Speedbumps

Last week it was broken rotary cutters -this week it is a missing purse pattern. The ideas are buzzing around my brain - but I've not been able to fully realize them due to all these little "speedbumps". Hubby replaced my rotary cutters - and I 'think' I know another place to look to find my pattern so now that the weekend gardening and home improvement projects are winding down for the day, hopefully I can get back up to full speed in the studio.

Until then I will leave you with photos from the quilt show Shellie and I went to this weekend.  Shellie had 2 entries -and our friend Glynis had a few as well.  A few more were just inspiring.  It was a tiny show -only about 100 quilts -but it's right down the road from home and in the same location as our farmer's market, so it was a nice afternoon out (followed by car shopping - more on that to follow later this week)

Shellie and her wall hanging.

Glynis' dragonfly sashiko - love this!

Inspiration - churn dash with a ribbon weave secondary pattern.

Shellie's Monkey Wrench quilt entry.

Some pink pinwheel inspiration

Owls

Not sure what this pattern is - but it is a lovely quilt.

 

The Ribboniest Quilt

Ever have a quilt pattern you just fall in love with???  For me that was Pat Speth's Sunny Lanes.  From the first time I saw pictures of it on Jill's blog, to when she won a ribbon for it in a quilt show, I knew someday, somehow, I HAD to make this pattern.  When I visited Jill last spring, I made sure that her version, "Lovers Lane" was on MY air mattress for the weekend!  It was even better in person than in the pictures.

I made my version - "Return to Wonderland" early last year in a quilt-along with Shellie.  I was working through my stash of Moda Wonderland fabric (this was the 2nd of 3 quilts from it) and just love how it came together.  Then I sent it off to Jill to be quilted.

I loved loved loved how it turned out - and it has been at the foot of my bed - or on it- ever since.

When I joined the Caledonia Quilt Guild this spring and heard we were having a quilt show in July - I knew this quilt would be one of my entries.

The show was today.
The quilt was popular!!

The quilt was recognized with THREE Vendor's Choice ribbons, and another Runner Up ribbon in the Viewers Choice ballots (I think Runner Up to the Best of Show, but not 100% positive on the placing).

I also had another Vendor's Choice ribbon on the Munchkin's quilt, also quilted by Jill.  I also entered the crab quilt that Lazy Sister Sue and I made for Mom, that is currently in my custody (we share - Sue had it since July and I took it home when we visited in April).  No ribbons for the crabs -but lots of compliments.

These were my first ever quilt show entries -and it was such a positive response, from my friends, family, peers, and the quilt loving public.  Feels great.. but the best part was the big smile on the Munchkin's face when he saw the ribbon on HIS quilt (though he thinks we should be winning chocolate ice cream sandwiches instead of ribbons!).

A great day!  And all because of Jill and her Lover's Lane!!!

 

Birthday Party #2 - School Celebrations

I was a bad mommy - I don't have pictures of the Munchkin's birthday party at school. It did cap off an eventful week - he had Valentine's Day on Monday, 100's Day on Tuesday, a play in the snow day on Wednesday, and Birthday Treat on Friday.

I took a half day off of work, and brought in a cookie cake from our local Wegmans. It was a beautiful balmy sunny day - and was also MY birthday! After snack time was over, I excused myself, picked up Shellie, and proceeded to hit THREE quilt shops, plus lunch! We even shared some cookie cake with the gals at Mt. Pleasant -they are so nice there! Love that store!

So I guess what I am really saying is that Birthday Party #2 was a bit for the Munchkin and a bit for me?! :-)

And this was one of my presents:

I also got an awesome pouch from Shellie - but it is upstairs (3rd floor) and I am downstairs (1st floor) and I am being too lazy to walk up and take a photo. I will have to post a picture of it another time.

I guess I AM feeling my age! :-)

And to think we almost did not go...

So here was the conversation (super duper condensed version) from about 2 weeks ago.

ME: Shellie - there's a quilt show in North Chili in a few weeks... want to go?
S: Sure - that would be fun.

A few days later...

ME: Shellie - Mt. Pleasant is having their anniversary sale the same day as the quilt show, want to go?
S: Sure - that would be fun!

A few days ago...

ME: Shellie, you've not been to Material Rewards yet, have you? Why don't we drive all the way there (about an hour from here) and then work our way back, hit Mt. Pleasant and then the quilt show. We could even grab breakfast at the diner.
S: That sounds doable!

During the midst of my Thursday/Friday work chaos - the texts flew...

S: Do we want to deal with the crowds at Mt. Pleasant?
ME: Do we want to drive all the way down to Material Rewards?
S: Should we just go to the quilt show?
ME: Do we want to leave early and get to the shops before they open?
S: Or we could take our time and let the early birds clear out. Will that work?
ME: I dunno...
S: I dunno either...

So we finally decided to grab breakfast here in town, head to Material Rewards and see what happened.

The day dawned bright and clear, the breakfast was yummy, and we were energized...

ME (walking back out to the car): Can we stop at that shop in Caledonia - the one I've never been to before?
S: You mean Chestnut Bay? Sure!!! :-)

Chestnut Bay (which I LOVELOVELOVE!!!) to Mt. Pleasant (awesome sale!!!) to Material Rewards (huge selection) to a quick run through McDonald's and back to the quilt show. 100 miles on Shellie's car (thanks for driving, Shell...) ultimately for a quilt show that was no more than 5 miles from home!!!

What a great day!!!

Pictures to follow soon.

ME: Good night everyone!

Return to Wonderland

I have been completing lots of flimsies this year -some I can share and some I can't ('cause they are surprises for other people) - but since Return to Wonderland is one for me, I will share it.

This is a quilt along I did with Shellie using Pat Speth's Sunny Lanes pattern and more of the Moda Wonderland - or what I had not already used in Jill's quilt Sibling Revelry. Shellie did hers in more vintage fabrics, while I went bright and bold. I love them both!

The backing on this will be a fun pink on pink that I found at an awesome "yard sale" - pun intended!!! Shellie and I had great fun - making multiple trips from that sale to the ATM and back to the sale!!!

So once the summer heat subsides a bit, and I can reclaim a bit of the living room floor for doing some sandwiching, I hope to turn some of these flimsies into finished projects!



PS - these were some of the fabrics from the big sale. Most of these got shipped off to Jill, but the two on the far left I kept. The pink -and some awesome soft green - were purchased on a return trip and I have not taken photos of those yet. The gold will be the back of Just Me and My SIS.

More Show and Tell

Cold chilly weather and a night out sewing with Shellie has made for a productive week around the "hive". She and I are making good progress on our Sunny Lanes quilts, and as of tonight I have 6 of my 20 blocks completed. (Shellie - you'll be "happy" to know I discovered a bit of twisting and turning and had to do some unsewing myself). Every day I work on this quilt gives me a greater appreciation for Jill's accomplishment in winning a ribbon with this at a quilt show! There is a lot going on with the "contemporary fabric choice" - even though the blocks are relatively straightforward - and lots of points to keep straight! I don't know that I will enter this one in a quilt show - but I am loving it already!

Before I got to work on that, however, I was lucky to be asked to help test out a new pattern for Lazy Girl Designs. Joan's newest bag, Margo, will make her debut sometime in the next few weeks. I loved working on this bag - although it seems like I am doing EVERYTHING with Moda Wonderland! The Sunny Lanes, Margo, and Jill's Sibling Revelry were all made with this fabric line.

Margo is an AWESOME pattern - she's sleek, swingy, has great outer pockets and a super easy dip-down zipper installation that is awesomely non-daunting!!!

Joan has outdone herself once again! I love how this bag is great for big bold prints - and those pockets are great for the phone, keys and sunglasses while the zipper gives you that security for wallet and other "necessities".

She (Margo) will be available soon ... I will keep you posted!

And since I just can't seem to work on only ONE thing at a time - I have also been plugging away at my hexagon quilt. I figured out that the curtains on my "hive" window make a good makeshift design wall - although I need to watch how many pins go all the way through into the curtains as I nearly took them down with me as I removed the quilt for the next step.

This one is an experiment based on someone else's idea. I am adding some flowers - but not as many as the directions called for. I am adding some words - but not the same ones the directions called for. I trimmed it - but not the same way as was shown. I added more borders. It is bigger.

I have most of the circles and all of the flower petals cut. I need to get a couple spools of thread for the zig zag applique I plan to do, and then I can cruise on to that step of the project. I am still toying with exactly how I want to do the words.

And I will leave you with a picture of exactly WHY I need so many quilts around my house!

Underneath all that quilty-tenty goodness is a little boy with a flashlight telling me to put more quilts on to make it "really really dark" - plus he wants one inside to curl up with!

How could this mommy disappoint her Munchkin!?!

Dribs and Drabs

Lately I think I have QDD - quilters distraction disorder - as it seems I have quite a few projects in various stages - including one that was started late late late Saturday evening and is now in the middle stages of assembly.

Here's a few pics of what's on and off my work table:

Pat Speth's "Sunny Lanes" - working on this one with Shellie.

This one is from the Moda Bake Shop - using the Moda Love U layer cake instead - and it is getting the "turtle treatment" - stay tuned!

This WAS Lisa Boyer's Baby Honu pattern... but it isn't anymore! It's become more of my own 'art quilt' of sorts, with more embellishments coming. Again - stay tuned!

And this one is bits and pieces of "confetti" - or at least that is what the pattern is called - but if you know me you know that the final quilt will have an entirely different name!

There's more - this is just what is in the camera right now.

Quilting Wednesdays

Wednesday has become quilting night with Shellie. We've managed 2 now - not in a row - but still more than one - and we have one planned again for this week. Between the time I get home from work, get changed and grab my stuff and food, we can aim to get in about 3 hours before I need to scoot home and get some sleep before work on Thursday.

But in 3 hours we can get lots done!

Our first week was spent working on our four patches -with some trimming and pressing homework in the interim.

Here's the result (mine on the left - Shellie's on the right):

She has more to do because she is making the full size (30 blocks) while I am making the twin (20 blocks). Each block has 8 four patches in it... so you can do the math!! :-)

After four patch show and tell, we each got to work on our half-square-triangles. We had chosen to draw our diagonal middle lines as "prep-work" before we got there, so once I got my machine set up we just fed them through and chatted and fed and chatted... and before you knew it I had all of mine fed through and cut apart. (Shellie's kids interrupted her a few times - plus she had more to do - so she did not quite finish).

We did get enough done to do a rough layout of a block. Here's mine:

And here is Shellie's:


And this is a good example of why it is sometimes good to lay out your blocks and then take a picture - sometimes the camera "eye" sees things differently and mistakes jump out at you.

Can you see it?? I did not notice it while setting the blocks in place, but as soon as I snapped the shutter I could see it. It also helps me see spots where the colors start forming a secondary pattern - one that perhaps I don't want (like the distinct 9 patch with the red corners).

This week's homework was pressing and trimming all those HST's. I am pressed, and about 1/3 trimmed -with two nights until Wednesday. So what am I doing blogging?!??! :-)

Peanut Butter Pie...and some sewing

I went to Shellie's to sew tonight -and ended up with this... my very own piece of Peanut Butter Pie. DELICIOUS!!!! And what a great birthday surprise -thanks Shellie! :-)

This is by far my favorite pie... and when we went on our shop hop last month we had every intention of stopping for some on the way home. We just ran out of steam (and were too full from awesome chinese food to eat another bite). The last time I managed to have some was on my venture to Ohio for the quilt retreat last April. It's been too long!

We really did sew - after a quick run to McDonald's and a Shamrock Shake (thanks to an old high school buddy putting the idea in my head - had not had one of those in AGES!)... and a slight interruption for a conference call with Jill. we were working on the Sunny Lanes pattern by Pat Speth, which Jill has already made and won a ribbon for at a quilt show!!! I have loved this quilt since I first saw hers on her design wall many many blog posts ago. And then I saw it in person and loved it even more. So when I Shellie suggested we do a quilt together - this was at the very very tip top of my list. Luckily for me she likes the pattern, too.

Shellie and I have each cut the pattern out in our own fabric choices, and are sewing them concurrently. I am using the remainder of the Wonderland fabric I used to make Jill's quilt.

Tonight I believe was the inaugural use of Shellie's sewing room for group sewing. Works nice -we can see each other and chat and each have a nice area for working in. And her little dog Mia (look on the floor in front of the white sewing table) is such a cutie pie - she kept an eye on us and chased away any spiders that were lurking! Good girl!!!

I am a wee bit ahead -mainly because I only had enough of my chosen fabric line to do the twin size, while Shellie has gone all out and aimed for the full size. I am already loving how the Wonderland darks look against the bright white I have chosen for the lights. The darks are scrappy - there is one light (a white on white with little stars -one of my go-to fabrics that I just love in ANY project)

There is more to go on this project -I think we are going to do the four patches on our own this week and finish up this step, then get together again to do the half-square-triangles that make up the other part of each block.

We need to hurry - Shamrock Shake season is limited!!! :-)

Shop Hopping While You Wait...

I am not good at waiting - never have been. When it is time to go somewhere, I tend to be ready to leave early, and get antsy while waiting to leave. I am better once I am there -even if I have to wait there - but I am happiest when there is little to no waiting involved.

Pre-Christmas I try to keep myself busy so I don't go crazy waiting.
Pre-birthday is easier now with "Birth Month"... but still is a long wait from February 1.

So why oh why did I think signing up for a Valentine's Day swap with my friends in TranQuiltIty would be any easier? I am haunting the Post Office as much as The Munchkin, who has suddenly gotten impatient for his February issue of Your Big Backyard.

Luckily for me - some friends stepped into the gap while I waited.

First it was Rhonda with my great "First Place" gifty from her recent giveaway:

And then it was Shellie with my Christmas present (ok - so it has been a while since we have gotten together.. I gave her a ChrisBirVal Gift today -so I guess we are even!)

Good thing she loves turtles as much as I do - and bumblebees - and orange! These are YUMMY fabrics!!! The picture just does not do them justice.

And then - to make waiting even more bearable - Shellie and I decided we were due for a shop hop. I needed to bring Zoe in for her annual checkup, and figured it would be a good time to introduce Shellie the shop next door. And then Shellie wanted to take me to three other quilt shops - one that I had been to about 8 years ago, and 2 others that I had never been to. Add in a wonderful chinese food lunch - and a run through Target - and we had an AWESOME day. We are just far enough north that the big east coast "blizzard" (SnOMG is my favorite tag for that storm) did not affect us - and we were moving into stores quickly enough that the cold temps were not that bad. We got to meet up with a fellow TranQuiltIty member, Maureen, and a 25Weeks member, Linda.

And I found some awesome things:

And one more FQ, which shall remain hidden until further notice because it's purpose is too obvious and I need it to be a surprise. I am not going to try to explain what all these are for - I will just refer back to this post once I have the finished project ready to go - either for me or for some special recipients i had in mind when I saw these fabrics.

One last little thing - I made these fun little pockets while "waiting" - and the tutorial for them is here. Quick, easy, could be no sewing involved depending on your approach - and great little gifties for Valentine's Day - or any special day depending on your fabric of choice.

Enjoy.

Two (actually three) Finishes

Earlier this spring I swapped some scraps with my Lazy Sister Sue, and we planned to do the Bricks and Stepping Stones quilt by Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville. I drove my scraps all the way out to Ohio for the April retreat, and all the way home, not working on the project at all.

This summer I got busy - and yesterday afternoon I tied the final knot and removed the last safety pin, and called it done. Of course it was instantly comandeered by the Munchkin, who turned himself into a quilted ghost, and then used it for a cave and tunnel for his trains as he played on the floor. I got it back after his bedtime, and field tested it on both the sofa and the bed. This one's a keeper!

Note the bees in the border~ and all those ties - in the middle of EVERY four patch. If I had it to do again I would have added an inner border, but I was tight on the bee fabric and it was one I could not get more of so I was not messing around too much by making the center too big. As it is this ended up as a nice large quilt - touches the floor on all sides of the quilted ghosty, and covers my side of the king size bed - and then some.

Concurrently with finishing up this quilt, I have gotten back to work on my Halloween quilt - dubbed "As You Witch" by Jill. I started back in July. Shellie has been after me to finish this one up - and now that things have settled down a bit I figured I could focus on it a bit better, since this is a "make it up as I go along" pattern and I could not remember exactly where I left off last - except that I had purchased fabric during my shop hop in late July to finish it up.

I had a slight change in plans as to how I was going to use the fabrics, and I ended up using the original novelty print in the borders, so you can see it both uncut and turned into kaleidoscope blocks. The dark black/brown with the orange dots will probably be the binding - the more I put it with the blocks, the more the "black" really read as brown and just did not work with the other fabrics, but I think it might work for the binding.

These pictures don't really do justice to how bright these colors are - the orange sashing is a red on orange print, the yellow is pretty vivid, and the lime, purple, blue and other colors in the blocks are also very intense.

I have a traditional Halloween white sheet for the backing - a vintage sheet still in the original packaging that I picked up at an estate sale. It's in the wash to get some of the sizing out of it but then I think it will be great on the back. I plan to quilt around and through the kaleidoscopes stitch-in-the-ditch which should create some "spider web" type areas on the back - and i have some black yo-yo spiders prepped to applique back there to make this double sided.

19 more days until Halloween! I hope to get this done sooner than that so we can at least have some time to enjoy it before the Halloween decorations get put away!

Oh - nearly forgot that I needed to post a finished picture of "On Pinwheels and Kneedles" - the machine quilting turned out great and I was very very happy with this one. So was my MIL.