Linky Party Tuesday....

Good morning!  It's beautiful here today....almost 50 deg., and of course we're back on the road soon for some appointments in Northern Virginia, but I'm hooking up with Connie at Freemotion by the River for Linky Party Tuesday.

Here are a few of the things that were on my design wall this weekend:

I've got eleven blocks done for the "Sew Red for Women" year-long "sampler" quilt.  Just waiting for block 12 to be released.  I substituted one block (3rd down on the left) for one of the published blocks, and I'm pretty happy with the result. Connie supplied a great tutorial for that, so I  shamelessly stole it.  Of course, I'll have some shifting around to do to get the best layout, but I must admit, working with these reds, pinks, and white always cheers me up.  I found this fabric to use for sashing at Patchwork Plus the other day:

Pink and red polka dots.  What's not to love?

I got a few more Scrappy Trip Around the World blocks done.  I think I'm aiming for 20; I have 12 finished:

I can see that I'm going to have to swap out a few blocks; that one in the middle top is just too dark compared to everything else.  Sigh....even scrappy has to have some order for me.

I've finished the longest (middle) row of Easy Street; only 3 rows to finish.  This is starting to look achievable, but I still have some assembly to do.....maybe I'll be able to take a photo by the weekend.

Our son and DIL want a "cherry blossom" themed wall hanging for their guest bedroom.  Since they have finally found a house, I decided to get back to work on this.  I have a sashiko panel done, and an idea that involves 3-dimensional cherry blossoms.  This week I played with my "Kanzashi 5-petal flower maker."  Here's the result:

This was just fun to do.  I'm not real big on "gadgets", but this will probably give me what I want.  I tried to do 5-pointed origami flowers, but they weren't working for me.  Don't you love the subtle shade gradiations in that fabric?  I have no idea where I got it, but I have enough to do 5 or 6 flowers.  This project is still definitely a "work in progress", but it's fun to be creative, get out of the box, and just do some designing on my own.

Have a great day today.  Kathy

W.I.P. Wednesday - Work in Progress

There's a little bit of "frozen rain" falling around here; and it's still so dark I think I forgot to go to bed, but since I've been up since 5:30, I thought I'd share what I've been working on this week.  I'm hooking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for Work-in-Progress Wednesday.

I got my "Stacked" quilt finished yesterday; handed it off to Guy about noon; and he had it quilted by 3:00.  It still needs to be trimmed; I found a pretty pastel multi-batik in my stash, so that's going to be the binding.
I love the random leaf pattern he used in the quilting:

Here's an idea of what the whole quilt looks like....yes, I was too lazy to put it up on the wall:

I got sucked into the current "Scrappy Trip Around the World" block mania.  So now I guess I've got another UFO started:

I'm trying to keep a black square of some print or other going through the middle of each block....we'll see how this works out.  I must admit, it's easy to get hooked.  This is the tub of fabrics I'm working from.....all 2 1/2-inch strips:

I started working on the "Sew Red for Women" blocks again.  I've made 7 of the 11 that have been published so far.  The January block (number 12) got postponed for a while.....I took it as a sign that I have time to get the other 4 done so I will be caught up.  I think these will look just right for a February Valentine's quilt, don't you?

And, of course, "Easy Street" keeps calling me.  Can you believe that the makings for 23 15-inch blocks all fit in this bin:

OK, time for juice and a piece of toast.  I'm off to play piano accompaniment for Stonewall High School's production of "Side by Side by Sondheim"....three more morning rehearsals and performances Friday and Saturday.......it's been a busy week.  Stay safe out there,

Kathy

Saturday Sewing!....Some Catching Up to Do

Well,  I can't believe it's been over a month since I posted on my blog.  That's what working on a Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt can do for you.  I'll avoid filling you in on all the drama in between, and just give you a peek at where I am so far.

I kept up very well with all the weekly "assignments", so when we got to the last two clues, it was easy to start piecing blocks and setting blocks together.  I've been working slowly, but am happy to report that the time I took to trim and press has paid off.  The blocks are going together pretty well.

I've got a little over one-third of this pieced now.  I'm just being a bit of a tortoise on this one.  It may be called "Easy Street" but at over 2,000 pieces, I figure I can just take my time.

I did get a chance to haul out my batiks a week or so ago.  On my shopping trip with Nancy in December, I had a moment of weakness and bought some gorgeous Island Batiks in pastels.  I found a nice Weeks Ringle pattern in the Modern Quilts magazine, "Stacked", which lent itself wonderfully to these pieces:

Weeks recommends pressing seams open, which is not something I usually do.  The first row kept giving me fits.  If I pressed with my regular iron, it kept catching on the adjacent seams and twisting them.  I used my little Clover iron, but it just doesn't always generate enough heat to give a firm line.  Then I grabbed my "presser ham".  I bought one of these about a year ago, to help me shape corners and curves in purses and bags.  It worked beautifully:

The seam to be pressed stays in the center of the "ham", and the adjacent seams fall away to the side.  Here's what a pressed row looks like:

The next three rows were easy to press pretty quickly.  Just a hint you might want to try.

Well, I've got a few more things "in the loop" but haven't gotten any photos yet.  It feels good to get "back on track" with my sewing after the hoopla of Christmas and a bit of a cold I had this week.  Have a great weekend....time to go watch a little football!

Kathy

Linky Party Tuesday.....More Christmas Treats!

I'm hooking up with Connie at Freemotion by the River to show what's happening in my quilt studio today.  I started sewing at 6:00 this morning, and finished these:

 

 

 

These are the pillowslips for my granddaughters in Utah; we picked the fabric out at American Quilting in North Orem when we visited a few weeks ago.  I've got the process down to about 20 minutes per pillowcase now. 

 

 

I bought a charm pack of Kate Spain's Christmas line, "Joy" last April.  These fabrics matched up perfectly, so I cut another 40 5-inch squares from the remnants, and put together this disappearing 9-patch.

 

 



Most of the rows are sewn together, and I've got border strips to add, but this is coming together fast for a nice play quilt or table-topper.  I'm sure I'll get tired of these colorways soon enough, but I'm enjoying getting some Christmas things done.

Have a great day, and link up with Connie to show us what you're working on.

Kathy

"Easy Street" Monday Link-Up

Much to my surprise, I made great progress on my "Easy Street" mystery quilt components this weekend.

I had all my strips cut for the grey/black-on-white four patches, but didn't think I had enough variety.  My friend Jo came to my rescue with some scraps, and I was able to finish all of these by last night:

 

 

It's easy to "spin seams" sitting in front of the television set; I even taught my husband how to do it......we got this one done...

 

I started in on my flying geese and couldn't understand why I had so many white triangles.....duh!  Read the directions, Kathy.  I only cut out half of the purple triangles, so it was back to the cutting board.  I have about 36 of the "geese" finished, and know I can get the rest done this week, just running eight or so through the machine every time I sew.  I'm busy sewing my granddaughter's Christmas pillowslips......trying to keep on top of everything.

 

 

 

I even got the black-on-white bricks cut.  Once I finish my geese, I'm anxious for the next step.  Bring it on, Bonnie!

 

 

 

We're getting into the Christmas spirit around here.  Got a few of my Christmas quilts mounted and need to get the wreaths up and the lights outside.

 

 

 

Have a great week,  Kathy

 





 



 

I'm Playing on Easy Street!

I'm a little "late to the game" but getting caught up slowly on Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt for this season, "Easy Street."  I'm doing it all from my stash, so I've done a few variations in color but I think most of these will work well.

Here are my selections:

My Black on Whites!

These lime-green/apple should play very well with my aquas/turquoise:

 

 



Some of these have been my stash since "Day 1"....the aqua/teal stripe and the paisley turquoise.....looks like I'll finally have a use for them.

I've got 64 of the four-patches done, and I'm twirling my seams.  Tedious, but I can see how useful this is.  My grey is a "funny" grey....it looks very grey until I pair it with the black/whites, but at least it's constant:

 

 

 

This weekend we get to play with our purples, and make tons of flying geese.  At least I've got both rulers (Easy Angle and Companion Angle). 

 

 



 



Don't you want to play on Easy Street?  Click the badge on my sidebar to go to Bonnie's "Quips and Snips" site for the directions.  It's still early, and, as far as I'm concerned, it's not a race anyway.  Just something fun to do, and I've been wanting to do one of Bonnie's mystery quilts for a long time.....just never got organized before.

Off to the Virginia Quilt Museum to work with my friend Jo.  She's bringing me a few more black on whites from her stash to give me some more variety.

Have a great weekend!  Kathy

Getting Into the Christmas Spirit!

We're here in Utah visiting our daughter, Susan, and her family.  She has five lovely girls:  Casey, Jessica, Brooklyn, Lindsey, and Alexis.  Since we don't see them very often, I was looking for ways we could connect with them in the short time we are here. 



The "Daring Dortch" Girls!

Yesterday morning we went to an activity center, where the older girls, Susan, and I did the rope course....it was fun, and a new experience for me, Jessica, and Brooklyn, so we had something to share right there.  I had suggested that the girls bring their suits with them, and Susan and I brought them back to the hotel for some swimming in the indoor pool after lunch.

But on the way we stopped at American Quilting, a store in North Orem that I had located while browsing on the 'Net on Friday night.  Of course, they were having a Thanksgiving sale....and when one of the girls said "What are we doing here?" I got an idea.

"We're shopping for Christmas fabric for you.....I'm going to make each of you a Christmas pillowslip for your bed when I get home, and I'll mail it to you."

"Can we each pick out our own fabric.?".......it was amazing how much more interested they were in the store once they determined they could.  These were the fabrics they found:

We consulted on color choices for the "cuff" and accent strip.....I think they did a great job.  Casey went straight for the graphic christmas ornaments, Jessica and Brooklyn each liked the "presents" in different background colors, Lindsey immediately pulled out the Santa Claus fabric, and Lexie (age 3).....just grabbed bolts of fabric and smiled at me.

I'm going to have great fun making these up, and remembering our trip....and I hope the girls will remember our visit when they sleep on them.   Our "swimming expedition" turned out, well, swimmingly, and we all enjoyed the thrill of getting in a warm pool indoors when it's not "swimming weather"....

 

Last night we got to celebrate Alexis' birthday with pizza and a birthday cake that she got to decorate.  It is such fun to spend these simple, important times with family.

 

 
Lexie had a great time opening her present:  she was thrilled to get a "box"....which is why the older girls are laughing so hard.  "A box, I got a box" she kept saying.  "I love it".  Oh, to be 3 again.........





Casey and Jess, "amused" by their little sister
 

I'm so happy we decided to come this weekend; we've been planning this trip for over two years, and "life has happened" to keep us away.....just a reminder that life is too short to let these precious times get past us.  By the time we get home we'll be on the real countdown to Christmas....and I've definitely got some sewing to do!

Have a great week, Kathy