Saturday, March 19, 2011

Happy National Quilting Day!

What a pretty day we had today!  After a nice slow morning of two cups of coffee while watching some morning TV with the hubby, I did get to spend some time finishing up a pretty periwinkle linen blouse with Yogi in the sewing room! 

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The weather outside was so nice that I opened the window in my sewing room

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and Yogi enjoyed sleeping next to it!! 

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All that fresh air and sunshine coming in the window… 

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he does get such wonderful sleep in the sewing room!!

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I finished three new linen blouses this week and also completed my new “Four Squared”

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quilt made with a jelly roll of Amy Butler’s luscious Soul Blossoms fabric.

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I found a unique chartreuse green solid to go with it to create my new design.

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I am pleased how it turned out and Yogi likes it, too!  (And he sure needs a haircut, huh?)

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This afternoon, I started on a new project for the Moda Bake Shop… stay tuned! :-)

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What did you do today to celebrate National Quilting Day??

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Monday, March 14, 2011

Chartreuse It Is!

Thank you for all the many wonderful color suggestions in your comments on my last post.  There were so many good ideas!!              Some colors I would never have thought of…

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I took my 16 patch blocks to the local quilt shop and laid them on all the solids they had.  One color really screamed my name… and it was a color I’ve never used before and actually had to look up how to spell it!!

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CHARTREUSE!

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Sorta lime-ish,

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sorta gold-ish

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totally C O O L - I S H !!

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Soooo, WADDAUDINK???

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Thursday, March 10, 2011

A Finish and a Question…

Ok, first, I DID finish the quilt I was quickly quilting last week for bee on Saturday.

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I sewed the binding down at bee and even got the label on it, too….  do love sewing down those bindings…

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which is really weird and surprising to me ‘cause if it can be done by machine, that is sooo me!!

OK, soooo, I’ve got a question for you all!!

Here are some yummy 16 patch blocks from Amy Butler’s gorgeous Soul Blossoms collection… D E L I C I O U S N E S S!

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I’m using them in a new jelly roll quilt design I’m working on.

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I bought this awesome large polka dot to use for the background…and I don’t like it now that the blocks are made… it’s too busy…sigh…  :-(

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Sooooo, my question is what color solid fabric would YOU use if you were picking one?? 

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I don’t think I want white or beige…  but there are soooo many choices….

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What would you pick???  HELP!!!!

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Wednesday, March 2, 2011

Gettin’ Jiggy Wid It!!

OOKAAAAY… not sure why that title just popped in my head for this post…  but I like it!

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I am torn!!  I had this Amy Butler “Soul Blossom” jelly roll sitting on my sewing table calling my name BIG TIME since I got back from the quilt show, so I ruminated a few days, designing a quilt to make with it and came up with one that I think will be a good one.

I sorted the strips into sets of four

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I sewed them together into strip sets and then sub-cut them into 2 1/2” strips which will be sewn together to create 16 patch blocks.  I got this far then remembered that this Saturday is our March bee day and I need a quilt to bind there!!  ACK!

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So, I am torn between dying to get on with my new quilt design and getting a top quilted to take to bee… which goes along with my goal to quilt at least one top a week until my pile is gone…

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So, the top won, sigh, and I have quilted about 75% of it so far.  Will finish it tomorrow after work and get the binding prepared and sewn on ready to do the hand work on Saturday at bee.

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Then I can get back to my new quilt!!  YUMMM!

Oh, and one more thing!  I had a little “light bulb over my head” moment the other day chatting with my bee friend Lorraine in the car going to the show.  So, I tried out the new idea today while quilting.  I took one pair of my favorite Atlas quilting gloves and cut the fingertips off the thumbs, and first two fingers on each glove.

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I HATE having to take my gloves off each time I need to snag a stray thread or rethread the needle or pull up the bottom thread. 

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And with just those three fingers out on both hands, I can leave the gloves on do anything I need while quilting!  YAY!  Why the heck did I never think of this before???  Well, DUH!!

So, what are you working on these days??  Has spring arrived in your area yet?? 

Yogi and I are dreaming of spring!!

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Tuesday, March 1, 2011

Mid-Atlantic Quilt show

Last weekend was the

Mid-Atlantic Quilt Show in Hampton Roads, Virginia.

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There was some really wonderful quilts exhibited, of course.  And even more delightful vendors!!

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What my friends and I observed was how many more wool booths there were this year compared with previous years. 

Soooo not my thing!

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Of course, I wanted one of EVERYTHING,

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but I restrained myself and bought just a few things…

a McKenna Ryan pattern, a book by Nancy Halvorsen, a few pieces of a new bright floral collection, some fingertip cots, a yard of pre-printed labels…

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We had such a nice day amongst folks who all love fabric and quilting!  Just getting away for a day is so renewing!!  And seeing all that eye candy really inspires me to get back in the sewing room and create!!

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And guess what Yogi did the whole time I was gone??

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What a good watchdog!! :-)

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