Amongst the Trees

It's been a stressful week, but today I awoke light-hearted and optimistic and that's the best way to feel, in my humble opinion.  So I worked on my Kay Mackenzie design, "Lollipop Grove" and finished the quilt top.  I added the little AccuQuilt dog and just love him.  I need to get the cat die.  My sun could look better, but it's fine.  I'm going to move on to making blocks for all of the QAL's I've joined.  I hope your Saturday is as nice as mine has been.

God Bless.

Spool Quilt QAL

Coats and Clark is celebrating their 200 Years Anniversary and one of the ways they are doing this is a quilt design of thread spools. http://www.coatsandclark.com/  I love thread spools and have happy memories of a time when I was a kid and used my mother's spools to play with and pretend they were little people.  This was way before Weebles came along.  So far there are four blocks issued for the quilt, and I finally have time to work on them so today I made two of the easy ones.

I also made progress on my landscape quilt and got the sun and the hillside sewn in place, but I need to purchase a different fabric for the stream so I can't go further with it until I do.  There's also the FMQ, Treasure Chest QAL, and I want to join Eric Homemade eZine's Ben Franklin QAL.  The Christmas QAL is in two weeks and I don't have my blocks sewn together yet.  And I'm still working on my QOV. 

Life is good when that sewing machine is humming:)

God Bless.  



My "Playground" Activity

I may never win the lottery but I am very happy when I have a win in blogland.  Recently my joy was to win Kay MacKenzie's new book, Scrap-Applique Playground.  It's a neat book with fun designs.

  Thank you to Kay http://www.allaboutapplique.net/ and to Susan Brubaker Knapp http://wwwbluemoonriver.blogspot.com/ on whose blog I was chosen the winner. 

With my penchant for jumping into projects feet first without fearing how deep the water is, I began making the cover quilt, "Lollipop Grove".  It's my first landscape quilt and is going pretty well.  Kay's designs in this book use patchwork/crazy patches for the appliques.  It's very relaxing, and I love to see my little scraps getting used up.  The lollipop treetops are fun to make.  This is what I've done so far.

I've just placed my patches on the background to see how I'm doing, so this is not the final layout.  Lots more trimming and shaping to come, as well as the sun, birds, and small "gumball flowers" to make.  This is Kay's quilt:

Designers do have the best scraps, don't they:) 

 I hope you are having a wonderful Saturday.

God Bless.





Wonderful Progress Until My BooBoo

I have been sewing the cornerstone strips and the blocks together on my QOV project and had to stop before finishing for a few reasons.  First, that center star needs to be embroidered with some personal information of the giftee. So that middle row is not sewn to the other rows and the star is unsewn to the adjacent blocks.  But I think it looks pretty nice.



Second, this cornerstone has been unsewn and resewn twice and needs to be done again.  Can't do it today because of a little accident.

This is my finger that was cut on a broken mug.  If it doesn't stop bleeding soon I'm off to the ER.

But I'm still a happy person because this quilt top is almost finished.  Believe me, with this top the rest will seem easy. 

God Bless you (and my finger:)



This Little Bird Was Calling To Me

I felt as if I have been working on the same projects for a long time and needed a switch so today I made a mini quilt to hang on my new table stand.  This block is called How Tweet It Is and is designed by Lynette Anderson for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 3.  I began working on it around 10:00 AM and finished about 3:30 PM.  That's not bad considering there is quite a bit of handsewing.  There are little yoyo's and some embroidery.  I used Lynette's templates for the bird and mound, but fortunately I have the flower die for my Sizzix and so they were very easy to cut.  I used Steam a Seam 2 to attached the applique but I also machine stitched around it.

I enjoyed my break.  I'll have to get back to my big projects now.

God Bless You.

June Christmas QAL 2

I've been working on the blocks for a few hours but only have ten made.  And I'm strip sewing as much as I can.  So it's time for a cup of tea and some visiting.

Sue mentioned something about guessing the layout of the quilt once the blocks are made.  You can't be a passive blogger on Sue's watch:)  She's going to keep you busy.   What do you think of this?

or how about this one:

And then there's my favorite:

Be sure to visit Paulette's blog  http://sweetp-paulette.blogspot.com/ .  She has shared a recipe for Nanaimo Bars (no baking) and a how-to for Christmas napkins.  Both are on my to-do list.

God Bless. 

June Christmas QAL 1; Pretty Far

Paulette of Sweet P Quilting and Creations http://sweetp-paulette.blogspot.com  is hosting this month so please visit her blog to join in on the fun.

The mystery of the Festive Mystery has been solved, but not by the investigators.  None of us who played along came up with the right block layout, so Sue http://quilttimes.blogspot.com/ had all of us stumped.  But it was fun playing along.  Congratulations to Donna http://sosewcrafty.blogspot.com/ who won the drawing. 

I wrote in my last post that today I would see "how far off I am" in my guess.  As you can see, I was way off.

Sue's block is on the left, my guess is on the right.

I have Sue's block turned the wrong way but you get the idea.  So I'm off to make 22 more blocks while listening to an audio book and doing a load of laundry.    Hopefully, I'll get outside and cut the grass before it becomes a wildlife kingdom out back. 

See you later.

The Mystery of Festive Mystery

Sue of Quilt Times http://quilttimes.blogspot.com  gave the Christmas QAL participants a challenge:  try and figure out the design of the blocks/quilt.  We have some clues: 
     We know the quilt is 42 X 60 and that the blocks are 9".
     This made me think there are 4 blocks across and 6 blocks down with a 3" border.
     We have our ABCDs.
     We know  it's festive.
    
Since we have 20 C's I thought they would be used between the blocks as a kind of sashing but only across, not down.

That left the As, Bs, and Ds for the blocks and border.

I had to abandon my idea that we were making  pinwheels because I couldn't come up with a 9" block that was pleasing.  Finally I came up with a version of the Friendship Star at I think looks pretty nice.

      This block will leave plenty of patches for a pieced border that I think will look good. 

So that's my guess.  Saturday at Sweet P's http://sweetp-paulette.blogspot.co.uk  I'll find out how far off I am:)  Paulette of Sweet P Quilting and Creations will host the Christmas Quilt Along this month, so join us there.  It's always fun.

The ninth block of the Treasure Chest Quilt is Prickly Pear  http://www.facebook.com/#!/quiltinaday and mine is finished.

This block is really easy to put together and has a great finish. 

Only 3 more blocks and we're done. 

I'm going to be looking for a new qal to join. 

Or else I can finish all of my WIPs that are piled up in my sewing room.

God Bless.

Something Good

In May and June of 2011 I worked on blocks to donate to the Quilt of Valor block challenge hosted by SewCalGal.  I sent in 15 blocks and didn't think I would hear about those blocks again.  But in fact I have heard about some of the blocks that I made and am so happy to be able to share the nice thing that's happened.

Some of my blocks along with blocks made by a quilter in Virginia and a quilter in Florida were made into a Quilt of Valor by a quilter in Wisconsin and presented to a veteran in a ceremony in Chicago honoring veterans of the 442nd RCT.  I received a thank you note from him with a caricature of him holding the quilt.

How nice is this!

The veteran, George Okamoto, also received the Congressional Gold Medal and was written up in his hometown newspaper in Indiana. 

George, thank you for your service to our country and your contribution to my freedom which I enjoy every day. 

Now just between you and me I admit that I am thrilled that some blocks I made have honored a deserving vet.  It's really a nice feeling and I feel very happy about this.  It's terrific to hear back about something I did.

I spent all of yesterday working on the QOV I'm making for my brother and I think I can see a light at the end of this tunnel. 

I tried sewing together 4 of the 6 inch blocks to make a 12 inch block and I like the results. 

I'm going to mix them with the other 12" blocks I have and hopefully it will all go together easily and look good.



Remake

I had to remake the Long Nine Patch block for the Treasure Chest Quilt because the size was off by an inch and one/half. I had posted a comment on the QIAD facebook page to see if anyone else had difficulty with the block directions, and learned a few things in the answers I received. And I confess (but only here on my little blog) that I went from thinking I was a fairly good quilter in the intermediate stage to a downright amateur because I misinterpreted "finished size"  when squaring up.  I'm over it though.  I spent yesterday making blocks for the Quilt of Valor I'm putting together and my confidence is back. 

What did I learn from this experience?  First, there are some very helpful and kind people in the quilting community who can zero in on a problem and help make it right.  This is one reason I would like to join a guild or find a class to join. 

Second, specialty rulers are a pain the dupa!  When directions call for a certain brand of ruler that is for a particular configuration, I have to figure out how to comply with the directions without the ruler since I don't have that many.  Sometimes I'm right and sometimes I'm wrong, like this time.
My QAL and blogging friends Hazel and Lesley brought up the ruler issue recently and it's no doubt that certain of the rulers make quilting easier, especially when it comes to squaring up a patch or a block.  http://hazelsquilts.blogspot.com/2012/05/perseverance-good-news.html
But even though I am physically a 21st century person, my quilting mind goes back to women who made quilts, that now hang in museums, using feedsack cloth and I suppose simple templates.  I have more tools in my sewing room than those women probably ever saw and yet I don't always have what I need. 

I apologize for the venting.  As I said I did learn a few things and that's why I like to join qals.  Fortunately for me learning is enjoyable.  Good thing because I'm always doing it the hard way;-)

Hope your quilting and crafting is going smoothly.  If not, I hope you are enjoying it anyway.

God Bless. 

Long 9 Patch and May FMQ

Block 8 of the Treasure Chest Quilt I am making along with other followers of Eleanor Burns on facebook is the Long 9 Patch block.  http://www.facebook.com/#!/quiltinaday/app_154809041280482 

The FMQ Challenge for May was taught by Leah Day.  We did stippling with lines through it. 

My check list is complete for this month. 

God Bless.

A Nice Win

You may remember this quilt.  I made it during a mystery quilt along at Erik Homemade Coffee Break ezine http://erikhomemade.typepad.com/erik_homemade/ .  This is one of my favorite quilts. 

Recently I learned that I won in a giveaway that Erik held for anyone who participated in that quilt along. How nice is that? What I won is perhaps the most elegant tool I now have in my sewing room. It's a Gingher Seam Ripper.

For a mistake prone person like me it's the perfect gift:)

I'm sure it will come in handy. 

Thank you, Erik Homemade.

I noticed that the Erik Homemade website will be having a block of the month qal beginning next month, so that might go on my to-do list. 

Hope you are all well.

God Bless.

May Christmas QAL - 3

When I saw the angel block Sharon gave to us as a bonus, I had to try it right away.  We all love it, so thanks again, Sharon.

God Bless.

May Christmas QAL 2

 From this

 to this

to this.

All done for this month.  And I got my plants into the ground, so now on to ironing and maybe working on the FMQ challenge. 

Enjoy your weekend.

God Bless.

May Christmas QAL - 1

My ABC's are waiting for the next part, so I'm signing in at Sharon's  lovely place http://vroomansquilts.blogspot.co.uk/ and will get working.  We have a lovely day here so I'll be running out to get some canterbury bells and sunflowers into the ground, but not before I work on Festive Mystery.

Tomorrow is Christimas QAL Saturday

Tomorrow we are gathering at Sharon's blog http://vroomansquilts.blogspot.co.uk/   for the May Christmas Quilt Along.  We will work on the 4th installment of the Festive Mystery Quilt, and I think we will be seeing some real progress with all of our pieces.  Can't wait.  I'm not sure what May for Me is all about but I just visited Sharon's blog and saw her posts about it and it looks very interesting.  I think we'll have fun tomorrow with the Christmas QAL.

Whenever Quiltmaker magazine has their 100 Blocks Blog Tour I participate, at least since Volume 2.  I was lucky this time around and won the Volume 5 issue when I visited Jennifer at Curlicue Creations  http://www.curlicuecreations.com . 

Jennifer also sent me one of her original patterns for picnic coasters  and they are so cute.  Can you see the little ant?

 Also in the package was the magnet of a quilt block.  Really cute.  Thank you, Jennifer.  I love both gifts.

Hope you can make it tomorrow.

God Bless.



I Almost Didn't Make It

April came and went and I completely missed the seventh block in Eleanor Burns' Quilt in a Day  Treasure Chest Quilt.  I thought I was out of the game and posted on the  QIAD  facebook page boohooing about it, and two of their followers commented that I should still go ahead and make the block and enter it even if late.  So I did, and it was accepted.  I sewed in a fury on Tuesday, but it is an easy block to make, and for maybe the first time ever each piece matched up perfectly.  Sometimes Life is just plain good:)

The block is called Greek Cross.  I like that name. 

If you'd like to vote for my block, voting is open until May 10th.

http://www.facebook.com/quiltinaday?sk=app_268607469849125 

So now I have a checklist.  I need to complete three things each month:  

Treasure Chest block

Festive Mystery qal

Free Motion Quilting Challenge

Another list; oh boy.

In my last post I shared the Quilt of Valor pictures I had taken at the MQX East. 

I could not settle on a quilt pattern for my quilt.  I was making a whole variety of stars in 12 inch blocks using patriotic fabric, but I it wasn't what I wanted for this quilt. Then about two weeks ago I received my Quilter's World June magazine and found the one I wanted to make.

So now I have another WIP and that is very satisfying.

Hope everyone is well and happy.

God Bless.