Flimsy Excuses

Design Wall Monday

2012-02-06T08:02:00.005-05:00

I had started this little table topper in early January, and hurried to finish it last week when a thoughtful friend brought over these beautiful roses. My list of projects that I would like to do this year gets longer and longer with each design wall Monday - quilters do such interesting things! But go ahead, have a look at Judy L.'s design wall and at all the great projects shown.

Friday flimsy

2012-01-06T12:27:00.006-05:00

Hello again! I hope that you all had a very merry Christmas and are having a peaceful new year. I have been sewing some, all the mysteries that abound at this time of year have sucked me right in! Today's flimsy is a mystery from Scrapdash at Quiltbug.com. I placed my blocks together a little differently from the instructions(I moved some blocks around and couldn't figure out how to put them back!) and my border is different too because I didn't have a piece that would work for the border as posted in the mystery. I am pretty happy with the way it turned out. I pieced the back out of leftover fabric, there is only a small pile of trimmings left.

Design Wall Monday

2011-12-05T10:08:00.006-05:00

I have been busy! I cut into my scraps almost every day for a couple of weeks, until my strings box could not hold another sliver of fabric! I have in mind two different projects for the strings, so I went ahead and started sewing them together to make 5 and 1/2 inch strips. I cut squares (for a scrappy rail fence) and 60 degree triangles out of the strips (for a six point star). When I could put the lid on the string container, I counted 99 squares and 21 triangles. Not too shabby! I'll go back to cutting scraps again before I make any more. I also made several small ornaments to give to some friends, along with some Christmas teacups and saucers filled with peppermint tea and chocolates. Make your own cup of tea and visit with Judy and her design wall.

Friday flimsy

2011-11-18T07:46:00.002-05:00

This flimsy was a Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt. I made this shortly after my mother passed away, using fabrics I inherieted from her mixed with my own. Its not very big, but I love it! The corners need to be redone with HSTs. Its hard to tell in the photos, but the lights in the 9-patches are strawberry fabrics, and so are the light blue squares. My name for it is Strawberry Fields, my mom loved to pick strawberries in the spring. We would eat strawberries, make jam, and eat more strawberries! I am setting this post up a few weeks in advance, this may be my last flimsy to show unless I complete something in a hurry!

Design Wall Monday

2011-11-14T09:50:00.005-05:00

I couldn't seem to settle down at my sewing machine last night, so I spent some time online looking at every one's fabric choices for Bonnie Hunter's new mystery. In doing so , I came across a small Christmas mystery by Andra Gayle at Simplify and Quilt. Christmas scraps I have in excess, so that enticed me back to my sewing. Go over to Judy L.s design wall Monday posting and find more enticing ideas!

Friday flimsy

2011-11-11T07:38:00.004-05:00

This flimsy was a long time in the making, I made shaded 4-patch blocks as I acquired plaids and stripes. I decided at one point that it was big enough and sewed the blocks together. Looking at it now, I think I have enough different fabrics to add at least two more rows onto the length. And I am definitely going to switch out the small floral I had for the backing of this to a leafy,flannel print. Hmmmm.....I even have a recipient in mind for this one. Happy Veterans Day to my husband, father, brother, and brothers-in-law.

Design Wall Monday

2011-11-07T07:54:00.000-05:00

This little cuties are a free paper-piecing pattern, Santa in a Star, offered by Carol Doak and Quilt Life Magazine. Not sure what I am going to do with them, but I like them! Check out Judy's design wall for some great design inspirations.
In the spirit of cleaning out and organizing, I have ironed a pile of scraps, made a spreadsheet of the sizes and shapes I want, and lined up some little containers (clean vegie trays). I am going to follow Michele's lead at Distracted Quilter and cut scraps for 15 minutes a day for the next month or so and see what I can accomplish. It will be great to start a new year with a pile of scraps already cut!

Friday flimsy

2011-11-04T07:30:00.001-04:00

This flimsy is from Trudie Hughes' book Even More. The pattern is Road to St. Louis. It only took me a few days to put this quilt top together,but it has been aging for several years. I love the pink and brown combination. I have been totally sidetracked from sewing since last weekend. DD#3 wanted to be a pirate for a Halloween party. We looked and looked for a pirate shirt I had made for DD#2 a few years ago, but didn't find it. In the process of looking for it, the big walk in closet upstairs has been cleaned out, and now the storage disaster that is in the rec room is well on its way to being semi-organised, and yes, I found the pirate shirt the day after Halloween!

Friday flimsy

2011-10-28T08:25:00.001-04:00

Here is another flimsy that resulted from leftovers and fabrics gifted to me by Sarah. I am trying to empty out some of my project boxes so that I can fill them back up with new projects in 2012!

Design Wall Monday

2011-10-24T12:11:00.009-04:00

Here are two little quiltlets that I pieced last fall. Over the past couple of days, I have quilted them on my DSM and sewed the bindings on - two projects finished, and two off my list of UFO's! I learned a few things with these, I prefer a cotton batting on these little quilts over a polyester, the wonky stars needs more contrast, and I learned how to do a ladder stitch to sew down the binding. Both of these quiltlets came about from the generosity of others. Marcie at Patchalot More offered the Christmas Tree pattern a couple of years ago, and I used The Happy Zombie's Jingle Jolly pattern as a starting point for the wonky star quiltlet. Be sure to stop by Judy L.'s for more blogland inspiration on Design Wall Monday.

Friday flimsy

2011-10-21T08:17:00.001-04:00

I have shown this project when it was still a work in progress, but here it is as a completed flimsy. The pattern is Picket Fences by Judy Martin. This flimsy came from leftover pieces from my Carolina Christmas flimsy and my seemingly never ending supply of Christmas fabrics. It is a much brighter, richer red than the picture shows.

Friday flimsy

2011-10-14T07:55:00.000-04:00

Just put the borders on this one this week. I started this string quilt with purple centers several years ago, with the intention of working on it slowly, as scraps accumulated. The border fabric has been in my stash for a while, it has a lovely feel to it. I am trying to free up some project boxes for 2012!

Design Wall Monday

2011-10-03T13:51:00.005-04:00

Only one seam away from another flimsy! This is a mystery quilt offered by Leslie at The Crafty Unicorn Quilting. Leslie did a great job designing and presenting this mystery to keep us guessing on the final outcome. I love the way it ended up in columns. Check out Judy L's design wall Monday post for tons of inspiration.

Friday flimsy

2011-09-30T08:10:00.000-04:00

Ta-da! My Monochromatic Challenge! I am really excited about how this flimsy has turned out. When Judy L. started her monochromatic quilt challenge at the beginning of the year, I decided to make six string/crumb blocks in each color of the month. I've posted pictures of some of these on Monday's design wall, bur here is my flimsy, with six blocks each of eight colors.

Design Wall Monday

2011-09-26T11:23:00.009-04:00

Thanks to everyone who visited last week and left a comment. I was unable to leave any comments for reasons only known to super techno types, but this week I seem to be able to. I finished up a flimsy this weekend, but I am waiting to show a picture of it on Friday - it is the quilt I have been making for Judy's monochromatic challenge. I am showing basket blocks I've completed for a mystery quilt hosted by Leslie at The Crafty Unicorn Quilting . I can't wait to see how the entire quilt is going to come together! Please visit Judy at Patchwork Times for more design wall postings.

Design Wall Monday

2011-09-19T14:38:00.004-04:00

On my design floor for today are the blocks for the Quilters World mysyery quilt. I am going to set mine on point with a narrow sashing in between the blocks, and partial blocks along the outside edge. I like the partial blocks oriented so that the outside edge looks consistent. Visit Judy at Patchwork Times to see more inspirational ideas.

My dear SIL (who was my friend before she was my SIL!) came this weekend from NC to attend the East Cobb Quilters Guild Quilt Show. We were there for a good part of the day on Friday, enjoying all the beautiful quilts and supporting all the vendors! Both of us forgot a camara, so we ordered the dvd. We did jot down a few notes on quilts that appealed to us (I favor more traditional, she likes more art quilts). It was so great to spend time with her, and to have a fellow quilter to share ideas and fabric with! We plan on doing it again when the guild hosts their next show two years from now. On Saturday , we managed to visit three local quilt stores but we must have been on sensory overload, because we didn't buy much!

Friday flimsy

2011-09-16T08:09:00.000-04:00

Okay, here is another mystery quilt! This is one of Bonnie Hunter's mysteries, Carolina Crossroads. I really like this pattern, lots of small pieces and interesting design. I do think that this quilt really cleaned out my pink fabrics! My pink stars are a bit too subtle, I think it would look better if they were more pronounced.

Friday flimsy

2011-09-09T08:04:00.001-04:00

This flimsy is a scrappy snowball and 9-patch. I've seen many of these quilts that are beautiful, but I do think mine missed the mark! Maybe that is why it is so small!

Friday flimsy

2011-09-02T08:08:00.000-04:00

This flimsy was not a mystery! It was a pattern called Honeymoon published in Traditional Quilter magazine many years ago. Check out that faded rose and country blue color scheme! I know I started this in when I was newly married, so at least 20 years ago! Now mind you, it hasn't been finished that long...

Design Wall Monday

2011-08-29T13:46:00.005-04:00

I am caught on the two mystery quilts that I am following, spent the morning on housework and laundry, plan on having 5 dollar burritos at Moe's tonight for dinner, so I am spending the afternoon sewing! During the summer, I went to a "yard sale" at a LQS. I came home with quite a few fabrics that I am putting to good use. Today I am using some of them in this project, Last Wrung on the Ladder, by Lynda Hall at Primitive Gatherings. Its mostly Christmas fabrics, and I would like to get it to flimsy stage this week. Check out Judy's blog this week, she has her own design wall again!

Friday flimsy

2011-08-26T08:00:00.001-04:00

Today's flimsy was a New Year's mystery quilt offered by Planet Patchwork. My DD#3 helped me pick out the fabrics and even sewed a little on this one. We anxiously waited for each clue to be released. We weren't able to stay up with all the clues, but we still managed to get the top together in a couple of days. Hmmm. I do have some more bright fabrics that I was wondering what to do with...maybe another quilt like this is in order!

Design Wall Monday

2011-08-22T08:26:00.003-04:00

This is the progress I have made on the two mystery quilts that I am working on. I have an inkling about one, but the other one is not far enough along to venture a guess. Visit Judy at Patchwork Times to view other design walls - prepare to be inspired!

Friday Flimsy

2011-08-19T08:26:00.002-04:00

The pattern is from the book Even More by Trudie Hughes. It was put together in diagonal rows - it would have been helpful to have a design wall for this one. I started it well before the year 2000, I only finished it last year!

Friday Flimsy

2011-08-12T08:17:00.001-04:00

Okay, time for another picture of another flimsy! I don't exactly remember how old this flimsy is - I know my DS was about 3 or 4 when I finished it, and he is almost 17 now. I remember his age because he wanted to help me with it. His "help" consisted of cutting into the border with a pair of kiddy sissors! Luckily for me, he only made a small hole. I bought the chicken and egg fabrics as soon as I saw them-they just made me smile!

Steps to the Altar

2011-08-11T00:01:00.005-04:00

This is the picture from the magazine of the quilt I am working on. I haven't decided on colors for the alternative blocks yet.
Thanks for all the lovely comments. I learned to sew on my Mom's featherweight, so sitting at the kitchen table and sewing with that machine was very comfortable for me!

Design Wall Monday

2011-08-08T01:25:00.006-04:00

I have spent some time this summer visiting with my Dad in NC. While there, I borrowed my Mom's old featherweight from my sister to piece these blocks. I have 6 out of thirteen finished. There will be twelve alternative blocks in a Trip Around the World style in a controlled color scheme. The pattern, Steps to the Altar, is from the August 2002 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting - it is from an antique quilt. Now I soon as I finish sewing sequins on flagline costumes, I'll be getting back to this one! Check in with Judy L. to see what other quilters are working on!

Friday flimsy

2011-08-05T08:00:00.003-04:00

My DD#2 got a new camara and took some pictures of flimsies for me, so that I will have something to show on my blog. This flimsy was a mystery (what, me make a mystery quilt?) offered by Elsie Vredenburg many years ago. It is half-controlled fabrics, half-scrappy. My girls think that it wants to be a quilt by Christmas, in time for cuddling under it on the couch, watching our favorite Christmas movies.

Design Wall Monday

2011-08-01T13:19:00.008-04:00

Wow, its been a long time since I posted anything, but I have been sewing in little bits and pieces. I have started another online mystery quilt hosted by The Crafty Unicorn Quilting, and my SIL just sent me a link to another mystery hosted by Quilters World Newsletter that we are going to do together, as together as 300 miles will allow! Soon it will be back to school for two college kids and two high schoolers, and life will return to some kind of routine. Check out Judy's blog for some lovely projects out there in blogland.

Sugar Sack Quilts

2011-04-18T22:32:00.005-04:00

I won a give-a-way from Glenna Hailey at Hollyhock Quilts! It actually arrived at the end of last week, but my DD#2(a high school senior) had my camera all week for end of season soccer games and prom. This is a lovely book full of wonderful projects that have me itching to be stitching! I photographed it with my one authentic feedsack, and two packages of cotton rickrack that originally sold for 13 cents a piece. My two favorite patterns from the book are Stripping in the Garden and Hearts and Flowers, okay, my three favorites, because I love the Sail Away quilt too! DD#2 really likes the Happy Scraps quilt, I've pulled out my 30's reproduction fabrics to figure out a plan! Thanks so much Glenna, I am really enjoying this book!

Design Wall Monday

2011-04-11T17:23:00.003-04:00

This little quiltlet is a Schnibble pattern called Mon Ami. I wanted it to be low contrast, but I think it turned out no contrast! I've had this fabric in my stash for a while, its called Winsome, by Nancy Halverson. I am going to use the small check as the backing, and bind it with the small dots. I want to do some simple hand quilting and have it ready to use by Easter. Go by Judy L.'s blog and look at all the other design walls - you are sure to be inspired!

Brown monochromatic blocks

2011-04-02T12:24:00.003-04:00

I am a few days late in posting these, but I have had them done since last week. Check out Judy L.'s blog for more monochromatic inspiration. I love the way all of these 6" blocks are turning out - I think when I put them together at the end of the year they will look awesome! Now if I could only make the same progress on my UFO list...

Design Wall Monday

2011-03-21T11:35:00.005-04:00

Today, I have the green leftovers from Carolina Christmas assembled. It still needs a border of the same yellow fabric as the cornerstones. My plan is to bind it with the green stripe fabric used in the sashings and border. I was so lucky to have received bits and pieces of Sarah's leftovers from her CC quilt - the pieces have added so much variety to my projects! Check out other design walls at Judy L.'s.

Design Wall Monday

2011-03-14T19:02:00.006-04:00

I haven't done much sewing in the past month because I aggravated a chronic lower back problem, and sitting was no longer an option! However, I did catch up on all the ironing, file a lot of paperwork, gather all our tax info, and cut out three quilts from scraps/stash. When I finished my Carolina Christmas flimsy, I had many pieces and parts leftover. After moving them aside once again, I decided to find a way to use them. This first quilt is made from leftover red/background HSTs. I just needed to cut out bricks and setting triangles for this one, a pattern by Judy Martin called Picket Fences. I cut out two different sizes of sashings for the green leftovers for quilt #2, and after adding in some different colors of Christmassy type fabrics, I cut out a third quilt for a Lynda Hall pattern called Last Rung on The Ladder. I am back to sewing, but I haven't touched my UFO for February or March. Sidetracked, but sewing, and I'll take that any day over not sewing! Head over to Judy's to see all the great projects out there in blog land.

Design Wall Monday

2011-02-14T10:55:00.006-05:00

Here are my monochromatic blocks for February. I love making these, the hardest part is stopping! I have pulled out a lot of FQs to cut additional pieces for the UFO challenge, it is one I am excited to be working on-it uses some of the smaller blocks from a 9-patch exchange organised by Julie. Stop by Judy L.'s to see more design walls.

Reasons or excuses?

2011-02-08T07:52:00.007-05:00

I wonder what the difference is between reason or excuse? Sorry to be away from blogging for such a stretch. After 5 years of study and formation, my DH was ordained a Permanent Deacon of the Catholic Church on Saturday, and that involved a lot of my time for the past month or so, culminating in out-of-town guests, and a big celebration. Throw into that same time frame 2 birthdays, resuming my part-time winter job, cleaning my house, making curtains for the dining room, making a dress for DD #1, making an outdoor flag, and having the kids home for a week because of snow and ice, and you have your pick of reasons or excuses!
I did not finish my UFO for January, but I completed 12 blocks. This quilt is just not floating my boat, but I am still going to get it together (a much smaller quilt than originally planned), and get it off my list. I am going to set the blocks together side-by-side, add a small border of background fabric, and buy another fabric to add a larger border.
After I straighten out my linen closet (mostly empty because of all the sheets and towels coming through the laundry), put away all of the remnants of the party, and clean off my sewing surface, I will be more than ready to start working on violet blocks and UFO #10.

Design Wall Monday

2011-01-10T08:00:00.003-05:00

Judy L. at Patchwork Times hosts Design Wall Monday, a UFO Challenge for 2011, and a monthly Monochromatic Project. I have signed up for the UFO challenge, and I have decided to make 6" blocks in the color of the month in the monochromatic project. These blocks will be made from my scraps, in what ever configuration I can make them in. Each month I am going to try to make at least 6 blocks in the chosen color. My tentative plan is to set them in rows by color with white sashings in between each block and each row. We will see how this turns out...

Edited to add: My children are off playing in the snow. When you live in the South, you have to enjoy the snow on those rare occassions you actually get enough to play in. It is supposed to be icy tonight, so they will probably be home from school tomorrow too.

#6 on the UFO list

2011-01-06T11:04:00.005-05:00

Judy picked number 6 for the January UFO. I groaned. I haven't been inspired by this project for a while, hence its UFO status. I checked my UFO master list and I am pretty sure that I started this in 2007. This morning, I pulled it out to assess the situation. The colors in this quilt will go so nicely now with my couch, which is new since then! I made a list of what needs to be done, and figured out a plan for the border. Now to clear off my sewing area and put my plans into action!

Joining Judy L.'s UFO Challenge for 2011

2010-12-17T08:12:00.000-05:00

I have decided to join up with Judy L. and try to finish some UFO's in 2011. Some are old, some are ones I just really want to work on as soon as I can! For me, getting it to flimsy status will be considered finished. I am also planning to work along on some of the monochromatic ideas too, I plan on making monochromatic string blocks in the color of the month.

My UFO List....

1. Millenium Trip Around the World - started in 1999
2. Plaid Strings - started in 2010
3. Kitchen Sink in 30's fabrics - started in 2007
4. Little Pretties - started in 2007
5. Kashmere Green and Golds - started in ?
6. Teal Flying Geese - started in 2006?
7. Fig Tree fabrics in Bluestone Pathways - started in 2006
8. Nine-patch Between Friends - started in 2010
9. Nine-patch Bulloch Hall - started in 2010
10. Nine-patch Crossing Paths - started in 2010
11. Nine-patch Flying 9-patch - started in 2010

This is the list I came up with when Judy first mentioned the idea on her blog. There were 12 on the list, but I finished one already! These are not all my UFO's, and I may work on the last four as soon as the opportunity arises. I would love to finish all of these in 2011 and that is why they are on the list!!!!!!

Friday Flimsy - Carolina Christmas

2010-12-10T17:13:00.004-05:00

A year later, and I am calling this one done. This quilt was a mystery offered last year by Bonnie Hunter called Carolina Christmas. I fell behind on the steps , and then the final product was not floating my boat. I loved other people's version, but not mine! I decided to put it together as shown, and used my red rectangles as the border. My kids really like this one so I am glad to have it done. Now what to do with the other bits and pieces....

Design Wall Monday

2010-12-06T09:30:00.005-05:00

I put the small white border on this UFO this weekend. Now I am trying to decide if I want a pieced border on it, or if I want to consider it done. The pattern is from an older Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine. Even though I have the pages from the magazine, it doesn't indicate what issue it was in. It is called Little Pretties Quilt, and it was designed by Dianne Neumann. Check out more design walls at Judy L.'s blog.

Edited to add: Thanks for the feedback. I do think I will add a border to finish it off, but I am going to work on it in the spring.

Friday Flimsy

2010-12-03T08:06:00.004-05:00

I am finally showing you the fourth quilt made from the same fabrics! This is actually the second quilt I pieced from these fabrics, I cut it out as I was cutting out for the first one (the one using the Thanksgiving panel). This one is one of my favorite flimsies ever, my Mom and my quilting SIS both loved it. I love the colors in this flimsy, so much so that I made four small quiltlets to use around the house in the fall. I gave one to my SIS last year, and am using these three now. There are a few scraps left from these flimsies and quiltlets, but not many!

Judy L.'s mystery quilts

2010-12-02T07:54:00.005-05:00

There is no sewing going on in my house lately! There has been some cleaning, organising, entertaining, and shopping, but no sewing. However, I do have two flimsies to show you - both of them mystery quilts offered by Judy Laquidara at Patchwork Times. The colors in the first quilt are so off, in real life they are very bright green with a bright yellow background. I gave this flimsy to a friend of my sister's for her guild to use for a donation quilt. I don't know what I will do with the second one, which is also fairly bright. I have quite a bit of bright fabrics that have aged long enough, and I am trying to get them out of my stash.

Friday Flimsy

2010-11-12T08:18:00.005-05:00

Okay, this is another flimsy that resulted from that first idea for a quilt. As I was cutting for the second quilt, I knew that I would use the scraps for string piecing. I wanted to use a Piece O' Cake design that featured string-pieced strips alternating with non-pieced strips, with applique on one of the strips. However, my applique looked pitiful, so I abandoned that idea. After a few other false starts, I put all my pieces and parts together to come up with this flimsy. It ended up at 72 x 72 inches square, I think that is a fine size for a truly scrappy quilt!

Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2010

2010-11-04T12:15:00.004-04:00

Welcome to the Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2010 and to my blog.

This is one of my favorite quilts, a oldie but goodie. It was offered as a mystery quilt by Judy Hopkins. The background fabric has little sayings all over the fabric, like 'a stitch in time saves nine' and 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'. I have always enjoyed a good mystery book, and ever since I found out about mystery quilts I have not been able to resist them! I love the weight of this quilt and that it was hand quilted by my mother.

Friday Flimsy

2010-10-29T09:42:00.003-04:00

This flimsy is actually the third one I made out of the fabrics and scraps generated by the first one that I featured last week. I did not have a plan in mind when I started piecing the center 6" squares, I was just enjoying the mindless sewing. I still had quite a few larger scraps, so I decided to use the string pieced blocks as centers for the eight-pointed stars. I used one and a half inch strips for sashings, and surrounded it with a sawtooth border. I did add more scraps to this one out of my box of scraps, so it has a lot of different fabrics in it. I love this flimsy too - the scrappy, the better!

Friday Flimsy

2010-10-22T08:03:00.001-04:00

This flimsy was the start of a big sewing binge that started in 2007. I fell in love with this Thanksgiving panel from Sandy Gervais. I wanted to use lots of fabrics with it. Once I pulled out all of the fabrics, I had to go ahead and cut pieces for more than one quilt, just to make it worth my while. I will show another quilt from this fabric set next time.

Nine-Patches

2010-10-21T09:00:00.001-04:00

Just a couple of pictures to show you what is coming next for my nine-patches. These will be two separate quilts, but my sewing hours are at an end until next week.

Nine-patch progress

2010-10-18T09:54:00.007-04:00

I am so inspired by all the beautiful nine-patches I received from the swap hosted by Julie at JulieKquilts. So inspired that I plan on stretching them out to make four, maybe five quilts! The first one I am working on is based off the pattern Between Friends by Darlene at Quilting Daze. Darlene offered this as a free pattern on her blog a while back, and I printed it off to make some day. I think it works great with the two different sizes of nine-patches. I plan on adding two more borders, but I need to buy fabric for the first border. What is really cool about this is that Darlene was also one of the participants in the nine-patch exchange! I am linking this post to Judy L.'s design wall Monday.

Friday Flimsy

2010-10-08T13:13:00.001-04:00

My Mom and I participated in a swap of these churn dash blocks 10 or 11 years ago. After my mother died, I inherited most of her quilting things - my sisters don't quilt. These blocks were tucked into a shoebox, waiting for inspiration. They were all approximate sizes, not uncommon in swap blocks. I found a book by Lynn Roddy Brown that addresses swapped blocks and used a setting from this book Simple Strategies for Block-Swap Quilts. I used fabric from my Mom's stash to complete this quilt, I know that she would have really liked this flimsy, and I know that she fully expected me to finish up some of her projects!

Finally starting to feel like fall....

2010-10-06T13:27:00.007-04:00

I love the cooler weather of fall, it energises me! I finished up this little table topper, the inspiration came from a older magazine, Quilt Sampler 1998, I modified it a bit. It is machine appliqued and quilted.

I also pulled out my one and only store bought kit project - a pumpkin runner. The kit was for jack-o-lanterns, but I wanted to use it all of October and November, so mine is pumpkins. Last year I pieced the scraps from the pumpkins into squares and put together this quiltlet. I have pulled it out to finish the big stitch quilting on it, it would be sweet to get this finished too.

Friday Flimsy

2010-10-01T07:34:00.001-04:00

I have had an unexpected free day last Monday, as DH was called into work early that morning. I spent my time putting together the blocks for a mystery quilt offered by Erik Homemade. I am not really pleased with my choice of sashing fabrics in this flimsy. I did not want to add the borders offered with the mystery, so I elected to leave them off. I will add this to the flimsy pile, along with the rest of the black and white fabric - there is enough there to use for binding.

The nine-patches made me do it!

2010-09-27T13:55:00.007-04:00

I narrowed down my ideas for all those lovely nine-patches that will be here before I am ready! Then I went to Sew Unique Creations, just to window shop. Resistance was futile! Tara's service is amazing, I ordered these on Thursday and they arrived Saturday! By narrowed down, I mean I actually picked four patterns to make. That is why I needed additional fabrics! I have already started cutting and piecing some of my scraps and some of the new fabrics to include in these quilts, I have 240 flying geese to make, 12 nine-patches with light corners and center, 24 more 3" nine-patches (most of which I have made), and fifty-two more of the 6" nine-patches (I only need to make seven more in this size). I will use the flying geese as leaders and enders as I am working on the other quilts. These quilts will be my focus this fall, I know that I am really going to enjoy working on them!

I had to delay posting this for a few days as I could not get my camera to talk to my computer!

138 nine-patches are on their way...

2010-09-22T13:28:00.004-04:00

This is what my nine-patches looked like, Julie should have them on Thursday. I have spent my morning going through books and magazine clippings for ideas on how to use them. I like so many of these patterns, I'll have to rank them in some kind of order! I already figured out how many of each size block each pattern will take. Maybe I'll figure out what kind of yardage I'll need to make each quilt, and compare that to what I have in my stash - that might help me make up my mind. What are you planning to do with yours?

Friday Flimsy

2010-09-03T21:41:00.003-04:00

Today's flimsy is my latest quilt top. This one is 48 x 60 inches. I think it will be a good size to take to college one day. My nine patches for the swap are coming along - all except for one batch that I cross cut at 1.5 inches instead of 2.5!

Friday Flimsy

2010-08-27T17:22:00.003-04:00

Hello everyone, just a short post and a picture before the first HS football game of the season. We have two high-schoolers in two different schools, we work out a schedule in advance for whose game to attend on Friday nights. We don't go to away games, we do go to Homecoming games and Senior Nights. We pay the most attention to the halftime shows, because both of our high-schoolers are part of their school bands. This flimsey is a recent one, a Schnibbles pattern called Cindy Lou Who, mine is about 33" square, as I started with a bunch of HSTs that were already cut out. This one makes me smile!

Friday Flimsy - Friendship Star

2010-08-06T13:27:00.008-04:00

I think this has been one of the fastest summers on record. The kids have already started marching band practice and volleyball practice, DD#2 had her senior pictures made, DD#1 is leaving for college in a few days. I am never ready for the end of summer, I always need another two weeks! The flimsy I am showing you today came about from a swap in 1999, I think I put the top together in 2009. It was quite an international swap, with blocks coming from Australia, Germany, Scotland, and the USA. In the next few weeks, in preparation for another swap, I will be making nine-patches for the Great Nine Patch Celebration Exchange hosted by Julie K. at juliekquilts.blogspot.com.

Friday flimsy

2010-06-04T17:06:00.010-04:00

I can only offer flimsy excuses for not posting, like end of the school year, an enormous gardening project that involves removing massive amounts of ivy, and general family life! I have been working on a mystery quilt from erik homemade, am starting another mystery quilt offered by Judy L., and anticipating a third mystery at durable goods . Today's flimsy was a mystery offered by Judy Hopkins many years ago. I extended the blocks into the border to make it a little bit bigger. I really love the fabrics in this flimsy.

Bless your heart quilt back

2010-03-30T19:34:00.006-04:00

I decided to go ahead and make words for the back of the flimsy I posted on Friday. The words were a lot of fun to make, but it easier to make them more uniform than it was to make them wonky! I have even worked out a quilting pattern that I can do on my DSM, using my very limited abilities at machine quilting. Next week is spring break for my kids, so after that I will see about basting this and actually quilting it!

Bless Your Heart Friday Flimsy

2010-03-26T09:37:00.007-04:00

Today's flimsy is one I call 'Bless Your Heart'. In the South, bless your heart can be used to express gratitude, or to get you off the hook when talking bad about someone, as in, "that girl is such a mess, bless her heart!" My dear MIL from Queens, NY, loved this expression! In her book, Scrap Patchwork & Quilting, Marti Michell recommends cutting 1 1/2' strips from all your fabrics before you start cutting for your current project, and save these strips for log cabin quilts. I did this for many years, until my ziplock storage bag was overflowing! When I wanted to learn to paper-piece, I searched the web for small heart patterns, and made those up when I felt like doing something small. Eventually, I combined the two, using the paper-pieced hearts for the center of the log cabin blocks. I added a piano keys border with larger hearts in each corner. Maybe I'll free piece some letters (a la Tonya at Lazy Gal Quilting) that say bless your heart and use them as part of the backing...hmmmm.

Friday Flimsy

2010-03-19T11:47:00.005-04:00

I am going to try and post a picture of one of my flimsys on every Friday. It will be good to see them all, I keep them stored in 2-gallon ziploc bags with binding and backing(if I have the fabric for them already picked out). Today I am showing you 'There is a Bear in the Woods'. My inspiration for this quilt was a post dated Oct. 20, 2009 that Bonnie Hunter did on her blog that dealt with adding elements to an older UFO to suit her taste now. I had made 30 of these Bear Paw blocks many years ago and was never happy with them. I had tried to get rid of them several times, but always pulled them out of the donate pile at the last minute. I also inherited my Mom's UFOs when she passed away. After seeing Bonnie's blog, I rethought these blocks, pulled these green strips my Mom had cut to make a tree quilt, set the blocks on point, and ended up with this flimsy. I really like it, and now I am able to donate the remaining blocks without any regrets! My Mom would be happy that I used one of her UFOs! Check back next Friday to see another flimsy.

Frustration!

2010-02-04T08:42:00.007-05:00

I've been working on 4 different quilts in the past few months and I am frustrated with three of them! My Square-in-a-square quilt is not going together very well at all because I pressed all my blocks in the same direction during construction. I am debating cutting each square into 4 HSTs and making broken dishes blocks out of them. I haven't come up with a good border fabric for my churn dash swap quilt, nothing seems right to me yet. I was able to order a Jelly roll of Moda Yuletide fabrics from UpandAwayQuilts.com in NM and worked on this quilt,(bottom photo) but I am unhappy with some of the fabric placements. I want to add a piano keys border to this, but I may not have enough variety in the leftover fabrics to make that work. The last quilt I am working on is the Carolina Christmas mystery by Bonnie Hunter. I have put the other projects away for now so that I can concentrate on this one. For me, reducing the frustration level helps me to keep my quilting mojo in gear!
Retail therapy is also good for the quilting mojo! I ordered these lovely Chicken wire fabrics from Hollyhockquilts.com Etsy shop (middle photo)(the little bee fq was a bonus!) - I am going to use them for the back of a flimsy that has pinwheels in red and yellow chicken and egg fabrics! These other fabrics I bought from Sweet Home Quilt Co. in Conyers, Ga. (top photo)(Actually, the two on the right are from the remnant bin at JoAnn's.) I hadn't been to Sweet Home Quilt before, but as you can tell, I really liked it!

Spare Parts

2010-01-24T16:18:00.006-05:00

A couple of weeks ago, Sarah N. offered spare parts from her Carolina Christmas Quilt. I raised my hand and she graciously sent them to me. Her fabrics are beautiful, as is her piecing. Now I am ready to get back to sewing and making progress on my CC quilt. My DH had the past week off, and while I did not spend a lot of time at my sewing machine, we did make a trip to a new-to-me quilt store, I'll show some of my purchases later in the week. Now, if only the sun would come out....

New Fabric!

2010-01-15T12:13:00.006-05:00

As I was blog-hopping the other day, I came across Julie's blog at http://creativeribbons.blogspot.com/2010/01/new-fabrics-for-me.html. She mentioned her fabric purchases from Sew Unique Creations...so I had to go and take a look. These are the treasures that arrived in the mail yesterday. I am pleased as punch with all of them! The lighter piece on the end was a thank-you FQ - how sweet is that! I don't have specific plans for these yet, so they will age for a while.

Design Wall Monday

2010-01-11T09:22:00.005-05:00

This is the third Christmas quilt I am working ever so slowly on. It started with a churn dash block swap in 1999/2000. You sent off the center square to fellow quilters, they made the block in their choice of colors and returned it to you, and you did the same for them. The 20 blocks sat for quite a while waiting for some inspiration. At some point, say 2008 maybe? I earmarked a Christmas quilt in a magazine that was designed by Robin Pandolph. In fall of 2009, I was looking through my magazine clippings for ideas for a different project and made a connection between the two! It seems like it should have come to me alot faster than that. Anyway, I added dark green,gold, and cream from my stash to enlarge each block to 15" finished. Now I am going to sash them with a dark green and gold stripe, add more dark green as the final border, and add it to the flimsy pile. I really like how it is coming together. Go see Judy L. at http://www.patchworktimes.com/ to see more design wall inspirations.

Quilty Christmas presents!

2009-12-26T11:54:00.003-05:00

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas Day! I love getting anything quilty for Christmas! My DH gave me a new 6 x 24" ruler, two books, and a Jim Shore Santa. Today looks like a great day for sewing....

Tree table topper

2009-12-14T22:42:00.007-05:00

This table topper is made from a free pattern called Trees on the Table offered by Marcie at Patchalot Patterns in 2007 at http.patchalotmore.blogspot.com. It went together so easily and I love it. My plan is to get this finished by Sunday, because I also want to make the pattern she is offering for this year, Christmas Punch. Almost all the Christmas decorating is finished, and hopefully, by Wednesday night, all the shopping will be done. Looks like the possibility of sewing on Thursday!

Christmas Tree Skirt

2009-12-10T08:55:00.005-05:00

For years, I've been telling one of my lovely sisters that I would make her a Christmas tree skirt. This fall, I finally decided that this was the year. I drew some ideas on graph paper, trying to come up with a good design. My sister was appreciative, but what she wanted was a scrappy homey feel. Hey, I can do scrappy and simple! Here is the final result, my sister really likes it! It closes with three adorable buttons shaped like stockings. It is finished with purchased bias binding.

Sidetracked...

2009-12-02T13:28:00.004-05:00

My DD#2 was out of school on Monday for a teacher workday. She wanted to get some fleece so that she could make a jacket. We ended up with fabric for two jackets, some fat quarters for mystery background fabrics (man, am I glad I got those!), and some craft items. Somehow, I got roped into making the fleece jacket and the second jacket. My Dad has decided to visit my sister in Germany (leaving on Sunday), so now the tree skirt I am making for her has a deadline! Okay, priorities.... tree skirt, jacket #1, mystery, jacket #2. This afternoon, I am taking DS to get his driving permit, and this evening DD#3 and I are continuing to make some ribbon Christmas trees. I wonder what DD#1 is going to want to do when she gets home from college?

Mystery quilt

2009-12-01T12:48:00.008-05:00

My SIL's quilt
My quilt

I love doing mystery quilts! I am currently working on Bonnie Hunter's Carolina Christmas mystery. The first mystery quilt I ever did was by Judy Hopkins. It was presented as a series in the Lady's Patchwork Circle Magazine in late 1992, early 1993. My Mom hand quilted it for me, and I love using it! My SIL is also a quilter and I was trying to talk her into doing the mystery along with me (long distance as we live in different states). She came to visit in March of 1993 with her three children. Then, in one of those rare occurrences here in the south, we had a blizzard that shut down the city. She decided to join in the mystery, and we cut fabric all that Saturday. When she finished hers, she machine quilted it and gave it to my dd#2, who was supposed to be baptised on that Saturday. My daughter was baptised a few days later, after the roads cleared somewhat, and the entire trip has many fond memories for both of our families. My niece and nephews had been in the Philippines for several years after living in San Antonio, Texas and had never seen snow. They loved it! DD#1 had never seen snow before either, but as a two-year old she was not very impressed! You can tell from the pictures that my SIL put hers together differently from mine - that's what comes from getting the next step to the mystery over the phone! I just noticed that one of the background fabrics in this quilt is one of the background fabrics I am using in this latest mystery-maybe this will be the end of it!

Design wall Monday

2009-11-23T08:52:00.004-05:00

I am excited to participate in Judy L.'s design wall Monday! My design wall is actually the floor in the rec room (think wreck room for a more accurate description). Several, okay, many years ago I did a mystery by Elsie Vrendenburg using Christmas fabrics. For some reason, I way over cut the red triangles needed for that quilt. Finally, this past October I decided to use them up and piece another Christmas quilt. So here is the quilt so far, red, green, and Christmas fabrics in a square in a square. I am thinking of putting a narrow black border around the blocks and then adding a wide border of Christmas fabric. I am also gearing up to make Bonnie H.'s mystery that is starting on Friday using more fabric from my stash. Between these and another Christmas themed quilt I also started in October, I will have 4 Christmas flimsies.

Introduction to my blog

2009-11-21T16:35:00.005-05:00

I have been a blog lurker for several years now, and due to the prodding of my family, have decided to start a blog of my own. Luckily I have teenage children to set it up for me, because I am not very technologically adept. My mom was a great sewer, quilter, and dollmaker, and she taught me to sew at an early age. I made my first quilt when I was in high school. I love the fabric, cutting, and piecing, but I have only quilted one quilt! The quilts I do have were quilted by my mom or by a friend of hers. Mom passed away almost two years ago, so now I need to figure out the quilting part of the process and make these flimsies into real quilts!