Show and Tell…a finished one!

Hello!

I’m so excited to show you my row project! If you have books and cats, you need somewhere to put them…

A quilty kitty bookcase. Suitable for hanging on your wall or cuddling on your couch.

(Daughter not included. )  This is the first time I’ve finished my show and tell effort and I’m so excited to have it done!  (OK, full disclosure…I need to finish hand-sewing down the sleeve.) I tried the wavy organic lines on the quilting and, while I love how it looks, I have to say that I couldn’t get my walking foot to not threaten puckers so I did them free-hand which was kind of stressful.  If there’s interest, I’ll be happy to post directions but, in a nutshell, I just raided my scrap strip drawers and made random sizes…books were 7″, 8″, 10″ or as small at 6″ finished with enough background to create a 12.5″ unifinished book.  I added another 2.5″ book to the original row and the quilt finished around 40″x50″.  2.5″ brown strips between the rows made shelves and I think I used just about every inch of the lovely Northcott fabric I used for the background!

There’s a giveaway today, too, from the wonderful Fat Quarter Shop!  (A $25.00 gift certificate!)  We just couldn’t have had all this fun without Marian at Seams to be Sew and be sure to check out her blog for more fun things coming up!  And many, many thanks to our sponsors…you all are the bestest!

You can enter here.   But don’t wait too long!

Be sure to visit the other designers…everyone has been such fun on this hop.  I can hardly wait to see what next year brings!

Words & Stitches | Upstairs Hobby Room
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Clever Chameleon | Creatin’ in the Sticks | Sew Joy Creations
Seams To Be Sew

 

And that’s everything for now!  But come back soon, there’s lots more quilty fun coming up!

Happy quilting,

Beth

My Happy Place!

First, before we talk about my happy place, let’s give credit where credit is due…Marian at Seams to be Sew puts a TON of work into organizing this row along and she is just the best to work with!  And Northcott, well, let’s just say that they are the best, too!  Every designer in the hop got to choose fabric to put in their row…which might have been the hardest part of the process because, oh my, there was some amazing stuff! And even more sponsors came on board to make this a fun and prize-filled event! I have the awesome opportunity for one reader to win an inspired LED sewing machine light!  (I’m thinking I really need one of these!  You will need to pay shipping if you win…but still, imagine having all that clear light under your needle!) You can enter here.

You can also enter to win an EQ8 here!  If you’ve never played with quilting software, well, let’s just say it is almost as fun as sewing!  I’m telling you, we have such awesome sponsors and I’m so grateful for their support of this hop!

 

Now, I must admit that I sometimes feel out of my depth with all the amazing designs that come out of this hop.  I’m really a piecer and I cannot fuse to save my life!  (I also can’t grow zuchini…go figure!)  And I’m a novice designer so I tend to do things that a beginner can do.

As for my happy place, I was awash in too many ideas!  I had a landscape in mind which was why I choose the fabrics I did.  Think water and clouds.  My ideas just wouldn’t jell and finally I came around to another idea of something that always makes me happy…the furbabies!  Going clockwise, let me introduce you to Milo, Griffie, Gizmo, Zoe, Jack and Winnie (shhh…don’t tell Winnie you saw her…she’s an expert hidy-cat.)

 

Milo

Griffie

Gizmo

Zoe

Jack

Winnie

So, what else makes me happy?  Books, of course!  Ever since I was little, books were where I went to find a happy place.  I spent hours reading and re-reading my favorites and wishing I could slip away into Green Gables (surely Marilla and Anne would take me in?), solve mysteries with Freddie and Flossie (I was blonde, too, would they really notice?) or slip into the garret with Jo March where we would scribble away at the novels that would bring us fame and, more importantly, our names on the spines of books!  My love of books never diminished and so I decided to blend the two in my row.

This is my row…books & cats!  It’s simple with straight-forward piecing.  However, it’s very versatile and I’ll look forward to showing you what I made with it next week.  If you’d like to download the instructions, you can get them here.

I really hope you like my little row, it’s simple but quick and fun and great way to use up fun fabric bits.  My fabric from Northcott is the background (9020-10 with the beautiful textured look) and Northcott’s Naturescape blue (the beautiful watery blue)and, co-incidentally, the grey cat is made from leftovers from last year’s Northcott fabrics that I used in my Silver Bells row.

The rowing crew for today are

Words & Stitches | True Blue Quilts | Miss Loreen’s Schoolhouse
Meanderings Along Lizard Creek | Creativeblonde

And our full list of wonderful sponsors for today are

Electric Quilt
Michael Miller Fabrics
Hoffman Fabrics
Anita Goodesign
Kimberbell Designs
InspiredLED

Please be sure to visit our sponsors and let them know you enjoyed the row hop!  I’ll see you back here in a week with my show and tell quilt…it’s already basted and ready to quilt!

Happy quilting!

Beth

 

 

 

Sew Much to Tell…

OK, I’m typing this on my lunch break from Job 1 (which is better than trying to tap it out on my phone from Job 2) and there’s so much to tell that I’m going with the Cliff’s Notes Version…because my life has been like this lately (but in a good way, too.)

This is sort of what my face looks like on the inside when I’m rushing  around like a crazy lady!

So here’s the happy dance list and there is a lot, lot, lot of happy dance!

1.  My Happy Place Row Along!  It’s started, it’s a thing, it’s fun and free and fabulous and my day is coming!  (Schedule posted below.)  There are amazing prizes so check them out!
2. I’m going to Houston for the Quilt Festival!  I’ll be volunteering in the Just Wanna Quilt Booth so let me know if you’re going!
3. I’m on a podcast!  Bip over to Just Wanna Quilt and listen.  Elizabeth Townsend Gard is soooo fun to listen to!
4. I’m losing it…in a good way!  On August 13th I stopped eating sweets and I am actually seeing some results! And that’s not as easy as it sounds when you’re a middle-aged woman with thyroid issues!  I still need to work on more veggies in my life but I cut out sweets…candy, cookies, cakes, sugary drinks…which is a major accomplishment when you spend 12-25 hours each week selling really good chocolate!  Really, chocolate was pretty much the base of my food pyramid.

Tuesday, September 4, 2018

The Quilt Rambler | Duck Creek Mountain Quilting | Cheryl LaPlante
Patti’s Patchwork

Thursday, September 6, 2018

Pretty Piney | Ms P Designs USA | Creatin’ in the Sticks
Be A Quilter | Freemotion by the River | Any Pattern

Tuesday, September 11, 2018

Barbara Dieges | Upstairs Hobby Room
Quilt Art | UlaSewing / SzycieUli

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Pumpkin Patch BC | Sew Incredibly Crazy
A Quilting Chick | Patchwork Breeze

Tuesday, September 18, 2018

Just Let Me Quilt | Elizabeth Coughlin Designs | Quilt Fabrication
Renee’s Quilting Addiction | Made By Marney

Thursday, September 20, 2018

Clever Chameleon | Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Heleen Pinkster Quilt Design
Cynthia’s Creating Ark | Seams To Be Sew

Tuesday, September 25, 2018

Songbird Designs/Brenda’s Blog | Powered By Quilting | Kissed Quilts
Happy Sewing Room | Sew Joy Creations

Thursday, September 27, 2018

BobbininQuilts | Daydreams of Quilts | The Quilted Snail | Scrapdash

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Words & Stitches | True Blue Quilts | Miss Loreen’s Schoolhouse
Meanderings Along Lizard Creek | Creativeblonde

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Quilt In Piece | Jaded Spade Creations | Mountain Meadow Designs
Masterpiece Quilting | Pamela Quilts

Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Show and Tell Day

And, of course, there needs to a kitty picture just for fun…this is Milo hanging out of the ironing board…helping, of course!

Happy quilting!

Beth

Welcome to My House!

 

The wonderful Carol at Just Let Me Quilt has put together another fun hop!  Of course, my life is always pretty much the Festival of the Last Minute and it’s here and, well, I’m very close to done! Is anyone else old enough to remember the days when women would set their hair in curlers and sometimes have to run out to the grocery with a scarf tied around the knobby evidence of their upcoming important event?  Well, my little quilt reminds me of one of those ladies in their colorful scarves.  I was just sitting down to hand-stitch the binding when I was called into work rather urgently.  So, here’s my cute little quilt with its wonder-clip accessories.

If you’ve visited before, you may know that I am a prodigious creator of UFO’s and I’m trying to whittle the list down a bit.  (When my oldest was little, I got her to promise she’d finish all my UFO’s if something happened to me but when she got older she insisted she’d been duped and would only commit to six.  That leaves me with, well, let’s not talk numbers right now.)  This little quilt was from a wonderful day I got to spend in a class with Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville.  The class title is “Love Shack” and, to my knowledge, it doesn’t show up in any of the Bonnie Hunter books but has an amazing combination of Bonnie’s blocks and methods (all of which you could learn from either her wonderful tutorials or her books.)

I could totally see myself making an entire quilt of the house blocks but, um, that would defeat the “I finished a UFO” concept.  However, I do have an amazing set of house blocks from an exchange years ago.

So, in other news, I’ve gotten very into a new podcast I found called, “Just Wanna Quilt.”  I’m having a blast binging on the back episodes and there is an amazing interview with Tula Pink and Mary Fons!  You can find the podcast in a variety of places but I found mine on an app called Stitcher. (No affiliation, I’m just newer to podcasts and you might be, too.)  The best thing about these podcasts is that I feel like I get to hang out with other quilters right in the middle of my ridiculously busy life.  Driving back and forth between jobs is so much more fun now!

So, that’s all for tonight.  I’m heading to bed because I have about six hours to re-charge before running back out the door.  Be sure to hop over to the other great bloggers and drop back at Carol’s place at Just Let Me Quilt to enter for a great prize!

September 10

 Words & Stitches  – That’s me!

Pieceful Thoughts of My Quilting Life
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Melva Loves Scraps
Cynthia’s Creating Ark
Quilting Quietly
Ms P Designs USA
Quilt n Party

September 11

MooseStash Quilting
Vroomans Quilts
Marjorie’s Busy Corner
Patchouli Moon Studio
DesertSky Quilting
Books, Hooks, Sticks, etc.
Clever Chameleon Quilting
Sew Many Yarns

September 12

Beaquilter
Days Filled With Joy
Freckled Fox Quiltery
Wont-To-Be-Quilter
Why-Knot-Kwilt
Creative Blonde
Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Quarter Inch Crafter
All Thingz Sewn

September 13

Creatin’ in the Sticks
Quilt Doodle Designs
Quilting & Learning – What a Combo!
Domestic Felicity
Life in the Scrapatch
That Fabric Feeling
Just Because Quilts
Hazel’s Daughter

September 14

I Like To Quilt Blog
Selina Quilts
Benita Skinner’s Creative Space
Nettie Sews and Lucky Quilts
Bumbleberry Style
Quilt Fabrication
Sew Golden A Chance
Just Let Me Quilt

 

 

My Happy Place Row Along

It’s here and I’m late!!!!  First week of having students back in school was busy, busy, busy but fun!  I’m so excited this year to have a PIC (partner-in-crime) working in our other school site which makes my life so much better!  Just not having to change campus every other day makes it so much less hectic!  Today, I’m enjoying a 1/2-day off  from job 2 and I have a little quilt to finish binding for tomorrow’s blog hop.

Anyway, before I run off to bind, stop by these talented designers and start picking up some fun rows with no travel required!

Tuesday September 4, 2018

The Quilt Rambler | Duck Creek Mountain Quilting | Cheryl LaPlante
Patti’s Patchwork

Thursday September 6, 2018

Pretty Piney | Ms P Designs USA | Creatin’ in the Sticks
Be A Quilter | Freemotion by the River | Any Pattern

Tuesday September 11, 2018

Barbara Dieges | Upstairs Hobby Room
Quilt Art | UlaSewing / SzycieUli

Thursday September 13, 2018

Pumpkin Patch BC | Sew Incredibly Crazy
A Quilting Chick | Patchwork Breeze

Tuesday September 18, 2018

Just Let Me Quilt | Elizabeth Coughlin Designs | Quilt Fabrication
Renee’s Quilting Addiction | Made By Marney

Thursday September 20, 2018

Clever Chameleon | Adventurous Applique and Quilting
Heleen Pinkster Quilt Design
Cynthia’s Creating Ark | Seams To Be Sew

Tuesday September 25, 2018

Songbird Designs/Brenda’s Blog | Powered By Quilting | Kissed Quilts
Happy Sewing Room | Sew Joy Creations

Thursday September 27, 2018

BobbininQuilts | Daydreams of Quilts | The Quilted Snail | Scrapdash

Tuesday, October 2, 2018

Words & Stitches | True Blue Quilts | Miss Loreen’s Schoolhouse
Meanderings Along Lizard Creek | Creativeblonde

Thursday, October 4, 2018

Quilt In Piece | Jaded Spade Creations | Mountain Meadow Designs
Masterpiece Quilting | Pamela Quilts

Tuesday, October 9, 2018
Show and Tell Day

Fabulous Freebies!

I’m running late with this because, A)  School is back (for staff) and it has been crazy busy, B) I just finished our department raffle quilt in time to sell tickets tomorrow and C) It’s my birthday!!! I’m officially a speed limit….55.  Well, OK maybe it is more of a suggestion where I learned to drive in California but still it feels like an accomplishment.  Besides, now there are senior discounts!  It was a low-key birthday with work all day, this when I went to Dutch Brothers

A quick binding on this quilt

And dinner with hubs and the girls.  These two who are fresh back from their trip to Greece..

I love those smiles!

Now, about the freebies….I love, love, love the amazing patterns and tips and tricks that people share on the internet!  Quilters are, in my opinion, some of the most caring and generous people you’re ever going to meet in life!

So, I couldn’t narrow it down to one….all three of mine are works progress from free patterns or tutorials…

1st – Strings a la Bonnie Hunter at Quiltville....seriously, have you ever looked at how many free patterns Bonnie has?  And, she does an annual mystery quilt for free!  Now, I don’t know about you but that kind of generosity always puts me first in line to buy whatever Bonnie is putting out and I’ve never been disappointed!  This string block is a tutorial from her blog and all made with bits and oddments that I had laying around

Fun, right?  everything but the kitchen sink in that one!  I’m debating if I want to add on to it to make it bigger…I’ve still got plenty of scraps.  So many that I’m nearly finished with my first Scrap Vortex from over at Crazy Mom Quilts.

You’ll find everything you need in the instructions on Crazy Mom Quilts to make your own vortex….caution, it’s addictive!  Also, Samelia’s mum just posted a rainbow scrap that is a fun improve pieced quilt, too!

Third is a special one for me because both the fabrics and the pattern were free.  A bunch of time ago, I brought home a stack of 2.5″ wide purple and green stripes from the guilds’ free table.  Bonnie Hunter’s scrappy trips were all over at the time and I decided to try a controlled look.  By placing the light and the green in the same spot, I got a very controlled look that still has fun with all the purples!

I love how this is coming out and can’t wait to make more!  This is another of Bonnie Hunter’s free patterns.  Now, when I add a Frankenbatt (that’s what I call it when I stitch leftovers back together with a wide zig-zag until I get enough to use) and an on-hand backing …the whole quilt will be free!  Of course, my theory is that if you make it out of what’s on hand then it’s free.  Obviously, fabric depreciates rapidly!

 

Check out my fabulous friends for more freebies and thanks to  Joan at MooseStash Quilting for pulling all this together!

Happy Quilting!

Monday August 20

Just Let Me Quilt

Seams To Be Sew

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Days Filled With Joy

Tu-Na Quilts, Travels and Eats

Quilt Fabrication

Tuesday August 21

Life in the Scrapatch

Songbird Designs

Sew Many Yarns

Samelia’s Mum

Vroomans Quilts

Wednesday August 22

Bejeweled Quilts by Barb

Creatin’ in the Sticks

Just Because Quilts

Hazel’s Daughter

Adventurous Applique and Quilting

BeaQuilter

Thursday August 23

Words & Stitches

Patchouli Moon Studio

Something Rose Made

Sew Golden A Chance

Clever Chameleon

Friday August 24

That Fabric Feeling

Selina Quilts

Quarter Inch Crafter

Yanicka Quilt

MooseStashQuilting

Reunion Weekend

Such a fun, busy long weekend. First my youngest turned 19

I’m still not sure where the time went!

Then we got up at a ridiculous hour and flew to Oakland. We made a trip to San Francisco for lunch before heading to Phil’s hometown of Folsom.

Had lunch at House of Nanking which offers awesome gluten free options.

Saw turkeys wandering the neighborhood!

Great breakfasts on Sutter Street!

A serendipitous car show!

I love this picture of my guy!

Class if 1968!

Wonderful friends…. these guys have been friends for decades!

Met this cute mustached kitty during a visit in a lovely garden.

Family picture with the brothers and two nephews and the adorable grand niece held by Nancy (my sister-in-law and fellow crafter!)

And, of course, no travel is complete without a quilt shop stop! This sweet guy didn’t even try to bar the door….

We came back on Monday and I went right into work mode. But I have today off and it just happens to be the day of the quilters yard sale at Pioneer Quilts.

I got so much fun stuff! This post is so long, I think I’ll put my treasures in the next post.

Happy quilting!

Christmas in July!

OK, I love, love, love Christmas but ever since I started the second job in the candy store (on top of the full time job) I’m having more trouble getting everything I want to do done.  So, July is really the time for me to start!  But, even in the slow season, I’m working a whole lot so I needed a quick gift that I could craft in a small amount of time.  I’m also really big into practical gifts these days.  I mean, why not craft something that can be used and loved?  So, of course I jumped  in when Carol at Just Let Me Quilt offered a reason to push my Christmas crafts to the top of the to-do list!  I really, really appreciate everything that our blog hop coordinators due.  These blog hops often give me a chance to push being creative to the top of my otherwise too full to do list!

Now, I’m am a keeper of scraps.  If you can still sew a 1/4″ seam and have something left…I keep it (much to the dismay of Kathie and Jennifer who are helping me reorganize my space.)  So, I went diving in my “crumb bag” and came up with these…

A handful of little red scraps

Which I crumb pieced together and trimmed to 4.5″ square.  I added 1.5″ background squares and stitched on the diagonal.  (If you don’t know crumb piecing, google Bonnie Hunter crumb piecing.)

Then I stitched a 1.5×2″ rectangle to two 1.5″ squares to make a top for my ornament…ah ha…see, it is a Christmas something!

Add some 1.5″ strips for background and…

Add one layer of batting and back with the leftover pieces from recovering my ironing board…and quilt as desired (I did organic wavy lines a la Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts.)

I roll up my leftover bits of binding and keep them for small projects like this (and occasionally for larger projects with scrappy bindings.)

Now, just one potholder does not a gift make…so, I did a second one with my green crumbs…

I used my tri-recs ruler to cut this 5.5″ tree, added a small trunk and used the same backing and binding….

And there they are!  One quick set of potholders that would be great tucked into a little gift bag with one of those “cookies in a jar” sets or some favorite cooking gadgets.  Or, you could spend a bit more time and make a matching apron.  I’m thinking I’d love to make some reusable gift bags for the holidays and I could see using these as a block for the front of a bag.  Now, my sewing helper had a totally different idea of how these work…

I guess they are really flat kitty pillows!  Mr. Milo has been helping me a lot today

He’s really good at holding fabric down!

There’s a great group of quilters to see today and I was hoping to share a super cute movie that my google photos generated with my pictures from the Sister’s Quilt Show but it doesn’t seem to be working.  I’ll try to get it going on my instagram and add a link if I do.  Thanks for dropping in and enjoy your day!

Beth

Wont-To-Be-Quilter

Words & Stitches  – That’s me!

Home Sewn By Us

Desert Sky Quilting

Thimblemouse and Spouse

Seams To Be Sew

Clever Chameleon Quilting

Christmas in July Starts Today!

Today kicks off the Christmas in July blog hop!  My day is tomorrow and (gasp!) my project is all ready to show!

Here’s the complete schedule…

July 23 – TODAY

Creatin’ in the Sticks

MooseStashQuilting

Lily Patch Quilts

Adventurous Applique and Quilting

Melva Loves Scraps

Sew Many Yarns

Cynthia’s Creating Ark

July 24

Wont-To-Be-Quilter

Words & Stitches

Home Sewn By Us

Desert Sky Quilting

Thimblemouse and Spouse

Seams To Be Sew

Clever Chameleon Quilting

July 25

Quilt Doodle Designs

Kwilty Pleasures

Creative Blonde

Just Because Quilts

Vicki’s Crafts and Quilting

Quilter in Motion

Made By Marney

July 26

Quarter Inch Crafter

Marjorie’s Busy Corner

Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Ms P Designs USA

Selina Quilts

Beaquilter

Mountain Quiltworks

July 27

Life in the Scrapatch

Quilt n Party

Days Filled With Joy

Quilt Fabrication

All Thingz Sewn

Sew Golden A Chance

Just Let Me Quilt

 

If I can make it work, tomorrow I’ll also take you on a little trip to one of my favorite places!

Happy quilting!

Beth

A Finish for the 4th

I had the whole day off from both jobs on the 4th and boy did I need it! I spent a large part of the day sewing. As I fell on Monday and jammed my knee, I was pretty thankful that I can sew with either foot! So, I finished this quilt that is heading off to my brother in California. I’m hoping he’ll like it.

This is my first official UFO for the summer. I’m hoping to finish a few more while I’m off school. Next on my list is this one.

I had to do some changes to the blocks so there was less yellow and white and more purple. At this point, I’m pretty sure I’m going to have to make a second quilt to use up the other blocks that will be left over!

This morning, I added 16 more blocks to the approximately 100 I’ll need.

I’m hoping to lay the whole quilt out tomorrow and see how many more I need. I’ll post more tomorrow.

Happy quilting,

Beth