little workshop

Three things to be happy about:
(1) peach turnovers
(2) summer nightgowns
(3) blueberry buckle

What's blueberry buckle??  Don't worry, be happy!

I've never had peach turnovers but the peaches I got at Butler's Orchard the other day?  They're so good, I doubt there'd be any left for turnovers!

Thanks everybody for your comments, I love hearing from you.  :o)

Does the cobblestone quilt at the left look familiar?  It should! 

This is actually a re-bordered version of the one I posted  at the end of June, here.  I really hated that blue I used because it made the second block from the left seem to bleed into the border and I knew I couldn't talk myself into being happy with it.  So, I changed it to the purple you see at the left.  Big improvement!


At our Wee Bee last Saturday I did a little workshop on that style and it was very well received.  I believe the part that really impressed everybody was how quickly the blocks went together, and everyone who participated really liked the technique.  There were some great combinations for the quilts:  black and white, batiks, tie-dyed, sherbet...

I used Christmas theme fabrics for the one I demo'd in the meeting, and made 12 of the 16 blocks before we left...

I really want to show you this version of the Wickedly Easy quilt that Gwen made for her brother:

isn't it gorgeous!? 

And Felicia showed us her bow tuck bag; it's even cuter in real life!

Well, that's all for now, sew forth and sew on til later!

WeeBee fun

We had another fun time at our WeeBee meeting yesterday!  Here are a few pictures from show n tell, one of my favorite parts of the meetings.  We had two new members join us, one of them loves working by hand.  She shared her Balm of Gilead quilt with us...

I didn't know the balm of gilead was a real plant!  She found a picture and transferred it to fabric with fusibles, and she also outline quilted the plant in red-work fashion.  Here's a closeup:

Isn't that lovely? 

Pat shared her wickedly easy quilt; I think I like hers more than the one I made for my niece! 

Pat also finished a quilt from a crazy patch exchange:

beautiful blocks; I missed that one but I'll be in on the next one!

And of course we had great goodies, as usual...

Good friends, good quilt eye-candy, and good food - always a winning combination!  I'd like to have gotten more pictures but my batteries died and I didn't have extras    :o*(

The weather here is a bit wonky, today is so overcast.  A bit chilly, a bit rainy - but we need the rain!  Have a great Sunday... sew forth and sew on til later.

I'm baaaaaaack!

Hello everybody!  I see we have a new follower, hey there Francine!  It's been so long since I've posted ... I was thinking it was 4-5 days but then Renea pointed out to me, it's been almost TWO WEEKS!!  Where does the time go??  Did you miss me?  I missed you!

Lately I've been in a mood or funk or rut or slump... you name it, who knows?  Didn't feel like quilting, didn't feel like blogging - neither hopping nor posting!  Then I had cold/allergy symptoms, and I REALLY didn't want to deal with it!  Well, whatever it was, I was in there for about two weeks.  Then when Charlene told me she goes through the same thing sometime, I felt better - it's a normal thing evidently.  Assuming Char is normal, hehehe!   Just kidding, just kidding!

Anyway, yesterday I "ris up" and felt like sewing - WOOT WOOT!  I sewed 2 blocks of a project I'm working on for November and attached the binding on the back of my Wickedly Easy quilt.  This morning I got up bright and early (8:30 for us retired folks!!) and was machine sewing down the other side when my Singer went kablooey!   The fabric just simply stopped moving under the needle - well darn!

I took it into Hancock Fabrics so Jeff the wizard could look at it (by the way, he's the only person who has EVER worked on my Singer Touch n Sew lo these 40 years) and he told me the gear that moves the feed dogs broke.  He recommended replacing that one and another one, because if one broke, the other one might not be far behind.  I figure after 40 years it was due to break so I told him to go ahead... $95 isn't a bad investment, I plan on keeping the Singer another 40 years!

Now on to pleasant stuff - my Wickedly Easy quilt!

It's done but it still looks like the flimsy I showed a few months ago.  I'm not very good at photographing my stuff - I think I need Madam Samm to orchestrate my layouts!

Above shows part of the backing fabric... I pieced together three different fabrics that had basically the same colors.

I tried to show a closeup of the quilting here.  You can't see the pattern very clearly, but it was beautifully long-arm quilted by Bernerdett, a member of my guild.  She recently added a computer operated doohickey to her long-arm.

Anyway, I need to finish sewing down the binding - don't worry, I can use my Janome!  Then it'll be ready to give to my niece, J'Nai, at her college graduation in December, yaaaaay!

Sew forth and sew on til later...

My bag

Someone asked about the "uninvited guest" at our community day on Saturday - yep it was a real bug!  I have no idea what kind it is; it had been sitting on someone's bag for a long time and I was afraid if I got too close it would fly up and "get" me.  Soon as I took the last photo, it flew away.

**************

Jackie taught a bag-making class at our Bee a couple months ago and I'll show you mine.  I chose these three fabrics for three different reasons:  the piece on the left was pretty, the piece in the middle was a piece that'd go with anything, the piece on the right was ugly, for the inside.

In a nutshell I sewed the upper and lower fabrics together and fused the lining material to it...

Cut-outs so the bottom will sit flat, sew forth and sew on...

A few random width pockets on the inside... 

Ties for the end...

Here you go!

It would have been perfect if I hadn't twisted one of the straps, but who's gonna know?  I want to make a fabric button as soon as I pick up the right size shell for it. 

Someone asked to see a close-up of a block in my wickedly easy quilt, this is basically what all the blocks look like.  See the green strip?  In one block it's turned horizontal next block it's turned vertical and so forth. The blocks are made from 4-1/2" and 2-1/2" strips - check out the free pattern at http://www.byannie.com/.  One thing I noticed about this pattern - the fabric makes the quilt!  In a couple months I'll show you the finished product.

Sew forth and sew on til later...

Something from nothing...

That's what this is!  Remember the pile of strings I trimmed from my wickedly easy blocks?  The ones I started to toss away?  This is what they looked like in reality:

I started sewing them, skinny as they were, between 1-1/2" and 2-1/2" strips just to see what they'd look like.  I had no idea how I'd use them, but when I laid a few of them side-by-side I was surprised at how nice they looked...

So, I started sewing the strips together, again just to see how they'd look, and before I knew it I had made these five blocks...

Not bad for something rescued from the trash! 

Sew forth and sew on til later...

Quilt top done, almost

Three things to be happy about:
(1) a roll-up-your-sleeves project
(2) a child that makes you proud
(3) framing something you painted

I feel as if my wickedly easy quilt is my child, in a way.  I saw it grow from strips in two sizes, to a great big top, fit for a queen(-sized bed).  And now I get to frame it, when I decide which color to use. 

My design wall space isn't large enough to display the entire quilt top at once, so I tacked it to a doorway to take this picture... take my word for it, the picture doesn't do it credit.  It really is a pretty top.

Now I get to decide how to do the borders; the pattern tells me to use the 2-1/2 x 18" strips I cut from the large blocks but I want to use plain, unpieced fabric - I think the top is busy enough.  I'll let it simmer for a day or two before deciding, but I'll either go with a red inner border or a blue one.  We'll see what we see.

Well, that's it for now... I had some minor surgery done on my foot and at first my toe was numb and I couldn't feel it, but I can now.  You betcha.

Sew forth and sew on til later.

Progress and moving on

The heat wave is over, yaaaay!   The weatherman says it's a front coming down from Canada, so to all our Canadian friends, thanks for the push  :o)

I meant to comment about the edible paper on my retirement cake - it's actually tinted rice paper; doesn't really have a taste though.

This is my latest progress on my wickedly easy quilt:

See all those lovely scrappy strips I trimmed off?  I tossed the first one in the trash, then I thought to myself ...hmmm...  can they be used???

Yes they can, I paired one with two regular strips and it looks great!  I can use these for my 15 minute playtime.  For comparison, the pink strip on the right is 2-1/2" wide.

This begins the second full week of my retirement, and I'm pleased to say that NOT ONCE did I have the urge to jump up and dash to the office.  It's all good, I tell ya.  I'm about to fix my breffus (or brekky) and I really love using this cheese on one of those thin-sliced bagels...

anybody tried it?  It's delicious - a bowl of strawberries and maybe a little yogurt and you're all set!

Cooler air, wicked trimmings, laughing cow on a bagel - it can't get much better than this!  Sew forth and sew on til later...

Wicked progress and a new project

It was the 3rd of June, another sleepy, dusty Delta day...
...the day Billy Joe McAllister jumped off the Tallahachee bridge...

trying to cool off, no doubt; it's already 85 degrees, feeling like 92.

I cross-cut and sewed together all the blocks for my Wickedly Easy quilt, now I have to square up the blocks and sew them together, yaaaaay! 

I have to finish the quilting on my Motown quilt, then bind it, and that too can be checked off my list.

Over on the 15 minute blog I joined the SOLID SEGMENTS challenge, which looks like loads of fun! 

We are to use solid fabrics and scraps to recreate a painting, looking at shapes, structure, color, and balance. For inspiration, I'll use this Matisse painting that Victoria posted.

I hardly ever buy solids, but I do have some in my stash that I can pull out.  Otherwise, it's a trip to you-know-where!

The challenge is due August 1st, so you'll be seeing my progress as I do my thing on this one.  I can't wait to get started ... AFTER I finish the Motown and Wicked quilts, of course!  (This gives me the impetus I need to put my nose to the needle, my toes to the treadle, feet don't fail me now!)

Sew forth and sew on and on...

A little of this and a little of that

Hi everybody, welcome to Tuesday in blogland!  My retirement counter seems to be moving faster than ever, can you believe it?  I'm getting all tingly inside -- and outside too!

Yesterday mid-morning I walked outside and saw my neighbor who lives two doors down from me industriously raking and digging in his flower box (the little patch of dirt between the sidewalk and street).  I went down and was chatting with him and I noticed -- he had put astro-turf in his flower box!  Yes, you read it right - ASTRO TURF!  I said "uhmmm, is that astro turf?"  He grinned and said "yeah!  I don't like fooling with plants and flowers, its too much trouble."  I said, "but won't weeds grow up around that?  You have real grass in your yard, why not put the same thing here?"  He goes, "it's too hard to maintain, people will keep walking over it."  At that point I figured I was still ahead, so I left it alone.  We chatted a few more minutes about azaleas, gladioli, river rock and mulch, then I went shopping.

I finished sewing all my blocks for the W-E quilt, oh yes!  When I pressed a few blocks and measured them, they were slightly too small, oh no!  My friend Felicia wrote an article in our April WeeBee newsletter about maintaining that scant 1/4 inch - I forgot about "the scant" when I was sewing them together.  It's not too hard to fix though; I can ease two of the seams in each block to bring the size up where I need it, then I can square them up.

Try doing that 30 times... makes you want to slowwww down.

Meanwhile, in my enthusiasm I cut way too many strips!  So... I went through the blocks and exchanged some fabrics I wasn't too crazy about for some that I thought were prettier.  I think I have a pretty decent mix, I can't wait to get it sewn together!  Slowly, of course...

Our guild meeting Saturday was really great and I think everybody enjoyed themselves, despite the frigid temperature in the rec center.  There were several mini workshop/demos on hand and machine sewing techniques and there were cutting demos on the GO! and Cricut.  When we stopped for refreshments, a bunch of people (including yours truly) took their food outside for an "al fresco" experience in the sun!

Someone mentioned Guild meetings on Saturdays - I think this is a good thing because a lot of our members work during the week, so Saturday is an excellent choice!  We not only have the benefit of a meeting, but we can do more things in the time we're together.  Years ago I joined a guild that met on Wednesday nights but that got old after awhile... I discovered I didn't like getting a bunch of stuff together and going to a meeting in the evening, after working all day. 

Well, enjoy your day.  I plan to get more work done on my Motown quilt, which I'd like to share with you but can't just yet. Sew forth and sew on til later

Easy Street

Hello everybody, happy Saturday to you.  Yesterday evening we hit our 10,000th visitor, yaaaay!  Could it have been you??

I woke early this morning and cut some more fabrics while watching "Annie" on tv... I always laugh when they do their thing to "Easy Street"...

And then later Annie is all sad-faced because her real parents weren't found...

poor little tyke.

I'm on easy street with this wickedly easy quilt I've been working on!  (Did I ever tell you where you can get the pattern?  Go here:  http://www.byannie.com/  She also has other good stuff!)

By now I've sewn a wicked bunch of blocks - I didn't count them this time, I just know it's "a wicked bunch" -

and I cut loads more strips...

I don't know how many there are, I just know it's "loads!" 

So now I'm all set to sew some more, but this time I know I have a big variety to mix and match.  I've decided to use a solid between the cross-cut blocks, rather than a piece of the African fabrics, to give it more zing.  So ... I'll wait til they're all sewn and cross cut, then decide on the solid fabric.  Sound like a plan?  Sure it does!  Someone asked where I get my fabrics... there's a shop I go to in Silver Hill, Maryland (Paradise Fabrics) which has a large inventory of African fabrics at a very reasonable price.  Every blue moon I'll see something at JoAnn's that strikes my fancy and I'll pick it up.

Today at guild meeting we're scheduled to have several mini-workshops and a Cricut demo, but I think I'll have time to sew at least one or two more blocks.  Every little bit is another step down easy street!

Enjoy your day - sew forth and sew on til later...

more signs of Spring

Hi everybody, I hope you're enjoying spring so far, it'll segue into summer before you know it!  I just happened to hear one spring-time ritual I had forgotten about being performed -- the annual Clean Up The Alley Day!

This is a shot looking into the alley behind my house, taken from my enclosed porch (also known as my computer/tv room!)  They did a decent job cleaning up the dead leaves and debris along the fence, but the rascals didn't clean beneath the bushes - which, in my opinion, should be cut back.

Oh well...

I made more blocks for my wickedly easy quilt, I now have about a dozen or so done, ready to be cross-cut into 7-1/2" strips --

according to the size I want to make, I'll need 30 blocks. 

It occurred to me that I need to cut more fabric before I sew too many more, so I won't have the same ones concentrated in the same area.  Here's a bunch I'll cut from to add more variety...

That's quite a pile!

I also have more I can pull from my stash.  I didn't realize I had so much Africa fabric!!  It's all good though.

Sew forth and sew on for now...

test blocks

After I cut a lot of strips for my Wickedly Easy quilt, I did a test block...

to be honest, I wasn't too impressed... so I made another one...

and when I combined them, they look great! 

You can see some fabric repeats in the two blocks but I can separate them in the final layout.  It's just a matter of playing around to see what I like, and I have a lot more fabric I can cut.

I also did some work on my little Motown quilt for next month; I think I'll like the final outcome. 

Sew forth and sew on til later...