Sew And Tell Friday! A Picture Frame Quilt for Nancy....

Hi, all!

Well, I didn't exactly finish a quilt this week, but I did finish piecing this top - so I'm counting it for Sew and Tell Friday! This is another quilt for my daughter to auction at the silent auction to raise funds for her adoption - the second one of (hopefully) four!

Many thanks to Ashley at Film In The Fridge for the inspiration for this quilt - her mini spring quilt is beautiful and caught my eye and my daughter's!

A funny story - when my husband saw this top, he said, "Wow - - - that's - - a lot of white...." When my daughter saw it, she said, "Wow!!! That's a lot of white!!!" Can you tell which one liked the white?

I'm working on a beautiful pastel disappearing nine-patch quilt right now - hopefully I'll have pictures next week. I don't usually like pastels, but this one is very sweet and feminine. I'll be interested to see how it comes out.

Here's a question for you all - have you ever quilted with shiny thread? Is it difficult? Does it add a neat dimension, or is is not worth the hassle? I'd love to hear your thoughts.....


Later!

Sarah

Supersize It - a little more Sew and Tell!!

Hi, all!

I FINALLY got this Super-size Shoe Fly quilt top pieced - and neither too-bright sunshine nor gale force winds was going to prevent me posting a pic on Sew and Tell Friday!! I can't wait to quilt this one - but I'm still waffling on exactly how to do it. Any suggestions? I'd love to hear your ideas!!


FYI, this quilt is for a silent auction that my daughter is holding in June to help raise funds to pay for their adoption of a child from Ethiopia. I'm hoping to get three more (one more like this in different fabrics, a picture frame quilt, and a child's four-patch) done by then. Whew!!

Later!

Sarah

With The Help Of My Little Assistant... (Sew and Tell Friday!)

Hi, all!

With the help of my little assistant, I finished another quilt this morning - and she even agreed to help me take the pictures! I think I need to get her in all my pics - she definitely enhances the quilts...........

I'm really please with the way this one came out - the pattern is inspired by a quilt created by John Adams, a/k/a Quilt Dad.

You can view his blog here and see his original pattern on The Moda Bake Shop website. I say mine was inspired by his because I used fabric I had on hand instead of buying the honey buns and charm packs as listed in his design. His way would definitely be easier, with a lot less cutting!


I also mentioned earlier this week that I was putting together bookshelves for my dining room to hopefully corral the sewing projects into something nicer than the plastic bins that are in there now. Funny thing - when I put the first one in place, Lilli took one look at it, and ran off to get a stack of books! She's definitely taken over one of the bookcases, which is okay, since her toys were getting kind of scattered. Now at least there's a place for her to put them. I've put my quilting books and magazines on mine, alongside Starbucks bags (I knew those things would be useful someday!) containing the fabric for future projects. Hopefully I'll come up with a "prettier" way to organize it, but for now at least it's not plastic bags and tubs! Although I see that Lilli's already started to rearrange the labels I put on the bags..... It's still a work in progress, although I hope it looks a lot better by the time my hubby gets home tonight. What a surprise that would be for him!!

Next on the to-do list is work on my super-sized shoe fly quilt, plus cutting out some more sudoku quilt kits. There are still at least two more quilts to make for the quilt ministry, but those are in the hands of two other sewers at the moment, so I think I'll take a little time to work on one for my daughter! It's been a busy week and promises to be a busy weekend, too, but hopefully I can squeeze in some quilting time...........

Hey, guys, go check out Sew and Tell Friday at amylouwho's blog - it's lots of fun!!

Later!

Sarah

What Have I Learned Today?

Hi, all!

What have I learned today? Two important things...........

One, great big blocks (my Shoo-Fly quilt blocks) show mistakes in super-size too! I learned that you have to be much more precise in super-size than in normal size. Thanks heaven for seam rippers!! All is well now and I should have the first one up in pics soon.....

Second, you can keep a two-year old occupied for hours with a couple of jars of old buttons and a muffin pan! Lilli had a great time sorting out buttons by color, shape, number of holes, "mine" and "yours" and some classifications I haven't even figured out yet! Who knew?

Looking forward to a busy day tomorrow - I bought some new shelving units for my dining room that will hopefully help to sort out and disguise the sewing stuff that ends up in there. Pics soon!!

Later!

Sarah

Sew 'N Tell - One More Down!

Hi, all!

It was a heck of a start this morning - my husband came back in five minutes after he left the house to let me know that his car had died just past our driveway. So I got to spend part of my morning dealing with tow trucks and repair shops. But all's well that ends well - it turns out the fuel pump died, and it was still under warranty - hooray!!!

Despite the delays, I got another quilt done for the quilt ministry today - and even though it wasn't my favorite color combination, I really like the way it came out! This was the first quilt I've made using the spray basting and the even feed foot, and I love how well it quilted - no pinches at all!

Pieced backs are lots of fun, too - a good way to add a little personality to the quilt, AND use up

some of that fabric stash I'm supposed to be working on!

I've started working on another quilt back, and with any luck I'll get it done tomorrow morning so I can put the sandwich together and get quilting - that will knock one more quilt off the list! I don't know what I'll do if I ever get through my whole list - I might have to actually clean house!

Later!

Sarah

Where Has This Stuff Been All My Life?

Hi, all!

Well, all I've got to say is that I've been missing out on this for years - I don't know who dreamed up spray basting, but it's wonderful! I've done all the quilting on one quilt today with no fabric shifting, no repositioning of pins, and it's all a whole lot lighter and easier to handle in my sewing machine! I'm never going back!! I'm sure the even feed foot has something to do with it, too - but whatever it is, I'm loving it!!

Pictures tomorrow!

Later!

Sarah

Today I learned some new stuff!

Hi, all!

I had such fun today - tried out two new things and wow am I excited! But first I have to share a couple of cute Lilli stories....

Lilli and I had a great morning over at my friends' farm - Lilli loves to go and give "cookies" to their miniature pony and some of the other horses. Today she made friends with Johnny Boy (the donkey), Shadow (the miniature horse/pony), and Oreo (the miniature pony). She just stuck her head through the fence and nosed up to the donkey, which made Shadow curious, so he came over. Then Oreo, not to be outdone, came over to see what was going on. The four of them stood there, nose to nose, for quite a while. Thank heavens for cameras on cell phones! I'd hate to have missed this shot...........

Yesterday, Lilli decided that she just had to take a balloon outside with her when we went shopping. It made it to the car okay, and through the shopping trip, but when we got back, she insisted on holding it herself when she got out of the car. (She's two, there's no arguing with her!) So of course, the inevitable happened - she let go of the balloon. I tried to catch it, but missed the string and had to watch as it went up in the air. Lilli, sure as always that Nana can fix anything, told me to find a ladder and go get it. By this time, the balloon is 30 feet in the air and still going up, so I told her that her balloon was going to visit Jesus. If you want to see a video of her telling her parents about the balloon, click here. It's worth seeing!

So now, the things I learned today:

I wanted to try basting spray instead of pins to put together a quilt I'm working on. It was a gorgeous day here, so I opened up my clothesline outside, hung up my quilt back, and started spraying! (By the way, just in case you want to try this - be very sure to put the back of the piece you want to spray facing you, not the finished side of the fabric. Sounds simple, but I found myself just about the spray the good side, not the back!) Putting the quilt sandwich together was so easy, plus I could lift and reposition until I got it perfectly smooth. Tomorrow I'll find out how it sews, but I don't anticipate any problems!

The second thing I tried out is an even feed foot for my sewing machine. This is an attachment that's designed to pull the top fabric through at the same speed as the feed dogs are pulling the bottom fabric through. Really helpful when you are quilting, because sometimes the layers will go through at different speeds and you end up with pinches in your fabric. It amazes me that I've never tried one of these before, but wow! It makes the quilting so much easier!

I also pieced two more squares of the Supersized Shoo Fly quilt today - when I have the whole top pieced, I'll take a picture and post it. I think it's going to look great! Next I have to figure out how to quilt it.....


Later!

Sarah

Hi, all!

Well, yesterday I was happy to say I had used up some of my stash - but today I blew it big time because I hit that sale at Joann's! Well, maybe not big time, at least price-wise (it was a good sale!) but I did pick up about a dozen pieces of cotton background prints for quilts, and three great "adult" flannels. I just love a flannel quilt! And tonight, two ladies at church told me they had some quilting fabric to donate - one from an estate, the other from estate sales - so they may be wonderful old vintage fabrics!

Due to a fortuitous set of circumstances (I forgot to get a quilt batt out of the room where my granddaughter was taking her nap!) I got to start piecing the Supersize Shoo-Fly Quilt I'm making for my daughter for her silent auction. Here's the first square of four. I'm using four different Heather Bailey fabrics for the circles, (this one is Nicey Jane Lindy Leaf in blue) and the backing is Kona cotton in (I think) champagne. (I'll have to check the color name!) It was amazing how quickly and easily this square worked up, and since it's about 24 inches square, it only takes four to make a lap quilt!




Speaking of my darling granddaughter, here are a couple of new pics of her - in one she is riding a "horsie swing" made from an old tire. She loved that! In the next, she is sitting on an Adirondack chair we put together over the weekend. Leave it to her - she discovered that the footrests were at just the right angle to be a slide!


Well, tomorrow I have to get back to that second country quilt - time to pin and quilt! Shoo-Fly quilt, you will just have to wait!

Oh - and one last thing - just found out about a great new giveaway on one of my favorite quilting blogs - I'm Just A Guy Who Quilts! He's giving away two $25 gift certificates to Hawthorne Threads, a fabric website. You can find all the ways to enter on his blogsite. The drawing is April 18th, just around the corner! Here's the link to his blog and how to enter! And be sure to check out Hawthorne Threads' site too - they're having a fat quarter giveaway that ends the same day. It can't hurt to enter!



Later!

Sarah

Finally, some stash-busting!!

Hello, all!

Well, today was a good day! We had a ministry fair at church so we got to let lots of folks know about the quilt ministry. I think a few people were interested enough that they may join in, one way or another. I was also very pleased to be able to bring a quilt that was finished yesterday. I think it came out really nice, even though it's not my favorite style...



We also debuted a new name and logo for the ministry. I really like this one better than the first one we came up with, and I have my wonderful husband to thank for it. He's really creative!


I got to talking to a friend of mine at church who was telling me about a friend's baby who had been in the hospital desperately ill, but he's finally home now. It appears that giraffes have been a recurring theme in Baby Cooper's life, so this quilt seemed destined to go to him.

I love the little giraffe hiding on the back of this quilt, too - it looks like he's trying to find his way back to the front of the quilt!







Cassie finished this fun quilt, made from some of the great kids' fabrics that were donated to us earlier this year. She did it from start to finish, and did a great job!


Any time someone says they couldn't possibly make a quilt, I like to show them one of these quilts - made by someone who said exactly the same thing! I'm so proud of my sewing sisters!!


I also pieced a back today for the second of the "country-style" quilts - which is why I named this blog post "stash-busting"! I love pieced backs for the way they use up scraps out of my stash - I have such a horrible compulsion to save every scrap because I might need it someday, and this is a great easy and creative way to use up the leftovers from a quilt! So in addition to the quilt back I did today, all three of the quilts pictured in this blog have used fabrics from my fabric stash! It kind of makes me feel better about the fabrics I purchased this week............ Oh well, confession is good for the soul! At least the fabrics have a very specific purpose - quilts for my daughter's silent auction. But it was very satisfying to shop for them! I'm trying to resist a sale at Joann's tomorrow, but I may succumb - half price off red tags is very tempting!

Later!

Sarah

A little bit country, a little bit rock and roll....

Hello, all!

Well, it was just that kind of day - I had to finish piecing a quilt top that was definitely out of my comfort zone - very country (Charlie Daniels-ish so to speak) and it was the second one that I had done like that in the past four days. (Here's a picture of the quilting in progress.)

After I finished it, I decided to reward myself with a few minutes to piece some much more contemporary squares for a quilt I'm making for my daughter to auction off to raise money for her adoption fund. I had so much fun doing these! I started with some leftover squares and fabrics from a quilt I made for my granddaughter for Christmas, and just started stitching and flipping. They're wonky, but they're fun!


My daughter is hosting a silent auction in June to raise funds to help offset the cost of their adoption. I'm hoping to get three or four quilts finished by then for her to auction off - it'll be a stretch, but I've always worked better under pressure, so maybe I can get it done! I hit a great sale yesterday at a local quilting fabric shop and picked up some great Michael Miller and Sandi Henderson fabrics with the intention of making a couple of the super-size Shoo Fly quilts, then hit Joann's today for the Kona cotton for the backgrounds. I can't wait to get started on them, but I've got to finish these two country quilts first! So, three guesses what I'll be working on tomorrow, and the first two don't count!

Later!

Sarah

Whew!!

Hello, all!

Well, I managed to get a quilt top pieced today - one of five that we currently need for our church ministry. Thankfully, I don't have to piece all of them - my friends Cassie and Patsy are each working on one, and I had another one already pieced and ready to quilt. I'll be cutting out another quilt tomorrow! At least I don't have to worry about what I'm going to do with my day...

We had a wonderful Easter - three great services with more than 2300 people in worship! Then we got to spend the afternoon with our daughter and her "in-laws" family - lots of good fun, fellowship and laughter! Our granddaughter Lilli has really taken to Easter egg hunts - but she has a unique take on it. She picks up the plastic egg, opens it to see what's inside, and if she likes it, she puts it in her basket - if she doesn't, she puts it back on the ground! My daughter was very upset about Lilli's criteria for keeping an egg - she goes by color, meaning she likes the brightly colored marshmellow eggs - and puts all the good chocolate back! And don't you just love her shirt? It's a custom design by my daughter's friend, who runs MaggieMoo'sMom. Check out her stuff - it's super cute!!

We also had a great sewing group meeting on Saturday - we even had two new sewers show up! One of our regulars learned how to make a pieced back for a quilt she's had in progress for several years - I bet she'll finish it soon!

Well, that's all for now - I've got to get to work on some stuff for church. Later!

Sarah

Check Out This Great GiveAway!!

Hi, all!

Check out this great giveaway - which by the way is on a really cool blog! This "guy who quilts" is going to be giving away some great items all month.....

I'm starting to get excited about our Saturday sewing group meeting again - it's always interesting to see who's working on what! We've also had requests for several more quilts through our ministry, so we'll start working on those also. I love that this ministry seems to be taking off so well!

Later!

Sarah