Seeing Starts Quilt Along

I am really excited about a new quilt-along by Happy Quilting Melissa.

She is posting instructions for different star blocks every Wednesday. Here are my first 3. These are BIG blocks. But so beautiful!

Can't wait for the next ones!

A new project for the new year! The Temperature quilt

I was scrolling through Instagram this morning as I always do on Friday mornings with my coffee and I came across a post that totally drew me in and had me running off on bunny trails all over the internet. Does that ever happen to you? It happens to me all to often!
Anyway, the post was actually for a crotchet project and it she called in a temperature blanket. I had never heard of such a thing, but come to find out there's all kinds of stuff out there about it. Basically you pick a rainbow selection of yarns and assign a range of temperatures to them and crochet a row based on the average temperature for that day, every day for the year.
The one I saw was for little rosettes where she is doing the outside color for the high temp of the day and the inside color for the low temp of the day.

 What a neat idea! So I thought why not a temperature QUILT? and sure enough there are some of those out there too. Most them were just squares, and while that was a neat idea I thought I would like to do something more interesting I could do. Google "temperature quilt" and you'll see what I mean.
I have come up with an idea, and who knows how it will actually look but I am going to document my progress and you can let me know what you think.
I pulled out a languishing fat quarter pack and laid them out in a semi-rainbow arrangement.

Some of these might change along the way but it's enough to get me started at least.
I have 16 fabrics so I decided, based on the temperatures here in New York to go with the following categories:

The fun part is you don't know how its going to turn out until the end of the year.

So my idea for a pattern is a Plus quilt, with interlocking pluses. I'm going to make the outside of the pluses in the High temp color and the center in the low temp color. I'm not sure how it's going to work out! The squares for the plus pieces will be 2 1/2 inches. If I did my math right, the quilt for the year will end up being about 76x84 roughly (very roughly!).
I found  a web side that records the temps for each day:

I'm going to start cutting up fabrics to get the first few days of the year done and we will see how it looks! I think its going to be really cool!

Sew Along update

One of my sew alongs for 2016 is done! I signed up for way too many this year. I'll have to keep that in mind for 2017. But the Bloom sew along at Bee in My Bonnet is done. Just have to quilt it now.
I did mine in Kim Deihl fabrics which is quite different from the sew along fabrics. I love it.

This was such a fun quilt to do. I loved Lori's applique technique which you can read about HERE . She will be doing another quilt along using a new set of Sew Simple shapes in August. Its so cute. You can read all about it HERE. 

I have been keeping up (amazingly) with the Splendid Sampler blocks. Here is what I have with the current 33 blocks + a few bonus blocks they threw in.

I am also caught up on Pat Sloan's Secret Garden. These blocks are nice and easy-big pieces, mainly half square triangles. They usually only take an hour or so to whip up.  If you haven't done one of Pat's mystery quilts I would highly recommend them. This is my third one.

I am also caught up on the Crossroads quilt sew along from Fat Quarter Shop. No current pics of this one:(

I am taking a class at my local quilt shop Ivy Thimble. It's called Tulips and Pinwheels. Lots of fun and very cute. We have the center done and just have some hourglass blocks to make at the next class for a final border.

Here is a throw I made for my daughters high school graduation. I based in on a tutorial from Shwinn and Shwinn. I added another border to make it larger. My daughter has always loved maps and I thought it was cute. Here is the original and the link to the tutorial:


                                          

Here is my version:

I have a couple new things in progress. Pics to come of those soon!

Happy Stitching!

Quilt-alongs update

I am doing several quilt-alongs this year and having so much fun with them.
The first one is the Splendid Sampler hosted by Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson. What an awesome undertaking this is with over 80 designers contributing blocks over a year, 2 per week. We are on block 21 and this is what I have done so far (first 20):

You can find all the block patterns HERE and it's never too late to join in! Look under the blocks and bonuses tab for all the blocks.

The next quilt along I am doing is Lori Holt's Bloom sew along. You can find the details on that HERE at Bee in My Bonnet. It's also a free pattern but you just need to get the templates. We are on block 15 out of 20, so almost done! I love this one. I think the last block is my favorite. I may have to do another project with just that one. Maybe a runner or a long pillow.

The third project is Pat Sloan's Secret Garden sew along. She is giving us these great 16 inch blocks, once a month. Here is what I have so far for that one.

Finally, I am doing the Crossroads quilt. This one is a charity quilt designed by Joanna Figeroa for Fat Quarter Shop. They are asking for a $5 donation to the March of Dimes for each block that comes out monthly. There are only 4 or 5 blocks, and we make several of each. You can find out more about this one HERE. This is a great cause.  I have done the first two blocks and need to catch up on the third one. Here is what I have so far:

Whew! I'm tired just writing about it! I think I will try to not do so many next year! But they are all fun:)

Happy Stitching!

UFO Recap-- #5 through #7!

It's been a long time since I have cataloged my finishes but I have gotten a lot done!

First of all, I spent a lovely week away at retreat and finished THREE quilt tops!

Two of them were quilts that had all the blocks done, just needed sashing and borders and putting the blocks together.

My green scrap pineapple quilt using Creative Grids pineapple ruler (love it!):

UFO #5

The next was a block of the month I did several (yikes!) years ago through Quilting Gallery with Michele Foster. 

UFO#6

The last UFO at retreat was my civil war sampler that I did through my local quilt shop in 2014, so not TOO old. This was from Barbara Brackmans' Civil War Sampler book. I had to finish about 12 of the blocks and then set them together with the nine patches and sashing strips. I love how this came out!

UFO #7

I have been continuing with several quilt alongs also that I will post about next! 

Happy sewing!

The Splendid Sampler has begun!

Today is the first block posted to the Splendid Sampler being hosted by Pat Sloan and Quilt Jane. It will be 2 blocks a week for a year. What an undertaking! Check out the whole project here at The Splendid Sampler. Click on the Blocks and Bonus tab for details on the whole year.

The first block is by Pat Sloan and is called Hearts AFlutter. Great for Valentine's day. Here's mine:

I am using stash for this, although I did pick up a yard of the background with the little pluses on it so that I would have more variety.

Here's my Bloom block for this week. Loving these!

Do you ever struggle with your sewing machine pedal creeping away as your sewing? I have tried a few different products to prevent this and none of them have worked too well. I found a tutorial on Pinterest for this one and thought I would give it a try. It only took about a half hour to make. So far it's working well!

Really easy to make. Here's where I found the tutorial: Machine Foot Pedal Pad

I have been busy packing for my annual quilting retreat that is coming up on Thursday (YAY! only 4 more sleeps!). I have FIVE UFO's packed! That's pretty ambitious but some of them should go pretty fast. Three of them are blocks that I did in various quilt-alongs and challenges over the past few years that just need sashing and borders. 

While packing I have had the opportunity to clean up my sewing space so I feel pretty good about that. I'll be all organized when I get back!

See you again soon with lots of pics of my progress hopefully!!

Happy sewing!

A Hexie UFO project

I forgot to post this pic of a UFO I finished right before Christmas. It was a monthly hexie block published by Karen from Faeries and Fibres. If you go to her blog and click on her Quilt alongs tab you can find this. It was called Value Proposition. Karen has some great info if you are interested in doing a hexie project. This was my first one and I definitely want to do more. She has just published some booklets on making pieced hexies on her Craftsy store that look really cool! Check out her page for links.
Anyway, here is my Value Proposition quilt finished and on my guest bed.

I am keeping up with Lori Holt's Bloom quilt along also, from Bee in my Bonnet. We are week 3. They are so darn cute!

Pat Sloan's secret garden block 2 just came out this week also. They are big blocks-16"-so it will be a beautiful quilt.

In less than 2 weeks I am off to my annual quilt retreat! I am very excited and planning to take a couple of UFO's to complete.

Happy Superbowl Sunday!

UFO #4, Bloom sew-along continued...

My UFO finish #4 is a nice size table cover or it could be a wallhanging too.  My friend Sarah did a Harvest Sew-along on her blog Sew Joy Creations.

And I'm keeping up with the Bloom sew-along. Of course it's only week 2! Here is this weeks block:

OK, on to the next UFO. Not sure which one it's going to be yet! So many to chose from. LOL!

Happy Stitching!

Bloom sew along block one and UFO 3.

Since there were once again multiple football games on this weekend I was able to spend a little more time in the sewing room. 

I worked on a UFO From about a year ago that needed borders. This was made with left over strips from other projects and is called Quilt to Give from Nancy Zeimans website. 

It came out pretty large! Double size at least. I will probably hold on to this one until you need a donation quilt next. 

Monday was the first installment of Bee in My Bonnets Bloom sew along. I am doing mine in Kim Deihl fabrics. 

I really like Lori Holts appliqué technique using sew-in interfacing. You can find links that this pattern as well as all of her tutorials and techniques on her Monday post here:

http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/

There will be a new block every Monday so we will see how long I can keep up!

Have a great rest of the week!

UFO #2 and a little sidetrack...

I finished UFO #2 -a fabric bin that was all cut out and ready to go. This is an Atkinson Designs pattern that I made a whole bunch of a couple years ago. I use them for scrap and thread catchers, and made a bunch for gift baskets too.

But of course along the way this week I got a little distracted with a new project. I wanted to try out Lori Holts method for applique using interfacing before her Sew-Along starts on Monday.  I saw this project in Quiltmaker Magazine using the same Sew Simple Shapes so I made this little wall hanging. I love it!
I also love her method. You can find that on her blog Bee in my Bonnet.

Here is the magazine project, Cabin Posies, from the Jan/Feb Quiltmaker issue.

Her Bloom sew-along starts on Monday.

And if that's not enough check out this sew-along starting in February hosted by Pat Sloan and Quilt Jane. The Splendid Sampler is a year long project on 100 blocks by 100 different designers! 2 per week! How cool is that? I can't wait to see what they come up with.

OK, off to hang my new wall hanging in my hallway and dig out the next UFO.

Happy Stitching!

UFO's and Sew- alongs

I recently started compiling a list of UFO projects that I want to finish at my local quilt shop's annual retreat that is coming up in a few weeks. I realized that I have way too many UFO's! I am determined to reduce the list and hopefully documenting them will help. I am not saying "no" new projects. I just can't do that! And I do have some sew-alongs I am planning on.

So here is my first UFO finish. I was searching for a pattern,which I still didn't find, and came across the 2013 issue of Quilt Almanac magazine and completely cut out pieces for a tote bag. So I stopped my search and spent the afternoon making this nice little bag.

I also found all the pieces for a fabric bucket that I will tackle tomorrow.

The sew-alongs I am planning to do this year are Pat Sloan's My Secret Garden. That's on
Pat's blog HERE. She has been doing a free sew-along on FreeQuiltPatterns.com for a few years and this is the 3rd one I have done. They are nice simple blocks.
This is my first block.
Its called DC Botanical Garden.

I am also planning to do Lori Holt's Bloom sew along that will be starting January 18th. You can read about that one at Bee in My Bonnet.

So I am looking forward to a fun year of new projects and finishes! Wish me luck.

The Purple Box Campaign for Willow Domestic violence center

Once again this year we are collecting items for Willow Domestic Violence Center (formerly Alternatives for Battered Women).
They are calling this campaign the Purple Box campaign. It is to collect items that residence of the shelter can give to each other (moms to kids, kids to moms).
We will be collecting NEW items up until December 17th in our office.
Here are what they are looking for:

• infant toys
• blocks
• Leap Frog toys
• bath toys
• super hero action figures
• cars,trucks,fire engines
• Legos
• Lincoln Logs
• dinosaurs
• multicultural baby dolls
• multicultural Barbies
• play food
• tea sets
• arts and crafts
• board games
• card games
• stuffed animals
• books

For teenagers:

• video games (E-for everyone)
• music players (ipod shuffle)
• sports jerseys
• sports hats
• purses
• makeup
• body spray
• body wash
• pajama pants
• journals
• hoodies

Thank you for your support!!

Progress on Value Proposition Hexie quilt

I am up to block 11 on my quilt along with Karen At Faeries and Fibres. I have always wanted to do an English paper pieced hexie quilt and. Have been keeping up! Karen posts a block every 2 weeks and there are just 7 more to go. Here is what I have through block 10:

And here is block 11:

Karen challenged us to try making our own fabric with drawing so I did some Zentangle hearts on plain fabric for round one. Here is a detailed photo:

Block 12 was posted today at www.faeriesandfibres.blogspot.com. 

Happy stitching!

Deb

Another Soft and Stable bag.....

Remember the back pack I made for my daughter? She loves it, yay! But she just announced yesterday that she REALLY needs a matching carry on bag for her upcoming trip to England that she is going on with my dad (lucky her!). Fortunately I had already purchased this pattern but had not planned on making it quite yet!

It's another By Annie pattern, and once again has terrific instructions, but LOTS of pieces! So I spent a couple hours last night just cutting everything out and labelling with the handy sheet of reference labels in the pattern. I do need to run to Joann's to get some zippers though. I have until Friday to get it done before  our trip to the Adirondacks. Yikes! 

Another thing I was hoping to get done by then is a skirt. I was blog hopping yesterday-don't you love the bunny trails you end up on sometimes following one link after another? I started with Faeries and Fibres where I am doing this hexie quilt along:

Karen had a link to a cute little project bag that I thought about making:

This tutorial is at the The Zen of Making. Well then I found this cute skirt tutorial there too:

I have such a hard time finding skirts that don't make me look like the side of a house and are not too short. For two yards of fabric I might just try it. I'll let you know if it ends up in the scrap pile or not!

OK, off to Joann's for supplies!

Happy sewing!

Deb

My weekend project and a pattern review

At open sew at my LQS on Thursday night and all day Friday I worked on this backpack purse for my daughter.

This is the pattern from By Annies Soft and Stable.

Lots of pieces and steps in this one but the pattern was SO well written that it was no problem at all. One of the greatest things that I loved is that they give you a sheet that you can copy and cut apart with labels to attach to each piece as you cut them. If not for that I think I would have lost my mind keeping track of all of the pieces. It was awesome! 

Here is the back of the bag:

I also got the hardware that was needed for the straps right from the site. They have great finishing kits for each pattern. 

The way it is sewn together is so neat that there are no exposed seams then you are done. The hardest part was that you have to bind the inside seams. A little tedious but SUCH a nice finish.

The first step in the bag is to quilt the outer fabric to the lining with Soft and Stable in between as batting. If you have never worked with Soft and Stable, it gives a great finish to a bag. Just like a Vera Bradley! Sewing together several layers when putting the bag together is a little bit of a challenge but with a walking foot it works out fine. One of the options they suggest in the pattern is to take a yard of the outer and lining fabrics and the Soft and Stable and long arm quilt it. That is what I did and it was very fast that way. You ca see the swirly design I did on the photo above. 

This bag has tons of pockets , two of which are zippered. I love it. And more importantly, my daughter REALLY loves it! She actually squealed when she saw it!

I  would definitely try another pattern from By Annie. You can check them all out HERE.

This week is my birthday week and my lovely hubby has offered to accompany me on a shop hop on Friday and Saturday so I'll let you know what goodies I find!

Until then, keep stitching!

Deb

Ready for some new projects!

I just finished a big fund raiser that I do every spring and now I can get back to SEWING!! YAY!

For the fundraiser I made this quilt for a raffle.

I also made 115 of these chapstick holdesr! Very easy. I got the pattern on Pinterest. The tutorial I used has been removed I just discovered:(  but there is a similar one HERE. I used home dec weight fabric.

I did manage to stick in a little personal quilting over the past couple of weeks and finished this little table topper from This and That patterns. I think I mentioned before that Sherri Falls does a little mystery project every 6 months and this was the latest. You can find her blog HERE.

Although I have been quilting for quite some time now, I have a few traditional quilt patterns that I have always wanted to try but never had. The first is a grandmothers flower garden. This isn't exactly that, but a hexie project that Karen at Faeries and Fibres is doing. Just scroll down to Value Proposition for the links to the first 3 blocks. She is posting a block every 2 weeks and there will be 18 all together.  Here are my first 3. This is my watching tv hand sewing project.

I have also always wanted to make a log cabin and this week the Missouri Quilt Company posted a YouTube video tutorial for a curved log cabin that looks pretty easy.  All you need is  a jelly roll and a honey bun. Check it out HERE

The last one I have been wanting to do is a tumbling block. Today I found a Moda Bakeshop tutorial using the Honeycomb precuts. I love this! I may have to look for a honeycomb and try this too.

The recipe for this is HERE. 

There is a shop hop coming up in a couple of weeks so I will be on the look out for a honey bun and a honeycomb for these projects. If I have specific things to shop for it's much safer than random shopping!!