrics in my stash and thought they would make

a bright, fun baby quilt.

As far as I'm concerned,

you can't go wrong with polka dots!

 

The pinwheels will be sewn together and then the borders will be added.

It will be a fun time with my friends...

hopefully soon to be quilting friends!

Happy Quilting!

Holly Christmas Tree Skirt

For those who have read my blog for a while,

you may remember that my

"Signature Wedding Gift"

is a quilted Christmas tree skirt....

when appropriate, of course!

My daughter's best friend is getting married

at the end of June,

so a tree skirt is needed.

I had a jelly roll of Christmas fabrics,

so ordered a roll of "Snow"

and made some Log Cabin blocks.

After finding a layout that was pleasing to my eye,

I sewed the blocks into a big square.

 I knew it would need something in all of the white space,

so I got my new book out,

written by my bloggie friend, 

Lara Buccella at BuzzinBumble

and appliqued some holly leaves in the white space,

using Lara's applique technique.

 Lara's technique is so easy and worked so well

on my tree skirt.

I HIGHLY recommend her new book!

The white corners were trimmed on the diagonal

and the quilting was done.

Ta-Da!

 All this needs is a Christmas Tree!

This line of Christmas fabrics is 

gorgeous... traditional with some metallic gold going through it.

(It's Robert Kaufman's "Holiday Flourish.")

The label is on it and it's ready for wrapping.

(I'll let my daughter do the wrapping!)

Christmas will be here before we know it!

YIKES!!

I'm linking up to Patchwork Times today.
Go visit to see what others are creating.

Happy Quilting!

Memorial Day...

To all who have given the

Ultimate Sacrifice

(images borrowed from the internet)

We honor you.

We Thank you.

Kept It...

A while ago I almost threw this little quilt away.

It was made for an Amish Quilt exchange we did in

my quilt group,

but I didn't use it.

The quilting was too bad.

Just look at the corners!

I made another quilt for the exchange and threw this in a pile

of things on my counter.. with the binding pinned to the back.

Why finish it if it's going to be tossed?

The other day I was cleaning and found it and decided

to keep it afterall. Yes, the corners are not quilted well at all,

but it's a process. We don't reach perfection, or even "pretty"

immediately.

So the binding was stitched down and here we are!

I do have some knitting from the last month or so.

I was trying to follow a pattern for these bright socks,

but started knitting it incorrectly.

Oh well... I like them this way!

:)

 

 

It's time to knit the heel on this sock,

but I need about 45 minutes of uninterrupted time. 

It will get done.

And then I have a sock finish!

These are for my 29 year old daughter with the size 1 feet.

The yarn is from Hobby Lobby and is their

"No Wool" brand.

I really enjoyed knitting with this yarn.

Happy Friday!

Gravity Finish

I have a big finish!

And I love it.

It's amazing how different a quilt looks once it's quilted, isn't it?

The Flimsy before quilting...

And the finished quilt.

This quilt is so large, I can't get back enough to get a good photo.

It's too wet and muddy outside to put it on the grass and take

a photo from the deck.

The floor will have to do for now.

I think this quilt will be on the bed in our guest room,

but I haven't decided for sure.

It will need some bright pillow shams if it stays here.

 

The rich, vibrant colors just glow in this one.

It wasn't my favorite while making it,

but now that it is finished,

Woohoo!!

Happy Quilting!

More Amish blocks

Not much sewing was done over the weekend.

I am doing a major overhaul of two rooms in my home,

one being my Hidey Hole.

Things have gotten a little out of hand in here

and it's vexing my spirit.

Time to reorganize.

I did get the next three blocks made for my

"Amish With a Twist II" quilt.

I really enjoy making HST's,

so making these blocks was very relaxing to me.

These are the last three blocks to be made 

before the last big set.

Guess what comes next?!?

If you guessed 36 Log Cabin blocks,

you are correct!

I have a lot of cutting to do first!

For a recap,

Here are the blocks I have made.

It's coming together!

Hopefully I will have a finished quilt top by

the end of the month.

Please visit Patchwork Times to see what others are working on today.

Happy Quilting!