'Tis The Season ~

 Any season is good for making a quilt, but especially when the air is cool outside.

I only have a few batik scraps left so decided to reduce them a little bit more by making an Ohio Star quilt...AKA Sawtooth Star by some.  It's a 4 block by 4 block construction simply because that's all the lighter batik background fabric there was in my stash.  It's a good community service size - 48" x 48".  Those stars made big are so easy and finished in no time by making the 2-at-a-time flying geese blocks for the star points.   It took another day to patchwork the backing for this star quilt, but now it's ready to be quilted to donate.

And....while dibbling around in batik, I found even smaller scraps and decided to make just one more bucket hat using the free download by Merchant and Mills.  I've really taken advantage of this free pattern....see my other bucket hats HERE.   So easy, so fun and ready to protect my head in cold weather or hot sun.  

'Tis the season to stay inside, relax and sew.

Not bored.....no, not for a minute ~

 I'm simply not the kind of person to be bored.  When there's some free time, I'll grab a book or paper and paint or the camera.  But more times than not, I'll just grab some fabric then find a pattern (or not) and start cutting and sewing.   

The thrill of not knowing the outcome but forging ahead anyway doesn't give me the least bit of angst.  What?  It's only my time and a little bit of recycled fabric and thread.  Okay, add sewing machine needle and oil!  Anyway, I digress.  

This little bucket hat jewel started yesterday and was very quickly finished this morning right after breakfast and just before lunch.  That means it finished quite quickly thanks to a bit of tutoring by Crispina French who first turned me onto this free bucket hat pattern.

Pssst.....it's a free bucket hat pattern at Merchant & Mills.  Sign in and the free pattern will be emailed right to your gadget to print and stitch up.  

Orange You Glad You Are A Pinwheel ~

My "Orange You Glad....." was just featured on My Quilt Place along with many other quilt wonders.

Orange Pinwheels 

and re-folded.....hour glass blocks become visible.

and pinwheels

One of the few times my binding is the same fabric that is within the quilt.

It's seldom I make a two-color quilt, but since orange is (one) of my favorite colors, it just seemed to be the color to add to the white I had on the bolt.  What a great way to end the month.  Thank you My Quilt Place.

More than one blog to post ~

I've been concentrating on getting the Quilters' Guild Acadienne blog up and running and gaining visitors and have neglected my primary day-in-and-day-out blog.    So here's just a bit of catch up on what I've been rambling around the home place doing. 

Yesterday I posted over there about the newest Anna Graham aka Noodlehead pattern I made.  I rushed around yesterday to get one made for a picture and this afternoon in no time flat, got another one made. 

One for me and another one for me! 

I'm in love with my pencil pouch ~ Thanks Anna for this fab free pencil pouch pattern. 

Update - Progress -Let's go Down the Rabbit Hole

Am I speaking too fast?  Do I sound out of breath?  Am I excited?  There's a probable YES to all three questions.  You see,

I finished Month #3 of Sarah Fielke's BOM, Down the Rabbit Hole!  Never mind that the other 2,400 participants are finished with month 5!   Much progress from my last blog post here

It took a bit of coaxing, but the HUman finally saw roof tops - 20 paper-pieced roof tops completed yesterday with only 20 more to go.  Thank goodness I enjoy paper piecing because with these small sizes, paper-piecing is the only way to complete construction.  I'm loving my chosen background for this little neighborhood -  a Victoria Findlay Wolfe manor stripe.  And the Kaffe Fassette shot cotton roof tops provided the perfect contrast to make it all pop. 

Updates will follow......no doubt!

Down the Rabbit Hole ~

Yes,  it's only four months into the Sarah Fielke - "Down The Rabbit Hole" BOM and I'm already way behind the game.........but, a girl can dream, can't she.

 
 




Month one and two almost complete!  Just five more flowers to applique onto the background.  .  YES!  I CAN DO THIS.

I have auditioned the fabric to make the 1/2" bias tape to surround the center wedges. 

I'm sure it's here somewhere!  Fabric for just  the right Rabbit Hole cover piece is surely somewhere on these shelves. 

Month Three:  Add 58 or so little bitty leaves.  I am woman, hear me roar.  You certainly will  if and when I get that far along.

(no picture available)

I'm excited about month four:   My kind of quilt-making:  Yikes - 40 paper-pieced roof tops and 40 little houses for each roof.  And I just thought I could catch up this month.   But I have auditioned the fabric for the above mentioned 40......thinking these shot cottons will be perfect....a little gingerbread-style neighborhood. 

 

Happiness Abounds

On this the day to honor fathers, happiness abounds.  The HuMan is hanging out with the water hose.....watering the back garden on this hot June morning, doing what he enjoys on this, his day as a father.  He's dressed for his special day in his favorite summer uniform - short shorts and t-shirt. 

 
 
 
 
















And I, on the other hand am hanging out my just rinsed Cherrywood hand dyed fabrics. 

 

The white fabric hanging out to dry isn't from Cherrywood....it's a scrap that I thought to overdye while rinsing, but the dye didn't hold.  That's what I get for not buying my own dye. 

Lesson learned.....thou shall not steal dye from Cherrywood Hand Dyes !

 

 

 

After drying and pressing, this load will become a part of what is already on the shelf. 

I have two projects that are calling these fabrics by name.

 

 

 

Later.....

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm a little screen print

I've been dibbling my toes in screen printing.  I took the Celina Mancurti screen printing workshop while at QuiltCon 2015 and loved the process but just haven't found the time to pursue that career....until last week.   Quilters' Guild Acadienne in Lafayette, Louisiana, had the most delightful program  - Mary Felder on screen printing and Judy Momemzadeh on Gelli plate fabric painting:  both teachers awakened a new desire in me to jump in.    I ordered a few thermofax screens from Mary and it was love at first sight when I saw her sandpipers printed on my fabric. 

Then taking another giant leap of faith, I first printed her poem, then topped that off with the sandpipers.  Be still, my heart!   Just looking at these prints allows my mind to wander to the beach, feeling my toes in the sand,  gaily strolling along, the sandpipers and me, side by side, soothed by the sound of the surf.   

Mary's poem reads:

 

"The sea soothes my soul,

My spirit sways in harmony

with the gentle winds.

I roam the sands like the busy sandpipers.

They seek food - I seek a

reason for existence."

                                        MC Felder

 

The nearer your destination you are

slip sliding away.  Just about the time I get my back up and can stay out of a few fabric shops, I find another way to purchase those coveted fabrics.  I've just received my first shipment from Massdrop.

Drolling over collection"etoffe imprevue"   

 

 

Massdrop....now, that's a good thing ~





 

I got my Michael Miller fabrics today

Michael Miller Fabrics is once again sponsoring the Modern Quilt Guild  members fabric challenge...and I got my 6 fabrics this morning at the NELA MQG meeting.  I've already added a few solids to the new Petal Pinwheels collection  but do not yet have a project idea.  But, that will come. 

Love being a part of the modern quilt movement and  having new eye candy in the house.  I'll be designing a quilt in my sleep tonight.   

 

It's Winter Olympics Time Of Year

Yes, it's the Winter Olympics time of year.   I know this, you know this and so does Quilt Inspiration....a blog I follow religiously.  And I felt nothing but delight when I opened up the post of the day and saw the picture of  Olympic banners made to commemorate the occasion that were inspired by Russian quilters and other artisans. 

Now, I'm no expert on advertising or knowing what might draw a person in, but my gut feeling is that if a quilt show had made banners to adorn the inside and outside of the quilt arena, people from off the street would be enticed inside for a closer view. 


Pyramids....free patterns.  Quilt Inspiration and friends are sharing patterns.  Too generous an offer not to take advantage. 


Here's one of my favorites from Molly Flanders with a "how-to" tutorial.  I'm drooling now as I pick my fabric to make my equilateral triangle quilt in the likeness of. 

I've made one in the past and love the simplistic beauty of this design.  In keeping with the simplicity, I used my vintage feed sack fabric and other fabrics off the shelf. 

Happy triangles To You

 

From here to it took me an eternity to get back here ~

You know, you've heard it said, when you want something done, just ask a busy person!  Well, don't ask me for anything else.....I'm busy enough.  It feels as if an eternity has come and gone since I've visited my blog. 

 

 

I've been wanting to make this wide-mouthed bag for an eternity and just today decided that today was the day.  It's Saturday and therefore, my day for a little fun.  It started with the Noodlehead open wide zippered pouch tutorial.    Since I knew I wanted to use it as my travel makeup bag, the largest size was the one for me.....starting with 11" x 14" rectangles and a 14" zipper and then, an eternity later, a completed 13" x 7" standing size.   Now that I know what I'm doing, I may make another one, perhaps the mid-size.   It was okay that it wasn't the easiest pouch I've ever made because I learned a couple of new techniques....especially how to make the wide open mouth for easy entrance, search and exit.




 

It's a TABLE RUNNER Contest

.....and I'm in, well, err, my pearl bracelets table runner is in the contest and would appreciate your vote.  Pearl Bracelets is #8 and the voting starts October 19 and runs to November 2. 

I'm thanking Stitch N Frame in Vicksburg for the fun.  Also thanking Lizzy House and Andover Fabrics for the Pearl Bracelets 5" charm pack I used to make my newest table runner.

The prize....well, that will be a whopping $75 gift certificate from Stitch N Frame in Vicksburg where fabric and books and patterns and Bernina sewing machines and more abound. 

Thank you for your vote

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Busy with June and July Blocks of the Month ~

Once upon a time I laughed at people who proclaimed to have been busy.  You see, I thought busy-work was a way to add to one's self-importance.  "What have you been doing today?"  I might ask.  To which I got the response, "Oh, I've been busy."    

I finish the conversation....under my breath as I smile at this very important person......"Doing What?  Oh, never mind.  I really don't care what you've been doing today." 

Perhaps I should re-think my thoughts on busy work since I  got busy yesterday.  Busy catching up on my Gen X Sister's Ten BOM.  January, February  June and July (as the song goes).

 

June color ways 1 and 2 "Contrary Wife" Blocks with Brandon Mably and Kaffe Fassett fabric

 

July color ways 1 and 2 "Hattie's Trick" using the same fabric lines. 

 

That's seven months completed.....fourteen blocks...six more to go!  I can see a quilt coming together putting classic traditional quilt blocks in a modern setting.  Now,  that's worth being busy about. 

 

Modern Quilt Top: Zen Chic 'Juggling Summer'

I wasn't going to start another modern quilt top until I completed a few unfinished projects; HOWEVER, when I saw what Lee from Freshly Pieced had done with her Kate Spain 'Terrain' fabric for her first Moda Bake Shop project, I heard my Zen Chic 'juggling summer' screaming my name to get out of the fabric cupboard.    Lee used a jelly roll and added background fabric.   I used 36 of the 10" square layer cakes along with a Kona Snow background fabric to get my modern quilt blocks constructed. 

Here's just a taste of this cake...lovin' it!  Once I get all the quarter blocks made, I'll probably stir it up a bit by using a different fabric in each corner of the block as Lee did in hers.   An added design element for this great fabric.  And so, I go sew ~

 

What's not to love about a THREAD tree?

The thunder woke me early, so I've already opened my emails and ordered my tall thread tree.  You see, Alyssa over at Pile O' Fabric says she always uses a free-standing very tall thread tree - even if her sewing machine doesn't come with one built in.   Since purchasing my Juki, I've become very accustomed to the built-in thread tree and can really see the difference.  So, now, I wanted a tall one for my Bernina and couldn't find one tall enough.  What's a girl to do?  I emailed Alyssa with my plight and she immediately sent me the link to Connecting Threads.  My tall thread tree is now in the mail.  It doesn't have a lot of branches....one tall branch standing 11" high  was all I needed. 

 

Lady Of The Lady....a quilt block pattern

A pretty quilt block.  Sisters Ten BOM choice....Lady of the Lake.....in two colorways.  To minimize wasting the other half of the half-square triangle,  I surrounded one of my blocks with the Brandon Mably fabric in the blue flutter colorway and the other in the red flutter colorway. 


This one is my favorite.....no, wait!

I like the red one too....can't I have two favorites this month? 

 

I have a pretty little secret ~

that I just can't contain any longer. 

When at QuiltCon back in February, I found this most wonderful fabric....hand dyed by Cherrywood Fabrics.   In addition to the full yardage (which I couldn't resist), I found what Cherry calls 'grab bags' which contain  at least 50 cuts of her hand dyes.  Okay, now the secrets out - what a diverse sampling all contained in one little package.  It's the grab bag hand dyes that I used this morning to make my wonky crosses. 

I found the ZenChic, Comma, layer cake at Quilt N' Stitch the other day and didn't want to waste not one fraction of an inch of these 10" squares.  Between the two fabrics, I think I'm gonna love this one.  Here's the start "Going Steady."