Who Loves Sheep?? ❤️❤️

If you love working with wool, it's hard not to get attached to SHEEP!  This sheep is made of cotton however, and is part of my Starry Night Block of the Month - so cute!  Love the Wonder Curve ruler! The sheep fabric is more contrasting to the background fabric than the picture shows.  I'm trying hard to resist signing up for another BOM.  I'm working on two right now and am very tempted by a new one starting in June.  It includes hand piecing, EPP, appliqué, and embroidery - all things I love to do!  Hmmm... 😬😊

The "funny" below is for all the rest of you sheep lovers out there! 😂❤️

 

Leafy Meander

Yesterday I completed week two of Angela Walter's Free Motion Challenge.

https://quiltingismytherapy.com/free-quilt-patterns-and-tutorials/free-motion-challenge-quilting-along/flora-foliage-fmq-challenge/

This week we did the leafy meander, which is a similar process to the bubbly meander (which we also did in a section of the quilt - shown above.). I actually don't know if it's called a Bubbly Meander, but that's kind of what it looks like!  Also in the picture above you can see the leafy fern, which is done like a feather, with leaf shapes instead of feather shapes.

We made leaves using one side of the design as a stem, and leaves (in the purple below) that I echoed around several times to help them stand out.

Once again I'm having a lot of fun and learning so much!!

😊

 

Dorset Buttons

I made my first Dorset button yesterday! It was really a lot of fun to make!  You can see my whipped woven circle is a little off center, but it's my first one - practice, practice, practice! I'm looking forward to making many more! 😊 There is a tutorial on Sue Spargo's website here:

https://mailchi.mp/suespargo/creative-classroom-75rb683boy

Here is a brief description from her website:

Dorset buttons are not a new craft, but one that has been around for hundreds of years. In the early 1600s, Abraham Case introduced the "buttony trade" to Dorset, England, which employed a great number of the country's local women and children for generations to come. These delicate, soft buttons used a ring of horn and tufts of wool from Dorset Sheep. At one point, Dorset buttons were widely known and exported abroad to the United States, Canada, Australia, and Europe. However, the Industrial Revolution introduced us to the buttons that we are more familiar with today--mass produced plastic, metal, and ceramic buttons. 
Although many of today's buttons are great in their own way, there is something special about a handwoven Dorset button. The intricacies and variations make them great additions to projects. One of Sue's favorite applications of Dorset buttons is to utilize them as flowers, however, the possibilities are endless! 

Photos

I think I'm a little behind in sharing my photo challenges of the week.  Above the challenge was STEPS.  I (obviously :) edited it in Insta Toon!

The challenge above is LONE TREE.  I had to take a picture of my favorite tree, which I've photographed multiple times before in every season.  Spring is a very photogenic time for many trees! 😂 

The daffodils below were not part of the challenge, but I snapped a picture of them on Main Street.  Just too beautiful and happy to miss!

Have a great day!!

 

Eileen's Quilt ... Again!

Five years ago I recreated a quilt for my friend Eileen and had several people ask for the pattern.  I will email the pattern to anyone who asks, and indeed I've emailed it all over the world.  All I ask in return is a picture of their quilt when they finish it.  I just received these pictures from Barbra S.  WOW!  She did such a beautiful job!  Her quilting is amazing and she totally changed up the border, making it look more like the original, which I love.  Congratulations Barbra and thanks for the photos!!

Have a HAPPY DAY everyone 😊❤️!!

 

Free Motion Quilting Challenge

I started another quilting challenge with Angela Walters - this one is free motion quilting (the first one I did with her was ruler quilting).  She designed the panel for the challenge. You can find more information on the challenge here:

https://quiltingismytherapy.com/free-quilt-patterns-and-tutorials/free-motion-challenge-quilting-along/

She posted the first video last week and I watched it and quilted it out this past weekend. It's called the Wood Grain design and I had never done this one before!  It certainly adds a lot of texture! I love practicing my machine quilting this way and I feel like I am really learning a lot.  She shows how to quilt it out on a domestic machine and on a long arm, so if you're looking for a fun challenge, go check it out!  Oh, also she says you don't have to buy the panel to join in, you can just make up some quilt sandwiches and practice all the designs on your own.  Great fun! 😊

 

The All-Together Quilt

After reading The All-Together Quilt, by Lizzy Rockwell, with my granddaughter, we decided to make a quilt together, with my daughter Megan (her Mom) for her new baby brother, who is coming this summer!

We decided to use the Disappearing Nine Patch pattern.  (Megan said she liked how it looks complicated but was really easy, and quick to make.  It took the three of us just one afternoon to piece the quilt top.) I cut a bunch of squares and my granddaughter arranged them in nine-patch blocks.  She then decided, on her own, to write the numbers 1-9 so the "Sewist" (Megan) would remember what order they go in.

Here is she labeling the squares in the right order.  I'm impressed!

Mom Megan sewing all the squares together!

The pattern then had us cut the big nine-patch blocks in half in both directions.  Granddaughter did NOT like this part and at this point wanted to change the pattern.  Some of us quilters are pattern/rule followers and some of us like to change things up and really can't stand to follow a pattern exactly.  It appeared that Grandma and Mom are of the first variety of quilters and Granddaughter is going to be of the second variety 😂.  But, unfortunately for her, this time, it was 2 - 1 and the blocks were cut!  After Mom Megan arranged them on the design board, Granddaughter decided she really liked it after all! 😅

Megan sewed the blocks together, I handled the pressing, a border was added and VOILÁ, a beautiful quilt was made because we all worked together! ❤️

The quilt is pinned and ready to be quilted by me (Grandma)!  Brother is going to love it!  It has a lovely soft Homespun on the back! I think we need to make some more All-Together quilts! 😊❤️