Saturday Sewing, a purple baby quilt and a tip.

I slept in this morning.  It was great to wake up without an alarm.  I don't get to do that too often so I take advantage of it when I can!  I got up, started some laundry, started the dishwasher, had a cup of tea and headed upstairs to the sewing room....I turned on the iron and pressed the fat quarters I pulled out last night and started cutting.  I made twenty blocks and put this little top together...I think it turned out cute but I'm going to have to do some math now to figure out the border...

I saw this on Freda's blog and she had seen in on Fat Cat Quilt's blog...

these pics are from her blog and this is what I wanted to make for baby Carmen.

This is what I wanted to make (in pinks too)  but my sweet son said no to the pink!!! Can you imagine?  He doesn't like pink. Boy, is he in for a surprise when he has this baby!  Everyone buys pink for a girl but anyway, I complied with his wishes and pulled out purples.. Here's the middle part, now I have to figure out the border...

Also, I wanted to tell you a quick tip...I quick piece my squares and leave them together and take them to the ironing board.  I also don't use my scissors...I use my needle threader to snip between my squares...there are places selling the free standing thingies to snip your thread but you have one built in with this needle threader.  Two for one...not bad!

Friday night sewing

I got home and started sewing together my Shang Ri La quilt...(I'm sorry, I can't remember the name of this pattern. It is a Marti Michell BOM and I never knew it even had a name.)I got it almost complete and realized I had sewn one strip in wrong. I had to rip it out and clean it up from all the stringies and sew the right strip in the right place. I got it together and it is now ready for the borders.  I'll do those Saturday or sometime next week.  I have something more important to do right now....Here's a picture of the middle part all together without the borders.  I have three borders to add before this one is complete.  I love this quilt because I love the fabric.  I have enough fabric to make a Schnibbles quilt too, Woo Hoo, but I digress, I'll talk about that later...



Don't you love this one?  I know I do, this was a BOM and I have 3 borders to put on it.



After I finished this one, I went through my purple fabrics and pulled out some fat quarters for a new baby quilt.  My new grandbaby will be making her appearance the end of April or first of May but there's going to be a shower and I want the quilt ready for that.  I am planning on making the quilt, bumper pads, sheets and diaper stacker.  But, the quilt is the most important right now!  I saw on Freda's blog, a pink quilt that is just the thing so I'll be starting that tomorrow....

Whoop Whoop Friday

Today is Friday and you know what that means??? That means it's Whoop Whoop Friday!  That's right!  Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict started the madness and it's very contagious!  She gets alot done and shows off every Friday!  She quilts for her ministry and always has some nice quilts to show off too!  If you want to join up and have some fun, brag a little about your accomplishments of the week and win some prizes too...head on over and see her.  Click here and it will take you to her blog where you can link up or post a comment.  Have a look around on her blog and see all of the wonderful quilts she has done and donated to her ministry too.  Please tell Sarah hello and that I sent you.  Have a great weekend and get some sewing done!!!

Civil War blocks and Disappearing Nine Patch

I was able to come in tonight and work on my Civil War Blocks. I have been behind since I've been working on other things.  I made three blocks tonight and I have two left to make and I'll be up to date.  These were alot of fun to do and I enjoyed making these blocks. 

I made the Log Cabin Block, the Star Block and the Cotton Boll block...

here they are:

Then, I cut apart some blue nine patches and sewed them back up as the disappearing nine patches...ooh, I like them, I like them alot!
I made eighteen of these blue blocks.  I have alot more blue blocks and I'll do more later...these are fun! I need to measure and see how big they are now.  I  will lay these out later this week and see how I want to put them together...Have you tried these yet?  They don't even look like nine patches anymore. 

I also opened up my Go cutter and got out some scrap fabric and started cutting some easy blocks. Wow, this is addictive and I love cutting the blocks so quickly.  I'll use these as leaders and enders and sew them up between other projects.  I think I'm going to really like this Go!  Well, gotta Go for now!  Til next time....

Saturday sewing, gardening and the Go Cutter....

I got up this morning and laid out the blocks on my design wall for that 2008 BOM I told you about in my last post.  I love this quilt!!! I had to unsew some things because, guess what??? I didn't read the directions. I just went by the pictures mostly and I should not have done that with this quilt.  I had to unsew two blocks as the directions said not to sew them together as they would be used for outside blocks...blah, blah, blah. The picture showed what the block would look like if it was a complete block.  Ok, I'll give her that one.  Anyway, I wasted a little time by not reading the directions but everything is as it should be now. The quilt is on my design wall and I have been working on putting the rows together today.  I have stopped a few times for various reasons.  I cleaned house a little and my MIL  came over today and we planted two rows of potatoes.  I also put a rosemary plant and a miniature rose bush into the ground that my sweet husband gave me for Valentine's Day.  I'm not sure the rosemary plant will make it.  It was pretty dry. I got it before Christmas and wanted to plant it but then the snow came and I didn't want to plant until warmer weather.  Today is a beautiful, sunny day of 72 degrees. You heard me right, 72 degrees!  Last week we had to have our coats and scarves, this week is flip flops and shorts.  You've heard about the Texas weather, right?  It's true....Anyway, my potatoes are in the ground, next comes squash, okra, tomatoes  and radishes. I have to check and see when it's ok to plant these first.  My soil is ready but I have to wait until it's time.  I'll show you my garden when it gets pretty. Ok, everything is up to date now and  I can go back to sewing.  I already did something Bonnie said not to do.  She said don't spend too much time in front of the computer.  If you stay too long at the computer, you are not at the sewing machine....she's right but I have to document everything too.  I haven't even had time to read blogs this week so please forgive me.  I'll play catch up tomorrow and work on my CW too...

BTW, I broke down yesterday and bought me an Accuquilt Go Cutter.  I bought the Hexagon templates too. I watched the DVD that comes with it.  That was why I didn't go to Sit and Sew last night.  I sat down and watched the DVD then I didn't want to get up from my chair.  I haven't even played with the Go yet but next week will be better for me.  I have no meetings next week except for tatting and Weight Watchers.  I'll be sewing every night!!!  So, have a great weekend and go sew!

Friday night sewing with Heidi and Bobbi

I was supposed to go to a sit and sew tonight but I was just too pooped!  I made the mistake of sitting down and then I didn't want to get up.  I stayed home and wasn't even planning on sewing. I thought I would just take a bath, put on my jammies and go to bed early.  Well, that didn't happen.  I took a bath, put on my jammies, ate some dinner and I felt better.  I didn't want to leave the house and load up my car to go anywhere though, so I just went upstairs and sewed in my jammies like everyone else is supposed to be doing.... I got my second wind and sewed up the rest of the pieces for a BOM from 2008.  I finished all the 8 blocks I needed to plus all the other little squares required to put this together...

See the 5 star blocks?  Well, they look like stars to me...these are the ones I finished last night. 

Wednesday and Thursday happenings.

This has been a super busy week for me.  I'm sorry to say I could not fit blogging into my schedule...so, I'm going to update now for the whole week....

You know what I did Tuesday night, yeah, that's right. I have to brag one more time that I got to go see Bonnie...
Here's sweet Bonnie:

Here's the quilt she teaches her Scrap User System with:

All of the other pics I took were too far away but if you have her books, you know what they look like anyway....


It was great but I was sure tired the next day,but no rest for the wicked!!! He, he, he, guess who I mean?!

I went straight over to my friend's house after work and helped her with her knitting. She is doing pretty good.   She gets confused easily but she is catching on and doing very well.  Rhonda wasn't there Wednesday night but she has caught on and is already doing an afgan.  She is doing squares out of the book, Teach Yourself Visually Knitting and will be putting these squares together.  I loved this book and Debbie Stoller's book, Stitch and Bitch.  These two books helped me so much as a beginner knitter and these are the books I told them to get.  They like them too and are following along in the books to knit by...We are having a great time knitting together and will be continuing the lessons weekly.  

Thursday night was my small group night.  It was so much fun.  We have some fun and talented ladies....Here's some of the show and tell for this week...




This is the quilt for the church this year. Everyone made two blocks and Glenda and Jackie put it
together.  This will be quilted and given to the church where we meet as a thank you for allowing us to meet here.  We do one for the church every year and I'm very proud to say, they have all been very beautiful.




One of Martha's lovely quilts.



Another of her quilts.  She loves to applique.



Aren't these cute.  Glenda made these for her Mom's kitchen. It was a quilt pattern with 6 different teapots.  She made the four that she liked best and framed them.  She said she did it this way because a quilt would not work on the wall in her Mom's kitchen.  She framed them herself too.





A Christmas quilt top for the DAR, ready for quilting.



This was a mystery quilt that the group did several years ago.  This was the second one of these that we did.  This one is Jackie's and she said she's  going to add a few more details or appliques before she quilts this one.  I love the moose!




This one was Bennie's. Bennie passed away in October  last year and Boneta and several other friends are finishing up the quilting on the quilts Bennie had ready and these are going to the family.  Boneta has quilted four of these little quilts since Christmas. 



This one is a twin.  Nona had to make two of these for her granddaughter's twin beds.  You can't tell it but the plaid border fabric has pink in it too.  Too cute!  Some of the blocks came from another friend of hers with health problems. Joy decided she did not want to finish this and Nona ended up with it....I love it for a little girl..



Judy calls this her left handed quilt. She worked on this while she was recouperating from hand surgery on her right hand....




This is our Mystery Row By Row wallhanging we are doing this year.  Martha (doesn't she have a great smile!) is in charge of this mystery.  Gee, I wonder what next month is going to be?!




This is what we will be making this year.  Each year we have a fabric swap to make a quilt. 




Here's a close up....this is called Wheel of Fortune.

  We have a busy year ahead but it looks like fun!!!









Meeting Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville!

Yesterday was tatting Tuesday and quilt guild night but I cancelled both.  I had the good fortune of going to see/meet Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.com.  What a treat!  Five of us hopped into Helen's van and drove over to the big town of Keller, Tx. We went to the Bear Creek Quilt Guild meeting last night. ( Bear Creek Quilt Guild was so nice to us too!  What a wonderful guild.  If you get a chance, go see that guild.  They are a small but very busy guild.  Their members do alot of nice quilts. They brought quilts that they had done from Bonnie's website and showed them last night.  It was so much fun to see these too.)  Bonnie was the speaker for the night and she did a great trunk show too.  What a treat!!! I have been following Bonnie for as long as I can remember and I've made several quilts from her website.  I now have all of her books. I just got her newest book last night!  She was so much fun to listen to and see her and her wonderful quilts in person.  It was a fun night but I am exhausted today.  I did take a few pictures and I'll see if any of those turned out...I didn't get home until late last night so I'll check when I get home tonight after my knitting class. I wanted to take a class from her while she's here but there's no way I can take off for that...Boo hoo hoo..Oh well, at least I was able to get to meet her and laugh and have a good time with my buddies too.

Friday night sewing with Heidi and Bobbi...(NOT!) ...Pansy Park

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Here's a correction!  Last night was not Friday night sewing with Heidi and Bobbi.  I jumped the gun, Friday night sewing with Heidi and Bobbi is next Friday, February 18th! So, if you haven't signed up for it yet...click on the brown button on the side and go sign up now.  You have not missed it yet!  Sorry for the confusion, it was me that was confused, not you!  Have fun sewing, I'm back to it now!
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Last night was the Friday night sew in...I got several things cut out but not sewn...I did get the final borders put on my Pansy Park quilt and it is now a flimsy!!!! Woo hoo, I'm dancing!  I've had this for about six years and I've worked on it off and on over those years.  I finished all the blocks last October at retreat and put it away one more time.  I am really trying hard to finish projects this year. By finish, I mean complete..quilted and all.  I am finishing up the tops first and I'll start quilting these soon.  I have a Little Gracie frame and a Brother Mid Arm machine and I've only quilted two small quilts with it.  I am not procrastinating using it, I just don't have the time to do everything.  These tops are on my mind and I want to get that done and I'll decide how they need to be finished later.  I have several friends that have Longarms and I can keep them in business this year too.  I do want to do alot of my tops myself and I have done several but I want to see these in my lifetime too.  I work full time and only have so much vacation time!  Gosh, I have a family too and other committments...I do manage my time wisely but there's just not enough of me to go around. Anyway, I'm through feeling guilty now that I've put it in writing, so I'll stop there.  Let's just say, I will be quilting these lovely tops soon and you'll see them again on my blog when they are quilts...So, here's my lovely Pansy Park quilt top.  It is a queen sized top and will fit lovely on my front bedroom guest bed.  Now, go sew and have a great Saturday!

Here's a close-up of the quilt...This was a Thimbleberrie's pattern and fabric...

Whoop- Whoop! I finished my Red, White and Blue Flimsy

Ok, here's the red, white and blue quilt top I showed earlier this week.  I had enough blue/white star sashing fabric to go around the outside of the blocks.  I then went into my stash to look for border fabric.  I pulled out several reds and blues but came across this fabric. I have used this blue star fabric in a few of my quilts and I love this fabric. I have enough left of this to bind this quilt with and maybe make some pillowcases.  I have another red/white/blue quilt to make so I will wait and see how much fabric I need for it before I use this up...Here's the quilt top all together ready for quilting.  I already know how it's going to be quilted. I want stars all over it, I just have to find the right pantograph and then it'll be finished completely.  I am very happy with this quilt.  I'll have to decide on a name for it too.  Any suggestions?

Here's a closeup of the blue star fabric I used on the border... I love this fabric.  I bought almost a whole bolt of this a few years ago and I have a little bit left over.  I'll  decide what I'm going to do with this later  as I have another RWB quilt to put together. 

Super Bowl Sewing and Design Wall Monday

Ok, I watched part of the game, watched lots of the commercials and I sewed too. I was running up and down the stairs to catch the game.  I got some really good exercise. I can't say that all my soreness is gone but almost...

I pulled out the blocks that I did last year for Amy's BOM and some blocks from my Pizza Box project. I picked some out and put them up on the design wall. I still have enough left for another quilt!  Anyway, I pulled out some fabric for the sashing and thought I would do stars in the sashings.  I tried this but it really didn't work.  There was too much white in the blocks, especially the corners, so the star was lost.  Why do the extra work if the star doesn't show up? 

Ok, I took this apart and pulled out some different fabric for the sashings and tried again. I really like this star fabric and I'm glad I used it.  This top is now together and is on my design wall. I'm trying to decide if I want to make it bigger or stop here and just add some borders. I'm going to sleep on it and come back tomorrow and look at it again...

I don't have alot of room in my sewing room and can't take a full head-on view of my design wall.  I hope you can tell what it looks like.  I'm really pleased with how these blocks turned out and how they went together...

When I started these blocks, I had no intention of this being a patriotic quilt but how can it not be when you're working with red, white and blue fabrics?  Oh, I love red, white and blue and now, I'm glad it's turned out to be patiotic....

I'm going to go link this to Judy L's blog for Design Wall Monday.  I've been hearing about this for some time and just never did it. Have a wonderful week and get some sewing done. Til next time,

How About Them Packers! Super Bowl 45 winners!

Congrats to the Green Bay Packers!  Woo hoo, I was rooting for them.  

When I was a kid my favorite team was the Green Bay Packers. I loved Bart Starr and Vince Lombardi.  They were great!  Of course, I was a Cowboy fan too but I watched Green Bay when I could and I was just a kid!!  I saw Bart Starr interviewed today and he's an old man. OMG, where does the time go?? Anyway, I'm proud of Green Bay and I'm glad they won.  I think the coach, Mike McCarthy is pretty special too.  He seems like a really good guy. Congratulations, Go Packers!

Straightening up Saturday and working on red fabrics/scraps.

Today, I couldn't decide what I wanted to work on. As most of you know, I am not short of any projects to work on or finish up, but I just couldn't decide what to work on. And, I just wasn't motivated. Maybe, it was just too early...I don't know but it just wasn't happening.  So, I decided to straighten up my sewing room and get a little bit organized.  I straightened up and threw away and finally decided on what to work on.  I had a block I wanted to do so I pulled it out and completed it.  It was alot of fun...it was an easy block. I pulled out my pigma pen and my light box and wrote on this one too.  I'm going to include this one in my quilt from Amy's BOM last year...This came as a kit and was supposed to be a wallhanging but I decided to use it with my quilt.  Here's the block that I did:

Isn't this great?  I think it will look good in the quilt....

I pulled out another of my projects and I completed these little blocks.  These are all 6 inch blocks and will go in my 30's Sampler quilt....

3 down and about 18 more to go....These are so cute.  This is my first 30's quilt sampler I have ever done.  I'm really liking this quilt.   I have about 6 Applique blocks to do but I'm not looking forward to those!   Finally, I pulled out this last little quilt and finished it.  I started quilting it last night after I found out Angela was doing red fabrics this month.  This has been laying around for awhile. It was a class sample a few years back.  I quilted it very simply and bound it today.  It is now finished!  Woo hoo, an actual all the way finished quilt.... I know it's small but that counts too, right? 

I pulled out my red scraps and looked for little projects to do.  I don't have alot of red.  I think I'll see what I can finish quickly then onto bigger projects...it sure is a good feeling to have an actual finish. 
I'm going out of the house now for dinner. It will be the first time in a few days that I've been able to leave the house.   I tried yesterday but fell on the driveway....I'm so sore today, I can't hardly move around but other than that, I'm great.  Now, off to dinner with the family. Have a wonderful Saturday.