Having A Little Fun

Do you spend way too much time on Pinterest? I'm afraid I do. It's just so darned inspiring, though. I get so many quilting ideas and crafting ideas and well, you know...

I actually made something I saw on Pinterest last night. Well, let me clarify. I saw it several nights ago; I made it last night. If you click this link you will see the block that inspired me. It originated at this site.

Here are the fabrics I pulled.

Twelve HSTs and four squares later, I had my block! Easy peasy, and so good looking!

Fun and fast. And a nice diversion from other stuff. I have not worked on the quilt I wrote about yesterday. Maybe tomorrow for that. I just wanted a little change of pace. This was just the ticket.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

My Own Worst Enemy

I don't think I have very many enemies. And who needs enemies, when I can foil my own efforts better than any foe could.

I had time this weekend to work on sewing a quilt top together. I'd worked at finishing the setting triangles through the week and had everything set for laying out the quilt and stitching it all together.

I didn't get any of that done. Why? Because I couldn't find the blocks. What?!? The blocks were missing? How could I lose a dozen pieced blocks and six setting blocks? And they aren't tiny 6-inch blocks; they are 12.5-inch blocks! Too big to just misplace! Talk about being frustrated!

The quilt I am working on is the Tell It To The Stars quilt along project that I began in January through a blog I follow called Patchwork Times.

Here are my setting triangles. What a lot of pieces! And biases! It was just slightly unnerving to work with so many bias edges.

Corner Triangles

Side Triangles

I made 10 side triangles along with the four corner triangles. All pieced. They will look fantastic in the finished quilt, which I have now seen on the quilt along blog.

 

I hope Judy, the blog host, doesn't mind that I grabbed her picture. Isn't this going to be a spectacular quilt? I am getting kinda' excited to get mine finished.

And that takes me back to spending an entire weekend trying to figure out where I'd put my blocks. I dug and dug. I rooted through piles and closets. I cleaned off the corner of my sewing desk. I put away some fabrics. I folded things and tidied up - not overly much, but some. I opened drawers and looked in project bags. The more I looked without success the more aggravated I became.

Finally, last evening I decided that I was going to open every tub in the sewing room - no small task. I've got little tubs with individual projects. I've got medium-sized tubs with a myriad of things. They seem to be the catch-all tubs. And I've got large tubs containing fabric. In one of those medium-sized tubs, about the 7th one I opened, I found my blocks. It was around 9pm; too late, in other words, to get very much done on sewing the quilt top together. I sort of remember putting that stuff in the tub - I was just cleaning off a surface and instead of putting things away logically, I just piled a bunch of stuff in an empty tub.

One of 12 star blocks

One of 6 setting blocks

Good grief. Imagine what I could do if I'd just get myself organized!

So now I'm back to a Monday, a busy work week, and a project that I'm dying to finish! Here's a quick peek at what it will look like (minus the setting strips).

See what I mean about being my own worst enemy? I spin my wheels because I can't bring myself to straighten up my sewing room, have a place for everything and keep everything in its place. 

I've always been this way so I don't see myself changing my habits any time soon. Oh well.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

A Visit To Marilyn's

When I was a child, our family used Sunday afternoons for visiting. We'd visit grandparents or aunts and uncles - which often meant . . . cousins! Occasionally, we'd visit close family friends or take a drive to some scenic locale. I will use this Sunday to take you on a visit to Marilyn's sewing studio. You may recall that Marilyn is my mother's first cousin who is active in the Loose Threads Quilt Club down in Peebles. I visited that lovely group of quilters in September, and took these pictures of Marilyn's quilting projects when I stopped by her place afterwards to say hi to Uncle John and Aunt Nina.

Marilyn is quite accomplished at applique, and this wall hanging shows off her skill. Allow me to take a moment to apologize for the clarity of my photos. I inadvertently had my phone/camera set on video rather than snapshot. It's taken me all this time to figure out how to make a picture out of a video. Finally, DD2 suggested doing a screen capture. I did, and now I have to make the best of what I got. (This is a direct result of my not having my reading glasses handy. I couldn't see the settings on my phone! Oh, the pitfalls of aging!)

But I digress. Just be prepared to enjoy some fuzzy pictures today, that's all.

Marilyn's design wall had these two lovelies adorning it -- more evidence of applique. She says it's her new love.

And even more applique! These panels are prepped for an eventual quilt.

These two pieced quilts are more of the sort of quilting I do. Aren't they fantastic? The colorful basket quilt is full size and is hanging on the wall in the dining area.

This pinwheel quilt is another of Marilyn's pieced quilts. If I remember correctly, it is a small quilt - either a table topper or wall-hanging size. This just might be "talking" to me - getting itself on my to-do list, perhaps. I just love it.

So there's a Sunday visit for you. I sure had a nice visit that September afternoon. Aunt Nina is so proud of Marilyn's quilts. She just beams when she shows them. While I was there, Uncle John came in from a golf game, and he's just as proud. The work quilters do sure makes a lot of people happy, wouldn't you say?

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Flynn Gets A Quilt

Sharon has been making the most of her newly found free time. This little Thomas the Train quilt made of bright flannels and a Thomas panel is evidence of that. She had this whipped up in no time. Won't this brighten a two-year-old's bedroom?

Sharon machine-quilted this, and plans on giving it to her grandson this week. Actually, she may have done it already!

I have finally gotten back to work on something. I had that lull after finishing the t-shirt quilt, then going to History Day. I pulled out the next step on the Tell It To the Stars Quilt-Along. I am making progress, and will share that soon.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Dotty Frames

It's eye candy day, dear friends! Not many words and lots of glorious color!

As you probably know, Sharon P. and I have been sewing together on Tuesdays for awhile now. I have not shown you her current project, so get ready because it's a beauty.

It's from the book Quilt Grandeur by Kaffe Fassett, so of course it will have impact. Even in the block stage this is true.

 

The name of the quilt is Dotty Frames; here's the page of directions from Sharon's book.

Get a load of the color! Fascinating! (Or Fassett-nating!)

When we finished up yesterday, she had 6 more blocks to make and then would be ready to begin sewing the rows together. Won't it be wonderful?

Ha! All that candy and not a single calorie! Now how do you like that?!

Happy Quilting, Friends!

History Day

I've been participating in Greenfield's History Day for about 5 years now. I enjoy it and look forward to it each October. The Greenfield Historical Society is a very active group; we are growing and increasing our presence in the community all the time. I am not the most active member, but I am involved in a few projects.

Anyway, back to History Day. I take my Q-Snap quilting frame and project and just sit there quilting all day long, visiting with folks. I answer questions, mostly, but I ask a few, as well. Whenever I sense that someone is reluctant to begin a conversation, I generally ask if they have ever seen anyone quilt before. This opens up some good stories from folks, or it leads them to tell me about a special quilt that they own. I get a few quilters stopping by to talk about our common hobby, and it's always a pleasure to see just how widespread this pastime is.

This year, I had more youngsters showing an interest in quilting than I ever remember before. Three were even willing to pull up a chair, grab a needle and thread and try quilting a straight line across a block or two. I showed them how to bury the knot between the layers; how to hold the needle so that they wouldn't pull it off the thread; how to "rock" the needle, using the thimble and the fingers to "feel" the needle on both the top and bottom of the quilt.

Here's my delightful young friend Heather. What a trooper! We had some trouble with that thread, but she stayed right with it and stitched all the way across the block.

 

This is the block Heather stitched. I use masking tape to provide a straight edge for me to follow, so that is how I had Heather operate. After determining that she's a right hander, we buried that knot, and off she went! Since I am a lefty, she couldn't exactly copy what I did, but we figured out together.

See her stitches? I wonder if you can tell which stitches are Heather's and which are mine?

A bit later, Shelby came along. She watched me stitch for a long time while I visited with her parents, who are friends. Shelby asked a few questions, and so I invited her to sit down and give it a try. Look at that concentration!

And check out someone else who was concentrating -- little sister Courtney. Before you knew it, we had another needle threaded up, located a thimble, and she was off to the races. Shelby is a high school senior and Courtney is an 8th grader. I can't tell you how pleased I was that they were so willing and interested in quilting.

I wonder if you can tell what the quilt is that I have in the frame? Does it look familiar? Take a look at last year's History Day post and you will definitely see what I'm talking about. Yes, it's the same quilt, Long Road Home.

A few visitors noticed it, and I was completely honest with them. I had incorrectly measured my markings, and consequently I was unhappy with the discrepancy. Whenever I am in a quandary like this, my general coping mechanism is to just quit working on the project all together.

Since I needed a project for History Day, though, I needed to make a decision! Should I just keep going and ignore the inconsistent crosshatching? Or should I fix it, remove the offending stitches, and make things right? 

I decided there was no way I was going to remove stitches. Basically, I took a whole year ignoring this project, only to finally decide that I just need to get back to stitching, forget the minor error, and get this UFO finished. Whew.

Happy Quilting, Friends!

Shop Hopping

On Friday the Frankfort Girls were supposed to come to my house for sewing, but instead we loaded up and headed out for Dayton's Nutter Center for Ohio One Stop Shop Hop. I think it was a successful event, judging by both the number of shops present, and the nice crowd--not too crowded, but I'm sure the vendors were pleased.

I took a few pictures and made a few purchases. I asked all the vendors pictured here if they were okay with my taking a picture of their booths, and every single one was just as pleasant and sweet as could be. It sure makes me happy to be a member of such a friendly quilting community. Gives me warm fuzzies!

Back Door Quilts, from Greenwood, IN.

The view from the registration desk as we entered.

Neff's Country Loft from Belpre, OH.

A view down one row; this was just before lunch time, so the crowd was manageable.

Caroline's Cottage Cottons from Rome City, IN.

I made some stash enhancements during the course of my morning. I didn't go overly crazy, but I did give in to the urge for retail therapy.

Ten fat quarters in fall colors.

A clever way to package fat eighths. One is Snow Bird/Moda; the other assorted neutrals.

Gray linen-look fabric; I have a quilt brewing in the back of my mind; this would be the neutral.

Happy Quilting, Friends!