Scrap Basket Sunday

It was a last minute kind of thing... I had been trying to catch up on some blog reading and
I started reading a past post from Kim's Big Quilt Adventure.
She's starting a Scrap Basket Club?
I wanted to ignore it... as I had just made a promise to myself not to start something new!


Don't you hate it when you make those kind of promises?
It's one thing to think them but once you say it out loud...
you're kind of committed.
So on my last post I simply meant to do a shout out about
the club... but then I started thinking about a bag of scraps that
I unearthed earlier this month.
And thinking about a friend of mine, there was a quilt that she made that I am in love with
... which I posted about
recently also.
That's when I caved in.
I have this book, Scrappy Fireworks from Edyta Sitar.
I flip through it constantly.
So, yesterday I woke up and decided I was going to join in!
So I grabbed that bag of scraps and started cutting.



Here is my progress.
I made an even dozen of the 4 1/2" blocks.
Recently a quilt shop, In Between stitches, offered this quilt as a
block of the week. They would send out fabric every week, enough to
make 12 blocks. So, I'm kind of going with their plan.
In 10 weeks I will have the 120 blocks needed.
But since I obviously don't stick to the plans I make...
I might get it done faster.
Because there are more quilts in the book I want to make...
all with SCRAPS!

Thanks Kim for letting me join in!

Still Celebrating

I finally got the last of my packages from my giveaway out to

the post office today. I have gotten so far behind!

I am so sorry... I just lost track of everything!

But in the meantime, I received a wonderful book in the mail...

the newest one from Kim Brackett called Scrap Basket Beauties!

(thank. you. Kim!)

 You don't have to turn but a page or two before you start 

saying your ooo's and awwww's! 

Me, I started my ooo's at the cover quilt.

There are lots of wonderful projects in this book.

Great for scraps, leftovers and if you want to 

bust open one of your coveted jelly rolls, you could do that too.

 The big question is... which quilt to make first.

You can see more photos of the quilts here.

I made 3 quilts from Kim's last book, Scrap Basket Sensations...

actually 4 because I made one of them twice.

This is the one I made for Fat Quarter Shop and I made a second one

using Vintage Modern by Thimble Blossoms.

oh, and there was this one too.

So if anyone is joining Kim's Big Quilting Adventure who is

hosing a scrap group... you might want to join her and use

Kim B's book to help you diminish your scrap stash.

Just sayin'.

I also got these two sweet charm packs in the mail...

somewhere along the way I became a big fan of Aneela Hoey

and I was lucky enough to win this over at Pauline's blog, Quilt n Queen!

Thank you Pauline!

I hope you all have a wonderful Easter weekend.

Rounding 'em Up

I am in a 5 week count down
until my local quilt guild's quilt show.
I have been resisting a few things...
1. Buying new fabric, which is hard to do
2. Starting a NEW project, which gets pretty tempting
3. Doing a spring cleaning in my sewing and really straighten out my
mess... that keeps getting scarier all the time
But so far have remained focused on getting the quilts finished, really finished,
for the show. I think I have about 15 or 16 that will be going.
I rounded up my tops and have a steady flow getting long arm quilting.
Half of those are older quilts that are already quilted and might just need a sleeve
and possibly a label.
The exciting part is seeing the quilts coming back from the quilter...


I just got my 2012 FQS Mystery BOM back yesterday!
I will be working on the binding this weekend, along with
another quilt of mine that came back last week or so.

This one is Boardwalk from  Boughs of Holly blog.

I have my Boardwalk ready to send off next and I am going to send along this picture

with it. I think the quilting is so pretty on it.

I kind of thing that

getting the binding on those quilts is a kind of spring cleaning in itself.

Quilting? Not Me!

                                                         I lost my way to my sewing room!

                                                  

I haven't been there for several days now.

I have a house full of family staying with me.

We have been having lots of celebrating going on.

This is our sweet new grand son,

Blake. He was born Friday...

Which happens to be son on the lefts birthday.

The proud dad is on the right (who's birthday was Sunday)

... and the proud uncle is

celebrating with a nasty cigar!

We had the birthday party for Evie on Saturday...

but tomorrow is her real 1st birthday... which it will be a trip

to the zoo and a picnic too. 

(That's the other grandma holding her)

... I  was the cookie maker.

but wait, that's not all...

also on Friday was the unexpected arrival of my nephews precious baby boy.

He was born two months early... so we are saying sweet little prayers for

him and his parents. His name is Aiden. 

What a wonderful start of the Spring season.

But, I have not been able to sew at all...

where you in BOM Rehab this week?

I am anxious to see what you have been up to!

Bees and Owls

I made my Bee blocks for the Bees Knees group. I just
love the two blocks... they go together in one quilt. It
is going to be so cute. I might need to copy this idea and
make one for myself! 

I am not really one of those "inspired" quilt artists...
the ones that can make a quilt from a photo, an artist or a book
that they are inspired by.








Like this.

However, I did have a  tissue box that had these cute
owls on it...
and I didn't want to throw it away.
I decided to cut it up and make photo copies of the owls.

 

I think I will transfer the photos on to fabric and make a cloth story book
out of them. See the part that was the top of the box where the
tissue came out of? I thought I could use that... and make it kind of
interactive... the owls could go behind it and be in there tree house
to sleep. I might have to write a simple little  story to go with it.
What do you think?

This Pile To That Pile

I have some quilts starting to come back from the LAQ right now.


I am happy to see my pile of unfinished tops moving to a pile of
bindings to do!
This quilt was so fun to make in the bloggy group headed up by Kelly
at Charming Chatter. The pattern is her design.
 I would make it again... but maybe not right away, those
were a whole lot of  triangles!


I have also been trying to organize what quilts will be in the quilt show.
I will be devoting April to putting sleeves and labels on those quilts...
and finish up  bindings.

And then I have to figure out which of the quilts are missing 

their ribbons. 

It would be an easier task if:

1. I would have kept the ribbon on the quilt to start with.

2. I would have put the name of the quilt

on the back of the ribbon.

3. Had a better memory.

Since I have struck out with the 3 options above, I am going to have to 

back through photos for help.

I wish I had been more organized and at least had a blog post or tab to keep 

my quilts listed in an orderly way.

I have another little pile of blocks on my sewing table right now...

waiting to get made into something.

And then this little project that I am making for my

grand daughter. 

Evie's first birthday is just around the corner

 I was gifted this pattern by a wonderful person...

I just love her and I'm so tickled to be 

trying to make a doll. 

I also have the pattern for all of her clothing.
It is a whole new arena for me! She has a lot of imperfections...
but my guess is that by the time Evie is old enough to notice, I will
have gotten better... because I intend to make some friends for
the doll and more clothes too.

BOM Rehab: A Rare Finish

The thing about Block of the Month projects...
it takes at the very least a year to make... and if you
are like me and just collect the patterns for the first year,
then try to catch up... it takes over two years to make it!


Now, I suppose the upside to that is that you get lots and lots of enjoyment
from the project. Each month I am excited to see my new block come in the mail.
I look over the pattern and touch the fabric in the kit.
Then it repeats all over again the second year... but this time I actually cut the fabric
and start putting the blocks together.
And then I always wonder... why didn't I work on this right away? I love this!!!
Well, that is the case with most of the block of the month's I have signed up for.
There have been those that I end up not liking the quilt at all.
There are those that you couldn't force me to make for one reason or another
and an occasional one that is just too advanced for me... like those
that include beautiful applique. I'm starting to think that you actually have to
do the applique in order to get better at it.

All in all, I am so happy to have this one ready for the final step.

How was your rehab progress this week?

BOM Rehab and DST Winners

 My wind up for daylight savings time ended on such a low note!

I never got around to the last two winners for the DST giveaway...

so I need to do that today.

I came down with the flu on Saturday. I was in bed by 6:30,
 so the time change didn't affect me at all.

I thought I was feeling better today...

I went to work, but at one point looked down at my feet and thought, oh darn, I meant to put on socks

with these shoes.

And that was about the time my coworker said: hey, is your sweater on inside out?

That was while I was drinking some alka selzer.

So, I might not be as well as I thought. The side arm on my glasses broke also. 

Now it's getting comical!

I did do a little bit of this and that- I made a couple blocks for 

my month of the Bees Knees quilting group.

I also put the binding on this quilt that was

made by my quilting group for our raffle basket.

The theme we picked is a day at the beach.

Our quilt show is coming up in May...

so there is a lot of little things going on right now

to make the show a great event.

I am in charge of the raffle baskets, which has been a great 

way to raise money for our guild.

I have the cooperation of our small circles within the guild... each one making a basket.

I also ask for donations from fabric manufacturers and designers.

The publicity signs are ready to go out now too...

                                                   

Here is a photo of our gorgeous opportunity quilt...

yes, I do have raffle tickets for it too!

Did you happen to notice my name on the sign? I'm the featured quilter this year!

So aside from the raffle baskets... I have a lot of quilt binding and labeling to do right now too.

More info here.

So, let's get back to the winners for the DST, destashing giveaway...

Day #6

the winner is:

Kimberly who said:

I've forced myself to become a tidy quilter because I couldn't stand the piles anymore! My studio is orderly and my table is clean after most projects are finished. Took a bit of training, but it was worth it!

and the winner for Day #7 is:

Carol who said:

What a cute pattern, looks fun to make. Grand baby #2, that's exciting. Is it a boy or girl? My most recent fabric purchase is a Layer Cake of the fabric PB & J.

I managed to be in BOM Rehab this week...

how did you manage?

Sun and Sunflowers: DST Giveaway Day #7

We made it through the week...

and I hope we all have a wonderful weekend ahead of us.

I am, as you know, excited about daylight savings time to begin.

We are within 48 hours of DST!

Winter can stay around for a while...

I just want more light in the evening...

I think that Arizona and Hawaii are the two states that

don't observe DST.  

Sun and sunflowers go together...

Earlier this week I posted my little 

quilt  for grand baby #2... arriving soon!

 Here is grand baby Evie's quilt from last year.

I love this pattern...

so I thought for my last DST

(De Stashing Time) giveaway 

today I would 

offer the pattern and a charm pack to make the sunflowers.

I was at my LQS and they had one last copy of the pattern 

there so I got it for our giveaway.

I have had this charm pack of Urban Cowgirl and

was going to make another quilt from this pattern with it...

but I am going to share it with you.

Just leave me a comment... 

tell me what your most recent fabric purchase was

and I will pick a winner on Sunday. 

Which is daylight savings time!

The winner of DST Giveaway Day #5

is Happy Cottage Quilter who said:

Nope, I don't do Pinterest. I barely have time to read my emails and respond to comments lately. But I hear there are some beautiful things to see on Pinterest.

Cute Quilts~ DST Giveaway #6

Real cute quilts inside!

When I was at Road to California I visited this booth...

Jill Lily Studio

(this is her photo... I thought I had one, but I can't find it)

I would have like to move in... but it was pretty busy there, so

I didn't think she would let me.

Anyway, I purchased her new book...

and I already had her old book,

which has lots of cute quilts inside too!

I, actually haven't managed to make one of them.

But I do look through the book often.

So I am just going to pass her Stitched Together book on

as DST giveaway #6. I am sure I have a little

something else to add to it... maybe some Aurifil thread 

would be nice!

Leave me a comment...

(I have been enjoying those)

tell me... are you a messy quilter or a neat and tidy quilter?

When I sew with my DIL... things are flying and it gets very messy.

That's her. I am very methodical. However... my stash closet 

looks like !#*@*!#@*, that's me.

And she is the one that always reorganizes for me. 

Maybe that's why we are a good team.

The winner of the DST giveaway #4

is Jackie who said:

Today, I am celebrating a finished quilt that I brought at quilt meeting tonight for "show and tell"! Also celebrating a second quilt retreat coming up in April, yeah! Can't wait...

Thanks for playing along with me this week.

DST Giveaway: Day #5

I have a collection of 6- half yards Kathy Schmidt

fabric and a sweet little pattern called Endless Summer

for the DeStashing Time (aka daylight savings time) giveaway today.

The little chick was just on my desk and wanted to be in the picture...

so she isn't part of the giveaway. I will find a couple more little patterns

to sweeten the pot though.

If you are interested leave me a comment. I loved reading 

your comments yesterday about what you are celebrating. 

So, maybe today you could comment and tell me if you are a 

Pinterest addict (like me).

I had my friend pick a winner again for me. 

(I hate doing that)... fortunately Rhonda has 

no political or blogging ties... so she is completely

impartial and the perfect person for the job!

The winner for giveaway #3...  the Graceful Stitch book on applique:

the winner is: Ramona who said:

I do the freezer paper/liquid starch applique method. It takes awhile to make your pieces but then you glue baste them down and they are ready to pick up and sew when you want. You must do a post about the dresden corners. Does the regular binding go under those dresden points or just end at them?

Last week I mentioned a book that I love by Edyta Sitar called Scrapppy Fireworks.

A friend of mine had made a quilt from it... and now I have been having dreams

about making something from the book too!

Luckily I have been going through some of my stash to do these little giveaways

because I found a clear zippered bag (the kind you buy at quilt shops, usually with their logo on it),

and look what was inside of it...

Looks like I had a win also!!!

Now that I found it, I remember one of those sales

where it was $$$ for XXX fat quarters.

I remember I bought 50...

and Rhonda bought 50 also. 

We weren't even at the store...

(because it was several hours away)

they mailed 100 fat quarters to us!

They picked them out from the description

of style that we asked for.

 I had these cut... to make "something"...

but it looks like the rest of it will be perfect to

make a different "something" from that book!

I am tickled pink!

Midweek Mosaic & DST Giveaway #4

Banners are now synonymous with balloons representing celebrations.
Don't they just look wonderfully festive?


I picked a winner for Sunday's giveaway with help from my friend Rhonda...
and the winner is
Deb at Simple Life Quilts!

Today's DeStashing Time giveaway is:

A little bundle of fat quarters, a Scissors zippered canvas bag by Moda

 and a Scissors note pad.

If you want to play just leave me a comment...

tell me what are you celebrating?

Daylight savings time? Spring? New fabric coming out?

I will pick a winner for this giveaway on Friday.

BOM Rehab & DST Giveaway #3

 I made my last block for my Quilt Soup Mystery BOM!

I am so excited to finally be at the point where I can put all 

the blocks together!

That will be my goal for this week.

I have been having a little destashing time going on 

in anticipation of daylight savings time.

Today I have this beautiful book by Denise Sheenan from

a Graceful Stitch.

She creates gorgeous applique quilts... and I 

am a big "wannabe" appliquer. 

I have loved looking through this book but I am happy to 

pass it away to a good home along with a box of pins.

So leave me a comment if you are interested in it.

Please tell me any tips you found worked for you when you 

started appliqueing.

I will pick a winner on Wednesday.

My goals for the weekend were to put the binding on this little quilt.

 Which I was able to get done.

I also wanted to get the final borders on this quilt.

Done!!!

Now I can get this one quilted. I wanted to be able to enter it into 

my guild's quilt show in May. 

I am calling it Geese in the Stars.

I have this wonderful memory of walking to my car late one night, after work...

I live in a  wilderness area, so I am always on high alert as to what

could be out and about with me.

I heard an incredible sound that I couldn't place... until I realized that the noise was

coming from above me.

It was a flock of Canadian Geese flying in full moon light.

It was such a clear night with the stars bright and a ring that sometimes forms

around the moon too.

I had no idea that geese flew at night like that! 

 I watched, head tilted back.

It was amazing to hear them calling out to each other.

I need to pick a winner for Saturday's giveaway!

I had my BFF on the phone with me to assist in picking a winner...
and she picked:
Four Dogs and 1 Quilter!
She said:
Love your Dresden flowers. Thanks for the chance to win that lovely jelly roll.

I will have a new winner for Sunday's giveaway tomorrow!

But most importantly...

were you in BOM Rehab with me this week?