Thanks, Nemo!

I was able to do a little daytime sewing today thanks to Nemo.  Got these bee blocks ready to mail out for Stash Bee.

I’m going to be honest, at first I didn’t “feel” the color scheme for this block with the black centers, but after seeing my blocks grouped together, I am loving it! 

I couldn’t resist including the sweet vintage iron print from Laundry Day.  A good rule to follow if you’re in a bee is to use the best fabrics you can, which I do.  Everyone’s tastes aren’t the same, but a good rule of thumb is don’t use your ugliest fabrics just to get rid of them.  Not nice!   The pink floral is original Flea Market Fancy.  I think the color is slightly different than the reprints or maybe not included, but I’m not sure.  Either way, it’s Denyse which is always good!

In this block I was really just going to vibrant, bright pinks.  I did fussy cut the Dena Designs Kumari Garden in the bottom left corner so the medallion would be in the center.  My oldest daughter actually said to me, “Mom, I really like this block the best.  I like how the white colors make it pop and how you put that circle in the middle.”  I am not making that up!  She is going to be an amazing quilter one day!

This is my favorite block.  I love the chickens, and the aqua floral is Alexander Henry Farmdale, my all time favorite fabric line, EVER!  A little thing about color I have learned…now the old Jamie would have picked any old aqua color to go on the outside of the black cross.  But after so much trial and error, the more experienced Jamie knew this time to pick something that would contrast with the aqua floral print.  This nearly blue teal print fit the bill and contrasts enough so that all the parts of the x and + stand out.  Just my two cents!

And of course bee blocks wouldn’t be complete without a “bee block.” The bees are Laurie Wisbrun and came in blue and gray too.  And more original Denyse Schmidt—the orange basketweave from her popular Katie Jump Rope line.  That yellow/lime Chicopee print is really versatile, too.  I’ve used it for lots of different bee blocks and love how it looks in everything.

It seems like a lot of quilters have feline assistants judging from all the cat-on-a-quilt photos I see on blogs.  It is no different at my house!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Dare to Dresden??? {Plus a Giveaway}

A special thanks to the head cheerleader Madame Samm and blog hop organizer Christine of Quilt Monster in my Closet for bringing a brand new Dresden blog hop to the online quilting world!

I’d never made a Dresden block before, but I have three under my belt now!  They each measure 17 inches across and are headed to Oklahoma tomorrow to meet their new “mama” from Stash Bee.

I used Darlene Zimmerman’s Easy Dresden ruler and it worked like a charm.  So let’s have a giveaway!  I have a happy surprise for one lucky blog-hopper today!  A charm pack of 25 Riley Blake small chevron prints!!!  Just leave any comment to be entered and you can get an extra entry for being a follower or becoming one.   The winner will be picked Sunday night.

Thanks for for visiting my blog today.  I hope you can take a few seconds and check out some of my recent blog posts and projects.  Be sure to stop at all the other blog hop stops on today’s schedule!

January 25^th, 2013

Gingersnap Quilts

Busy Bee Quilts

She Sews the Blues

Traveling Quilter

Grand Mama's Stories

Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio

Sew at Home Mummy

The Slow Quilter

Pig Tales and Quilts

Annie Oak Design

Jane's Fabrics & Quilts

Tea Time Creations

Mo Broker My Creative Side

Just Let Me Quilt

Words and Stitches

Just Keep Swimming

Sew Many Yarns

Sowing Stitches

Jane's Quilting

My Patchwork Life

2muchfun

Pumpkin Patch Quilter

Quilt Monster in my Closet

WIP Wednesday Scrappy Stash & Bee Blocks

In the nick of time, I got my bee blocks done yesterday.

A wonky star preferably not on a white or gray background.  I just love this block.  It reminds me of Easter.

A bright and colorful wonky log cabin block.

And two raw-edge applique circle blocks. 

When I saw the “Scrappy Stash QAL ” at Ellison Lane Quilts, I knew I had to join. There are lots of great QALs out there that I am trying my best to do (Tula Pink, Bee in my Bonnet’s Row Along, and Tracey Jay’s Treasure Boxes for Charity). Log cabin is my favorite block, and as witnessed here by quilt-cat Oreo, my scraps are out of control.

With school cancelled for two days due to the big storm, I had the kids help me organize my scraps by color so I could get started on the blocks. I have so many scraps it is unbelievable. They were all squished down in the big basket, but once we pulled them out, it was like there was 3x the fabric!

The best part about this project is that I will get my scraps organized by color, and I’m only using scraps for the quilt top so hopefully I will get rid of a lot of those scraps. I was able to come up with enough scraps to make all the colors of the rainbow without having to cut up any other fabric. So far I have 5 blocks done, so I think I need 25 more to be in the running for prizes. Are you doing the Scrappy Stash QAL?

Linking up to WIP Wednesday.

Have a great day!

Baby Elephant Dance Quilt

I just went through my stash to pick out green and blue fabrics appropriate for a boy’s quilt to make this month’s Stash Bee block.

Those fabrics became this stacked coins block.

The colors seem to be wildly popular these days, as I’ve made quite a few bee blocks in this same color scheme.

I ended up loving it so much, those fabrics became this quilt top.

And that’s where the name came from.  My mom was a flute teacher and so the song kept getting in my head every time I worked on the quilt.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

July Bee Blocks & Polaroids Update

First up is this log cabin in bright colors.  The center is a Hello Pilgrim butterfly.  So much fun to make and choose all the fabrics!

Next up is a stained glass block using Kona medium gray and also bright colors.  This was fun to make, too.

A few weekends ago I made about 120 polaroid blocks for a swap.  Somehow, I misplaced about 60 of them and looked high and low and everywhere in between and couldn’t find them.  I finally got over it and made 60 new ones.

Well, yesterday I smelled burning in our bedroom.  I quickly ran all over the house looking to see what it could be.  Finding nothing, I took the kids out of the house and called 911.  The fire truck and hoses and everything arrived a few minutes later.  Turns out a lamp had malfunctioned and the bulb was brown and smoking.   I was just thrilled that my house wasn’t going to burn down!

When the firemen moved our nightstand to unplug the cord from the outlet, someone must have pulled on a knob that opens an extension table that I rarely use…and in there were all the missing Polaroids!!!  God works in funny ways sometimes! 

Today is the last day to mail them to meet the deadline. I never would have found them otherwise!

Linking up to Freshly Pieced.

Potholders or something like that

Two Christmases ago my husband bought me a book I had checked out from the library multiple times, Pretty Little Potholders.  I’ve loved to leaf through the book just to look at the pretty photos, but I’d yet to make a potholder. 

I’m not sure if these classify as potholders since A) there are no hand pockets and B) there are no hangy loops.  But I did line them with Insul-Brite and another layer of batting, so I plan to use them on the dining room table when serving hot dishes, which I believe technically makes them “trivets.”

I got these awesomely modern farmer’s market prints on Etsy at Twigs and Twist.  I plan to make 3 more trivets with the other prints and then maybe a tablerunner or even dishtowels?  I’m not sure, but one thing I’m sure of is how much I love these prints!

I made log cabin blocks for the reverse side.  I had some problems with my layers shifting when I was quilting them, maybe because the batting layer was so thick, and everything was kind of wonky by the time I squared them up. 

But I like them nonetheless and they really spruce up my kitchen.  Did you see Pink Chalk’s newsletter this week?  Kathy featured SOTAK Handmade’s Scrappy Apples and if you look in my photos, you will see that I am the proud owner of one of them!!!  A few weeks ago I was really sick and Svetlana sent me the sweetest package with goodies for me and my daughters.  The apple was one of the treats and I was so thrilled when I saw it!  Wait till I show you what she sent my girls!

I’ve finished the quilt top of my “Come What May” Stash Bee quilt and I have learned a ton from participating in the bee for the past few months.  I hope to get some good photos of the quilt top in the next day or two.  So say tuned for awesome-y modern triangles and dark gray!

Bees and Bluegill

Just finished up my Stash Bee blocks for Sara for June.

Her idea is so original—the blocks will be used to make a wedding quilt (she is getting married) that guests can sign at the reception.  What a wonderful idea!!!

Over the past few days we have spent quite a bit of time outdoors.  The weather has been a little cooler than normal in summertime, so we’ve been out fishing and crabbing.

I’ve also been trying to do some sewing at night, but it’s difficult now that the kids stay up later on their summertime schedule and seem to still get up just as early.  I joined the sliced apples QAL and have all my blocks ready to join together.  This is the color scheme I picked.

I’m doing pink and brown.  A friend is expecting a baby (the gender is a surprise) so I want to have two quilts on hand ready to gift.

Come What May Update

Got 3 more blocks in the mail, so I added those to the first I sewed together.  It’s looking good!  This photo is a little better than the last.  You can really tell the true Kona charcoal color in the photos.

I am thinking I will quilt right inside each triangle with purple thread and then in the solid charcoal do some pebble quilting, which I’ve never attempted before. 

Front Door Makeover and Bee Quilt Update

Last year we got a new roof courtesy of Hurricane Irene.  It really made our house look great!  We ripped out all the boxwood across the front of our house and planted hydrangeas and azaleas.  They have grown in beautifully.  We also had a new screen door installed and replaced the white shutters with black ones.

I have decided our front door needs a makeover.  I am debating between painting the front door a dark gray or a shade of red.  We have some Adirondack furniture on the front porch that I am going to paint, too.  My husband just informed me that he is not working Memorial Day, so it’s a project that might get done in a weekend!

In case you’re wondering what it says in my window, here’s a close up.

The signs have greatly reduced the number of salespeople stopping by my house.  I can’t tell you how many pest control and meat salesmen (they are all men) used to stop by my house during the day before I put up these signs.  I was ill at ease in my own home!  But the last straw was a man who tried to sell me magazine subscriptions.  He told me he was a 2-time felon trying to get on the straight and narrow.  And he told me this while I was standing on my front walkway with my three year old and holding my baby. 

I do think our house is rather pretty.  This is what it really looks like.  What, you don’t have a teepee in your yard?

And now for the quilty--albeit brief--part of my post.  My “Come What May” quilt is coming along nicely.  You can really tell the background color is Kona charcoal in this photo.  I have seven blocks right now, counting the original I made for the tutorial.  I think I will pebble quilt the solid portions and maybe quilt right inside all the triangles with a pretty shade of purple.

Keeping my fingers crossed I won some Sew Mama Sew giveaways!!!

Come What May

May is my month for the Stash Bee.  I am calling my quilt “Come What May” for that reason and because it is kind of an “improv” type of quilt, I am just sewing together the blocks willy-nilly as they come in the mail and will see how it turns out.

Here’s what it looks like so far.  I’ve received blocks from Tanya, Miki, and Jenelle.

I also finished up my Aneela Hoey quilt.  The binding/borders are a little wavy, but it’s in the dryer right now and I’m hoping to get some better (less wavy) photos of it tomorrow.

I really like this pattern.  It’s by Sew Bittersweet Designs and uses 2.5” squares, so it would be a perfect scrap-buster.  I am so into scrap quilts right now, how about you?  I’ve spent every spare dime I have buying scrap packs on Etsy the past few weeks.  It was a great way to get some designer fabric I’ve never seen in real life.

I stippled all over this quilt with gray thread from Connecting Threads.  The back is Kona Ash, the borders are Alexander Henry Heath in a dark pink, and the binding is gray with white polka dots. 

If you look close, the fabric isn’t white, it’s the pale pink square dots from Sherbet Pips.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Getting back to sewing

We’ve been sick around here, and we’re not quite over it yet.  I did get a few precious moments tonight to get my bee blocks for April finished so I can mail them all out tomorrow.

We were asked to make 2 modern Gothic window blocks using gray/black/yellow background fabric.  I didn’t have anything that fit the bill, so I bought 3 fat quarters on Etsy right away, but then I ended up procrastinating until the very last minute to get these done.

These two blocks are slightly more rectangular than square.  One side is a 1/4 inch shorter, but if the queen bee is using sashing, these should be usable.

And once I get the hang of it and am ready to move on to doing my last two (hopefully perfect) blocks to send on to the queen bee, I make a move like this:

I wish I could say that mistakes like this are far and few between, but it’s more like every.time.I.sew.anything.  For real.

 

This block is my favorite.  It uses Washi for the background, and the yellow centers are a special-to-me yellow 3o’s repro that I’ve had for years.  Since this block only needed three 2 1/2 inch squares, I thought it would be acceptable if I cut into the fat quarter.

I also spent a little time cutting out fabric for my next quilt.  Everything is ready to chain sew.  I also got my Aneela Hooey quilt basted and ready to quilt. 

Hope you all had a restful and sewful weekend!

Over the weekend

I worked on a couple projects and got two items ticked off my list.  First up is my Stash Bee block for Cindy who is making a Quilt of Valor to donate.  The block is paper pieced, so I picked up a pack of Carol Doak’s foundation paper right away and then procrastinated until the last moment to do it.  Boy, it was tough, but once I got the hang of it, I got a teensy bit better at it although I still made a mistake roughly 1 out of 2 times…lol!  It took a lot of fabric to make this star.

Last week I also finished up a quick table runner for my daughter’s previous preschool’s silent auction.  I’ve donated one every year for the past 3 years with different themes, so this year I decided to go with red, white, and blue.

It turned out nicely and my little tag looks good on the backing.

Finally, I have all the rows sewn together for my Aneela Hooey Medley quilt and some joined together at this point.  The quilt is looking uber cute, but then Esther decided she wants a different quilt with wild animals on it (I think the line is Moda’s In the Woods), so we have already made over half the blocks for that one now, too.   I wonder if Ronnie will get her first big girl quilt, or will Esther try to finagle a way to get two quilts???  We’ll see…

It was a great weekend for quilting here in southern Maryland…hope you did, too!