Block 5 JRQA

Woohoo...I sewed a bit this morning. My only finish is block 5 of Jelly Roll Quilt Along.

 I'm happy with that though.

I had a big project to work on.

I'll share tomorrow. I want to see how far I get today.

Here's my first 5 together. Can't wait for #6.

handmade for the holidays.

There has been a strong movement in recent years for handmade gifts for the holidays..or really for any occasion.  I read blogs daily showing all the ways we can be environmentally friendly, restyle old clothing etc. It's amazing what creativity is begat by necessity. 

So what am I leading up to?

I have made it my goal for the last 2 years to make atleast 1 gift for each person in my family for the holidays.  I feel that handmade gifts are really a piece of you. They mean much more than a gift from the store.

So far I have made aprons and potato bags.

This year I want to make tablerunners.

 Seasonal tablerunners that is.

Summer (Fresh), Halloween (Chic or Treat), Christmas (12 days of Christmas), Valentine's Day (L'amour) and possibly more...

Have I bitten off more than I can chew?

Could be.

While I was in SC over spring break I visited 3 quilt shops. 

One of the shops had a special on Fresh by Deb Strain.

I grabbed a honeybun and red yardage.

Initially I wanted to make a version of "skinny Verna". 

Then I had a brain storm.

Why not piece ALL the honeybun strips together and sub cut them into the skinny runner strips?

So that is what I did.

I sewed them all together and sub cut them into 5.5 inch strips. Now I bet you are wondering why this looks like a quilt. Well considering the huge undertaking it will be to make roughly 8 runners in 4 to 5 seasons {40 tablerunners} ...I figured I better have my local machine quilter help me out.

So I cut the red sashing fabric double the width and pieced the strip with the sashing.

This way, my quilter will quilt this as one big quilt and I will again sub cut the quilted tablerunners and just put the binding on. My quilter only has to load the project once, instead of 7 times.

I will show how well my idea turns out once I get this piece back from the quilter.

Now, I could ask what your holiday plans are...

but most of you are still absorbing the fact that I am already started on Christmas.

I have to start Christmas preparation now especially with 40 tablerunners to bind.

Realistically, I hope to get 16 finished.

2 seasons.

I think that's do-able.

Saturday Threads

I'm working on something fresh....

could take me a bit to finish it especially with market coming and a few unexpected projects added in.

I sooo much wish that I could show you more...

Tula Pink-i-ac

Is that a word? Pink--iac?

Well I was "lurking in" on some tweets the other day about certain bloggers that are addicted to Tula Pink fabrics.

There is even a flickr group for projects made with her lines.

So I decided to pull out all my charm packs, jelly rolls, and layer cakes of Tula Pink fabrics.

Full Moon Forest, Nest, Flutterby, Hushabye, Plume and Neptune.

Neptune...a favorite for sure.

Ah Hushabye....I have BIG plans for that fabric...someday.

Of course, Elly goes right for the nearly impossible to find Full Moon Forest fabric.

The kids' got style for sure.

She's a future Moda-maniac...Tula Pink-iac.

Alrighty then, I am off to sew with some beautiful Moda fabric.

Terrible way to spend my day...just terrible ;)

Like a miniature quilt show

Last weekend I went to a retreat with about 22 other quilters. Our ages range from 36 to 78! There was quite a mix of ideas, projects and energy. On Saturday we had a show and tell.

I took pictures of all the projects but realized that 50 pictures might be a bit much so I am showing my favorite projects here.

Diva Kate (as I call her) created these funky pillows from her scraps.  Being a former art teacher she really has a unique was of creating.  She never uses a pattern...ever.

The most interesting thing about these pillows, was how many of us were squeezing the appendages! haha...

Now....these trout are about to become dinner...no I mean a jacket.  Another one of our super artsy quilters was creating jackets for her mother and herself. 

Um it was interesting to watch her process of collaging the fabrics.

Not sure I'd wear trout though....

This quilt was beautiful ...all batiks.

Sorry to say, I don't know what pattern she used.

Another good one from Better Homes and Gardens book that is out of print now.  

The pieced 36 patch centers are what caught my eye. 

They only measure about 3 inches square.

Think about it.

movement.

This is "Jane no blogs" project. "Snowmen are like quilts, some assembly required".

So cute.

beautiful for spring.

We all ooohed and ahhhed over this one. LOVE the scalloped edges.

Disappearing  patches were our retreat quilt of choice.

I am just showing a few here...

It is amazing how the use of different fabrics, different sized borders can really make these quilts POP.

Now you are all wondering where are my finishes?

Well besides the Jelly Roll Quilt Along Block 4, I didn't finish any flimsies.

None.

I sewed miles.  I broke my thread 40 times on Saturday....tried to re-thread, re-bobbin, new needle, clean bobbin case and on and on. Still it was giving me fits.

I ended up packing up late Saturday afternoon and going home.

I took my 'in progress' pieces and pinned them on Sunday as if to sew another round.

Sat down and re-threaded my machine.

Guess what?

It worked. Yep I sewed through everything.

  Now I am ready to pin some more.

So....

Hopefully I will have some quilt tops to show you....very soon.

VOILE

Recently I found some of Anna Maria Horner's Voile at a local quilt shop. I decided to purchase a bit more online. I found the Fabricworm on etsy had the best selection.

I purchased these to make Christmas gift(s).  

I am going to wait to show what I made. The recipients may or may not be blog followers.

In the mean time, I have all these 5" scrap strips. What would you do with them?

Jelly Roll Quilt Along block 4

This is my first finish for my quilt along weekend.  There is food, sewing, wi-fi...and did I mention no kids??

Anyhow, I finished Block 4 and I actually think it is my favorite so far!!!

Quick Post

Last week while in SC on spring break I did meet up with a couple of quilting buddies. We sewed some. I made a tape measure bag out of scraps. I would like make another during the quilt away...we'll see. It was basically all I finished besides the couple of bindings while riding in the car.  We had fun though...lots of fun.

By the way, have you seen this new blog?

Stash Manicure

 It's been a very interesting read for me. I thought I would pass it on to you.

happy quilting :)

Jelly Roll Quilt Along 3

I finally finished block 3 of the jelly roll quilt along. It took me a bit of frogging on this one. I stitched it on a machine in SC but the 1/4 inch seam wasnt a true 1/4 inch.  I finally decided to rip it and start over. Still the fabric stretched a bit but overall I think I can make it work in the quilt.

Here are my first 3 blocks. I am thinking I will have to encorporate that brown again to make this look cohesive.

This weekend I spent time in our flower beds...weeding. In addition to that, I am getting ready for my Quilt Away weekend coming up.  I prepped quite a bit for that. Could be fun!

p.s. thank you for all the wonderful comments on the Chocolate Stars quilt!!

I love to hear your comments.

Chocolate Stars

I tempted you with this

Now I can finally show you this.....

Chocolate Stars

My newest Moda Bakeshop quilt...

inspired by Momo's Freebird fabric and Marti Michell's quilt templates.

I wanted to challenge my skills, stretch my design to the edge and create a beautiful quilt...

Tell me you like it, cause I LOVE it..

Wiggle Flowers

I pieced this quilt over 5 years ago. It was in my to be quilted pile for 4 1/2 years!

It is made from the quilt book

Sweet and Simple Baby Quilts by Mary Hickey.

I finally decided how I wanted to quilt it and I sent it to my local machine quilter to be quilted.

On the way home from spring break I sewed the binding on.

I am thinking it may be saved for a gift for someone special.

Until then I am hanging it over my railing upstairs and taking in its springy beauty.

fly a kite

Today was the last day of spring break. 

We had a long drive and needed to 'rest up' a bit before going back to our routine.

It was an amazing spring day.

It was perfect weather for flying a kite.

 Both girls received kites from the Easter bunny. 

This was the first time that either of them have flown kites.

There's Elly watching her sister's kite...

And Elly gets the hang of it herself!

And Grace fighting the wind a bit.

After quite a long while kite flying we went in for lunch of PB and J sandwiches. 

A perfect lunch ;)

They had so much fun they went back out later before the sun went down.

Now what I didn't show you was the kite getting stuck in the rose bush or the time when they became intertwined and it took 15 minutes to get them untangled.  But it was all so worth it.

Easter baskets done Vickie's way

I made these "baskets" using the tutorial on Pink Penguin's blog.
I used 2.5 inch squares of 1930's scraps that I had to make them bigger...then I had to refigure the lining. First round...I turned it the wrong direction...then I got it right!  I think they did turn out cute for 2 little girls waiting for the Easter bunny to fill them. 
*note*
the purple is for Elly...of course.
Pink for Grace (her fave)
Not much going on here. I met up with 2 great quilting friends and we shopped til we dropped yesterday. I sewed a small amount by hand. Maybe today we will sew?? not sure.

We did stop at a more local quilt store and he was having 30% off. We had fun with that.

I may or may not have bought some Anna Maria Horner Voile, Eden, a bella solid, American Jane, and Tula Pink Hushabye.

At 30% off who could resist??

 

Baby Blue

This little baby boy quilt is my second binding done this trip.

I should get to my sewing machine today.

I am hoping to make the jelly roll quilt along block 3,

a few skinny runners like my skinny Verna runner and a few other projects...

Until tomorrow.....

*note* this quilt is a pattern from the book "Baby Fats". I wish it were my design but it's not :(