Sew Fun Saturday!

I had so much fun yesterday! (OK, actually, I started this post over a week ago… but it was still so fun!)

Everyone at home was headed off early, my husband on his annual jaunt to the drag races, my younger daughter had an early shift and I didn’t have to work until 11:15. And, coincidentally, the outdoor sale at Pioneer Quilts started at 10 And, even better, was in a reasonable direction toward work. Seems like fate to me! I may have gone a bit overboard but I only spent about $45. I got all these…

This is a little closer view…

This whole bundle of pinks just makes me smile!

There’s also a set of 8 blocks hidden in there that will make an excellent and quick charity quilt.

I may not have “needed” more fabric but I certainly enjoyed myself!

More fun to follow…

Vortexing!

Quite some time ago, I fell in love with the Scrap Vortex Quilt over at Crazy Mom Quilts. I was in love but short on time and long on commitments. I did start playing around with blocks, though, cleaning pieces off the sewing room floor and making a block here or there. These are great therapy blocks… nothing to match, no fuss, no muss. Today, I had a whole afternoon and decided to lay them out and see how far I had gotten.,

Not a great photo but I was excited to see that I am somewhere in the large lap to twin size already! I’m going for queen size as I’d like one for my bed.

I’m also working on a quilt for my daughter’s birthday… it’s no surprise as she picked the pattern and colors. Now we are auditioning greys.n

This grey looked too dark with some of the creamier whites but I like it with the stark whites.

This one is too light.

If I use the dark one, I’ll have to go shop for more white fabric… sigh…oh the hardships, right? Like I wouldn’t love an excuse!

While I’ve been sewing scraps, I also started some string blocks with the longer pieces of scraps. There’s such joy to this… string blocks leave bits and pieces that go right into vortex blocks.

Here’s a photo of the string blocks (with about five more not shown. )

Now, however, it’s time for some serious sewing. I’ve got my Northcott fabric to make a second version of my row for the upcoming row along. And, I’m planning to take some rows from my fabulous co- designers and make a Christmas quilt. One of my quilter dreams is to have a Christmas quilt on every bed in the house!

On the home life front, this happened yesterday

Our youngest is a licensed driver! Of course, as soon as she drove to work, her alternator started to go so mom had to pick her up while dad fixed the car… but there’s driver experience in that, too! So bittersweet to have the last one so grown up.

We’re struggling with heat and fires here so I hope you are at a comfortable temperature where you are! Here’s one last picture… this is Milo in helper mode.

Quilts are just better with cat hair, right?

Happy quilting!

Beth

Bahamas!

I don’t know if I’ve mentioned it, but my daughter found out at her angiogram last summer that she is eligible for a make-a-wish due to the seriousness of her heart condition. Eventually, she decided on the Atlantis resort in the Bahamas. I have to say, it’s been amazing! I’m on my phone so I won’t get into too much detail but here are a few of my favorite photos from the week.

There’s even a bit of quilty inspiration here

We go home tomorrow and I’ve got some serious sewing ahead! More on that later!

Come Away With Me!

Way back in September,  my sister- in-law let us know that they were going to be in central Oregon for a visit.  We booked a couple of nights in our time share, put in some time off requests and away we went on Thursday night.   Friday,  we went and played in one of my favorite places,  Sisters!  I thought I’d share some photos so you can come along…I always love taking vicarious trips with other quilters.   

So here are the highlights in pictures…

The Detroit Lake Dam

Our lovely unit…2 bedrooms,  two baths,  lots of lovely touches and a view of the golf course. 

Fabric shopping… what’s a quilter to do when you walk in on a 30% off sale?

Oh the pretties…..

Lilacs!

Deer!  

Two quilt shops and a whole lot of fun!

Altogether a great time with family and I still have this evening and tomorrow during the day before I go back to work… hello sewing room!!!!

Happy quilting, 

Beth

Spring Break and Happy Easter!

Spring Break!  Ok,  it was two weeks ago but I still had a great quilty fun and enough sewing time to restore my tired spirits a bit. One of our co-workers was hospitalized before spring break and,  since flowers aren’t an option and,  well,  I’m a quilter,  I made a signature quilt for his students and coworkers to sign. 

I had,  for reasons I don’t remember,  thought I would make 16 blocks but 9 with wide sashing was plenty big.  I set the remaining pieces aside but they quickly found a home in this quilt which I made and gave to the high school as a memorial quilt for a student who passed away suddenly from complications of an illness.   It was a push to get it done by Sunday night but I was grateful to have a small way to help.

I also finished this rail fence variation top from an inspiration packet from my guild. 

I decided to do something I’ve never done before and turn it in as a top and let someone else quilt and bind it.  I was inspired to make this by a photo on Pinterest.   I understand there is a pattern by the name of “Dublin.” I just winged it but I’m a big fan of supporting independent pattern designers. 

I also turned I  this quilt to my guild.

I hope the person who gets it loves it as much as my husband did…I got a pretty clear hint that he wants one,  too!

I ended up working 34 instead of my 17 planned hours at my part time job.  We were hit with several people out ill at the same time.   This week in the run-up to Easter,  I put in 30 hours in addition to my full time gig.   I don’t think I want to do that again any time soon but it did bring us to a major financial landmark.  I’ll spill more about that next week. 

This weekend,  I did get to go to my quilters ‘ tea for the first time in ages. The theme was magic and I loved everyone’s take on the theme. 

I’ve gone on quite a bit longer than i thought so I’ll just leave you with this bit of Easter cheeriness…eggs by Jelly and Kevin

Those colours make me want to grab a stack of batiks and make another one of those rail fence variations!  

I’m looking forward too a slightly lighter schedule this week and,  because we had company for dinner,  there’s a fair head start on cleaning!

Happy Easter and Happy quilting!

Beth

Ohhh, My Tiara’s Crooked But Come On In, Anyway!

Welcome to my stop on the Quilt Qwazy Queens. This year we were challenged to share our dirty secrets, I mean, sewing rooms.   And mine is downright shameful, I admit it.   When I do get in here, I’m so busy playing that I hate taking time out to tidy.  I have begun a mass excavation of my space but, fair warning here, the OCD among you may want to just skip the next two photos.

Psst, it’s OK to look again.  Now that I’ve had that reality check (maybe next year you’ll see a different view…one can hope), on to something I’m excited to share!

I love, love, love the idea of using up my scraps but I get discouraged when I see scrappy patterns that start with a request for 3, 5 or, yes, I saw one that took 7 yards of background fabric!  My personal fabric buying issue is “so many prints, so few blenders”, you know? So, when I brought home a bundle of inspiration fabrics from guild, I set out to use them up without adding to the bundle.

I cut them into 2″ strips and 3.5″ strips and started making four patches from the 2″ strips.   A little help from my easy angle ruler withe the 3.5″ strips and, here you go…

I did add one or two 3.5″ strip to this for background but just think of the possibilities!  I plan to make this with an additional border of squares for an organ donor quilt.   You could use a 5×5 grid instead of 4×4 for your setting blocks and use a 15″ block.   Just think how fast that would grow!   You could mush up the colors to match a baby’s room theme and add applique blocks or a theme print.  Use 2.5″ strips (I have a drawer full of them) and only need a 3×3 grid of four-patches.  The best part? These four patches make great leaders and enders. I’m already started on two more that will be larger and more “mushy” in their color choices.

Now, I’m sure this is not a completely original design, quilters have been using one-patch blocks forever.   A lot of my ideas have been influenced by all the great quilters I follow and, if I have inadvertently come close to one of their designs, please know it was not intentionally.

Anyway, that’s my contribution for the day.  This quilt is headed back to my guild as a charity quilt.  Now, I can’t let you actually leave without a little bit of hospitality…thanks to our amazing Marian at Seams to be Sew, there are wonderful prizes for every day of this hop!

First off, the wonderful people at the Fat Quarter Shop (Oh, my goodness, I just LOVE them!) are giving away a $50 certificate.  (OK, I’m seriously jealous because I’d love to win this!) Click here a Rafflecopter giveaway to enter!

And, (don’t you just love “and”…), the fine folks at Northcott Fabrics are giving away, you guessed it, fabric!  (Um, if you were brave enough to look at my sewing room, you might have guessed that I really, really love fabric!) They are giving away three fat quarters from the Garden Gate collections.  Click here a Rafflecopter giveaway to enter!

Now, as if that wasn’t awsome-ness enough, Marian has another more great giveaway stuff at her blog, Seams to be Sew.

Of course, the fun isn’t over yet…Terial Arts is giving away two bottles of spray per day at Seams to be Sew.  And, each of us bloggers is giving away a different set of fabric so be sure to visit every quilting castle!

I’m honored to be sharing this day with

Jane’s Quilting
Seacoast Quilter
Words & Stitches – That’s me!
Quilting Affection

Now, I’m taking my flu-ridden self back to bed.  (If I sounded any crazier than usual, maybe we can blame it on the flu?)

Happy Quilting!

Beth

 

 

Time for a Cuppa

This week’s challenge for Project Quilting was time.  And deadlines.  And every time I tried to think of how to express my current relationship with time…things got ugly. Literally, I’m stressed about time and my ideas all reflected that stress.   And then I got the flu.   Yes, my second time of getting influenza after having my flu shot.  So, as I was sipping a cup of tea, it occurred to me that I could quilt what I want, not what really is, isn’t that the heart of creatively?  So, here’s my mug rug…”Time for a Cuppa.”

 

I’m linking this up and going back to bed.  I’m pretty sure my awake time for the day is all used up.

Checkout persimmondreams@blogspot.com to see the rest of the entries!

Happy quilting,

Beth

The Half-Dressed Man and the Enchanted Rose

Sometimes, I get really bored with “I’ve been really busy” but it’s been the truth in my life.  Somehow, the week before last, I managed to work almost thirty hours at my part-time job, well 29 hours and 55 minutes to be exact.  That’s on top of working my full-time job.  Yes, busy.  Yes, probably crazy and, frankly, a tad tiring.  But, that being said, there’s been some fun along the way!  First, my girls and I met up in California to celebrate my mom’s 85th birthday.

Three of my four favorite girls!

My mom knows how to make getting older look good!  She’s  still busy working at the San Diego Public Library four days a week and driving all over Southern California.  We had a birthday party then headed north to LA for a little “stay-cation.”

My mom, my sister, me and my nephew in front of the coolest street sign in Pasadena!

 

We went to the Getty and the Huntington Library, saw another painting by one of our favorite painters, Edwin Frederic Church (google him, seriously) and my sister and I went to the Viper Room with my oldest and my niece.  Sure fun time!  However, I missed a Project Quilting deadline because I ended up working every night until the night I left.  Seriously, I ended up packing my dirty laundry and taking it to do at mom’s house!

That being said, I did make an attempt at the Well-Dressed Man Challenge but found myself again called into work and gave up finishing on time when I realized I was 12 minutes away from the deadline.  I’m fast but not that fast! My inspiration was my dad who was fond of very wild bow ties.

I’m finished with the quilting…I’m having a little trouble with the whole organic wavy line idea…I find myself trying to echo instead.  And the whole stitch regulator is still a bit of a mystery to me…but I’m getting there.

I did manage a finish the next week.  A co-worker is expecting a baby and was doing the nursery in Beauty and the Beast.  I used an enchanted rose pattern from Fandom in Stitches and my dear husband enlarged it for me.  Now, here’s a question for you….how come I can’t remember some things but I can remember that I bought a beautiful rose print a few years ago and can tell it from any other rose fabric in my, ahem, extensive stash?  

So, upcoming fun stuff….The Qwazy Quilting Queens are coming!

 

We all knew I was crazy and, hey, I like a tiara as well as the next girl so stay tuned!  Also, further down the road is the Row Along.  I can’t wait to play with my design for this year and the theme is sew fun!  I still consider myself a “baby” designer so expect a nicely beginner oriented row from me.  Actually, two color versions because, well, I’m not sure if I’m supposed to tell yet.  Hop over to Seams to be Sew and catch up on the news!

And, with that, I’m off to bed.  Staff meeting first thing tomorrow and, while my body thinks it’s 9 pm-ish now, it’s going to think it’s a whole lot earlier tomorrow morning at 5!  I’m working tomorrow and Wednesday nights which gives me Thursday and Friday to make my final challenge quilt.  The theme is time and deadlines, etc.  I’m not sure how to approach this one as the thought of time just makes me want to panic right now as there is never, ever enough of it!  But, I have just as many hours as everyone else on this blue spinny ball of ours and I’m going to make sure I spend some of them sewing!

Happy quilting!

Beth

 

 

 

 

Project Quilting 8.3 …A Bright Shadow

This week was a rough one.  The very same day that the challenge was released (texture…something seen outside the sewing room) was the day I drove two hours south to cherish memories of a friend who passed suddenly on Thursday.  Cindy and I were young moms together.  She was the celebrant at my wedding.  She was making “modern” quilts before modern was a thing and she was one of the kindest humans I’ve ever had the gift of knowing. She was beautiful and funny and determined.  She was always able to connect with people and she brought joy into the lives of everyone she met.  She and her family moved when our girls were only in their early grade school years but, on the rare occasions we talked, it was like we’d just seen one another the day before.

When Sarah went to college, not only did Cindy’s oldest, Ashley go to the same college but these two girls who had been friends in their infancy and early years ended up on the same floor of the same dorm. In fact, they were one door away from straight across from one another!

And so, on Sunday, I drove alone the two hours or so to Corvallis and I sat in a church and cherished my friend’s memory and mourned her loss with her family and friends.  And I stared around the church knowing I wanted to use something there for my inspiration.  My eye was drawn to the paneling with it’s gracious swoop and line.  I thought I would do something to echo the lines on the right hand side of the picture but it wasn’t coming together.  I knew I wanted the “shadows” to be bright, not dark because Cindy simply didn’t have any dark in her.  I tried a few variations and then took my original idea and scrapped it.  I kept the wide and narrow feel of the lines but instead of trying for the swoop, I settled for a cross-section.  Then, I used the brightest of pinks to create a shadow.

The strips are from my 2″ strip drawer and I know that at least one of them is from the time Cindy and I met.  I was trying to convey something in this little quilt that I’m not quite sure I captured but I am sure Cindy would be the first to assure me that the effort was more important than the result.  This week, I stretched my creative wings just a tad further…and I could imagine Cindy cheering my on.

If you’d like a peek at Cindy’s quilts, there is a website http://fibersoffaith.com.  Her work is beautiful.

And, now, it’s off to bed with me.  I have an early and long work day tomorrow.

Hug someone today.  Make the overdue phone call.  Tell your kids how awesome it is to have them.  Smile.  And create.

Beth

Project Quilting, Challenge 2

This week’s challenge was Carolina Lily and, in all honesty, my heart sank when I read that. It’s a lovely block and all but….so I read again and realized you could use the design as a jumping off point.   So I did.   I drafted the lily flower for paper piecing in a couple different sizes (3″, 2″ and 1.5″) and paper pieced them with scraps.   Here’s the pile I started with 

After paper piecing the flowers, I impromptu pieced them together using the rest of the blue/green scraps I’d pulled.  It was a bit like putting a puzzle together (with the added bonus of being able to change the shapes with my rotary cutter!)

I made a Franken-batt with a few strips of batting trim leftovers put together with a quick zigzag and quilted it on my “new to me” Bernina 440. This was my first try with the stitch regulator so I stuck to what one blogger I admire calls “organic wavy lines. ”

I added a black binding and got done in time for a photo in the snow before our rain started up. 

And here it is…”Mr Monet goes to Carolina.”

We’re all hoping to go back to work tomorrow but my schedule is pretty light this week so I’m hoping to have another finish to share soon!

Happy quilting,

Beth