Quilting by the River

Pure Tablerunner and Centerpiece

2012-01-26T09:46:00.000-06:00

What can you make from 1 charm pack and a couple fat quarters.........how about a centerpiece and a table runner. I ran out of the dark brown that I used between the blocks but I had a blue that matched perfectly and I like the way it looks on the center piece.

I originally was making the table runner longer but we prefer this size which is 16 x 26.

I won this beautiful charm pack of Pure from Stray Stitches, thanks so much Linda! I meant to blog about it earlier but wanted to finish these projects so you could see all the prints in the charm pack. Her blog is always a fun read so be sure and stop by!

You might enjoy seeing what I used on the backs......trying to use up my stash. I thought I took pictures of the piecing of the blocks but I can't find them.

I did find my sample blocks I made first. Notice how I change the size of the center strip?

I won this beautiful bag in the blog hop and it recently got here all the way from Norway! Turid

has a lot of neat things on her blog. Isn't the sailboat perfect for someone who lives on the river? I'm going to enjoy using this! Thank you Turid

Canadian geese on the river yesterday - we always have large groups of them....brrrrrr.

Our winter hasn't been too bad here in Iowa, just a little snow on the ground and I wouldn't walk on that ice!

Supposedly there was a "outage" and we couldn't get on the internet for a day or so. I am checking on Speed Connect and someone will call me and come down and see if it will work in our area. It sounds doubtful so close to the river and with bluffs behind us. It would sure be nice to have a fast connection!

Quilt Room Redo!

2012-01-23T10:04:00.000-06:00

I am so happy to be back in my quilt room!

My 15-91 Singer sewing machine is back in it's spot. When I first brought it back in I put it up against the window and then realized...again...that I can't sew up against a wall....even a window. So I turned it and put the portable table up as I am doing a lot of free-motion quilting.

I wasn't planning on putting the white bookcase back in but for now it holds all my books, magazines, patterns, fat quarters and projects for now.

This may be a temporary arrangement as this is the wall I want to put my quilt frame on. Phase 3....Builder Bob wants to make a table that folds up on the wall and then I can take it down to put the tracks on the table for quilting. I don't have a longarm...........just a regular sewing machine and a frame.

It is hard to believe how much space I gained by removing the closet! I also have a higher space above the cabinets. On the top left is finished quilts, then pillows and on the right are quilts ready to be quilted.

I also now have a permanent design wall! It isn't big but I'll take it! I covered 1 inch styrofoam with cotton batting.

Pull out drawers hold my batting and muslin small pieces and scraps. It makes it handy when I want to piece some batting together for a small project.

We put corkboard on the fronts and insides of the cabinets doors.

Some people commented on the view of the river in my temporary quilt space, I can still see the river and with indirect lighting I don't have to worry about fabric fading as much.

It is unbelievable what you find when you reorganize! I knew I had done a lot of string piecing but I we found all kinds of goodies!

We still have more to do - painting the ceiling, adding another light, baseboard on the cabinets and removing the carpet but I love it!

Of course a lot of the stuff from the closet is in the basement and needs to be sorted. I have a storage room that holds my boxes of scraps and.....lots of other things!

Don't forget to see what everyone else has on their design wall at Patchwork Times!

Convergence spirals

2012-01-21T17:46:00.001-06:00

Last fall I made a Convergence quilt from Ricky Tim's great book Convergence Quilts. It is still one of my favorite books.

I chose these 4 fabrics but when it was finished I didn't really care for it.

One very interesting thing that Ricky Tims says in his book is that not every Convergence quilt is a winner. He has some that never made it to the quilting stage. This one went into the UFO pile.

When I emptied out my room I found it and decided to do some free-motion spirals and finish it.

This was before washing, the first photo was taken after washing and drying. I always like my quilting after I've washed and dried them.

Another photo after washing..........the kitties were missing so I had to substitute a couple others!

I decided to do the spirals again that Frances from frantastic-stitchwitchery showed on her blog. The first spirals were done on the pink baby quilt I showed you yesterday and I did finally find the binding!

This is one that I posted last February, it is my favorite.

I hope to have some new pictures of my quilt room soon! My brother came over and helped Builder Bob move the big cabinet. It is hard to believe there used to be a closet here! I'm moving back in!

Are you taking part in the Free-motion Quilting Challenge that SewCalGal is hosting? I've been stippling for over 20 years and it is fun to learn new techniques.

Temporary Quilt Room

2012-01-20T07:42:00.000-06:00

The kitties never seem to be far from my sewing machine, what do you think of my temporary quilt room? I can supervise while Builder Bob fixes dinner and also watch TV with my dad.

That big pile by the windows is material.

I am soooo glad I didn't go with Builder Bob's idea of actually moving my quilt room here or to the computer room, this is making me appreciate my private space so much more!

The closet came out yesterday, the cabinets are spread out, one in the center of the room and the others in the computer room. I'm starting to feel like we have to walk through tunnels of stuff......watch out Hoarder show, we might be candidates!

I did get a little quilting done in between my "assistant" job. I free-motion quilted this baby quilt using a circular pattern that Frances Moore recently showed on her blog. I don't think I did it correctly, maybe I was supposed to do a spiral, stop, move and do another.

I did a spiral and then made a line of stitching to another area and did another spiral. I ended up with a couple little puckers which I normally don't have as I usually start in the center and quilt out. I'll have to check on this more.

I am taking part in the Free-motion quilt challenge that SewCal Gal is putting on, are you? Wish me luck with today's renovation!

Phase 2 Quilt Room

2012-01-18T10:20:00.000-06:00

Quilting room - phase 2 of remodel

Tomorrow is the big day when Builder Bob removes this closet from my quilt room......gulp! Everything has to be emptied out of the room except the cabinets on the opposite wall that were just put in. Here is that post - Phase 1

He came up this morning with his screw gun in hand and I asked "What are you doing?" He thought today was the day! Nope I said, "you were planning on cutting oaks boards for the new Mission style tables for our bedroom........I have a couple projects to finish today." Silly guy!

We are meeting friends tonight for dinner so it will be a short "work" day. There is a casino nearby that has a new special on Wednesdays. All you can eat lobster for $24.95! I'm not eating all day so I can eat plenty tonight!

See the big cupboard on the left? That is going....I'm going to miss all the storage/hoarder space in that! The big shelves will be moved to the wall where the closet is. I remember 3 years ago when Builder Bob put these in saying....this will never get moved.....little did he know!

Last night when we decided our plan of attack I started moving my fabric and books to the living room. My dad kept asking where all the stuff was coming from! Wait until tomorrow when the sewing machines are in there! I knew this day was coming so the computer room is already full of stuff. I guess it has to get worse before it gets better!

Today I am going to work on getting these baby blankets quilted.

My next sewing will be in the living room. I may get used to all the wonderful sunlight and view of the river and never move out of there! Wish me luck!

Garden Song pillow and lots more!

2012-01-16T12:01:00.001-06:00

I got to spend the whole weekend in my quilt room cleaning, doing lots of free-motion quilting and working on projects. I finished this little 15 inch square pillow out of Garden Song. It had been on my design wall as just a block after I had done some quilting using a template. I could never decide if I wanted to do the rest of the blocks the same way or not............so while I was cleaning I decided to go with a pillow. It looks a little overstuffed as I have a 16 inch pillow form in it. Need to get the 15 inch form made.

I went through my gazillion photos to find out when I pieced this, I was looking for photos of doing the quilting but I can't find them. I really need to re-organize my photos! This was taken in March 2011, look how much those kitties have grown! Simon is huge now.

I have several charm packs, some yardage and some blocks made....can't believe I forgot about this! Hmmm.....what will I make now?? Notice what I have it stored in? I use meat containers for projects. Builder/cook Bob loves to buy meat in large amounts and I throw the containers in the dishwashers and they are perfect to use!

I have a few projects going on.......see that beautiful shelf? Builder Bob started on that before we put the cabinets in my room, it is huge and the top is made to hold my templates. There is a drawer too. Well.....I have no wall space at the moment. Everything is sitting in the computer room for now, I really want that big bookcase shelf in my room too!

As long as I'm showing my mess...this is a pile of quilt tops that I've been cutting batting for to get them to the "NEXT" stage.

I had to bring up a table to support my quilting so I was a crazy quilter this weekend. Now to get the binding so I can share them!

I've been emptying this closet because Builder Bob is going to tear it out in Phase II of my quilt room remodel. He spent the weekend building a out-feed table for his saw which is a huge 4 x 4 table. When he gets done with that we'll be tearing my room apart again......gulp!

While cleaning, my assistants found this UFO. I remember making all of these coin squares, laying them on our bed and thinking......I just don't want to quilt a king size quilt.........I know what I'll do! A QAYG! Each block is 20 inches square and I decided to do a big free-motion quilt on each one then join them together. I had read about quilt-as-you-go quilts but I didn't want sashing. I didn't really do it the right way and only have 4 blocks put together and put it aside. I remember I was out of batting and wanted to use the same type.

At some point I bought the batting and it was stuffed in the back of my closet......amazing what you can find when you empty a closet out! I had 12 blocks that needed quilting so I worked on them this weekend.

Note to self: Don't trim blocks when you are tired/not paying attention.......see what I did! No problem, I just added the muslin side back on as a.....quilt as you go!

I now have all of the blocks done! I'll have to put this aside for the moment but when I go to put them together I'll show you how I did it.

What is on your Design Wall today!

Look what is coming up!

2012-01-13T12:06:00.002-06:00

I have lots of fun projects coming up!

Melissa from Sew Bittersweet Designs is having a Valentine's Day Showcase with bloggers/crafters sharing inspirational projects and tutorials starting the first week in February. I will be her guest on February 14th, Valentine's Day! On the 15th Melissa will have a linky party where you can show off your Valentine's Day creations. I thought I would give you a sneak peak at my project for my tutorial. There will be lots of projects and tutorials. Melissa has a great blog, stop over and say hi!

I will be doing a review and tutorial for Vicki and Judy from The Quilting Lodge on the Strip Tube Ruler by Cozy Quilt Designs.

I received some yummy Batiks for Christmas and can't wait to use this ruler on them and there will be a giveaway! They also have a great blog with wonderful tutorials and reviews. Vicki recently had back surgery and is excited to feel better and start quilting again.

I am excited to let you know that I will have a tutorial in the February newsletter of The Intrepid Thread - Julie sent me these beautiful Pear Tree fabrics by Thomas Knauer, love them! They also come in greens and blues. I am having fun playing with these gorgeous fabrics right now! You might want to grab a bundle!

Sunni from Love Affair with my Brother had her Hopscotch quilt recently featured at Sew Can She. Have you been to Sunni's blog? She must never sleep as she has so many great tutorials, projects and a linky party on Saturday.

My Doll Sleeping Bag tutorial will be featured the end of January at Sew Can She! This website has a new tutorial or pattern everyday and you can get updates everyday when you get Caroline's newsletter. Thanks Sunni for for sharing her site! Be sure to check out Sew Can She's website, subscribe to the newsletter and submit your tutorial! There is also a giveaway going on right now!

I am taking part in Sew CalGal's "GO! Ahead and Show a Little LOVE AccuQuilt Blog Hop that starts Feb 13th and goes through the 18th. This year it will be hosted by Paulette from Sweet P Quilting My day is February 14th, there will be lots of great tutorials and giveaways! Even if you don't have a AccuQuilt GO Baby there will be tips and such that you can enjoy.

Today is It's Sew Kiki's one year birthday and does she know how to celebrate! She has a huge giveaway that you have to see. Stop over and be sure and tell Kiera that Connie sent you!

She also has a great tutorial for her About Town Bag - another thing I want to make!

I am taking part in the Free-Motion Quilt Challenge and have been working on my leaves. Did you notice the leaves on my first photo?

I have been doing stipple quilting for over 20 years and can do it in my sleep but this is a new technique for me. First of all crossing lines was something my brain had trouble with, I am still learning how to fill up an area without getting boxed in. Notice the little leaf in the bottom right corner....I added it later. I spent quite a bit of time drawing the leaves on paper before I moved to fabric.

I thought you might like to see the back too. I did this on 10 inch pieces of muslin and Warm & Natural batting. I have a lot more projects, QAL's, BOM's and other things going on but I had better get back to my quilting!

A couple blocks for QAL's

2012-01-11T22:10:00.001-06:00

I finished my 8th block for the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along and thought it would be fun to put them on a black background. With only 4 more blocks to go I need to start deciding what color needs to be used next. The next block will come out next Tuesday, this QAL has 2 blocks a month.

This is the 8th block which was interesting to make.

When I made this block I did a double row of stitching on the HST's and got these itty bitty blocks. See how small they are! Each half square triangle (HST) was 1.5 inches square.

Going from past experience I decided to iron and sew these little blocks together before they got lost. I think they will be cute in a mug rug!

This is my block for the Blogger's Block of the Month BOM.

There are only 4 blocks so far, 1 a month on the 25th so you might want to join this!

This is the bundle of fabrics I got last winter from Connecting Threads called Oasis. I'm using it for both BOMs. I think Block of the Month Quilt Alongs are fun! Are you doing any?

Have you seen Hodgepodge Patchwork Tuesday?

2012-01-10T18:03:00.005-06:00

This morning I had fun playing with fabrics and Marcia's tutorial. I didn't follow directions correctly.....I'm blaming it on "old age". She has a contest going on right now called Hodgepodge Patchwork Tuesday and some lucky person will win getting their quilt quilted by her! Your quilt must be no bigger than a baby quilt and you just have to make the top - not quilt it. The deadline is January 17th and you link to her Hodgepodge Tuesday. Check it out! I saw it last night and made it this morning!

Even if you don't want to take part be sure and check out her blog, she has the neatest tutorials, info and her quilting is beautiful! I sound like an advertisement LOL!

Mine isn't really too scrappy, I used 5 fat quarters that I have had for over a year.

I made 12 blocks, it didn't take long at all as they are log cabin blocks.

Here you can see how I was laying the blocks out. Her tutorial for the Denim block is wonderful! I can see another quilt coming soon!

I used the leftover strips for a bigger log cabin block, it is 15 inches a great size for a centerpiece.

I was also featured on Marcia's blog last month - it was my Christmas Tree table runner tutorial. Her Minutes for Me party starts at noon on Wednesdays.

There are so many fun QAL's and challenges going on and I want to join all of them! I am going to make a list and post it of the ones I want to take part in - otherwise I seem to lose some of them, how about you?

Have you seen this cute tutorial by Sew Lux Fabric and Gifts? This little block is only 3.5 inches and is made from 2 inch blocks. She shows you how to make a little template for this Bitty Whirlygig block. You end up with a block like the Itty Bitty Lil Twister. I had to make one to see how easy it was......Very Easy!

Orca Bay Borders and RRCB

2012-01-08T23:33:00.000-06:00

I finished the borders on my Orca Bay and I think this is a beautiful quilt! I really want to see what it will look like all quilted so I am putting it at the top of my "TO DO" list.

The border went together very well. I did have my seam ripper handy and had to use it after I sewed one of the borders on with the black facing the quilt instead of out. I don't use a lot of pins normally but with all the string pieces and other small pieces I used quite a few pins on the borders and it worked great. Simon approves.

I had the quilt folded up and my dad called me in to ask if I had put Bella in the quilt........nope, she had to check it out too.

She is just too funny!

I decided to work on piecing my Roll, roll, cotton boll UFO from last year which was another mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter. I must have decided to make it smaller as I was short 2 rows. I decided to go ahead and put it together at this size instead of putting it back in the UFO pile. I just need to put the border pieces on and the quilt it.

The kitties aren't being very helpful...... I am going to use this for my Scrap Attack quilt so it gets finished by the end of March.

Check out Judy's blog to see what everyone else has on their design wall and check the other blogs at Sew Darn Crafty.

Red for ScrapHappy Saturday

2012-01-07T08:39:00.001-06:00

I love doing string blocks so I decided to make them for Scrap Happy Saturdays. This month is red so Simon and I cut up some more red in our stash to replenish what had been used in the Orca Bay quilt.

I cut my telephone book pages into 8 inch squares and actually finished 8 blocks. I sewed 4 together and I think I am going to do a Quilt As You Go with the blocks so each month I have one section done. This challenge just started so be sure and check it out and join!

I have been doing some sewing and also looking at all the different projects I started in 2011 and never finished. I think it is time for some accountability. My stash doesn't seem to be getting any smaller, the "new""fabrics I bought last year have been "gently" aged and should be used.

Orca Bay and helpers

2012-01-01T23:05:00.001-06:00

Did everyone have a wonderful New Year day? I enjoyed myself by putting together my Orca Bay pieces, creating blocks, rows and I've everything put together but the borders. I took the photos earlier when there was natural light so there are 3 more rows that should be shown. Notice the cats checking it out? You can always click on the picture for a larger photo.

It was fun to put together other than at the end I was short a black Ohio star block and several of the red string blocks. I figured at some point my "assistants" might have grabbed them and I was just getting ready to cut more pieces when I realized that in the beginning I made one of each block and put them on my wall. I did come up short on one red string block and had to make it.

This is how it looked just seconds after the first photo......I think they approve! This is a little busier than I thought it would be and I can't wait to see the ones others have done with different colors! I think next year I will get daring and change my colors when Bonnie Hunter does another mystery quilt. I wonder how many pieces are in this quilt......lots of little pieces.

Be sure to check out what others are working on!

Most viewed posts in 2011

2011-12-31T20:17:00.000-06:00

Happy New Years a little early! 2011 was a fun year and I learned that I really enjoy blogging and sharing with others. Above you can see my top 10 blog posts of 2011, guess what?? Most were tutorials! I have a separate page which lists my tutorials and I hope you visit it. This wasn't surprising as I always love reading and learning from other people's blogs and tutorials also. You can plan on seeing many more tutorials in the coming year!

I have made many new and wonderful friends and have enjoyed being involved in blog hops and many other wonderful things. I have spent time this last week looking at all of the different projects I started this year.....many finished and just as many not finished. I have some that I want to concentrate on finishing but the biggest thing I enjoy is starting to create something new so I'm sure I will always have lots of UFO's.

In fact here is Simon helping me work on something! This week I pulled out all the pieces I had made last year from Bonnie Hunter's Roll Roll Cotton Boll and put them together......well I still have the border to put on but I can see this getting finished this year!

I also have all of the steps done so far on Orca Bay, just in time as Bonnie will be posting another step tomorrow, I can't wait to see what this is going to look like!

Happy New Years to everyone!

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt part 6

2011-12-26T09:05:00.000-06:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas! Part 6 of the Orca Bay mystery quilt is done. I've got a bunch of little star blocks! I am so glad I picked up a yard of a black tone last week so I could do this step. Be sure to visit Bonnie at Quiltville.

I also finished block 6 and 7 for my Star QAL.

The grandchildren are coming this morning and staying over night so I won't be getting any sewing done today. Enjoy your day!

Doll Sleeping Bag Tutorial

2011-12-22T12:08:00.002-06:00

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I made another little sleeping bag and have the tutorial for you.

The first thing I did was getting into my batting scraps and piece some together using a zig-zag stitch. This is a great way to use up your scraps.

Read the directions and then if you have a bigger doll just adjust the size. The easiest way is to lay a piece of fabric over your doll and see how much fabric is taken up by the girth of the doll.

This sleeping bag was done with just plain pieces of fabric instead of the strip piecing. If you strip piece just do your pieces the sizes shown.

Front, batting and backing

Cut a 8 by 12 inch piece of each
Cut a 5 1/2 x 9 inch piece of each - this is bigger so you can put a tuck in it to make more room for the doll
Quilt as desired, I just did a straight stitch about a inch apart
Cut a piece of binding 2 1/2 inches by 9 inches and sew to the top of the quilted front piece - fold over and top stitch (sorry I forgot to take a picture of this)

Now put a pin in the center of the front and back, then pin the sides.

Make 2 little tucks so that the bottom lies flat.

Stitch to hold in place.

Cut a piece of binding 2 1/2 inches long and sew to the back side. Then fold over to the front and top stitch.

Here is what it looks like so far.

Now fold the top down about 3 inches to form the pillow

Put some stuffing in it and top stitch on the binding to enclose the stuffing.

Your finished sleeping bag!

This size holds a Beanie Baby too.

Or a cute little bear!

I thought I would show a couple pictures of the strip piecing. I just added strips at a angle to cover the backing and batting and then trimmed it to the size I wanted.

When I made the first one I just turned down the top a 1/4 inch, top stitched it, folded it down 3 inches and stuffed some batting in.

Then I pinned on the top piece and put binding around 3 sides.

I didn't like the way I finished my binding on the ends so decided to change the way I bound the whole thing.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial and make some for the little ones! Happy Holidays!

String sleeping bags and Orca Bay

2011-12-18T23:23:00.002-06:00

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I finished up step 5 of my Orca Bay Mystery quilt so I decided to have a little play time. Have you ever noticed how many ties and plastic thingies there are on toys? When a little one opens a gift it takes the poor parents about 10 minutes, a scissor and sometimes a screw-driver to get the toy out of the package! My solution is to open it up ahead of time. Ask my daughter........I did it when she was little.

I bought these 2 little dolls for my granddaughters.....they sing, talk and make all kinds of funny noises....my daughter is just going to love them.......or not. Anyway I decided to make little sleeping bags for them. What do you think? If you like them I could do a tutorial on them, I have a few things I would do different next time.

Part 5 of the Orca Bay mystery quilt is done. 700 little half square triangles have been sewn on! This was probably the fastest step I have done. I almost ran out of my black fabrics and thought I was going to have to go to my solid black but I made it. Be sure to visit Bonnie at Quiltville.

Those office trays from the Dollar Tree store have sure come in handy!

What is on your design wall today? Check out what everyone is working on at Patchwork Times by Judy and:

Giveaway Winner

2011-12-18T10:30:00.000-06:00

Thank you to all the people who visited and entered my giveaway! I wish everyone could be the winner! The blog hop was so much fun, I found many new and wonderful blogs to follow and a big thanks to all my followers!

I am almost to 500 followers, thank you! When I reach that I will be giving away another of Builder Bob's ruler stands!

Congratulations to BillieBee! I have sent you a email and hope you enjoy your charm packs!

Christmas Tree Runner Tutorial

2011-12-15T00:51:00.006-06:00

I have a fast Christmas runner that could still be made before the holidays that could go along with the little mini Christmas tree mug rug I posted yesterday. This is the same tutorial that I posted yesterday at Sew We Quilt where I was a guest blogger for Madame Samm.

The size is 10 x 36 and is made using 2 - 1/2 strips of fabric.

Here is the layout of each block, can you tell I am a visual person?

I used 3 different prints for each tree. You are going to make easy half square triangles by cutting your background fabric and tree fabric into 2 - 1/2 inch x 2 - 1/2 squares so let's get started.

Cut 2 - 2 1/2 x 2 - l/2 blocks of each tree fabric and 8 - 2 - 1/2 x 2 - 1/2 background fabric
Place the tree fabric right side up and the background fabric right side down on top of it
Draw a line diagonally across, this will be your stitching line
Stitch the seam
Press the seam toward the tree print and trim off the 2 back pieces
You will end up with one half square triangle block

Now that you have your half square triangles (HST's) we are going to add the rest of the pieces.

I have marked the sizes on the photo so you can save this to your computer for easy reference. I used a 1/4 inch seam.

Here are the tree limbs ready to be sewn into a block.

Completed block is 10 1/2 x 10 x 1/2

Make 3 blocks, I switched the color order on the middle tree.

Cut 2 background strips 2 1/2 x 10 1/2 and 4 - 2 1/2 x 2 1/2 squares from binding and sew the squares to the ends the same way you did the HST's. Then sew them together. You will need 2 sets of these.

Sew the sets to both sides of your center block.

Now sew the other trees to the center piece.

I used muslin for the backing and Warm & Natural batting. My binding was 2 - 1/2 inch strips.

I did a free-motion stipple quilting on the background.

The runner looks a little funny on my table but that is okay as this is going to my daughter and she has a long buffet in her dining room, I hope she likes it! I hope you enjoyed my tutorial and if you have any questions just let me know.

I also have a Give-away going on right now so be sure to enter! Are you having fun blog hopping?

Christmas Tree Mug Rug Tutorial

2011-12-14T10:37:00.002-06:00

How would you like to make a fast and easy Christmas tree mug rug? I whipped this up yesterday while blog hopping for all of the great giveaways. I found lots of new blogs to follow. If that is how you found me I hope you enjoy my blog and come back.

What I like about mug rugs is that there is no "set" size. I just make them whatever size works for the block or design I am doing. I'll steal my photo from my table runner to show you the half square triangles (more about that below).

Cut your squares 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 using the diagram below to see how many to cut
Place the tree fabric right side up and the background fabric right side down on top of it
Draw a line diagonally across, this will be your stitching line
Stitch the seam
Press the seam toward the tree print and trim off the 2 back pieces
These are your HST's - Half square triangles

I made my first one last week, then this one yesterday while blog hopping and forgot to take pictures of the steps so I made up these diagrams for you.

In the diagram above I should have shown the half square triangles as already sewn together, sorry. Sew each row together.

Here is the finished square. Your block will be 5 1/2 inches square.

I added one 1 1/2 inch strip x 5 1/2 inch to one side and a 4 inch x 5 1/2 inch piece to the other side. Then I added two 1 1/2 x 10 inch strips to the top and bottom. I used Warm & Natural batting and did a swirly free motion quilting. I trimmed it to about 7 inches x 10 inches and added a 2 1/2 inch binding.

Here is another one I made using just one green print and put the tree on the right......you can make them whatever size you want. Are those stars or star fish in the background????

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

I also made a table runner with bigger trees! You can find it today at Sew We Quilt where I am a guest blogger.

Here is the link - Christmas Tree Table Runner

I will also be posting it here on my blog tomorrow. Enjoy!

Are you blog hopping? I have been, there are lots of wonderful giveaways going on right now and I hope you entered mine.

I have gotten quite a few NO-REPLY bloggers which means I can't thank you for visiting. I reply to every comment so if you haven't heard from me please check your blogger settings!

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt part 4

2011-12-12T06:00:00.000-06:00

I have finished the first 3 parts of the Orca Bay Mystery Quilt and have half of the red string blocks for part 4 done. I have to admit that the string blocks are my favorite and Bonnie is right.....your scrap basket doesn't seem to get much emptier.

I thought I would show you a sneak peek at what I will be sharing on Wednesday at Sew We Quilt

Are you blog hopping? I have been, there are lots of wonderful giveaways going on right now and I hope you entered mine.

What is on your design wall today? Check out what everyone is working on at Patchwork Times by Judy

Jovial Mug Rug

2011-12-11T08:19:00.000-06:00

Mug rugs are a great way to use up left over scraps from another project and make great gifts. I make mine in various sizes and this one is about 7.5 inches by 9 inches. Do you remember this project and tutorial?

You can click on the picture below to go to the tutorial .

I used the charm pack Jovial by basicgrey for Moda which has beautiful Christmas patterns.

My little scraps were only a little over 1 inch wide so I cut them into 2.5 inch strips and simply pieced them together and added a couple 1.25" strips of red.

Ready to be quilted.

The beautiful red fat quarter was one that I had already used quite a bit of so I was short for the binding and just added some black. I know I should have cut it into strips of equal size but this is just for me and I can definitely say it is an "original pattern" :)

Don't forget to check out my Giveaway that was posted on Friday! Thank you Michelle from the Quilter's Gallery for organizing this event.

Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways begins!

2011-12-09T00:19:00.003-06:00

How would you like to win a couple 5 inch charm packs of fabric? You can win Ruby by Bonnie & Camille for Moda and Grace by 3 Sisters for Moda, the colors are beautiful in both packs. Keep reading to find out how.

I am linking up with the Quilters Gallery Blog Hop Party, there will be over 225 blogs from over 20 countries participating with giveaways! Thank you Michelle from the Quilter's Gallery for organizing this event.

The Quilter's Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways list will be posted Saturday December 10th on Michelle's blog!

I have finished Steps 1, 2 and 3 just in time for Bonnie's Step 4 today, I sure hope we get to work with red this week! My favorite step was 2 with the little strip pieced blue blocks, the more I strip piece - the more I enjoy it!

Click the Orca to find out about Bonnie's Mystery Quilt at Quiltville!

~~Okay, back to my give-away!~~
~~To enter just leave a comment. You must be a follower of Quilting by the River.~~
~~This giveaway ends Saturday December 17th at midnight CST time.~~
Giveaway is now closed.

I don't know about you but I think I am going to be checking out a lot of blogs this weekend and working on Step 4 of the mystery quilt.

Blogger's BOM #3 and giveaway winner

2011-12-08T07:23:00.000-06:00

This was block 3 from November, one side was to be dark but I don't think I want that in my quilt so I just used 2 different neutral fabrics.

I am using my Oasis fat quarter group from Connecting Threads.

This was block 2 of the Canton Village Quilt Works Bloggers' BOM.

This was block 1 from September, and the Block of the Month runs until October 2012 with only one block a month. You should join!

Congrats to Needled Mom! She is the winner of the Ruler Holder and Easy Angle Ruler, a email has been sent to you. Builder Bob really enjoyed all the great comments on his Ruler Holder, thank you!

Don't forget - tomorrow the Quilter's Blog Hop Party with Give-Aways begin!

Fat Quarter Stars QAL Block 5

2011-12-07T20:50:00.000-06:00

I finished the 5th block in the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along. Bock 6 was posted Tuesday so I need to get that one done.

I am using my Oasis fat quarter group from Connecting Threads and really like the way this block turned out. Here are the other 4 blocks I have already made.

You can find out more about this QAL at MooseQuilts

Design Wall Monday

2011-12-04T23:34:00.000-06:00

I finished this little mug rug using a zig zag design using my scrap basket solids. I know I can look at a picture but for some reason I prefer having a real sample in front of me so I usually will make a block of a pattern out of my box of oldie but still goodie fabrics. I lost my link to the site.....I thought I had pinned it. I want to make one in Christmas fabrics and I'll try and find the link to give credit.

I am working on Bonnie's mystery quilt. I have 100 of step 1 and step 3. I have 32 of the blue string blocks and then realized I need a lot more. They are my favorite thing to make so I am making myself finish Step 1 first.

Click the Orca to find out more about it!

I am working on a few Christmas things but most of my time has been spent just organizing things and playing....I need to get back into my "Get it finished mode". We spent Sunday working in the basement. I was going through boxes that came from my quilt room closet - sorting, rearranging shelves in my storage room. Builder Bob worked in his shop all day cleaning, got his wood planer working and getting things organized. Sometimes it can be so much fun to clean and organize..other times it is a drag. We had fun and got some things accomplished!

What is on your design wall today? Check out what everyone is working on at Patchwork Times by Judy

Builder Bob Giveaway

2011-12-02T06:11:00.002-06:00

Are you wondering WHAT???? Nope, I'm not giving Builder Bob away - his honey-do list is way toooo long! He really enjoyed all the wonderful comments on the work he has done on my quilt studio, thanks so much! He spent some time in his shop working on another project for me. I wanted a slotted ruler board that was wide enough not to tip over for my large rulers and also a small one to hold some of my small templates and rulers.

This one can hold my big rulers and since Builder Bob used Red Oak the boards are heavy and don't fall over. I had asked him to make these before my new cabinets were up and I realized I could hang my rulers on the wall. No problem - I seem to buy just about every ruler/template there is!

How would you like to win a mini ruler/template board measuring about 4 inches by 12 inches and a Easy Angle ruler? When I sorted through my rulers I found out I had 2 of these. This is one of the rulers that Bonnie Hunter from Quiltville uses all the time.

Just leave a comment and be a follower of my blog - Good luck!

This contest will run through Wednesday December 7th midnight CST.

Yesterday morning when I got up this was the view at about 6:00am in the morning. The colors were even more beautiful than what is shown here.

There is going to be a Quilters blog hop-party with Give-Aways starting Dec 9th which I will also be part of and have another giveaway. If you would like to take part in the blog hop party just click on the link to see about participating.

Orca Bay Mystery Quilt

2011-12-01T20:47:00.001-06:00

I couldn't take it any longer! Everyone was talking and showing pictures of their progress with Bonnie's Orca Bay Quiltville Mystery 2011 and I had to join in. I even pulled out my Roll, Roll Cotton Boll that I never finished and will work on that one too.

Notice that metal thingy? This fall I picked up about 10 of them from the Dollar Store (I love going there) along with some pen and pin holders. They are office supplies and work perfectly in my new cabinet cubby holes.

Click on that cute little Orca to learn about the mystery quilt! I am doing it a little backwards....I have Step 2 done and am working on Step 1. I just realized that Step 3 will be out tomorrow....oh no!

Remember that clean quilting studio I showed you just yesterday? Here is what it looked like today.

It was a little hard getting the string pieces out of this basket......

Simon is getting huge but loves squeezing into these little Dollar Store bins that I keep my string pieces in. Stop back tomorrow......I think Builder Bob and I have a giveaway coming!

My Quilt Studio Phase 1

2011-11-30T05:00:00.002-06:00

My beautiful new cabinets are installed and the room is looking good! Builder Bob does such wonderful work and seems to come up with great ideas all the time. You are looking at 108 inches of cabinets on the bottom and also on the top. The bottom has 3 cabinets with one shelf in each and then there are also 3 pull out file cabinets. I am using one for files, one for batting scraps and one for muslin scraps.

The outlet on that wall was behind the cabinets so Builder Bob put one outlet above the counter and one high up above the top shelves so my new daylight florescent lights could be plugged in and I can use the wall switch to turn them on. Don't worry, he really knows his electrical stuff.

We really had some fun working in the room. We were going to put up 2 florescent lights over the counters and one over my sewing machine. Well Builder Bob put up another high outlet and the hooks before we realized you wouldn't be able to open the cabinet doors (there is a slanted ceiling). We then hung the light over my machine and it wasn't straight at all which he couldn't figure out.....I think we were getting tired because the sewing machine wasn't lined up straight which was the problem.

I had fun last night hanging up templates all over the place....hmmm looks like I have quite a few. He put another light switch on this wall so I can turn on/off this light and receptacle at the same time so I don't have to worry about forgetting to turn off my iron. I can't believe the difference the light makes! I was sewing today and had no problem seeing, usually I have 2 floor lamps and still have a hard time. I am really liking this and don't even have the lamp in the back turned on!

We still have several cabinets that haven't been used so Builder Bob wants to build a frame around my Singer sewing machine with the 18 inch cabinets. Right now my machine is on 1.5 inch blocks to see what would be a good height. I tried 3 inch blocks but it was too high. When he is done I'll be able to move it around as one unit. I'll keep you posted on this project.

I have this wall looking pretty good now. Since I eliminated the white bookcases I had to move my books and magazines over here. I think I have a serious quilt book addiction.

So today I got to do some sewing! If you notice my cutting pad sticks out past the counter top that is because the counter top is only 22 inches deep and my cutting board is 24 inches. I have a small ironing pad and Builder Bob made me a board that is 3 times that size but I don't think I will use it for now.

The closet has to be emptied.......more on that later and there is the sewing machine that started all of the remodel. I have a quilting frame for it but don't worry - phase 2 of my quilt studio remodel is coming soon!

Look at that! I even have room to bring my laptop in.......although I don't know if that is good or bad for sewing. If you look closely you can see Builder Bob taking a break at his computer playing his favorite game Luxor. I am so lucky to have such a great guy!

Antique Collector Wall Hanging

2011-11-28T23:07:00.000-06:00

When I moved everything out of the closet in my quilting room I came across a big box of old pieces I have made. I used to make a lot of signs that said Doll Collector, Antique Collector, Bear Collector....whatever someone wanted. This measures about 7 inches by 18 inches. They were very popular and I sold quite a few of them.

I cut all the letters by hand; they have Heat & Bond Lite fused to them. Do you see how I caught the letters in my free-motion stipple quilting? I liked the look and it was a lot faster than doing a satin stitch all around each letter. This was the beginning of what I call Appliquilt.

I used muslin and a thin polyester batting. The letters and trim were always a tone on tone usually in Hunter Green, Navy Blue, Country Blue or Mauve. I made the hanger from a dowel and also made the little wire hanger. The date on the back is 1999.

My quilting room is almost ready to show you. Builder Bob and his assistant Simon have been working hard. There isn't a inch of the room or new cupboards that hasn't been inspected by Simon.....Bella stayed away. Tomorrow I am Builder Bob's assistant on his remodel.....I'll be a trim painter. Then I'll be able to show you my new room and start quilting.

Sewing room chaos/remodel

2011-11-25T06:32:00.004-06:00

I haven't done any sewing in the last couple of days for a very good reason. Remember these cabinets we got last week-end?

I've also had this quilting frame for a year that has never gotten set up.

Well Builder Bob came up with the idea of switching my sewing to the computer room because it is bigger - but we walk through this room to go to the bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchen.....it is a major traffic area....

Or he suggested I take over the living room as it has so much light and a view of the river. He didn't care if we were always walking through my sewing area as that is where I spend most of my time. Well I moved my sewing machine in there, moved furniture etc and decided I just couldn't do it. I like having my private sanctuary.

So I tore apart my sewing room - the new cabinets were sitting in the computer room but I didn't get a good picture of them.

Then I moved more stuff (this was Wednesday and Bob was working) and emptied everything out of the closet on the left....it was the catch all - stuffed full and took everything off the white book shelves.

My dad then helped me take out the clothing rod and top shelf so I could squeeze both white bookshelves in the closet. There is a space about 24 inches I left open in the center and ended up putting the top shelf back in on top of the book shelves.

I guess I hauled the bottom cabinets in before I emptied the white bookcases. Anyway, I brought in one cabinet...then another...and another...I was getting excited because they were all fitting!

There are 6 all together and they will fit on one wall. Builder Bob will raise them 6 inches to get a good height for cutting and ironing. I will have 3 cabinets with doors and 3 filing cabinets and 6 drawers!

I decided that I don't need the quilting frame set up, I can always set it up in the basement temporarily if I need it. My sewing room will just have my 15-91 Singer and one other sewing machine. Tonight we were in measuring and Builder Bob has plans on putting the upper cabinets in, changing outlets and putting in 2 more lights.

We have to work today but will stop and pick up supplies tonight and work on my room Saturday.

Bella decided to find a new place to sleep since the sewing room is in chaos. Not really.....I took this picture a couple weeks ago when my dad went into the bathroom and found her sleeping on top of the cabinet. We figured she must have been chasing a fly or something and discovered a new spot to sleep.

Builder Bob still thinks I'm making a mistake staying in the small room but I like the privacy, what do you think? I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Fat Quarter Stars QAL Block 4

2011-11-21T07:17:00.000-06:00

I finished the 4th block in the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along. I should have picked a darker color - the light blue blends in with the background too much and I think I would have like it better with 3 prints plus the background.

I am using my Oasis fat quarter group from Connecting Threads and really like the way this block turned out. Here are the other 3 blocks I have already made.

You can find out more about this QAL at Fat Quarter Stars QAL

Be sure and check Patchwork Times to see what everyone else has on their design wall today.

Remodel Weekend

2011-11-20T10:20:00.000-06:00

We have been spending the weekend in LeClaire, Iowa helping our friends build a storage room. I brought a couple gifts.......

The Pinwheel Runner is on their dining room table, the Sunflower Tablerunner is on a little table next to it and the little Mini Runner is in the kitchen.

They live along the Mississippi River up on a bluff and have a beautiful view of the river.

There is even an island right across from them and Port Byron, Illinois is on the opposite side of the river.

Better view of the island.

Builder Bob doesn't have time to look at the river....see these neat office cabinets.....they are going home with us for a new sewing room idea that he has.

Cabinets are out, carpet pulled back and building the storage room begins. Does anyone ever have enough room to store everything??

Walls are going up, the guys are doing a great job!

They took a little break - munching popcorn - I couldn't resist snapping a picture.

Ann is sooooo excited to have shelves and a storage room!

Sheetrock is up! That's enough for one weekend.

The posts were left long as they will be removed when the tile is laid, then cut to the correct size and replaced. The sheet-rock has to be mudded, painted, a door installed and trim put up - another weekend.

It is so nice to have high-speed internet! I snapped a pic of myself in the dining room mirror. You can see the river behind me through the tinted shades.

They have some woods to the side of them and I love the split rail fence.

Tomorrow I get to sew!

Mini Sunflower Runner

2011-11-19T11:26:00.000-06:00

I've still been working with some of my sunflower fabric and whipped up this little table runner.

This is just a quilt as you go type. I have my background with a piece of Warm & Natural batting on top and I laid my first 2.5 inch square of fabric in the center.

I then added a 2.5 inch strip of accent color around all 4 sides. Then I just added strips of 2.5 inch sunflower fabric around it.

I trimmed the piece and then added small pieces of 2.5 inch to the corners and then used a bowl to get the curves. I will be doing a in-depth tutorial on this in December using binding, for this one I just added Cluny cotton lace.

The only part I free-motion stipple quilted was the accent fabric.

We are spending the weekend with friends doing a little remodeling which I'll share tomorrow.

Blogger's BOM #2

2011-11-18T00:02:00.000-06:00

I finally finished block 2 of the Canton Village Quilt Works Bloggers' BOM. The 3rd one will be coming out the 25th of November.

I am using my Oasis fat quarter group from Connecting Threads and really like the way this block turned out.

This was block 1 from September, and the Block of the Month runs until October 2012 with only one block a month. You should join!

Batik Maple Leaves

2011-11-16T23:55:00.000-06:00

So did I make a new pillow or.....a placemat??

Nope, it is a place-mat! I just laid it on top of my Roly Poly Owl pillow - I couldn't resist laying it on the pillow to see what it looked like. When I want to try out something different I usually make either a mug rug or a place-mat. What I wanted to show with this was the difference in size of the maple leaves. I did one using the Accuquilt GO! Baby Fall Medley die and the other one using the Sizzix Big Shot and Leaves #2 die.

I really like both dies and they have different uses depending on what you want to make. The leaves were cut from a beautiful fat quarter of batik that I wish I would have had more of.

I cut my backing a couple inches bigger and after I quilted it I trimmed it leaving about 3/4 of an inch. Then I folded it over and sewed it down on the front as binding.

I did my usual appliquilt type applique and then stipple quilted the background.

We now have ONE new maple leaf place-mat.....you just never know what will show up on our table! The maple leaf in my signature is one of the leaves I made and then deleted the background in Photoshop.

Today we head to town as Builder Bob is going to remove and install a new garage door for my girlfriend....what a sweetie!

Just working with some batiks

2011-11-14T05:43:00.002-06:00

I don't have any new finishes to show today. We had a busy weekend so I only worked in short spurts.

I'm working on a couple different things........

I just bought some batik charms and a couple yards of neutral batiks from Connecting Threads. I'm like a little kid when I get the batiks (I've ordered them before) and have to open each pack and look at the beautiful colors. I started putting blocks together using the pastel batik on the left - I only had 1 yard of it and of course it didn't go far. I'm going to have to order some more.

Today I have to take my dad's books back to the library, and hopefully spend some time sewing before we take my dad out to dinner for his birthday.

Amelia Flower Star

2011-11-12T00:26:00.000-06:00

I had a little of the Amelia fabric left over from my Worldly Twister so I made this little 12 inch square to hang on my new table stand. I think the table stand is very pretty but I don't think it will work in our house with 2 snoopy cats. The bottom legs aren't attached and one little bump.....and it falls over.

Simon is pretty much a neat freak - you don't want to leave anything sitting on a table as he will sneak up and deliberately knock it off. I don't think the table stand has a chance.

I pulled out my Sizzix Big Shot and a couple dies.

This heart die was one that I had bought recently and I decided to cut it apart and use it in a different way.

I also added some different flowers to the pieced star.

A close-up of the appliquilt stitching I did. I just used a teal thread for all of the applique.

It is getting chilly here and I think all of the frogs are probably hibernating so I brought this little guy in for the winter. He usually sits in my flower bed during the summer and I thought I would take a quick picture of him before he gets packed away.

I am planning on working on a couple QAL blocks today, piece some more batiks and at some point I have to go to the grocery store and the library - what about you?

Winter Snowflake Center Piece Tutorial

2011-11-11T04:35:00.004-06:00

This is a center piece or candle mat that I made which combines 2 different modern cutting tools but could also be made without them. Originally it was just going to be the center block which would be 12 inches but I decided to add the Half Square Triangle blocks and make it a 18 inch block.

I used the charm pack Jovial by basicgrey for Moda which has beautiful Christmas patterns and some neutral fabrics that I had

Did you know you can go to United Notions and get Moda fabric images that you can use in Electric Quilt or Photoshop? You can spend hours just playing with your fabric on your computer.

I used my AccuQuilt GO! Baby to cut 3.5 inch HST's with the 3 inch finished half square triangle die. I really love AccuQuilt's quilt block dies as the corners are dog-eared which makes piecing very easy. Notice that your fabric is at an angle on the die - make sure you place your fabric like this to get the grain right.

I already had the neutral pieces cut and thought it was more fun to show you the prints. I laid the charm squares on the bottom part of the die (I used a silver sharpee to show the cutting lines on the die) and I even got a usable scrap piece from each square.

You could also cut 3 7/8 inch squares to make your Half Square Triangles - I usually cut a 4" square and use a 3.5" ruler to square them up and trim for perfect blocks.

First we are going to piece the neutral colored triangles and center block together.

The size of this block right now is 12.5 inches. I am going to add some applique and another round of HST's.

This diagram might help you see it a little better.

Now I switched to my Sizzix Big Shot for the applique pieces. These have a lot of detail to them. I am using the Tattered Florals and Hanging Snowflake #2 dies.

I cut my fabric pieces about 5 inches square and fused Heat & Bond Lite to the back. Leave the paper backing on until you have put the fabric through your Sizzix Big Shot. I like to put my fabric face down on my die (paper side up) this seem to give a cleaner cut. Sometime you might have to clip a thread or two - regardless of which cutter you use.

Here is the design I came up with. I used the scraps from the snowflake to cut 4 little circles to put in the center of the flowers.

I used my 15-91 Singer sewing machine that was manufactured in 1951 on the entire piece. I did a free motion applique that I call appliquilt around the edges of the pieces. I started doing this about 20 years ago a little differently. At that time I would catch my applique with the same color of thread that I did my stippling with. Basically because I was too lazy to zig-zag around all the small pieces.

You drop the feed dogs, put on a darning foot and do a free-motion wiggle around the piece.

Instead of putting paper on the back I used scraps of Warm & Natural. It works well and there is nothing to rip off afterwards. I learned this trick from Patsy Thompson who does something very similar called the EKG stitch. Her stitching is really beautiful and her site is well worth a visit!

Sometimes my helper Bella decides to fall asleep on the job - thank goodness the dog-eared corners make it easy to piece.

Once I finished the applique I decided I wanted to make the block a little bigger. So I added another round of half square triangle blocks. That was 20 additional 3.5 inch half square triangles.

The block is now 18.5 inches - great for a center piece or pillow.

I decided to make a center piece and did free-motion quilting with a ecru thread in the center and a tan thread on the Jovial prints. I had a deep red tone print that worked perfectly for a binding using 2.5 inch strips.

You could also make several blocks and put a quilt together. I am terrible at naming blocks or quilts - my sewing machine doesn't have a name. How about Winter Snowflake for this block?

This is the guest post I did at Sew We Quilt on Wednesday with a little more added to it. I want to thank Madame Samm for having me take part in her November Block Hop which is going on all month.

Today's date is 11/11/11!

Fall Butterflies Quilt

2011-11-10T05:00:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I finished this ~~UFO~~ quilt and went out in the rain to get some pictures. It was cold, wet and just a plain old yucky day. The quilt measures 52 x 70.

This was a quilt that I started last December for my granddaughter's birthday in......January. She was turning 4 and loved butterflies so I found this butterfly print and she helped me pick out some prints to border the quilt. I finished the top but it never got quilted.

Last week when I made the mini twister I had the taupe thread on my machine and pulled this quilt down to start quilting it. When my granddaughter came over last weekend and we were "playing" in my sewing room and I asked her if we should pick some colors out for a quilt and she said no and walked over to this one and said "this is my quilt". I felt so bad............so I figured it was time to get it finished. I can't wait to give it to her!

I put a block of the fabric on the back and then added muslin around it, added Warm & Natural batting (my bolt is starting to get low) and did a fairly large stipple quilting.

After I took the pictures outside I couldn't wait to throw it in the washer and dryer......I love the way quilts look afterward. You can see it in my UFO Challenge 2011 post back in December but there are no photos of the piecing....didn't think about showing the process at that time. This was a pattern from McCall's Quick Quilts Dec/Jan 2011 called Manor House by Kari Nichols.

Today Builder Bob is going to put me to work.....so instead of staying warm and quilting I will be outside pulling nails out of boards and helping to haul them............he is thinking two days of work......I'm thinking one!

Guest at Sew We Quilt Block Party

2011-11-09T07:26:00.000-06:00

I am a guest over at Sew We Quilt today - please stop over to see my tutorial on my Winter Snowflake center-piece. Thanks Madame Samm for having me.

I won some beautiful Bark Cloth from Lora at My Indulgences and when the box came there were all these beautiful packages......I immediately opened them and then realized I didn't take a picture so I tried to wrap some of the fabric back up to show you. I was thinking a purse out of it but there is so much that I am now thinking cushions for on the deck next summer.

She also included a Linen and Room Freshener called Vanilla & Lavender that smells wonderful. I am not usually one for perfumes and such but this has a very subtle smell and I love it. She also has some goats milk soap that I want to try. You should check out her blog. Thank you Lora!
xxx

Block party and my blog disappeared last night

2011-11-08T08:52:00.000-06:00

It is a rainy day and I think Simon has the right idea of how to spend the day.

Be sure and visit Sew We Quilt today to see another great block! I will be the guest tomorrow.

If you stopped by for a visit last night you would have noticed that my blog was GONE! My google account was disabled. At first I thought it was just a page error but I cleaned my cache, went back on and still couldn't log into google. Then I went to my blog and found out it was removed.....talk about panic! I couldn't even get my email. A message came up that it was thought I had spammed or something and I had to send a message saying what I was doing when I got blocked.

I thought and thought and the only thing I was doing was visiting some blogs for the Quiltmaker 100 Volume 4 giveaways and I would click on the Google Friend Connect - when my picture doesn't come up I am not sure if I am following or not.....when I would click it would come up saying I had already visited this blog - sign in - okay, I always do this and for some reason is the only reason I can think of that I got disabled.

I sent them that message last night. Then I calmed down and thought if my blog disappears.....it disappears. When I came on this morning I had email and my account was back but it really makes me think about how many things are connected - email, blog, friends....and how lost I felt without it. I can see I have gotten lazy about backing things up and should also start using my other email account a little more. Has anyone else ever had this happen?

November Block Hop starts today

2011-11-07T10:19:00.000-06:00

Be sure to check out the November Block Hop - I will be over there Wednesday - I couldn't resist giving you a little peek.......

Madame Samm has Katherine from Sew Me Something Good with a Bento Box block today!

Look at the size of this boat that came down the Mississippi River the other day! It is going south for the winter.....can you imagine what their house must look like!

I have to work outside today, we are supposed to get lots of rain starting tomorrow so I will be cleaning up dead plants. I would rather be quilting but it has to get done. See you tomorrow!

Block party coming and a Winner!

2011-11-06T12:08:00.000-06:00

There is a Block Party happening at Sew We Quilt starting tomorrow and I will be Madame Samm's guest on Wednesday. I just couldn't resist giving you a sneak peak!

I am hurrying to finish and I have had helpers this weekend - do you think that means I got 3 times as much done?? Nope I don't think so.

My grandchildren love using my Sizzix Big Shot.

They wanted to work with hearts so I had to wait until they were done to work on my block.

My granddaughter decided it was time to do some drawing.

The giveaway winner!

Thanks to everyone who came to visit during my Lil' Twister giveaway and a big thanks to Quilting Lodge for sponsoring it! The winner was Sarah! I will be contacting you shortly - Congratulations!

Be sure and check out Sunni's new Linky Party at Love Affair With My Brother - she has a great blog that you will enjoy so post your link over there!

Northern Cardinal Runner from Lil' Twister Leftovers

2011-11-05T06:19:00.000-05:00

I used the leftovers from my Northern Cardinal charm pack that I used here on my Mini Twister to make this small 15 x 20 inch table runner.

I trimmed my twister pieces to 1.5 inch squares - put 4 together and then added my 1.5 x 3.5 inch pieces on 2 sides and then trimmed them. Then I added a 1.5 x 5inch strip on the other 2 sides. To make this work I sewed a 1/8th inch seam.

Then I added some of the 5" charm blocks. I used a scant 1/4th inch seam.

I dug around in my stash and found a burgundy fabric that worked perfectly for my binding.

Back side - I just used some fabric from my "old" stash.

I still have some leftovers! Maybe a mug rug.

I have to say these are difficult colors for me to photograph!

I took this photo in our garage where we have our wood stacked.

This is what Builder Bob and my brother have been working on lately. I helped stack today and am I sore! My brother started heating with wood last winter so now we cut twice as much but luckily the weather has been good and by tomorrow evening we should both be set for winter. I get to stay home and play with grandchildren tomorrow - much more fun.

Now I'll schedule this to post in the morning and I'll add wood to the wood stove as it is getting chilly and then head to bed. This is the last day for my giveaway that started on Monday - link is at the top of the page.

Another Sunflower Table Runner

2011-11-03T14:41:00.002-05:00

I finished up a runner using more of my sunflower fabric and the HST's that I had made for my AccuQuilt GO! Baby pillow. This runner is 17 x 31. I used the 3 inch finished triangle die. You can see how I put it together below.

Do you remember when I showed you the original runner? I thought the yellow stood out too much so I took it apart.

This is what I used the yellow block for. You can find more info about it under my Quilting Projects.

I used the sunflower fabric for a 2.5 inch binding. We use table runners all the time.

I just did a simple stipple quilting using 100% cotton thread and Warm & Natural batting. I still have HST's cut out so you might see a couple more things out of this fabric.

I also received some beautiful fabrics in the mail from Annie at Annie's Ruby Slipperz - she has a giveaway called Mystery Monday where you can win 5 fat quarters! See what I won and she also sent me this cute little stitchery note pad. Thanks so much Annie! She also has another blog called I play with Fiber all about spinning.

Then this morning I got a email from Suzy at Suzy's Artsy Craftsy Sitcom that I was being featured on her blog. She really took the time to look through my blog and find information and quilting that I had done. She has a Promote Yourself Linky party every Thursday that you should check out plus lots of other great things! Thanks so much Suzy!

Northern Cardinal Twist

2011-11-02T11:40:00.000-05:00

I finished up another twister quilt using a mini twister template. This quilt is only 13 x 15 inches. I put it on a child's bench to see if I could make it look bigger than it really is.

I picked up this neat charm pack when we went on our road trip a couple weeks ago. It is Northern Cardinal by Holly Taylor for Moda.

Then I saw this neat template (you had to buy the pattern to get it) for a mini twister and of course bought it.

It uses 3.5 inch squares so I took 30 of my squares and cut them to 3.5. This left me with pieces that were 1.5 x 5 and 1.5 x 3.5 inches. I used the 1.5 x 3.5 pieces to border my little quilt. I also have leftovers that I am using for something else that I'll show you soon.

I have a hard time getting the color in my photos right, the fabric colors are subtle and warm.

I thought you might enjoy a close-up.

I have made several twister quilts and you can see more steps in these posts

Worldly Twister - check my giveaway too!

Twister Center piece

Body Pillows

If I made 3 more I could have placemats!

Worldly Lil Twister quilt

2011-10-31T00:04:00.005-05:00

My newest Lil' Twister quilt is called Worldly Twist. I love the colors in this and it finished out to be 40 x 46 inches - a nice size for a baby blanket or a lap quilt.

Quilting Lodge my newest sponsor, sent these beautiful fabrics which are Amelia by Me and My Sister for Moda and I used the Lil' Twister Ruler to make this neat quilt.

I cut up the 6 fat quarters into 5 inch square - each one gave me 12 squares. I also cut 12 squares from my 1 yard pieces.

I knew how I wanted to design it but my challenge was to work with a limited amount of fabric and see what I could come up with. I really wanted a dark pink in the center but I didn't have enough fabric. This was my final layout - the size was 40 x 50, then I added a 3 inch border around it to make it 46 x 56 inches.

Now to cut out the blocks, I love this part. I actually took it out to the kitchen and laid my cutting mat out on our island counter then after I had it half cut and pieced back together I took it down to Builder Bob's shop for some photos.

You use your large rotary cuter (the one the size of an Oreo cookie)

Shrinkage - I cut and pieced my blocks differently this time so you could see the size before and after being cut and pieced back together.

Original size was 46 x 56 before cutting with the template. The finished size was now 31 x36 inches. So your finished twister quilt will be about 2/3 of the size of the original.

I then cut 4 - 2.5 inch strips of fabric for my binding and then had enough to cut 5 inch borders. I looked at the quilt and decided it looked a little boring.

So I found some hot pink batik and cut some flowers with my Sizzix Big Shot and added 1 to the center and then in each corner. I appliquilted them before I quilted the whole quilt but forgot to take a picture.

Inspector Simon - if you walk away for a moment there he is!

It is definitely easier to free-motion quilt without a cat sitting on the quilt!

I forgot about the borders making the quilt bigger so I was about 5 inches short on the binding - improvise - I cut my binding pieces in half lengthwise and added 2.5 inch strips of leftover fabrics. Sorry no picture, I also got to use some gently aged fabric from my stash for the back.

I really think the flowers add to the quilt. You could also just use a dark pink in those blocks if you didn't want to do any applique.

You can click on this sketch and save it if you want to make one like mine

I had to take it down to the river for some photos -

and I had a couple friendly frogs stop by to inspect my stitching.

Bye little frog....good thing I hadn't washed the quilt yet!

I took this photo this morning after the quilt had been washed - that is my favorite step - washing and drying my quilt.

I hope you are still here as there is a giveaway!

Quilting Lodge sponsored this great giveaway and look what you can win! Vicki and Judy have generously offered to give one lucky person 8 fat quarters of Amelie and the Lil' Twister template!

Giveaway is now closed

~~To enter:~~

~~Leave a comment - you must be a follower of my blog (follow via Google Friend Connect in the right side-bar of the blog).~~
~~Visit Quilting Lodge Blog and become a follower.~~
~~Visit Quilting Lodge and subscribe to their newsletter.~~
~~Blog about this giveaway~~

~~That is a total of 4 chances to win!~~

~~This contest will run through Saturday, November 5th - midnight CST.~~

Thank you Quilting Lodge for sponsoring this!

Sneak peek and a special win

2011-10-29T10:50:00.000-05:00

This little tree frog doesn't know Winter is coming! I was down by the river yesterday taking some photos of something that you'll have to wait until Monday to see......there will be a giveaway too and 2 frogs jumped on my quilt. This little guy isn't any bigger than a dime!

I have been working today trying to put together a page on my blog with links to my tutorials and projects. If you have a second and can take a look I would love to know if you think it will be helpful. The link is at the top under my header or here. I have a couple other pages I want to get up, work on my new header/signature for November.....clean house.....quilt....oh boy!

I had a big box come in the mail yesterday and look what was in it! Lots of wonderful goodies that I won from Lori and her family at To everything there is a Season - I won a Fall Basket containing some beautiful fabric, a hand crocheted dish cloth, the ingredients, a spoon and recipe for M&M cookies, my favorite Halloween candy, a Wisdom notebook, a dish towel and cloth, a fat quarter of fabric and a whole yard of a cute garden print!

Take a look at this! I wasn't sure what it was until I opened it, notice the cute little tag.

Handmade acorns!

The best part of this gift was the handmade card. What a special gift! Thank you so much!

I hope everyone has a wonderful week-end!

My Quilt Room

2011-10-28T00:55:00.000-05:00

Would you like to take a peek at my quilt room?

We are walking in the door and we'll turn to our left to take a look at my cutting table. Below it is a file cabinet and a container of Warm & Natural scraps, muslin scraps which I am into constantly and below it a box of cotton Cluny lace.

My mini ironing board - the plywood is for a bigger one but I haven't gotten around to making it yet. If I need a bigger one I set up my ironing board in the other room. Below is another old singer and scraps cut in different sizes. The other drawers hold my threads and miscellaneous supplies. I see some rulers in a stand too.

Now we are coming to my sewing machines, Simon seems to be trying to figure out what that Ghastlie thing is on the wall.

Notice I have lots of light..Builder Bob even put in some florescent lights....my eyes are getting old. To the left of Simon is are shelves with templates, more rulers, and of course my much needed magnifying glass which I've been using a lot lately to thread my machine. I don't like to sew up against a wall and with the 2 machines like this I get a big working space.

When I sit at my sewing machine I am looking at this wall which Builder Bob built me. The cupboard came from our old kitchen......it can hold a lot of stuff!

Builder Bob built these bookcases for me. They are 16 inches deep. Notice the big cupboards along the bottom.....they are full of miscellaneous....have you noticed I like that word. The top shelves hold all of my old fabric - lots of country blue, navy, burgundy, mauve, hunter green, browns - colors that were very popular when I was making table-runners, basket lids, center-pieces and wall-hangings 12 years ago.

Working our way around the room you see my closet (completely full) and 2 book shelves with books, my GO! Baby, Sizzix Big Shot and dies. Boxes of strips, thread and on top......UFO's.

My room is 11.5 foot minus the 16" bookcase x 13 foot minus the closet and door and I am using every inch of it. I am thankful I have a quilting room but my last one was almost 4 times this size. I think that is why I quit sewing when we moved here.....plus we used this as a spare bedroom.

Since I have used almost every inch of space when I work on something everything is on the cutting table then gets knocked to the floor or put on the sewing table and then gets knocked to the floor. Notice in the first photo there is stuff on the floor - 2 projects for next week. I am one of the crazy people who can't work start on something new unless everything is cleaned up so my room really does look like this most of the time.

When I decided to start quilting again I warned Builder Bob that quilting would be all I wanted to do.....he was warned. I focus 110% (according to my best friend) on whatever I am working on.

Have you posted your sewing/quilt space? I hope you enjoyed visiting mine and if you noticed I was quilting something it will be done by Monday and I will have a tutorial and.....a GIVEAWAY!

Fat Quarter Stars QAL Block 3 and some stash

2011-10-26T06:07:00.001-05:00

I finished my 3rd block for the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along. I really like all the colors in this one! I may have to make another one.

Builder Bob is putting me to work today. I wanted to post some pictures of my quilting room but will have to wait. Here is a sneak peak at my batiks and top right I can see a couple layer cakes, jelly rolls and some charm packs. The drawers are holding 12 square paper for string piecing plus a bunch of string pieces already sewed but not used.

AccuQuilt GO! Baby and Sizzix Big Shot and a few dies and magazines....

and a few more dies.....

Have you posted pictures of your quilting/crafting space? I would love to see!

A Ghastlie View

2011-10-25T11:46:00.000-05:00

I just had to buy some of the Ghastlie fabric as it is so neat and fun. I bought my fabric from Quilting Lodge and received it in 2 days!

I didn't want to cut it up so I made some 1/2 inch bias tape from black Kona cotton and top-stitched it down. I know my strips are a little wonky, maybe the Ghastlies have wonky window frames..............

I added a 3 inch border of and then stitched a line 1/2 from the print to kind of frame it. Then I did a free motion stipple quilting. Would you believe that I used thread that was about 15 years old that was a perfect match? Back in the day when mauve was a popular color.

Don't you just love that owl in her hair!

Have you been over to Sew I Quilt - Madame Ghastlie's blog? She has all kinds of neat Ghastlie things going on for the next 2 weeks including giveaways and a blog hop! So go visit.

River view - I realized I haven't posted any pictures of the barges that go up and down the Mississippi River daily. I am so used to them that I don't pay much attention to them. They run until the river freezes in the winter.

Would you believe this is a load of mulch! Look at the steam coming off of it.

The tow pushing all of the barges - we usually just say "There's a barge going up river".

Starburst Flourishes

2011-10-24T08:54:00.000-05:00

I finished up another mug rug but if I had been thinking I should have made it a 12 inch square so I could put it on the new table stand that I showed you here. I used my Sizzix Big Shot and the Starburst die I just bought from the Sizzix Outlet Store and Elegant Flourishes that I have had. If you have a Big Shot be sure to check out the Outlet Store as you can sometimes get dies for as much as 80% off.

The Sizzix Big Shot uses 2 acrylic pads - 1 goes under your die, the other goes on top of your die and fabric.

For the Starburst die I cut my Heat & Bond Lite about 5 inches wide and then fused it to my fabric. I like to cut with the fabric face down so that the last thing cut is the paper backing.

It is too bad that this die has a little clip that gets cut out as this would be neat to use inverted.

Next I cut my Elegant Flourishes but I only wanted one part so I cut my fabric/Heat & Bond Lite just a little bigger than the flourish.

I cut 2 at a time with the fused backing on one piece facing down and on the other facing up so that I got reversed designs. I could have cut all 4 at once but at the time I wasn't sure what I wanted to design.

The flourishes are very small and delicate.

I laid my die cut pieces on the fabric for my mug rug and then ironed them in place. I decided to do my free-motion appliqueing again. I forgot to mention that I cut the designs out of Batik fabric. I finally put a new needle in my sewing machine..............I push them to the limit...........and a nice sharp needle is important with batiks.

My picture of the front turned out fuzzy but here is a picture of the back. Instead of using stabilizer or paper I just used my piece of Warm & Natural batting. Notice that the batting is 3 different pieces? I love making small things and using up my batting scraps. I just zig-zag them together.

Then I added the backing to it and did a small stipple quilting using a taupe Bottom Line thread.

My mini quilt/mug rug measures 8 x 10 inches. I like this size of mug rug because I can cut 1 - 2.5 inch strip of binding and it will fit around the piece. I used a 1/4 inch stitch and sewed it to the front, then folded it to the back and stitched-in-the-ditch on the front.

I have had a lot of people asking about the Big Shot versus the GO! Baby and I can only say that I like both. The applique designs from Sizzix are smaller and more detailed as most are designed for paper. Geometric quilting shapes - I prefer AccuQuilts as the corners are dog-eared which makes it much easier to piece. If you have any questions just ask. Do you have a Sizzix Cutting Machine?

Fall Leaves Mug Rug

2011-10-23T18:20:00.000-05:00

We having been having beautiful weather here in East Central Iowa so I've just worked on a few small things. I had cut out a bunch of leaves with my Sizzix Big Shot and I used them to make the mug rug with a camouflage look.

Here are all the little leaves cut out and waiting to be arranged.

I used my Tattered Leaves die.

Opps....I should be showing this picture tomorrow as it has the mug rug I'll do then but I have a bunch of pictures on using my Sizzix Big Shot and I will show them tomorrow. I just did a straight stitching grid on this one.

Builder/Chef Bob is cooking dinner while I'm posting this.....what a sweetie! Opps, dinner is done!

Doily Mug Rug

2011-10-22T22:40:00.000-05:00

This little mug rug is the only thing I finished quilting today........I had to have a "finish". Being gone last weekend and then helping Builder Bob most of the week was making me have quilt withdrawal. I did a little housecleaning, spent some time cleaning up my quilt room and then did some piecing. I have a couple things that are ready to be quilted. I also thought about my wonky stars from yesterday and decided I want them straight so I started ripping out seams. Now back to the mug rug.

I forgot to take photos of my Sizzix Big Shot and this cute die called Decorative Doily - probably because I already had this shape cut out. This is the same die I used for my Spider Mug Rug.

Instead of appliqueing around it I decided to just stitch some straight rows to hold the design in place. It already had Heat & Bond Lite on it so I just fused it to my mug rug fabric.

I marked a couple lines with one of my new Frixion pens and then used my foot to do the rest of the lines. I got my lines going crooked and had to mark a new line, thank goodness this is for me. I then did lines in the other direction, trimmed it up and added a 2.5 inch binding.

Can you tell I like lots of quilting? I will be curious to see how this holds up with washing.

The weather here has been beautiful so I spent some time outside. This is a photo I took last week on our road trip. Wish I was taking a walk there.

Happy Quilting Stars Quilt Along Block 6 done

2011-10-21T18:34:00.000-05:00

I finished the last 6 blocks of the Happy Quilting Quilt Along so now it is a matter of laying it out and piecing it together.

I have reached the point that I don't want to work on it anymore.......but I know I will love it when it is finished.

Okay, these went sideways......as you can see I have only cut 1 wonky so far. I am seriously thinking about redoing the blocks and not going wonky. I think I would prefer sashes. We will have to see.

Builder Bob put me to work again today so I haven't done much quilting since we went on our road trip last Friday......I'm starting to have withdrawals so hopefully tomorrow I'll be quilting. He is remodeling 2 bathrooms and a laundry room for someone whom he did a major remodel 2 years ago.

He added on the whole left side which included a master suite and 2 additional bedrooms upstairs. He added on a neat covered porch too! The upstairs was completely gutted and this projects took quite a while. It looks beautiful! This house is down the road from where my parents used to live and it looks so different from when I was younger.

AccuQuilt GO! Baby Winner

2011-10-19T12:40:00.000-05:00

Thanks so much for the great response to the AccuQuilt GO! Baby giveaway! The winner was krisgray, congratulations and I'll be sending you a email for your address.

I decided I had better finish a couple things before I started playing with my new fabric so I am working on Block 6 for the Happy Quilting QAL.

I need to make 5 more blocks so I can piece the blocks all together. Of course that is as far as I will go for awhile - I'm thinking after Christmas before it gets quilted, I just want to see what all the wonky blocks look like as a top because I don't really care for the look now.

I have a couple of giveaways that I have won recently. I won the DVD Bead It Like You Mean It from Frieda at Walks in the Woods and then I won 1 yard of Candy Shop by Michael Miller from Annie at Originate and Renovate.

Girlfriends and Stash additions

2011-10-17T23:38:00.000-05:00

I am barely going to squeeze this post in before midnight but I don't want to miss a day in October for posting so here it goes. Saturday morning we headed up to Des Moines, IA to meet up with my friend's cousins. It was so much fun meeting all of them and we had a great time shopping, eating and of course a few drinks. It really made me feel good when they talked about doing it next year and wanted me to come as I am officially adopted into their family. I have a large family but no girl cousins.....at least until now.

No one was a quilter but they were sweet enough to go along to Creekside Quilting in Clive, IA which was close to our motel. This shop is fantastic with over 5,000 bolts of fabric! I could have stayed there all day!

Here are a few things that ended up in my bag.

I have been looking at table stands for a while and when I saw them in the store I had to buy one. It will hold a 12 inch block or small quilt. I put my Girlfriends fabric on it just to show what it looked like. This will be fun to use and display different blocks.

I picked up some fat quarters of Terrain to go with the 2 charm packs I already have and then there was this little bundle for making little pouches. I didn't open it until I got home and realized the label said to buy the pattern separately plus I also didn't know the fabric was laminated. I really don't need a pattern and I guess I am finally going to work with laminate fabric which should be fun!

Fat quarters on sale 40 per cent off, had to pick up a few.

Ann picked up these beautiful batiks called Espresso from Island Batik. I'm not sure what I'm going to make out of them yet. She also picked a quilt pattern/book for her bed that I'll have to figure out how much fabric she'll need and go shopping again.

I have nothing new that I've quilted. My routine is off from the weekend and then helping Builder Bob. I spent the day pulling sheet rock off and helping to gut a bathroom. I actually like gutting (don't tell Builder Bob) and tomorrow I'll be hauling buckets of stuff out to the trailer to haul away. Hopefully tomorrow night I can get a little quilting in. I haven't shown you what I bought at Expressions in Threads in LeClaire, IA yet......more goodies I'll save for another day.

Blogger's BOM #1

2011-10-16T22:07:00.000-05:00

I finished my first block for the Blogger's Block of the Month and decided to use the same fabrics that I am using for my Fat Quarters Star QAL as I have plenty.

This block is 8.5 inches and I can always add sashs if I want to use the blocks from both QAL's in one quilt.

I really had a fun weekend and also found some fabrics and notions that I just had to have. We stopped at Susan's Calico Creations in Fulton, IL which a neat shop with bolts of fabric in baby cribs. I hadn't been there in years and I loved all the neat fabrics they had. They also put together a lot of beautiful kits.

I couldn't resist buying the 7 inch Drunkard's Path template by Elisa's Backporch. I wanted the 3.5 inch but they were out of it.

Just a couple Batik fat quarters.

Then I found this cute little mini Lil' Twister that I just had to have, they even had a smaller one!

I also picked up this cute charm pack of Northern Cardinal......I can see a Christmas runner coming in this.

I had to share a couple pictures I took. This is a island on the Mississippi River which has a home on it. Rapids City, IL is on one side (where I'm standing) and LeClaire, IA is on the other.

Expressions in Threads is a great quilt shop in LeClaire, IA. I took this picture in the morning when we were first starting up the Great River Road in Illinois

We were told there was a quilt store in Savanna, IL but couldn't find it. So we headed back to Iowa.

I love old bridges!

I'll have to wait until tomorrow to show you what goodies I got at Expressions in Threads. Builder Bob is putting me to work tomorrow so I don't know what I'll get done in my quilting room...........I sure want to play with my new fabric and templates!

Kidnapped for the weekend

2011-10-15T07:57:00.000-05:00

I am being kidnapped for the weekend. We met up last night at the Blue Iguana in Leclaire after our road trip with friends. We had some drinks and a awesome Wise Guy pizza. Ann and Lori are heading to Des Moines with their mom and will meet up with cousins for a girl's getaway. I am officially a "Kaiser" for the weekend and get to go along! This is going to be fun!

We saw some beautiful scenery and leaves. This is a view of the Mississippi River crossing the bridge in Savanna, IL.

Just me sitting on a rock on a island between Savanna, IL and Sabula, IA. We stopped at a couple quilt store (imagine that) and I got some goodies that I'll show soon. Right now I have to get my overnight bag ready as I'll be kidnapped soon.

Eerie Alley Quilt

2011-10-14T08:58:00.000-05:00

I used up the last of my Eerie Alley jelly roll making this cute little quilt for my daughter. I thought it would look cute laid on the back of their couch and will match the runner I made.

I took my strips and sewed groups of 5 together. That measured out to 10 inches so I cut 10 blocks. I laid it out like this first.

Then I folded a couple over to see what that would look like.

Final decision.....I cut the 10 blocks in half and made strips.

Then I added some 2.5 inch strips of black between them. I still have a little left over so I was able to add 3 more strips to each row.

For the backing I used some swirly blue tone on tone that had aged.....for quite some time. I had it cut into fat quarters so I pieced them together with some black strips.

I did a large stipple quilt with black thread. I had some heavy weight on my quilt checking out the stitching. My dad was reading a book with Bella in his room so I took Simon in to him. No problem moving that fabric now!

I didn't have enough black solid or Eerie Alley for the binding but I had this black stripe and it worked perfectly. I cut 2.5 inch strips of binding and sewed it to the back side of the quilt, folded it to the front and stitched it down. The quilt is 37 x 50 after being washed.

You can see a little bit of the back in this photo.

While I was outside taking pictures this boat came by heading down river. It is probably heading south for the winter.

There is a good chance that it isn't the owners, many times they hire someone to take the boats south.

Closeup of the boat, it is probably 50 foot long.

The weather is beautiful so we are going to take a road-trip to enjoy the leaves for the day. Builder Bob is waiting patiently for me to finish writing this. Do you think I will find any quilt stores.........?

Fat Quarter Stars QAL Block 2

2011-10-13T20:44:00.000-05:00

I finished my 2nd block for the Fat Quarter Stars Quilt Along at Moose on the Porch Quilts: Fat Quarter Star QAL. The is a nice QAL as you only do 2 blocks a month. It will finish in March 2012.

AccuQuilt GO! Baby Giveaway!

2011-10-12T00:44:00.001-05:00

How would you like to win a AccuQuilt GO! Baby and 3 dies

so you can make things like this Pillow

or this Maple leaf centerpiece

AccuQuilt has generously allowed me to have a giveaway and one lucky person can win a GO! Baby and 3 compatible dies.

Giveaway has ended

~~You MUST be a follower of my blog to enter - entries will not count if you are not a follower!!~~

~~Go over to AccuQuilt and decide which 3 GO! Baby compatible dies you would choose if you won, then come back here and leave a comment telling me.~~
~~Only ONE comment per person.~~
Make sure you either leave an email address in your comment or that your email is attached to your Blogger profile. If I don't have a way to get in touch with you, I will have to choose another winner.

~~This giveaway will be open until 11:59pm (CST) on Tuesday, October 18th.~~

Good luck to everyone and don't forget to check out my tutorials using the GO! Baby if you haven't seen them yet.

Sunflower Centerpiece

2011-10-11T15:40:00.001-05:00

Yesterday I showed you the Half Square Triangles I cut with my AccuQuilt GO! Baby and also a tutorial for making a pillow you can click here if you missed it. I have lots of HST's cut and I decided to make a runner from 3 blocks in different colors.

The block with the yellow just seemed to jump out at me so I took the runner apart and used this block for a centerpiece or it could be a candle mat. I forgot to take pictures as I went.

I fussy-cut a sunflower from the fabric and put it in the center and did a free-motion appliqueing around it.

I didn't want to use up all of my Sunflower fabric so I just used muslin for the backing and Warm & Natural for the batting. I stipple quilted it with a close stipple in the creme areas with creme thread and a big stipple in the rest with a dark taupe thread.

It finished at about a 18 inch square after I added the 3.5inch sunflower border. I used a 2.5 inch straight binding and sewed it on by machine.

Simon was no help with this project.

He's having a hard enough time staying on top of the chair.

Stop back tomorrow..........I see a big GIVEAWAY coming.

AccuQuilt HST Pillow Tutorial

2011-10-10T00:39:00.002-05:00

I made this pillow using my AccuQuilt GO! Baby , the 3" finished Half Square Triangle die and Feather die.

Take a look at the next photo to see how I lined up my fabric on the die. This is the right way to cut to get the correct grain.

I cut strips of fabric about 4" wide and you can see that there is very little waste.

I usually cut 4 layers at a time. I think the AccuQuilt GO! Baby 3" finished Half Square Triangle die is my favorite one for basic quilting and was the first one I bought. The corners are dog-eared so it is fast and easy to match your seams.

I couldn't believe how fast I could make the Half Square Triangles (HST). If you don't have a GO! Baby you can make 3" finished size HST's using another method and still follow the tutorial.

I made quite a few HST's and changed my mind on what I was going to make so you will see a sunflower fabric instead of the rust print when I am showing how to put the block together. Don't worry, I'll have a couple more things to show you using the rest of the HST's soon.

Now the 18" pillow tutorial

Make:

4 - brown/creme HST blocks
4 - green/creme HST blocks
8 - rust/creme HST blocks (photo shows the Sunflower print)
arrange as shown below

Sew the blocks together as shown. Making it in 4 sections works better for me instead of sewing long rows.

Now sew these 2 sections together.

Completed 12" block in the correct colors.

Add a 3.5 inch strip to each side.

Now we'll make the feathers.

I cut my fabric just a little bigger than the size of the curved feathers and then cut pieces of Heat & Bond Lite just a hair smaller. Then fuse the Heat & Bond Lite to the wrong side of the fabric.

I want feathers curving in two different directions so I lay one piece of fabric on the die with the Heat & Bond Lite side down and the next fabric piece with the Heat & Bond Lite facing up. You will need a total of 8 curved feathers with 4 being reversed. It is easier to cut your fabric to fit 3 feathers and have the left-overs for something else.

Again you see very little wasted fabric.

Next do the same thing and cut 2 strips of the straight feathers. You will only use 4.

Remove the paper backing and fuse your pieces to the pillow top. I overlapped the green feathers just a little.

Now cut a piece of batting and inside backing a little bigger than your block. NOTE: I am using a old sheet that I pieced for my backing as it will be inside the pillow and not seen. I like a backing because I wash my pillow covers and don't want to worry about the batting. Save your matching fabric for the actual back of your pillow.

This pillow was made using my 15-91 Singer sewing machine which is 60 years old and only has a straight stitch. I did a free-motion applique but you can applique your preferred way. I used a dark brown thread to accent the feather pieces.

Next I switched to a ecru thread and stipple quilted my background.

Trim your pillow to a 19 inch square. Then cut 2 pieces of fabric for the pillow back.

1 piece 13 x 19
1 piece 11 x 19
Take each piece and fold one 19 inch side over 1/4", press and fold over 1/4" again.
Topstitch
Have a supervisor make sure you do the next step correctly. Simon loves this job!

Have your pillow top lying face up and then lay the 11 x 19 piece face down on your pillow front. Next put the 13 x 19 inch piece face down on top of the 11 x 19 inch piece. Pin and stitch a 1/2 inch seam around the pillow. Remove pins, trim the corners and turn right side out.

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial, now I just have to figure out a name for the pillow. I think I am seeing a couple more things made with the other HST's on my design wall and a giveaway coming so stop back.

Be sure to see what everyone else is working on at Patchwork Times and other places.

Ghost Walk

2011-10-09T21:29:00.000-05:00

Last night we went on a Ghost Walk at Wildcat Den State Park. It was about ghosts of Pine Creek Gris Mill. At one time Iowa had 500 gristmills which is where early settlers took their grain and had it ground. The grains were corn, wheat, buckwheat and rye. You can read more about the History of Pine Creek Grist Mill

That is me in the red, I really didn't need a jacket as the weather was warmer than usual, perfect for a ghost walk.

Builder Bob didn't need a jacket.

We joined other people to take a walk down paths lined with lighted pumpkins and stopped at the school where "ghosts" a teacher and a child talked about school in the late 1900s. I couldn't take any pictures outside as each place we stopped at that had a ghost also had a very bright light right next to them.

This photo was inside the Gristmill and was a mother and son talking about the harvest and what foods they would have for the winter. The ghost walk was very interesting and educational.

Here we had a niece visiting her Aunt to learn about herbs and gardening and what you could find each month. I blurred their faces as I didn't get their names. The final thing on the Ghost Walk was a woman who told a ghost story. Then we had apple cider and popcorn. You could grind corn by hand in the gristmill which I have done before.

Someday we could have a ghost walk at our house. Have you ever seen a tombstone in someone's front yard? We have a full size one. It was a gift to my parents years ago.

I did some quilting today. The weather has been unbelievable and I had to include a picture I took this afternoon. Lots of people were out boating and enjoying the beautiful weather.

Tomorrow you will see quilting and I will have a AccuQuilt tutorial for you.

Day 9 of my 31 days of blogging........almost didn't make it.

Grey Squirrels and Black Walnuts

2011-10-08T09:38:00.000-05:00

We have several Grey squirrels that are spending their days collecting black walnuts so they will have food for the winter.

The squirrel will pick up a walnut, climb a tree or.... in the case of some of our squirrels - they will scamper up our front steps, scamper across the deck railing and then either jump into a tree or go down our back steps and continue on their way until they find a good spot to bury the walnut. Sometimes it might be in my potted plants.

This tree was loaded with walnuts this year.

They are a little bigger than a golf ball so you have to be careful walking under the trees right now.

You don't want to run over them with your mower. I thought I took a picture of my brother raking them up but I can't find it. He just puts them in a pile in the ditch and then the squirrels carry them away.

There was a time that I would gather them, pull the husks off, clean them and then shell them but it is too much work and if you don't wear gloves your hands will get stained a nice orange/brown color......as me how I know.

Our Fall weather has been beautiful and yesterday a couple people came down the river in their kayaks. I tried it once but the way you sit in it just killed my back. Tonight we are going on a "Ghost Walk" in the woods at Wildcat Den State Park which should be fun.

I am working on a tutorial using the AccuQuilt GO! Baby for Monday so I don't have any new quilt projects to show today.