Stars Around the Garden

     Every once in a while I go thru some old UFO bins wondering if there's something in them that I "need" to finish up.  I always come across the "Stars Around the Garden" BOM kits that I received from my friend Robin on a monthly basis.  She signed us both up for it and treated me.  What a gal!
Friday night I had one of those moments so I pulled it out and decided I needed to do something with it.

        The patterns are dated 2005 and there's a print off of the finished quilt in color in the bag with the kits and a few finished blocks.  When I saw the center was appliqué I had one of those "really?" moments.... I don't do appliqué!!!

         So, here's the details...it's a 9 month BOM, with the kit having 2 blocks each for 7 months.  The 8th month was the center appliqué and the 9th month was the border appliqué bringing the finished quilt up to 87 X 102.  The fabrics used are from the beautiful Cinnamon Stars collection from Moda/Fig Tree Quilts!   WHAT?  I had no idea!  

        I started to open the kits and found I had 5 blocks done, and a few more kits cut out.......and then it dawned on me.  I remember what happened and why nothing else got done!  This was the project I was working on when my darn Bernina decided to stop working day 2 of retreat.  I spent the rest of the time there just cutting out projects and bagging them up, hence some kits all ready cut for assembly!  

        Here is the block I made this morning...........

And here are the 5 previously made with today's block.

This quilt is going to be so much prettier than the pictures show since the muted yellows and cinnamon colors get washed out with the camera.  

Once I get a few more done I'll take them outside on a nice day and take a picture......

So, this will be one of my "BIG 3" projects for the month of August.

Friday Night and Saturday Binding

     I've been on a roll with trying to get some small binding projects done this week so Friday night and yesterday in the car I finished 2 small table toppers.
         The first is this twister runner that is made from an old Bonnie & Camille line "Cotton Blossoms".  I made this at a retreat 2-3 years ago?   It went together quickly and I did like it but it's the finishing on some of the small items that I do that takes longer than it should.  In my attempt to finish up some older things I just pulled it out, did a wavy line quilting and got the binding on this week, finishing the last bit on my drive into NYC yesterday.

Once that runner was done I had this smaller one to finish up. I'd started it Friday night while watching TV, but it had a long side to finish......
This mini is called "Signature Quilt" and it's from the book "Prairie Children and their Quilts".  Tilda at Huckleberry Stitches is doing a summer sew along from this book.  I missed the first one while I was on vacation but quickly made this one up in about 2 hours the other night.  I used leftover scraps from another small project I am doing that needs finishing up this week too.

 

I'm not putting any verses or signing mine, I just wanted to make the mini and then I might have someone in mind to gift it to.....

It felt good to have these 2 small projects finished and since I knew I'd be in the car a while I brought along a 3rd small binding project that I'll show as soon as that's finished.  

Our car trip yesterday was to New York to see Rocky.  My kids know how hubby and  I enjoy the shows a lot so when we have "gift giving" holidays like birthdays, christmas and father's day, they tend to chip in and send us to a show.  Al got these tickets for Father's Day so off we went yesterday.

First stop was a macaron shop for my daughter.  That girl loves them!  Then lunch at a little retro diner/luncheonette called T45 which we'd never been too and then "Rocky" at the Winter Garden Theatre.  It was a great day and not too hot since it was a little overcast and drizzly every once in a while.

Here are a few pictures from our walk around........

Leather art on the streets....

Bicycles for your use to get around

Peggy

"PURPLE"

          Purple at one time was my favorite color....but as I've gotten older I realize that it was really my 2nd favorite, after RED!    

          Back in April I had decided that 1 of my color bins of fabric needed a good clean out whether it be cutting it up and using it, selling it, or giving it away.   You may remember that I made these 16-1/2 inch blocks one afternoon.
I'd found a blog that picked a color of the month and they challenged girls to use up one particular color and that month it was purple.   Since I was "in the moment" I made these 4 blocks and promised myself I'd make more......well, that didn't happen.

          Last night I promised myself that this morning I'd work on some more blocks.

I pulled the purple bin out and set aside large pieces of fabric that I hate to cut up into small pieces because they could be used for a pieced backing or a border on a quilt.
This is 7 I have set aside for that.....(maybe)
Then I got to cutting. I cut 2-1/2 inch squares for the star centers, 5 inch squares for the hst's, and then  I threw a few in a little container for "leaders/enders".

  And, last but not least, I laid out in front of those piles,  some fabrics that are too nice to cut up, all are 1/2 yard pieces and I'm looking to sell them on Instagram.....  (if you see anything you like or want a better picture, just send me a message on IG paront1222).                                  Now it's time to start cutting into the kona white and make some stars.

Text Me A Quilt

        I can't even remember how I got to talking to Kim Brackett of "Magnolia Bay Quilts" about a project she was starting using text and low volume fabrics but I do remember that 10 weeks ago I received an Instagram message from her with a picture of the start of her quilt.  Text prints and bright fabrics!   I remember staring at it and telling Kim that I am obsessed with text/low volume prints and promised I wouldn't say a thing until she revealed it on her blog.

        I did take the liberty of sending her a picture of my low volume fabrics

and assured her that I was good to go whenever she revealed the pattern, and then I proceeded to add to my stash.  

       While I was on my cruise to Alaska I checked my email one afternoon and there was the pattern !

I could not wait to get home and start cutting out some bright fabrics and then make the decision as to 7 or 10 inch blocks.  

Here's my top up on the design wall.....make it larger?  Add a border?   UH....no, it's staying just the size it is.

Last week I found a great turquoise and white hawaiian print fabric in my backing stash bin and sent it out to be quilted.....It came back on Saturday and all I have to say is I LOVE IT!  

Here are 2 pictures I got of the quilting....It's hard to get pictures of the quilting because of the thread color on the text print, but it's an orange peel, and perfect for this top.

I did a 10 inch block and if you too would like to make this top, just head on over to "Magnolia Bay Quilts"  and pick up  your instructions.  You won't be sorry!!!

Peggy

"Make A List Monday"

     Are you a list maker?  I used to pick on a friend who would make a list for the week of things she needed to accomplish each day and say "do you really need to write down that you need to dust the living room on Tuesday?", but I think as I get older I do need a little list when it comes to things I want/need to accomplish in the sewing room and it needs to be a little more detailed than I ever thought I would need....   For Example, a friend from my job (before I retired) is getting married next June and I want to make her a quilt so I recently decided on a pattern and colorway.

The pattern is called "Vintage" and it's in Camille Roskelley's "Simply Retro" book.  I picked Kona cream with black & cream fabrics for the blocks.  I figured that the colors would be nice for a young couple and will go with everything in their home.  

But...getting back to the list, I put everything in a drawer in my room thinking that I could put it on my January 2015 "to do" list and then forgot about it.  I ended up making a list this weekend of 2015 items and even wrote "where" I have them so I don't forget :)    NO, I don't have old-timers but I do have a lot going on in my life and sometimes I forget.....

So, I've decided that I am going to try and do a "Make a List Monday" of projects and things I need to get done and see if that helps with focusing.

7/14/2014

1) Find a pattern for a special baby quilt for Jen (my daughter), pull fabrics to match her nursery and get working on it.

2) Make 6 scrappy trip around the world blocks and start assembling that quilt (I need my design wall cleaned off )

3) Find my pattern for my Overnighter Ellie Travel Case bag, put with fabrics and get all the needed accessories to assemble it

I'm not going to go crazy and make the list too big since I do have things that need to get done around the house and places to go so I'll start off small and work my way up  :)

OH, and did you see on Instagram this past week there was a #quiltsonchairs going on thru Me and My Sisters Designs?   OMG, some of the displayed quilts were just awesome.  This is my contribution.  I took all my finished quilts and folded them up nice and put them on my kitchen desk chair......  Just a little piece of my own "awesome".

   

Scrappy Trip Around the World Blocks

   
     I want to say it was a year or 15 months ago that the Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks started showing up everywhere and I was right there to jump on the bandwagon.  But as with other trendy projects, I kind of lost steam and put the project away.  At the time I had these blocks made.

     Since then what I've been doing is as I work on a project with 2-1/2 inch squares, I set 6 leftovers aside, all lined up nice on a big piece of cardboard.  I figured that when the cardboard got full that I'd start to make more blocks.   Well, since then, the cardboard was moved from place to place until yesterday when I went to take it down off the shelf and this is what happened....

YUP, the whole hunk of cardboard slipped right out of my hands and everything went over......  and not only did this happen, the dog decided to walk thru the room and the piles really got mixed up.  So, I spent quite some time re-piling the fabric squares up and laid out 4 more blocks to sew up.

I have them laid out now and will sew and press them up later today.

I haven't decided how big I'm going to make this quilt yet.  I was thinking lap size and going with 6 across and 8 down but then I was thinking maybe a little larger.

I guess I'll wait and see which way the wind blows and see if I get bored with this and want to move onto something else.....

Stay tuned!

Peggy

Yeah Yeah...

       Yeah, Yeah, no blogging for a while and here are two on the same day.

        So, I got the  baby quilts from my previous post back from my quilter Sarah.  That girl has the BEST turnaround time ever.   My other quilter Michelle was a quick quilter also and I was sad when I got her note saying that with moving and her commitments to the new AF Base would keep her away from her machine, and I had to find a new person, I went into a tailspin but about 6 weeks later I joined a BEE with some online girls and the first Queen Bee was Sarah.....  Things do happen for a reason don't they?   Anyhow, Sarah received the tops and I got them back in less than 7 days!  (If you ever need a quilter, I'd HIGHLY recommend Sarah....just inbox me).

        So, I've been making my quilts and sending them out for quilting at a pretty decent pace......1 or 2 a week.  Some were old quilts that needed finishing, some were just wall hanging size and then we had some year long projects that I finished.....

This black and white stripe is for the pinwheel quilt

And last night while I watched TV I got 3 sides tacked down!!!!

This here is a Fig Tree tumbler that is from I think 4-5 years ago...or older!  EEK

The polka dot quilt is from May.  It's a Missouri Star tutorial called "Jelly Roll Race".  I made a scrappy polka dot binding for it.....Yeah, I made enough polka dot binding for half the nation LOL

This is the 4 quilts with bindings attached and ready for tacking down.  Anyone want to come and help?

And here is my counter....12 quilts bound and ready for giving away under the P, the middle pile is 4 more tops waiting for binding (see it rolled up on top?)  the red quilt is from last summer, binding on top too.........

And here on the chair is 3 quilts with bindings attached and just needing tacking down.

I need to get a Quilting Octopus to come help clear these piles up!!!!

Any takers??????

I'm Still Here

       Yes, I'm still here.  Lack  of blogging does not mean I've been idle....on the contrary.  I've been quite busy doing a variety of sewing.

        Where to start....

        So, I announced back in April that I'll be a grandma this November, sometime around the 20th, so once I was sure the baby was growing good and mama was doing ok, I started planning a few not surprise baby quilts.  I had fabric I NEEDED to use for this particular daughter so whether it was a boy or girl, it was getting a quilt made from these....

Jennifer LOVES the beach, boats, water....anything that gets her out in it and enjoying the water.  I'd picked this pile up in 2 different quilt shops in Indiana back in May.

The first quilt is just a Sawtooth Star quilt so I could showcase the fabrics and when the baby is big enough, can point out the mermaids, boats, lobsters, seals etc....  I did add from my stash as well.  The second quilt is just a pinwheel quilt made from leftover HST's that I'd had from a tote bag I made for a friend's sister in law.

I like this quilt too and I think the baby will love it!   I backed this one with a big circle print from the Dr. Seuss line from last year and the sawtooth quilt has the Dr. Seuss blue dot/egg in a darker blue minkee....soooo soft for the baby to roll around on.  

I

OH, and I was invited to attend the doctor's appointment where they found out what they're having.  They're thrilled it's a girl but moreso that it's healthy and growing right on track!

I had Jen pick her colorway for the nursery so I can surprise her with a special quilt for the baby and I showed her a burp cloth my friend Sarah made and sent to me to use as a sample, so I have been busy in my room plotting, planning, and executing burp cloths and piles of baby fabric for the upcoming quilt!

So, there you have it....that is why I've been so busy....

Peggy