Blocks for the Saturday sampler

These are the latest blocks for the Saturday Sampler.  I made the one with the friendship star this morning.  I think it is really pretty.

 

Here are a stack of finishing kit blocks.  This was finishing kit no.1.  

I started sewing the blocks for finishing kit no. 2 this morning.  I've got finishing kit no. 3 waiting in the wings.  We have to make over 30 nine patches for that one!  Plus more strip piecing for the settings.  I'm really hoping I can finish this to top status before we begin on the new one in January.

Layout

So I decided it was time to get this quilt laid out.  DH and Red helped because I just couldn't get it right.

Over the weekend I added more small blocks on the left side of the rows and began to add the horizontal sashing.  I was moving very slowly this weekend. I'm ready to finish this and get back to Cupola Views.

Toddler tote

Made this little tote for my grand nephew second birthday.  I made it washable and reversible.  Apparently he is fond of hamburgers. 

ETA:  the little fella liked the fabric.  My niece was excited and exclaimed "his first Auntie kern totebag!" So I guess it was a hit.

Ripping out

So I was minding my own business stitching the gingham border on Vintage Housewife when I realized something was off.  If you look at that half finished block on the bottom I realized that there was supposed to be another row of two blocks to match the giant red block next to it.  I need some time to focus, count, and eventually rip out the stitches.

I was three stitches off! I'm really glad I hadn't started filling in the block!  I fixed it and continued stitching on.  As you can see, I'm actually stitching the border below the large red block now.  All nice and orderly and in the correct place.

More stitchalong

I saved September and October for my flights this week.  This pumpkin is so sweet!

Lab pillowcase

I made this pillowcase a while ago for my nephew.  He didn't seem thrilled with it even though he is crazy about labs.  Recently he asked me to make a second one because he has a double bed.  I said I thought you didn't like it.  He said, well I thought it would scratchy but I washed it and it is really soft.  So could you make me a second one?

Well.  Do I have enough fabric for a second one?  Nope.  Am I going to find some fabric and make a second one? Yep.

Paint pots

 Well I have no idea why but when I got home yesterday I pulled out my isosceles triangle die and got to cutting out my "A Christmas Story" yardage.  

I had to finagle my die because I wanted the fabric to be in the correct orientation!

Now I have to decide what colors I will use with the focus fabrics.  I went through them and then had my son and DH vote on them as well.  I plan to cut some samples tonight so I can finish the cutting for this quilt.  It will go into the waiting box after it's all cut.

I think I'm going to cut out my Mary Poppins fabric too.  That way it will be ready to go whenever I have spare time.

I think it's crazy I'm cutting this fabric out because I have two big quilts on the go right now!

September block

This is the September block for the Saturday Sampler at my LQS.  I really like this fabric combination.

Candy corn!

This was a little kit I bought at The Quilters Cottage during the Boo Bash Shop Hop.  We had so much fun!  This was a really easy foundation pieced block.  I will definitely make it again.

Sweet pumpkin

This was a free pattern from The Quilty Shop as part of the Boo Bash Shop Hop.  It came in a cute orange metal pail with cutouts to make it a jack-o'lantern. I did change out the border to this orchid purple from Hey Boo.  Very easy to make and it's so cute I didn't want to put my mug on it!

Two blocks

So tonight I got two blocks together.  Sewing the small blocks and then bordering with the thin strips is finicky.

More sampling

Working on some small pieces.  I will need at least 25 of these. I just did the minky in the middle to try it out.  I know how wormy minky is so I used lots of pins.  I also placed a pin at the top of the minky square so I can keep the nap going in the same direction.  I know that if I don't it will drive me crazy!

a little bit on sashing

So I need to decide on the width of the sashing between the 3.5 inch squares. One picture shows a 3/4 inch sashing and the other shows a 1/2 inch sashing. So I will cut the sashing 1 1/4 inch or 1 inch respectively.  It's funny how that quarter inch makes such a difference.  I thought I would like the 1/2 inch but the 3/4 inch is really growing on me.

 

 

Decisions decisions

 

I'm still feeling poorly so my sewing has dropped off the cliff in terms of productivity.  I decided I need another fabric for my Ghostbusters quilt.  I've got a layout in my head and I've drawn it out on paper but still was missing something. . .hence the fabric tryouts.  I fiddled around for ages and my son really liked this kind of reflection-y print. (It's from Quilting Treasures: Open Air, Black Pool Water.) It was the winner!  The green square below is the lime minky that will feature in the quilt.  It always looks washed out in photos for some reason.

Ready to go!

All of my pieces are cut, labeled and quilted as necessary!  Monday eve I'm hoping to start putting this together!

A little quilting

 I've finally started the By Annie pattern Out to Lunch. I'm actually making it as a purse for my mother's birthday.  Which is tomorrow.   But I won't get to see her until Friday so I've got a few days to get this done. This is my first By Annie pattern. Next time I will quilt the fabric and then cut the pieces out. The pattern has you cut, quilt and then cut again.  I'll figure out how to skip a step after I do it by the instructions. I had to quilt three sections of fabric and it took forever!  The instructions said to just do straight lines but I thought the cross-hatching would look better.  

Vintage Housewife

I'm still stitching along on Vintage Housewife.  I was going to start stitching the fun stuff in the remaining boxes but decided that future self would really appreciate it if I got started on the gingham border!

More playing around

These browns came from the fat eighth bin at my LQS.  I found the houndstooth at a shop in Huntsville.  I'm not sure how I'm going to finish these so I think they will go into timeout for a while.  I used my 4 inch Qube for cutting out the pieces. I call these browns "coffee colors": black coffee, coffee with cream, and how my mom drinks coffee!

A little piecing

I've gotten in a little piecing lately.  The bowties are samples for Karen Montgomery's Tuxedo Ties pattern.  I cut both styles of these bowties with my 8 inch Qube.  They were fun to make so I cut more of my repro stash to use as leaders and enders.

This is the August block for my LQS' Saturday Sampler.  She gave us the pattern for Block 9 which caused me a little distress, thinking I'd lost a block, when I realized that August is the eighth month.  I really like the colors in this sampler.

Still stitching along

I got behind a little on the SAL but I'm caught up through August now!  I'm doing some traveling in October so I'll keep September and October for the trip.

ROAR

Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer

A tote for Mom

Yahoo Mail: Search, Organize, Conquer

Friendship Chain sample

So I've been working on a sample for the book club.  This is another Karen Montgomery companion pattern.  I cut into my Tula Pink ROAR fabric.  I don't know why but this felt like cutting money!  I love this fabric so much.  It might be the first Tula Pink fabric I've ever bought.  Don't get me wrong, I love Tula Pink but she's more into the intense, neon colors and I'm just not.  However, during the All Texas Shop Hop I found out that my DH LOVES neon colors.  He kept petting the Tula Pink fabric in all the stores.  Go figure!

June block

The latest block for the Saturday Sampler.  I find that if I don't make the blocks immediately, I get too busy and end up doing it the night before!

Feeling spacey

I'm working on my son's graduation quilt.  I'm using the Cupola Views pattern by Karen Nyberg.  I'm also using her Earth Views fabric.  I didn't want to use the pattern's paper templates-I can't stand those-so I am using Jaybird's Hex N More ruler.  I think my hexies will be a little bit larger but that's fine because I'm making a queen sized quilt anyway.

Is this compulsive?

It feels compulsive.   But no doubt I will be happy in the future that I can see all of my 30s solids.

Also I'm working on a tricky pattern, was tired and talking to my sister on the phone. Yep, that makes complete sense.

Two more blocks

I'm really loving the colors for this BOM.  These are the May and April blocks.  My sewing time has been limited-I'm looking forward to a long weekend for Memorial Day.  I'll actually be off for five days due to the last day of school and graduation.  I'm hoping that I will get plenty of rest and lots of sewing time.

March Block

This is the Saturday Sampler block for March.

Doghouse sample

This is the sample I made for the Book Club.  It's the Karen Montgomery companion pattern for the book club.  The pattern is called House and Home.  I'm not sure if I want to make the table runner or not so I just worked on the houses.  I used leftover Minick & Simpson fabrics.

A cute little top

This was the other half of a Karen Montgomery sample.  I plan to bind it with the striped fabric that I cut on the bias.

A "normal" block

It felt so good to stitch this block.  I felt like I was doing something "normal" after the dogs quilt.  LOL

And it's a top

One of my goals for the weekend was to get the borders on this quilt.  And here it is!  It is nearly a square quilt, the length is about two inches shorter than the width.  I'm proud of it as it was a lot of work to get the dogs all facing the correct direction!  Now I need to piece some minky for the backing. . .

After this is quilted and bound, I plan to snuggle with it on the sofa-with my dog!

A stop border. . .

I was going to add a 2.5 inch stop border but had a re-think and went for 1.5.  It will finish at 1 inch which feels right.  I still need to cut and add the dog border fabric. The stop border is a little ruffly so I may need to re-do it.  

Looking good

Finally got the blocks completed and sewn together!  Now I need to add borders.