PICNIC UNDER THE STARS & CHARITY QUILT TOP TURN IN

 This past week I have been supper busy trying to get some major quilt tops finished and turned into my February Warm Wrapping meetup.  Plus I finally got something done on my own major project.

I got the center finished of my Picnic Under the Stars quilt.  Now on to a small border and a larger border.  It is larger than the pattern measurements as my star blocks unfinished are 11 inches.  Right now it is approximately 63 by 83 and adding a 2 inch border and a 4 or 5 inch border will increase it even more.  I love it, and can't wait to get it done and off to a quilter.  

Tilda fabric scraps, and it didn't even make a dent in that scrap bin.

I appliquéd on the curved pieces on this quilt top.  

This quilt top I was very surprised to see that it actually is rather pretty.  These three quilt tops were turned in this month at my Warm Wrappings charity quilt meetup.  My goal this year is to make 12, basically one each month.  I only have to do a quilt top and prepare binding to go with them.  Others carry on with quilting, and binding.  I am doing fairly well at this point as I turned in 2 in January.  So hopefully can keep up the pace and finish off early.  Maybe even put a dent in the scrap bins along the way.  

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS

CONFESSIONS OF A FABRIC ADDICT

  

  

HAPPY TRAILS & VALENTINES

This week has been a bit of a this and that and hit and miss in the sewing room.  So not much going on to show off.

I stumbled across this Scrappy Project Planner by Lori Holt in a drawer and found this quilt project thinking it would be a good scrap buster.  Well, two blocks into it and all those tiny four patches made with 1.5 inch squares made me decide it has to be modified if I was going to make a charity quilt with this pattern.

So I substituded them for just a white 2.5 inch square and moved things along fairly well.  The center should have been 4 of the 2.5 squares, but I made it 4.5 instead and that seems to be working well.  So two blocks done and 7 to go.  The completed blocks are 16 inches finished so I plan to lay it out with 9 blocks, making the top then 48 by 48, and can add 3 inch borders all around and it can finish at 54 inches square.  A good size for the charity quilt group.

I must admit that this project has actually put a good dent in my scrap bins.

We have three daughters, Kendra falls between our youngest and oldest daughters.  Her birthday is coming up on the 10th of next month.  I thought I would add a fun little runner to her other gifts.  I have been teaching this runner in a 5 heart size at our local quilt shop, so decided to scale it down to just 3 hearts for her.

Now, I am not a free motion quilter, just have never been able to manage it.  However I often use these Borders Made Easy and other paper quilting templates along with the multiple fancy stitches available on my Bernina 750.  So I am off to quilt this runner.

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BERRY SMOOTHIE & TABLE DECORATIONS

 My quest to rid myself of some old fabric and scraps has me looking for easy and either free or inexpensive patterns.  My local quilt store Blossom Quilting in Oakdale, California has a huge wall of Villa Rosa Design patterns.  They are just postcard size and only $2.00.

Two afternoons and I have a completed quilt top for my Warm Wrappings Charity Group. The size is 52" by 64" and is fat quarter and scrap friendly. 

Time to head out to the shop and see whatever Villa Rosa has in store for the next project. 

I have the first two rows sewn together of my Picnic Under the Stars quilt and rows 3, 4, and 5 ready to finish off as well.  So a bit of progress on this quilt completed.

Rigbee one of my daughter's cats believes he is a perfect addition to her fall table decoration.  Unfortunately he also does a bit of redecorating on it as well.  He is not above kicking a few pieces and parts out unto the floor to make a bit more room for his afternoon naps. 

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS

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BUTTERFLIES AND CHRISTMAS

 After doing a bit of reorganization in the sewing room, with the discovery of a complete take over of overflowing scrap bins and folder fabrics in the closet I decided my New Year's resolution was to get some charity quilts going.  I only have to do a top and prepare bindings then others take over from there.  My guild distributes about 300 quilts a year through their Warm Wrappings Program to 5 different local agencies.  Some of us make the tops and binding, others in the group with long arm machines do the quilting, and then a crew of others bind and finish the binding on them.  In October they are distributed to the various agencies.   

This is one I finished up this past week. 

The fabric used for the centers was a real prize to use for this quilt.  However not without an issue. 

I needed 25 blocks and thought I had them all complete until while laying them out I was short one.  OK, a made search in the fabric closet and the center block a perfect addition to cure that issue.  

I even had enough of that butterfly fabric to make a runner for my youngest daughter's sister-in-law for her birthday.

And yes, the scrappy Christmas quilt top is finished too.  My original plan was also to give it as a charity quilt top, but husband really likes it and says it will look great next Christmas on the dining room wall.  So, it is a keeper.

A fast scramble into Joann's for a back and binding while they still had some 70% off Christmas fabric on clearance and it is off to the quilter this week.

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS

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STARS AND MORE STARS

I have been busy in the sewing room these last two week after Christmas.  It has been raining a lot here, we really need it, so I am just staying in and getting some projects done and others started.

I managed to get 8 of my 12 star blocks complete.  I ended up ordering fabric online for the last 4 so have to wait for it to arrive.

I have the last four pinned and ready to finish this morning.  

This is pattern I purchased, but I decided to make my star blades more irregular.  That pattern I selected for them makes them finish at 10.5 inches so I will be adjusting all the blocks as well to fit that odd size.

To make the star points and keep them consist I ended up making a template to aline them properly.  Worked great. All I had to do was lay my 4 inch square down and line up the blades on the lines.  

Have the rest of my fabric ready to move on.

This project is done and ready to be turned into the charity division of my quilt guild next month.  My plan this year is to try to de-stash some of my fabric.  Some of these prints have been in the closet for more years than I care to think about.  Time to move them along.

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS

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NEW YEAR'S CLEAN UP AND NEW PROJECTS

Christmas over and the new year begins.  Lots of things in progress and a sewing room re-organization is necessary.  Seems like every year at this time I find myself with pretty much a disaster in the sewing room.  Fabric all over the place in complete upheaval.  So I spent Friday refolding and re-stacking fabric.  I have to de-stash some of this mess.  I see lots of charity quilts in my future this year. 

Last week I showed off my grand daughter Suren's decorated cookies.  On Christmas Eve she brought me these tree decorations she made that were just like the cookies.  She makes them from some sort of clay that you then bake in the oven.

I have a huge bin of Christmas fabric.  That did not stop me from heading into JoAnn's and buying some more.  Who can resist 70% off.  Now that also means that one gets into the post Christmas spirit and decides to make a Christmas quilt.  

I happened on this free Christmas quilt pattern over the holidays, and decided to give it a try.  

One nice thing about this pattern is I was able to use up a number of Christmas fat quarters and only used the white fabric strips out of the new fabric purchase.  Getting rid of a good deal of old fabrics scraps with this project, but ended up adding more new than old used to the bin.  

Our oldest daughter has two English Mastiff dogs.  This is Loki, he is 11 months old, and weighs in at right about 200 pounds.  FedEx delivers their dog food.  Their security system caught the entire scene of my daughter flying out the door after Loki when she opened the door for the delivery and Loki made a bee line for the truck.  He had this all figured out, and my daughter was really worried about this huge dog climbing right into the truck.  The lady delivery driver was not even fazed and she even happened to have a dog treat for him. 

 

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CHRISTMAS 2022

This Christmas has been such a fun time with my family.  Lots of family time and goings on at our home.

On the Wednesday before Christmas my oldest grand daughter came by and made decorated cookies with me.  We have done this for several years now and it is so much fun.  She is the decorating queen for sure, I could never manage these beauties.

I am not the baker in my home.  Husband makes these pizzelles, my only contribution is dipping them in chocolate and he sprinkles on the crushed candy cane chips.

Husband's pecan pie as well.  Not only does he do the baking for them, but we have two pecan trees and he harvests and shells them for these beauties.  They are the families favorite for not only Thanksgiving but Christmas as well.

I am the clean up crew for all that kitchen baking, but then slithered off to my sewing room and to do some Christmas creation I'm much better at.  All the blogs with so many wonderful Christmas ideas really got me hooked so I started this project last week, but quickly ran out of all three fabrics to create 4 of these blocks to make a wall hanging.  So have turned it into a table topper and have it partially quilted.  

The leftovers came to a good substitute for another simple runner, and it is ready to quilt.  They will be all ready to gift for next Christmas.

DESIGN WALL MONDAY

MID WEEK MAKERS 

CONFESSIONS OF A FABRIC ADDICT