"Morning Joe"

    "Morning Joe" is done!  

     All I have to say is these Schnibbles patterns are fun, fun, fun!!!

     I was trying to decide if I liked the pattern more or was it the fabric that made it just so enjoyable to sew, but in the end I think it was a combination.  A well written pattern and fun fabrics.

Here's a close up of one of the blocks.....and I'm thrilled that I have points!  There are times, and it might be because back when I worked I rushed, but this quilt has "points" and I couldn't be happier!

So, here's a recap of the details:

"Morning Joe" by Miss Rosie's Quilt Shop/Schnibbles

Measures: 53 x 53

Fabric used:  Potluck by American Jane Patterns/Sandy Klop for Moda


I have a little yardage of this line that I could piece to use for the back, and I have a super cute piece of yellow and white cuddle from the Dr. Seuss line, so the question is "what should I use"?

I think I'll leave both out and revisit this issue over the weekend.

     AND, in the middle of a great afternoon of sewing, my "Reliable" iron crapped out on me.  One minute I was pressing a nice steamed border and the next the darn thing was as cold as ice!
I still have the box and receipt so I'm thinking an email to the company might be in order tomorrow.  In the meantime, I pulled out an old Rowenta that will have to do.....

   On another note, hubby went out to work this morning at 6:45 and the car registered 0 (that's zero).    Hope you are all staying warm!

Peggy

Row by Rows

Do you remember those Row by Rows?  I clearly remember joining more than one of those back in the day.  So, earlier this morning while looking thru a cabinet for a pattern I came across a bag with one row by row and 2-3 round robins.  I have in the past thrown away a round robin or two that came back and I just didn't like and didn't think I'd ever use but this row by row has always been a keeper and one I think I want to finish!

I sent a small journal along with mine with some ideas on what I wanted, and if memory serves me correctly, so did the other girls.  I'm sure if I look hard enough I will have some pictures somewhere of the other girls' projects, but that's a hunt for another day  :)

Here's a picture of the rows laid out this morning on my kitchen floor....
My starter row is the jumping rabbit with the carrots and flowers.  My background is 4 rectangles of different neutrals and I did a fair to midlin job of appliquéing them since I think it was my first ever appliqué project.
I did attach some pictures from the internet with ideas for the girls and the date on them is 3/5/2005!

I love how the girls added their own touches to their blocks and even sent some little stories about why they chose what they did for their rows.

I LOVE the top row!  It's wavy geese with a sun coming up!  I'm not sure who "Dawn in IL" is anymore since I didn't keep the addresses but she did a great job didn't she?

The birdhouse and flowers was made by Sandi Bischoff of New Windsor, NY....Her appliqué is wonderful and her note about the bees and flowers was so much fun to read.

The beehive with the bird nest and flowers was Sandi's inspiration for the bees, and that row was assembled by Karen Mercado of Albany, NY.

The two bottoms rows were made by a girl named Yavonne and Betty in PA but I don't have their stories....somewhere along the line they went missing but that doesn't mean I won't come across them one day.

I brought the rows with me upstairs to my sewing room and I'm thinking that they might go on my 2014 list of things to assemble.....

I have a quilt rack in my laundry room that has a bright house quilt on it right now but it might be time for a change, and this would fit perfectly!

Does anyone out there know any of these girls or remember doing a row by row like this?  I'm thinking I might have done this thru one of the early Pat Sloan groups.

I love coming across "oldies but not so moldy's".....

Peggy

"Morning Joe"

     Sounds like someone greeting a neighbor doesn't it?  But no, it's a new project I pulled out last night and I'm going to start working on it today.

     "Morning Joe" is another Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. pattern.  I actually bought the project already kitted up from Miss Rosie back a while ago.  My kit is using 2 "Potluck" charm packs (81 5 inch squares) along with an American Jane cream/pindot fabric.  

     It's no secret that I LOVE scrappy stars and have made  quite a few larger quilts from them so it will come as no surprise that this project caught my eye and had to be done.

Has anyone else out there done this project?

Peggy

Boxy Stars

     I'm on a roll this week with "finishes".....  Today's finish is called "Boxy Stars".

I'm going to say 3-3-1/2 years ago two of my friends and I swapped out blocks I think every other month....I can't even remember now how often.  I started putting them in a ziploc bag and then at some point we just said enough....

    

     I really didn't think there were enough blocks to do anything with so I just tucked them away and figured I'd get to them.  Well, here we are and they're not done.  I put them on my 2014 UFO Challenge list and decided they'd get done come hell or high water.

     Yesterday I pulled them out and I cannot believe that they were already pinned in rows so all I had to do was stitch them together.  I had my sister here visiting for the day from Florida so I didn't get to work on them, and last night I did get the center assembled after she left but no pressing got done or borders.

     This afternoon I just got to cutting and before I knew it it was done.  I was kind of excited to get a picture before the sun went down so the top isn't pressed properly so don't go looking at my borders  :)

     I did audition quite a few "finishing" borders for it but nothing seemed to catch my eye.  I tried geese, half square triangles, and even a checkerboard border.  None looked right, so I took this green fabric that was in the bag with the blocks, cut it into strips and attached them and I am thrilled with how the border looks!!!!

Here's an unclose picture of the left side with the border fabric.  I'm sure ANYTHING will work for a backing don't you think????

So, one of the girls just emailed and said she's thinking these blocks were done around 2008-2009!!!  REALLY??????

I cannot believe I held onto these things so long!!!   Well, I guess it's better late than never.....

Peggy

Keeping Track

Are you the kind of sewist that keeps track of your purchases and what you spend for the year/month etc?   I've never been that kind of person until now.  I've always admitted to being a "shop till you drop" kind of girl and some of those purchases unfortunately have been impulse buys that have been the downfall of a very "healthy" stash.

2014 is or "has" to be a year of reflection and a little less spending.
I took an early retirement starting January 1st of this year and since i'm not 60, I don't get my pension until January 2015!   EEK......   I did plan ahead a little by setting up a fund and I put money in each week but that's not going to last an entire 13 months so I have to be selective and penny pinch a little.

So, in saying that, when hubby and I went away 2 weeks ago to Florida and I asked for a little trip to a quilt store I'd seen spotlighted in Quilt Sampler Magazine he was very accommodating and drove me there and to the Quilt Expo.

Hubby paid for all my purchases at the shop, Thanks Al!  but at Expo I was on my own.....and truth be told, I think I restrained myself quite well.  The only thing I bought there was the snowman runner on the left, the thread and if you look in the back of the picture and see the little flag pattern, that's all I bought!  My restraint in the fabric areas was phenominal!   So, I see it can be done but it's going to be hard!!!

I'm keeping any receipts for purchases and at the end of each month I'm going to tally them up and see over this year how much I spend.  Should be a challenge but I know I'm up to it.....2 sewing rooms full of fabric, kits, and bundles attest to that !!!!

Peggy

Jersey Girl Finish

     Yesterday I wasn't feeling quite up to par but I came into the sewing room anyway, and shouldn't have.  I KNOW that when my focus isn't 100% I make mistakes....and yesterday wasn't the exception.

     I had all the parts for the "Jersey Girl" quilt cut and even had all the block units laid out and sewn up.  I thought I'd show one block on Instagram and received a comment from a friend letting me know that I had the light/cream square in the wrong spot.  WHAT????  I looked at the pattern again and darn, the cream square belongs towards the center of the block!  

     I struggled with the decision to take all 36 blocks apart and putting the neutral square in the correct spot but I thought that if I started taking it apart....well, I might not finish so I forged ahead, assembled the units and today I finished.




Here's one block up close......


I used only fabric from my stash and will probably have to piece the back but if I want it finished it MUST come from the stash!!!

     I did tell JoAnne that I was going to name this one "Jersey Girl with Heart" in her honor.....so when I make the label, that is what it will be called....

     This project measured up to be 36 x 36 and will be perfect for the wall over my love seat in the living room.  Now to get it quilted and bound!

     Thank you Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. for a super cute project!!!

"Jersey Girl"

     Yes, I'm a "Jersey" girl born and bred!   As much as I'd have loved to move a couple of times just for a change of scenery, as I get older I'm thinking I'd prefer to stay put.

     So, that said, I saw "Jersey Girl" the pattern from "Schnibbles" by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. and decided I needed to get the pattern and start it after New Years.   It did have a second "hook"....it was done in reds and neutrals!  Coincidentally, my stash is overrun with reds and one of my BFF's gave me a nice bundle of neutrals for Christmas to add to my own stash.

I did have a little lucky break too with cutting for this project, I had started a project last April that I'd never finished so I decided in a cleaning frenzy to un-kit it and use the hst's for this project.  I wanted this one more so voile', 76 hst's already to go!

I'm going to continue cutting and making hst's and with luck this project is done this week.  

Sunday's Doings

     I had a slow start to the day but once I got moving straightening up the house and got that out of the way,  I was able to focus on finishing a quilt I'd been working on.

     I started a baby quilt before Christmas for a girl in work who'd just found out she was pregnant.  

She didn't want to know what she was having so that makes it just a little harder to pick a fabric and pattern.  I went thru my kiddie fabric drawer and found I had a nice selection of fabrics that I could use to make a full HST/Kona Snow top, so I started the procedure and it really did come together quite quickly.  

     I used 3-1/2 inch half square triangles, and the backing in a flannel that I found in my "backings bin" and cost me $10.00 for 2 yards.   The flannel is called "Mighty Jungle" by Shelly Comisky for Henry Glass and I bound it with a green pin dot on white called "Kaleidescope" by Northcott.  

The quilt finished up to 41-1/2 X 48 and since I had to keep it gender neutral, the back was a challenge but I think I picked something "perfect" and I just know that when I give it to the baby mama that she'll love it.

     I did a straight-line quilting across the entire top which really looks pretty neat if I say so myself!

Can you see the yellow flannel backing with the hippos, elephants, tigers and palm trees?  So cute!!!

Now, I don't normally wash a baby quilt before I give it to the mother of the baby but I'm thinking I will this time since I've had a little visitor sniffing at it way too much this time :)  

I didn't want to use a solid white for the binding but again, going thru the stash I found a nice green on white pin dot that's perfect!!!   Now to get the binding tacked down!

Peggy

     

Dreaming of Stars

     I was going to wait until tomorrow and post the picture of today's star block and then a shot of all 5 but I decided I needed to do it tonight......

     The block seen here is by John Kubiniec of Big Rig Quilting, a new to me blog.  John's block is paper pieced and he used a few more colors in his than I did but I chose to just use 5 fabrics, and I LOVE how it looks!

     Thanks John for such a great pattern!

     I'll be back later tomorrow hopefully with all 5 blocks.

     Is there anyone else out there doing this?  I'd love to hear from you and see some pictures of your blocks!

Peggy

   

" Dreaming of Stars "

     Have you seen the "Dreaming of Stars" Blog Tour?  I happen to follow one of the designer's that's part of the blog tour so when I was reading her post on Tuesday I said "hey, how did I not see this before today?" but I didn't waste any time checking it out and deciding that it's something I wanted to do......I mean, really, what's 1 block a day for 5 days?  "nothing"...that's what I said  :)

    So, on Monday, Jessica Alexandrakis of "Life Under Quilts" designed block # 1.....can you say AWESOME?    I am going to put it right out there and say right up front that I don't do "wonky" so my star center is not as nice as Jessica's but it is what it is.....

      Tuesday was Kim Brackett of "Magnolia Bay Quilts" and her block was like a ribbon star.  I LOVE her star and trust me when I tell you that I read her instructions to watch how you lay the units out so you get the correct look.  I did, I really did read  :)   And I did follow the layout, until I took it from the cutting table to the sewing machine and then I don't know if I grabbed something wrong or what but the block is not like Kim's...but guess what?  I think it looks nice and who would notice unless I told you!

     Wednesday was Nicole Daksiewicz of "Modern Handcraft" and her star is a small sawtooth star surrounded by an almost starburst effect.  I LOVE this block too!

      I'm going to go pull up today's block and run off the paper piece pattern that the designer is using.  Of course I don't know what tomorrow's block is but so far today's is the first paper pieced star.

     And to wrap this post up I should tell you that "Timeless Treasures" is hosting this blog tour and will be giving one lucky person the opportunity to win the entire 30-piece collection of their "Dream Basics" blender fabric line.   I would LOVE to win that bundle but if I don't it's ok  (boo hoo)



     I'll be back tomorrow with the last 2 blocks.

Peggy  

Monthly Lists and Swoon

     Do you make yourself a monthly list and try to put things that NEED to be done on it and actually follow it?  I've been doing that for I'd say 2-3 years.  Most times I put things on it that I actually get done.  I try not to over anticipate spare sewing time and not make my goals unattainable.
     For January, I knew I'd have our trip to Florida and a few other day things to do so I kept the list
easy for my first month of retirement.

     1) Assemble my Designer Mystery BOM December block and assemble my Swoon block
     2) Sew binding on the Jamestown Landing quilt
     3) Finish assembling a baby quilt for a teacher at school

     I am proud to announce that I have # 1 and # 2 done and I'm halfway done with my baby quilt.
That kind of was put on the back burner so I could assemble the "Celtic Solstice" mystery quilt but since I'm home and ready to sew, the Celtic Solstice is going to get the border assembled and attached today so it can wing it's way to the quilter on Saturday along with my Snowman Gathering quilt.

     One of my monthly goals as well are self imposed BOM's that I started last year with stash fabric and one of those is assembling Camille Roskelly's "Swoon" quilt.  It's a lovely 80 X 80 quilt and believe it or not, it only takes 9 blocks!  Each block is 24-1/2 square!  That's one honking big block!

The one on the left is the one I made today and then the other picture is the 4 I have done to date.  If I move these 4 up and make 2 more, they'll fit on the design wall but the 3 after that will not fit!  I'm always in amazement at just how big these blocks are and Camille is right, they are "lovely".

Well, as long as I'm here and writing and adding pictures I'll show you what I've purchased this week.  As I've mentioned, I'm on a semi self-imposed spending diet (due to retiring 1 year early and have to wait till January 2015 for a pension check) and have to really pick and choose what I spend and do it wisely!

The left items are things I ordered and paid for in 2013.  Who can resist Goodnight Moon fat quarter with a free book when I ordered?  That book is one of my daughter's favorite books. She mentioned today that she has the bunny in it's jambes in one of the MANY boxes of treasures down in the basement.  I'm sure next time hubby goes down, the bunny will come out with him :)   The baggie under the fq bundle is a BOM that I am doing with Red Geranium Cottage and saw the snowman pattern so I had her ship that with this month's kit.  And then of course, a new love story by James Patterson.  I don't read his other books but I LOVE his random love stories.  It's always nice to get a man's point of view in that genre!    While in Florida I shopped at only 1 quilt shop and at the Expo and pieced up 3 patterns, the thread heaven the thimble fabric , and the 2 fat quarter bundles there.  The other 2 patterns and the thread were purchased at the expo along with a little something for a friend.
I'm keeping all my receipts monthly then will add them up and keep track of my spending.  I was going to start keeping track of my fabric amounts but that's not for me, I can keep a receipt and add.....

     And not to let the day go by without a shot of my new "sewing partner"........
Here's Luna.........  A friend mentioned just now on Facebook that it's like when my kids were small and they'd come in and sit in the room and talk to me while I sewed....Ellen, if I had thought of it I'd have taken a picture of my Sarah sitting on the floor next to Luna and talking to me.  She's not working today so she needed to come in and talk while I sewed.

I'm thinking Luna is a pretty darn cute buddy but I doubt she'll be able to do much with needle and thread!

Hope you're having a nice day...even though it's been raining all day here!!!

Peggy

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggidy Jig

I'm finally home after 4 nice days in Florida.

However, thought I'd update my blog and now I can't find my sidebar!  I've tried everything and it's just not showing up.....  I think I've mentioned before that I HATE changing things on my blog?
I either screw it up or something every time I touch it.  I think I'm getting the hint that I should leave it alone but every once in a while I just get that urge.

I've spent too much time today fiddling with it.....off to empty the suitcases and maybe do a little sewing.

Peggy

UPDATE:  I KNOW I didn't do anything to fix the blog, but I did add a 2014 UFO list to my sidebar and when I updated, voile!  There was my whole sidebar.  Praise heaven!!!

Once Upon A Quilt

Hi girls..... Well, I'm in Florida "mainly" to see the Billy Joel Concert at the BB&T Hall but we came in a little early to enjoy some warm weather. The first day here hubby and I took a short trip to Naples, Florida to see my mom who'd gotten home from the hospital the day earlier from a scare. She thought she had a heart attack and when an 86 year old with heart issues has burning pain in her back and shoulder you admit her to the hospital. I'm happy to report that it was Acid Reflux that just mimicked a heart episode....whew! Then on Friday hubby had promised a trip to a quilt shop or two :) My #1 choice was "Once Upon A Quilt". I was a little nervous when I got there and had to be buzzed into the shop but I figure one can NEVER be too careful when it comes to protecting our quilting fabric now can we? LOL The gals in the shop gave me space to wander, take pictures and just take my time and look around.
I spent at least 30 minutes or more at the first 2 tables in the shop!!! The way the shop was laid out was just so cute! She has samples on the walls with kits and patterns right below everything. She had kits in paint cans, candy dishes and cartons! I was in "cute heaven". I did make a few purchases....but for now I will have to hold off posting a picture since 1 or 2 items are for a BFF :) After that we made a short trip to another shop, who's name I will withhold because it was just not eye appealing, the owner hovered over me the whole time I was there, and frankly, I have seen the fabric they have, and use it like 5-6 years ago. NOTHING new in the shop at all. It was not laid out in any kind of eye appealing manner and I'm just not sure I'd like to bash it....I'll just say, I wouldn't go back or recommend it to anyone. After lunch we drove to the Palm Beach World Quilt Show! The vendors were awesome and the quilts on display were wonderful too! The quilts came from all over the world. Here's a picture of both hubby's and mine favorites

We are heading back to NJ at o'dark thirty (4:30) Monday morning and will be home around noon. I'm missing sewing, my kids and my dog! Yes, I said it, I miss the dog!!! Hope you all have had a nice couple of days and I'm looking forward to getting back to my normal routine....  Peggy

2013-2014 Designer Mystery BOM

Yes, it's that time again.......Designer Mystery BOM time.  I got the Block #7 right before Christmas but with all the comings and goings I just didn't get to it but today was that day.  Block # 7 is called "Lemon Lodge" and the designer is Lisa Bonegan of Primitive Gatherings Quilt Shop!

   

Once again I have to give Fat Quarter Shop Kudos for the amount of fabric they send every month.  When I did this 2012-2013 BOM with them I had enough fabric left over to make an entire quilt!

     Here is a picture of the 7 blocks I have finished to date

Each designer did a great job designing a fun and interesting block.  I love them all.....Of course I'm partial to that top center star because I'm a huge "star" fan but I do love each and every block!!!

I do have the finishing kit already too so I'm thinking I'll cut that out next week.
I did that last year so when I got to the last block, all I had to do was add the block and I was done.....it was so much easier than assembling everything at the end.

Peggy

Wishes Sew Along

     Have you see on the Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber that they are doing a free Sew Along in 2014?
It's only 1 block a month and at the end they'll give you the assembly instructions.  I said to myself "how hard can 1 block a month be?".  So, I hemmed and hawed over fabric, pulled one bundle after another down off the shelf.  Then I wondered if doing it in 30's wasn't the way to go....or maybe Thimbleberries?   Geesh, make your mind up girl.....  Well, this afternoon I pulled the bundle of "Minimalista" that I had on the shelf and cut into it.  Lemme tell you...this fabric feels like silk working with it!

This is a picture of the block laid out on my cutting board.....







And now look at the finished block......>

I must have grabbed one unit without paying attention and bang!  it's not assembled correctly, but guess what?  I'm not fixing it.  I want to be sure I have enough fabric to make all 12 blocks and the border units......Besides, I think it looks fine!!!


If you too want to join in and do this Sew Along, just hop on over to the Jolly Jabber and grab your free pattern!!!

http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/p/wishes-quilt-along.html




Peggy

"Celtic Solstice Update"

This will be a short post since I have a million things to do.

I did get the center of my Celtic Solstice quilt assembled and the first skinny border of the neutral assembled and sewn on.  I have to sew the blue/orange tri recs border on but that's going to have to wait till tomorrow.

I was thinking as I assembled the units that "ugh...too much green", but after putting it all together you really can't see the green.  I didn't want the green and orange to take over and the quilt to have a halloween look to it, and I'm happy it doesn't.

You can't really see in this picture, but my "neutral" is actually black on white fabrics.  I had a ton in my stash so I went with that instead of a tan/neutral.
I have a lot of yardage of black on white so when it's time to get it quilted, i'll be using that.

I'll report back once I get it totally finished.

Peggy 

PS:  You can hook up with other Celtic Solstice quilters here
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2014/01/mystery-monday-link-up-part-6.html

" Goodnight Irene Sew Along 2014"

     I wasn't going to do this Sew Along....no sir!  I'd picked my few projects for 2014 and was going to stick to them along with finishing some UFO's.  Then it happened.  We had a little issue with the satellite cable in my sewing room so hubby had to take some of the fabric bundles I had off a shelf to rearrange things and when he handed me 3 of those little bundles, I forget what they call the 2.5 inch square bundles.... Anyhow, he handed me 3 of the Fig Tree bundles and my Fig Tree scrap bin so I said to myself "self....use these for Terry's Sew Along http://terrytreasures.blogspot.com!!

    So, last night after we got home from being out, I cut the background fabric, which happens to be a silver/grey fabric I bought this summer in my search for the "perfect" grey, pulled the bin down, cut some 2.5 inch squares, and voile!  I had my 5 blocks for the week.  The blocks are 8.5 inch square which would give me approximately a 48 inch square quilt top after a border or two, so I'm thinking I might just use a larger layout and get at least a single or double quilt from it.  I have sooooo much Fig Tree scraps from programs I did with them a few years back that I just know I need to use them up.

     Here's my first 5 blocks.....

     I did get my "Celtic Solstice" quilt center finished and the first neutral border on but yesterday was a busy day so I'll have to get back to it tomorrow.  Today is hubby's birthday so we need to make some birthday brownies, wrap presents and cook dinner...no Bonnie Mystery today :)

     Happy Monday!

"2014 Word of the Year"

Having a "Word of the Year" is something that I have decided to do this year as I embark on a new "Way of Life".

My life has been busy and changing for over a year but things are now slowing down so I've decided to "BALANCE" my life a little better.  

I can't say that I've ever put anything before my family but when I'm in my sewing groove I can certainly get sucked in and things like laundry, cleaning etc. can suffer.  NO, my house will never get shut down by the board of health but when a dust bunny the size of my head comes out from under the couch it's kind of an eye opener :)    

"BALANCE" comes in many aspects of all of our lives and I just want to keep things in my life on an even keel.......  We are only 4 days into the New Year 2014 but I already see a difference......

Peggy