quilt frenzy

posting on the new website

2012-02-02T10:05:00.000-08:00

My first new post on the new website - hopefully everybody can transition over :)

http://www.cascadequilts.com/2012/02/moms-wrapped-in-red-quilt.html

the new website is:

2012-01-31T13:40:00.000-08:00

Cascade Quilts!

http://cascadequilts.com

new name again

2012-01-30T09:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I am still stuck at what to rename my blog. It's funny that I came across this this morning. I read several, and it didn't help. Hubby said that if I can't have Red's Threads, that I should just move into a different direction. So, I think I've come up with another name - I'll fill ya in later!

Meanwhile, here is an updated pic of my hexie flower progress! There are 79 flowers together so far! That's 553 hexagons! Maybe 1/4 of the way there I'm thinking :)

Wants a new 'name'.........

2012-01-26T09:27:00.000-08:00

I am trying to come up with a new name. I want to buy a domain, and I have never really 'dug' the quilt frenzy name. It kinda bugs me, LOL.

My nickname that hubby calls me is ''Red''. (I have light auburn hair). I wanted ''Red's Threads'', but darned if that's not already taken (a clothing company in Oregon/Indonesia). So, I have to think of something ELSE. I was loving my idea too, humph.

I do other sewing besides quilting, so I really didn't want ''quilts'' in the name either.

Any grand ideas anybody?

quilty memories....

2012-01-26T04:48:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a quilty day with my mom......
A semi-local quilt museum was doing an exhibit at a local retirement center, so mom and I decided to go. It was amazing to see all the antique quilts and hear their stories! We saw quilts of all types, even one that was fairly new from a local male quilter! (There was not one man at the exhibit though, LOL).

After the exhibit, I went to her house to baste my kaleidoscope quilt:

then, noticed her Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt that she started as a teenager and finished about 10 years ago. I had forgotten that I had given her scraps from several quilts I had made. The flower print in the chain from this one:

and the main flower print in this one (which resides on my bed below the comforter ALL the time):

and also another print from a mauve/blue log cabin quilt I made early 1991. For some reason, I don't have a pic of that quilt. My younger son uses it on his bed under his ''money quilt'' though :)

It was really fun to see those scraps used in my mom's wonderful hexagon quilt though! I'll have to get a pic of her quilts next time I think of it when I go there. She has an amazing DWR that she hand-pieced and hand quilted too. She keeps it folded up and stored in the spare room. I wish she'd showcase it somewhere as it's amazing!

Anyhow, I came home practically meeting the UPS man at the front door. He had a box with this little stack of beauties for me!

I am going to quilt the kaleidoscope quilt today, then my focus will be on this stack of lovliness! EEEEEE!

postage stamp quilt finish.....

2012-01-22T11:57:00.000-08:00

Finally finished my postage stamp quilt. I quilted diagonally with a variegated thread. My Pfaff has dual feed, which I LOOOOVE. No need for a special walking foot for quilting :) I love how the diagonal quilting makes it look like on-point piecing :)

You gotta LOVE Moda fabrics too (I used 'Pampered Pooch here, alternating with Kona white). I used 3 ''color catchers'' when I washed this quilt since there was red and black in several prints - and there was next to no color released! And NO bleeding! YAAA for Moda fabrics!

As much as I love this quilt, it is now in my Etsy shop. I'll be sad to see it go when it sells!

a few more hexies.....

2012-01-20T11:05:00.000-08:00

Still plugging away at my hexagon quilt top!

Kaleidoscope quilt top.........

2012-01-19T15:29:00.000-08:00

I finally got hubby to hold my kaleidoscope quilt top so I could take a half decent pic of it! I finished this quilt top on New Years Day :) My first semi-finish of the New Year :)

On Monday, I got my postage stamp quilt basted. I'm ready to finally quilt it! I think I'm going with diagonal straight lines though the white blocks with variegated pastel thread :)

Swooning.........scrappy block #1

2012-01-17T20:47:00.000-08:00

Well, finally finished my first Swoon block. Wow, they are labor intensive! Glad there is only 9 of them, LOL. I think it's going to be awesome though! Every single piece of printed fabric came from my scrap bin. I am very pleased about that! What is WEIRD though - is my bin doesn't seem to have gotten any 'skinnier' because of it! What's up with that?! It actually seems like it's bursting even MORE. OYE. I see either another scrap quilt in my future, or a GIVEAWAY, hehe.
So, here she is, in all her scrappy glory:

Swooning.........scrappily

2012-01-15T14:42:00.000-08:00

Here are all the 'parts' sewn/cut for my scrappy Swoon quilt :)

I wasn't going to piece any of the small parts of the quilt, but I made too much sewing the scraps together into fabric, I had just enough to make the square corners from the pieced scraps too. So, I'm going with that. I am also changing the pattern just a tad - I'm not doing any flying geese (making them 2 HST's instead), and the rectangle that is supposed to be one printed material, I'm making into two HST's too. This is definitely going to be my scrappiest quilt ever. I am happy to say that I got this all from my scrap bin (minus the Kona Ash for the background).

Only y'all would understand......

2012-01-13T10:47:00.000-08:00

The hubs thinks I'm nuts. But, that's a moot point.
My scrap box is busting at the seams. I'm not normally a scrap keeper, but for some odd reason, I can't seem to throw anything away anymore (I draw the line at anything under 1'' square, LOL).

So, yesterday, I took out the smaller pieces (minus anything that had pink), and have been sewing them together making new ''fabric''. I am going to be cutting my centers for my scrappy Swoon quilt for the Swoonalong from this 'fabric'. The bigger pieces of scraps in my bin I will save for the rest of the quilt.

I love that these small pieces will be of use. I thought (briefly!) about making the whole quilt (except the background) from pieced 'fabric', but I'm not THAT crazy, LOL. Or am I?......... NO! hehe. I am going to make this one entirely from the scrap bin though - except the background. I haven't decided what I'm going to use for that yet. I'm thinking about a newspaper print (which I'd have to order). I have some white on white random dots in yardage, but I don't think I have quite enough :( Anything I choose, I will have to buy unfortunately....

3 posts in one day?

2012-01-11T11:43:00.000-08:00

Ya, I probably should have waited until later in the day and combined the 3 posts, but oh well!LOL

I have an embroidery machine - and I have LOTS of rayon embroidery thread. I had 4 spools sitting on the shelf that didn't fit in my thread rack, and I keep walking by these threads and they catch my eye every time!

wouldn't these colors be lovely in a quilt? Ahhhh. Maybe even all solids. Mmmmmm.

OK, I need to get back to work so I have time to quilt sometime this week!!

wedding quilt.......

2012-01-11T10:04:00.000-08:00

wedding quilt start........

I am going to be making a simple equilateral triangle quilt for a wedding gift....... I am waiting on 4 shades of gray (ash, charcoal, med.gray, and pepper) and a couple more gray/black/white prints to add to these. I did add some black triangles in there too. I cut the triangles at 4 1/2'' to utilize every scrap of the 1/4 yard cuts I had of most of these prints.

These pieces are the only bits left after cutting the triangles from the 4 1/2'' strips - they will be utilized in the backing! Nothing wasted or adding to my scrap bin (which is now almost impossible to close the lid on because it's overflowing!) Me thinks I need to make a scrap quilt for my next project........

wordless Wednesday.....

2012-01-11T09:57:00.000-08:00

36 hexie flowers in the garden and Blogger frustration

2012-01-05T12:04:00.000-08:00

Is anybody else having problems uploading pics to Blogger? It's really frustrating! I click on the pics I want to add, and it ACTS like it's going to add them, but just gets 'stuck' :P I finally got these posted after 5 attempts!

I've been working on these in the evenings again and now have 36 flowers together. I was going to try to do it in 'blocks', but quickly realized that there would be too much figuring to make sure I got them all aligned the same so that the blocks would fit together in the end. It's really nice to be able to take out so many papers though (only the papers in the perimeter remain). It's gonna take me the rest of the year to complete I think, but it will be worth it!

I did also finish the English Flower garden kaleidoscope quilt top, but need a clear day and a 'helper' to take pics :) It's bee SO dreary and windy and rainy here in the Pacific NorthWest!

The garden is growing.....

2011-12-29T08:07:00.000-08:00

I've got all the churn dash blocks done and most of the kaleidoscope blocks (except for the ones on the outer edges because I need to pick up some yardage of the print I want to use).
It's coming together!

I have most of them stitched together in rows - just need to finish the edge blocks so I can sew the rows together!

don't sew when tired........

2011-12-28T10:35:00.000-08:00

I really should know not to sew when I'm tired - especially with a design/template I haven't done before. I'm working on a kaleidoscope quilt - using the pattern ''English Garden'' from the ''Kaleidoscope The Smart Way'' with the ''Smart Plate'' template. This quilt was my inspiration. This pattern uses kaleidoscope blocks with alternating churn dash blocks. You have to finish all the churn dash blocks before working on the kaleidoscope blocks so you know your layout..... anyhow, this is what happens when you don't pay attention:

on the left: the wrong way! On the right, correcto-mundo! These are done from pinwheel blocks (4 HST blocks), but I think if I had to do it all over again, I'd make the pinwheel blocks from this method (only reverse), so the prints aren't on the bias.
The hubs is working today, and I have nothing to do but surf and SEW! Hopefully I'll get all the blocks done for this today! ::crossing fingers::

t-shirt press

2011-12-26T17:34:00.000-08:00

not long ago, I decided to get a t-shirt press..... I have been making custom shirts and using a domestic iron just was hit-and-miss if they stayed ironed on. I found a used press for a very reasonable price and it is awesome! The t-shirt transfers are more 'melted' into the shirts and they definitely look professional now!

I found another use for the t-shirt press though - pressing quilt blocks! It makes them SO flat and nice! Here is a pic to show - on the left are pressed blocks and on the right are ironed blocks.

The press goes all the way up to 400*F (but I have it set at 375*F as that is what I do my shirts at). Here is a block that is ironed and ready to be pressed:

and here it is right after being pressed for 10 seconds:

amazing difference huh?!!! My press has a 9x12 surface, so I will be limited in the size of blocks I can press, but I think this will be nice when time comes to baste and quilt :)

Pinterest?

2011-12-23T07:07:00.000-08:00

Anybody using Pinterest and wanna shoot me an invite? I've tried to join on the site, and if I get it right - you have to have someone invite you to actually join? I got a message that I was on the 'waiting list'? edit to add: I got an invite, thanks SO MUCH! My pinterest is HERE

I woke up this morning at 3am sharp, wide awake and ready for the day. Problem is, the day isn't ready for me at 3am! What do you do in a dark house when you are wide awake at 3am? I can't sew since my ironing board area is right by the window and you need daylight to see well enough to iron/cut. So, anyhow, what do you do at 3am, but surf quilting blogs and Flickr? And Pinterest I guess if you 'get' it :)

On another note - I did get batteries for the camera yesterday:

I have 23 flowers together now, but I probably won't be able to work on it again until after Christmas. Too much baking to do. And quilt blog surfing, LOL.

no batteries......

2011-12-22T07:45:00.000-08:00

I was going to post an updated pic of my hexagon progress, but the batteries are dead in the camera and I have no spares :(
I do have 23 hexagon flowers sewn together side-by-side...... one little corner of the quilt top! yaaa! The piecing them together is a bit more challenging than making the flowers themselves. Lots of folding and flipping. I can see that as it gets bigger, it's going to be even more of a challenge. I'm still not tired of the hand sewing though - and that surprises me! I have been struggling with my leather thimble though - I don't like wearing thimbles at all, but after I poked the eye of the needle through my finger more than twice, I decided I should probably try again. Somewhere, SOMEwhere I have some of those adhesive thimbles - they are small dots that you stick to your finger - and those are my favorites, but they are nowhere to be found of course. So, my second choice is a leather thimble that fits over the end of your finger. Now, my fingers are bigger than most women's, so I have had a hard time getting it on my finger far enough. I trimmed it down some to get it to fit, but now it won't STAY on my finger, gah. I have ordered some more stick-on thimbles, but I think I might check at JoAnn's today to see if they have any in stock. Last time I checked they didn't, but that was before we got our new/bigger store. Maybe they have some now :)

Anyhow, the next few days is going to be crazy busy with baking, baking, and more baking - so I will return after Christmas!

fabric - it is an addiction......

2011-12-16T11:00:00.000-08:00

I was picking up this fabric the other day - simply because it was on sale and I liked it. Reason enough, right? Well, my niece was working the cutting counter that day - and she mentioned how she liked that group of fabrics. Hmm. And she's getting married early next summer. Double hmmm. Me thinks I know a reason for this fabric now! Tee hee :)

And, I am finally ready to cut the ''quilt kit'' I am making my mom for Christmas. She has been admiring the quilt 'wrapped in red' from Piece N Quilt's pattern in American Patchwork and Quilting (we talked about the quilt several times when the magazine first came out) - but she mentioned to me that she didn't ''think she was up to cutting that much fabric anymore''. My mom turned 69 this year and has arthritis in her hands. So, I decided that my Christmas gift to her would be the pre-cut fabric for this quilt!

so, I gathered a bunch of red prints and a couple white prints, and hopefully this will get me all the pieces she needs to make the quilt. I'll leave the border up to her though :)

My handsome young man.....

2011-12-15T14:03:00.000-08:00

I can't believe my 'baby' is a senior! Next year, I'll have two in college. UGH.

today the senior pics were due for the annual. We got these taken last night. Nothing like waiting until the last minute, LOL.

Queue the angels singing.........

2011-12-14T10:53:00.000-08:00

Isn't it divine? ::sigh:: This little chart is going to be SO helpful for ordering solids for my projects!

Speaking of projects, this one is coming along nicely.... if I would have to choose a solid to go with it other than black, according to my chart, it would be 'honey' matching closest the 'gold' in the UI fabric :)

I actually have the top fully assembled for this project - I will share a pic when it's fully quilted though :) I think I'm going to do some straight line quilting on this one :)

97 hexagon flowers

2011-12-10T16:05:00.000-08:00

My stack of hexagons has grown to 97 flowers. If you have not seen I'm a Ginger Monkey's Hexy MF, you need to check it out. This is very similar to how I hope to finish my hexagon quilt and hers is such an inspiration!
My stack of 97 flowers:

The flowers I've finished in the last week:

Love my Pezzy prints! (and FMF!)

Tonight is hubby's company Christmas party and it's freezing rain out! The last 3 years in a row, it's snowed on us during the party - hopefully it will be snow this year too and not an ice storm!

Connecting Threads

2011-12-07T12:47:00.000-08:00

Connecting Threads is one of my favorite places to buy fabric (besides my first fave, Moda!) - they have great fabric and at even better prices. Especially when you can hit the clearance section. They have a HUGE variety of clearance fabrics right now - as cheap as $2.48 a yard. I can vouch that it IS good fabric too! I just placed an order with them - I am not affiliated with them in any way, just another happy customer! Here are a few of the 1/2 yard pieces I ordered:

82 flowers

2011-12-05T10:17:00.000-08:00

Well, hubby took the camera to work I guess, so I don't have a pic to share - but I got 11 more hexagon flowers done this weekend, which brings my total up to 82 flowers! So, only about 200-something more to go, LOL. Maybe by next Christmas.....

66 flowers....

2011-11-28T12:31:00.000-08:00

I actually have 71 done now, but 5 aren't pressed and in this pic :) It's evident from the pic that I need more yellows, dark blues, and pinks/purples! Plenty of reds and light blue/aqua for sure. Guess you can tell my favorite colors!

I'm thinking when I assemble them, I might make them flow from one color to the next....... hopefully I can make that happen w/o it looking like a rainbow.....

And below is a pic of the star flower paper pieced. I think I will NOT do this though, it wasn't fun to piece at all. I'm gonna have to figure out something similar and machine piece it me thinks!

were we supposed to SHOOT the deer?

2011-11-27T17:44:00.000-08:00

Oh, for some reason I was thinking we were just supposed to chase them up and down the mountain. Because we certainly did a LOT of that :P I'm too old and fat for that, I definitely need to get into better shape if I want to try this again next year (which I do!). So, exercise, here I come (ewww)!

This was one of dozens and dozens of does we saw...... unfortunately we were only able to get 3-point or better bucks (mule deer)........we did see several 'shooter' bucks, but didn't get any. Hubby got a shot on a huge 4x4, but it was a drastic down-hill shot and he overcompensated for the drop and shot JUST under it, bummer. (he was at the top of this cliff below and the deer was just above the cluster of 3 trees on the left).

Below is a pic of where we had to go to get cell service! We had to chain up all 4 to get there!

Beautiful pics hubby took :)

some exciting snow-wheeling and some awesome scenery was to be had though! It was a good time with hubby at least - a great 6 days together :)

I wish I hadn't noticed this.........

2011-11-17T11:17:00.000-08:00

I was cutting some 1'' hexie paper pieces a couple nights ago. I am using Texas Freckles printout, cutting with my paper cutter into rows first, then cutting the rows out by hand. I noticed this when cutting the rows....

each 'row' you can cut two 60 degree diamonds and two 60 degree 'jewels'. Put 6 jewels together with one hexagon to create a star flower - then use the diamonds to fill in the edges of the star to make one bigger hexagon. I found that you can squeeze that jewel shape into a 2 1/2'' square material like I use for my 1'' hexagons - but the diamond, you'd need a bigger piece. Which would work best as one solid background anyhow, so wouldn't be a big deal....... this is definitely my next EPP project. Now, I'm gonna be rushed to finish the hexagons so I can start on this, hehe :) Sick or not, I think I'm sewing hexagon flowers today....

I'm calling in sick.......

2011-11-17T10:17:00.000-08:00

Well, at about the worst timing possible, I am sick. Fever, aches, congestion, sore throat, ick. Ya see, hubby and I have been planning a hunting vacation for months, and we leave on Sunday. With a cabin on a lake and everything. For a week. We've been raising kids for 20 years, and this is only the second time we've been away sans kids. Seriously. The first time was in September for the early hunt for the weekend (and we camped in a tent in a state park). I sure hope I'm better by Sunday........... cause I wanna be as alert as this deer and see them before they see me :)

hexagon calculator

2011-11-15T08:54:00.000-08:00

Since I've been getting a lot of hexie flowers sewn together, I have been wondering when I'm going to get close to enough for a full size quilt. Today, I finally found something SUPER helpful for a hexagon quilt! Check out CD Designs - they have a hexagon quilt calculator! I punched in for a 70x70 quilt with 1'' hexagons - and got that I'll need 1877 hexagons. I divided that by 7 (number of hexies in a flower) and so that means I'll need 268 hexie flowers (give or take a few) to make a decent sized quilt. I think that's totally do-able, so I'm going to stick with the idea of no background/path on these flowers :) I have an idea for another EPP project (after I finish this one, will be able to use some leftovers) that I will use a background on, so I want this one to be different. (Plus, I have a GFG hand-pieced vintage quilt top off to be quilted that has a 'path', so want it to be different from that one too.)
I didn't take a new pic, here's previous pics of some of my hexies :)

design wall monday - more hexagon flowers

2011-11-14T11:45:00.000-08:00

I'm getting quite a pile of these little guys - and I am very much considering appliquing them onto a solid backing in a random fashion instead of sewing them together like I've had them in pics. Still deciding. I think I'd need about 300 flowers for a full size quilt - maybe only 150 if I used a background fabric..... hmmm.......

speaking of scrappy trips......

2011-11-11T12:33:00.000-08:00

Those block lotto blocks on my last post reminded me of this UFO I started a while back....... I found honey buns on clearance at my LQS for less than $10...... I got 3 (I think they are Mill House Inn? Fig Tree anyhow....). Honey Buns for a whole quilt?...... what was I thinking? I'll still get back to it someday, but WOW, those blocks are TINY. The measure in at 6 1/2'' where the same block made with jelly roll strips measures in at 12 1/2'', LOL. It takes FOUR honey bun blocks to equal ONE jelly roll block. Ya, I think even with 3 honey buns, it will be a small quilt. Craziness I tell ya!

Here is one of my UFO boxes with strip sets made up, some pre-cut - and two honey buns not even opened yet. I think that when I DO finish this one, I'll have to buy some coordinating Fig Tree material for a LARGE border! LOL

November block lotto

2011-11-11T11:22:00.000-08:00

Well, I decided to join in on the 'block lotto' - so here are my entries for the month of November! (with my argyle quilt peeking out from the background!)

wordless WIP Wednesday

2011-11-09T11:23:00.000-08:00

it doesn't count, I swear......

2011-11-04T15:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I started a new quilt. I am weak. I said I was going to finish more UFO's before I started another one - but I have an excuse. This one is to be a Christmas gift, so it NEEDS to be worked on, right? hehe :)

so, stacks and stacks of equilateral triangles (in sets of 6 identical cuts). Can ya guess what I'm making? LOL. Not hard to guess :)

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-02T05:58:00.000-07:00

Winner winner chicken dinner!

2011-11-01T09:27:00.000-07:00

And the winner for the made-by-me jelly roll (picked by random.org) is: #30 chicken mommy
I have emailed you chicken mommy - all I need is an address and I'll get that jelly roll in the mail to you this week :)

#30 chicken mommy said...: I love how the ghastlies are hiding in the center of all those triangles. Ghastly gorgeous creations.

The Ghastlies are HERE!

2011-10-31T00:01:00.000-07:00

OH Ghastlie....

If you have this thing for Ghastlies

and they have tied you in a knot

and you wish you could get them out of your mind

than this may be a thought.

We heard her plea for a cure

Mdm Samm was pos/it/ively sure

that we could stitch the nights away

in hopes that we MAY----

( all 54 of us)

BUT....

The side effects are Ghastlie

there is no mistaking too.

if you don't run this very minute

YOU too will catch the FLU...

We suspected all along

this was her master plan

she did not want to be alone,

with all - YOU Ghastlie FANS...

I have been just DIEING to show you my Ghastlie project! Now I feel a bit goulish after so many wonderful Ghastlie projects have been shown! Mine shadows in comparison!

Behold, the Ghastlie quilt!

When I first saw this quilt pattern at Kim's Big Quilting Adventure, I knew I had to make one similar! I changed it up a little bit, leaving out the pink stars (I'm not a pink kinda girl!) and doing mitered corners on the border print. The print was really difficult to piece together, and I ended up leaving it off the top since it's a directional quilt and that would be under the pillows anyhow.

For the quilting, I used my walking foot to first lay out a grid for the spiderwebs. Then, I did each block individually and FMQ'd the interlocking webs. I went in a spiral so I could keep the stops and overlapping stitches to a minimum. I did use Hobb's poly-down batting in black, which I'm not sure if I like or not. It did make it a bit more difficult to quilt compared to the usual Warm & White that I'm used to! But, the quilt does feel really warm and fluffy because of it! The backing is solid black, so I chose to do all the quilting in black. Except the border - I was going to use green thread for the border with black in the binding, but I couldn't get my tension quite right - so ended up using clear in the top and black bobbin. It worked out well, and I just did a random stipple in the border. I have added this one to my Etsy shop.

I also got a great idea for using up my scraps from this quilt into another Halloween quilt when I saw this project on Moda Bake Shop.

I cut into all my purples and oranges in my stash, and some blacks and grays too. I cut WAY too much and ended up with enough for 3 quilts! One ''jelly roll'' I put in my Etsy shop, but one I saved for today! One lucky winner will win this 'jelly roll' today.

Just leave a comment to be entered to win! I will also be drawing a second name to give to Madame Samm Ghastlie at Sew I Quilt for the blog hop winner!

Good luck everybody!

And don't forget to visit the rest of the blogs in today's hop!

ON Monday October 31st
Day 6

Mrs. Toyna Ghastlie
Mrs Tiramisue Ghastlie

Mrs. Angela Ghastlie

Mrs Pauline Ghastlie

Mrs. Karin Ghastlie (that's me!)

Mrs Barb Ghastlie

EDITED TO ADD:
I had another Ghastlie finish - a quilt 'flimsy' finish. I had so hoped to complete this quilt by today, but it was not to be. I followed the Moda Bake Shop pattern, but made it bigger (it finished at 80x85). I found the perfect mottled green that goes with the green print leftovers that I fussy cut for the equilateral triangles between the webs.

I am hoping that sometime this week I will get around to basting it so I can quilt it. It can still be a Ghastlie November, right? They are at the dinner table, maybe it's for Thanksgiving?! LOL :)

Blogger's Quilt festival - fall 2011

2011-10-28T10:50:00.000-07:00

If you are already a follower, this will be old news to you, but if you've never been here before....

Behold, my yummy scrumdillyumptious HST Wee Play quilt!

Warning, picture overload!
Prior to washing:

and then the post-washing wonderful crinkliness below!

Then, I got my 17 year old son to hold it up for me outside........

then it went for a photoshoot on my vintage Serro Scotty camper trailer:

OK, the details about this quilt:

Wee Play by American Jane for Moda ( I can't remember if I used 3 or 4 charm packs - and equal white squares, which was a quilter's cotton)

Endless possibilities pattern from Moda Bake Shop

80/20 cotton/poly batting

100% sewn and quilted on my Pfaff Tiptronic sewing machine (no long-armer here!)

quilting - done with a variegated red cotton Gutermann (which was incredibly linty!) - I think I have about 8 hours into quilting this!

binding - scrappy to match, machine sewn to front, hand sewn to back (about 2 1/2 hours ugh)

backing - I believe this is by Benartex, but it wasn't labeled, so I'm not positive......

here is the secret of the quilting......

This one is now in my Etsy Shop

I used a pre-printed backing and ''sort of'' followed the lines. I had to baste it with the back-side up as if the top was the backing and the backing was the top. I used a bazillion safety pins to baste and I am happy to say that I cannot notice one pleat in the front! There might be tiny ones, but I can't see any, so it worked out great! I took artistic liberties to make some curves curvier and I didn't worry too much if I went off course a bit - you can't tell at all now that it's washed and the blue lines have washed out :) I think this backing is from Benartex, but I'm not positive. It was stuff I got before my LQS closed (owner retired) and they had a huge clearance sale. It was cheap and I got all they had - now I wish there had been more! I have enough to do another small quilt with this though, but I'm going to have to piece and wing it on matching up those lines where I piece it. Should be fine for a baby quilt or lap quilt though :)

EDIT: one of my readers found sources for this backing material at fabric.com and at quiltnutsandbolts.com - it IS Benartex - thanks so much Linda!!!

Ghastlie blog hop - day 4!

2011-10-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

ON Monday, October 24th

Day 1

Mrs Kirie Ghastlie

Ms Carol Ghastlie

Ms. Wendy Ghastlie

Ms. Carrie Ghastlie

Mrs Holly Ghastlie

( Ghastlie Fabric Giveaway....Alexander Henry

Winner- Grand Prize.... the Lady of the Cloth

from Mrs Kirie Ghastlies Shape MOTH.blog..)

ON Tuesday October 25th

Day 2

Mrs. Annie Ghastlie

Mrs Doris Ghastlie

Mrs Brandie Ghastlie

Ms. Alidiza Ghastlie

Mrs. JudyC Ghastlie

( Wheeled PINK Sewing BAG goes

to Cherise from Mrs Annies Ghastlie Fans...)

ON Wednesday October 26th

Day 3

Mrs. Barb Ghastlie

Miss Karen Ghastlie

Ms. Loralynn Ghastlie

Ms. Jen Ghastlie.

Ms Penny Ghastlie

Mrs Rhonda Ghastlie

( Ghastlie fabric goes to Sheri and Jackie)

from Mrs Penny and Mrs Karen Ghaslties)

ON Thursday October 27th

Day 4

Mrs. Katherine Ghastlie

Ms Sharon Ghastlie

Mrs. Gooden Ghastlie

Ms. Selina Ghastlie

Mrs. Melinda Ghastlie

ON Friday October 28th

Day 5

Miss Trudi Ghastlie

Ms. Deonn Ghastlie

Mrs. Marlene Ghastlie

Mrs Kim Ghastlie

Mrs Tammy Ghastlie

ON Monday October 31st
Day 6

Mrs. Toyna Ghastlie
Mrs Tiramisue Ghastlie

Mrs. Angela Ghastlie

Mrs Pauline Ghastlie

Mrs. Karin Ghastlie

Mrs Barb Ghastlie

ON Tuesday November 1st
Day 7

Miss Daisy Ghastlie
Mrs. Dana Ghastlie

Mrs. Elaine Ghastlie

Mrs. Gramma Sheri Ghastlie
Ms. Suz Ghastlie

ON Wednesday November 2nd
Day 8

Mrs. Jane Ghastlie
Mrs. Laura Ghastlie

Mrs. Mary Ghastlie

Mrs. Michelle Ghastlie

Mrs. Dawn Ghastlie
Mrs Mary Ghastlie

ON Thursday November 3rd
Day 9

Mrs. Sharon Ghastlie
Mrs Corrie Ghastlie

Mrs Cheryl Ghastlie

Mrs. Linda Ghastlie
Mrs. Pickles Ghastlie

ON Friday November 4th
Day 10

Mrs Nan Ghastlie

Mrs. Gmama Jane Ghastlie
Mrs Joan Ghastlie
Mrs. Nancy Ghastlie

Ms Susan Ghastlie
Madame Ghastlie

Each day Madame Ghastlie herself will have a giveaway...

Some of my Ghastlie Sistahs have made some special

projects to giveaway and we will have daily SPECIAL PRIZES

from these sponsors....to sweeten the CAULDRON....

Some of our Sponsors

Alexander Henry Fabrics- lot's and lot's of Ghastlie Fabric

Colonial Needle -sewing basket
Quilt Taffy $51.12 Gift Certificate.

Janes Fabrics -Kona fabrics in PINK -fat quarter bundle

Reliable Iron - orange Velocity 50

IHAN ( kelly )- .aurifil threads

Coeurdalenegifts- 2 sets of Halloween lights

Forth Worth Fabric Studio - gorgeous gift set of Ghasltie fabric

Creative Grid -3 Rulers their top 3

Blue FIG- wheeled bag in PINK

Beam N Read and custom Ghastlie Buttons

Ghastlies blog hop - day 3

2011-10-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

go to this post to see the schedule! The projects are ever so Ghastlie!

Ghastlie blog hop, day 2!

2011-10-25T10:26:00.000-07:00

ON Tuesday October 25th

Mrs. Annie Ghastlie

Mrs Doris Ghastlie

Mrs Brandie Ghastlie

Ms. Alidiza Ghastlie

Mrs. JudyC Ghastlie

design wall Monday - hexagon flowers

2011-10-24T11:05:00.000-07:00

well, I didn't work on any quilting other than my hexagon flowers this week. I have been too busy with ''work'' and family. I did get some really cute hexie flowers done though!

and I'm getting a nice little stack of them!

I did do some stash cutting this morning when I saw the Halloween quilt project on Moda Bake Shop -
I cut 2 1/2'' strips of blacks/grays/purples/oranges in my stash, and ended up with WAAAY more than I need for one quilt. So, I have an extra ''jelly roll'' that I've put in my etsy shop.

Don't forget about the Ghastlies Blog hop that started today! 5 bloggers have posted their Ghastlie project and they ARE GHASTLIE! And wonderful!!! Be sure to check them out! And don't forget to comment! :)

ON Monday, October 24th

Mrs Kirie Ghastlie

Ms Carol Ghastlie

Ms. Wendy Ghastlie

Ms. Carrie Ghastlie

Mrs Holly Ghastlie

The Ghastlies are coming, the Ghastlies are coming!

2011-10-23T08:00:00.000-07:00

A Ghastlie blog hop that is!

This will be my first 'blog hop', and I will have a wonderful finished project so share - ON HALLOWEEN! This will be our schedule starting tomorrow! Bookmark this page so you are sure not to miss out on any of the wonderful Ghastlie projects!

ON Monday, October 24th

Mrs Kirie Ghastlie

Ms Carol Ghastlie

Ms. Wendy Ghastlie

Ms. Carrie Ghastlie

Mrs Holly Ghastlie

ON Tuesday October 25th

Mrs. Annie Ghastlie

Mrs Doris Ghastlie

Mrs Brandie Ghastlie

Ms. Alidiza Ghastlie

Mrs. JudyC Ghastlie

ON Wednesday October 26th

Mrs. Barb Ghastlie

Miss Karen Ghastlie

Ms. Loralynn Ghastlie

Ms. Jen Ghastlie.

Ms Penny Ghastlie

ON Thursday October 27th

Mrs. Katherine Ghastlie

Ms Sharon Ghastlie

Mrs. Gooden Ghastlie

Ms. Selina Ghastlie

Mrs. Melinda Ghastlie

ON Friday October 28th

Miss Trudi Ghastlie

Ms. Deonn Ghastlie

Mrs. Marlene Ghastlie

Mrs Kim Ghastlie

Mrs Tammy Ghastlie

ON Monday October 31st

Mrs. Toyna Ghastlie
Mrs Tiramisue Ghastlie

Mrs. Angela Ghastlie

Mrs Pauline Ghastlie

Mrs. Karin Ghastlie

Mrs Barb Ghastlie

ON Tuesday November 1st

Miss Daisy Ghastlie
Mrs. Dana Ghastlie

Mrs. Elaine Ghastlie

Mrs. Gramma Sheri Ghastlie
Ms. Suz Ghastlie

ON Wednesday November 2nd

Mrs. Jane Ghastlie
Mrs. Laura Ghastlie

Mrs. Mary Ghastlie

Mrs. Michelle Ghastlie

Mrs. Dawn Ghastlie
Mrs Mary Ghastlie

ON Thursday November 3rd

Mrs. Sharon Ghastlie
Mrs Corrie Ghastlie

Mrs Cheryl Ghastlie

Mrs. Linda Ghastlie
Mrs. Pickles Ghastlie

ON Friday November 4th

Mrs Nan Ghastlie

Mrs. Gmama Jane Ghastlie
Mrs Joan Ghastlie
Mrs. Nancy Ghastlie

Ms Susan Ghastlie
Madame Ghastlie

A few of my favorite things.....

2011-10-21T10:15:00.000-07:00

I don't know how one block could contain so many of my favorite things in quilting.
Hexagons
red and aquaaaaaa!
American Jane Pez in red! (i. heart. pez.)
It's a thing of beauty, but I maaaay be a bit biased :)

This little lovely is no slouch either!!!

::sigh:: I love working on these little hexie flowers - whether they are scrappy flowers or matchy. Love them all! I think I'll make ''opposites'' of these tonight (solids as the petals, print as the center).
I'm gonna have to figure out at some point - how many hexie flowers I need to make for a quilt? I want it to at least be 70x70 or somewhere around there.......

Thinking ahead.......

2011-10-18T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well, I told myself I wasn't starting another quilt project until I finished a few more WIP's........ but thinking ahead doesn't count, LOL. I am just not going to CUT into another project, but I want to PLAN my next projects :)

I know I'm going to do a stack-n-whack for my son's college apartment with material with his college logo on it, and also make him so kitchen things (potholders, etc.) for Christmas..... so, that is next on the list so I can get it done in time. But, after that....... I have these lovelies that are running through my brain CONSTANTLY!

aren't these girls just LOVELY? Ahhhhhhhhh. I also have a bit or yardage in Bliss in the reds and aqua prints - and I have enough of the aqua/white dots for a backing. A truely blissful quilt it would be if I could just DECIDE on a design! At first I thought I would just do a postage stamp quilt, but I'm not sure now! I do think it would be lovely, but there are so many other designs, how can I decide? Help me decide! I love me some hexies, I could do a half-hexie quilt maybe? It would definitely be a lot harder to do a layout on a hexie quilt, but it would be awesome. I'd love some input - this is something I'm probably not going to start for a couple months, but I want ideas to stew on until then so I am SURE what I want to make, since these 'girls' are so special and beautimous!

A Ghastlie finish peek.........

2011-10-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

I have finished my Ghastlie project for the blog hop and my day to share is Halloween! I am showing a sneek peek today since I am totally DONE with it :)

You'll have to come back on Halloween to see the full picture :)

hexie madness progress

2011-10-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Still plugging away on my hexies in the evenings :) I think I counted 23 'flowers' so far! (These are laid out on my bed with my argyle quilt on it)

I think I'll probably make all the hexie flowers I need before I start sewing them together. I don't think I'm going to do a 'pathway' either, I like how they nestle together like this!

an unexpected gift from a customer

2011-10-13T17:45:00.000-07:00

One of my customer's gave me flowers!

She had placed a large order of my custom hats, then when they came to her, the color was not quite a match for the team she was buying them for. So, after I sent her some fabric samples, I mad-rushed to remake her order (about 12 hours worth of cutting/sewing) and get them to her in time for a special event. The new hats got there just in time, and she was very happy with her purchase - and then she returned the original hats AND sent me flowers! Wasn't that too sweet?! :)

I'm addicted

2011-10-04T11:18:00.000-07:00

To fabric!

stack-n-whack

2011-10-01T10:17:00.000-07:00

there is just something awesome about a stack-n-whack quilt. Here is a pic of one that I saw at my LQS (taken with my cell phone, sorry for the window glare).

I just love it!!! And can you tell what the fabric is originally? It's BEER BOTTLES! Isn't that hilarious?! Just goes to show you - You can use just about any larger-scale fabric and make it a fantastic quilt with this technique! I didn't see this fabric yardage in the store, maybe they sold it all out after they put this quilt up! LOL

hexie flowers........

2011-10-01T08:36:00.000-07:00

I've been plugging away on my hexagon flowers making one or two most evenings. I took this photo a couple days ago, but never got around to posting. I think I have 3-4 more done since this.

I am getting a lot faster and more precise with my stitches, but the large muscles at the base of my thumbs ACHE like no tomorrow sometimes (especially my needle-holding hand) - anybody else have that problem when hand-stitching?

I would really love a whole quilt with only flowers, but I might not make it and end up applique-ing them onto a background square. I hope not though, I really like them nestled together like this!

Just because it's hilarious

2011-09-28T06:16:00.000-07:00

I saw this commercial last night and I haven't laughed this hard in a long time! Watch the commercial, especially the dog right around the 1 minute mark. PRICELESS!

a Ghastlie project

2011-09-26T10:59:00.000-07:00

I'm going to give just a sneak peek at a project I'm working on! It's a Ghastlie one! hehe :)

I got my Ghastlies fabrics from Great Fabric Finds on Etsy. Great prices and GREAT customer service! I am in no way connected, just a happy customer! I placed my second order from them today (didn't get enough of the green clover or the Ghastlie Night print) and she is super fast to respond and so very helpful!

more Sugar Creek!

2011-09-21T13:27:00.000-07:00

I still am passing up on the ONE print I don't care for of this line, but I finally found some of the second release fabric from Sugar Creek! My local JA's hasn't had any, but I had to make a trip north about an hour and went to that JA's and they had 6 prints! Yaa! It was on sale for $6.99/yd. plus I had an additional 20% off your total purchase coupon :) I only got 1/2 yd. cuts since there are SO many prints from DS Quilts. I don't want to burn out on them - since 1/2 yard of each print is probably enough to do 4 quilts anyhow! LOL.

I especially love the burgundy 'bouquet' second from bottom and the aqua blue 'berries' on top :)

gifts for a Vandal

2011-09-19T10:38:00.000-07:00

I am thinking ahead to Christmas - my son is in his 3rd year of college at U of Idaho...... his first 2 years, he was in the dorms, but this year he is sharing an apartment with 2 friends. I recently ordered some Vandal cotton material and have been debating about what to do with it. What does he NEED. Probably not another quilt (although I'll probably make him a stack/whack quilt with the material at some point, LOL, just cause I think it'd be cool!). Anyhow, what he needs are things for the kitchen. Here's a pic of what the material looks like:

I am also ordering some of this:

and some of this:

So, it's really hard to think of what a young man NEEDS that mom can make him. Well, I realized that he NEEDS kitchen stuff - so I am going to make potholders and such. Potholders are easy.......... any other ideas for things for the kitchen that I can make in black/gold/silver?

wordless Wednesday

2011-09-14T14:38:00.000-07:00

hexie flower #1

2011-09-08T04:53:00.000-07:00

well, I have quite a few hexies basted (they are fun to do with the Sewline glue stick!), and now I have one single hexie flower sewn together. I stitched it together with my grandmother's silk thread and the stitches are almost completely hidden, love it!

I have my hexies arranged in this box now in groups of 7 (6 coordinating petals and a center). I do have a few dozen more done that aren't matched up into flowers yet. I got a REALLY good deal on a sampler pack of Moda's mini-charms, so I'm going to use those all up and then see how many flowers that makes. I think I might sew each flower onto a larger background hexagon piece so I don't have to do quite so much hand-stitching. I think that will make it a much more do-able project than a whole GFG type quilt top.

I am up early this morning - getting ready to take my youngest son to an appt. in Seattle (1 1/2+ hours away) for wisdom teeth removal (this is just the consultation visit, we'll make another appt. for the actual removal). At his last dental visit, they found his wisdom teeth to be impacted. Growing completely sideways/horizontal. So, all 4 wisdom teech have to come out, and the dentist doesn't do it, so referred us to the UW in Seattle (the only place that takes the insurance). I had my wisdom teeth taken out when I was almost 19, (he is 17 1/2) so I know how it feels and I totally FEEL for him. What a miserable thing to have to go through :( Anyhow, off to the shower so I can get ready. Morning traffic in Seattle I am NOT looking forward to. Or the possibility of having to pay $15 for parking. UGH. So glad I don't live in the city. I think I might need caffeine this morning........

oh, quit teasing!

2011-08-31T12:46:00.000-07:00

OK, I hate it when this happens - and it seems to happen on the MBS too often - I use my blog list to view new posts - and I saw that there was a new post on the MBS called ''Strawberry Marmalade''. So, I click on it - only to get ''page not found'' Oh, such a tease! I have seen this happen at least a half dozen times with MBS. I'm wondering if maybe someone posts something, then takes it back to do editing maybe? Any ideas?

so much for finishing my bottled rainbow this week.......

2011-08-30T09:19:00.000-07:00

I was hoping to get my bottled rainbow quilt top finished this week, but doesn't look like that is gonna happen. My online store all of a sudden exploded and I have a TON of sewing to do. Work sewing, not FUN sewing. BOO.
Here is my bottled rainbow blocks sewn into rows, ready to have the sashing put on to have the rows sewn together to make a complete top.....

I cut the sashing 1 1/4'' to finish at 3/4''. I am going to cut a border in black as well at 1'' to finish at 3/4'' - and then the binding will be black as well. :)

grass and ocean

2011-08-27T14:21:00.000-07:00

I have finished my 'grass' and 'ocean' blocks for my bottled rainbow quilt! Only ONE more to go! (moss, which I'm going to work on after I post this)

Sugar Creek

2011-08-24T10:14:00.000-07:00

well, I had time to burn yesterday while in town, so I decided to see if my local JoAnn's had Sugar Creek in yet. Well, I was very happy to find that it did! It was all mixed in with other quilting fabrics, so I had to do a search/find, but they were pretty easy to pick out. I do see by other pictures that maybe there are at least 2 other prints that have been released that I didn't find. I really want the stripe (gotta love a good stripe for bindings!), so I'm going to go back in tomorrow and see if maybe I just missed it. I did end up with 9 prints (only got 1/4 yd. of each though).

I really am loving this line! I am going to use it with the Picnic and Fairgrounds quilt that I started a while back:

when I heard that Denyse was coming out with more fabrics for JoAnn's, I put this on the back burner. I think I'm going to wait for a bit longer to work on it too in case more of this line becomes available :) I love a quilt with lots and lots of different coordinating prints!!!

design wall Monday - indigo

2011-08-22T10:21:00.000-07:00

I got my indigo bottled rainbow block done over the weekend, only 3 more blocks to go!

WIP Wednesday

2011-08-17T12:25:00.000-07:00

Well, after a sewing hiatus, I decided to work on my bottled rainbow blocks.......
teal and turquoise done......

Overall progress as of today:
*Ruby – done
*Raspberry - done
*Petal - done
*Plum - done
*Eggplant - done
*Cerise - done
*Pumpkin -done
*Tangerine - done
*Mustard - done
*Moss (not started)
*Teal - done
*Indigo (not started)
*Ocean (not started)
*Turquoise -done
*Grass (not started)
*Lime -done

hoping to get one done today as I do laundry - my son goes back for his 3rd year of college on Friday (so we'll all be driving to Idaho from W.WA). Of course he has about 4 loads of laundry to be done, oye......

anaphylaxis

2011-08-09T09:42:00.000-07:00

well, I have had a lot going on lately, no sewing going on, so nothing to report as far as sewing goes. I did have a scary thing happen to me Saturday afternoon though.......

I have had minor allergies (hay-fever type allergies only) since I was pregnant with my first son (who will be 20 tomorrow!) Nothing more than occasional itchy eyes/ears and some sneezing. A few months ago, I developed an allergy to anti-perspirant/deodorant - I've tried Almay, unscented Avon, etc. Nothing has worked. So, I've been alternating using deodorant on days away from the house and cortaid cream on the days I'm home. Anyhow, on Friday night, hubby and I went camping for the night, fished early in the morning and then decided to come home early afternoon. I did NOT feel like cooking and nobody wanted to go out to eat, so I said that everybody was on their own for dinner. I got a piece of left-over fried chicken from the fridge and a bowl of bing cherries. I ate the chicken, then the cherries. While eating the cherries, I started to feel a bit of a burning sensation in the back of my throat. I finished them anyhow because they were so good...... within a couple minutes, the slight burning turned into intense itching that went to my ears, then my eyes, then my nose. I started sneezing *uncontrollably* and then my sinus' swelled shut and the upper part of my throat (behind my nose). I was still able to breath fine through my mouth, but the itching continued to my torso and the palms of my hands! The palms of my hands were HORRIBLY itchy, I've never had itchy palms before and that was weird! I ended up taking Benadryl and Visine-allergy drops in my eyes. It didn't help that I noticed. My eyes started to swell up and I was just down-right MISERABLE. I ended up going to bed early that night and slept for nearly 12 hours! Unreal! I woke up to my eyelids almost swollen shut on Sunday. I continued with the Benadryl Sunday and went to the doctor Monday. She said that I should have gone to the hospital. She prescribed an epi-pen in case it ever happened again (that cost me $90 because I don't have health insurance!) It just flabbergasts me that I even had a reaction like that to cherries (or maybe to pesticides on them?) I've eaten cherries my whole life. Doctor said no more cherries this year - and if I want to try next year, to only have a couple at a time. Today, the swelling in my eyes is down some more (am taking daily Claritin now), but she said it might take a week or two for it to go completely down :( Until then, I can see my eyelids in my line of vision - and I won't be doing any sewing I don't think. Just hoping that I won't have to ever go through a reaction like that again..............

design wall Monday - hexie madness

2011-07-25T11:47:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally broke down and started a hexagon project. It's a nice sit-on-the-couch-and-watch-TV project in the evening. I am probably going to go through my orphan charm packs and chop them into quarters - and maybe find someone to do some swapping with. I want a totally scrappy quilt. Hopefully not repeating any materials. We'll see how that works out. It will probably take me years to complete, LOL.

I easily completed I think 60 hexies in two short evening sessions. Love the lazy eyed owl, hehe :) I am using Texas Freckles print-out for the hexies - and using a Sewline glue pen instead of thread basting. I am LOVING the glue pen! I bought two pens (one to give to my mom), but I'm seriously thinking about ~~hoarding~~ keeping it for myself. I see that I need around 1200 hexies for an approx 50x60 quilt - that size quilt just won't 'do' of course, has to be bigger! I am thinking it will probably need to be more like 3000 hexies, OYE.

I also worked on my DS quilts blocks - got 6 more of the 'churndash' blocks done. It's so time consuming to trim up all those little HST's! My left leg goes numb when I stand at the cutting table too long, so I have to switch between cutting and sewing, which hampers progress.

EQ and Moda? And vacation pics

2011-07-14T09:04:00.000-07:00

I was thinking - I'm mostly using Moda fabrics and was wondering if anybody knew of EQ picture files were available for Moda fabrics?

Sorry for being missing from my blog for a while, I just have gotten no quilting done lately - too much other stuff going on :)

I will share a few pics from my vacation though! Hubby got me flowers for our anniversary (I about fainted!)

don't look at my ''camping'' hair, LOL Aren't the flowers beautiful though?!

and then pictures of our camp and our VIEW! It was just amazing! We are definitely going back next year!

All the buckets were for when we went to get oysters (seats, carrying tools, etc.). You have to shuck your oysters on the beach, but we gathered our 3 limits (hubby, myself, and our younger son Connor) each day we were there and came home with LOADS for the freezer (my brother and sister-in-law had a freezer to use in their camper). If you didn't know, oysters freeze really well! You can thaw them and fry them up and they are just as good as getting them from the grocery store fresh (not quite as good as freshly shucked and cooked within hours, but it's better than not having them!)

ahh, vacation.....

2011-06-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

well, tomorrow we leave on vacation - just a camping vacation, but vacation none-the-less! Our 20th wedding anniversary is on the 5th, so we'll be back on the 6th :)
Toodles!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-06-29T16:48:00.000-07:00

Design wall Monday - another start!

2011-06-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

Well, I started another quilt top this weekend. Here's a sneak peek at part of it

these churn dash blocks will alternate with kaleidoscope blocks to make a unique kaleidoscope. I am using the pattern from ''Kaleidoscope, the Smart Way'' - the special ruler to make the kaleidoscope blocks from HST blocks should be in my mail box today :)

Wee Play HST quilt DONE DONE DONE!

2011-06-06T08:00:00.000-07:00

Warning, picture overload!
Prior to washing:

and then the post-washing wonderful crinkliness below!

Then, I got my 17 year old son to hold it up for me outside........

then it went for a photoshoot on my vintage Serro Scotty camper trailer:

OK, the details about this quilt:

Wee Play by American Jane for Moda ( I can't remember if I used 3 or 4 charm packs - and equal white squares, which was a quilter's cotton)

Endless possibilities pattern from Moda Bake Shop

80/20 cotton/poly batting

100% sewn and quilted on my Pfaff Tiptronic sewing machine (no long-armer here!)

quilting - done with a variegated red cotton Gutermann (which was incredibly linty!) - I think I have about 8 hours into quilting this!

binding - scrappy to match, machine sewn to front, hand sewn to back (about 2 1/2 hours ugh)

backing - I believe this is by Benartex, but it wasn't labeled, so I'm not positive......

here is the secret of the quilting......

This one is now in my Etsy Shop

EDIT: one of my readers found sources for this backing material at fabric.com and at quiltnutsandbolts.com - thanks so much Linda!!!

binding time!

2011-06-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

I have the quilting DONE on my WeePlay HST quilt and am working on binding today!

I know it looks like the binding is white, but it's not, I promise :) It's a scrappy binding from 1 1/2'' strips of the WeePlay material sewn to a 1 1/2'' strip of white - and I'm sewing it so the white won't show..... I'll get pics of it completely done as soon as I can - hopefully I can get it finished hand-sewn and washed by tonight :)

Sandy Klop

2011-05-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

Sandy Klop/American Jane is one of my most favoritest fabric designers and I am beyond THRILLED to read this on Moda's blog today!!!!!!!!!! OMG, OMG, OHHH MYYY GOSH!!!!!!!! Squeals of delight!!!!! Pez is getting reprinted! And it's now called ''magic beans''.

My favorite print of all times :) I am SO going to get enough to make BACKINGS with this stuff. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

I just found THIS on Flickr - I am even MORE excited now! Aqua pez!!!!! SQUEALS!!!!!!

Now it's gonna seam like forever until this is released in October!

purple bottled rainbow

2011-05-23T10:04:00.000-07:00

I finished my purple (eggplant on the pattern) block today. I could not have done it without my scrap swap partner! This was a tough one! A lot of the colors just ''aren't quite'' the right color/hue, but I think they still work as a whole.

I think I might work on the lighter purple block this afternoon :)

Blogger's quilt festival spring 2011

2011-05-18T09:56:00.000-07:00

Well, I had high hopes to post my finished WeePlay HST quilt for the festival but that was not to be when my sewing machine blew up before it was complete (well, she didn't actually blow UP, but it felt like it at the time!)
So, my entry is my favorite quilt at this time. My ''raw-edge circle quilt'' made from Cluck-Cluck-Sew's tutorial
And I am excited to say that I was #500 in the entries for the festival! That has got to be good mojo :)

I love everything about this quilt. The only thing I wish I'd done different is made it bigger. It's about 80x80 and I'd love if it were 90x90 or maybe even 90x95.
I started with a FQB of WeePlay. I knew I would need to add to it so I didn't use up ALL my precious WeePlay material! So, I bought some yardage of ''Punctuation'', and some ''Oz'' as well. I also threw in some bits from my grandmother's stash, and a few pieces of Katie Jump Rope (the yellow ribbon flower).

I had a vision of the quilting before I even finished it. I've never done 'custom' FMQ on my sewing machine before, this was a first! I am SO extremely happy with the quilting and the fact I chose black thread really makes the fun quilting stand out.

Here's two pics prior to washing it:

and the after-washed lovely krinkles and frayed edges!

I just LOVE the texture of this quilt. I love the raw edges and how krinkly it looks - it looks like an old quilt! I will definitely be doing more raw-edge applique in the future, it creates such an interesting quilt I think!

I just love to look at and pet this quilt! I ended up making pillowcases to match it using the black Oz print with the yellow wavy stripe Oz print on the edges. The black Oz print is what I used for the backing too (and the red wavy strip for the binding)

This quilt just makes me HAPPY!

Check out the rest of the entries at the Blogger's Quilt Festival!

Tippy's in the hospital

2011-05-12T10:37:00.000-07:00

Tippy (my Pfaff Tiptronic) is in the sewing machine hospital. I broke her :( I think I didn't get the bobbin seated properly and when I went to sew, I threw her out of timing horribly. So, her hospital bill will be at least $130, ouch. Hopefully they won't need to replace any parts........

I was hoping that I was going to have the WeePlay quilt done for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, but now I'm not so sure! I can't do free-motion quilting well on my back-up machine because it doesn't have a ''needle down'' feature :( Well, it does, but you have to push the button everytime you want the needle to be down. That won't work. Tippy has a feature where you can decided when you stop if you want the needle up or down. My back-up doesn't have that feature :( So, I have to wait to finish the quilt until next week when she's back.......

Wee Play quilting.......

2011-05-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

I finally got the Wee Play ''Endless Possibilities'' quilt basted and I've started quilting!

I am using a red variagated thread and an off-white backing. I think for the binding I am going to take some scraps of 1 1/2'' strips I have from this line and use them to create a scrappy binding (I am going to have to attach them to another strip to make it 2 1/2'', but that will be hidden so I can use whatever I have a lot of, LOL)

This would be so much easier on a longarm than on the sewing machine - my arms ached after less than 1/4 of the quilt was done. I am about 1/3 of the way done, have used 3 bobbins so far, but I have to put it away for now to sew some special orders from my eBay store :(

curtains for my camper

2011-05-03T06:58:00.000-07:00

I am working on curtains for my camper this week. I have 7 windows in the camper (one itty bitty, 4 small side windows and 2 large windows front and back). I have two pairs of side curtains done so far:

I'll get pics of them installed later today hopefully!
I ended up getting this kind of curtain rod:

the camper had cafe rods on it before, but I like that these one's don's show at all when the curtain is closed. I'll just crimp those ends onto the mounts after installation to keep them from bouncing off during travel too. Hopefully that works! I'm still debating about putting some type of fringe or something on the curtains - white is so plain. But, then again, my upholstery is pretty busy, so maybe fringe might be over the top.

this is an older pic of the camper - that window that has the linen towel over it did get a curtain last year, but that was the only one I finished! Now, I am on a mission to finish them all!!!

One I didn't share yet........

2011-04-26T07:53:00.000-07:00

here is a quilt top I shared just a peek of a couple weeks ago, but didn't share the completed top yet........ made from one layer cake of Bliss (the leftovers are going to be a scrappy binding and are already sewn together). I added a 2 1/2'' white border to it after this pic was taken. I have enough of the aqua with white dots to do backing in that, but I'm probably going to continue to hoard that material and go with something else. I might order some aqua Kona instead....... this was made with layer cake squares cut into triangles, then sewn with it's opposing triangle to make 9 1/2'' squares - then the solid square background blocks are also 9 1/2''. Easy quilt...... fun and fast!

This one is the second in line right now to get quilted.

Today, I am going to baste this one:

can't wait to start quilting it!

that's better

2011-04-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

I did make the centers smaller on the little flower blocks, they look better!

design wall Monday......

2011-04-25T09:20:00.000-07:00

First, I'll share what I started working on yesterday:

These are some blocks that are going to made into a baby quilt. I think they are just so adorable! Although, I do think that I am going to take the centers off and make them a tad smaller looking at them today..... I think they overpower the flowers just a bit too much.

I'm sure most of you have heard of the ''Just One Star'' project that Moda is doing. Well, a month or so ago, I sent in my star:

It killed me not to square it up, but they said not to since they'd be squaring them all up anyhow.

Anyway, when I went to the mailbox on Friday, I had an envelope from Moda in there. I was shocked and surprised and I tore into that baby! This is what I found:

What a wonderful surprise! I have not seen these mini charm packs of 2.5'' squares, OH SO CUTE! I think I am going to make a table runner from mine possibly. I haven't seen this line of fabric yet either, and I really like it! Very cute prints! Oh, an idea just popped into my head, I think I know what I'm gonna make.......

circle quilt love.........

2011-04-22T19:27:00.000-07:00

I am *finished* with the circle quilt and it's bound and washed and wrinkly! I was 69''x69'' before washing and it's just over 67''x67'' now. I used 80/20 batting and I like the feel of it a lot. Nice and light, great drape.

and here is the stack of DS quilts prints I'm going with. I'm not going to try to get the whole collection. I keep telling myself that anyhow, LOL.

and LOOOOOOKIE what I found when I was shopping for a new rotary cutter!!!! AQUA!!! And my favorite style one too. My old one is going to go to our summer cabin to stay (where I have my Singer treadle).

The fabric and rotary cutter are parked on my grandma's paper cutter from when she was a teacher before my mom was born and when she was in grade school...... LOVE that thing, SO handy!

half quilted........

2011-04-20T07:58:00.000-07:00

Well, I have the circle quilt half quilted! I have to do other sewing today, so won't be able to work on it again - probably until Friday when I hope to finish the quilting and sew the binding on.
Here's a little peek at the quilting so far. This is the first quilt I've quilted where I didn't do stippling, stitch-in-the-ditch, or straight line quilting. I am very happy with the results so far!

I asked hubby what he thought about doing the binding in either the same fabric as the backing (the black mod-flowerish design from Oz) - or maybe the blue dot Denyse Schmidt for JoAnn's material I got the other day (there is no pink in this quilt, so the pinks are out of the question). He suggested a solid?! A solid? This quilt has not ONE solid on it, LOL. Should I divert from the plan and use a solid binding? Or should I use the blue DS Quilts dots? Or the black Oz print? I'm leaning toward the black Oz print since I am quilting it in black thread, but the blue dots might be nice........

So, have you heard that the new DS Quilts fabrics are available at JoAnn's online now? I think JoAnn's is going to be pleasantly surprised at the speed these fabrics will sell out!!! (And wish they would have ordered ALL the prints in ALL the colors!)

Design wall Monday - I've got one basted!!!

2011-04-18T09:10:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally have a place to baste quilts. My mom cleared out the floor of one of her upstairs bedrooms so I could get some done. It worked great. The carpet is clean and has very good padding so I wasn't too sore afterwards! I am a happy camper! The quilt I decided to baste first is my raw-edge circle quilt - because it was on the top of the pile and I just picked up the backing fabric for it (a print from ''Oz'' collection for Moda that I got for 40% off!)

so, here is the quilt and below is the quilt in the machine getting quilted! I have quite a bit more to do (ran out of black thread yesterday, so had to go to town). I am doing a design of an 8-petal flower in the circles and some free-form leaves in the background. You can kinda pick out the quilting in this pic......

And then, I just had to pick up some of the new Denyse Schmidt fabrics at JoAnn's. I had two coupons, so I only got the 4 prints I knew I *had* to have, will get more as I get more coupons :)

Well, hubby just called and said he's leaving work early because of snow. This is mid April, geez! I think Mother Nature is getting her seasons mixed up! It was 29 degrees here this morning when hubby left for work! Crazy crazy!!!

WIP Wednesday

2011-04-13T08:52:00.000-07:00

I made some small adjustments on my lime block for the Bottled Rainbow quiltalong and got it tacked down yesterday. I'm happy with it, and I think I have fallen in love with the lime color! So many wonderful prints in this one!

And, I got some 'bricks' cut out from my Monaluna FQ bundle:

I love the prints in this one. Although, I don't think the bright blue one with the daisy's really 'fits', so I might leave that one out when I make the quilt so it's still boyish (I'd like to make a baby boy quilt......) My plan is to make a stacked coin quilt, but with staggered stacks instead of lined up ones. A baby quilt I'll actually be able to FINISH because I have room to baste a smaller quilt! LOL. I am still looking for somewhere to baste my larger quilts. Our shop has large enough floor space, but it's dirty cement down there. I'd need something to lay down on the cement (and some knee pads!).

A sister quilt to my hunter's star.....

2011-04-11T11:56:00.000-07:00

well, this is a quilt top I finished quite some time ago. It is made from one layer cake and a very small amount of yardage. This one is going to go on my second couch since it's a 'match' to my Dandelion Girl Hunter's Star quilt. I just need to quilt it (if I can ever find a place big enough to baste it!)

and here is the backing I pieced with the bonus HST"s from the top :)

Design wall Monday - another teaser!

2011-04-11T09:40:00.000-07:00

tangerine and pumpkin

2011-04-09T09:10:00.000-07:00

raspberry, lime, and pink

2011-04-07T11:06:00.000-07:00

I am just sailing along with my ticker tapes! This bottled rainbow quilt along is FUN FUN FUN!

yellow block and a pillow start......

2011-04-06T09:10:00.000-07:00

I finished the yellow block for the bottled rainbow quilt along, and I love this one too! I had way more yellow than I realized and wasn't able to use it all! I will have a great selection of yellows for someone who maybe has another color I don't have - maybe the eggplant that I have next to nothing of........

I used the blanket/applique stitch again and some I did with white thread and some I did with yellow rayon embroidery thread. I love the mermaid's, but also love the 'tickets' from Punctuation, the little owls, the wavy stripe from Oz, and of course the KJR ribbon flower :) The small floral above the pair of mermaid's is a chunk from my grandma's stash, had to include that!

After I worked on the yellow block, I started working on a project from the Moda Bake Shop. The cathedral windows pillow cover. I have the background done (not re-pressed yet after stitching together), I just have to choose what charm pack I'm going to use. I might use a WeePlay, but I will have to audition a few to decide for sure. I still have a bunch of Dandelion Girl - maybe I should use that since that is the quilt on my couch now (as well as a HST Dandelion Girl pillow). That's probably what I'll go with now that I think about it.........

Can you tell that 'work' has been slow for me this week? I feel guilty when hubby comes home from a long day at work and I've just been sewing and dinking around!

Red and cerise

2011-04-05T12:33:00.000-07:00

My red and cerise blocks are done for the bottled rainbow quilt along........ I do still plan to do it QAYG, I am just going to hand-quilt this (I think! LOL)
I love how both these turned out. I am using a blanket applique stitch and using coordinating thread. For the cerise block, I used rayon embroidery thread since I have about 100 embroidery thread colors, but only maybe a dozen or so all-purpose thread colors. I think I'll use the rayon for all the rest of the blocks too :) It's finer and seems to hide a little better......

I think I'm going to work on the orange or yellow block today.......

The party and some recovery sewing.......

2011-04-04T10:29:00.000-07:00

The party Saturday was a huge success! We had 15 soup contest entries and all were amazing!

There was jambalaya, gumbo, frog leg, turkey noodle (with homemade noodles!), baked potato (yum, my second favorite!), spicy pork (my 3rd choice!), Italian sausage (mine), ''bacon of the sea''(a bacon/seafood chowder), and my youngest son made ''Chipotle sweet potato corn chowder''. Bacon of the sea and the chipotle chowder ended up tying for 1st place. I made the decision to split the winnings and give each half of the 'pot' (there was $70 in the pot, so each got $35), and then Connor got the trophy (because the person that tied was a friend of my nephew, and I didn't know him so didn't want to send the perpetual trophy home with him since I didn't know if it would come back next year!) Anyhow, it was a great time, we had our friend Tom play music for the night. He plays a mean blues harmonica and his guitar isn't too bad either.
Some stayed well into the night, I think it was close to 2am when everybody was gone (and the two that stayed because they had been drinking decided to turn in for the night). We slept in, and hubby spent the day Sunday on the couch recovering, LOL. I was a good girl, so I felt good Sunday and decided to start my ''bottled rainbows'' quilt blocks! I finished 4 'frames' (pink, cerise, lime green, and red) and cut the scraps for my red frame.

the cerise frame - I went with mitered corners and black background.....

and my red block! I just l.o.v.e. how this turned out! I just have these spray basted down, today I am going to sew them down - I think I am going to use red thread and an applique stitch around the edges of the scraps. I am going to do quilt-as-you-go also and then hand-stitch with black perle cotton about 1/4'' outside the background in the red frame. I will post pics when I get that done!

I am in love............

2011-03-25T09:02:00.000-07:00

In love with this quilt top!

I have decided that I am going to get some new hardboard for my woodworking table and baste some quilts on it darnit! The table is (I think?) 8'x8' - oh, I hope it's not only 6'x6' - and about 3'' thick solid wood. It was a surplus table my Grandpa got somewhere - and he gave it to me about 15 years ago. It originally had a hardboard top on one side, but it was ruined in a flood we had...... I think with a fresh new top on it, I can get all my quilts basted at least before it gets used again as a woodworking table :)

a really old project and some new fabric.......

2011-03-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

I have this bunch of yo-yo's I started yeaaaaaars ago. Like 1991 probably (the year I was prego with son #1 and couldn't work because I had morning sickness *horrible* until I was like 5-6 months along). That is the year I did 3 full quilts (the wedding ring, the purple/pink sampler, and a log cabin done in mauves/pinks/blues). Ya, this was that mauve-crazy time, so there are a lot of mauve's in these yo-yo's too. I had planned back then to make mauve flowers and blue flowers (all tied together with a yellow center) done in the 'grandmothers flower garden' arrangement with lights/whites between the flowers. That is a LOT of yo-yo's. To me, now, a coverlet makes NO sense. I have to decide if I am going to finish these or not, and if I do, I will probably do a wholecloth quilt and then tie the coverlet to it somehow - maybe with a button in the center of each flower? I have a lot of yo's done, but nowhere nearly enough for a whole bed-sized coverlet. What to do, what to do?........ (I wish I would have done hexagons instead!)

(the quilt underneath of the yo's is the back of my argyle quilt, which is a vintage sheet, isn't it lovely?!)

annnd.....
I went to the LQS the other day to find some fabrics for just a few more blocks for my raw-edge circle quilt and I came across these in the clearance section. I will have to look at the selvage of the purple one to see what it is, but the rest is Oz.

I don't usually buy pinks/purples, but hopefully most of these will work in the bottled rainbow ticker tape quilt. I got a yard of each (which was the minimum for clearance fabrics). I do think I am going to go back and get the rest of the black print on the right next time I'm in town though. Love that one. The purple reminds me of something Denyse Schmidt might do, although I'm sure it's not.... Ok, I had to get up and look - the purple is ''Poppies'' by Pamela Mostek for Clothworks. I should look when I go back and see if there is more in that line, it's lovely!

WIP Wednesday

2011-03-23T09:23:00.000-07:00

I've been working on my raw-edge circle quilt some - I have all 100 blocks sewn back into circles, now I can start sewing the 10 rows of 10 I guess, shouldn't be too long from here before it's done!

What I'm loving about the assembly of this quilt is - there won't be any more than 4 seams coming together at one point. Easy piecing and ironing from here on out! No huge bulky seams to press the heck out of! Love it.
The fabrics are: Wee Play, Punctuation, Oz, and some random pieces from Grandma's stash. Funny how the block on the lower right ended up all Punctuation for the background and all Oz for the circle. And check out that black Oz print! Isn't that so sweet?!!! I am in love with that print. I found the Oz collection at my LQS on clearance for 40% off - so I got a yard of several prints, I might go back and get the rest of that black print for the backing for this quilt though :) Love the dotty wavy stripes too. Yummy!

My new favorite saying........

2011-03-22T06:51:00.001-07:00

''Asking a quilter to do your mending is like asking Picasso to paint your bathroom.''

Love it.

Can't sleep.......

2011-03-22T03:23:00.000-07:00

Got hubby off to work at 2am and my mind is not in the mode to go back to sleep. It's 3am now, maybe I'll take a nap later..... So, while I'm up, I might as well share some pics I took, but didn't get a chance to upload/edit because hubby had the camera this weekend.....
I finished up sewing the circles on squares for the raw-edge circle quilt. I have them all cut in quarters now too and some pairs sewn together. I'll probably get back to working on that later today, or possibly tomorrow.....
Here are some of them before I cut them into quarters:

top left: Puctuation, Katie Jump Rope
top right: Punctuation, Wee Play
bottom left: Puctuation, Katie Jump Rope
bottom middle: Punctuation, Wee Play
bottom right, Punctuation, (unknown from Grandma's stash, I have this print in blue too that I used in the blocks as well)

I chose to trim the back fabric before cutting into quarters so I had larger scraps left.

And speaking of scraps..........

I'm starting to get enough material scraps for the Bottled Rainbow quilt-along....... I just ordered the last solid (cerise) and some Kona black for my background. I was going to go with gray, but some of my scraps will look better fussy cut with the black background. Some of these fabrics will work for several of the blocks (depending on which part I cut out - these are the fabrics in the front/left corner here that I will be fussy cutting)

National quilting day?

2011-03-19T10:50:00.000-07:00

I hear it's National Quilting Day?!!! Perfect! Hubby and oldest son have gone off snowmobiling and I have caught up on all my 'work' sewing, so I can work on this today! (Hubby and son also took the camera unfortunately so I can't show you a new pic, but I will on Monday!)

I was able to get the circles all cut (I am short about 20 circles, but I have 100 background blocks). I think I might use some solids for those circles? Still deciding.....
Anyhow, I got the 80 background/circles all lined up and pinned together last night, so I will work on sewing them together today, then trimming the double layer tonight (I am going to trim the circles out before cutting the blocks into quarters so I have larger usable scraps), then maybe Monday I will be able to start assembly :)

Treasures and Tidbits giveaway at Jaybird quilts!

2011-03-15T08:33:00.000-07:00

Treasures & Tidbits is the next fabric collection by Piece O' Cake Designs

(picture borrowed from Jaybird Quilts)

And Jaybird Quilts is having a giveaway! Isn't this fabric just YUMMY?!!!!