What Nots Samples

I've been meeting with a dedicated group of quilter's on the first Sat of the month at my LQS, Fabric Etc. We have been working on a series of small quilt patterns designed by Kim Diehl, the What Not's patterns. First off, I love the fabric line. I can see it blending in with Civil War prints and other groups of fabric that have a vintage/country look and feel to them.

Photos are from my phone so not the best, but it's what I have. Yet again, my camera has gone AWOL.........grrrrr.  It's probably in the same place as my little scissors. (I'm sure a few of you can relate to that statement.)

First up is the cutest little piece with 42 yo yo's around that 2" border.  I love this and it is the pattern we will work on for December.  Yo yo's are a super project to pick up when you have 5 minutes and they make a great take along project as well. This pattern also contained a few lessons for me.  First off, read the instructions!  Who would have thought of that?

The lower piece was our first month, and it's the only one I have quilted and bound.

This was last months piece and I love how it turned out.  No matter how fussy I got with color/print placement, I still ended up with like fabrics together.  I also got the orientation of the segments turned around so I ended up with 64 sets all with the same direction.  Instead of picking them apart, I continued to piece and I got the second sample top completed.  I've been trying to have one pieced for the demo day and another one as a work in progress to use for tutorials in the demo.

 

This pattern was chosen for October because it has such a great look for Christmas.  There is some applique still to be done on this piece, and I won't have mine ready for this year.  E will, she came in November with this pieced, quilted and bound.  Yeah for her!

 

 

Since there is always pieces of fabric left over, I've made a few samples to give the group a few ideas to use up some of their left overs.  I've tried to incorporate some of the piecing or techniques we have learned along the way, and I couldn't resist using some more yo yo's. 

I've got the cream piece quilted, yo yo's attached, but haven't made a scrappy binding.  That's on my list for this weekend.  The green one with the strip piecing is quilted and bound.  I hope the group will like to add these into their collection.

2015 will bring a second round of 6 new patterns along with a new collection of fabric from Kim.  I've taken a peek at them and they look pretty cute.  This customer list has already started for these kits.  If you missed this first round, jump in for round two.  They are pretty stinking cute!

Sharon

Applique Group Review

Sat was my monthly Applique Society meeting and was there ever a lot of show and share for our little group.  The turnout ebbs and flows like any other group, as we have several snowbirds and busy lives.  Although only 8 attended this meeting, those eight have had busy hands.

First up is M, the daughter of our leader, JB.  This mother, wife, f/t employee, cannot sit without something in her hands and her work is fabulous.  While doing some cleaning/reorganizing in her sewing area, she found this block from the Carrie Hall Sampler.  So much had already been done on it, so she has continued the journey.  M likes the back basting method of appliqued.

Hexis with embroidery anyone?  What a terrific table topper and done in time for Thanksgiving.

To top off her show and share, look at the amazing sweater those busy hands of hers have knit.  Looks like it came out of a specialty high end store in the big city.  Absolutely amazing.  The opening is faced with a fabulous ribbon that M ordered online, sorry I missed a photo of it.

Next up is our fearless leader, JB, showing us her selvage bag.  I believe she said she sewed the strips to a foundation and then pieced it all together.  Again, I missed the detail shot.  She used a Moda selvage for the facing of her bag strap and it was so perfect.  These two both work the details to the max.

 Here is her applique, a Christmas block that appeared in our TAS mailer.  I saw the line drawing and though, hoe, hum, kinda boring.  Now that I see how J has started to bring this to life, I have put this on my to do list.  We all thought it has a great retro look, a flash back to Christmas cards from days gone by.  Does anyone still send cards?  I do, and they say Merry Christmas! 

A BOM that J is working on, monthly birds.  Love the black background on this piece.  The colors really pop.  Look at those bleeding hearts in the top right block, so cute!

A finished top and perfect to show and motivate us to get out those Christmas pieces that are not finished.  I still cannot believe that I don't have Christmas pillows, I remember saying that last year and promising myself I would have three pillow covers to put out this year.  Hmmmm I best get busy. I think J said this was a gift to her and she is giving it back to the person who gave her the kit.

K has been busy with English paper piecing, using little wedge shapes to make Pies and Tarts.  Love how she has done some Pies with two fabrics and others have been fussy cut.  The fabrics are all Asian and this is gorgeous.  Its a perfect 'take along' project as it fits into a little zip lock baggie.

Last, but not least, is CO's rendition of Di Ford's Mystery quilt being offered through Quiltmania.  C ordered the chintz to get started and the rest of the fabrics have been pulled from her stash.  Oh my, can you imagine what her sewing room looks like?  I'd love to go play in it for an hour or so.  The next round is appliqued petals and C has a start on that.  She says the last round is going to be slow going as it's lots of little stars.  I'm sure it will be beautiful.

Thanks for visiting my Applique group, it is such a joy to meet with these talented stitchers every month and peek into their sewing lives.

Sharon

Time Marches On

I've finally got a finish for myself. This quilt has been in the works for a very long time. There was a lot of cutting, see this post from 2010 and a lot of stitching to get it to this point, shown here

Where did the 4 years, 7 months, and how many days go?  I have no idea why it took this long to get to this.  I'm just very pleased that I now have a new quilt for my bed.

There are so many quilts stitched into this quilt.  Sewing the binding down gave me time to reflect and reminisce about all the previous quilts that were the foundation of this Log Cabin.  I've not kept a decent record of my quilts, but so many of these fabrics brought back memories of many quilts I have made and gifted out.  That makes this one all the more special for me to keep for myself.

Feathers seemed to be the way to go for the quilting and I wanted to try this new to me version of feathers.  I worked out the kinks, and I LOVE how it turned out.  I just know this is going to be one of those quilts that I will use and love even more as time marches on.

I still cannot believe it was March of 2010 when this was a completed top.............. but the past blog posts don't lie.

Are you working on a blast from the past?  If so, share it, you just might motivate someone to finish one of their own.

Sharon

Resolved and a Return Ticket

Hi everyone,
I have got my website and email issues resolved, thanks to Amazon.  Yes, Amazon.  I could not give the Domain help desk the last 4 digits of my credit card because I have a card I only use for online purchases and it was at home.  I finally remembered it was on file with Amazon for all my Kindle purchases and I was able to log into that account, see the numbers and have tech help believe I really was me and fix my problem.

I have been on a road trip with my 79 year old father.  Blaine, WA to Casa Grande, AZ in 2 1/2 days.  We had a blast and I was so happy to be able to help him with the driving.  His neck got all locked up just days before our departure day, so it was just terrific that I had planned to join him on this road trip.  Twin Falls, ID and Las Vegas NV and no quilt shops in between.  Just a lot of highways and stories of days gone by.  How lucky was I to have this uninterrupted time with my father.

Heading home now, just waiting on my plane.  Stitching on a block for this quilt.  The block I have with me is the branch with the birds nest.  I did a lot of back basting prep work so I wouldn't have to deal with pins while traveling and that idea paid off.  Leaves have been appliqued, and I got the branch back basted at Dad's last night, so I shall sign off, pick up my needle and thread and make a little headway on this beautiful quilt.

Hope there is sunshine or stitches in your day today.
Sharon

Technical Issues

If you have tried to email me or access my website, you will have found it unavailable.  I'm on the road right now, I've called my guy who hosts everything and it's not at his end.  Now I'm on hold, 41 minutes and waiting, to get on to the domain company.  GRRRRRRR