A Quilt-Along~

Judy is doing a quilt along that is just the kick in the seat I need! :-) DS has been 'reminding' me that he needs a new quilt. The last one I made him has forest animals on it~ and he has way outgrown that! (according to him) :-) So when I showed him Judy's Bears in the Farmhouse, he said no~ too 'yellow'. LOL His favorite color has always been green, he was swayed by blue for a few years, but eventually green is still #1 for him. I shopped my stash and then found the stripe and light green fabrics while out this weekend. He likes it. He thinks the oranges have 'too many flowers' in them, but I assured him they'd be cut up. LOL He is a funny kid! After I took the photo of my fabrics, I found a light tan for background in my stash too, so now I am all set. :-) Today I'll get the fabrics all washed and ready. :-)

This is his other quilt. It was a Debbie Caffrey mystery a few years ago in Traditional Quiltworks magazine. The animals are in the border and on the back. I still like this quilt. :-) Do you see the theme in his color preferences? :-)

Ok, I'm off to sew~

Happy Stichin' to you too!

Catching Up~

I've been sewing! I'm doing a BOM with my friends on the HGTV message board and after a few 'false starts' :-) I've finally picked the fabrics I want to use and made my first 3 blocks. :-) I am going to have a Christmas quilt for my bed! Whoohoo! :-) Of course, it is an all year BOM, so the quilt construction part won't happen until next year... I sure hope I have enough fabrics! :-) I have put them in their own box, so I won't inadvertently use any for anything else. ;-) LOL Have you ever done that? It seems to be a common occurence around here. :-/

The other photo is a 'play piece'. :-) I know, I should be working on my swaps, but it was an irresistable challenge! :-) I was talking with a friend about the 'tucks' quilts that Caryl Bryer Fallert made. Check her gallery. (She also had an article in Fons & Porter's magazine in the fall of 06 called High Tech Tucks.) Her directions started with a large bright-colored dyed background piece and we were wondering about using an actual scene for the background. As we were talking about how to do it, she finally said, 'well, when you figure it out, let me know'. :-)) A Challenge!! :-)) She was just kidding, but I couldn't get it out of my head. I had the pillow panel in my stashy, so I tried it~ :-) I know DD will want to take it back to school with her... or she'll want me to try it with a dolphin fabric! LOL :-)

Ok, now I'll get back on track and get my swap blocks finished up! ;-)

Have a happy weekend and until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Free BOM's on the Web~

Here it is the middle of February and I'm deciding which BOM's on the web I'd like to do~ well, honestly~ I'd like to do all of them! :-) But since that isn't possible, I chose the Veranda Views from Willowberry Designs and A Tisket A Tasket from Anne at Bunny Hill Designs. I am still learning blogger, so please forgive me if my photo's in the sidebar don't take you where they should! :-/ (if I did it wrong, please tell me and I'll try again!) ;-)

I chose these two because it is about time I learn to hand applique*! There are so many great patterns out there, and I've always avoided them. ;-) Although my first attempt isn't the greatest, I did learn a lot~ so hopefully February's block will be better. And if at the end of the year, I decide I can't live with January's block... well, I can always make another! ;-) And I chose the Verandah Views because I do like to embroider and it will give me a chance to do more than my go-to stitch, the stem stitch. :-)

*Ok, about that hand applique~ I did it once before. A long time ago when I was young and had no clue what I was doing. I made this quilt for my oldest DS when he graduated from the crib to a twin bed. I painstakingly stitched each block. ~I am a lefty and a needle felt very awkward in my hand!~ Then once I had the top together, I thought 'what if they rip out when he is jumping on the bed?' So I went back and sewed with my sewing machine around each applique close to the edge! :-o Wrestling that whole quilt top to do it! :-o I know! I made twice the work for myself! And the fabrics were not 100% cotton, or even very good quality. Well, it didn't rip out! :-)) lol My Mom took pity on me, and she and her friends hand quilted it for my DS. :-)) After that, I thought 'I will never do hand applique again!' Well, you know what they say~ never say never!! :-))

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

Last of the Fruit Ladies~

The third and final fruit ladies table topper~ aren't you happy?? lol :-) I had one FQ and there is not even a smidgen left! I designed this one in my EQ program. I doubt very much that there is another like it. lol ;-) I ran out of green and just have a bit of orange left~ I have no idea what I will bind them with. Next week I'll quilt them up and then I guess I'll figure out that part. :-)

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'! :-)

More Fruit Ladies...

Just having a lazy, rainy day here~ got another table topper out of my fruit ladies FQ. :-) I have never seen a pattern like this, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist somewhere. I just played with my scraps~~ It's amazing what one FQ can do!! lol I guess next week I'll be quilting! :-)

Have a great weekend~

and Happy Stitchin'!

Think summer???

Remember the fruit ladies FQ I received in November? My Mom challenged me to come up with something using it~ so how about a tablerunner? My plan for it changed a few times and now I have 'Lifesavers'! LOL :-) This should definitely scare away the winter blues! :-) Don't the colors make you think of the candy? :-) I drew the pattern on paper~ at first I was going to continue the border in the corners, but ran out of the red, so plan 'B' was a different red and triangle corners. They are a bit oversized, but better to be too big than too small. ;-) Would you like to wake up to this on your kitchen table? :-) ~better have sunglasses handy! :-))

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!

I'm ba-a-ack!

Thank you for your good thoughts!~ I am finally getting over my cold and feeling like sewing again! Yay!! :-)

Have I told you about my next hgtv block swap? We are going to do 9-patch blocks with florals that have dark backgrounds. ~Last year we did them with light backgrounds and although my top isn't together, it is getting there! ;-) Aren't these florals scrumptious with the jewel tones and yellow or gold centers? And look what happens when they are cut into segments and rearranged!~ I'm thinking about putting a small black border between them,.. maybe... I have a lot of time to plot and plan as the blocks aren't due until May Day. :-) Want to join us? ;-)

So my sewing machine missed me~ and now we have some blocks to make. :-) You know where I'll be!~

Until next time~

Happy Stitchin'!!