Cute Fabric, Cute Sami, and Happy Mother’s Day

Look at this beyond cute fabric I found yesterday at Joann’s! Of course I had to get a ‘little’ of it as it had pictures of dogs like my Sami, and in sunglasses. As this is the only way I will ever see sunglasses anywhere near her cute little face I just could not let it get away.  This flannel fabric was only $6.99 a yard AND I had a 50% off coupon so it was meant to come home with me.

I’m not so sure she is as excited as I am with it, but she will learn to love it when it is made into a quilt…..maybe. 🙂

Happy Mother’s Day.

 

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Trying Out Pin Cushions

Don’t you just love cute pin cushions? During my recent browse around Pinterest several caught my eye, and of course these 10 minute crafts turned into a several day project, but they are so cute! The fruit pie cushion is a free tutorial from one of my favorite quilter/designers, Lori Holt at Bee In My Bonnet. The fabric I used was a charm pack called Farmer’s Market from RJR Fabrics. The little cobalt blue flower pots are ones that I’ve had for many years and decided to make them earn their keep and hold my pins. 🙂

I used the crushed walnut shells, called lizard litter at the pet stores, to stuff the cushions and to give them a little weight. A little advise: fill the cushions over a container up high in case your dog (Sami) decides to ‘help’. This stuff goes everywhere if you spill it and your dog tries to play in it while you are trying to clean it up.

These little cushions were made from orphan blocks left over from other projects. They are very handy to have at different locations around my sweat shop. Now I have one at each machine, cutting table, and the ironing board, but I will never be organized.

I am guessing you all have several pin cushions you have made, in addition to our old standby ‘the tomato pin cushion’, and probably some that have been handed down from relatives and loved ones. I remember my aunt kept a hanky pinned to the front of her blouse had pins pinned to the hanky when she was sewing.

 

 

 

Bordered Star Table Topper

This project has been in my mind for a long time and I finally got the last border sewed last night. It was a simple project using half square triangles for the star and 2″ strips for each of the borders. Before quilting it is 41″ square that will be a perfect size for my little round dinette table. I will use the same blue as the last border for the binding. The quilting will be completed when Miss Daisy comes home from the Long Arm Hospital.

The best thing about this project: All the fabrics came from my stash! This does not happen often and when it does I like to let everyone know. 🙂

The inspiration for this project came from a screen shot I saved from 2012 in my ‘wish file’. All the information I have about it is Lemoyne Star Medallion Quilt by PetitQuilts. I want to give credit to PetitQuilts for designing this lovely piece.

 

 

My Take on Bonnie Hunter’s Diamond Tile Block

HELLO MY FRIENDS! Yes, I know that I am shouting. I am just so glad to be here I feel like shouting. 🙂

Sami and I have been away from y’all so long we feel like we are new but we are the same old girls, or at least I am. A Special Thank You to all our cyber friends that have checked on us. I don’t want to use any names because I did not get permission, but y’all know who you are. We really appreciate knowing you were thinking about us.

The block above is a  Bonnie Hunter ‘Addicted to Scraps’ block published in the May/June 2018 issue of Quilt Maker magazine.  This block is intended to be put together for a quilt and it would be lovely but I don’t think I am up to it yet so I decided to enlarge the block and add borders (see the second picture) and make it into a table topper. As always with Bonnie’s blocks, the instructions are well written and very easy to follow. She gives several different examples of how the block would look with different colors.

Many different quilts are running through my head using this block and I cannot wait to try more: Christmas colors for a throw for the couch, baby quilts, QOV, a new one for my bed……so many ideas…so little time or energy.

Also, did I mention that my long arm is in the shop! I think it is just trying to get attention, but did it have to wait until the warranty was out to decide to break down?

Thank you for visiting with us again. We are so glad to have you.

 

 

#bonniehunter

 

 

Regatta Project Completed – and I’m Still Kicking, Just Not Too High

Believe it or not, this was an easy quilt and normally would be a fast project to complete in a weekend. I have stretched it out for weeks due to one thing after another but it is now finished. You would think I was working for the government! I love the fleece lining and with the simple wavy line quilting it is just enough to keep it soft and snuggly for the couch and a good book….oh yes, that reminds me. I knew I had been reading way too many mysteries when I read my grocery list and I had ‘DB’ listed. I cannot imagine what in the world ‘DB’ stood for other than ‘dead body’…..see what I mean…too many mystery books. I know I wasn’t supposed to pick up a dead body at the grocery. Not even Walmart has that on the clearance shelf. 🙂     (Still do not know what ‘db’ means. Guess I will find out when I go to the pantry to get it and find out I have none.)

A SPECIAL THANK YOU TO EVERYONE THAT TOOK TIME TO MESSAGE AND CALL TO CHECK ON ME. 

I am not 100% well yet, but I am happy to be here. I am slowly getting back into my sweatshop to sew a little each day and with Sami’s help we will start producing again. I know the fabric industry has noticed my absence and I am sure their stocks have gone down. LOL

 

 

Cute Little Fabric Baskets

 

I’m sure most of you have made these little baskets at one time or another. I believe I made the red one back in the 1980s and I know I sold a bunch of them at craft sales  I attended at our local city’s arts and crafts festivals in the 1990s. I honestly do not know when I found the time to do those things back then as I was working full time, taking up to 17 credit hours per semester at college, and hitting every craft festival I could for the extra money. Thank goodness I was younger then.

I think I got the idea for these little baskets from Crafts magazine. Back then we didn’t have Pinterest, Facebook, or blogs to share all the wonderful ideas we do now.

I found the red basket full of sewing machine attachments and decided I would make a few. I cut two pieces of coordinating pieces of fabric at 8 1/2″ sq. and a piece of light weight batting at 8 1/4″ sq. (I used Hobbs 80/20). The handle cut from the same fabrics at 2 1/2″  x 8 1/2″. The sewing is pretty self explanatory by looking at it, but if you have any questions, please just ask and I’ll help. (Sew wrong sides together with batting and handle placed and leave opening for turning. No batting in the handle.) I used (4) 1/4″ ribbons cut at 16″ long leaving a 4″ tail hanging over on each side, and I sewed them 2″ in from each side. Be careful to sew under the handle and not over it.

I hope this makes sense. Not really meant to be a beginners tutorial, but I will be glad to walk anyone through the steps if help is needed. I am so bad at giving directions without waving my hands. LOL

You could make these little cuties any size by adjusting your measurements. I love that they lay flat when you are not using just by untying the corners.

Would love to see yours if you decide to make any.

Another thought I would like to share: If you want a laugh for the day, go to You Tube and do a search for Jeanne Robertson. She is a Southern motivational speaker and her motto is to handle stressful situations with humor instead of anger. I think you will enjoy it.

 

 

Regatta Quilt Along Progress

Regatta pieced and ready to quilt

Fleece backing for Regatta

The Regatta was an easy quilt to put it together, although it took me quite a while to get it together. 🙂 I think choosing the fabric was the hardest thing to do, then I had some medical issues and could only sew a little at a time, BUT I love the end result. I used a Jelly Roll of Moda Solids in the blue shades and supplemented the colors with a few strips of colors from Artist’s Club fabrics from my stash. I used the Kona White for the white strips and other than struggling with the raveling edges of the Kona it went together very easily. I plan on using a pretty multi color leaf design fleece fabric as shown in the second picture for the backing. Even though the blues and whites make me think of summer and the beach, the cold spell we are having right now is making me think “I need something to keep my feet warm while I’m watching TV.” Y’all know I have no other quilts around my house to use. 🙂

The quilt pattern is a free download from block M Quilts  and the Quilt Along is the brain child of Roseanne of  Home Sewn by Us.

I am so glad to be back in my sewing room, even if it is for a few minutes at a time.

ANOTHER ANNOUNCEMENT THAT YOU MAY BE HEARING MORE ABOUT: THE NEW GREAT GRANDBABY IS A BOY AND WILL BE HERE IN JUNE!!!!!!

 

 

 

Regatta Quilt Along – Bringing Up The Rear

Well, here it is, after the New Years and not only have I not started sewing, I have not made the decision on which color. I have narrowed it down between the two blues.  I am saving the 1.5″ Kona Dusty strips for a log cabin and I have cut the white strips and squares.  I purchased the yardage fabric at Artist’s Club, the Bella Solids Jelly Roll from Missouri Star, and the Kona Mini strips from Tuesday Morning.

This is going to be a fun quilt along brought to us by Roseanne from Home Sewn by Us. Roseanne pointed me to the free pattern at BlockM Quilts to download. It looks like it will be an easy pattern with a striking design. This is not a race and we go at our own pace.

Due to my health issues I have been unable to be any use to Roseanne in the roll of co-host. (sorry Roseanne). But I will be back in my sewing room soon and my machine will be humming as fast as ever.

Happy New Year everyone.

 

Merry Christmas Everyone-Sami and I Both Fooled Santa This Year

As you can tell from the look on Sami’s face, she knows she pulled one over on Santa this year with all the presents she received. In addition to her wonderful subscription to the monthly Bark Box, she got her all time favorite night-time snack, Pup-Peroni and several chew-aggressive toys. Mom even promised not to make her wear any of the cute clothes that she hates.

Isn’t this the cutest face? No, is isn’t Sami’s but it is on a t-shirt my son and DIL  got for Sami to give to me, along with jammie bottoms for Christmas. I just love it and it looks just like you know who. Along with my gift certificates from both of my kids I think I fooled Santa too. 🙂

 

 

The Stinker’s Quilt (guess who that is)

Missouri Star Quilt Company Friday tutorial was for a simple ‘wave’ type quilt that I thought would be perfect for my stinker Sami a new quilt. She hasn’t had one for a while so I thought this pattern would be good for her. Jenny’s pattern showed more of a wavy effect but for some reason I didn’t go as wavy. The next one I do will not be wavy, just straight across.

I purchased a cute pattern called Speak Love recently from Slice Of Pi Quilts Blog Spot that showed the white area used for messages. This is where I got the idea of putting a little message in the this quilt. Check out Laura’s patterns. She is so creative and I always get so many ideas from her blog. I plan on using Speak Love pattern for my new great-grandbaby that is due in June. (Oops…that is a surprise, so Glenda don’t tell)

The letters are not permently attached and only used for the photo op. This way they can be changed as needed. With the new great-grand it can be used as a monthly age progression quilt showing the picture at age one month, two month,  any special occasion, etc.

On Sami’s quilt I used a charm pack in American Basics from Windham Fabrics and Kona White. Of course, I still haven’t quilted it yet. I have added it to my stack of tops to be quilted. I am waiting for the quilt police to haul me away for getting so far behind.

Sami was SO GOOD this time. As you can see when I put the quilt down for the picture she was so eager to jump on it to check it out but she restrained herself, almost. As soon as I said it was OK, she bounced over and sat in her picture posing position.  She is such a diva!