Impromptu Stitching

Really, I had no plan whatsoever, but I wanted to do something. I had just a bit of time, and the stack of blue KF squares were stacked on the cutting table, so this is what I came up with!

It's a small table topper, approximately 15"x8". I machine quilted around the squares; it never hurts to get some practice doing that. I have the binding attached and pinned and should get busy stitching it down. Maybe this week.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Small Victories

Finding myself back in school and teaching 3 classes, I am really struggling to find time to devote to sewing and quilting. That's a real bummer, too, as I have some really fun stuff I want to work on!

In the bits of time I am able to find, I have continued to work on the little tumbler quilt I began, mostly on a whim, several weeks ago.

At the beginning of September, this was my progress.

I spent an afternoon straightening up my Kaffe tub which resulted in a hefty stack of tumblers to add.

I just love working with these fabrics, and the variety is fantastic! Cleaning up scraps is fun when the fabric is as gorgeous as this.

Not much progress, but progress, nonetheless. I need to be figuring out what I will do with this so that I will know how much more I want to add on. At present, it would be the size of a doll quilt. It could also be used as a table-topper or small wall-hanging.

Need a closer look? *grin*

I hope you are getting more accomplished than I am! I fear I am not going to get my goals for the year finished, and I don't even want to think about that Ten Things This Summer list I created. Sad.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Go To Pennsylvania

One of my followers recently sent me a request. Her quilt guild is having a show, and wondered if I would give it a shout-out here on my blog.

I would be happy to! I do love to go to quilt shows, and even though I probably won't be making the trip to Pennsylvania for this one, perhaps a few folks out there will see this and decide to go.

New Brighton, PA, is the destination if you are interested in attending the Beaver Valley Piecemakers Quilt show. Here is a link to their show page. I have tried to locate some pictures to pull and use here, but I was unable to get any. The theme for the show this year is two-color quilts.

I can't do a post without a picture, so let me show you a pretty little quilt I saw recently on Pinterest.

I clicked on the link and discovered that it is from the blog of Lisa Bongean, a blog that I follow. She is famous for her primitive quilts. Even though I have been doing a lot lately with Kaffe Fassett, I have bought my fair share of primitive fabrics - some from her booth at various shows - and I hear my primitives calling to me.

If you click this link, you will go to the exact post in which the above quilt is shown and explained. Those 4-patch blocks are made with 1-inch squares! Yikes! Isn't it pretty, though?? I can see me making this, and yes, I would do it with 1-inch squares.

Sweet Nora

Don't you just love it when a quilt that you made for someone is at last in their possession? I began working on the Kissing Fishes quilt way back in the spring, I think, and finally at the beginning of this month, I was able to give it to Nora and her momma, Erin.

Members of Erin's family hosted a baby shower, so this was the deadline I was working with. I am happy to report that I had it all done in plenty of time. So unlike me, though!

Isn't Nora precious? She is sleeping so peacefully in her mother's loving arms. The quilt looks good on her!!

Just in case you needed to see a close up!

 

It was rather difficult modeling a quilt with a sleeping bundle of joy in her arms, but moms learn early on to juggle, so Erin has things quite under control!

 

So this is one bit of business wrapped up and delivered. So happy to be getting back to blogging!

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 

Finally!

Geesh, that took forever! But, I'm not complaining.

My laptop is back in my possession, and it looks fantastic. In addition to having the screen replaced, I also asked for the battery to be replaced as it was not staying charged. Then, as an afterthought, I texted the repairman and asked him if he could clean the keyboard. Instead, he found a replacement keyboard for $12. So I now have a new screen, battery and keyboard. It's like a whole new computer!!

I am so glad I didn't have to go shopping for a new laptop. This one will do just fine, even if this did cost me $180. I think there is a lot of life left in this one, so I am happy to be able to get it fixed.

Well, for someone who was in a regular habit of posting on my blog, I fear that I am completely out of the habit.

I will work on that. Several projects are ongoing, and I will get to them all.

 

 

A few weeks back, this was ready to take to a party. Betcha' can't guess what it was! *wink*

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Finishing a Wedding Gift

The laptop is still at the repair shop, so I have to go with the iPad. This app is just not as user friendly as the laptop. Oh well....
I have procrastinated long enough and now I have just 3 days to finish stitching the binding on this quilt.



I have one side done and hope to get at least 2 more sides done today. I need to read some essays and hand them back tomorrow, so I can't devote the entire day to sewing, unfortunately.
At 3:30 today I will take a little break from grading and stitching to help the MOB (mother of bride) and another friend make caramel apples for the wedding reception. I will be sure to take pictures.
Hope everyone in blog land is doing okay! I feel quite out of the loop without my regular computer. I know iPads are capable, but I mostly use mine for reading and games.
Happy Quilting, Friends!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Time to Catch Up

At least a little bit of catching up is possible. My laptop has suffered a boo-boo, and since that is the computer from which I usually post to the blog, I found myself in a bit of a predicament.

Advice to laptop owners: don't close the laptop with an earbud laying on the keyboard. Let's just say it's not pretty. My screen is quite obliterated. I've taken it to a repairman and await a verdict.

Moving on to my recent sewing endeavors. These have been few and far between. I spent the evening working on a couple of projects for my friend Cheryl whose daughter will be getting married on the 21st.



The flower girl's dress needed to be altered, and I volunteered for this task. Easy little job, and all stitches can be removed as the little girl grows so that she can wear it longer.

The gingham pieces are pocket squares for the groomsmen. These just needed to be narrow-hemmed. They are not perfect, but I think they are well-done enough to satisfy the bride.

I have done more work on the tumbler quilt. I will try to get pics for a future post.
Happy Quilting, Friends!

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

 

Home Improvement Project

I've been wanting to show you the very cool floor my DH has painted on the floor of our screened porch.




Don't you love it? Here's a shot taken after most of the furniture was returned.




It was a very labor-intensive job, so don't even think you are going to be able to get him to do a floor at your house! The fact that he is quite the perfectionist didn't help things. He is OCD when it comes to painting.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Taming a Scrap Bin

I wish I'd taken a "before" picture. You'll just have to trust me when I say this clean empty tub began the day harboring an absolute tangle of a mess of Kaffe Fassett scraps.

 

I had some time over the Labor Day weekend to tackle cleaning it out. I wouldn't normally have bothered, but I want to make that Thimble Quilt with KF scraps, so I needed to face this daunting task.

 

There on the arm of the chair I have stacked the larger pieces of fabrics. I deemed these to be usable, so I won't cut them into thimbles unless I need to. Directly behind the tub is a pile of orphan blocks from previous KF quilts over the years. Someday I will figure out how to use these. The little pile on the right are the few leftover diamonds from Erin's Diamonds which I made earlier this year. I still think I might make another one, so these will remain separated for the time being.

 

Now on to the really small stuff which I sorted on the cutting table.

 

 

I find it very difficult to throw out small pieces of fabric, and this is especially true of KF fabric, as it costs about a dollar per yard more than regular fabric. If I can get a 1" square out of it, I hang onto it!

 

I could explain every little pile or stack, but the picture really explains itself.

 

1. a stack of strips.

2. a stack of large squares.

3. a stack of small squares.

4. a stack of triangles.

5. a stack of "L"-shaped remnants which will be cut into strips.

6. a stack of thimble blocks (on top of the 2-row thimble project I started months ago, on the right).

7. and in the center, the pieces I plan to cut into more thimble blocks.

8. at the top center of the picture are the remnants of Erin's Diamonds, which are too big to throw out, but as yet, I can't think of a way to utilize them.

 

So, the Thimble Quilt is my focus when I have bits of time this week. It is one of the items I listed on my Ten Things This Summer list. Technically, summer isn't over until September 21st, so I will at least make progress.

 

I know there are some things I put on that list which are not likely to happen. I will address those when autumn begins.

 

I am off to cut thimble blocks!

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!

 



 

Recent Purchases

Seems like I have a lot of catching up to do. With classes at the university in full swing, I have had my mind elsewhere for a few weeks. Thanks to the Labor Day weekend, I have been able to catch up a bit.

So at some point in the last 2 or 3 weeks, I made a little trip to Old Town Fabrics in Chillicothe. In one of Kelly's emails, I learned that she'd marked down some of the Kaffe Fassett fabrics, so I definitely wanted to see if there was something calling my name.

I found many, but these two were particularly appealing, and I was fairly certain that I didn't own either one in any form (fat quarter or yardage). I think I ended up getting 2 yards of each.

It seems I can never leave their store without hitting the "Buy 4, get the 5th one free" basket. I have so much fun selecting the 5 I want to take home with me!

On this particular trip, I selected reds and blues for a patriotic quilt I have formulating in the back of my mind. I will need a variety, so these should blend in nicely.

That red and white yardage under the rolls is a piece I found on the super-discount table in the back of the store. I think I have mentioned before that I am also formulating plans for a future red and white quilt. Of course, this will play nicely, won't it??

So, this gal who prides herself on using from the stash, has done a bit of shopping. I fall off the wagon periodically, don't I?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Fair Ribbon

Yes, I know the Ross County Fair has been over now for a month, but I was just putting away my quilt and thought maybe you all would like to see my very first ribbon awarded for a quilt.

I had many categories from which to choose, but the category which suited me best was "Unfinished Quilt."

Rings true with lots of us, I'm sure.

Back in November of 2010, I finished this top. It is simply called Hourglass and it is a Thimbleberries pattern.

 

I was in a blogging funk in late 2010, so I didn't introduce this quilt until January of 2011. If you are interested, you can click here to read a bit about it.

 

So, I took this flimsy to the fair and entered it. Had no idea what I was doing, having never done it before. There was much paperwork to be done! Not knowing any better, I took a second quilt along to enter, but I found out that a person can only enter one quilt per category. Duh. Makes sense that I wouldn't want to compete against myself.

 

Anyhoo, I went back at the end of the week and discovered that I had won third place! I was very pleased, and a bonus! There was a $2 premium to go with it! Now, that is sweet, right?

 

 

Well, there is a bit of old business for you. I do have some new business, and I will tell you all about that in tomorrow's post!

 

Happy Quilting, Friends!