How much do I love blog hops? A whole big lot! Not only do I get a big shot of inspiration from the other bloggers but I also get a shot of panic-induced sew-jo!
I was mulling over a bunch of ideas when suddenly I remembered the Canada panel. I actually wasn’t sure if I bought it so I searched my email before I searched my sewing room. And once I knew I had bought it, the sewing fairies helped lead me right to it! I paired it with a newsprint neutral from the Canadian anniversary print and added a bundle of red fabric I purchased at a quilter’s yard sale organized by Pioneer Quilts. This was, of course, pre-covid.
My Accuquilt was the star of this show with those many, many 2.5″ squares and triangles. Honestly, without it, I’d probably not have tackled that border (remember, deadline looming…) Thanks to technology and some dumb luck (seriously, I didn’t measure the panel before I started on blocks) I was able to turn this top out on a rainy weekend! So, with that lead-in, here’s my Falling for You project!
Honestly, who wouldn’t fall for that handsome Mountie?
Pieced maple leaves!
All it took for my scrappy leaves was a combo of squares, 1/2-square triangles and one quick stem! Next week, I’ll try to add a step by step tutorial.
In the meantime, hop over and give Joan at MooseStashQuilting.com some huge kudos for cat-herding and rounding up so many talented quilters!
I’m proud to be in the daily lineup with these great people..
Fall has started here with a rainy weekend and cooler nights. Last night, however, was perfect river weather and we took advantage of ladies night to go kayaking. I didn’t really ever picture myself hanging out on the river discussing the Great British Bake Off on a Tuesday night but life is full of little surprises!
Here’s hoping there’s something unexpectedly pleasant in your week that makes you feel as contented as the grand-cat looks in this picture!
Grab your scarf and a mug of something warm and come along this week for the “I’m Falling for You” blog hop hosted by MoosestashQuilting.com. I’m so excited to show you my project! Stop back by on Thursday and, in the meantime, hop over to each of these talented designers for a fun, fall- themed week of inspiration!
Ack! I’m so very late! This week was crazy busy at work and I totally missed the kickoff of the Seaside Adventure Row Along! This is a memorial Row Along as we lost of fearless leader, Marian at Seams to be Sew. Marian passed away this spring and the world is definitely poorer for it. Marian was always kind and helpful and never minded my 11th hour panic calls when I couldn’t figure out codes for giveaways. Mel at The Quilting Room stepped up and coordinated the designers to go ahead with the row along. Rows are release twice a week. My day is in October but mark your calendars and pick up these terrific row patterns…or, as they say, “Come on in, the water’s fine!”
You can find all our fabulous designers on these days:
Carla at Creatin’ in the Sticks has put together another great blog hop! And, I have to admit that this one was a challenge for me. I don’t use a whole lot of orange and I’m really trying to use what I have on hand. Luckily, I happened to notice the basketball fabric languishing in the stash. And, I unearthed the orange I bought and didn’t use for another project. Add in the sports fabric with a touch of orange basketballs to tie it all together!
This one actually has one more border to go of the blue. The pattern is super simple, just sixteen half-square triangles and four squares. I started with 15 inch squares because that’s my biggest square ruler. Once they were sewn, I trimmed them to 14.5. This is a super way to get a quick quilt that has lots of visual appeal. Bonus…no Y seams!
Here’s a close up of the fabrics.
I had a lot of fun playing around with my orange-y fabrics! Thank you to Carla for pulling together this very talented group.
Be sure to hop over and see the rest of the crew. And, wherever you may be, I hope that you are safe and comforted by the love of those around you.
Sometimes, I think blog hops save my (questionable) sanity and keep me grounded! They’re certainly a great way to push yourself to try something new or take a project off the back burner. Or, in this case, get hustling on a project that “needed doin'”!
I had a slightly different take on this when Carol over at Just Let Me Quilt announced this hop. But life got, well, life-y (I’ll explain a little at the end.)
Now, I’ve been blessed to have some terrific guys in my life and have made some fun guy quilts but the most recent need for a guy quilt for for a little guy! My friends just had a little boy and I had a wonderful fabric that was waiting to carry some special thoughts to a little one. Aren’t these animals adorable? I’m usually pretty anti-fussing cutting because, well, all the wasted fabric but this one had to be done!
I spent a bit of time deciding on a block. After all, I know I’ve shown about 479 sawtooth quilts and you might like a little variation. I still wanted to showcase the print, though, and the two colors of the nursery so I choose an Economy Block. There are lots of free tutorials of this block online. Mine are 8″ finished and I used a variety of cutting methods, my ruler, my accuquilt and my Bonnie Hunter triangle ruler.
However, when I put this together and stepped back I had to laugh….because the secondary pattern creates a star similar to a Sawtooth! I guess I really have a “type” only it’s a block and not a guy!
This still needs a border and I’m thinking of a float in the green and a outer border in the animals….what do you think?
There was another “guy” quilt in my spring. I was gifted a box of fabric and in it was about a 1/2-yard of a Marvel fabric. I knew a soon-to-be graduate who was a BIG Marvel fan….I decided it was Fate with a captial F and got busy.
This one, of course, is a Sawtooth Star and I will tell you that I used up every last scrap of the Marvel fabric.
Here’s a little close up of the fabric….
Everything I used was something I had on hand and then I tossed it on my Grace 21 Pro and looped away! It was well-received and I was glad to see it go to a loving home.
I’m sew grateful to Carol for organizing this (and galvanizing me.) I needed a creative shot in the arm (or kick in the, well, you know…)
Please visit all the bloggers and see what these lovely, creative people have to show. I’m going to post the list here and continue a little after so you can hop away if you don’t want to hang around for the non-quilty update.
So, if you’re still with me, a little bit about life right now. On the happy side, our youngest turned 22 today! I’m so proud of this kiddo and so is her big sister! I’m so grateful to have these two in my world. I know every mom thinks they are the luckiest but I really am one lucky lady!
The Spring was pretty rough at our house. Our friend Tony who was the “token dad” in the mom’s group became ill and passed away just before Memorial Day. My girls had picked up his nieces’ nickname for him and called him “Auntie Tony” because his experience as a single dad of girls had given him a broader range of topics than a lot of guys his age. He could talk plumbing and prom dresses and was always there to stand in the gap in our neighborhood whether it was talking me through my first sink repair or killing a giant spider for my daughter when we were out of town. He and his wife shared an anniversary date with Phil and I (they had it first) and when I got to know her, I gained a lovely quilting buddy. He was a good man who adored his wife and kids and will be missed by so many of us.
The following day, we said goodbye to our senior boy, Griffie. Griff had turned 18 earlier in the month. He made it clear to us that it was his time and he was ready to say goodbye. He spent his final evening cuddled up with his girl out in the cul de sac where the neighbors sat around the fire pit.
The next day, I took flowers up to Phil’s grave and while I was kneeling down to arrange them, I had the most comforting picture of him in my mind, standing behind me, holding Griffie and smiling.
Less than a week later, another friend received the terrible news of her huband’s sudden death.
Let’s just say that there is a lot of sad to go around. Widowhood is a sucky club that no one wants to join but the price of loving someone for years is one of you will go on ahead and the other will have to go forward. I’m thankful for memories of love and laughter that I carry forward with me. And, of course, all the people who make my life a warmer and less lonely place.
I did get to go camping with my brother, niece and daughter. My nerves where out in full force as it was the first time I’d left home overnight since returning from my mom’s funeral…well, except for having to evacuate from the fires last fall. It was a lovely time of reading, dogs in camp chairs and listening to the river. There is something so soothing about the water going by. Well, maybe not for all of you who have been fighting floods…oh my heart goes out to those people who are losing loved ones and beloved places. But this was just the kind of respite I needed.
And I bet YOU thought those chairs were designed for humans!The view from my tent….
We didn’t end up staying for the Sisters Quilt Show. It was going to be 100 degrees and we were due to break camp that morning. It turned out, we saw smoke coming up the valley and decided to hop home Friday night. We had all had enough fires in the last year. It wasn’t like we would have gotten a wink of sleep worrying about fire coming down the canyon anyway.
So, that’s what has been going on in my world. There are a few other things but I’ll fill you in next time. Many projects are ahead and I’m excited to share them!
I’m sorry to have been MIA for so long. Life has been, well, sorrowful and there is much updating to be done but…not today! Today is about Fairy Tales and the marvelous blog hop put together by the wonderful Joan of Moosestach Quilting!
I have loved fairy tales my whole life. I was raised on a steady diet of Disney, Grimm’s Fairy Tales and Anderson’s Fairy Tales. I remember checking a certain fairy tale book out of the library so often that my mom bought me my own copy. How I yearned for a fairy godmother to come and wave a wand over my life. (Who am I kidding, I’d still be up for a good wand-waving figure in a tutu!)
So, I decided to spin you a little quilter’s fairy tale to go with my project….ready?
Once upon a time, in a far away sewing room, a quilter looked at her stash in dismay. “Enough!” she exclaimed and began to pick up this piece and that. At first, the pieces were excited. “It’s our turn,” they thought, eager to begin their journey to Quiltdom. Instead, the quilter looked at them doubtfully. Then she picked up the two pieces of purple dragon and fairy tale fabric and put them in a plastic bag. Then she wrote on the bag.
The dragons, princes and princesses looked at one another in dismay. “I am pretty sure this isn’t how you get to Quiltdom,” one of the princesses said sadly. The rest shook their heads.
After some time in the darkness of a big paper bag, they found themselve dumped in the sunlight onto a fabric covered table. Very quickly, a woman with snow white hair picked them up and traded with some paper money. She smiled at the dragons and tiny royalty. “This would be really cute,” she said, “maybe a baby quilt.” The fabric creatures smiled. Perhaps they were really on their way to Quiltdom!
But time passed and the white-haired woman did nothing with them. She picked them up occasionally then put them back. Then, one day, they heard her talking to the cat. “I have that fairy tale fabric,” she said to the cat. “It would be perfect for the blog hop.”
The dragons looked at one another hopefully. “Maybe,” sighed one of the princesses to her horse.
Then, it began! There was the snipping of scissors and the whirring of the sewing machine! A warm iron left them all feeling warm and loved and other fabrics began sidling up to them. “Where are you from?” asked a green swirl. “I was in a thrift store.”
“Quilters’ yard sale,” said one of the dragons. White fabric began to encircle them. “I was on sale…big discount!” She bragged. “I heard her call one of her friends and say I was 60% off!”
As the fabrics chattered and cheered, the quilter created simple blocks. “Falling charms,” they heard her murmur. Before long they were all out on the floor and she was moving them this way and that.
Soon they were back under the needle listening the excited hum of the sewing machine. Then they were all together and the white-haired woman was shaking out the new quilt top! “Yes!” sang the dragons and princes and princesses and the horses! “We’re a top!”
The sewing machine sighed….”Not so fast,” she said. “You don’t have borders yet.” When she saw their smiles fade she put on her best smile and said, “Don’t worry. You’ll be keeping someone warm and cozy before too long!” Everyone smiled and cheered. The sewing machine looked at the white-haired quilter. “Not another UFO, you hear me?”
The woman laughed. “Ok,” she said, “I promise to finish it.”
“Like I haven’t heard that before,” said the sewing machine. Together they laughed, looking at the newest in a long line of UFOs. “I plan to finish all of them,” said the quilter. As if that wasn’t the biggest fairy tale of them all!
Be sure to check out the rest of the enchanted bloggers on this hop! And may the fabric fairies grant your every wish!
I love, love, love blog hops! For many reasons, first is the inspiration of seeing what everyone else is making…so fun! Second is the pressure to finish something that I may or may not have tried. Third…well, playing with friends and fabric, of course! I’ve been trying to finish some UFOs along the way and I had one quilt jump to mind when I heard about this hop. And, I appreciate so much all the work that goes into these! Carol over at Just Let Me Quilt is wonderful at pulling all of us together with a great theme!
It’s no secret that I’m a sucker for pink and one of my favorite animals is a FLAMINGO! I would love to see these in the wild someday. So far, I’ve seen them in wild animal parks, zoos and, of course, the Flamingo Hotel in Las Vegas. There’s just something so whimsical about them that they always make me smile.
Years ago, I made a little attic windows quilt for a class sample featuring my favorited feathered pink cuties. I was never quite happy with it, though. The wide pink outer border didn’t quite do it for me. It languished on a shelf until I rediscovered it recently. I began fabric auditions and found this one. Hmmm….not quite the same but maybe….
Obviously, the wide pink border had to go. I trimmed it down to a 2 inch border and I carefully cut my strips so that the fabric would all run the right direction and began borders.
Wildlife of another sort provided me with support and supervision.
Such a helpful kitty!
This turned out to be just what the doctor ordered for this little quilt!
Now my little quilt top looks ready for a wild flamingo party! On a side note, we’ve had super nice weather for a few days and today it rained buckets! I was lucky to get this little break to take my photo. The sky was stunning, though.
Please check out all the other bloggers on the hop! I’m off to an early (for me) bed and possibly a bath. Oh, but I have to tell you, last night I crawled into bed after negotiating my way around Milo (the big guy) and barely got into bed when the crew swarmed me! First Griff who wanted me for his personal heating pad, Jack to curl up next to me under the covers and Winnie who wanted to be petted and sleep on my hips. Talk about a cuddle puddle! Gizmo had his spot at the top of the pillow staked out but it was like being at the center of a feeding frenzy!
Seriously, though, Mr. Griff seems to be feeling his age a bit and his arthritis is getting worse so I gave him a bath the other night. To say he was not amused is a bit of an understatement! I did dig out a favorite soft jacket and added it to the other side of the bed on the pillows so he and Gizmo don’t have to fight anymore, though, which seems to have improved his mood.
The whole kitten caboodle!
There are so many great bloggers to visit! I hope we’ll inspire you to go a little wild with a quilt soon!
ACK – I started this post Sunday night and here it is Wednesday already! Watch this space for my post later tonight but have fun hopping to all the bloggers who are already posted!
(Just pretend it’s Sunday night…I always wanted to time travel…) Tomorrow kicks off the Born to be Wild blog hop from Just Let Me Quilt! I’m not until Thursday but I’ll be wildly scrambling to finish up on time!
Speaking of wild, how was your weekend? I made progress on the great chair project. We’re now down to bare bones and ready to start rebuilding (after a good vacuuming. )
I also got started with the garden. Talk about weeds gone wild! One small bed and one section of path are planted and I need to find a way to secure the wire for the cucumber to grow on. As usual, I’ve purchased before I was ready to plant and now I’m scrambling!
I did hit a goal this weekend in my Duolingo app….first place in the top league!
I’ve been using Duolingo for over a year now to practice my French. Someday, when the world rights itself again and Covid is a sorrowful memory, I want to see Paris again.
So, here’s the lineup for the week, have fun and I’ll see you Thursday!
So I was recently diagnosed with sleep apnea and can I just tell you that while I love my new little machine, the first night with the cats was ridiculous! Wait, what kind of nighttime shenanigans did you think I meant? LOL
So, first, Gizmo objected to the tube on “his” pillow (which I also use) so he went to the other side of the bed to pout. While he was there, Griffie stole the spot on the pillow. Winnie couldn’t figure who I was in the nose mask and was quite freaked out. When Gizmo was over his pout, he was shocked to find his spot occupied and so the night went. In spite of it all, I woke up feeling like a new woman and I’m thoroughly impressed with my new little sleep machine. Now if I could just figure out why I keep taking it off at night!
On the sewing end of things, I haven’t been doing nearly as much quilting as I would like. I’ve finished a few more scrub caps and I’m adding to my string block count.
I’ve also started on a long-procrastinated project. This old chair was one I reupholstered in a class when I was pregnant 30 years ago. It was my very favorite and we made a lot of good memories in this chair reading stories and watching movies. With my new-found, sleep-fueled energy, I’m tackling this project. The chair, after all, couldn’t look worse than it does now!
Next week we have a blog hop coming up and I’m excited to share a little “wildlife” with you all as part of the “Born to be Wild” blog hop.
In the kitty news, senior cat Griff just turned 18 this past week! May 8th was his 18th birthday and now he’s nagging about being able to vote. I still haven’t convinced him that he can’t sign up for drivers’ ed after turning 16!
Griffie Bear at 18!
Around the place there are blooms and more blooms (and weeds and more weeds) but I had to share this picture of the azaleas that Phil and I planted years ago. They’re my favorite color!
Well, I’m going to have to knock off here because my lunch break is over and I have to get back to it.
I hope you are safe and well and I’ll write more soon!
So, I have stitched in almost every room of my house and, at one point, I kept a mini sewing station in my kitchen complete with a featherweight, iron, cutting board and a rotary cutter stashed in the knife drawer! While my work station has migrated back to the sewing room, it was fun to figure what to stitch for my old sewing space.
My goal for my projects this year is to use fabrics I have on hand and have fun playing with some scraps. So when it came to stitching something for my kitchen, I reached for my scrappy binding tub and several yards of white terrycloth. Do you keep your binding leftovers? I keep mine in little rolls in a plastic tub (I haven’t been able to shut the lid for a while which is a sign wouldn’t you say?) It’s not uncommon for me to string a bunch of these gems together to make a scrappy binding. For this hop, though, I had other plans. After extensive research on dish towell sizes (seriously 20″x30″? A dish towel? After I cut one out I opted for 15″x20″. Then, I dug into the binding bin.
Using a post-it to mark my seam guide, I sewed a couple of shorter strips in parallel lines and top-stitched them down.
Then, I bound my towels with more leftover binding strips and, voila! New (and cute and quilterly) kitchen towels!
I put my binding on from the back and finished with a decorative stitch. After all, I’m going to wipe up spilled milk with these so no way am I hand stitching binding!
Just hanging out on the fridge…I left them hanging from the stove handle and they were dirty before I turned around… definitely useable!
These were so fun and easy! If you don’t have terrycloth, remember this would be a great way to upcycle a towel with a frayed edge. What about a cute baby towel? The million dollar question, of course, is, “How many do you have enough binding for?” I refuse to answer on the grounds that I may fall out of favor with “The Stash.”
I’m so excited to be part of this group that Carla over at Creatin’ in the Sticks has put together. You can visit Carla here.
Be sure to hop on over and catch up with the rest of the crew! Thanks for stopping by and be sure to check out my fellow kitchen stitchers!
