Short Saturday Update

     I finally got all my 2015 projects done, last baby quilts mailed and my room a little picked up, so I took a few hours Thursday and Friday and prepped a few things for the weekend.

     1)  My 2014 Designer Mystery has been a monkey on my back for almost a year.  This BOM actually ran into the start of 2015 so it wasn't really "done" for a year!  I stopped after doing the first 10 blocks and then the other day my little monkey Olivia brought the packet for block 11 to me and it reminded me that I NEED to finish so it went on my "TO DO" list for 2016.
While trying to decide what to do with an hour the other night, I cut out #11 and #12 and actually found time to sew them up.

     This block is #11 and was designed by Barbara Groves & Mary Jacobson of Me and My Sister Designs it's named "Sister Mary".

Block # 12 is by Lisa Bonegan of Primitive Gatherings and she named it "Fast Eddie".

I love the blocks and especially the fabric.  I have the finishing kit out in a project box and will start the assembly of that after Christmas.....probably more towards the first of the year but for sure it won't be this week!

Next, I did my last 2 blocks for 2015 of the 52 Week Churn Dash Challenge.  I don't think I wrote about this challenge here at all but it was a challenge on Instagram with a shop called A Needle Pulling Thread.  I did 1 6-1/2 inch churn dash block each Monday morning and then set them aside.  Well, a week or so ago I used up the end of the cut parts for the churnies and ended up with 52 + 2 bonus blocks.  I asked on Instagram what everyone was going to be doing with them and got a mixed response.  Most girls were just setting them and making a child's quilt.  I decided that I wanted to make mine larger so I am continuing the challenge and will use the 6.5 inch block as the center of a 12.5 inch churn dash.  I'll continue doing one a week......

I used a large variety of fabrics from my scrap bin with Kona Snow......I think by adding another round I'll get a lot more scrappy added to an already scrappy pile of blocks.  I'll keep you posted!

Another ongoing scrappy project I've been working on for at least the last 5 years has been making string blocks.  I love making them when I can't decide what to work on but the past year has been a "NON STRING" year for me.  Somehow, I never ran out of things to do in 2015 so they sat and sat......

The piles in the 2 top pictures are "in progress".  I pulled that pile on the left up to my sewing area from that bucket in the picture on the right.  I was actually able to make the 15 blocks in the bottom right picture from the strips I'd pulled....

The bag in the bottom left picture is about 30 or so blocks that have been languishing for the last 5 years or so.....  

THIS is the pile of string blocks after my sewing session on Thursday.....not bad huh?

How do you make string blocks?   I used a tutorial way back when I started and the girl in the tutorial suggested cheap muslin as the base so that's what I've been using.  I realize now that the top will be pretty heavy once I start assembling it but I guess I can use a light batting once (if ever) it's finished.....

Finally, I was caught up with my "Allietare" mystery units so when Bonnie posted the Step 4 instructions yesterday I was ready to go.  

Red and Neutral 2 x 4-1/2 inch units all with geese-like corners.  I LOVE this color combination!

I think this might be my favorite step thus far because of the colors we're using.

I did make a boo boo when cutting the neutral units so I'm going to run out to the quilt shop this morning for an extra yard of my neutral (I'm using 1 constant and don't need to run out) and also a white pencil.  I'm having trouble finding something that will show up on the back of my blacks for drawing HST lines.

Well, there you have it, my 3 day update.....  

I'm off and running right now but I'm sure i'll be back tomorrow or Monday with my Allietare update.....

Peggy in cold cold cold NJ

 

Allietare- Part 3

The house was a little less hectic this weekend so I was able to cut for Part 3 of Bonnie Hunter's Allietare Mystery.

This week's step was 4 patch units using our neutral/yellow-gold and cutting 3-1/2 X 7-1/2 inch rectangles.

This giraffe fabric was one of my favorites............

When I cut the first half of my yellow strips I realized that I needed more variety so I went thru some bins in my room and found yardage, fat quarters and even some scraps......I pulled everything from old Thimbleberries to Debbie Mumm and the above giraffe fabric that I just got last month!  A little bit of the new and old makes for a nice variety!

I'm happy I was able to finish this step early this week so I can make a few handmade things for Christmas gifts and with luck I can get my cards out by Wednesday.....

It's not too late to join in with the mystery.....go and check out Bonnie's blog and if nothing else, print off the directions so you can start after the hustle and bustle of the holidays is over....  Here's the link to today's linky party---->  http://quiltville.blogspot.com  http://quiltville.blogspot.com

In closing....a few pictures of my little monkey doing exactly what grandma told her not to.....

There is NO sitting up at Grandmas sewing machine....scissors and rotary cutters are a no no, and then standing up in my chair on the back room because she doesn't know how to get down and then yelling ensues :)

It's hard to believe Christmas is 12 days away...It was 66 here today and we did our dog walking etc in short sleeves!   

Have a great week!!

PEGGY

"Allietare" Mystery Monday Link Up, Part 2

Yeah, that "Monday" link up didn't happen but it's done now :)   Can I get a WOO HOO!

I got all the above units cut on Sunday......then life happened and I didn't get back to working on my units until yesterday (Tuesday).

Voile, all my units are made, my 2 inch black and grey squares are cut so I'm ready for Friday when Step 3 comes out!

I noticed this morning that were a LOT, and I mean a LOT of link ups so if you'd like to see the fabric variety and even some different color ways, check out Bonnie's Linky page http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/allietare-mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

For me, I am doing Bonnie's color way and since I'm a red fabric hoarder of various shades, I was able to pull some Robyn Pandolph, Debbie Mumm, Moda Marbles, and even added a newer polka dot and some Bonnie & Camille prints......I LOVE MY RED STASH!

So, lets go check out the link page and go check out some awesome girls pages, and post your pictures...and don't be the end of the line, link up to Bonnie's page too....

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2015/12/allietare-mystery-monday-link-up-part-2.html

A Few Finishes

It's been a busy couple of months and there haven't been too many finishes but I do have a few.

First off is a baby quilt I made for my son in law's sister.  Her 2nd baby, another son, will be born C-Section on Wednesday 12/16.  When big brother was born the mama had a very chic bedroom in light greys and light blues etc.  I had totally forgotten about it since it's been 3 years so when I found out she was expecting again I just went ahead and started making all kinds of hst's that would be nice for a little boy.....ducks, whales, fish, cars etc.   I didn't ask if there was a theme, I just went and made it up.

Here's the back...cute whales

A couple of the blocks up close

Next finish is a quilt made from all 2-1/2 inch squares.  I was connecting them all as a Leader/Ender project over the last year.  

1200 squares!  It was a great scrap buster but truthfully, didn't make even a teeny tiny dent in my scrap basket!

Here's a picture of the back.......Found this fabric in my local shop for $6 a yard!

The binding.....

And once again, my girl Sarah did an awesome job quilting it!!!!!!!!

Finally, here are 2 pictures of Olivia on Thanksgiving.  She was 1 in November and this picture is from Thanksgiving when she was on Grandpa's lap.....

Hope you all had a nice holiday.....

Peggy

"Allietare Mystery"

Step 1 of the Allietare Mystery on Bonnie Hunter's blog went live on Friday morning after Thanksgiving.  I've been waiting a while for this and was happy to see step 1 was fun and easy. 294 half square triangles.....Who doesn't like HST's?????    I love making them!

My "constant" grey looks very much like a men's suit type of grey, which I love, and my "neutral" is a grunge type of cream.  I'm doing a constant "cream" as well because I didn't have a lot of variety in my stash.  The only thing I did have to buy for this mystery was my neutral!!!!!  THAT makes me very happy because I'm one of those "I need to use up what I have" type of gals and this year I actually did!!!

Quite by accident I found myself reading blogs yesterday afternoon and saw that Bonnie herself was going to be doing her webcam so I sat down and watched, finished up a few small blocks for another sew along and then sat and sewed up my step 1 units.  NO, I am not done but I HAD to press a few just to see how I like the look and then finished sewing.....  I'm having lunch with a friend today so I'll press open the remainder HOPEFULLY this afternoon.

Hope you are all enjoying your mystery......Thanks Bonnie for doing this year after year.

Peggy in NJ

"Allietare!"

   Yes, Allietare.......that's the name of Bonnie Hunter's 2015 Winter Mystery.  Have you ever done one of her mysteries??  This will be my 4th.  I resisted the previous mysteries as I am one of those people that don't like not knowing how things will look in the end, how will my fabrics look in the mystery arrangement etc.   "Easy Street" cured me of the worrying...  I jumped in with both feet and have never looked back.

     So, here is my pull/fabrics for "Allietare".

So...Bonnie makes "paint chip" suggestions.....I literally went the next morning after I saw her post and picked up my paint chips.....and for my friend Carolyn :)

Here's my grey.  Bonnie's suggestion was for one "constant" grey.  

My red, black and gold..............

And my neutral.....  In past years I've used text prints or tan/neutrals.  I decided this year to use an ivory grunge type fabric that I bought this morning at my local quilt shop.  We are suggested to get 5-1/2 yards so I really wanted something low key.

Below are my previous 3 mystery quilts..............LOVE, LOVE, LOVE each one!!!

Farm Girl Vintage Update

WOW.....my last post was October 4th?   I guess I had a busy month!

I have a few sewing things going on as well as family stuff so for this morning I'm just going to post about my  "Farm Girl Vintage" sewalong blocks that I've been working on.

I finished all of the above blocks on Friday of this week and thought WHEW I'm done...now onto the assembly process.  I had decided early on that I was going to do it just like Lori Holt's version on the cover of the book.

I liked the layout so what the heck.  Well, I start laying the blocks out in rows and I'm scratching my head saying HMMMMMM....something's wrong here.  I don't have enough blocks!  

I didn't take into account that Lori put a sawtooth star in each of the 4 corners.  So, my job today is to make the other 3 blocks today and then I can finish the rows off.....for now I have rows 2-7 totally done and rows 1-8 just waiting on some stars.  

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

Another Baby Quilt

     Another baby quilt is finished and ready to be given to it's mama and daddy VERY soon!

This quilt was a lot of fun to make and since it was small enough for me to handle, I was able to quilt it myself after I finished assembling it.  It really makes me feel good when I can do a quilt from start to finish!

I'll be gifting this to my nephew and his significant other Megan on October 18th.  I'm hoping I can get a picture of her with it :)

This quilt measures 40 X 48 and was made using "Out to Sea" by Sarahjane for Michael Miller Fabrics.....and made entirely from my stash!

Peggy

Trunk Show

     Way way back in the day I fell in love with Pat Sloan's first fabric line.  I probably bought every single line after that and then joined her block of the month clubs AND bought her books and patterns.......was I obsessed?  Absolutely!

       I used to ask my local shop if she could get Pat to come for a trunk show and she always promised she'd try.....and then I guess everything lined up nicely and voile, Pat's doing a trunk show and 2 days of classes at Quilting Possibilities!

       Tonight was that trunk show.....

Pat was showing off her 2015 Mystery Quilt.........My picture doesn't do it justice.  Suffice it to say, I'm sorry I didn't follow along this year.  I will for sure next year though :)

I loved hearing how Pat got into the business and enjoyed her slide show.  She still has her 1st quilt and subsequent quilts that she made for her different books.

I sat right next to this quilt and have also admired it on Pat's blog so I bought the pattern and then when I got home I IMMEDIATELY ordered the fabrics to make it.  As Pat said, it was all about the polka dots...they made the entire quilt!

I also bought a fat quarter bundle of her new line, 4 yards of her red sunflower-like fabric and for this weekend only, if you bought 4 yards you got 2 yards free so YES, I bought 2 yards of the green dot, and a black on white pin dot .  I will most likely use the black on white pin dot for the background for whatever I end up making.

Debbie and Jim at Quilting Possibilities had little gift bags and dessert for all the girls that attended....

Pat Sloan is an absolute doll and a joy to talk to.  I wish I could have attended a class but since I couldn't, I'm just happy to have been able to attend the trunk show.  

If you ever have the opportunity to attend one of Pat's trunk shows, you really have to!  

Peggy

Farm Girl Vintage Update

Back in the spring I bought this book and bundle from Fat Quarter Shop.  I absolutely LOVED the fabric bundle and thought Lori's way of assembling the blocks was unique.

I'd been keeping up week after week....doing my 2 blocks every Friday and then I don't know what happened.......  Actually, I do know what happened.  My husband decided that he was retiring at the end of the year and wanted a quilt for each of his 2 secretaries so I have been knee deep in blocks for the 2 quilts.

Yesterday I told myself that I was doing NOTHING else until I attempted to catch up somewhat....

There are 8 more blocks left to make before I can decide how I want to set them.  I noticed that some girls have a pink pig in their quilts but I won't because I don't have the pattern for the pig  :(

I'm hoping that by the end of October that I'll have the remaining blocks done, a setting picked and with a LOT of luck I'll have it out to be quilted.

PEGGY

Labor Day

     Labor Day has always been a sad time of year for me.  When the kids were small and we had to give up sleeping in and having slow, fun days.  Our days now were replaced with "back to school" mode which meant  set the alarm clock and the rush, rush of school, CCD, dance class, sports etc.

     The "kids" are grown and no longer going to school so I didn't have to get up with them, but I did have to set my "School Alarm" to get up and be a productive member of society and go to work.....
Well, all of that changed with September 2014.....I was a retiree!  Yes, at 59 I decided that I'd worked enough and wanted to spend some time having "Peggy Days" every day and after much discussion with Al, I made the decision to retire early and enjoy myself.  This will be the 2nd Labor Day that I
don't have to set an alarm for work and I have to say, this has been one fun ride!  One I'm thrilled I'm on!

   

"Buzzsaw" and "Rocky Mountain Puzzle"

I'm still loving and enjoying making blocks for the "Tales of Cloth" "Red Sky at Night Quiltalong .

The last 2 weeks have found me busy working on the first of 2 quilts I need to get assembled before the end of the month so I'm behind on my weekly sewalong blocks.  I finally made the time to cut and piece the blocks today.....

The top left block is called Rocky Mountain Puzzle.  I stole 2 pictures from the Tales of Cloth blog to show you how old some of these quilt blocks are....  Rocky Mountain Puzzle was a lot of fun to assemble.  The 2nd block, on the top right, is called Buzzsaw.  Talk about an easy to assemble block!!!!!!    

I'm now caught up which makes me very happy.  

Now, here are 2 cute pictures of my granddaughter Olivia enjoying her first ice cream cones....She was being a little fussy last week with 4 teeth coming in so we bought those little cones from Blue Bunny....perfect Olivia size!  

Pretty darn cute if I might say so myself  LOL

Peggy