Wednesday, March 30, 2016

It's Tax Time!

This is not a quilt!  But isn't it a cool chair!  Very cool looking but not very comfortable....  We saw this at our accountant's office and I love the way it looks but am oh so glad I don't have to sit in it very often :)
And why am I posting a picture of a chair and not a quilt?  Probably because between working (payroll time) and finishing a book that I could not put down (Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty) I just haven't done any sewing recently.
Tomorrow is a new day :)

Tuesday, March 29, 2016

More Show and Tell

I hope everyone had a very Happy Easter!  We had some family in town and had a wonderful weekend.
Here are some more Sew Savvy Show and Tell pictures!





I love this little welcome door hanger made by Isabel!


And this visor!  How fun is this?  I had to order the pattern from Superior Threads - I need to make some of these.  They will be perfect for tennis and golf.

Friday, March 25, 2016

Sew Savvy Show and Tell


As promised, here are a few pictures of some show and tells items from Sew Savvy last week!

I've seen a YouTube video on how to make these receiving blankets on Missouri Quilt Company's channel.  I really want to give it a try because they're so cute and they look easy.  Nice gifts!



I was in class with Toni, who made this quilt!  It's called Market Fresh and mine is brown with brightly colored melons.  I remember her using the black and white and red fabrics.  It turned out fantastic!



I have some Christmas projects to make this year but I will have to wait until July when the Christmas fabric comes out!

Right now I'm ready for Spring :)

Thursday, March 24, 2016

Sew Savvy

Sew Savvy at Hi Fashion last week was a blast as always!  Kudos to those hard working ladies (and gentleman) who put that all together for us. It's always fun to see what is new out there in the quilting world.  In May the ladies will be going to Quilt Market in Salt Lake City, so we will have to for sure NOT miss Sew Savvy in June.  They will have a lot to share with us, I'm sure.
Tomorrow I will show some pictures of the some of the wonderful show and tell items that came to Sew Savvy....


My heart goes out to all those who've suffered because of the bombings in Brussels.  It's so sad to hear of things like that happening in this beautiful world God gave us. There is room for all us, no matter what we look like or believe.  We are all God's children.


Do something nice for someone today :)

Wednesday, March 23, 2016

Projects

Since I finished piecing Dear Jane, I have been trying to get some other projects done so I can pin baste a few quilts at the same time (while I have the ping pong table set up) and practice quilting on a couple to get warmed up and ready to tackle quilting "the Jane".

I pulled out my Patchwork of the Crosses blocks and started experimenting with a setting.  At first I was going to try and make it like the original, which means I would have to make about 30 more blocks (or 35, I can't remember exactly).  Having just made the Jane very close to the original I decided I would rather change POTC up a bit.  So using some inspiration from Sharon's lecture I started laying blocks out and playing with setting ideas.  I kind of like this one, which means I would only need to make one more block!  Question though - do you think that bright yellow block in the center needs to go??


I finished the center of the quilt that I started in Sharon's class.  I had enough blocks left over to make a baby quilt. Now I need to decide what I want to do for borders on both!




A few years ago I bought a kit that had orange and gray fabrics all packaged together nicely.  I did not like the pattern that came with the kit though, so after I pulled it out this week I started looking for a different pattern.
I was looking on Pinterest at something else and ran across this quilt pinned on one of my friend Sheila's boards.  It was easy to piece and I think it works pretty well with my orange and gray fabrics.  Now I need to decide what, if anything I am going to do about borders for this one.  Below is a link to the pattern if you're interested!

Happy Quilting!
http://letsquiltsomething.blogspot.com/2016/01/slippery-slides-free-quilt-pattern.html

Tuesday, March 22, 2016

Vintage Made Modern


In the current issue of Machine Quilting Unlimited there is an article called Vintage Goes Modern featuring the quilt Lottie's Sunshine and Smiles.  The writer took a vintage quilt top and quilted it "modern".  I love the quilting and found this article very inspiring.  I'm trying to learn to think outside the box (or outside the block) when it comes to my machine quilting.  If you can enlarge this picture, you will notice that while the quilt is set straight, the quilting is actually on point!  Very clever!  The quilting made an old quilt top very current and fresh.
Off to do some piecing today!  Have a good one!

Sunday, March 20, 2016

A Color Challenge


Sunset Slope Quilters challenged its members to create a quilt using only the colors on a paint chip card with the optional addition of black or white.


This Folded Log Cabin was created by Cynthia Roe.  You can see the paint chip card in the lower left of the picture.





A blue and tea paint chip by Debbie Sasser



Of course I would zero in on the orange Traditional Bargello by Pat Severson!  Because orange makes me happy :)



Here is Blue Chip Modern
by Kathy Lisco

You cannot tell from the pictures but these quilts are all wall hanging size.




Here is another quilt by Kathy, made for CWQG's challenge called Five Little Monkeys.


And here is someone who makes ME very happy!!!!

Friday, March 18, 2016

International Quilting Weekend!

It is International Quilting Weekend - a cause for celebration! You can head over to The Quilt Show website and watch over 220 shows for free and enter to win amazing prizes!
https://thequiltshow.com

Here are a few more pictures from our local quilt show last weekend.  This quilt has quite a story.  It was bought at a local antique shop by Wendy.  She said the consignor of the shop told her that the quilt was given to her by "a little old lady".  Wendy had to soak the quilt for a couple of days to remove some the stains but it turned out beautifully and the hand quilting is really something.  What a find!  I'm glad the quilt now has a good home with someone who will treasure it.  Too bad the quilt wasn't labeled so we knew who the maker is and when it was made!




Pineapple Quilt Block
made by Marion Fenner and quilted by Eileen Davis


Hampstead Ridge #2
made by Sheila Symanski and quilted by Linda Smith
(You can see Hampstead Ridge #1 on Wednesday's post.  Two quilts made with the same blocks set differently. Beautifully done!)
 




Another quilting design I was admiring....




Express Yourself
Made and quilted by Sharon Weingardt

This quilt is meant to hang on the wall in a church for their youth group - inspiring words!






Super Nova
made and quilted by Jo Cornforth

I like the modern look of this quilt.


Sincerely Yours
made and quilted by Sheila Symanski
This photo doesn't do this quilt justice - it's stunning and I love the colors.

Thursday, March 17, 2016

Happy St. Patrick's Day!!


Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!  I sure hope you're wearing green!  It looks like I will be kissing the ole Blarney Stone again this year as my daughter and I are heading to Ireland for a week in June.  So excited! :)

And equally exciting is the fact that I completely finished piecing my Dear Jane quilt top yesterday.  I even hand embroidered on the bottom right corner block, as she did, my name, how many pieces and the year I will complete it.  Now it's written in stitches so I have to quilt it by the end of 2016 :)



And yes, I am currently accepting any and all quilting suggestions.  Especially if you have previously quilted a DJ quilt before, but even if not, if you have ideas please send them my way!  Thanks a bunch!  Now, go get your green on!

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Happy Songs

We are having a Happy Songs contest in our family that has been really fun.  We each submitted (anonymously) the names of three songs that make us happy.  My daughter then compiled a spreadsheet with all the songs and links to YouTube so we could listen to them all and guess who picked each one.  My husband and I had a great time Sunday evening trying to guess who chose which song.  After we submitted our guesses, we compared notes and had guessed 15 out of 27 the same.  I'm looking forward to getting the results this weekend to see how we really did.  What has been extra fun though is this morning I heard two of the songs on the radio and I thought "this song makes someone in my family very happy!" I paid closer attention to the lyrics and thought happy thoughts of my family :)




The quilt above is:
Wildflowers
Made and quilted by Sonia Sanderson and was shown at the Sunset Slope quilt show this past weekend.  The following quilts were also in the show.



The quilt to the left is: My Wild Irish Rose made and quilted by Jackie Aguilar




Hampstead Ridge #1
Made by Sheila Symanski and quilted by Linda Smith




This quilt was a simple patchwork with squares but I admired the quilting :)  I'm always looking for new all over or filler quilting ideas.


Border Challenge Quilt
made and quilted by Jewell Buck

I like the quilt and am curious to know what the "challenge" was!




Have a great day and I hope you get to listen to some songs that make you happy!


(The two happy songs I heard this morning were Man in the Mirror, Michael Jackson, and Die a Happy Man, Thomas Rhett.  So if my family is reading this they will know if I was listening to their happy song or not :)