Blogger's Quilt Festival

It is that fun time again, for the Blogger's Quilt Festival, hosted by Amy Ellis from Amy's Creative Side.  This is such a great opportunity to share tons of great quilts made by quilters around the world. I love seeing all the creativity.  So without further ado, here is my submission:

It all started with the book, Sunday Morning Quilts. That book really struck me in a way no other quilting book has in a long time. I read it and reread it many times thinking how wonderful to make some of these quilts. Then, I thought even better, get some help from others by starting a Bee. I asked Cheryl and Amanda Jean for permission to name the Bee, Sunday Morning Quilts Bee. They were very gracious and said yes. This quilt is from the blocks made during round one of our bee. (SMQ bee is now in round 2)

For round one we made slabs in a particular colorway and swapped with each other until we all had all the colors of the rainbow, plus pink.  All made from scraps.  I took my 14 blocks and made 2 more in aqua for an even 16.  I worked to find a pleasing arrangement and bordered it with Kona white.

The back is a two fabrics from a Benartex line called Floralicious that I bought quite some time ago. I was originally going to make curtains from it, but when I need a back for this colorful quilt, I knew this was it.

I quilted it all over with flowers in the style of the backing print. It was such fun! The borders have pebbles in 3 corners with wavy lines representing water, running in between. The 4th corner has clouds and rain drops falling from them. Just a bit more fun for me.

I chose to enter in the Bee category, since all my blocks were made by my Bee mates.  I hope you enjoy it.  The statistics: Made mostly by me, quilted by me, approximately 58x58.

Bees Helping Bees...A Public Service Announcement

I know many of us in this wonderful on line community participate in virtual bees. Many wonderful creations come from those bees. Sometimes, though, we don't get all the blocks we are supposed to for one reason or another. Life happens and people drop out of the bee. So what do you do with the blocks you have? Are they destined to be orphans forever? Not any more!

Hailey (hope I spelled that correctly) of Mrs. Pickles Garden has started a flickr group called Bees Helping Bees. You can join this group and post if you have a need for some blocks to finish up a quilt. So far there are 31 members and we have helped 2 quilters to get enough blocks to finish their quilts.



There are no recriminations here ladies. Only help in getting those blocks done and into your quilts. 



If you need help, stop by and join. Right now there are no blocks needed so we are ready and waiting.

Happy Sunday to you.             

Today, It's for the Birds

I have been so enjoying this blog hop. I really wanted to be a part of it, as I just love birds. We have lots of bird feeders in our yard and I can just sit and watch for hours.  A great big THANK YOU to Madame Samm for coming up with this great idea and another to Mary for being such a great cheerleader and helping us to stay organized.

When I first though of my idea for a project, it just popped into my head, pretty much the way it turned out.

 I knew I wanted to do raw edge applique birds and I wanted them to be 4 different ones, sitting on a branch. I drew templates for the birds and just free cut the branches. They sat that way on my table for days while I tried to decide what else to do with them.

 I love the cardinal and the bluebird. I had never seen a bluebird until I move to NC. The color of them is indescribable. We have lots of cardinals in our yard as well.

 The little grey is my attempt at a robin and the yellow one reminds me of the finches that come to one of our feeders. So bright and beautiful. After I got the details on the birds, I decided to add a few leaves to the branches. Then I quilted all over swirls.

 The back is a last chunk of a leaf print I bought about 8 years ago. Perfect! I wasn't sure this was such a great effort, but the more I look at it, the more I like it. I am going to California in a few weeks to visit my sisters and I think this is a perfect gift for my youngest sister. She paints beautiful birdhouses. So to my other sis who reads this blog: Sshhhhhh, it's a surprise.

Thank you for stopping by today. Now fly off to visit all the other wonderful ladies and see their projects. I know you will love them all.

Friday, May 10

http://ssparrowinflight.blogspot.com

http://Hillvalleyquilter.blogspot.se

http://mcsqrd.blogspot.com

http://loveitsewit.blogspot.com

http://piecepeacenc.blogspot.com

http://grammieq.blogspot.com

http://meadowbrook-Kristen.blogspot.com

http://scrapbook-ChickADoodle.blogspot.com

www.craftyshenanigans.blogspot.co.uk

http://Stitchingbythebeach.blogspot.com

www.thebusybeequiltshop.blogspot.com

http://morestarsincomanche.blogspot.com

http://lesquilts.blogspot.ca

http://suebeesworld.blogspot.com

http://mtnmommy2.blogspot.com

www.thatlookslikeitneedsstitches.blogspot.com

http://www.freshcutquilts.com

Have a great day!

Rain, Rain, Rain

We have had so many grey, rainy days here. My daughter in Portland has seen more sun the last couple of weeks!  This will be a quick post, as I will be back here with the blog hop "It's for the Birds" on Friday.  Today, a finished quilt top and some happy mail.

 This is the quilt top for a new quilt for Baby B. I caught a special sale at Fat Quarter Shop, and got enough for the top and back for $25. It measures 51x51.

And happy mail from Carol at Just Let Me Quilt from a recent blog hop giveaway.
Well, it's raining again. Gotta go.  See you Friday!

I've Got Sunshine on a Cloudy Day ...

What a gloomy Monday. It's rainy and cool and I had a dental appointment at 8 this morning. So when I got home, I needed some sunshine somehow!  I have been diligently working through a few projects and have finished several of them. My goal was to not start anything new until much progress was made. I have been doing good with this, but today, I had to step outside that box.  I needed the sunshine!

 I had recently pulled a bunch of scraps out of my yellow scrap bin and ironed them. My plan was to, at some point to begin sewing them together via the slab method from Sunday Morning Quilts. I had decided I needed a yellow quilt for myself.  Looking through those scraps is like a walk down memory lane of my quilting history. I cooed over many a scrap as I dug and pressed.

 But today I shoved the quilt for baby B aside, momentarily, and began matching up scraps and piecing them together. It's like putting together a puzzle, but there is no wrong way to do it. I have lots of sizes and shapes here to choose from. The only rule is no new fabric, just scraps.

 And then there is lots of trimming to get rid of minor imperfections and square up the sides before adding another piece of fabric.

And this is what is on my design wall now. There are several larger slabs and some small ones too. I stopped for lunch, but plan to keep going until I have one big slab. Then, I will back it, baste it and quilt it.  I still have a half full bin of yellow scraps, but I am saving those for another day.

 I still have all these strips to add to this one and all the pieces below.  So I think that will make a nice lap size quilt for me.

One more quick shot. This next picture is the progress on my Sunday Morning Quilts Bee quilt.  My Bee mates are helping me make the Gumdrops Quilt in aqua and orange. I will still have some strips to make to finish this, but it looks awesome already.

Hope you have a sunshine filled day. See you soon.

Spring Sewing

I've been doing a bit of sewing, although not really working to diligently on my quilts in progress.  I seem to want some hand stitching and some little things that finish up quickly. We all need that sometimes.  And I must admit, the end result makes me happy.

 I made these sweet little bowls that I first saw on Erin's blog.  The pattern she found here and it really is sew simple to make.  I cut into my fat quarter stack of Noteworthy for these and I think it's just perfect for something like this.

 They are cheerful and bright and I plan to use them to hold little things like bobbins and such on my sewing table.

 Upside down, they resemble little shower caps. They were such fun to stitch up.

Here they are with some flowers to give a bit of perspective as to size.  I think they will be handy.

 Now, meet Maggie Bunny.  She is made from a pattern by Alicia of Posie Gets Cozy. Originally offered as a kit, they sold out in just hours, so I bought the pattern when it became available.  This is without a doubt the most adorable thing ever.  And I assure you I don't make lots of stuffed things, except pillows.

 The pattern includes Maggie Bunny and her dress and boots and a knitting pattern for a cape let. I do not knit, so my Maggie is waiting for hers which my daughter is knitting. I did, however, draft a pattern for a hat. I thought Maggie might need it for being in the garden.

 The kit came with all the fabrics for the ears and dress; Liberty fabrics.  I had one little piece of this flowered fabric left from a fat quarter that I bought years and years ago. I don't know what it is, but I love it sooooooo much. I had my heart set on using it for Maggie's dress.  But I didn't have enough so I added the Kona Tomato at the bottom.  It changes the look of the dress, but still cute.

 I added a ribbon to her hat and just tacked it  on.  This is the best written pattern.  Every detail is thought of.  More kits are being made, but if you have a stash, the pattern is perfect. She even tells you where to buy the felt for Maggie. I have felt to make a few more of these.  I stitched a bit each evening while watching TV with my hubby.  It goes pretty quick.  I don't want this to sound like a commercial, but truly, this was F.U.N.

So I hope you enjoyed seeing my Maggie and have a great Sunday.

Best Box Yet

I have won another of the Traveling Stash boxes.  This is box number 6 and I think this is the best box I have seen. Lots of fabrics this time and just a few notions, patterns and magazines.  Want to see?  Okay, here we go:

 This is a lovely bunch of soft flannels.  I know it's spring, but think of the soft quilt you could make for fall.

 These four pieces are all at least a yard each.  Great batiks and cute children's prints.

 Here is the entire collection of fabrics.  All the rest are fat quarters or similar size.

Here are the patterns and notions in the box.  Some zippers, 2.5 inch squares and some 5 inch charm squares.

 These next two fat quarters made me laugh out loud.  This first one is called "heavy equipment" by Alexander Henry 2006.

 This one is Stand Tall Stripe. I don't know who is the manufacturer as that is cut off.  But Wow!

 This is what I took from the box. Four fat quarters, one 1 yard piece and a pink 7 inch zipper.

Here is what I added to the box: two one yard cuts of Flirtatious by Sandy Gervais, two one yard cuts of older green print fabric, 3/4 yard of red crabs from the Going Coastal line, 2 fat quarters from Noteworthy and a dot I am not sure of and 1/4 yard from sherbet pips and another I can't recall the name of, but very pretty blue and green.  Also I added about 40 charm squares to the small packet that was in there. I have lots of loose charms leftover from packs and swaps, so I pulled some from there. Whew! I was fun to add all that stuff!

Want to see this box in person?  Leave a comment on this post.  I will choose a winner on Saturday April 20.  Here are the rules of the stash:
Winner has been chosen and emailed. Congratulations to number 5, Angela T.

 TRAVELING STASH RULES AND GUIDELINES 

RULES:

1. Be an active blogger. Post about receiving and the giveaway on your blog in a timely manner.
2. There is a note in the box that logs where the box has been. Please add your info and place the note back in the box.
3. There is a list of Rules and Guidelines in the box. Please read and follow these and return the list to the box.
4. You may take anything you like from the box. Just replace every item with comparable quilt shop quality items equal to the amount taken. See guidelines below.
5. Ship the box to the next person in a reasonable amount of time.
6. Due to the amount of postage shipping is only within the USA.                                                     I have another stash box up for grabs here.  That drawing ends tomorrow, April 15 but there is still time to enter.  Good luck and I will be back with more sewing stuff soon.