Sixth Finish and progress

Yippie...several weeks before the end of the 2nd quarter Finish Along 2015 and I am DONE...for the moment!

 Here is the 6th finish...the lovely Modern Buzzsaw from Amy Smart's book 

Fabulously Fast Quilts.  I really like this quilt for so many reasons mostly the fabrics. It's like a snuggle from my carpenter hubby....not that I can't have the real thing all the time!

This was machine quilted with straight lines an inch or so from the seams and I tied the center of each square with some navy perle cotton.

 The back is a Kaffe that I have been hording until I could figure out what to do with it.

This is my new favorite way to finish the binding.  Sew it on the back then bring it to the front and use perle cotton to stitch it down.  Still hand stitching but takes a third of the time and adds a little extra detail.  Fun and Fabulously Fast!:)

 Kohlrabi is happening in the garden. That thing is five inches wide and ready to eat!

Amazing things also grow in our dirt/junk/rock pile.  Wineberries should be ready for July 4th celebrating.  This is just one of several patches in the yard!

There's the astronaut that joined the dinosaur league.

 Medley of Jen is growing too.  I have three large sections hand quilted...one more to go before joining them all together for the big reveal!

All the blocks came from Jen Kingwell's patterns and book.  Very fun!

Received a lot of lovely birthday wishes this year....this one is my favorite.

It is sooooo me!:)

~d

Second quarter 2015 finish along list.

A Bright Finish!!

One thing you can always say about Kaffe fabrics....they are bright!

(Gotta do something about the edges around the veggie garden)

There was a 1/2 yard piece of awesome fish in my stash and bits and bobs of a few others.

Cut into differents size strips boldly framing the fish made a great top.

 I even  had a few yards of something for the backing.  Added a little strip of Grunge to make it just big enough.  My pal Pat practiced with her new long arm. I really like what she did!:)

Some bright perle cotton hand stitching follows the wonky edges of the border.

 Fish too.

 Now if only I had a wall to hang it on.  For now it's helping keep the chill out of the house!

Second finish of the second quarter!  Of course all I had to do was the hand quilting and binding!

Now the edges look better...thank heavens for peonies and lamb's ear!!

~d

Second quarter Finish Along list.

A Virtual Hug

Gearing up for Thanksgiving...baking vegan pies and cookies, casseroles and crisps...there has still been time for some sewing.

 Here is a scrappy 58x46 lap quilt using all Kaffe and Company gibblets.  I love that teal Bella solid!

 I especially love that backing fabric....and using leftovers!  This was quilted by my co-worker Penny...I love that all over design...sort of like clouds but better!:)

 I haven't participated in the Bitty Block Committee for a while but this month's theme is Winter/Christmas and who can pass that up? Not me!!  So I made twelve little snow houses and twelve little snow-covered automobiles.  My sis found that little Alaska stamp and gave it to me as that's where I was born....maybe that's why I like Winter!;)

The November theme at The Sketchbook Challenge is Spice of Life....first thing I thought of was a photo I snapped the day hubby and I went to get our Fall pumpkins. No trip to Nalls Farm Market is complete without Route 11 Sweet Potato Chips and Stewart's soda!!

 There's the Kaffe quilt sitting on top of a couple things I can't show you right now and a new project behind the pile!  I'm still auditioning backgroud fabric for that quilt.

Did some non-quilt sewing too!  My wrapping paper organizer purchased 20 years ago at a school fundraiser finally fell apart....totally apart....bits and pieces apart....no saving apart.  So I pulled the hanger out, used what was left as a template and made another one....that will not fall apart!!  There are two pockets in the back and an opening all the way up the right side so I can put those decorative bags we all collect inside!

 Here is my virtual hug....from my online buddy Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts fame!  We have the truckshow in the shop for her new book Skip the Borders.  I wrapped myself in one of them....and sold three signed copies that day...not including the one I bought!:) Great book....great quilts....check it out!:)


~d

Using my Hands....

....folding fabric that went to Nicole who has organized a flickr group to make quilts for Japan. There is a great need for twin and full sized quilts and many people here in the US that are trying to fill that need.

Nicole's Quilt Blocks for Charity is one of the many groups of lovely folks trying to help out... it really is a small world. If you have fabric/batting or some orphan blocks you no longer need they would love to have them!

Using my hands to work on my mystery quilt...eight clues finished....

...two more clues til the big reveal...but that won't be for two more months!

Using my hands at work (Webfabrics)...cutting 77 new bolts of Kaffe reprints...I was in heaven! Go visit our Facebook page....April Fool's Day is going to be a doozy!:)

Last but definitely not least...using my hands to eat this lovely plate of goodies...I do love birthday parties...as long as they aren't mine!:)

~d

Exclamation Day!!!!!

WhooooHOooooo....it's been a great day! First of all I finished a few things today one being this mini made out of the last scraps of Kaffe...
....it's wonky on purpose and I think it looks like an exclamation point so that's what I am going to call it. I think I want to give it to Maria's friend Beth...don't know why....I just think of Beth when I see it. Do you want it Beth?:)

Second....PIPS are in the house...well...in the store!! We received a shipment of Sherbet Pips jelly rolls and charm packs by Aneela Hoey. This is Aneela's first fabric line and from all the buzz online I don't think it will be her last!:) Bolts won't come in until next month. I guess Moda just wants to get us excited so that's why we have to wait....teases! Decisions, decisions!

Third....my lovely online pals over at Mini QT received their minis today so I can reveal them to you all. This "Dotty " themed mini went to Laney....she's new in the swapping game and I was tickled to be her partner this round! I think we are all ready to see some fireflies!:)

The other mini I had to make this round was 3D for my bud Amy. The felt birds hang off of the jinglebell apples which are also tumbling out of the basket while bead butterflies flit over beaded flowers. These were so much fun to make....thanks ladies for being such great partners.

Lastly, it was a great soft mail day too....my pal Mandy sent me an extra 3.5" block for this round of bitty blocks....she said she was going to scrap it but remembered our sweetie Slate and thought maybe I could find a use for it.....You betcha Mandy!! I added some Max & Whiskers border and a leftover dotty star block on the back, ribbon drawstring and now I have a bag for the nano Don gave me for Christmas!:)

Like I said....Exclamation Day!!!

~d

A little Kaffe...a little Jacobs.....and Maria's Big Good...Bad...Good Week!

Several months ago...lucky me....I brought home from work a bunch of Kaffe Fasset and Phillip Jacobs trimmings. I sewed them together in groups of 5 or 6 depending on the colors or shapes of the trimmings since they were all pretty wonky, then put them aside. Finishing Emanuela's quilt I fell in love with the Kaffe map fabric I put on the back so decided to pull out those strips and start playing with them once again.

I laid them out light down to dark, added a border of fuchsia fabric and some yardage of Kaffe I had been hording and came up with this! I love it, when you look at it from a distance it looks like a sunrise/sunset. One week after I put this together I found more Kaffe/Jacobs trimmings in my apron pocket at work! Well, the top is done....but I still needed a backing!

Sewed those scraps together, did a little cutting, added the map fabric and there you go. It will be a while before this is quilted because I feel it needs some FMQ... need to learn how to do that first!!

Made this mini from the scraps....put my label up at the top so I can use it as a hanger....kinda looks like Stonehenge doesn't it?:) Maybe that's what I'll call it!

I've been busy but this girl has had a roller coaster of a week! She found out one of her papers was published on the Young Adult Fantasy Guide. Great! A couple days later she went to a poetry slam and her backpack with her Acer netbook, ipod, American phone, camera and external hard drive was stolen! Worst of all her notebooks, one of which she has been writing ideas in for the past 5 years was in the backpack too! Downer! Luckily she had her UK phone and her WALLET in her hand!

Earlier in the week she was contacted by the Save the Children, Born to Write Blogging Conference that she had won a spot in their Masterclass with Melvin Burgess....but she had to work! Downer! After the backpack incident she contacted work and found a replacement so off to London she went! Yeah!

She tells this all much better than I do...go have a visit and sent her some bloggie encouragement!!:) There's more to the story!!

Goodness....can you believe that March is almost here? Time to start thinking about the garden! Yeah!!

~d

A GREAT Day!!:)

First of all the SUN was out and it was almost 7o degrees, nothing was going to stop Dena and I from finally getting together again! After lunch at Panera's and a visit to Dena's place of employment....
...we promised to get together again sooner than later...me thinks next week!!:) We did remember to take a photo...man do I need to go for a touch up!:) Thanks for a good time Little D!!xo
The great day didn't stop there...waiting for me in our mailbox was a plethora of soft mail! Three envelopes had bitty blocks, the biggest envelope had this....

Can you believe this? Amy of Stolen Moments for Creativity is my partner for this round of the Mini QT Swap, the theme is 3D...and boy did she nail it!:) Between the linocut print, open door, embroidery, pleated lampshade with bead body and the wee little picture hanging from ribbon this little gem is a masterpiece and is already hanging in my room for me to enjoy 24/7!!:) There is lots more...go visit her blog to see her lovely photos and the other wonderful things that she makes during stolen moments!:) Thanks Amy!!

One other envelope arrived along with all that soft wonderfulness....postcards and a music CD from Maria. Alas sweetie...the CD doesn't work...but we loved the postcards....see that door at the bottom right? That's where Maria works!:)

To top it all off Don came home with some lovely fruit and veggies for our dinner...yum!

Yes, it was a great day....now I'm going to go play with some Kaffe!!:)

~d

ps....Slate is doing well!!:)

With Love to Italia

I have recently reconnected with my Dad's family back in Reggio Calabria, Italia...young Emanuela and I have become email pals. She is my dad's(Anthony), sister's (Domenica), son's (Antonino), daughter!:)
Did that make sense?
Emanuela had seen my blog and commented on the quilts and right away I knew I had to make one for her. I asked her what her favorite colors are and she said fuchsia, rose, lilac, blue, turquoise..."clouds in the morning". Well that sure made it easy. I immediately thought of my little collection of Kaffe fat quarters. So with a little Kaffe and a couple of yards of Bella solid I had a little fun!:)

This photo is for Lynz's husband!!:)

Here is my fun displayed on the car I drove in high school...a '67 Mercury Cougar and Don's '77 Mach I Mustang...our courting car...is behind it. They are officially antiques...they only have to be 25 years old to get that designation...what does that make me?:)

Look Emanuela...your quilt has been in the snow!:)
It has been over 2 1/2 weeks since the big snow but has been so cold there is still a ton on the ground....looking forward to the 60+ degrees they have promised in the next couple of days!

To make this a really international quilt I used Kaffe's map fabric on the back...continents that aren't real continents...love it!!

~d