This and That and a Reminder

Hello Everyone! I hope you have had a good week and weekend. If you’re here for the “I Love Home” BOM, go here to see my first block and sign up to win a package of Aurifil Thread. You have until 11:59 PM EDT on August 14th to leave me a comment on that post for your chance to win.

Now on to other things.

I made Sherri’s Quilting Life blocks for August already!

The 12″ block using Pondicherry by French General for Moda

The 6″ block using Fig Tree Fabrics for Moda

I also finished two Moda Blockhead blocks, number 22 by Jan Patek and 22 alternate by Lisa Bongean.

Jan’s block has always been an applique block. I used a fusible web, then a hand buttonhole stitch to applique it. I have not trimmed the block yet to it’s unfinished size of 6 1/2″ in this picture.

Because I’m setting my blocks on point, I needed to make sure the applique would fit. I made this viewing window from heavy duty cardboard and as you can see, the bird didn’t fit. I printed out the pattern again at 90% and only made the bird a little smaller to fit. Since I make a lot of 6″ blocks, it will come in handy in the future I’m sure.

This is Lisa’s alternate block. I made it, too, just because I liked it.

I also keep plugging away at the quilting for the “Blocks on the Go for Quilts that Grow” by Katja Merik. Last week my plan was to spend and hour a day on it and I did that until the end of the week. It’s about three quarters finished now, so I should have it done next week.

I also finished this needle book by Jacquelynne Steves that was a mystery sew along in her Art of Home Facebook group.

It was a fun project to sew along with and now I have a nice needle book that will fit threads and even a small hoop to carry with me as we travel.

The final thing I worked on this week was my dress from the Colette Pattern, Moneta. I wanted to get it finished before the end of summer!

The fabric is an Art Gallery knit and I will have more details in a post later this week. I think this is on my Finish-A-Long list and I need some photos wearing it of course! I will say, it was easy and the fabric was great to work with.

My daughter’s home for a week in between summer school and going back for fall semester so I’ll be busy with her. We already spent yesterday morning shopping and are going shopping again this afternoon.  I think we are planning on going to the Georgia Aquarium this week, too. Probably not a lot of sewing will be done in the next couple of days, but I do have a few things that need to get started this week.

One is the mini for the August Minis and More Parade. The pattern this month is Mini Pumpkins by Allison Harris of Cluck Cluck Sew.

I have so many fall prints, that I  haven’t decided whether to make it in more traditional prints or like Allison did and go with a more modern look. If you would like to join in, you can get more information here on Sherri’s blog.

I hope you have a great week and thanks for stopping by.

I Love Home BOM and Giveaway Starts Today!

 

Hello Everyone! Welcome to the first month of Jacquelynne Steves’ “I Love Home” Free BOM. I was very honored that Jacquelynne asked me to participate again this year. I have made several of Jacquelynne’s designs and love her whimsical style. You can read more from Jacquelynne about the BOM and still sign up  here if you haven’t already. Each month there will be some awesome giveaways with eight chances to win, too. Just visit the list of bloggers at the end of this post and follow their directions on how you can win. This month our sponsor is Aurifil Thread and they are offering one of these…

a box of Aurifil thread. Read to the end of this post to find out how you can win a box from me. I love the strength and durablity of Aurfil threads and use it for piecing , quilting and embroidery. And it comes in so many colors!

Now for my block…

I haven’t done many house blocks during all my many years of quilting, but I love these houses by Jacquelynne. These are large 18″ blocks and the piecing instructions are easy to follow. Each block will have a center house design that you can applique or embroider, or if that’s not your thing and you have a special piece of fabric, use that for your center. For the applique in my blocks, I’m using a fusible applique method with a hand buttonhole stitch to applique the pieces down. Instead of just using the applique pieces, I’m also including design elements from the embroidery pattern that Jacquelynne includes with the instructions.

You can see the pattern under the block. I use a light box to help place the applique pieces, then mark the embroidery designs I want to include.

The fabrics I’ve chosen for this project are Coney Island, Chestnut Street, and some Strawberry Fields Revisited by Joanna Figueroa of Fig Tree and Co. and Sundrops and a little Lulu Lane by Corey Yoder of Corianderquilts. As I got started with the first block, I realized I needed some solids. Instead of trying to find the coordinating fabrics myself, I ordered this half yard bundle of Bella Solids from Fig Tree that was already done for me.

I also wanted to use Aurifloss thread by Aurifil for my handwork and I only have a little bit, so I also ordered this coordinating box of floss…

These colors are perfect. It’s nice that Aurifil is curating threads for different lines of fabric, it makes our task easier!

If I don’t have the right color, I’m filling in with my extensive collection of DMC floss from many years of x-stitching.

I used the buttonhole, satin and stem stitch in this block. For the houses and larger pieces, I used two strands of thread. For the flowers, I only used one. I don’t anticipate that this quilt will be used, it will be displayed. Jacquelynne has some tutorials here if you need some help getting started with your hand embroidery.

Now for my methods!

The Applique

For the applique, Jacquelynne has already reversed the pattern for you. I’m using Thermoweb’s Heat and Bond Lite for the fusible web. For the larger pieces, cut out the centers to help keep the piece soft. (These pieces are from block 2, forgot to take a picture with block one). Apply the pieces and fuse them to the background according to the manufacture’s directions. At this point, you can hand or machine applique. To see a brief tutorial on the buttonhole stitch, go here.

Choosing Fabrics

For a lot of my projects, I like what I call a controlled scrappy look. That means using different fabrics in the same color. Fortunately today, with pre-cuts, this makes choosing fabrics easy. I like to use layer cakes because you get all the prints in a line and it’s big enough to make several blocks out of it. For the “I Love Home” quilt, I’m using three layer cakes and a fat eighth bundle of Coney Island plus the Bella Solids.

For each block, I will preview the fabrics until I like the combination. Most of my blocks will contain different fabrics, but I’ve chosen a few that will be in all the blocks. The yellow Lulu Lane fabric and the Strawberry Revisited cream will border each house block. The half square triangles in each corner of the block will be the same green and cream.

Now for the giveaway. For your chance to win a box of Aurifil Thread, leave me a message by the end of day on Monday August 14 and tell me how you would complete the house center; hand applique, machine applique, embroidery, a focus fabric, etc. The contest is open to everyone including international readers. Make sure I can contact you via email. Visit the other bloggers for even more chances to win and see their interpretation of Jacquelynne’s BOM. 

• The Crafty Quilter
• The Inbox Jaunt
• Designs by Sarah J
• Farmhouse Quilts
• Penguin and Fish
• Podunk Pretties
• The Quilting Nook  (Me)
• The Sewing Loft

You can also follow along and post your own pictures on social media using #ILoveHomeQuilt and here on Pinterest.

Thanks for sticking with me to the end. Enjoy making your first block!

 

 

July Minis and More and a FAL

Hello Everyone! Today I want to share July’s Minis and More. It’s also on my 2017 Finish-A-Long list for Q3. You can find the list here.

The project for July was Corey Yoder’s Mini Tulip Market pattern.

I just received this little teapot for my birthday and used it as the inspiration for the fabric choices.

I wanted to pull in the coral, yellow, aqua, and the gray brown. I’ve had the coral dot from Moda for a little while now and finally got to use it.

I mostly used fabrics from Corey Yoder’s Sundrops and added in the aqua’s and a cream from Sherri and Chelsi’s Desert Bloom and Bright Sun, all by Moda. I even had a matching coral 50 wt Aurifil thread to machine quilt it. I wish I had some of the gray browns in yardage to use for the binding. All the fabrics except the coral were from 10″ layer cakes.

I quilted it with my walking foot on my Pfaff 1371, my smaller machine. My Pfaff 4.0 QE is set up for free motion quilting at the moment. One thing I missed was the extended table that I have on the 4.0 QE. Fortunately, this was a small quilt.

Now, I’m already for afternoon tea! Thanks Sherri and Michelle for hosting the Minis and More Parade every month. Visit their blogs to see how others have finished their Mini Tulip Market. Think about joining us next month!

Thanks for stopping by!

 

I Love Home BOM Coming

Hello Everyone! Hope you had a great weekend. We had a little bit of a break from the heat this weekend, so that’s nice. I want to remind you that in one week, Monday, August 7, the “I Love Home BOM” by Jacquelynne Steves’ Block 1 pattern will be released. If you haven’t signed up yet, go here to sign up. Besides receiving the great FREE applique or embroidery quilt pattern, there will be awesome giveaways from the sponsors each month.

 

I’ve been busy with my blocks, and I’m using mostly Fig Tree Coney Island and Chestnut Street and Corey Yoder’s Sundrops fabric with coordinating Bella Solids. There’s also a few Fig Tree Strawberry Revisited fabrics thrown in.

Since I’m hand appliqueing and adding some embroidered details, I purchased a box of Fig Tree Retro Farmhouse Floss by Aurifil to coordinate with the Fig Tree fabrics. This floss is wonderful to work with and I’ll share more about it next week.

This is a peek at the first house using the Aurifloss. I’m going to give you a heads up on our sponsor for next week…Aurifil will be giving away one box for each of the quest bloggers! You’ll have multiple chances to win, so make sure you check back in next Monday! Don’t forget to sign up.

I’ll be back tomorrow with the July Minis and More Parade mini. See you then and thanks for stopping by.

 

Works in Progress Update

Hello Everyone! I hope you are having as beautiful a weekend as we are. We have low humidity, a nice breeze and low temperatures. Not something we see often at the end of July in the Southeast.

I’ve had a busy sewing week and just thought I would update you on a few things.

I finished Sherri’s Quilting Life BOM blocks for July.

First up is the 12 inch block using Pondicherry Fabric by The French General for Moda.

Next is the 6″ Fig Tree block.

This was a very fun block and I played with the corner units before sewing it together per Sherri’s instructions. You can get several different looking blocks by turning the corner units. Maybe something to think about for a future mini! Also, as usual, Sherri’s picture instructions on her blog were very helpful.

Next up are the Moda Blockhead BOWs.

Number 20 is Devil’s Claw by Betsy Chutchian. Betsy’s instructions had you cut triangles for the flying geese and the right and left unit, instead of using the flip and sew method. She did give alternate methods on her blog for flip and sew and HSTs. If you look  carefully, you can see that I used her original instructions.  I thought I would challenge my sewing accuracy.

I thought I did pretty good! I did re-sew two seams that were off just a little, but overall, the block came out straight and to size except in a few spots.

Block Number 21 is Flying Geese Variation by Jo Morton.

If you are following along with the blockheads, or making them yourself, you might notice that mine is a little different. When was I choosing my colors, I intended for the dark fabrics on the geese to be in the middle, not the outside. I like to make flying geese using the 4 at a time method if I can. So, when I started cutting, I cut the large square for them in the light. I didn’t even notice it until I was posting the picture on Instagram. Then I noticed that the geese were “flying” in the wrong direction, too. Oh well. I like the way the block looks so I didn’t redo it. This setting for the block may show up later and if it does, I’ll make this one over following the directions!

After sewing the two graduation and T-shirt quilts where I mostly used my walking foot to quilt them, I wanted to do some fun quilting for me.

I dragged out my Blocks on the Go for Quilts that Grow EPP quilt that has been waiting since February for quilting.

I started quilting feather flowers, feathers, swirls, pebbles and few other free form motifs. It’s been fun and relaxing.

From the back, you can really see the quilting. I’m using color 2800 in Aurifil 50 wt. I’m about half way finished and have worked on it at least an hour a day.

You may ask, “Is she reconfiguring her machine between FMQ and making all those other blocks”? The answer is NO! I’ve been piecing on my Pfaff 1371 and quilting on my Pfaff QE 4.0. I am glad I kept my smaller machine when I got the new one. It doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but it still sews great and it’s nice that I can do piecing and FMQ without having to change things up on the machine.

I also finished the July Minis and More Parade mini this week and I’ll have a post about that on Tuesday.

Hope you enjoyed my show and tell today. I’m going to be away for a few days this week, so I won’t get as much accomplished but it will be fun to visit family. Thanks for stopping by.

First Finish-A-Long, Q3

Hello Everyone! I have my first finish for Q3 of the 2017 FAL to show you.

 

It’s a T-Shirt Quilt commissioned by another swim friend of my daughter. The sashing pieces are Ash (gray) and Onyx Grunge by BasicGrey for Moda. The border is Adventure Awaits Black Arrows and Triangles by Wee Gallery for Dear Stella Fabrics. Caitlyn picked the fabrics for the sashing and borders. That was a big help in designing the quilt.

The back is Liberty Gatherings Woven by Primitive Gathering. The red is a nice accent to all the black and gray on the front.

I used a smoke YLI invisible thread on the top and a red 50 wt. Aurifil in the bobbin. I like the invisible thread on the T-Shirts because it gives the quilting a nice texture without smothering the t-shirts.

I decided to use my walking foot to quilt an edge to edge design. I also didn’t want it to be horizontal, 90 or 45 degrees, so I marked it out for 30 degrees. There is a larger section of gentle curves, then a smaller section of straight lines. My original idea was to do a straight line zigzag where the straight lines are, but the quilt is heavy, so I didn’t want to keep turning it.

After quilting a little over half the quilt, I turned the quilting, so it was going more vertical (now at 60 degrees) in the opposite direction. I used the Hera marker to make the registration lines, then quilted those lines first. If I use this method again, I may not quilt all those lines first because sometimes the fabric was pushed towards those stitched lines, then had no where to go. I had my pressure foot set very high, so that helped some. It also could have been because of the angle or the T-Shirts themselves.

This is Caitlyn and her mom with the quilt. I hope she will get many years of use from it and that it will bring back great memories for her. She is a very good swimmer and is off to the University of Nevada Reno to be a member of its swim team.

Oh, by the way. I took a really quick trip to see my daughter in Pensacola earlier in the week. My husband is a pilot and flew four Pensacola trips with layovers this month, so he’s been able to have dinner with her. I was able to get on an airplane and fly with him on his last trip and surprise my daughter. We spent a couple of hours on the beach, then had a nice dinner and a walk on the pier. It was an early night because the flight back left at 6:00 the next morning. It was fun to see my daughter and I know why she loves being down there. I think she goes to the beach almost everyday.

Hope you have a great weekend and thanks for stopping by.

 

WIP Update

Hello Everyone! I wanted to check in and give you a quick update on some works in progress. I’ve spent long hours on the T-Shirt quilt and have it finished, but I don’t want to show final pictures until I give to the recipient. I’ll have that post in a few days.

I’ve been also working on Jacquelynne’s “I Love Home” BOM. I’ve finished the first block and the pattern will be released on August 7. So sign up if you haven’t yet.

These are the group of fabrics I’m working from. Fig Tree’s Chestnut Street, Coney Island, a little Strawberry Fields Revisited and Corey Yoder’s Sundrops. I have three layer cakes that I’m using for the applique, then I have a fat eighth bundle for the piecing. I also have Fig Tree’s Bella Solid Bundle. It’s always fun to play with the fabric, I think that’s my favorite part of quilting.

Jacquelynne also has a mini mystery sew-a-long on her Club Facebook group right now. This is my take on step one. More steps will be coming over the next few days, can’t wait to see how it turns out.

This is Moda Blockheads Week 19 block. I’m pretty sure I’m going to set my blocks on point, so I had to play around with the color placement to get something I liked. I think it will be okay. I like the block and it was really easy to piece. I like this block.

I finished the embroidery on Jenny of Elefantz October “a year in the garden” Now to get the borders on and quilt it.

Waiting to be cut is fabric from this month’s Minis and More Parade. The pattern is mini Market Tulips by Corey Yoder. The fabrics are from her Sundrops line and Sherri and Chelsi’s Desert Bloom and Bright Sun.

That’s it for now. I have a busy week ahead. Thanks for stopping by!