"Sand Castles"

Block #6 of the Fat Quarter Shop's 2018 Designer Mystery BOM is called "Sand Castles.
The designer is Kate Spain www.kdspain.com

I'm really enjoying each and every block and the Fig Tree fabrics are perfect!

I have the finishing kit but I want to wait till after the holiday rush before I open it and start cutting....besides, I have 6 more months of blocks to get........

HAPPY THANKSGIVING EVERYONE!

Opening Day

Another new quilting project underway called "Opening Day" by Carrie Nelson.

I love Sawtooth Star blocks not only for the simplicity of them but because they always make for an awesome quilt.

I had to decide on a fabric line once I picked the pattern and to tell the truth, it was not a hard decision.  Every time I look at my shelf with my fabrics, I always look at this bundle....

It's called "Farmer's Daughter" by Lella Boutique.....

It took no time at all to start cutting up the bundle and making some headway on the stars....

I made the black stars and then today I made up some pink ones.  I think this is going to be a fast quilt to assemble.  I cut out the pink and yellow fabrics today so they'll be assembled hopefully tomorrow and Thursday.  I need 36 stars!

Hopefully I'll have some progress shots later this week.  Stay tuned!

Swoon 16 Update

   I am pleased to say that I finished my Swoon 16 quilt on the last day of the sewalong and that made me very happy.

These blocks took much longer than I expected but I love each one.....and enjoyed the process.

NOW.......they're all done and I had to pick a sashing color for between each block and row.....

Hmmmmmm...... Which one should I use?  I did consult the designer of the fabric, and she sent me the link for these 4 solids.  I loved the yellow at first and was thinking, YUP, i'm doing yellow....but as I started rearranging the blocks I felt like the navy was the right fit......

YUP, navy was perfect!  It took one rainy, cold afternoon to sash them all and now......I'm waiting for this fabric line called "Garden Variety" by LellaBoutique to hit the fabric stores.  I'd gotten an advance bundle of the prints from a shop that I frequent but the yardage won't hit stores till I think around Halloween.

I'm thinking the navy print might be the perfect backing.  What do you think?

I can't wait to order and get this one quilted and finished!

Stay tuned!

FQ Shop 2018 Designer Mystery

I'm back with the Fat Quarter Shop's Block # 5 of the Designer Mystery BOM.
Block # 5 is called "Ring Toss" and it was designed by Barb & Mary of Me and My Sister Designs
www.meandmysisterdesigns.com

I have recently discovered Alphabities.....and man o man, what a nice discovery!!!
They make the whole process of cutting fabrics so much easier!!!

I've noticed on Instagram that a lot of the girls that are doing the BOM have started to assemble their rows, but I'm going to wait till after the holidays to even open up the finishing kit.  For now, i'll make the monthly blocks and then once we get into the new year and I can relax and focus better, I'll open the finishing kit up and take a look at what i've gotten myself into......

"Swoon 16 Swoonalong"

Not much to write......just an update on the Swoon 16 Swoonalong.

I was going great guns over the weekend but then I realized I had a few "BEE" commitments and a few things to make for the granddaughters so they are now on the design wall waiting patiently for my attention later this week.  So, for now, I have 8 of the 16 blocks cut and sewn.  I have 4 more cut and then 2 more to cut after that.....

These were the last 3 I made and added to the wall........

 I LOVE how they are all coming along.....but this next one has my absolute favorite fabric in it from this new line.........

That blue print just grabs me.....as do these bees......

Aren't they awesome?????

I will need to purchase LOTS of extra yardage of the bees....especially the white version!!!

Oh yeah!!!!

The navy print above will HAVE to be the backing for this quilt but it's not available for a few more weeks so I will have to be patient and just wait.....

Stop back soon.....

"Blue Ribbon"

     I have belonged to one Instagram Quilt Bee's now for quite a few years now and last year I joined a second with girls from all over the US and a few in Canada.  We are assigned a month, preferably your birthday month and then you receive a quilt block of your choice in that month.  

My block choice for 2018 was "LUCKY" by Camille Roskelley.  I wanted all my blocks from one Fig Tree fabric line called "Chestnut Street".  The blocks came in a few a week and then right after January 2018 arrived, I had a quilt's worth of blocks so I immediately set them and sent the quilt out for quilting......

My area for pictures is limited but this shows pretty well what the quilt looks like.

I found a red with white flannel dot for the backing, which worked perfectly with the top.....

I've had it quilted and binding attached and it's ready for the winter.

We've come to an end for 2018's Figgy Bee and now is the time to start planning for 2019....YAY!

Each and every one of the Figgy girls have quite an extensive fabric collection, as do I, but when asking for girls to make me a block I tend to play it safe and request just 1 line/1 block so I know in the end that I'll be able to assemble a cohesive quilt.

2019 fabric will be "Coney Island" from Fig Tree and this year my pattern is called "Blue Ribbon" also by Fig Tree.

I couldn't decide what to work on today so I pulled my pattern out and cut for 1 block....Since there are only 12 girls including myself in the Bee, I know in the end I'll have to make a few blocks myself so why not try the pattern out now..........

The block turned out prettier than I expected so I know that when the others come that this is going to be a beautiful quilt!  I can't wait!!!   

OH....did I mention that we don't start till January and my month this year is in May?  

Well, at least I'm ready!!!

Green/Aqua Churn Dash Revisited

 

Today I want to revisit an OLD quilt but one of my favorites.......

I can clearly remember working on this churn dash quilt on weekends and after work.....when I still worked.  That is an important key because I'm trying to date this quilt but I cannot for the life of me remember the year.  One of my flaws in quilting is mostly keeping track of when I made something and who I ultimately gifted it to.......

The one thing I remember about this one is I scoured my closet and pulled out every fabric that read aqua/lime green.  I'm sure I'd seen that combo "somewhere"......and another point I remember is I assembled the piano key border on Superbowl Sunday so I'm going to say January 2013??????

The next picture is me picking the quilt up in the parking lot of a church in Delaware where I met the girl that quilted it.  

I loved how it was quilted!   If I remember correctly, the quilter took this picture because this was her 100th quilt that she'd quilted.........

I don't remember where this quilt ended up.....I'm sure I gifted it to someone but I don't remember who :(     I'm thinking that it's time to plan another churn dash quilt like this one....maybe using some of my scraps?

Happy Friday and end of September 2018 !!!

Swoon 16 Sewalong

Good Morning.....

It's a wet one once again but other than that, I have no complaints.

Another week, another sewalong announced on Instagram.....but this one really caught my eye since it's hosted by Fat Quarter Shop using Camille Roskelley's "Swoon 16" block.
I decided that I'd sewalong with them but I may not be able to keep up due to other commitments that may have to go in front.  For now, I'm cutting out the 16 blocks and will sew on them when I can.

My fabric choice is Garden Variety by Lellaboutique.

I don't have the issue like some girls do with taking that MODA ribbon off.....if I want to make something with the fabric I just rip it off!  

I made 1 block yesterday.....

I LOVE how it turned out so I pulled 3 prints for the next one last night....

The bees in this fabric line just speak to me.........

I think i'll grab my rotary cutter now and get to cutting........

Peggy

StarPlus Quilt

I made a "Star Plus Quilt" a few years ago in a sewalong with some Instagram girls and enjoyed it so much.  I remember a teacher in the school I worked at had to put her mom in a facility at the time so I gave it to her to help make mom's room look homey........

Well, I recently decided that the HUGE pile of Thimbleblossom's "The Good Life" fabric needed to be cut into!

The quilting that my friend Jen did looks awesome!!!

This is the back.....Gorgeous GOOD LIFE floral!  Now to get some binding made and sewn on the quilt.


















Do you ever forget you have a quilt?  This one is that quilt........

It's one of those tops that I made with a pack of fat quarters that were not really "me" but in the end I liked the quilt and it's a light top that I can use at this time of year.  I tend to stuff it in the back of my closet and forget about it though.......I have made the decision to keep it out this winter, over the back of my rocking chair and use it!  (kind of like today...I snuggled under while it poured outside and watched a few Hallmark movies)

Good Morning...........
I thought I'd get to post yesterday but my laptop had other ideas.  I feel like this is almost the end of the road for this laptop friendship....and that makes me sad.  Oh well....

I spent some time over the weekend deciding on my "BEE" block for the next round of my Instagram Bee with my friends.  We start the next round September 1st and I'm December so I knew I needed to get my butt in gear and get moving.

So, the September girl is Amanda in California.  She chose a Thimbleblossoms pattern called "Fireworks".  She wants a navy background (which she provided all of us) and then wants red, aqua, white...any combination.   I like to make my blocks up at least a week or two in advance so the girls get their block in the beginning of their month.   Here's Amanda's.......

It was a hard block to photograph but here it is.....  We also send a little something for the Queen Bee so this year I decided that I'd make everyone a little project pouch and mail their block inside.

I haven't made one of these in ages so I was pleasantly surprised that it turned out nice.

I did decide on my pattern and fabric too and even decided to use my own fabric to actually use up some of my stash!

I'm also using a Thimbleblossoms pattern called "Puddle Jumping" and a stack of my Little Miss Sunshine fabric.  I picked a really cute "bee" background fabric that I've had in my stash for quite a while.   We have 13 girls in our bee so I will need to make a few extra to bring it up to size so I made a sample for everyone to see......

 

Here it is....and I'm thrilled.  Can't wait for December. (yes, I said it.....UGH LOL)

Be back soon with a new project starting today...........

Clementine Quilt Along

So, another Sunday, another finished project.

I signed up for this sewalong/BOM back late last summer so it's only fitting I finish it almost a year later.  Truthfully though, the project thru Fat Quarter Shop didn't start until January and it was only a 6 month block project and then the 7th month was assembly.

 

 

The blocks were not hard....we made 1 12.5 and 1 20.5 inch block over the 6 months.  Then the finishing instructions had us add borders to the 12.5 inch blocks which brought them up to 20.5 and set them on pointe.  

I did all of this yesterday afternoon and then this morning I connected the 4 rows and added the border.  Really quite quick and easy!

The bottom picture is the backing....It's perfect for the front!

Quilt Details:  

Designer of fabric:  April Rosenthal

               "Mama's Cottage"

Finished size:  70-1/2 X 90-1/2

NOW....get it quilted.

This is quilt # 19 for 2018 so far........

"Patchwork Swoon"

Trying to decide on Sunday afternoon what I felt like working on...........I finally decided that I was tired of looking at this sit under my ironing table and it was TIME to sew it up.  The first thing was to cut the jelly roll of Vintage Picnic into strip sets and assemble the scrappy star points.

 

Then I had to make 9 of the scrappy units.

Then came the time to assemble all the other units,

and assemble the top......

LOOK at that top......I am in awe at how beautiful it is......

It helps to have a 9 foot island in your kitchen....You can lay out the backing (red gingham), throw your top over it and cut to size!

It's all ready and packed up to head out to the quilter.....

QUILT SPECS:

"Patchwork Swoon" by Camille Roskelley (Thimbleblossoms)

72 inch Swoon

Fabric is Vintage Picnic by Camille Roskelley 

This quilt when made not scrappy could literally be cut and assembled in 1 day...maybe 1-1/2 days.  I'm thinking I need a halloween swoon or even a patriotic one!!

BEE Blocks

I belong to 2 quilting bee of sorts on Instagram.  One group is strictly Fig Tree fabrics and the other one started out using Bonnie & Camille fabrics but this year if you want to use a different fabric, you can.

Mindy is the September girl in the B&C Bee but requested Fig Tree fabric and a free block on the Moda Bakeshop!

This was a really fun and easy block to sew up.  

Vanessa in the Fig Tree BEE kept with the Fig Tree fabric line but used a B&C pattern called "FRESH".  The pattern calls for a white background so the main prints are showcased but Vanessa wanted us to use Fig Tree low volume fabrics......  It's a pretty block but when I make my own, I'll use white.....

Now onto some selfish sewing..........