Monday, May 30, 2016

Quilty 365 May Update

I have continued to work on my Quilty 365 circles, though I must admit I have not completed as many as I should have. Slowing down is usually a bad sign for me. lol But I don't think I'm over them quite yet.  Mostly I was exhausted from trying to finish out the school year...but that's done! So I'm back to circles and other projects, too!



I have 33 blocks to add to the ones I made earlier and wrote about in March.  I can't believe that I forgot to give an update in April, but there you have it.  If my math is correct--and it's entirely possible that my math is way off--I have a total of 120 blocks. 



I counted them last week as I was packing them up to take with me should we ever go on vacation--it's entirely possible that we may not even though we should have left already! That's a story for another day though. And I don't remember the number anyway. 

Of course, a la Mary, I couldn't wait and used a few of those blocks for this project.
But it's all good! That project was meant to represent a window, and one of our boys has a home improvement business that sells and installs windows, among other home improvement jobs.



Because I decided in my last update that I had way too many plaids, I decided to stitch up some solid/neutral circles. I'm still using up some of the plaid circles and squares that were already cut, but as I add to the pile, I'm cutting only from my collection of Kona solids and anything in neutral. I'm hoping that mixing these in with the plaids will calm them down a bit.



And because I figured out how to do this some time ago, I thought I'd show you the same circles in black and white. A b/w cicle quilt would be pretty awesome, don't ya think?


Happy Quilting,

Sunday, May 29, 2016

Sunday Quilt Inspiration: O R A N G E

I'm going through an orange spell. I picked up a few orange pieces on a recent shopping spree and have found myself gravitating toward a very pretty stack of orange fabrics recently. So on that note, I thought it appropriate that we look at a little orange inspiration. Maybe even make an orange quilt...though a quilt totally in orange might be a bit much to take in.

As always, first a bit of inspiration....
Throwing a shower soon? Bookmark this!


I wish I could have helium and put together a bouque so beautiful at the beach and have the wind not blow!: *ORANGE ~ Buttons. Make me think of my Grandma Bunnie. She would play, "button, button, whose got the button" with us kids and we loved it.:






mosaic....I love any mosaic I've seen and it is something I should put on my bucket list as I'd love to learn how to do it.:

Orange"Tree of Orange", Sterling, MA:

peel an orange! the smell of citrus is a simple way to give a space a cleansing boost. it also stimulates our minds + lifts moods. #simpleshui:


Isn't she adorable?  Reminds me of a cute couple I met in Moab, Utah.  They had the tiniest orange & navy Boler trailer named "The Ritz."  I wonder where Chris & Mokie are now ...    Orange camper:

Color coding books. Orange, orange, orange, um... you catch my drift.: Change the orange to red and it's a go - oh, add about 3 more inches to the hemline. Hahaha!:


And next, quilts!
Seriously Orange Tonal Lob Cabin Quilt by | Linda Miller:

Creamcicle Beveled Block. I am in love with this quilt, but I don't know if I have the patience to make it.Optical illusion - how cool is this!



Half squares     L' Fair Quilts: Stash Report and EQ Layout of Stars

Orange String Quilt wide white stripes.  Do narrow white stripes with multi colors & flowers at intersections for Carly's quilt.

Hand pieced orange and black quilt machine by donnabyington, $325.00

Such a simple design. Very easy to make. Great use for fat quarters.Baby quilt -poppy baby/ wall art quilt "Poppies Full of Sunshine'' poppies in bright reds and oranges on yellow READY TO SHIP



Seaside Stitches: Disappearing Orange Peel

Diamonds in the Deep - I love the ombre effect that this pattern creates, just gorgeous in the orange too!isosceles quilts.




Carpe Quiltem. Love the different grays with orange


I don't know about you, but I was not expecting to find many quilts in a mostly orange color scheme! There are many more than these ten or so, if you're willing to search for orange and another color. Orange combined with black, teal, and blue seem to be the most popular after orange and white.  One place to look for inspiring quilts is my Pinterest board "heart, quilts."

Friday, May 27, 2016

Building the Stash?

I know! Mother's Day was just a few weeks ago (already?) and to my surprise (shocked, I know) the kids gave me a gift certificate. 


To Hancock Fabrics, purchased before the closure announcement. The kids were terribly concerned that the store would not honor the certificate, but I assured them that I'd spend it quickly. And that is just what I did. Without problems, I should add.


I also got 40-50% off of the regular price because of the closing. It didn't take long to figure out that, since I had to purchase two yards anyway, I could choose bolts carefully and get the extra 10% off, even if there were fewer than two yards.


I picked up some Kona solids and, in the case of the Kona black, bought almost an entire bolt.  I also found a few modern prints that I especially liked, so those went into the pile and, before I was ready, I'd spent the entire gift certificate. Richard found a pack of rotary blades and tossed those in. "They won't go bad," he said. I think he was just trying to finish the shopping and get out of there!



Do I need it all? Definitely not, but I am not one to "look a gift horse in the mouth" (as my mom loved to say), and I also didn't need anything else. My studio is well stocked! 


 I'm still kind of shocked that I was able to get all of this at almost half price. Surprise, I've already cut into some of it! And the rest? Well, in some cases there's enough yardage to make tops or shorts for the grands, and I can always make another quilt, right?

The real problem: I'm not sure how to account for these at the end of the month since they shouldn't count as purchases--technically they are gifts-- but they are definitely additions. I'm open to suggestions...how do you handle gifted additions in your stash report?

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Friday Finish -- one for the dogs!

No, really, this one is for the dogs! Our Maltese puppies sometimes have to stay in a kennel, which they don't like very much--laps are so much more comfy--so they scratch and fuss the whole time. That means that they put some wear and tear on the kennel pads.


Since the mats are in horrible shape, I checked on the cost of replacing the smaller one. Wow! The cheapest one is $15 on Amazon Prime. No way! I did some quick math and decided that we could not afford to buy kennel mats for the three puppies, especially since I have everything to make mats right here at home.


So I made mats. I was able to finish two mats this morning, but we have only two kennels, so that was about perfect. One kennel is small. We keep it in the camper to put Cotton in on those days when we go places where he is not welcome. We enjoy museums and such so, when we travel, we need to keep Cotton safe inside the camper. 



The larger kennel is big enough for both of the girl puppies. We rarely bring Candy anywhere because she gets car sick...not a pleasant situation for anyone. But there are times when she needs to get in a vehicle and I want her to be comfortable and safe. 



Little, on the other hand, needs to be held down. She has energy...lots of energy and a cage is necessary so that she doesn't jump out of a window.  



This bright yellow mat goes in Cotton's kennel. It's made from fabric I bought to make Dusti a little dress when she was about four. She is 17 now. It has a soft, silky hand. 



I plan to keep the old mat and just put this one on top. The old one is not torn, just worn, but it has a thick outside edge that Cotton likes to rest his head on.



The blue one is much larger and will go in the girls' kennel. I plan to put a cotton rug, folded in half, for extra thickness with this mat on top. To give the puppies a softer edge, I put in a thick cotton piping insert that I bought many years ago. (I intended to make a casual, comfy seat cover, but the thickness of the piping insert was more work than I bargained for so it never happened.) 



The original mat is gone. We used it without the kennel, and puppies are hard on everything. This one will make a nice replacement, so regardless of when or why we use the kennels, the puppies will be more comfortable and safer.


Linking up with
Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Tuesday, May 24, 2016

Pin It Weekly #155

Fiesta de Talavera Quilt Pattern. Next project: What have you been pinning? That's getting to be a regular question from me. I guess that would be because it relevant and I don't have any other questions for these posts.

Other than the rainbows from Sunday's inspiration post, I've been posting a crazy mix of things...with no rhyme or reason.  A couple of baby quilts because they are cute quilts, so I really like having them on my baby, quilts board

birdie quilt:

Elephant pop Quilt - FREE QUILT PATTERNS - GET INSPIRED:

Baby quilt:

And some "barn, quilts" to that board because, you know, 480 pins could not be enough. Plus, I just love old barns!

Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Log Cabin pattern:

shawano county, wisconsin:

quilt barn:



And then there were all those baskets from last week's Pin It post, but I couldn't seem to stop after the post was finished. 

Vintage French Champagne Gathering BasketJonathan Kline, Basketmaker - Country Living

Primitive 1800's APPLE BASKET:

And then there's this pin about batting, which I found really interesting and want to be able to review again, so I dropped it into the "quilt, tools" board. That board needs some attention--I have fewer than 50 pins in it, but for some reason I just haven't seen many sewing tools. Maybe I need to try looking again.  





Monday, May 23, 2016

I HEART My Crafty Friends

Image result for heartI have the best crafty friends! Remember that some time ago I wrote about retreat plans at Fountainbleu State Park? I was very excited and counting down the days. 


Until the days got close. That's when I had to face reality. I do not heart reality. We were in the middle of testing season and I was testing middle schoolers. And I was swamped. 

the group tee shirt (designed by Kelly) and Erica's
sweet card expressing sorrow that I could't come

I could not (though I tried very, very hard) wrap up testing. Oh, I had great plans to do just that. But even great plans can go awry. Middle schoolers do not help things run smoothly. Best laid plans. Blah, blah, blah. 

a closeup of the tee design
Image result for defeat

I finally gave in. Reality won. And I lost. Big. 


In the end I had to admit defeat and tell my crafty retreaters that I could not retreat with them. I wanted to run away (Fountainbleu sounded like a nice run-away-to place) but no. I stayed. And worked. And cried (just a little, but there were tears). 

a shopping bag, which I will use to pack
sewing supplies for our upcoming vacation
Well, retreaters to the rescue! They had each brought along a little something. 

And they made lots of little somethings. 

And they gathered them up and.... MAILED the somethings to me! I just got them. In a pretty box. And inside the box...somethings for me! Sorry no pictures of the box. I came home from work today (my last day) and found the box sitting pretty on the bench outside my door with mail piled on top. 



Really, I thought it was for Richard, but I brought it all in anyway. And my name was on top of the box. As soon as I saw Erica's name I knew what a lovely, thoughtful crafty friend I have. I do <3 crafty="" don="" font="" friends="" my="" t="" them="" too="" you="">

all the goodies posing in one pretty picture
I immediately opened said box! Do you see all the pretties? I <3 admit="" crafty="" do="" friends.="" it="" my="" span="" too="" you="">

darling scrap booking items and some wooden button love

a personal dry erase board and pen - which will
sit right beside the machine for sewing notes

a personalized mug and mug rug
Image result for surprise 
Aren't they the best? And don't you <3 do="" font="" know="" them="" too="" you="">

What surprise box have you gotten recently?