Smile and Wave

This past Saturday, my girls and I were eating our lunch outside despite the warm temperatures.  We had so much fun watching some young person dancing as the cow out by the street.  At times, she (?) was dancing and at other times she was waving the orange flags to try to encourage people into the restaurant.   We enjoyed the reaction of people driving by.  Almost half of the cars had a least one person wave.  And it wasn't just the kids who were waving - we cheered when a car with just the driver waved.  A few beeped their horn.  

Lunch over, we went the 'long' way home so we too could wave and honk the horn.  It was fun.  (I only embarrassed one of my girls - the other thought it was quite fun!)

On the quilting front, easy piecing with block 46 from the Votes for Women  block of the week.   

I am skipping block 47 which was applique. Block 48 is a full of curves - I think I can deal with this but I am going to wait on block 48 and block 49 until I get more of the quilt assembled. I am doing some blocks in blue and some in red.  Before I commit myself to a color for the last two blocks, I need to work a bit more with the blocks I already have!

Happy Stitching!

July

Introducing July!

The Schnibble pattern Lincoln was this month's challenge from Sinta and Sherri as part of the Another Year of Schnibble Vintage.  This is a favorite pattern for me - third time that I've made  a quilt from this pattern.

The above picture really shows the wonderful depth of color in this fabric line - Moda Honey Honey.  (This photo also highlights that my front porch needs cleaning and I need to deadhead my geraniums!)  

I am calling this Schnibble July and have it hanging in my kitchen.

Looking forward to the parade on Thursday and the next Schnibble challenge.  I've charm packs ready and waiting!

Happy Stitching!

20 Stars all in a row

My July goal for Another Lovely Year of Finishes was to make the 320 HST that I need for my summer quilt project.

The good news, turns out I only needs 240 HST.  Each of the 20 blocks, needs 12 HST plus 4 corner squares.

I got them done!!!

And the blocks are assembled!!  (Not yet pressed)

The next step is to snowball (idea found here in demo from Missouri Star Quilt Co (here) and to add sashing with cornerstones.  I'll be using a blue print from the fabric line.

The fabric is Sweetwater Noteworthy paired with some Bella Solids.

Assembling this quilt top will be my ALYOF goal for August.


Happy Stitching!

Mail call

Two happy things arrived in my mail recently.

First, I won a gift card to Amazon from Marianne at Life @ Ruffhaven.   I had the perfect use for it and purchased Judy Hopkins book 501 Rotary-Cut Quilt Blocks.

There are beautifully color index of blocks - 

and each block has directions for multiple block sizes

Thanks Marianne!!

Regular blog readers may also recognize that I am a major league fan of Sweetwater fabric lines.  Sometime last year, they had invited people to send them street addresses.  Now, on their newest line - Road 15 - the text print fabric has these street addresses.  I ordered a layer cake and did a dance - my current address and the address where I grew up are on the fabric!!!

Happy Stitching!

Assembly required

My FNSI results were to finish my blocks for my Jewel Box quilt.  I've now 40 of the patches and 40 of the HST blocks.

This Tapestry line is just so beautiful.  I think it is going to make a wonderful quilt.  I set out a few of the blocks just to get an idea.

We've a trip to the beach coming up in a few weeks and I always like to have some projects to finish up - this one will be making the trip with me!

It is always fun to sew and know that blogging buddies around the globe are "sharing" their Friday nights with you!

Happy Stitching!

FSNI

FNSI is back!  Go sign up now and join us!








My goal for tonight is to finish the blocks for my jewel box quilt - blogged about here.   I'm almost done - about 25 blocks to sew  and then iron all 40 of them.  I also hope to finish the block for my Lemonye Star blocks - there will be 20 of these.  I've made all of the required HST!!!! and now are in final block assemble.   Once I get them assembled, I'll need to tackle the ironing.

Weather here in NC is the 90s and humid.  Our AC isn't at its best right now so the thought of ironing blocks tonight is scary!

Perhaps that chilled glass of wine by my side will help!

Have a great weekend.

Happy Stitching!

Schnibble in flight

Been enjoying the set of challenges from Sinta and Sherri  for the Another Year of Schnibble Vintage! 

This month is the pattern Lincoln.  I've done this one before - one large one which sits on my bed right now using Sweetwater Pure.  (I did modify the pattern a bit to make the blocks jelly roll friendly.)

I also made this regular size Schnibble in January of 2012 and call it Butterscotch.

For this month's challenge, I decided to use my charm pack of Honey Honey plus scraps as needed from my layer cake leftovers.

Here is my assembled mini:

Happy Stitching!

Summer Shawl

I love to knit especially in the summer.  Sitting on the back screened porch on a summer afternoon with the ceiling fan spinning and a glass of sweet tea - very relaxing.

Cast on for a new shawl in a lovely silver gray color - Sirdary Snuggly baby bamboo.

The pattern is from the Purl Bee  There are 12 rows in each pattern repeat - half of those are lace rows, half are purl rows.  Almost at the end of my first skein of yarn and I got two full repeats done plus the cast on border.

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Happy Stitching!

Happy Birthday Mom!

Love you!

Happy Stitching!

VFW - only 4 blocks to go!

Easy piecing with these last two blocks from the Votes for Women  block of the week.  There are 4 blocks to go in the 49 week block of the week.

Here is block 44, Star of Hope (left) and block 45, Aunt Mary's Choice (right).

I am putting these blocks on point so I've been assembling them into blocks of 4 blocks - I did two more of them this week.

I've been playing with layouts on paper.  Each time I put it all over the floor, however, I confuse myself to no end!   Without those 1/2 white triangles along the border, it is easy to get very confused.

10 things I want to do this summer

Sheri from a Quilting Life asked us to name the ten things I want to do this summer and link up on her blog.  Sheri's blog is on my must read list - so I was inspired to play along.

1. Finish the blocks to my Votes for Women  block of the week and make a final decision on block placement.

2. Finish my quilt top Lemonye Star quilt using Noteworthy.  This one will go to a LAQ.  

3. Finish the quilt top for my jewel box quilt using Tapestry.  This also will go to a LAQ sometime this fall.

4. Put a binding on my SandCastle quilt (that I finished TWO summers ago!)

5. Do some knitting - I am going to use this pattern from the Purl Bee and Sirdar babybamboo.

6. Read on the back porch ( love my Kindle.)  

7. Swim as often as I can.  I've worked my way up to 40 laps in a 25 m pool - so that is 1000m or a kilometer.  How cool is that?!

8. Make a FMQ postcard.

9. Walk daily each evening with my daughter.  We love these 20 min walks where she shares details about her day.

10.  Make more blocks in the Whovian-inspired Quilt-Along from Caroline and Soma from Whims and Fancies and the Doctor.  I am also getting caught up on #10 by watching the shows I have not seen before.

How about you?  What are the ten things you will do this summer?  Add your post to Sheri's blog.

Happy Stitching!

Jewel Box quilt

Once upon a time, I made this quilt and called her Sweet Tea.  I gifted it to a very good friend.  The pattern was from the  Moda Bake Shop and was a jewel box quilt.  

I had so much fun putting this one together - works well with a layer cake and 3 yards of background fabric.

So much fun, that I decided to do it again - this time using Fig Tree Tapestry.

I've assembled 40 of these blocks.

I now need 39 more of these HST blocks.  (The remainder of the HST need to be pressed and trimmed - all 156 of them.)

I purchased these beauties for the border, binding and backing.

This quilt will also be a gift.  Haven't given the quilt a name yet.


Happy Stitching!

What I did on my summer vacation....

Took several days off from work surrounding the July 4th holiday.   I am working on several projects at once so I set up a station on my back porch to trim the gazillions (yes that is a word) of the HSTs  that I will need.

These are for a quilt made from Sweetwater Noteworthy (layer cake).  I've managed to sew and cut apart the HST.  Now I am in the midst of ironing and trimming.  Trying to stay organized is the real challenge!

These are for a quilt made from Fig Tree Tapestry (layer cake).

I did my ironing in batches.  Only so much of ironing a girl can do on a hot summer day.

How about you?  Are you someone who does one project at a time or do you like to have multiple projects in flight at once?

Happy Stitching!

Christmas in July!

I won a giveaway on Kate Spain's blog for scraps from her new In From the Cold line.  The box arrived this week - the fabric scraps weighed over ten pounds!

I sorted through everything and am in the process of ironing the pieces.  My favorite piece is the blue one in front with the stars.

It was amazing how much was in the box - these are some of the bigger pieces.

I am participating in a Christmas blog hop in August so I'll be putting some of this fabric to very good use!

Thanks Kate!


Happy Stitching!

Happy 4th of July!

Happy Stitching!

Mail Call - Put your Stamp on It Blog Hop

Mail call!

Lighthouses are fabulous icons of North Carolina.   There are 7 lighthouses along the coast and my stamp collection represents the 4 that I have had an opportunity to visit.

Somewhere in the middle of quilting my stamp quilt, I decided not to make it a quilt.   Instead, I made it a bucket / bag!!

The bag stands about 13" tall and is round.  All 4 lighthouses were used.   I lined it with a solid blue that matches the sky and added handles.  It is a fun size bag and I've several ideas what to store in it.  Right now, it is holding the fabric for my next quilt!

Now, back to the lighthouses.

Cape Hatteras lighthouse is likely the most iconic.

 In 1999, NC moved the lighthouse from the beach where it was in danger of eroding into the ocean to a site 2900 feet inland.  A great summary of the move can be found here.

The Currituck lighthouse is set back from the shoreline.  I have climbed this lighthouse just once because of my fear  of heights.  Once I climbed the 214 steps to the top, I was so scared that I plastered myself on the wall and couldn't walk to the railing much less take in the view from all directions!

Two of my kids have no problems with enjoying the view.

Bodie Island lighthouse isn't open for public climbing but we enjoy visiting it anyway.  The lightkeepers cottage is open (part museum, part bookstore.)

To get to Ocracoke Island, you take a ferry.  The Oracoke Island lighthouse isn't open to the public to climb but you can peer inside.

And now before you dash off to your mail box to send off that letter to your BFF, take a few minutes and visit all the other ladies I am lucky enough to share today with!










Sew and Sow Farm  

fishkopp

Scraps of Life

Meadowbrook

Katie and Kwilts  

Em's Scrap Bag   

GrammieQ's

How ART you?

BumbleberryStitches

A Stitch in Time   <<<<<<<< That's me!

This hop has been loads of fun.  Thearica and Madm Samm have done a great job cheering everyone on.  There have been many beautiful entries. To see the full schedule, please go to Pigtales and Quilts or visit Sew We Quilt.

Happy Stitching!