A Couple of Finishes

With more cold weather and snow I've been holed up in the house sewing......

Here's a halfway decent picture of my "SWOON" quilt.

I've been doing 1 block a month as part of my "Big 3" list with some girlfriends.  When I finally got that yellow block done and realized I only had to do 2 more, I spent Saturday afternoon cutting and sewing and just making it a goal to finish!   I laid all 9 blocks out on Sunday and voile! it's done!

Each block is 24-1/2 inches and I used I "think"  "Marmalade" by Bonnie and Camille....

The quilt finishes up to 80 inches square which is a biggie!   I can't wait to get it quilted and see how pretty it is!

After finishing up that quilt I decided that a few "mini's" were in order.  

I needed a "P" for my sewing room wall and I wanted a house quilt and sewing related items like a spool quilt so I pulled out my mini patterns and set to making them.....

I already had a P and spool quilt on my wall that I'd made a few weeks back but something about them just bothered me.  My P was NOT red and white dots and while making the original one I knew I should change from blue to red but I just went ahead and did it blue.  I didn't like how one of the actual brown spool parts looked on the original mini so I wanted to change that up too.  Those 2 now hang in my downstairs storage/old sewing room...so I didn't waste them, they just were relocated :)

And look at that mini house....OMG, 3-1/2 X 4-1/2....I could not get over the size when I finished the first one.  I LOVED it.  So, I spent the afternoon making them and then after dinner did some simple quilting inside the houses themselves then a simple wavy stitch down the white strips that separates the houses.  It finished up to I think 15 inches long.....SO CUTE!!!

And last but not least is a mini log cabin block I made from some paper piecing kit my friend Michelle sent me YEARS ago.  This log cabin finished up to I think 3 inches.  I swear, it took 3 stitches on the machine to sew the center square...3 stitches!!!

Someday I'm going to make more and use them for a runner or table topper.

My mini days are not over though.  I have empty space on the wall with the others so I'm going to make a mini swoon, puddle jump, etc....   

Hope you enjoy your day!

Peggy

Painted Furniture

Showing my picture yesterday of the turquoise dresser in our upstairs hallway brought to mind a few other pieces of furniture that my daughter painted in 2013.  This telephone booth was her first try at adding something other than color to a piece.  This piece is an old metal file cabinet!!!  She uses it in her bedroom as a side table.

This yellow nightstand

was found in a Goodwill store in Maryland I think too .  My oldest daughter needed a night stand for one of her rooms so Sarah painted it and distressed it a little to match the quilt I'd just made her.  The quilt is all yellow, grey and black.

And last but not least, this is an old children's dresser that she found in a barn like store in the next town over from us.  She wanted a unique tv stand and as you can tell, is obsessed with english things....   I actually think from looking closely that the drawers are not closed so the stripes look a little "off".    

NOW....if she'd just make a decision and do something with the old pieces she's got out in the garage she'd make her father a happy man!!!

Another Finish

     This is month 2 of Sherri McConnell's "Simply Small Challenge".  This month our project is called a Scrappy Churn Dash Table Runner.

     I don't necessarily have the need for a long skinny runner right now but I did find inspiration in my house so it's going to work out ok.

     I had a small basket of 2-1/2 inch squares already out on my cutting table from some of the "mini" quilts I've been making and hanging on my sewing room wall so I just grabbed from that.  They are all Thimbleblossom fabrics but since they are "springy" it was perfect!

    We started with 6-1/2 inch churn dash blocks....and before you start saying "where are they", they are in there but my choice of dark/light fabrics for the hst's was a little off so they don't resemble churn dash blocks at all.  We made 5 of them then sashed with white strips on all 4 sides.  Here's mine before the final sashing.

And here are a few pictures of it finished.

The first picture is right after the binding was attached.....  I used a leftover piece of BLISS for the back and since it's only 9-1/2 by approx. 45 in long, I didn't need a big piece of binding so I used 3 strips of the dotted BLISS for that.

   

Her's a picture of it on my son's sofa table....  Can you tell it's a guy's apartment?  (note the basketball and junk under said table)  LOL

And this old dresser is in the hallway in our upstairs.  We dragged that dresser home in the back of our car from Maryland a year or so ago "just because" my daughter thought it would awesome in turquoise.  It doesn't match anything else in the house but it comes in handy for laying finished quilts on, holding books for me and we've put a small lamp on it so the hallway isn't dark at night when we go up to bed  :)    There's nothing in the drawers but Sarah loves it and the color so there it is  :)

This was a super fun project!!!!  And, if you would like to join in, just go over to Sherri's blog and you can upload the pattern from Craftsy.  Sherri blogs at "A Quilting Life" and BTW, has an AWESOME new book out that just shipped less than a week ago.....I've read mine cover to cover twice!!!

PEGGY

It Takes Two

     In an "attempt" to empty out some project bins and use up fabric on my shelves, I'm taking one bin a month and trying to make up the quilt I kitted when I found it and "HAD" to make it.

     March's kit was called "It Takes Two" and it's from the APQ magazine from December 2010!  I know, it's crazy how long I've had this kitted!    I'm sure since then Camille Roskelly has had at least 3-4 fabric lines and numerous patterns published.

On Friday night I did all the cutting.  I found in the process of cutting that I was short 1 turquoise from the line so I had to use a blue turquoise dot from my stash.  It kind of jumps out of you in this picture but in the quilt it looks great.

I was thinking as I cut the print rectangles that "this isn't going to take too long to assemble".  THEN, I got to the cutting instructions for the white 4 inch squares.  192!    Is that for real?  Yowzer!

So, I took my ruler and pencil and sat on the couch with my lap desk and proceeded to do all the line drawing thru an episode of Hawaii 50 and Blue Bloods.

Over the next 2 days I got all the white corners sewn, trimmed and pressed and then Monday morning I woke up to a snow storm so I proceeded to assemble the whole top....

I absolutely LOVE the grey sashing with the white background and this "Bliss" fabric.

I've wanted to use a solid grey in "something" but I just didn't find the right project till now.

Here's a close up of one of the blocks......Don't look too closely though, I need to do a little better pressing on the grey so there's some little wrinkly issues  :)

As luck would have it, I have a HUGE pile of "RUBY" flannel yardage (another of Bonnie's lines) that cost me $5 a yard in the clearance room at my local quilt shop so I'm going to press it up and get it ready for use on the back!  It's two different lines but the same color way and it looks great together!!!   

If anyone is interested in the pattern, let me know, I have the whole magazine and would happily share it with you.  The quilt finished up 59 X 75.

Peggy

"Laura"

Meet Laura.....Laura was one of the nicest people you'd ever want to meet and I was proud and happy to call her a friend.     Do you see that smile?   She was always smiling!!                

I pretty much either texted or emailed Laura every morning.  She was one of those friends that checked in every day with her friends even if it was only a hello or invited you to play Words with Friends or in my case, she was always sending me links to quilts and projects that she thought "we" should do.  We'd text back and forth and would inevitably order the pattern, share with one another and then get working on it.  I have a binder in my sewing room that is called the "Laura Binder" and it's just the projects her and I worked on together.  

This here is "PEPE".  He's Laura's praying mantis friend.  I don't remember how it started, if Laura was afraid of them, liked them or just thought they were "icky" but one year at our annual May quilting retreat I'd ordered probably 10-12 of these little praying mantis's and gave them out to some of the girls.  Laura named her's Pepe and one of the girls knitted him a hat.  I think Laura made him a quilt and I know my little friend of Pepe has a little scrap of red and white polka dot tied around his neck....  mine sits on my OTT light over my machine and reminds me daily of PEPE....

Here's another picture of Laura during show n tell...  She was one busy girl.  If you asked her what she was doing she'd say " a little of this and a little of that" and would show up at retreat with about 10 snow n tell projects, one more beautiful than the other.   

This post is all about missing Laura.  On March 15th, 2013 I talked to Laura when I got to work....she wasn't feeling good but didn't think she could go home from work since she was the only one in the office that day.  I texted her that night to see how she was feeling but didn't get an answer.  

I never heard back from her again.  She'd passed away during the night from spinal meningitis......We lost a beautiful soul that night.....someone I will miss forever!!!

This is the last group shot of the retreat girls with Laura.  I can still hear her saying "does anyone else think this is a little creepy?"

I know I can honestly say that I'm not alone in missing her.  The world lost a beautiful soul that night and will be remembered by everyone she touched throughout her short life.

We miss and love you Laura!!!!

National Quilting Day

   

     So, tomorrow is Worldwide Quilting day.....What will you be doing to celebrate?

     I decided that to celebrate the day I'd pull out one of the oldest projects I have nearby and work on that.  Do I need this quilt for anyone in particular?  UH, no!  But has this been on my mind?  UH, yes!   

     

  The magazine is American Patchwork & Quilting and it's from December 2010!   I remember when it came out I fell in love with this project "It Takes Two".  The magazine has it made up in Thimble Blossom fabrics from Bonnie & Camille.  I remember I tried tracking down as many of the fabrics as I could but even now, looking at the pile, I think I may be missing the red dot for the final border  :(

I'm not going to let that stop me though, I am going to assemble this as far as I can and then I will do a search if and when I find I need something in particular....who knows, the fabric designers may just have some that they can sell me....

So, to celebrate World Wide Quilting Day tomorrow I'm going to be working on this project!

What will you be sewing on?

Peggy

Some oldies but goodies

     For Christmas hubby gave me a new MacBook Air and I just LOVE it!  However, anytime I want to write a post with a picture and it was taken anytime before December 2013, I have to go pull out the old Dell and email it to myself.  The other day my friend Michelle mentioned a quilt she had made, and mentioned I'd made one similar but used the same fabrics.

     Going thru my pictures looking for my quilt and looking at all the old quilts I did had me uploading just a few to share here....

   

This quilt was made when a co-worker ran her first marathon on her 28th birthday, and FINISHED!

This black/white/turquoise was made for my daughter in her first apartment.  

This quilt was made for me, by me, from a layer cake I'd received from my friend Michelle as a little "hello" gift when we met up at retreat one year.  

This one was made to be used as a raffle quilt for our Special Ed class in school.  It enabled them to go on extra trips throughout the year that they wouldn't normally get to go on.

And, last but certainly not least, my daughter's wedding quilt and label.  I'd made this quilt from a tutorial on "A Little Bit Biased's" blog.   

I actually made this one and another but that one hasn't been photographed yet nor has the binding been sewn on....and yes, it's from early April or May of 2013 but it's one of those quilts I made because I LOVED making the stars and since it's not for anyone in particular, the binding will go on whenever I find the time or whenever I need a quilt .

And HERE is the quilt that inspired my search

2013-2014 Designer Mystery BOM Update

     Block Nine came....."Prairie Town" is the name and it was designed by Kansas Troubles Quilters.
www.KTQuilts.com
 
     Once again, the fabrics are just so nice and FQ Shop is still very generous with how much they send to make the blocks!   There was one "new to me" fabric thrown in this month, and it's the red swirl!   It's the first time we're seeing that in one of the blocks!

     I've been partial to the red and blue dots so far but I think this red swirl might be going out in front for the favorite!

   
   

I received the finishing kit right at the start of the block of the month but I didn't do anything with it.  Now that I'm 9 blocks in I decided I'd get started assembling the rows with the setting units.

So, we have 3 baskets, 3 stars and 3 houses.  I wonder what the next 3 are Is anyone else assembling as they go?

"Bungalow"

     I finished this Schnibbles quilt called "Bungalow" at least 2+ weeks ago but never did quilt it.
I wanted to use the red floral that I used for the centers and had enough yardage but I'd have to piece it.  I kept putting it aside and moving it until this morning when I told myself to just get it done and stop procrastinating!  I went in search of the extra fabric from the top and found what I thought was yardage of the big green and blue dots.  Look at the surprise I found when I opened up the yardage......

I have it all sandwiched and pinned and I'm thinking my good old standby wavy stitch will be how I quilt it!!!!   I think some little girl is going to love this quilt once I finish and get the binding on....which is going to be the same as the backing since I have a piece big enough to use!

A Visit With Kelly, Michael and Ben

        Have I ever mentioned NOT being a morning person?   Oh....trust me when I tell you, I'm not!  I think I take after my mother!    I'll have to tell you about her some day soon!  
Anyhow, my niece Shannon had 5 free tickets to the filming of the Kelly & Michael show in NYC yesterday so she invited my 2 daughters, my sister and me.  We were pretty excited to have something fun to do for the day so made a plan to go in....  Did I mention you have be be outside the studio at 7:15 am?    REALLY?   I live in New Jersey, at the shore!   That's a little bit of a hike.....

So, I was up at 3am and on the road at 4am with my sister and niece to meet up with my 2 daughters in Bayonne.  My oldest daughter Jennifer just moved there with her husband and Sarah was up overnight after having spent Monday in NYC taking a baking class at the culinary institute making macarons!    Anyhow....  We took the Light Rail from Bayonne into Hoboken/Jersey City and got to see NYC waking up  :)    Have you ever seen a city wake up this color?    I swear.....the sky was absolutely gorgeous at 5:30 in the morning.....

     We then had to take another train into the city, change over to a subway, walk up and down innumerable stair cases, dodge taxicabs and crazy drivers but we made it on time.....and then you stand and wait  :)    They do have a Chock Ful Of Nuts coffee truck out front and you can have coffee, hot chocolate, hot sandwiches etc, courtesy of the show, but that would mean taking off my gloves, and it was not happening in 22 degrees......

Here is Shannon (my niece), my youngest, Sarah and my oldest, Jennifer, standing outside the studio as we got there.  Notice the smiles?  Yeah, we were all smiling before we stood for 90 minutes or so out in the cold  :)

      So, they let you into the studio 10 minutes before the show starts and quickly get to instructions etc.    We had upper level seats so it was hard to see the guests but there are lots of tv screens for you to follow the show on.    We saw Chandra Wilson from Grey's Anatomy, Roma Downey from Touched by an Angel and the new movie coming out Friday "Son of God" .  In between give aways etc, the hour went fast.  When it was all over they asked if we'd like to stay and watch some Oscar filming for Friday's show......  So, while they changed the stage over to look like the Oscar stage, we took a few pictures of the set and relaxed....

 I was pleasantly surprised to get such a nice shot of myself and the girls......but I do wish the lighting was better in the studio to get a nicer one of us but I'll take what I can  :)

THEN....Ben came out!  Yes, we got to see Ben Affleck, listen to what he's been up to...a couple other guests, a makeover, and some Oscar party suggestions and clips from other Oscar shows...

We had a lot of fun!

We were STARVING at that point so we took a few more subway rides, a little bit of walking, and then down to The Iron Grill for lunch.
The food was great, lots of chatting among us girls and then another 13 block walk to the train to head home.   

I guess about 5PM I walked in the door and was EXHAUSTED!!!    

I was useless the rest of the night but we had fun and if asked, I'd do it again....but not too soon, because as I mentioned "I'm not a morning person!"


Peggy

I used to be.....

           I used to be one of those "toss those little cut off geese triangles" type of gal....then recently I came across a really cute quilt on someone's blog, made up of just random HST's from leftover projects.  I guess that was an AH HA moment for me so as I assemble my "Swoon" blocks, Bee blocks, my "Designer Mystery" blocks etc. I throw the hst's in a small basket until I have enough to make a 9 patch type of block.

            On Friday I took the basket and started pressing and trimming and then this afternoon I did some assembly....

             There is a variety of backgrounds....black on white, white on white and even some tan dots on white.

      I laid out what I have pressed so far but there is still a good size pile waiting for assembly later this week.

       I don't always have 9 of the same hst's left over....most times I have 8 but occasionally I do have 10 so I will have to make a couple hst's later on as I get further into this project.

       Do you save your triangles??  

     
Peggy

"Beautiful"

  For my husband's birthday I bought him tickets to see "Beautiful" on Broadway.  I find as we get older that we like to go out and do things to celebrate the day instead of your traditional sweater, book, CD etc.  Al has always loved the theatre so when I saw "Beautiful" was the story of Carole King's early days, and him being a big fan of hers since forever, I bought the tickets.
We tend to go in early, have lunch, walk around and then see the show.  We like to be out of NY before the partying and busier time starts and yesterday was no exception.

     When we got to NY the sun was out and it was about 45- 50 degrees and the masses were enjoying the day! 

     We had lunch down in Time's Square at a place called " The Brooklyn Diner".  First look inside, it appeared to just be a little coffee shop but after being seated and looking around, it was a true old diner that was probably there back in the day and the rest of the buildings went up around it.  The food was delicious !!!

     After eating we had some time to wander so we went up by Radio City Music Hall and found "Magnolia Bakery" .  We watched people going in and out and everyone coming out with small shopping bags with baked goods so thinking cupcakes for the family for later on sounded like a good idea so in we went.    The girls inside were quick to help me load up, pay for my goodies and then out we went...

     Yes, I carried them around while we did some sightseeing and enjoying the weather and then off we went to see our show.

    I LOVE the old buildings near and around the theaters and could spend all day looking at them....and wishing I could get inside some of the brownstones and peek around.  I'm sure they're gorgeous!

     "Beautiful" did NOT disappoint.  To sit back and listen to all of the music that Carole King created for others was surprising to say the least.  She wrote music for so many singers and groups that were number one hits way before she herself became popular!!!  To hear about the struggles as a newlywed at 17 and pregnant, her husband's mental illness and just all the issues with life gives a whole new perspective on her past.

     I spoke to a former co-worker last night who was also in the city seeing "Rocky", and she was asking how I liked the show....and would I see it again?   The answer is ABSOLUTELY!  I'm actually going to meet up with her later in the week for lunch and we may just discuss doing just that!!!  
     We have tickets for April that our son gave us for Christmas to see "Aladdin".  I'm anxious to see how that is.......   Do you have a favorite Broadway show?   I have a few and for different reasons....but that's a post for another day.

     Hope you New Jersey people are enjoying our 55 degree sunny day out there!!!

                                                      Peggy

"Still Swooning"

     I've been doing one block a month of these "Swoon" blocks for the last 5 months and as I do them they get easier and easier and I love the next one more than the one before.

     Unless you've been living under a rock, you should recognize this block as one of Camille Roskelly's "Swoon" blocks and the fabric I'm using for mine is also her "Marmalade" line.

I've been thinking all day that I should just make up the last four this week and get it finished off so I can start something else....  

Here's a picture of all 5 of my blocks up on my design wall.....

I'm always surprised at the actual size of the block after it's all sewn together.....it's 24.5 X 24.5.  

No wonder you only need 9 for an 80 X 80 quilt!!!

This will be my 2nd full size quilt by Camille this year.  I recently did Round & Round and just got it back from my quilter on Friday so once I get the binding on it, I'll post a picture of that quilt.

Simply Small Sewing

      When life hands you 2 "candy packs" and 1 yard of "Daydream" fabric by Kate Spain you know it's going to end up being cute!

     The colors in this fabric are just so vibrant and pretty!  

     So, as is my usual routine, I'm checking blogs over tea and I read Sherri McConnell's "A Quilting Life   and she's doing a "Simply Small Sew Along" with a monthly parade of different patterns.  I didn't notice it last month but this month the pattern, written by her and available on Craftsy caught my eye big time!    And, coincidentally, Sherri used the same fabric I had out and looking to use!

It's not a hard pattern but I have to admit.....1-1/2 inch squares for the corners of all the prints were trying on my patience!  1-1/2 inch is just too small for me to work with!  Anyhow, I assembled it in 1 afternoon, did a simple wavy quilting on it (which is a favorite of mine right now on small projects) and got the binding on in about an hour while watching NCIS last night.

 

Here's a picture of the lithe wavy quilting I did before I put the binding on.   

If you're interested, it's not too late to go over to Sherri's blog and you too can make your own topper and join Sherri's parade at the end of the month.

Peggy

President's Weekend

Although feeling a little like I had a few too many irons in the fire,  I kept moving 9 pinwheel blocks from one spot in my room to another.  One morning I had 8 and drove myself crazy looking for #9....only to find it under the cutting table.    Saturday afternoon I decided it was time to either do something with them or just bag em up and put them back in the UFO bin....but since the thoughts of adding another bag to the bin, I decided to just set aside my project, connect the blocks and get it done.
So, that's exactly what I did.

Here's a short tale of where these blocks came from....  Almost a year ago I took a 2 day workshop with the designer Pat Speth.  Day one was a project that I really liked and worked hard on getting that quilt done even after the workshop was over.  Day 2 however was a little different.  Even though my patriotic color way was what I wanted to work on, making the project just didn't appeal to me.  I made 1 full block and 9 of the center pinwheels.  Then it was time to clean up and take the almost 3 hour drive home....  I NEVER once pulled the project back out until this month when I needed red white and blue fabrics for another project.     So, here's the topper on my kitchen table last night in front of one of my favorite wall quilts.    This morning I took another picture of it on my counter with my favorite candle holder!!!                          I've got quite a repertoire of patriotic going on this "President's Weekend".   I never think I have a lot until I start looking around and I see "Uncle Sam" quilts and all the red white & blue stars!!!      I'm thinking I'll take that one lone star block and make a candle mat or something with it  :)

       Happy President's Weekend Everyone!!!!