Is it Saturday already?

Brick Pavement is this week's Grandmother's Choice block.  I elected not to make last week's block because it was so much like an earlier one I really didn't care for.  This one was relatively easy to put together.  I didn't pay much attention to the cutting, but it looks like I fussy cut two squares.  Maybe I should have paid more attention so they were all fussy cut.

I like the batik one as well.  I am glad I am doing two versions.  It is helping me use fabrics from my stash that I am enjoying working with.

 

The next row on the row quilt, America the Beautiful, calls for the "amber waves of grain."  When Tom and I drove across the country in the summer of 2008, we saw fields of grains, veggies, and flowers stretching for miles in all directions.  The colors varied from lavenders to dark greens with lots of browns and golds in between.  I decided to use all these colors for these blocks.  There are six 6.5" blocks in this row.

This is what it looks like on the design wall so far.  The sawtooth star row and the waves of grain blocks are not sewn together yet.  The next row is made up of trees.  I hope to get that started tomorrow.  I may even get a chance to sew these last two rows together and add them to the top.  I think I am going to use a light blue for the background for the trees.  I am feeling that the middle section is getting a little dark.  The bottom section, "from sea to shining sea" is also pretty dark, so I want to introduce some lights before I get there.  I am really enjoying making this quilt.  We have already picked out a place for it to hang once it is done.

We are having a rainy weekend here.  I am concerned about my friends and family on the East coast, and hope you all stay warm and dry the next few days.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Progress on the row quilt

The row below the eagles has three 9.5" x 12.5" mountains with two suns and one moon.  This is the first one.  I think it is meant to be a sunrise.  The background is pieced on a muslin background.

The middle block is a mid-day sun.  I chose a lighter blue batik with a pattern because during the day, you can see more details in the hills.  This one is also done on a muslin background similar to foundation paper piecing.  If I was to do it again, I think I would cut my radiating strips a little wider and use a lighter yellow for the sun.  Since I am using only what I have, this was the best I could come up with.

The last one is a moonlit sky.  I have used this background fabric for night skies before and I really think it is effective.  The french braid style mountain was fun to make.  Each block in this row uses strips in a different method.  That has made this row very interesting to make.

Here is how it looked on the wall.

 

The next row is six sawtooth stars.  I wanted to introduce some purple to the quilt, so found a light and a couple of dark purples in my stash.  It was really fun selecting the fabrics for these stars.  The points are all still there, but they don't all show in the photo.

This is how it all looks on the wall.  I haven't sewn the bottom stars together or the mountain row to the top piece yet.  I have been measuring very carefully, but my rows are not all coming out the same width.  I am going to have to do some adjusting before I sew these rows together.

I went to Bremerton to quilt with my sister last Thursday.  She is making great progress on her quilt, as well.  When we are both finished, I hope to post photos of both quilts.  They are very different from each other because of the colors we have both chosen.  I love her colors almost as much as I do mine, but I am glad we are using different colors because it is much more fun.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring in the studio.  Until next time, joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

A Row of Friendship Stars

 

Today, I put together this row of friendship stars that will be the top row for the America the Beautiful quilt from the Stash Dash.  This was another challenging block because of the lack of cutting instructions.  These stars are also made so that each one has a Y seam, always my favorite.  By the end, I felt pretty confident in my Y seam abilities - until next time. 

I have so many projects I want to work on, and I keep thinking I should get more done in the time I have in the studio.  Does anyone else have this problem?  I am just glad it is not a race and as long as I stay healthy, I may live long enough to get the list done.  Of course, that means not adding anything else to the list.  This, I think, is not possible.

Enjoy your evening.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

Making stars

#7 Alice's Star

This is the new Grandmother's Choice block for the week.  This is the paisley version.  I used the same three light batiks for the backgrounds in both blocks this week, just for fun.  I was going to machine applique the star, but allowed myself to feel pressured into hand applique because everyone else seemed to be.  One of these days I am going to get over that.  Next time, I am sticking with machine applique.  I am officially over my desire to master needle turn applique.

Here is the batik version.  I love the butterfly in this batik, even though I am not usually a fan of the multicolored hand dyed.  This one got included in the collection for the butterflies.

This is the block for this month's Comfort Quilt bee.  This is our last month for this bee.  It has been fun, and I have enjoyed all the blocks I have learned to make.  I joined this bee because each quilt was made for someone in need of special comfort for one reason or another.  I love that quilts can provide that kind of comfort.

Lastly, I made this sawtooth star for the Stash Dash quilt project my sister and I are each making.  One of the frustrating things about this project is that several of the elements have no measurements given, and we have to try and figure them out.  Fortunately, I have made tons of this star, so had a fairly easy time of it.  I guess there was an assumption that everyone who participated would be a veteran quilter. 

I hoped to get more done today, but was waylaid by a pesky headache.  Hopefully, tomorrow will be a better day.  I have so many things I want to do.  It seems there is never enough time for it all.

Until tomorrow then.  Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

Eagles and Aunt Eliza's Star

I do really enjoy foundation paper piecing.  You can create the most amazing things.  I am very impressed with the people who are able to create these patterns. 

These eagles will soar near the top of the America the Beautiful quilt I will be building over the next several weeks from the pattern pieces I collected on the shop hop.  Hooray!  Another project to use my batiks!

Speaking of batiks.  Here is the batik version of this week's Grandmother's Choice block.  This one is Aunt Eliza's Star.  It seems that many of the blocks we have done so far are made to be set on point.  Perhaps this will be my first on point quilt.  Whoohoo!  Another challenge.

Here is the paisley version.  Red was my theme today, I guess.

I am going to spend the rest of the afternoon working on some marketing research for our health and wellness business.  Have to make some money so I can buy some thread and backing fabric for the quilts that are stacking up and need quilting.

Enjoy the rest of your Sunday.  Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

Stash Dash Day Two

We started day two at a much more reasonable hour.  After missing our turn to Poulsbo, and finding a beautiful back road that ran through a valley with big fields, great trees, and lovely old buildings and barns, we finally arrived at our first destination, Heirloom Quilts and Fabrics in Poulsbo, WA.  This is a very nice shop in the old part of town near the waterfront.  I always see fabrics there I love, but it is one of the higher priced shops in the area, so I am careful what I buy,  I did find a pattern there for a wall hanging that I couldn't resist.  It will be a gift, so can't show it here.  You will see it eventually.

Our last stop was Material Girls Quilt Shop in Silverdale.  I have been in this shop a few times before, and I am always so impressed with all the great quilts on the walls.

You can't really tell in this photo, but all the walls have quilts in every size.  They are all so beautiful and well made.  They also have good prices on fat quarters.  Since I needed some for this quilt project for this dash, I took advantage of the buy ten get one free special.

I accidentally put the light one in another photo.

Look at this adorable quilt that was on the wall in the classroom!  If I lived closer, you can bet I would be taking this class.  They didn't have the patterns for sale, unfortunately.

This is one of the fabrics I bought along the way.  It is Misaki by Melissa White for Rowen.  I couldn't resist the colors.  I don't know what I will do with it yet, but I have a half yard piece.

I have a half yard of each of these Marcia Derse pieces to add to my collection now.  So beautiful!

These are the fat quarters that I selected along the way.  Each shop gave one for free to each participant.  Each shop had a different group of fabrics to choose from.  My sister got more blue fabrics than I did, and we are each very happy with these new additions to our stash.

I had a great time going to these shops.  After a great lunch with Kim and her husband today, I gave Kim a short lesson on foundation paper piecing to create the eagles in the quilt.  Her eagle came out really cool.  After an even shorter demonstration on half square triangles, I packed my car and headed for the ferry for my journey back home.  It has been a wonderful couple of days, but it is nice to be back home to Tom, the vegetable garden and the chickens.

Tomorrow, I will work on the new Grandmother's Choice blocks and maybe piece an eagle or two of my own.  Until tomorrow, joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Stash Dash Shop Hop Day 1

Today was the first day of the three day Stash Dash held by eight quilt shops on the Kitsap Peninsula in Western Washington.  Each shop is giving away a fat quarter and block instructions for one part of the quilt pictured above.  My sister, Kim, and I planned on doing this hop some time ago.  In addition to the generous fat quarter offerings, and the great quilt pattern, there are prizes if you go to all shops and your passport is selected.  One of the prizes is a Feather Weight - a dream of mine.  What follows is a photo essay of our first day.

I live a bit southeast of Seattle.  My sister lives on the Kitsap Peninsula.  That meant that I had to get up before the crack of dawn to catch the 6:00AM ferry.  This is what Seattle looks like from the back of a ferry moving away from the city at that time of morning.  At that hour of the day, my eyes were pretty blurry.

My ferry ride was about an hour, so I did get to see dawn breaking before the end of the ride.

After getting my stuff settled at Kim's, we headed west to Port Angeles to the first shop on our list for the day, Sleepy Valley Quilt Company.  This shop is housed in an old house.  The first room you enter is the old kitchen.  One of the first things I noticed was this great table runner.

I looked for a pattern, but couldn't find it.  They are giving a class on how to create this beauty.

We headed back toward the east to Sequim to the Karen's Sequim Sewing Center.  This is in a mall in one of the "rain shadow" towns on the peninsula.  Sequim is also near the Dungeness Spit, a great place to hike.  But, I digress.  I saw another really cute table runner here with wonderful scrappy birds.  My photo didn't turn out, but it was really cute.

Next stop was Port Townsend and Creative Union Fabrics.  This is in a place called Kala Square outside of town.  It is a very cool shop with beautiful fabric.  I bought a small piece there that I will share with you tomorrow.  Don't know what I will do with it, but it is beautiful.  With all these shops, I was really impressed with the variety of fabrics and the really nice staffs.

Our next stop was Quilted Strait in Port Gamble.  I have wanted to go here since I read about it in a quilt magazine a while ago.  It is housed in a refurbished barn and it is really nice.  There is a great variety of fabric, and the shop is bright and colorful.  When I have more time, I will definitely make another visit here.

After Quilted Strait, we decided to walk to the General Store Restaurant for lunch.  As you can see, the leaves are beginning to turn around here.  We are having a very unusually beautiful fall with blue skies and no rain.  Wonderful for us, but stressful for the trees.

After lunch, we headed for Kingston, another small town ferry port.  Here we found the Kingston Quilt Shop.  Isn't that neon sign beautiful?  Inside was the biggest selection of fat quarters to choose from, and a very nice selection of fabrics.  My sister spotted a great project that Bella and I can create for a Halloween decoration.

Bella loves to decorate for all holidays, and this will be something we can create together.  I can't wait until next Bella day.

Our last quilt shop for the day was Esther's Fabrics in Bainbridge Island, yet another ferry town.  At each of the shops we visited today, I hoped to find more Marcia Derse fabric.  I had just about given up, but when we walked into Esther's, I noticed that she carried a wider selection of the more unusual fabric lines than the others.  I began to hope again.  I looked all around, and almost missed it, but there it was!  They were on a shelf in small bolts.  I was delighted.  Once again, I had trouble making up my mind, but I did add three more to my collection.  I will share photos of all my fabric tomorrow.  Now, I know there are two shops in Western Washington that carry Marcia Derse fabrics: Fabric Diva in La Conner and Esther's Fabrics in Bainbridge Island.  I am a happy camper.

Tomorrow, we have two shops to go and we will hit them in the morning.  I am going to do a block piecing lesson with Kim before I head home.  Then, I have a couple of days to play in the studio.

Until tomorrow, I hope you enjoyed tagging along today.  Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mid-Week catch up

Newest kaleidoscope block

All of them so far - unsewn.

Kansas Sunflower in batiks.

All the batik blocks so far.

Newest AAQI block in progress.  I couched some yarn and shiny ribbon for more movement.

Detail.

Tomorrow and Saturday, I am going on a Kitsap Peninsula Quilt Shop Hop with my sister.  Hopefully, I will be able to post some photos, if I remember to take some this time.

Joyful quilting, everyone.

 

 

 

 

 

Kaleidoscope

There are days when synchronicity amazes me.  I went to my ballet class this morning, in spite of not wanting to go.  It was as hard as I imagined it would be.  There are days I question the wisdom of starting ballet at 65, but then I come home and am treated to this ballet outside my window.  Madame Spider has been working hard to create a new home, in spite of the fact that it will probably have to be rebuilt over and over again because it is using a slender fuchsia flower as one of the anchor points.  As I watched, I was reminded of my newest quilting project - you knew I was going to get there eventually, didn't you?

So, I went into the studio and pulled some strips out of the scrap bin and created another piece to the kaleidoscope.  It is great fun to see how these look once the wedges are cut.

This is how they look together so far.  As I was pulling strips today, I found a Jacob's piece with mostly purple.  I am going to have to move to another bin to make a block with it.  My goal is to have this be very colorful.  That will be a stretch since I seem to stick with favorites all the time.  I am intentionally putting something lighter in each block, so at least I am working on that.  I still haven't figured out what to do with the filler squares, but I may do some 15 Minute Play blocks and see what happens.

I also took some time to cut the batik pieces for the Kansas Sunflower.  I think I am going to like this one much better because of the contrast.  I may have to go back and redo the paisley one.  Oh, joy!  By the time I am done, I will get good at this block.  If that happens, look out world.  Then I will be able to do anything!

The next three days are Bella days.  I may try and squeeze in a kaleidoscope block or two.  Until next time, joyful quilting, everyone.