Applique Tuesday

I used 2.6 yards last week making a baby quilt, a large hexagon, and this lady on my design wall:

She is going into a special quilt.  So my totals now for de-stashing YTD is 29.39 yds out. 

As far as applique, I'm picking out fabric for that Anna's Garden block. I'm also turning under with starch the seams on a Benjamin Briggs block.

Have a lot of edges to turn under.

That's it for this Tuesday.  What are you up to?  Any applique? Leave me a comment and I'll stop by, applique or not.  I'm linking to Judy's Design Wall Monday and Lyn's BOMs Away.  I've been trying to do Lyn's method of working on a BOM each Sunday, but it isn't happening - something always comes up.

Slow Sunday Stitching

The WIPs Be Gone linky party is still open till Monday, midnight. Show us a WIP. You'll find it in the previous post.

It's been a very busy weekend. Friday doctor appts; Saturday, a luncheon after an Annointing of the Sick mass:

We fed about 64 and were at it from 8 AM set up thru 2 PM clean-up. I went home and went to bed for 2 hours.

This morning it was a Ministry Fair:

This was after the 7 AM mass which we attend till 1 PM.  We showed some of our completed quilts and talked to interested attendees. Five actually signed our interest list.  This time I wasn't so tired. Went home and had lunch and sat down to do some slow Sunday Stitching. How soothing.

 Finally made some fabric choices for the second round of the 1st rosette. I don't know if this is going to work as I am color challenged.  I'm trying to continue with the orange of the first round. As I add more hexies to this, maybe it will talk to me.

 I've started hand quilting the sashes.

And I'm adding an edge to a rectangle of fleece for a baby quilt.  Just working with what they've given us.

Hope you've had time to slow stitch.  I'm linking to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.  Check out what others are stitching. Bye for now.

WIPs Be Gone Week 12

Week 12?!  Where is the time going?  I've realized that I'm getting confused at to which WIP is what number. So I'm going to construct a list so that I don't forget to work on one that I've said I would be working on.  If a WIP is done, you'll find it posted under the WIPs Be Gone tab.

1. Just take 2 BOM blocks and  Guild 2014 BOM blocks  - both combined to make "Two BOMs in One." DONE!

2.  Happy Scrappy Orphan Block Quilt Along.  DONE!


3.  Hexie Flower Quilt - long term project - happy to get a flower done now and then.




4.  Crane Block Pillow:  DONE!

5.  Jubilee Album Blocks - machine appliqued one; needle turned another - two more to go.

6.  Old Mother Dear Jane Hubbard wall hanging - still mulling over how to make the border.

7.  Hah!  there is no 7,

7. so the Bird of Paradise is here instead of being #8.

Glad I got that straightened out -LOL.

Progress this week?  All I can count is trying to figure out what to do about the Dear Jane blocks, and got nowhere. I did finish two charity quilts and designed another one for the Guild. Some progress there, but not on a WIP - darn.  I'll try to do better next week.

How are you doing on your wips?Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't have to be a new post, just one that shows a WIP.  Ends Monday, midnight.  Since I finished one item,  I'm linking to Richard's Link a Finish and Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?  Lots of eye candy there. 

An InLinkz Link-up

Some of This, Some of That

I made another B³quilt and used 2.5 yards. Donated another 3yds to guild so my numbers have grown a tad. YTD is now 26.79 yds out.  Slowly de-stashing.  Here's the quilt:

Nothing on my design wall as I was busy adapting  a Dewey's Dream block to a 30" preemie quilt for our local NICU.  You can get the pattern off my right sidebar after tomorrow.

A community member brought two quilts to give to the guild as she was downsizing. The first one was a blue and white churn dash made by a pioneer of a nearby town way back in the 1880s(?).  I suggested she  contact the museum in that town.  She did and they are thrilled that she is giving it to them.

The second quilt was a fundraiser for the Calvary Church in Rochester, NY in 1903.  Here's a block from it:

I asked Barbara Brackman, the quilt historian, for the name of this block, and she'd never seen one like it.  Thinks it might be a variation of the Maltese Cross.  I did some Google image searches and the closest I came to it was a Firefighter's emblem back east, so maybe the lady who designed the quilt had a fireman in her household. ??  I'm going to contact the historical society in Rochester and see if they want it.

Off to work on another charity quilt and a WIP - I'm going to have to make a list.  I'm getting confused as which WIP is what #.

LOL - blessings to you all and happy quilting.

Slow Sunday Stitching

My oldest WIP.  Come September it will be 28 years old. Slowly hand quilting....

WIPs Be Gone Week 11

What a week!  But then my second weeks of each month are jam packed.  What have I been up to?

 Finished a charity quilt for St. Anne's. Made with scraps and flannel back brought to the front.

Am quilting another charity quilt. Doing bears in the squares using freezer paper.

Doing some top stitching in the half square triangles.

Picked WIP #8 to work on.  I think I'll make another pillow from this one, too.  ??

Started sewing down the applique on these prepped blocks of WIP#5.  I first ironed on fusible interfacing on the back to make it easier to sew.  More on this project later.

How are you doing on your wips?Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't have to be a new post, just one that shows a WIP.  Ends Monday, midnight.  Since I finished one item,  I'm linking to Richard's Link a Finish and Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?  Lots of eye candy there.

An InLinkz Link-up

Applique Tuesday

I've started another Anna's Garden block -  # 7 and is my WIP #6.  Another long term project.

I make two photocopies of the original. With the first one I cut out the whole design leaving an outline of the applique block intact.   This outline is used to position my pieces once they are prepped. That way I don't need a light table, nor vynyl overlay, nor any drawing on my background. The second copy is to cut any parts that overlay each other and need to be cut separately to have a complete pattern for my template.  I learned this method from Zena Thorpe in a workshop.

Slow Stitching Sunday

WIPs Be Gone Week 10

My crane block is now a pillow!  I finally just cut the flange on that cording to the right size and basted it around the block.

 The basting 1/4 "around the block beforehand came in handy to be sure to baste the cording just where it had to go. Then I sewed it with a zipper foot.

Made an envelope back to finish it.  Then I stuffed it with the pillow form which proved to be overstuffed.

I didn't like it that way. Fortunately this pillow form had a zipper and I took out some stuffing.

 Looks like a lot more than it is.  I was going to give this pillow to a friend, but my DH promptly claimed it for his reading chair.

Another WIP has reached the finish line!  Here's the one that will replace it.

I call this my Old Mother Dear Jane Hubbard.  Not sure about the setting of having all the 4 1/2" blocks around it. Maybe only on two sides. Still mulling it over. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  I will replace that blue one in top row - just doesn't seem to fit in.  So that means I'll have to make 2 more DJ blocks.

Lastly, here is my finished snack mat I made for a swap.  Another case of spontaneous construction - LOL.  Complete and ready for exchange after March 25th.  

How are you doing on your wips?Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't have to be a new post, just one that shows a WIP.  Ends Monday, midnight.  Since I finished two items I'm linking to Richard's Link a Finish and Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?  Lots of eye candy there.

An InLinkz Link-up

Good till March 21st

Jo-Ann's is having a 50% off on their entire stock of papercrafting supplies and tools and that includes:

This is a Fiskar hexagon punch. The sides measure 1" and work great for making English Paper Piecing pieces for making hexie quilts.  I got mine for $8.  Now I have the 3/4" one and this one above.  Woohoo!

Applique Tuesday & Spontaneous Construction

Hey, I got some applique done!  This is the Feb block for the Quilt Doodle Designs BOM for 2015. I'm not doing the BOM because of my WIPs, but thought it would be just right for a swap I'm in. It's not fused yet and I can see I'll have to straighten the unit to get the napkin to lay in a straight line.

Now, you've heard of spontaneous combustion, right?  Last Sunday, Feb 22, spontaneous construction happened at my house.  I was looking at a baby quilt I'd designed and it came to me that if I added a few more rows I'd have a cross. It was like a voice just said to me "make that quilt" and before I knew it the top was made. All week I was directed what to do next.  Those guardian angels solved every problem I came up with to not continue on it. It was amazing. Saturday, I was able to take it to a church dinner to give to our Bishop who was visiting.

Here's a close up of the border.  I was going to just meander, but right away I started to outline the flowers instead.

Here's the back after I had finished the quilting. Love my Juki!

I told the Bishop that the Holy Spirit set me to doing this.  It just came out of nowhere - all from stash, had just bought the thread and I didn't know why, and found the panel square the day before. He loved it!

WIPs Be Gone Week 9

A commission quilt - I know, I know - I wasn't suppose to do another for a while, but it just came up and fell into place.  This one is for the Bishop of our Diocese who is coming for the Episcopal visit to our church which happens every six years.

On my design wall momentarily:

Had a brainstorm Sunday. I  realized I could use the first baby quilt pattern I designed, add a couple of rows and I'd have my cross.  The pre-printed square was a Robert Kaufman that I've had for a while.

I tried a lot of pieces from my stash and then realized that I needed a spacer - a lot worked then.  But the one I chose had the same gold, blue, and light rust from the center of the panel so I went with that.

A close up of the top part of the cross.  I used the freezer paper trick again.  The letters look a lot bigger than they are (about 3/4" tall).  This quilt will measure 36 by 46 - lap quilt size.  I'm about 3/4's done with quilting the center.

 I think I started this quilt rather than deal with the piping - LOL.  And I searched all over to find the assembly instructions for the other wip.  I found them!

How are you doing on your wips?Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't have to be a new post, just one that shows a WIP.  Ends Monday, midnight. Since I' m quilting I'm linking to Lizzie's Free Motion Mavericks and since I finished the top to Richard's Link a Finish and Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop?  This is going to be done by Saturday for sure.  Lots of eye candy there.

An InLinkz Link-up

Some of This, Some of That

I made another B³ quilt  - I have to keep one month ahead of my guild members. That used up 1.5 yards. Then I made 6 blocks for a friend - that used up 1/3 yard. Then I donated 4 yards to next month's Corner Pay N Take at my guild for a grand total of 5.83 yards out of my stash. That brings my total YTD to 21.29 yards out.  Not bad for the end of Week 8.

For wip progress, I quilted my crane block:

Do you see the stitching at the outer 1/4" of the border.  I'm having the dickens of a time trying to decide how to add the piping as the piping I chose has a large edge to it and I can't place it right. I'm thinking of hand basting it in place using the line of stitching to guide me. Any suggestions??

Not sure you can see the quilting.  I top stitched the trees, around the inside of the cranes and the lines denoting the ground.

Here are the blocks I made and are now on my Design Wall:









I'm linking at Judy's Patchwork Times,  Esther's WOW,  and Lyn's BOMs Away.  Go check them out.

WIPs Be Gone Week 8

It is finished!  My Two Boms In One, that's what I'm calling it, is quilted and bound.  It's not the best photo - both DH and I were too busy and forgot to take one when the light was best. My using motifs from the fabric worked great for some ghost quilting, and filling in some of the white space.


I chose to do a facing instead of binding as I wanted as much of the final border to show. I would have preferred a 2" border, but I just didn't have enough to swing it. Any way I learned a new way to do a binding around a quilt.  Used mostly in art quilts, I'm happy with it as this quilt will be a wall hanging. One WIP totally done for 2015!

If you're wondering why I call it two boms in one, it's because I started the Just Take 2 BOM in 2011, but knew after just a few months I was not going to finish it.  Too much life in the way.  Then our Guild had a sampler BOM in 2014, and I continued making BOM blocks with the same background hoping they would mesh.  They did!

And for another finish - I finished another B3 Quilt. I'm designing a 30" quilt from one block for our Neonatal Community Service each month.  The pattern is free for personal use only.  You can find it on the right sidebar.

I decided to quilt a big B in the center block.  

How are you doing on your wips?  Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't have to be a new post, just one that shows your WIP.  Ends Monday, midnight. Since I finished a flower I'm linking to Amanda's Finish it Friday, Lizzie's Free Motion Mavericks and Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop? Lots of eye candy there.

An InLinkz Link-up

We have a Winner

Random Generator picked a winner!  I had to go to all the posts where I mentioned the giveaway and tally up how many entrants I had and then give them a number. Then to RG for a pick.  And my winner is Barbara Woods of Wont-to-bequilter . Congratulations, Barbara! I have sent you an email. Please send me your snail mail and I'll get the book out to you.

Thank you to all who entered my giveaway.  I tried to go to all the blogs represented by your entries.  It was fun and I saw some wonderful eye candy.  I plan on next year remembering to sign up for GYB early enough to be included in the official roster. Vicki did a wonderful job of helping bloggers grow their blog and meet each other in Net Land.
Vicki will have the link up all year, so there's plenty of time to meet new bloggers and share your blog with them.

WIPs Be Gone Week 7

Can you believe that? Week 7 of 2015! I can't.  I'm happy to report some progress was made - well at least a little bit on 3 wips.

Another flower for Wip #3. I wish I'd had more of the green to fussy cut those hexagons around the bunny(they're more green than they look).  It seemed appropriate to make him the center with those hearts around him.  Happy Valentine's Day, Saturday.

My cranes (wip #4) got another border around them. This block is now ready for some batting and quilting and then piping and the back.

Every day I try to quilt some on WTBQ #1.  The first two photos show the back with the fabric motifs and the ghost quilting from the front on the second two.  I'm also putting a flower in each of the centers of some of the 6" blocks.  Now to do the first border.  It will have quite a bit more ghost quiting to fill in the white spaces.  Please give me tips on how to take a photo showing the quilting on the back. As you can see from the one's I've posted - I hardly have a clue.

Lastly, and this isn't about quilting - lol - I've rediscovered frozen vegetables.  No more boiling for me! I saute onions, peppers, garlic, waterchestnuts - or whatever combo/accent I want to add to the frozen veggies  in a bit of oil or butter.  Then I add them to the pan and saute for about seven minutes on low.  They taste so good!  Below I tried corn, green peppers and onions.  It was a hit.  I tried chopped collard greens and waterchestnuts - another hit (I put a 1/2 tsp of sugar to counteract the slight bitter taste of these greens).  Then there is mixed vegetables with a bit of garlic and cilantro. Give it a try. Tell me of any other combos you come up with.

How are you doing on your wips?  Would love to see - doesn't have to be a finish, but we'll admire those, too.  Linky below - remember it doesn't have to be a new post, just one that shows your WIP.  Ends Monday, midnight. Since I finished a flower I'm linking to Amanda's Finish it Friday, Lizzie's Free Motion Mavericks and Sarah's Can I get a Whoop, Whoop? Lots of eye candy there.

An InLinkz Link-up