Sherri’s Progress and My Block 9

Apr8

I wanted to share progress pictures from Sherri who is doing the Reach for the Stars sew-a-long. She’s keeping the pace and has completed blocks 5 and 6.

I don’t know what I did wrong with transferring her pictures, but her individual block pictures keep coming out super small. But her group photo looks great! Block 5 is that pinwheel bear paw block and Block 6 is the bottom left block. Love them all in this picture, especially with the striking sashing attached! You can really see the quilt taking shape now! Thanks for sharing Sherri!

I didn’t snap a picture of my Block 9 this weekend, so here it is now. This is the last published block at the moment. This may be one of my favorite blocks so far, and it was probably the easiest.

Picture taken on my desk, excuse the media cords cluttering it up.

That’s it for tonight! See you again soon!

Jennifer

Aaaahhhh, That Feels Better!

Apr5

Wow, I needed that. A few hours spent on quilting and piecing is the best therapy. It isn’t free – but a lot more fun than an alternative!

I splurged a few weeks ago and ordered a 14 1/2″ square Creative Grids ruler from FQS. It is the same size as the unfinished RFTS (Reach for the Stars) blocks with their sashing added:

The hardest thing about the ruler was getting the plastic wrap off!

I was able to put the ruler to use twice already this weekend! I finished Blocks 7 and 8 for RFTS:

Reach for the Stars – Block 7

I was initially freaked out a little by the block, due to the light pattern instructions … but I broke it down into the components and it went together really well. The longest part was selecting the fussy cut areas for my applique circles.

Block 7 – Center

Then I moved into Block 8. At first glance, I thought … easy peasy!

Reach for the Stars – Block 8

Well, poop. Actually I said !@#$!@#$ a few times last night. With no finished sizes given for the sub units, I tried to oversize my cuttings so I would be able to trim down, but then I didn’t know what size to trim down into! Here’s a hint for you though … the center fussy cut square-in-a-square ended up being 4 3/4″ unfinished when I was done. Perhaps it is suppose to be 4 7/8″, but it worked out well for me at the other size.

Hint #2 – I did try to follow the pattern – but when they show you piecing the two sides with the corner squares and flying geese unit – piece the flying geese unit first, then add the squares. That is different than the instructions. My Open Gate Quilts Flying Geese Ruler worked great for this step too. Line up the side triangles to the pieced center triangle at the bottom first, and let the overhang fall off at the top points. The side units will be 3 1/2″ by 12 1/2″ when you are done.

RFTS Block 8 Center

You could certainly change this up and make 4 complete flying geese units with 4 corner squares and a center ‘square-in-a-square-in-a-square’ unit. You will have a few more seam lines in that black star – but it might work better for you if you are doing this block.

RFTS Blocks 7 and 8

I wanted to give up after I realized I would have to unpick the whole thing (except the center flying geese units). But I persisted and was done at around 2:15 am. So glad I made it though! They look great. Added the sashing strips this morning and got a group shot on my design wall:

RFTS Blocks 1 – 8

What’s next you ask? Well – there is still Block 9 instructions for RFTS in the latest issue of Quilters Newsletter, and I also got Block 10 this week from FQS on their 2013 Designer Mystery BOM. It will be a row of flower blocks! Cute I tell you!!\

I love that I am going between bright, happy colors and the soothing, calming colors in Reach for the Stars. Variety is a spice of life!

Tomorrow I will share pictures from Sherri Crisp in Knoxville. She has more blocks done for RFTS too! I just didn’t want to picture overload you. You can jump over to Dawn’s blog post (here) and see the pictures though, if you are in a hurry! She has posted since then also, with more participation pictures – go check it out!!

Have a great, wonderful, quilty, relaxing, fun weekend! (See how a little quilt therapy cheers me up??)

Thanks for stopping by – I love your comments too!

Jennifer

Season for day dreaming?

Apr2

Is there a time of year that is more susceptible for day dreaming? It may be now for me. I find it hard to concentrate at work or even to go to sleep at night. I should probably remove my slideshow of inspirational, bucket-list quilts from my work desktop. They are really distracting sometimes.

I have recently ordered two books that I am excited about. It will certainly keep me going in my current state of mind.

One was a recommendation from the blog Pretty by Hand (Ms Kristyne). She promoted a series of craft/sewing/quilting books recently. CLICK HERE to go to Kristyne’s post. They are written by Tone Finnager, but all seem to have a marquis title of “TILDA”.

Tilda’s Fairy Tale Wonderland:

Tilda Book

This author apparently has quite a following. The description of this particular compilation in Amazon.com is:

A beautiful collection of brand new Tilda projects, featuring seasonal designs in Tone Finnanger’s quirky style. Each chapter is themed on a classic children’s story, such as Pinocchio, Bambi, The Nutcracker and The Princess and the Pea. Projects include new doll designs (ballerinas, princesses, soldiers and various animals), as well as gifts and decorations using the latest range of Tilda fabrics and products.

Can’t wait to dive into it and see what little projects my daughter and I can conspire to make!

The other book I purchased with the help of a birthday gift certificate from my brother. Which is good because it is a pricey book! I ordered it from Fat Quarter Shop and it should arrive tomorrow. You can read more by clicking HERE to view the FQS item page for this book. There are a couple of other pictures from inside the book that are nice eye candy too.

I love the colors in this cover quilt.

Anyone else have these books?

I have made one more GGS block (half way now!) and I cut the pieces for Block 7 of Reach for the Stars. I hope to piece that block tonight.

All righty then – I’ll see you next time!

Jennifer

A Post for March 30th

Mar30

I can’t think of a witty title for today. It is now Sunday evening, and I’m about to prepare dinner. I have done a little sewing, specifically on my Great Granny Squared quilt. The friend whom I intend to be the recipient of this house warming quilt just closed on her home a couple of days ago. I hope to get this one done in the next month to be timely in the delivery to her.

9 Blocks done! Laid out on the driveway. You can see Nora’s little foot in the picture – she was helping when the wind started to blow:

I never did find my Birds & Berries fabric – but I KNOW I have it. I couldn’t wait though and found a layer cake on Etsy and got it Saturday in the mail. Here’s a close-up of the first block using some of those vibrant colors (especially love the purple!):

I have 11 blocks left to make. And even though I didn’t find my Birds & Berries fabric, I did come back across a box that had 4 charm packs of Wee Play by Sandy Klop (American Jane). I really, really want to make something with her collections. I also have some precuts of Potluck that is more recent. I had purchased 4 yards of the Moda Weave Black to possibly go along with it (inspired by a quilt done by Ms Cupcakes ‘n Daisies. She named it “I’ll Take Mine Black“).

I have also decided on a quilt to make for my upcoming grand-daughter. Well, step grand-daughter. I really struggle to think of myself as a grandmother yet since I have a 5 and 7 year old at home. Denial, denial, denial. I’m in my early 40s, so it isn’t impossible .. but… denial, denial, denial.

Sunbeams Quilt Kit offered by Fat Quarter Shop… fabrics in Mirabelle collection by Fig Tree Quilts.

The backing fabric is shown closer up here:

The mommy-to-be said she was doing her room in yellow, so this felt really perfect. I hope it goes together fast though – she’s due in June!

I hope you had a great weekend and was able to enjoy some sunshine today. We are feeling the spring weather finally coming around.

Next time – the next block in Reach for the Stars!!

All my best,

Jennifer

A rare Home Ec project

Mar24

Good grief, when will Spring finally get here? I’m still wearing my fleece jacket at work and bundling up the kids for school in the morning.

One bright spot of Spring is a window valance that I completed last week. Well … completed … just means that I have the top done. I need to actually QUILT it … Picky, picky.

I was inspired by a post from Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life (click here to see it). She had taken the pattern by Fig Tree Quilts called Canned Pears (you can buy it here!) and made a wall hanging. I looked at it and thought that it would also play well as a window valance in our kitchen – but I liked the look of the offset pears in the main pattern.

Here is my window valance outside on a community bench:

And a little closer:

I scaled down the pattern size about a third to make it fit 5 pears with a mini-charm border. The whole thing ended up around 40″ x 18″ (roughly).

All of it was made with the Mirabelle collection by Fig Tree, with just a few squares of Honeysweet in the top border row.

Here is my old window covering. Very, very sad. It is a just a twin sheet we had that was folded and clipped up to a cafe rod.

AFTER: New, custom Fig Tree Window!

LIGHT ON

Pear Valance 2

Another LIGHT ON:

LIGHT OFF:

The lighting in my kitchen is really bad for this – so just take my word for it that the colors are bright, springy and wonderful!

I already have the backing, just need to layer and quilt. This is my first project for the home that isn’t a standard quilt. I’m so glad I took a chance!

Thanks for visiting! See you soon!

Jennifer

Break in the Action

Mar22

Hello! I’m not sure why things are so hectic lately, but I can’t seem to get any quantity of time at the sewing machine lately the past month. I have been working on some projects, which I will share one today and another tomorrow.

For now, I’m trying to get ready to go to a 4 year old’s birthday party – then move on to a birthday party for two 40+ year olds. My brother and I share a celebration each year at my parents house – usually on the Saturday that falls closest to his (since he is after me).

But for my progress work … I have added three more Great Granny Squared blocks from the pattern book by Lori Holt of the same name.

I have started with a fat quarter bundle of Bluebird Park by Kate & Birdie Paper Company. As I work more with the blocks, I feel like I want some more punch of color – more blocks that have saturation included. I remember that somewhere … SOMEWHERE … I have either a small bundle or a layer cake of Birds & Berries by Lauri and Jesse Jung. Very similar colors and I think it would be the perfect match for what I want:

Now, I just have to find the time to go through all my boxes and closets to find this fabric … 🙂

Another progress report is from Jennifer Thacker who is sewing along with a small group of us doing the Reach for the Stars quilt, as featured in a 7 part series in Quilters Newsletter.

Jennifer has completed Block 3 and it is just beautiful! I love her fabric selections in the block. Jennifer doesn’t have a blog of her own, and I am so glad she is letting me share her progress with you on mine!

Have a wonderful Saturday and first weekend of Spring! I woke up sneezing about 10 times in a row, so that’s how mine is going.

See you tomorrow with my next update!

Jennifer

Busy, busy, busy…

Mar12

I wish I could say that I had been sewing in secret and that I had three finished quilts to show off…, but that just isn’t the case. Not much time devoted to my hobby at the moment. Last week, I did get done with the 9th block in the 2013 Designer Mystery BOM by Fat Quarter Shop. It is the last house block in the row quilt. The last three blocks are a mystery to me. We have had three basket blocks, three star blocks and three house blocks.

I was only having to look for one piece of fabric to make my two blocks from one package this time. The facing of the house between the door panel and the roof line called for a 6″ square of fabric, and I only had a piece big enough for one. No worries though, last month’s package had a perfect piece that I used.

Here’s version 1 of the block:

And here’s Version 2:

And here they are together on my driveway!

The more I look at my six house blocks, the more I know I will embellish with some creative embroidery when I’m done. Little doorknobs, and maybe some flowers in the window boxes.

Jennifer Thacker from Houston has also been getting some sewing done. She has completed Block 2 of the Reach for the Stars pattern. Her block is perfect! Love the paislely center in its frame… take a look:

The next edition of Quilters Newsletter will be in my mailbox soon – I got the digital edition email yesterday. Three more ready to go!

Finally, I celebrated a birthday yesterday. I had a great day, surrounded by wonderful friends at work and family at home. One of the ladies at work made me a beautiful pink fondant covered cake, with hand crafted roses. The kids had fun lighting and relighting the candles last night.

I am truly blessed.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Jennifer

Midnight Caller

Mar5

I use to have midnight callers, believe it or not. Hard to remember now – it’s been so long… My midnight callers now usually entails either cats or my kids. Notice I didn’t mention husband. We’re too tired. lol

However, one night earlier in the week I got up around midnight and my fabric was calling out. I have several projects laid out on the cutting table and I can’t wait to have time to work on them. I decided to respond to the call!

I have my next Great Granny Squared block laid out, ready for stitching:

I worked this morning a bit as well, connecting the pieces to form my strips. I’ll have this block done before dinner tonight!

It is also no secret that I love Fig Tree stuff. I tend to hoard and not actually use my precuts for some reason. Stupid really, since I love it so much – why not make it into something I can enjoy every day -right? I was inspired by a post from Sherri McConnell of A Quilting Life blog who also does a lot of stitching for Joanna Figueroa and she had made a wall hanging from her Canned Pears pattern. You can (click here) to visit that blog post.

I really loved seeing it done that way, and I decided that I could adapt it to be a nice window valance hanging for my kitchen window, perhaps with a roman shade layered behind it.

Anyway … I wanted 5 pears to go across the valance, in a staggered fashion like the quilt pattern. But the pears are too big, so I had to draw out my own dimensions for the pieces to make it fit.

My challenge was to make my initial pear block out of charm squares from the new Mirabelle fabric collection from Fig Tree. Therefore, I have two different fabrics for the pear body, but I think I will like it when it is all done. Right now, it might may it look a little more like a vase or jar, instead of a pear, but I have high hopes! I reduced the size down by about a third.

In closing, here are a few midnight callers of my own. Aurora staring out of two different windows, within about a minute of each other…

She’s my Christmas Eve rescue baby. She looks very healthy and all adapted to her purrever home now though!

And two more of my rescue babies, … Sparkle and Jewelry (taking a bath, so she’s a bit blurry). Having their morning naps. Always close by.

See that quilt they are on? It is the backside of a 2011 FQS Designer Mystery quilt. Quilt police confession – I start using my quilts even before I have the binding on. I just make sure there is a stay stitch around the edge. I procrastinate really bad on bindings!

Have a great day!

Jennifer

Weekend – Day 2

Mar2

Would it surprise you that my laundry still needs folding, but I have blocks to show you anyway? It doesn’t surprise me a bit – but it is still early on Sunday. Might get to that laundry yet.

Block 6 from Reach for the Stars is, to me, the easiest block so far. Four HST units in the corners and 5 hour glass blocks. I pretty much made up my own directions and used the easy method for hour glass blocks and cut my squares at 5 1/2″ (probably could have been 5 1/4″, but I wanted to be sure to have enough room to trim evenly). I still need to add the black sashing, but here’s the last block for now – until a new issue of Quilters Newsletter arrives! (Please, please, please ignore my ugly foot in this picture).

The outer corner fabric is from Palm Court, the two light fabrics are from Little Black Dress II and the other black/tan fabric is a new addition from Little Gatherings by Primitive Gatherings and it is called Raven Star Shower.

While organizing a few boxes in my room (my daughter wanted one of my prized FQS boxes to paint and decorate as Ariel’s Grotto) – I came across a fat quarter bundle of Bluebird Park by Kate & Birdie Paper Co (for Moda). I thought instantly that it would make a great choice for my ‘first’ Great Granny Squared quilt. Here’s the unbundling on my cutting table:

I already had quite a bit of grey polka dot yardage from Vintage Modern (Bonnie & Camille) and it goes wonderfully with this linen-look collection. I couldn’t wait to make my first block!

Here’s the first fabric on the ironing board:

I asked Nora to select three more that were of different colors and got my cutting done in no time. (not for the entire quilt mind you, but enough to get a block done and have some instant smiles)

The fabric collection has cute pictures of rabbits and hedgehogs. The rabbits are making an appearance in my first block:

And here is the final block, squared up to 12 1/2″ unfinished. I’m sure this would go much faster if I had everything cut now and decided on all the combinations of fabrics, but that isn’t really how I roll. There are a total of 20 blocks in the quilt top and it calls for a few more fat quarters than I have in this bundle. I’m going to mix in some Wishes fabric by Sweetwater. I have two charm packs of it and many of the colors will go great.

My Avalon house block will have to wait until later tonight, or this week. I really had to get this one block done – it is so Springy! Plus, I have a couple of housewarming quilts that need to be made in the next couple of months and I think this will be one of them.

Enjoy the remainder of your weekend and thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Jennifer

Weekend – Day 1

Mar1

I’m so glad there are two weekend days. The first one usually gets lost with TV, feeding everyone, a unproductive nap that leaves me more sleepy than before and just a little sewing. I still have 5 1/2 hours left in ‘the day’, but there is still one more meal to provide and laundry piled up on the bed to fold. I hope to get my Avalon block pieced tonight though, so another post may be warranted tomorrow!

Today, I got a small bit done. Very small. I added four sashing strips to Block 5 of Reach for the Stars. I took the opportunity of changing the sheets on my guest bed to lay out all of my blocks now and take a quick picture:

I’m still so in love with this quilt and can’t wait to see it grow over the year.

Last night, I decided to add a decorative yo-yo to Block 5, using the background fabric from the block. I like the results. A little surprise!

I also started getting nervous about the state of my focus fabric, which is mostly obtained from a panel I purchased in the Palm Court collection by Benartex. It isn’t the easiest fabric group to find, but I had purchased it, and other items from the collection, from Rossville Quilts. I decided to get another panel so I could make it comfortably to the end of this quilt with as much fussy cutting as I wanted.

Here is the new panel:

And here is my Swiss Cheese panel, with still a bit of undisturbed design in the center that I will utilize soon. Maybe I can find a way to use the stripe portion too:

Hope you are having a quilty weekend, or doing something that makes you happy!

Jennifer

Seams Crazy

Quilting and Family – both crazy!

Sherri’s Progress and My Block 9

Aaaahhhh, That Feels Better!

Season for day dreaming?

A Post for March 30th

A rare Home Ec project

Break in the Action

Busy, busy, busy…

Midnight Caller

Weekend – Day 2

Weekend – Day 1

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this:

Rate this:

Share this: