Design Wall Monday

On the design wall today is a little baby quilt for my oldest son's, ex-wife's daughter (whew, that's a mouthful!), who is expecting a baby in April.



I had a piece of Winnie-the-Pooh fabric leftover from something, maybe Andrew's 1st quilt. Anyway, I bordered each block with a blue or green and am adding white sashing. I have a white/green/blue plaid that I'm going to use for the backing and binding, and maybe a border.



Creative Scrap Quilting at its best!

January UFO - #6

I finished my UFO for January tonight. Winter Pines is the pattern by Kay Capps Cross and I only made 9 of these trees, well, actually 10 of them and the other will become a pillow, or something.



I quilted it today using Square Spiral by Keryn Emmerson, Eggshell Permacore thread and Hobbs 80/20 batting.



I stitched the binding on the machine this time. I intended to do it by hand, but Dan was watching something on TV that I didn't want to watch, so I shut the door to my sewing room and emerged later with a finished quilt.

Stashbusting 2011 - #5

Fabric Added this week - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 3 yards

Fabric Used this week - 4.5 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 24.25 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: 21.75 yards

No purchases again this week. I'm noticing that my drawers of fabric have more and more space each week. Out with the old and in with the new!

Retreat Door Prizes

The past few days have brought great door prize donations for Spring Break at Mardi Gras. It is wonderful to know that even in these tough times, quilting supply vendors and quilt shops are still willing to send a donation. This weeks goodies are from June Taylor, Walmart, Nancy's Notions, Olfa, and Pieced Together Quilt Shop in Fort Wayne. Thank you so much!!

We are down in numbers a bit from last year, but we still have 37 guild members attending.

Speaking of retreats....
There is still space available at the Shipshewana retreat October 27-30, 2011. The link to the registration form is at the right and all you need to do is send $20 per person to me, and make your room reservation at The Farmstead Inn.

Here's a funny for you: We have 37 signed up for this retreat, also.

Another Rhapsody in Bloom

Last night I decided to make a little valentine table runner with the Scrap Squad Rhapsody in Bloom pattern.



I won a Fat Quarter pack from Jeanne's blog giveaway in 2008 and they have been waiting for the perfect pattern. Well, here it is...isn't it cute.



And look at the stripe I will use for the binding. I have enough of the red/white polka-dots to add triangle ends if I decide to.

Quiltmaker Scrap Squad

It's time for the big reveal!

When I saw the call for participation in the Scrap Squad, I knew it was for me. I have long been known as the "quilter who doesn't do random." And I didn't, until I started following Bonnie from Quiltville. Her quilts really got me out of my little matchy, matchy box and helped me create great scrappy quilts.

My oldest grandson, Tony, asked for a quilt for his new apartment and I planned to make one for him in burgandys and tans, using the first Scrap Squad pattern. But when I saw the Rhapsody in Bloom pattern, I changed my mind. I had a stack of floral fat quarters from an online birthday swap and decided to use them. My quilt is not what I call striking, but has a blended look. Tony's quilt will be the next one I make, as I think this one will be a very nice Quilt of Valor for a female soldier.

Here's what I started with:



On the design wall, deciding if I wanted to keep all the segments of each block together, or randomize them??? I actually sewed my quilt together in rows, and not blocks. That process works best for my brain.



A closeup of some of the fabrics:



The back:


The finished Rhapsody in Bloom:


The pattern was designed by a teenage boy. If you subscribe to Quiltmaker, you will want to check out this pattern.

Check out the other Scrap Squad members quilts. They are stunning!
Jane
Dionne
Kim
Donna
Pat
Carol
Linda

Visit Quilters Club of America and check out the Scrap Squad Group.

Thank you Quiltmaker for this wonderful opportunity! Be sure to visit the Quiltmaker Quilty Pleasures Blog to see all the other beautiful quilts.

That's What Friends Are For!

A few years ago I purchased a little kit for a mini Dresden Plate quilt for $14.99 while on a Shop Hop with my guild. Months later I opened up the package and saw the size of the plates. They were tiny!!! No bigger than an inch.

Talking to my friend Janet about it, she said she would love to have it. So, I handed it over to her and wished her well. Imagine my surprise when I unwrapped it at Christmas this year. She had stitched all those little plates and sewn them down to the background, and she even quilted it. The only thing I had left to do was the binding. See that 3.5" ruler!



I finished up the binding while at the Indianapolis Airport during our 6 hour delay.

Isn't it cute?


Thank you Janet!

Carole's Zebras

I'm happy to be finished with these zebras! They kind of gave me the creeps outlining them. I swear that some of their stripes moved...of course, I know better, but they made me cross-eyed.



The center piece was outlined,

big diamonds in the black borders,(and that thread is a very dark gray) see all the strings from that border fabric.



wiggly crosshatching in the printed borders, and the wide borders have beadboard.

Design Wall Monday

Now, how cute are these? They are my bonus triangles from the Scrap Squad quilt.



They will be 3" blocks and I have all these too, but they didn't make it to the wall yet.



Check out JudyL's blog for more design walls.

Stashbusting 2011 - #4

Fabric Added this week - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 3 yards

Fabric Used this week - 2.5 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 20.25 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: 17.75 yards

Not much stitching going on here, as we went to Colorado for Cory's memorial service. I did get in a little something at Shelly's house yesterday. We made Margo Bags, by Lazy Girl Designs. Here's my finished bag:

Back from Colorado...

...and just look at this great mail!

I received the first donation for Spring Break at Mardi Gras quilt camp. Three cones of thread in yummy Mardi Gras colors. Thanks so much to King's Men Quilting for sending these.



My other package came from Kris. It's my prize for the December OPAM drawing and it's just lovely. I know some little children who would love the frog. The charm pack is wonderful....I love patriotic fabrics. A cute little notepad and who wouldn't love to have an orange sharpie! Thanks so much Kris! and to Peg also for hosting the OPAM challenge.

Fog = flight delays

6 hour delay :((

Something to keep me occupied

On the plane finally!

Design Wall Monday

This quilt, my January UFO #6, is on my design wall and ready to be quilted, but I won't get to it until we get back from Colorado. I had one other block made, but didn't care for one of the fabrics, so maybe I'll make a pillow with it or something. I'm thinking red for the binding.



Not on the design wall, but a finished project this weekend is a tutu for Elizabeth. I found the instructions on Carol's blog and as soon as I saw it, I knew I would be making one for Elizabeth.

Stashbusting 2011 - #3

Fabric Added this week - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 3 yards

Fabric Used this week - 1.25 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 17.75 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: 14.75 yards

About the only thing I stitched this week was my January UFO #6. It's ready for quilting now and I will show it tomorrow.

I did purchase some Mardi Gras fabric this week, but it wasn't for me. It's for our guild Spring Break at Mardi Gras quilt camp March 3-6. Adrienne took it home to cut it into fat quarters, which will be rolled and used at centerpieces on our dinner tables. The committee met on Saturday and I'm getting excited!!!

Eye Glasses

For several years now I have been using the magnifying glasses you can buy at CVS or any drugstore, or even at the Dollar Tree. My regular vision has been just fine, but I needed help reading. I usually have a pair in my car, by my computer, in my sewing room, in my purse, at my office and I have loaned them to others when they have forgotten them. I have faithfully been to the eye doctor yearly, just to make sure everything is going well.

Last year he suggested that I might want to get some bifocals. I declined as I thought my far away vision was just fine. A month or so ago I went for a checkup and he suggested it once again. Not much change he said, but he thought I would be happy with progressive bifocals. I have noticed that it takes me a couple seconds to focus in on the alarm clock when I wake up at night, so I thought OK. Well, we got the glasses ordered and I went to pick them up and said, oh my, I can't use these. They said it's normal for someone to have to adjust to glasses if you've never worn them. So, I paid my $388 and went back to work. Sat down at my computer and this is what I saw:



Do you see that sharp area on the left side, well, that's the only in focus area on my whole screen. If I move my head to the right, I would see this:



and if I move my head even further to the right, I would see this.



Well, I'm a graphic designer and I really need to see all of my computer screen in focus at the same time. I called and they said I would have to follow my nose to keep things in focus. And that I would get used to it. I tried, just for kicks, to cut fabric and I got the ruler lined up on one end and then looked at the other end and lined it up, then I went back to the first end and it was unbelievably hard as I couldn't see in focus from one end to the other.

So, I called them back and they said they could remake the glasses for me to use at the computer at no additional charge. I went back in and they took some measurements and re-made my glasses. I now have a pair of reading glasses much like the ones I get at CVS for $11.99, and I only paid $388 for them. Of course, there are no refunds.

Those of you with progressive bifocals, how in the world do you see?

Time flies!

Where does the time go? I can't believe that it's almost Friday already....it was just Monday!



I must put these blocks together tomorrow and could use some opinions. There are 6 blocks in this row-by-row and I can't seem to decide on which way they should be sewn together. The pic is 4 different layouts.

I think my problem is that one of the light backgrounds is too dark and that's throwing me off. The other challenge is whether to have the blocks all going the same way or to alternate the orientation. The block pattern is Starry Ways and Marcia shows them alternating when used to make the entire quilt.

On another note, I must confess about an embarrassing moment. A couple weeks ago, Janet was here cutting strips on the Go Cutter. She came back from the bathroom and said, "Maybe you already know this but I noticed that your candle mat in the bathroom hasn't been handstitched closed on the back." Well, I did know it when I put it out, but planned to stitch it up sometime during the holiday season. We had a good laugh over that one and this week I stitched it up and even added some crosshatch quilting.



So, now it can be washed and put away for Christmas 2011.

Design Wall Monday

These blocks are my #6 UFO and I intend to finish this one this month. They are from a workshop by Kay Capps Cross.

Ahh, I remember the workshop well..........She caught me using my rotary cutter to cut strips instead of tearing them, and she took it away.

Not long after that, she caught me using pins to pin the three layers together and ..........yep, she took them away also.

I did have 5 blocks finished after the workshop, but them they got put away. the pattern calls for a thin strip of black/white fabric as sashing, but I'm thinking I might add alternating red/lime green borders to the blocks.

Check out the other design walls at Judy's!

Stashbusting 2011 - #2

Fabric Added this week - 0 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 3 yards

Fabric Used this week - 13.125 yards (all on the SS quilt)
Fabric Used Year to Date - 16.5 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: 13.5 yards


What a great week. I can't show you the quilt because it's a Scrap Squad quilt. But here's a shot of the back:

Good News x 3!

The first good news is actually a couple months old, but I don't think I posted about it.
I won a giveaway on Thelma's blog, Cupcakes 'n Daisies. It's the wonderful blog and she sure does get a lot done. She had a great tutorial for making half-square triangles. I had a bunch (160) to make for my scarp squad quilt, so I tried it out..........works like a charm and there's just those little tails to trim.




Thanks so much Thelma!


The second good news is that I won a prize in the OPAM drawing for December. There were a total of 783 finishes for December and 36 of those were mine. I thoroughly enjoyed participating in the OPAM challenge and will be signing up for 2011 when they begin taking names on January 25th. Kris and Peg did a super job of organizing...........thanks so much!


The third bit of good news is the acceptance letter I received yesterday from A Gathering of Quilters 2011.
I entered my Memories of Spring Break in Hawaii quilt in this juried show and it has been accepted. I guess that means a road trip for me! The show is March 18, 19, 2011, in Shererville, IN.

I think she likes them!

Here's Elizabeth at her birthday party on Sunday.





And here she is at home later, playing with her dolls and her new cradle.



It must have looked comfy cause she took her dolls out and tried it out herself.

Design Wall Monday

Here is my design wall this morning. I can't show you any more of it because it's a secret....well, sort-of. I can show you parts of it but I can't reveal the entire project.



I am pleased to have been selected to be a member of Quiltmaker Magazine's Scrap Squad. I will be making a scrappy quilt from patterns in upcoming issues of the magazine this year. I am quite honored to be a Scrap Squad member and am in awe of some of the other members quilts. there are 8 of us and we get the pattern ahead of the magazine's release and we each make a scrappy item, which can be a quilt, a bag, a table runner, or something else of our choice. I'm very excited about this and apprehensive at the same time.



Some of the other members are:
Jane
Dionne
Kim

I'm pretty sure there are others with blogs, but I'll have to do a bit of research.

Stashbusting 2011 - #1

Fabric Added this week - 3 yards
Fabric Added Year to Date - 3 yards

Fabric Used this week - 3.75 yards
Fabric Used Year to Date - 3.75 yards

YEAR TO DATE STASH USED: .75 yards

I picked up some wide snowflake fabric at Joanns at a great price. I know that I'll be quilting my snow globe quilt this year, so when the number is drawn, I have the backing ready.

Elizabeth's 2nd Birthday Quilt

I started this quilt at Spring Break in Hawaii last year and once it was a top, I put it away.


I quilted it this week and finished cutting out the doll clothes.




I also made a matching quilt for her dolly. I quilted the dolls quilt last night while Janet was here cutting 2.5" strips with the Go Cutter, and put the binding on while watching a movie last night.



My ex-husband made a doll cradle for our daughter Julie when she was little. It has been in the spare bedroom, but has been used a toy box. Yesterday I made a mattress and pillow for it and will give it to Elizabeth today.