Puzzle Completed

This took a lot of time, a lot more that I expected. Anyone who thinks the free piecing, modern, fit things in as you go is easy, IT'S NOT! But it is fun, challenging, and inspiring.

From purchasing this fabric to the piecing of this top, I always knew this was a quilt I was giving away. I'm confident this will brighten up someones room, keep them a little warmer this winter.

48 x 53 finished size. I used the Easy Angler ruler to cut the blocks, a great way to work with stripes. Now to get it quilted, bound and mailed to BASICS.

Sharon

Girls Day Out

Saturday was a perfect day for the spa.  It was dreary and raining and my gal pals from forever ago all had appointments at the spa.  I was booked for a massage, mani and pedi.  This was in celebration of all of us turning 50 this year.

I doubt the manicure will last very long once I start back on the hand quilting tonight. I've got the cross hatch marked and am about 1/2 way finished the second direction.

Definitely on the home stretch with this one. It took a back seat to the applique on my BTCT and I'm excited to be so close to finished. I have an open wall where this will hang. What are you close to finishing?
Sharon

Friends and Inspiration

Sometimes an evening with a friend is a perfect source of inspiration. Especially when she has quilts like this to see.

These are all doll sized quilts.

What a great selection of fabric in these.

How's this stack of quilts? Oh my!

And my favorite of the moment, I love the prints and colors L used in these.

I see the allure of making these small pieces, I really should consider them in between bigger projects. But the tiny pieces take just as long or longer to get all those points to match up!
Thank you Louise, for allowing me to share your pieces.
Do you make little quilts?
Sharon

Dinner Date

I had the pleasure of spending an evening with Lori from Humble Quilts this week.  I hurried myself after work and zipped down to Bellingham to meet up with her at Fabric Etc.  Really, is there any better place to meet than a quilt shop?  Lori was on a getaway and I was so happy I had the evening free to visit.
We settled into our table at a fabulous Brewery restaurant, ordered dinner and didn't stop talking for a few hours.  How wonderful to spend "real" time with a fellow quilter/blogger.  And for dessert, Lori pulled these goodies out of her bag.

How sweet is this pin cushion. I already have it on my table of sewing supplies that sits by my couch. I get to use it every day.
Hope you get to meet some of your favorite bloggers!
Sharon

Changing Seasons

I got the final rounds on my two pillow tops.  They will definitely be ready for next Hallow'een.

Carol will be ready for Christmas, look at this beauty. The border is one that requires dedication.

Don't you just love all the lights around the outside? They remind me of the big lights my Dad put on our Christmas tree every year.  

That was his job and the first step to trimming the tree.  After that, he did the garland and then it was ready for all of us to put on the ornaments and tinsel, one strand at a time..........just like quilting, one stitch at a time.

Great job, Carol.  I need to pull out my pattern and get started on my Christmas trees.

Sharon

Off the Wagon

I've been doing quite well, staying out of the quilt shops, or holding my purse close to me while in stores. It's not that I don't want to stimulate the economy, it's just that every time I buy a new piece or a few new pieces of fabric, my head starts spinning with ideas and I tend to lose focus on current projects.
But I needed binding, really, I did.  It's what I went into the store for, it's the section I went right too.  I didn't waver..........and then Lee pulled out this bolt of fabric and waved it at me from across the store and I lost all control. 

Who wouldn't?  Seriously, could you have resisted this focus print? Really?  I couldn't and I bought 2 yards of it, and now my mind is spinning with ideas.

I went back to the museum in Bellingham Sunday and spent an hour soaking in the amazing quilts that are on display.  I sketched a couple of them and also spent quite some time admiring the hand quilting on some applique quilts.  There were some pieces in a LoneStar that were very similar to this focus fabric I just bought.

Sharon

Co-Pilot Required

Well, if I can't have a co-pilot, I could use a GPS.  I've been working on this BASICS quilt for some time now and it's finally time to put the blocks together.  I'm trying to channel Vic or LeeAnn, trying to just have fun and be relaxed about the piecing process.
Liberated or free piecing is not my strong point.  I figured out I need to piece sections together, and I have these two together.

Now I have the rest of these that need to be married up into sections.

 I've got this stack of 1/2 square triangles to help with the puzzle.

 And a pile of weird scraps that I'm using for fillers.

I cut up every piece of this fabric but was smart enough to cut the binding before I cut all the block pieces. It's been a great process, this quilt has always been for BASICS and I've been using this as a bit of a practice.  I have no pattern, I made blocks until there was no fabric left and now I'm having fun putting the pieces of this puzzle together.  I'm glad I added in the burgundy and orange solid, the 1/2 sq's seem to tone down the striped blocks.
Hope you had time to sew this weekend.
Sharon

Customer Quilts

I've been waiting to show these quilts. As usual, you can "biggie" the pictures by clicking on them.
How fun are the chickens! Love all the farm themed blocks and the fabrics in this are perfect for the theme.

A great scrappy quilt, I love the golden crosses all feathered like this.  This is the second one by Mona, I just love all the fabrics she uses.

Continuous curve in all the scrappy blocks.

The embroidery piece is a pattern from Crabapple Hill, but look at the close ups.  Stacey went above and beyond with her stitching, these are a fabulous interpretation of the original pattern.

Too cute for words!  Stacey went the extra mile on all these blocks, and it shows.  Fabulous job. 

 Slow and steady wins the race with blocks like these, S said she worked on it for about 2 years, it was worth every minute. Hmmm, I wonder what she's stitching now?

Sharon

Sew Day Showoff

I couldn't miss the opportunity to share what my fellow guild members are currently working on.
Tracey's Selvage wall hanging, LOVE the red.

Close up of the selvages.  Tracey said this went together fast, she used a muslin foundation and got busy.

This quilter is using hand me down fabrics, I'd like someone to hand me down brights like these!

Hallow'een is coming, but I don't know if Diane will be ready.  Maybe next year.  These Crabapple Hill patterns are a labor of love, this is the witchy boot!

Several ladies are working on this BOM put on by one of our LQS, 2 Thimbles.  This shop specializes in CW repros,

These are tiny blocks, and no, I did not slide down the vortex of this BOM.

See how tiny some of the pieces are?  Resist, resist, I repeated!

Tonya had this amazing Batik house going on, as well as several other projects. 

Tracey was also working on her Surrounded pattern, she rocked it with the red mixed into the brown and cream.  Kind of like the chocolate chips in amongst the cookie dough!

And yet ANOTHER project that Tracey got finished.  This center panel is so cute.  She took it home to machine quilt and gift out.

This Lonestar was started during a Judy Irish workshop. She came up and did a very exciting class and then gave an amazing trunk show presentation. Today this was going under the needle to get machine quilted.

I tried to get a better shot of Donna's Heart Blocks, but my camera ran out of juice.  Trust me that they are very cute and I can't wait to see how she sets them.

What a fantastic day with a room full of creative, energetic, positive women.  I wish I could have stayed until the end, but another group of friends came calling. Isn't it great when you have too many things to do with friends and not enough time? 
Life is great!
Sharon

Wasted Opportunity

I had such high hopes for my sewing Saturday. Many moments of preparation, trying to pack the smallest amount of things, and getting all organized. Since a sew day involves a lot of socializing, chatting, eating and general fun, I wanted a project that didn't require a lot of pieces or complex piecing.

One would think a 9 patch would fill that category, right?  Not so much!

And I was so confident, I didn't even bring a seam ripper.  When I finally realized what I had done, I packed it all away, and decided the unsewing would be a good tv project. 

Sunday night Seam Ripping, check!

Now to find some time to get these blocks sewn into the right place!

What's your favorite 2 color quilt?

Sharon