"Women of the Bible"

     There is a free block of the month called "Women of the Bible" which actually comes out twice a month with 2 blocks each time about a significant woman mentioned in the bible.   It is distributed via the Newsletter from "Little Quilts" of Marietta, GA.

     It started 2 weeks ago so I have 4 blocks to reveal....

                      Lets start with Eve.

Then we have Rachel

Sarah

and now the last one is Noah's Wife.  She was never named in the Bible so she's just mentioned as Noah's Wife.

This picture is all 4 together......

The pattern will work with a variety of fabrics or you can choose to use 1 line.  I raided my Fig Tree stash and decided to use lots of their neutrals, med/light greens, reds and blues.  I'm going to do some with a neutral background or even use a print back and throw the neutral in the middle.  

The quilt, with 3 borders will finish at 110 X 125 which will be perfect for my king size bed.  I am positive I will be able to make the top totally from the fabrics I've collected over the last few years but if I can't, there's LOTS out there just waiting for me to buy.

All you have to do now is sign up for the Little Quilts newsletter and watch every 2 weeks at the bottom of the newsletter for the patterns and a short blurb about each woman.

     As IF I didn't have anything else going on in my sewing room, I joined in with another sew along yesterday on Instagram.  Gingersnap Quilts is hostessing with the pattern being purchased from http://gingersnapsfabricsandquilts.blogspot.com/2014/10/starplus-quilt-along.html?m=1
Craftsy.
I LOVE star quilts and just feel like if I can do it in the month as the sew along then good for me, if I can't and I have to set it aside, then so be it.

     Yesterday I started to look around at bundles that I have in my stash, then I started to think maybe I'd just do it super scrappy from stash but then I decided on controlled from 1 fabric line.

   




I had a bundle of "Simply Style" by V and Co. on my cutting table that I was trying to sell on IG so I thought that might be nice but it's just a fat eighth bundle and after looking at the pattern I realize I can't use that......

Gorgeous fabric aren't they?

So, I put them away and thought I might use red and white............nah, I want some color!









Well, I went out for lunch with friends and when I came back I had a fabric epiphany.....

I remembered this pile of fabric that I'd had set aside with a picture of a quilt I'd made a few years back....
I guess at the time I was going to make it again but heck, I need some pretty fabrics and these will work wonderfully so here you have "Nine Dots" by the wonderful Miss Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. and Schnibbles fame!

I have lots of half yard pieces, some fat quarters and the back 3 fabrics on the left are yardage.  The cream dot on the right is a Bonnie and Camille neutral that I can use for the background.

I am happy to empty out a fairly large bin of fabrics and get them made into something wonderful.

The sew along starts this weekend so I'm getting my fabric washed and pressed and ready to go.

I'm going to start with the big star first so I can use the leftover pieces for the smaller blocks.

Stay tuned................

Peggy

2014 Designer Mystery Block of the Month

This Block of the Month still has me excited.  I love the fabric and I get some practice with different block units that I wouldn't normally use.

Block # 4 is called "Beautiful Joy".  It was designed by Sandy Gervais of Pieces From My Heart.  You can see some of Sandy's projects and her own fabric lines at www.PiecesFromMyHeart.net
This particular block took me a little longer than it should have but a little thing called "focus" was not happening this afternoon when I was assembling the units on the side of the center square.    I put the tan dots on each side instead of 2 dots and 2 prints so there was a lot of ripping out going on.  In the end, I LOVE how the block turned out even though it took twice as long to assemble.

After dinner I cut out Block #5 which is called "Brilliant Lissa" which was designed by Polly Minick and Laurie Simpson of Minick & Simpson fame.  You can see their fabric and projects also on www.MinickandSimpson.com.
This block, although it looks challenging, it was really a quick one to cut out and assemble.


I am doing this Block of the Month with Fat Quarter Shop.  They ship the kit promptly on the 10th of the month and when you sign up you get all the fabrics you need for finishing it off at the end.  I have seen a few girls have started cutting and assembling their blocks but I am going to wait at least till after the holidays to look at the finishing kit.  With Thanksgiving, my first grand baby coming and then Christmas, well, I don't need anything extra to think about.

Here's a picture of the first 5 blocks I have finished.

Gorgeous....just gorgeous!!!

Peggy

Moda Modern Building Blocks

Here is my Section 1 of the Moda Modern Building Blocks.  YES, I have the rows flipped, the 6 inch blocks should be on the top but I'd already taken the picture so you see it upside down....but I will fix them later.

I'm using my Denyse Schmidt stash to make everything but for the neutrals in certain blocks I'm using a variety from my stash.

I'm pretty happy with how nicely they all came out......

I love churn dash blocks so I made sure I used a nice bright fabric for it and found an awesome key ring fabric for the background.....I love this block!

Then in looking at them all, I decided that I really like this orange block too......

I'm going to link up with the girls at http://goobadesigns.blogspot.com

for the Modern Building Blocks Quilt Along: Month 1 - Section A.
There is a pdf file you can print showing what order to do the blocks to make up section by section and you can get some ideas on the fabrics others are using.

I think I'll go fix that upside down row now so I'm ready for Month 2- Section B.


                                                                  PEGGY

"Lincoln"

I wrote about receiving this bundle of "Miss Kate" and the backing yardage back about 2 weeks ago.  This was an unexpected gift and I couldn't wait to cut into it.  I threw all the fabric in the wash immediately and started planning where to go with it.  I KNEW I'd use a Schnibbles pattern...that was a given since Carrie Nelson herself had gifted me the fabric.  I went with "Lincoln" and all I changed up was adding 1 extra row to make it a little longer.  Anyone that knows me knows I'm not a fan of square quilts  :)                                  By the time the weekend was over I had all the star blocks made.  Over the next week I made all the rail fence units and got the center of the quilt finished.

And then it sat............  Moving day came and went, baby shower day came and went, then I had to clean....seriously, I need a cleaning lady :)

BUT, yesterday I decided it was time to get it off the design wall and ready for the quilting.

I cut all the piano key borders and attached them to the white skinny borders.....

And, voile  by 8:00 last night I had the quilt finished and the backing made.  

I'll be taking this beauty out to post office today for it's trip to NY.

I'll post a better picture when it comes back from the quilter and when the sun comes out...if it ever comes back out.

Peggy

A Few Finishes

     I have a few finishes to show here today too.....

     Harvey is finished. quilted and bound.  He's ready for "The Parade"

I love how my quilter Sarah did the loop design on him.  I can't wait to see all the other versions of Harvey.

Once this was done I was out of binding so I picked up an old embroidery project called "Hocuspocusville" and worked on that.  I started this block while I was on my cruise back in June so now it's finished and I have started on the next block.  It needs to be pressed but you get the picture....

Then I saw that "Little Quilts" was running a BOM called "Women of the Bible" which intrigued me. They put out the first 2 blocks last week and then 2 more will be out on the 28th.  

I pulled out some of my hoarded Fig Tree fabrics and decided to go with the red, green and blue color way using the Fig Tree neutrals as the background.  Here's some of the fabrics i'm using..

Here are the first 2 blocks.......

The Week in Review

     Today was the first morning in WEEKS that I didn't have to get up at the crack of dawn to either let a painter in or run somewhere so I thought I'd post a few pictures of what's been going on real quick then it's time to get cracking on sewing.

     My youngest painted a pumpkin for her office to be judged for creativity....
I think she did a great job!

     Then we had our son move to his new apartment.
We have a 900 sq ft apartment over our garage that he's ben living in for about 4 years but his job is over an hours drive and then he's going to school 2 nights a week another 30 minutes from work, he decided that he needed to move closer so he got a truck from a friend and off he went on Saturday with a little help from the friend, BIL, dad and I.....

Sunday we had a baby shower for my oldest daughter, and that was a HUGE success.

She got beautiful gifts, her sister and cousin had the hall decorated beautifully and the food was good.

The hall overlooked the water and Sunday was a beautiful day so SUCCESS!!!

This is a picture of my girls after the gifts were opened.........

Only about 3-1/2 weeks till Baby will be here.  I can't wait!!!

Grand Illusion

     Bonnie Hunter's new Quiltville Mystery for 2014 is called "Grand Illusion".  She got her inspiration for the colors from her trip earlier this year to the Grand Hotel on Macinac Island in Michigan......someplace I've always wanted to go since I saw the movie "Somewhere in Time" with Christopher Reeve and Jane Seymour.

   

I do love the colors she picked so here are just a few of the fabrics I'm using.  I did a little shopping this morning at Mouse Creek Quilts where they'd done some bolt pulling yesterday for their customers who are doing the mystery.  The only hard part I had was finding a yellow that pleased me.  I did buy 2, one darker than the other and a solid and the lighter one is a muted dot.  I think in the end, the darker yellow will be the one I use but I liked the other one too so I'll have that for my stash :)   I'll pull my neutrals and blacks this week and then it's just a waiting game for the clues......

Friends

     I wish I could have seen my face when my husband brought me a USPS box from Carrie at Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.  In truth, I'd seen a shipping notice the other day that made me curious but with so much work going on in the house, I'd totally put it out of my mind.  Then THE box came.

How sweet was Carrie to send me this box of goodies?  A fat eighth bundle of Miss Kate, yardage for the backing, pins, mini charms, a seam ripper and awl!!!  I've wanted Miss Kate for a while but since I'd never done anything with my last bundle of April Showers, I put off buying some.

I immediately broke into the bundle and took the reds and blues down to the washing machine and started drooling over the others while the others washed.

I grabbed my binder of individual Schnibbles patterns and the pulled out my 2 Schnibbles books and got to pouring over patterns to decide what I'll use the bundle with  :)

These 4 patterns are the front runners..........

     I like each pattern for a different reason.  McGuffey reminds me of a Bento Box, Open Season has my geese, Plan C is stars and then we have Lincoln.  Of course Lincoln is done up in Bonnie & Camille's fabrics in Carrie's book so it caught my eye immediately.    I'm also a huge presidential fan so when I saw Lincoln...well, it just grabbed me.

     In the end, Lincoln won out.  I'm planning on starting the cutting process tonight!

     I'm in awe of Carrie's generosity and friendship!!!!  Thank you Carrie!

Little Letters

This early morning post is brought to you by the letters "I" and "J"............

An here they are with the others............

Just Doing a Little Sewing

I'm not doing any major sewing today, just working on some monthly things I have on my Big 3 list.I make a list at the beginning of the month with at least 3 things that I need to finish before months end.  I had "Harvey" on the top of the list but won't check it off until it's quilted and bound.  I posted a picture of that earlier in the week.  Today I caught up with my "Red Letter Day" project, that was
just 1 block but I did 3.  I figured if I was cutting 1 I might as well cut 3.  I have 5 more to go.

Next on the list was 8  X & + blocks.  I did 8 for me and 8 for my friend Jean.  We'll swap them out later in the month.

I need to catch up with this week's Alphabet Blocks with Temecula Quilt Co and 1 Moda Designer block and my list is completed.  Not too bad for it only being the 10th of the month!
I'll do more sewing today but first I think the teapot is calling my name.....

"Round & Round"

     Back in November 2013 I started a "Round & Round" quilt which was one of the trends at the time.  I think when Bonnie & Camille put out new patterns there is always one that sticks out and has everyone talking.  "Round & Round" was it at the time.
http://stitchinwithpeg.blogspot.com/2013/11/round-round.html

You can see my post of my fabric and pattern there.

     It's not that I didn't like Bonnie's fabrics but I was determined to do another red and white quilt and had so much yardage of a red on white pin dot that I NEEDED to use and some great reds so a red and white Round & Round it is!

     I'd sent it to a quilter who I'd worked with before without asking if she did Baptist Fans so when she suggested another quilter for the job she sent it to her.  I got it back a little after New Year's and then it sat and sat and sat.  About a week ago I just put the binding on and got it tacked down.
I washed and dried it this morning and it came out with the "perfect crinkly" feel.

     Here's a few pictures of the finished top......

I now officially have no hand binding to do at night while I watch TV so before I do too much more today I need to get the binding on the last 2 quilts I received back recently from my girl Sarah.

OH....and did you see this?  

This will be my 3rd mystery with Bonnie Hunter!  I know she's done a few more but I'd never jumped on the bandwagon until 2012.  I'm excited that she put the mystery colors up on her blog this morning before she left for her trip to San Diego.  I may need a little yellow but the remainder of the fabrics will come from my extra large stash bins!!!!

Peggy

"Harvey" is a finish

     This was such a fun project to work on.  At first I was a little leery that I wouldn't like this project because I'm not really a "basket" block type of sewer, but as the half square triangles started going together and I started adding the big background pieces,  I really started to like it a lot, and guess what?  After the cutting of the fabric, this quilt went together in about 5-6 hours over 2 days.

     Harvey is now winging his way to my favorite quilter so I can have it back and bound (hopefully) before the AYOS Parade.

     Here are a few pictures of the project.....

Background Fabric

Without the borders

Backing Fabric

DONE!!!!

"Little Letters"

I'm caught up again this week on these little cuties........

I look forward to Wednesday and Sunday when Temecula Quilt Co. posts the directions for these little blocks.

I was looking around online this week at a few of my favorite quilt shops too and came across this panel.  I think it will be perfect for the back of these blocks once I assemble them!!!

I can add some polka dot borders and it will be perfect!!!

I should do some numbers too, and maybe a star or two.....The possibilities are endless.

Whit & Harvey

     I did blog last week about "Whit" which is a Schnibbles pattern by Miss Rosie's quilt co so I won't go into the whole project again but since today is the "Another Year of Schnibbles" parade, I thought I'd just post a picture of my "Whit" finished and show you the next project.

     This pattern came with a couple of different layouts but since I'd done a few pinwheel projects recently I decided to go with the rows of geese, and I'm thrilled that I did since it really looks awesome as far as I'm concerned!

     The new project for the AYOS is called "Harvey".
Our hostesses Sherri and Sinta gave us a heads up for October as to which project was next because this quilt is a bit larger than what we have been doing lately.

"Harvey" is a large, 72 x 72 quilt.
Miss Rosie made her quilt using an assortment of white background prints and a black chambray from Lecien.  

I had this black/grey swirl fabric called "Essentials" by Wilmington Prints which has a nice heavy feel and then I scoured through my HUGE collection of low volume prints to get the basket made.....

I have a busy October coming up with a baby shower for my daughter and my son moving out of our house, so I decided to get a jump on mine yesterday.

I have all of my black parts cut and ready for assembly along with the 36 print/print and 64 print/black HST's.

                         

I am also one of those quilters that make my half square triangles larger than needed and trim them to size afterward.  I find that works for me.

Here is a picture of the little pile of trimmings....

They'res not a lot and well worth it to get a nice exact block size.

I'll be back hopefully by the end of the week with a finished picture of the top so I can get it out to the quilter over the weekend.