Sew Days are Great Days

My applique group books a workroom for two days every three months.  My gf M and I come prepared with boxes of blocks.  The design walls are fantastic and we take full advantage.  Here are a few 'show and tells' from our sewing days.

Almost all of this are from Kim Diehl's first two collections that were used for her BOM patterns. MF decided to "cut it up and use it up". Great job.  She did get this top together that day!

Work stations quickly filled up with supplies and projects in the making.

Not all of us brought out the machines.  Several ladies worked on hand projects both days.

JB was working of Foxes, but I did not snap a picture. I will share it another time.
M stopped by on Friday and got a few blocks up on the design wall.  A fun baby quilt in the making.

KA started this Pies and Tarts quilt quite some time ago.  She has stayed on it and brought her blocks to use the design wall.

Here is the start of her layout.  I love the brown background and she has made her 'pies and tarts' from Asian fabrics.  Some are fussy cut, some random, and some are from a full circle of fabric.  A great way to let the design work for you!

CD has started on this project.  She took the plunge and trimmed the center section with all the beautiful embroidery and added the pieced border.  I thought this striped border was from one strip of fabric, but her work is so precise, it was hard to tell where the white strips were added. 

Here is her pile of blocks for the next round.  This is going to be a beauty when it's all finished.

GB was working on some EPP with some fun fussy cut centers on some of these blocks.

CO also brought her EPP.  She, and others have gotten hooked on Hexi's and they have been making some amazing blocks.  Again, our fabric designers have certainly helped us out with so many fabulous prints to choose from.  C also made progress on a Log Cabin project over the two days.

Here is a very sweet piece that MN put up on the wall.  Sorry, I don't know the source of this pattern but it sure is cute.  I remember those candies!

As for me, I have been packing this project to our sew days F O R E V E R!!! And this time I finally got it finished. This is Bonnie Hunters Mystery quilt, Carolina Christmas from years ago. I did not start it before I saw the reveal. I don't do mystery quilts well. I loved it and I also saw it as an opportunity to learn the Easy Angle ruler. Making this quilt was a big undertaking, if you've made Bonnie's patterns you will know why. So much piecing. Which means so much cutting. Which translates into so many seams and so much pressing and organizing. Unfortunately for me, and for the quilt, I cut the strips for the border piecing a 1/2" narrower. When I started on the pieced border it became apparent something wasn't quite right. Since this has been in the works for so long, the fabrics in the quilt are nowhere to be found. I did have some left over trimmings from a quilt back in this mottled green, and it was used in the center of the quilt. After opinions were tossed about, the red stop border was added. There is enough of the green to make the binding. Now to get it quilted! I do love it, I'm so glad I persevered on this pattern, and it finished at approx. 90 x 90. Perfect for the bed at Christmas 2017!

I showed this piece and wrote some details to hopefully motivate a reader or two. If you loved something enough to pull the fabric, cut your blocks and start piecing it, pull it out and re visit the project. Even if you only refresh yourself on the pattern and directions, make some notes to keep in the box so the next time it will be easy to start into it. I've refreshed myself on something too many times, and found that just that was enough to stop me from moving forward. Make the notes, put it back on the shelf, and next time you can just start in on it. Finished is SO much better than a box of cut pieces.

Keep stitching,
Sharon

Starts? or Finishes?

January is a strange time for quilters.  It seems some of us are caught between two forces.  Do we finish up some things we started in the past year(s)?  or put some current ideas into action and start something new?  Looking around FB and IG, it seems we are split.  Many finished have happened and it's only mid January.  Me? I pulled out a stack of books to plan a year long project, just for me.  But I know I have too much on my plate and I'm hesitating on even pulling the fabric. 
I've focused on this instead.  Sorry, apparently I can't rotate photos today!

Pattern is a Minnick and Simpson from a few years back.  I finally got the hand quilting, binding and a sleeve stitched on, so I'm ready for next Christmas!

Judi Madson, aka Green Fairy Quilter, has an iquilt workshop that I purchased a while back.  I had the samples made, but didn't get to the quilting until just before Christmas and now they both have binding and sleeves.  Here is her modern pattern for quilting.  This is pretty dense, certainly for show, but not for most of the tops that I quilt for my customers. 

And here is her idea of more traditional designs.  All the motifs are ones that I have in my toolbox, but it was fun to put them together 'her' way.  A new twist on good designs.

What's to not love, feathers and continuous curves with swirls. 

And just for fun, I stitched up a little table topper with some scraps of Xmas fabric that have kicked around for years  Now they are used up and I have a new to me piece for Xmas 2017

So......If you have a closet full of these.........

Let me help you turn them into these. 

Nothing is better then finished.  Start as many new projects that you want, but get those tops quilted up and use them.  If you don't love them for yourself, get an edge to edge, or for even less dollars, get a meander quilted on them and gift/donate them out.

We invest our hard earned dollars into the fabric, we put a lot of emotion into the 'start' of every project.  Don't let all that go to waste.  Every quilt doesn't need, or even warrant custom, higher priced quilting.  And speaking of prices, my E2E all over prices have not been raised in years. 

Now is the time to assess those tops. Contact me through the comments section if you need some help adding to your finished list in 2017.  I'd love to quilt for you.

Keep stitching,
 Sharon

Gwen Marston - LaConner Quilt Museum

A Gwen Marston exhibit is about to open at the La Conner Quilt Museum on January 4th and it will run through March.

I've pulled all my Gwen Marston inspired work.

Used 1 1/2 lint rollers to tidy them up.

Sleeves have been added to some pieces.

This is the past two years of sewing and hand quilting.  Some of these pieces I have not shared with my online peeps.

Why, you ask.

Well, I've been asked by the curator to show some of my work that has been inspired by Gwen Marston!  Wow, pinch me! 

January 4th is the big day.  Here is your chance to visit the museum at no cost.
The open house reception will happen from 4 - 6 pm on opening day. January 4th, 2017

My work will hang until the end of February. These three rolls of quilts have been delivered to the museum.  One more piece is being shipped in from American Patchwork and Quilting. It will be featured in April's issue, but you can see it in person at La Conner Quilt Museum.

Gwen's exhibit runs through March.  She will be at the museum in March.  Check the museum website for those dates/times etc.

If you are in the area, please join me on January 4th for the open house reception.  I would love to meet other quilter's who have been inspired and influenced by Gwen.  Please share this information with your local groups and guilds.  I'm sure this exhibit will be a smashing success!

Keep Stitching
Sharon

Email and Website Issues

Seems like my server host company has closed shop.  I'm locked out of my email account which, of course, houses all addresses and info and stuff I should have somewhere else, but don't.

Can't have a post without a picture, right?
Here is a version of my table runner that was published last month in Just Charm Quilts by Annie's Quilting #141403. Hand quilted using both YLI and Perl Cotton. Wool batting.

All comments will be redirected to new email.  sharon underscore tucker at outlook dot com

Sharon
Grass Roots Quilt Studio

Christmas Greetings

As we are all rushing to get those last few things wrapped up, I wanted to take a few minutes to post a Christmas wish to all my fellow blog readers/quilter's. Thank you for still 'checking in' here. My blogging has taken a back seat to other things this year, so as I look back, I see that as a good/bad thing. Good that I have been busy and enjoying life, but bad because I have learned so much from fellow bloggers and felt like I finally had the quilting connection that I needed through blog land and I have let that slide. 

 

Although I am in the midst of a move, we still ran away from the colder days and headed to Hawaii in late November. We landed in Kona and spent a few days there seeing some of the sights on the Big Island. Of course that included a coffee plantation tour. Very educational, and yes, we bought a lot of Kona coffee to bring home.

 

One of the resorts had these quilts hanging in the outdoor walkways.  Glass covers made for challenging photos, but they are still great to look at.

 

We heard one of the big resorts on Maui closed in July and they sold off everything, including the vintage Hawaii' an quilts they had.  I hope they went to good homes!

 

I love the lava rock that pokes out from the sand in random places.  It reminds us how the islands were formed, and that they are not all soft sand and warm breezes. 

Here are the old coral blocks in Lahaina.  At first glance they look like old bales of straw. 

While in Lahaina, it's a must that we head to this restaurant for lunch. The best Chopped Steak!

Hibiscus are everywhere, and this bush was loaded with blossoms at Sugar Beach Resort.

Nothing compares to the smell of Plumeria.  My guy surprised me by picking and stringing enough blooms to make me a lei.  I wore it proudly, and enjoyed every whiff of this amazing aroma. 

I found this fabulous piece of green coral, along with these few funky pieces of the ubiquitous orange and white.  I took it home via a photo.  We left them for the next visitor to enjoy. 

I love this shot, the sun shining through the palm leaves.

Although poinsettias thrive in Hawaii, our friend has a hedge of them in her yard, this picture was taken of one from a local greenhouse. 

With only a week between returning home and Christmas, and finding this huge poinsettia, I have decided to use this as my tree.  Add a few quilts, some Christmas pillow cases and, voilà, it's Christmas in the condo.

And I couldn't pass up a class on Hawaiian applique while in Maui.  Once quilted, it will join my stack of Christmas pillow cases. 

So as the sun goes down, I wish for the best to you all. It has been a rough year for many, I hope that 2017 brings some peace to people, health and a belief that "life is good". Keep your loved one close, and be kind. Everyone has some struggles, we just can't see most of them.

Merry Christmas and all the best in 2017!
Keep stitching,
Sharon

Giving Thanks

It's been a long time since I've been here.  I just realized that the last post was about surgery and then nothing................. not a word............ not an update..................... just nothing. 

There was a whole lot of nothing going on.  My guy had surgery on his shoulder, so I was being the caregiver, driver, cutter of dinner food.  At least for a couple of weeks.

Then I did this............. Surgery was required. So was a food cutter.

Which led to both of us doing nothing for a few weeks. Seriously, nothing. We even had to hire a driver.  But slowly we both moved forward in our recoveries. 

Just to throw something else into the mix, I closed on a condo 2 days before I fell. 

On the upside, here is my latest piece that is currently in Just Charm Quilts from Annie's Quilting

My pattern is called Charming Stars and is on page 26.  The booklet is full of patterns that use, yes, Charm packs. My pattern is great for those charms you liked so much that you bought two packs!

Showing some fancy quilting here.  The fun thing about this block is that it finishes at about 18" so it doesn't take long to make a quilt using this pattern.  I've made several pieces using this technique and it's super easy. 

 

 

My condo will house my studio in the master bedroom, so a few renovations were required. Now that I've moved the big pieces of furniture, and my long arm, the "guy" is going to repurpose my current cutting table/cabinet and start putting up shelves. My long arm machine has gone back to Iowa, to the Nolting factory, for a service and tune up. Seems like a silly time to have my machine away, but there is a reason to my madness.......... I'm leaving, on a jet plane..... gotta be up at.... 4 a.m.

My guy has booked us a vacation, so see, it's really the perfect time to have my machine serviced. I will return rested, and ready to take on the new studio. We are both still healing from our injuries/surgeries, but a trip to the Orthopedic surgeon this morning, (yes, we had a same guy) he told us the salt water and sun would be good for our healing. :-)

I'm wishing everyone a fabulous Thanksgiving. I have so much to be grateful for. I have an abundance of goodness in my life and I am so blessed.

Keep stitching,
Sharon

Prepping for Surgery

Don't get excited, it's not my surgery. My guy is finally getting his shoulder repaired after 10 weeks. We hear it's going to be a very painful recovery, but knowing that every day after the surgery brings us one day closer to being back to working order makes us both happy. He retired in February, so this was his summer of sailing and golfing and getting an old car............. surgery!

So I need to be prepared for the next week, while I sit and keep him company for a few days. What else but EPP!

I have signed up for an EPP group that starts up in the fall, but I'm getting a jump start.  Wow, are those small diamonds small. That really sunk in when the package of 450 pieces arrived from Paper Pieces.  I'm trying a "new to me" method, no stitching through the paper, so the one hole punch is necessary for paper removal with a tiny crochet hook.

I've got lots of diamonds cut.  Super fast and easy since I had scads of 2 1/2" strips in a basket. 

Using small paper clips to hold down the seams makes the basting task more manageable, and I feel that I'm getting a tighter wrap on the paper.

So far, I have a small zip bag already basted.  However, it still looks like 1000's of papers are in the package, even though it only came with 450.

I'll have busy hands along with the surgeon. If I get bored, I also have a facing and sleeve to stitch down, and a wall hanging that is marked, basted and ready to hand quilt.  This should keep my hands busy for the next few days. 

Then it's back to the quilting machine with customer quilts.  I'm staying on task and am working with a 2 - 3 week turn around right now, so if you have any tops you need turned into quilts, please consider me, it's appreciated. 

Keep stitching,
Sharon