One block and other stuff

Three things to be happy about:
(1) peanut butter with grape jelly
(2) a back rub
(3) traditions

Well, we're at the end of another month - where did October go??!  This is the day Bonnie at Quiltville reveals the color palette for her 2018 mystery quilt, been looking forward to it.  It's also the day of the Great Pumpkin!! 

 It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown was created in 1966 as a prime time animated TV special, based on the comic strip Peanuts by Charles Schulz. Did you know it was nominated for a 1966 Emmy Award?  Go figure.

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I'm asking for a little quilty help here - I have a friend who really really wants to get ahold of a soft cover book - Scrap Quilts Through the Seasons - published by The Quilter magazine about 10 years ago.  It's out of print, but if you know of a source please let me know - thanks!

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Progress on my challenge quilt?  Not so much! 

I discovered that the blocks I intended to use are way too dark; your eye goes straight to that area, and they look out of place.  As an alternative I'm making wonky flying geese and other units using a light fabric instead of the black.  But on second thought, I might be able to use the dark units, depending on the other fabric I throw in - we'll see!

This is all I had time to do for the sashing fillers (just ignore those two little strips) ...

Life does get in the way!

Sew forth and sew on

Dancing ladies layout

Three things to be happy about:
(1) refrigerator magnets
(2) salmon cakes with lots of onions
(3) a jar full of crayons

I like what I did for lady #8 -

I wanted to have a second drummer, and to make it different from the first one I changed her short fitted skirt to a longer one with a slit in the front.

Showing a little leg, hah!

This is the first time I used this lady, #9. 

I didn't like the head wrap I used on another one earlier, but to save fiddling time with the hair I went ahead and used it again. 

It's not half bad!

So now comes the boring part:  I have to decide on a setting that won't overpower the quilt, so I arranged them at random on my design floor.

Now, I'm a very clever lady, but if I'd been a bit cleverer I'd have made all the blocks divisible by 2 to make the setting easier.  I think I can get away with it though, with a little fancy footwork!

Then I grabbed some random hunks and chunks and strips of African fabrics to see how they'll look as fillers.  These will be used along with the little wonky 2-1/2" square-in-a-square blocks that I mentioned in this post. 

My first thought was to make more, but I'll just use what's already pieced.

I found these leftover blocks from some long-forgotten project that'll probably fit in nicely, I must have more leftovers someplace.. 

Also, I can see some very classic black and white being thrown into the mix somewhere.



That's it for now, sew forth and sew on til later!

Quilt exhibit

Three things to be happy about:
(1) new movie releases
(2) a hot cup of tea
(3) fall foliage

My bee had a quilt exhibit at Harmony Hall in Ft. Washington, MD from the middle of August until October 5.  It was very successful; here are some of the quilts we displayed.

These are just a few of the beautiful quilts we displayed, I've forgotten the total number.  The opening reception was very well attended, and there were dozens more visitors during the weeks the exhibit was open.

Sew forth and sew on til later!

Silent Sunday

Honey gold!

Still getting dressed

Three things to be happy about:
(1) "funny books"
(2) pretty kleenex boxes
(3) aromatherapy oil

I don't know how I managed to do it, but somehow I tacked Tuesday's post onto the end of Monday's.  I kept saying to myself "I know I put up a post for Tuesday!  Am I cracking up??"  Sometimes life gets in the way doesn't it? 

Oh well.

I thought it would be fun to show you another before-and-after pattern, so you'll know the kewl way my mind works sometimes! 

This is how lady #6 looked originally as printed out. 

You can see my little sketch marks.

And this is after I changed her clothing from a skimpy top and slim skirt, to a wider top and a pair of pants.  I wanted them to be sort of like harem  pants but the darned things just wouldn't cooperate! 

I turned her in the opposite direction and substituted hair for her head wrap.  She looks expectant, doesn't she?  It's okay, I think ladies-in-waiting can dance too!

This is the same lady I used in the block with the two ladies together, by the way.



Lady no. 7 - I love that purple fabric!

 I also used her earlier, but she was smaller and wearing a yellow and blue outfit.

That's it for now, sew forth and sew on

Two more ladies

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a phone call from an old friend
(2) ruby red slippers
(3) dance choreography

As I'm writing this post I'm watching Michael Jackson's This Is It rehearsals (2009) on Starz.  I tell you, that young man had so much talent!  That would have been one heck of a show!


To me it seems like if I have to go out of the house for anything, it takes a large chunk out of my day, even if it's for a short time.  I was only out for about 4 hours yesterday and the day went "pooooof!"

Anyway I finished one more block for my guild's 12 Days of Christmas challenge, two ladies in this one:

On the next one I'm going to try dressing her in pants, it'll be cute I think.  I wish there were an easy way to change that top, it's getting sorta old!

Time to start on those heart pillows, right?   Sew forth and sew on ...

Having fun with the ladies

Three things to be happy about:
(1) home-made granola
(2) hearts and flowers
(3) a soothing tea

You ever tried hibicus tea?  It's said to be one of those "super" teas that you hear about. 

Not only does it have all natural ingredients, but it tastes good and is supposed to be good for lowering the blood pressure too - bring it on! 

I've only been able to find this particular one at Wegman's, though.



I'm having fun playing with my 9 ladies, there's a lot you can do with the 6 basic shapes I'm working with.

For example, this first one started out like this:

Now doesn't she look just like a basketball player?  

I turned her arms in a different direction, now she looks totally different, even without wearing any clothes!

Final product - notice her hands on her hips...

Dance, girl!!

This is a cutie, I like that yellow fabric...

doing the swim!

As for the first block I made, the drummer, I decided that I like that background!  The problem with her hair went away when added a headband, to separate her face from the hair...

Looking good!  I might add another drummer, facing in the opposite direction.

Three completely finished except for bracelets and/or anklets and beads, 3 more waiting for a background, and 3 waiting to be traced onto fusible.  

That's it for now, sew forth and sew on til later.

Silent Sunday

Sew clever!

Begin the dance

Three things to be happy about:
(1) bunny slippers
(2) pumpkins
(3) a grandfather clock striking the hour

I prepped the last four appliques for my 12 Days of Christmas [nine ladies dancing] quilt. 

They all look so much the same now, but using different fabrics for their clothes and skin tone, along with a different pose will make them all look different enough.

Over time, for no particular reason, I've been making little wonky 2-1/2" square-in-a-square blocks, and little wonky flying geese from scraps. 

I'll forego the geese, but some of the squares will be used in this quilt, simply because they were pieced with African fabrics. 

I believe I've been piecing these little things off and on for more than 5 years!

I fused and cut out the applique pieces for the first block (which will actually be the last block); I started with the most complicated one just to get it out of the way. 

I'll let it sit for awhile because I'm rethinking that background, and I'll probably change the hair to a black - or maybe a fun bright color, who knows!  That chicken-wire fabric makes it look a bit weird for some reason. 

Let me look at it for a day or two; sew forth and sew on...

Last challenge of the year

Three things to be happy about:
(1) well-mannered children
(2) birthday celebrations
(3) Sunmaid organic raisins

Why is it I can't resist trying something new?? 

A few months ago I saw this Honey Citron & Ginger Tea at Costco and just had to try a jar - delicious!  About two weeks ago I went back for more and I couldn't find it, although I looked in three different stores. 

Last week I saw this New York Big Apple Cider Jam and grabbed a jar, although I'm not a fan of apple jelly.  I'm pretty sure it was the word "cider" that got my attention. 

Actually it tastes really good!  It has a mild taste and isn't overly sweet.  I need to get some crumpets next time I'm at Wegman's....

Now that I'm all caught up with the challenges and deadlines, I'll start working on more of the heart pillows that my bee is making for breast cancer patients. 

I won't be fussy about what fabric I use because I have some that I want to move, so out it goes!  This time I'll also add carrying straps.


But, there's one last challenge of the year ...

My guild challenge is to make a quilt based on the Twelve Days of Christmas, and I've chosen the ninth day - Nine Ladies Dancing.

This quilt won't focus so much on the "Christmas" aspect of it, with bells and bows and angels and stars - although that would make a lovely traditional quilt.  To be honest though, that'd be just a wee bit too boring for me!  Instead, I'll dress these ladies in African fabrics and head dresses! 

So far I've only sized a few of the applique pieces, wish me luck!

Sew forth and dance on

Three little things

Three things to be happy about:
(1) gourmet candy apples
(2) playing scrabble with a friend
(3) bottled water

I pieced the little half square triangle challenge we did during my guild's retreat last month, light gray and yellow.

It's so interesting that even though I had the layout right in front of me, I kept turning the HST's the wrong way!

Then it clicked - hour glass, hour glass...

Made one more 9-patch from the little churn dash blocks.

Going with 9 patches should work out okay mathematically, because I plan to do a 12 x 14 layout for the quilt.

Finished binding the little improv quilt; I'm so glad I went ahead and unsewed that first binding!

Does it look a bit wonky???  Trust me, it's not that crooked!



That's it for now, sew forth and sew on til later.

Silent Sunday

He's hilarious but it looks good!  You might have to restart it from the beginning.

One little hangup

Three things to be happy about:
(1) playing with fabric
(2) pretzel sticks
(3) stretching your imagination

Anybody remember getting these internet thingies in the mail? 

I think this container from AOL must have landed in my mail about 10-15 years ago. 

My how time flies - and I have a vintage AOL container!

I decided to go ahead and quilt this little improv piece that I made during my guild's retreat last month - nothing fancy, just straight vertical lines.

Or are they horizontal??   I kept changing my mind about the orientation.

Because it's such a small piece I made hanging triangles that I attached along with the binding.

If you haven't discovered Wonder Tape yet, you should check it out, it was just what I needed for holding these little triangles in place!

I stitched on the binding but without realizing what I was doing, I attached it to the back of the quilt rather than to the front as I meant to.

It's not an important piece so I figured I could just machine stitch the front down, but it looked so bad!  So, I'll have to unsew that stupid binding and do it over, I'll never be happy with that black stitching showing on the back. 

Moving right along...

At our Wee Bee cookout last month everyone was asked to make a white-on-white block to be drawn as a door prize.  This was my contribution, can you tell what it is??

(It's a wolf howling at the moon)

That's it for now, watch for the next full moon if you're so inclined ... sew forth and sew on.

Playing with my churn dashes

Three things to be happy about
(1) a large umbrella
(2) watching "Fixer-Upper" (although by now they're all re-runs!)
(3) a new movie release

On the Lancaster trip last week I bought more fabric to beef up my black-on-white stash for the little churn dash blocks, I'm not finding much locally.

I love that little Mickey & Minnie Mouse piece and I started not to get it because it's a one way pattern, sometimes they're tricky to use.

As you can see I bought it anyway!

When my eye landed on this little green print I was immediately reminded of the churn dash blocks, and I wanted it for the borders.

I put it back because the background color isn't really white - but when I went back and picked it up again I knew I better buy it!

I'll use it as the outer border, I think it'll look great on the finished quilt.

Since I need just over 50 more blocks to make the quilt, I grabbed some of the finished ones and sewed them together at random, just to see how they'd look.

Looking good!  I won't worry just now about balancing the "grey" area, or sewing all the one-way patterns the same way.

These little 9-patch groups can be flipped around if I need to.


That's it for now, sew forth and sew on til later!