Happy Scrappy Saturday

I have been working on green scraps today and I've gotten a few things done with my scraps.  I'm really enjoying the scrappy Saturdays.  I can cut my scraps up and sew them together and watch the grandbaby at the same time.  No pressure. I brought one of my machines down from my sewing room and set it up on the kitchen table.  I'm all spread out there and the family aren't crazy about that but that's ok too....We usually eat in the living room in front of the TV anyway, so I just gave them an excuse to do that without feeling guilty!  So, I made 5 green disappearing 4 patches to go with the 5 red ones I did last week.  I made 20 more little 3 inch 9 Patches and I made more trees.  The 9 patches and the trees are for exchanges I'm in this year and I'll be doing 40 nine patches a month for that.  I'm through with the trees for the exchange, I've made my 20 for that and now I'm just working on my trees. I need 53 trees for a small quilt but I don't know if I want a small quilt. I don't have any small beds so it's really no use to me for this size. So that means, I need alot more trees.  We are only exchanging 20, I don't know why but that's what was decided. That means I have to make 50 + trees myself and I want them all different.  I'll be using up some more of my green scraps for these as I go along.  Here's some  pics of what I did today and I'm still sewing. I have some other red and white things left to do for my Valentine surprise....more to come on that later. 

40 little 3 inch 9 Patches

I'm so enjoying making these trees.  These are easy and fun to make and this quilt is going to be so cute. I'm so glad they talked me into this exchange...

I saw these blocks on another blog last week and I thought they were so cute, I just had to make some.  I'm making 5 of each color. Which means in 12 months, that will be 60 blocks.  These are small blocks- 8 1/2" unfinished. I might have to rethink how many I make of each color...Plenty of time for that, right?

I've had some of this fabric for awhile and I'm glad I'm using it up.  That floral was one of my favorites way back when....

This last picture is my sweet Mother In Law and the grandbaby.  Mom came by today for a visit and had to hold the baby before she went down for a nap.  They both look pretty sleepy here.

Ok, gotta go do some more sewing before everyone comes home.  Have a great weekend and I hope you get some time with your sewing machine, uh, I mean family, maybe a little of both!  Have fun.

Some red and white quickie projects

Here's the red things I did today.  I cut out these big hearts and made hot pads out of them.  I still have to bind them but I'm going to use bias binding (the kind you buy in packages) on these instead of making bias binding.
I finished the placemat I made last week. I have decided to make a placemat in all the colors we work on this year for the rainbow challenge so I can have some rainbow placements. I think the grandkids will like these. 
I made a little snippets bag, a big zipper bag to hold some of my tatting shuttles and thread, a coaster and 5 heart hotpads. I'm showing the backside of one of these to show you the silver stuff (I don't know what it's called, but it's ironing board fabric.) All of these are finished except for 4 of the hotpads.

 I was going to make this  bigger snippets bag out of red but I didn't have big enough scraps of red.  So, instead of red, I used white fabric that wasn't good enough for a quilting project to make the bag.  I don't know where I even got this fabric but it's too heavy for quilting so I decided it would do for this little bag or whatever you call it.  This is one of the things I was going to show you this week. I saw one of these at my sewing group last week and decided to see if I could make it.  This turned out ok.  I used a big equilateral triangle to cut the triangles. I cut 8 triangles out.  Put two triangles together and sew them right sides together, repeat for a total of 4 sets.  I sewed three of these from the bottom up 5 inches.  I then sewed the final triangle on the bottom. Fold down the tops and put a button on each corner to hold them down....In the picture you can see the triangle ruler I used. It is an 8"-60 degree ruler. I still need to sew the buttons on and it will be finished.  This one looks pretty plain and will look better with buttons but it will do what I want it to anyway.... The one I saw was cuter with prettier fabric.

I also cut the corner triangles and setting triangles out for my heart quilt but I didn't sew them yet.  I'll try to sew those tomorrow afternoon after church.  Until next time, happy quilting!

Happy Scrappy Saturday

Ok, today is the last red Saturday and I have got to get busy. I'm watching the baby today but she's playing and quiet right in her playpen now so I'll slip upstairs and grab some fabric to work on.  I have an idea or two and I'll show you later what I worked on.  I'll be working on red at least until the mid part of February....I have more ideas but can't share those just yet.  I'm going to be sharing those on Februay 14th, Valentine's Day, for the Show Some Love Blog Hop!  Mark your calendars and drop by to see what I'll have to show. I'll be having some drawings for you to enter too so please come by. 

Gotta go for now to get busy, check back on me later today. Now, go sew!

My First Thimbleberries Sew Day

I came in today from work and wanted to get started on sewing for my first Thimbleberries Sew Day.  However, I had to feed the grandbaby and watch the Mavs play.  I just had to do that, you know!  They got their rings tonight and it was a happy night except they lost.  My kids went to the game and I watched the baby....So, my sewing was delayed until I put her to bed....I got a late start but was able to finish this little wallhanging.  I've had this little Thimbleberries pattern for a few years and I've been wanting to make it forever. I thought it would be fun to finally make it and I was right. It was fun and quick and easy too.  I hurried upstairs and pulled some fabric and started cutting. This little pattern went together so quickly.  I even learned a new way to put together friendship stars. These little stars are only 3 inches finished but the method the pattern showed was alot easier than using all squares or triangles.  That's one thing I like about Thimbleberries patterns, they use quick methods and you get good results with their methods....Anyway, here's my first project for the Thimbleberries Sew Day and I know it won't be my last. I have several books of hers and there are patterns in each book that I want to do, so I should be busy for a few years anyway!!!   If you want to join us, we sew the last Wednesday of each month using Thimbleberries patterns or fabric or both.  There is no pressure and no quilt police, click on the button on the right hand side of my blog and you'll be directed to Barb's blog and you can sign up there or get more info.
This was a free pattern that was sent out with an advertisement for one of her books. This pattern is called Glory Be.
 Ok, it's past my bedtime so I'll say goodnight.   Happy sewing!

Hearts and trees

I didn't go to tatting tonight because the weather was so bad. I decided to come home and just sew a little.   While listening to Pat Sloan's podcast I cut some white and off-white squares and put them with my little red hearts.  The rows are together now and I'll sew them together once I figure out the sizes for the side setting triangles and corner triangles.  I just didn't want to do the math tonight....

I stopped working on the little hearts and decided to do some trees. I hadn't even looked a the pattern until tonight and wasn't sure how big these were. These will finish at 6" X 8" and look pretty big.  I thought they were small and I was pretty surprised at their size.  I'm in an exchange next month to make a tree quilt.  Here's the start of them.  I made 6 of these tonight and I only need to make 20 so I'm on my way.  There's 10 of us in the exchange, so I have to make 10 of each tree.  We're only exchanging 20 trees. The quilt requires alot more....I'll be making the rest on my own so I'll be using scraps after this.   

 

Tomorrow is Thimbleberries Sew Day and I've picked out the pattern I'll be working on. My first Thimbleberrie Sew Day with Barb of Bejeweled Quilts, I'm excited!!!  See you tomorrow!

Exciting News: GO! Ahead and Show Some Love Blog Hop

 Coming in February!!!! Save the dates and visit these fun blogs.  It's the next Accuquilt blog hop, and the theme is:  Go! Ahead and Show Some Love Blog Hop, and there are going to be lots of projects, tutorials, and maybe some giveaways, too! Since it's being done in the sweetest month or I call it the love month, we will all be focusing on red and white. Yes, more red is coming up along with hearts and valentines and of course, chocolate! Yum, yum!

If you'd like to know who will be posting in our hop, click on the graphic in the right-hand sidebar, and you'll be able to see SewCalGal's post and the list of bloggers.  Jacque (Lilypad Quilting) created the cute artwork for this blog hop. Thanks, Jacque, this is so cute!!!!

Also, thanks to Paulette (Sweet P Quilting) for twisting our arms, I mean coordinating this upcoming blog hop...  

   I love using my tools, my friends know that I'm a gadget girl and one of my favorite tools is my AccuQuilt Go.  I don't use it to it's full advantage but that's what this is all about, learning, sharing and having fun!   I'm very lucky, my day to show what I've got going on is Valentine's Day, February 14th!  I do have to share the day with Connie (Quilting by the River), but I don't mind sharing!!!!  So, click on the red badge on the side and see who else is playing and mark your calenders to visit each one of us on our special days. 

Don't forget to come join the fun in our upcoming GO! Ahead and Show Some Love Blog Hop! I think you'll have fun and find some ideas to create some really sweet projects too.

Red Weekend

I worked on red scraps all weekend.  I just couldn't get them off my mind. I made 5 string blocks and a string placemat and more little hearts, but  it just seemed like my red scraps just kept growing!  Oh my, I decided I would seperate them to keep them from multiplying and that seemed to do the trick.  The pile isn't a big pile anymore, it's a medium size one now!  I didn't take pictures of the placemat yet because I didn't bind it yet.  I did start putting my hearts together. I think I'll make a few little quilts out of the hearts instead of a big quilt.  Some little girls might like these little heart quilts and I'll be working on these this week.  I have trouble with diagonal quilts.  I'm directionally challenged or something.  I have to lay them out and look at them to make sure they are right.  I'm putting white and off-white alternating blocks in with the little hearts and I'm liking the red and white.  I've had a good time sewing red this weekend and this whole month.

 I'm even getting a surprise together for next month.  I will be participating in a Blog Hop next month and you can come over and visit me along with a few others for this special Red and White Hop.  I'll post more about it later tonight.  I'm out of time right now and gotta get busy. Go sew and come back later tonight for the info, please.