Formation

My June goal for ALYOF was to complete my geese quilt top (original post here).  I had great fun making all these geese using Sweetwater's Road 15 fabric.  I just love the colors.

My working name for the quilt is Formation.

This quilt sizes to be as a smaller size lap quilt.  It's destiny is to hang over the couch.

I started the process of quilting - doing a big spiral - and intend to do a tutorial on spiral quilting when I am done.

I'll be linking up here!  

Happy Stitching!

Lost blocks

I'm interested in doing some piecing and found some blocks I had assembled likely 3 years ago.

And I also had made a bunch of geese in order to assemble other stars.

I am going to have some fun assembling this together and playing with some designs.

Happy Stitching!

Churn Dash Fever

Recently I noticed quilt a lot of bloggers making Churn Dash quilts.   I caught the fever!

Cracked open my Fig Tree Mirabella layer cake and assembled my first block.

Happy Stitching!

Basting

Thinking of doing circular quilting.  Love these curved pins!

Happy Stitching!

Borders for the geese

Having fun assembling my quilt top and thinking about a border.  I could call it done like this or make it a bit bigger.  

It is sitting on my design floor so I keep looking at it each time I walk by.

Have a nice weekend.

Happy Stitching!

Improv

Playing with scraps is liberating.  If the piece doesn't turn out, it doesn't matter - it is just scraps.  This weekend, I thought I'd give some improve piecing a try.

This is my practice piece - made out of leftover charm squares.

I had so much fun cutting the curves.  They went together easier than I would have thought.  I will quilt it and then try the technique with colorful scraps.

Happy Stitching!

My boy is 21 today!

My oldest turns 21 today.


He was the recipient of one of my first quilts in 2006.  This was before blogging so I've a partially finished photo of it draped over a couch!  It was from the pattern Turning Twenty.  I made it while we were renting a house at the beach for a week. 

He was 13.   The quilt is still on his bed at home.  (Which means perhaps I could get a real photo of it!!)



In 2011, when he left for college, I made him this quilt - I call it Infinite.  This quilt lives at school.

You can read more about this quilt on this post.   It is a fractal, significant since my son is studying math and computer science.  After much trial and error, I made templates to assemble it.  The back is a soft flannel (he is my baby after all!).  

For Christmas 2013, I made him a Seattle quilt.  He has spent a couple of summers interning in Seattle and it is a special place for him.  This quilt lives in our family room - ready for him to come home for a visit and take over the couch!

Happy Birthday to my dear wonderful son!  

I love you and am very proud of you.

Happy Stitching!

Another boxy bag.

Made a new boxy bag this weekend using my Downton Abbey fabric.  I like the fabric I used on the inside as well.  The tutorial was here on Pinkxstitches blog.

I am thinking about making a whole series of these bags.  Would be great to have a variety on hand to give as gifts.   

This is my 4th one  - 2 have already been gifted.

My fussy cut didn't work out quite as well as I had hoped but I am happy with the final bag.  I am going to use this to corral all the charging plugs I carry around!






Happy Stitching!

AMB tour continues

The AMB solids tour around the US continues this week.  I want to thank everyone for the wonderful comments about my blog post of my North Carolina block

Take some time to visit this week's blogs and try for a chance to win a Fat Quarter stack of AMB at each stop along the way!

Day 16	9-Jun	California	Cali Quilter
	9-Jun	Minnesota	The Curious Quilter
Day 17	10-Jun	Oregon	Sew Mama Sew
	10-Jun	Kansas	Lilac Lane
Day 18	11-Jun	West Virginia	Coop Crafts
	11-Jun	Nevada	Inventive Denim
Day 19	12-Jun	Nebraska	Renaissance Sandi
	12-Jun	Colorado	Sew Incredibly Crazy
Day 20	13-Jun	North Dakota	Terri Stegmiller Art Quilts
	13-Jun	South Dakota	Moneik Quilts

Happy Stitching!

Baby Boxy Bags

A baby boxy bag!

Just the right size for a credit card or some bills.

The pattern from Deby Coles' is free but make sure you watch her video ( here )   I made the first one without watching and it didn't turn out.

I think I'll make more of these!   (Fabric is Sweetwater Road15.)  All you need are two 3 1/2 by 5 " squares for the outside - and another 2 for the lining - so would be a good project for leftover charm squares.

Happy Stitching!

Auditioning layouts

With my piles of geese all done, my next step is to figure out the quilt layout.   I laid out leftover strips of batting -in different colors - on my floor to get a sense of what it could look like.

My June goal for Another Lovely Year of Finishes is to finish this quilt top.  I'll be linking up here!  

Happy Stitching!

Approaching the 1st birthday

On June 21, 2013, I cast on for this shawl pattern from the Purl Bee  There are 12 rows in each pattern repeat - half of those are lace rows, half are purl rows. 

Two weeks into the pattern, I had about this much to show for my efforts. (Initial post).

By September, I started to get a hang of the pattern repeats but was still likely frogging almost as much as I was knitting.  It was a battle of continually counting and counting.

Then I (re) discovered the value of stitch markers -- even though the lace pattern is different each row so you have to keep moving the stitch markers, it is still helpful to have every 14 stitches marked.

By January, it was roughly 26 inches long.   This will be a definite wrap yourself in it shawl.

Now, 340 days later, the shawl is 3/4 of the way done and roughly 40 inches long and looks like this.

Only 4 of these left to go....



I only watch tv for a few hours each week.  But when I do watch, I need to be doing some handiwork.  If there are no quilts to be bound, knitting is what I do.

I really, really, really want to get this done soon.  Before the project turns a year old - not likely.  But before fall?  I sure do hope so.

It is really good I am enjoying the process!  (smile)


Happy Stitching!

Cupcake picnic!

How to get your kids interested in your quilting and blog hop?

Announce that the purpose of the blog hop is to go on a picnic.  And not just any picnic - but a CUPCAKE picnic!

Basket packed with un-frosted cupcakes. tubs of homemade frosting plus candy for toppers, we went off to the park for dinner on Mother's Day.

Looks delicious doesn't it?   (I decided my one daughter needed to go off the table topper during the frosting event!)

We had such a lovely time.  My son was home from college so it was me and the 3 kids.  We had sandwiches, pasta, watermelon and a lovely evening with warm sunshine. (My DH wasn't able to join us.)

The basket itself is very special to me.  I brought it home to the US from a trip to Germany about 30 years ago.  It is lined in plastic so it is perfect for picnics.  I also use it to carry around my knitting.

The quilt - named Cupcake Picnic - is designed as a table topper.  I used a charm pack and made lots and lots of geese.  I just love geese!  Straight line quilting gave it great texture.  

This was truly a perfect picnic.  The anticipation of a cupcake picnic was fun - even for my teenage girls and twenty year old son.  Just great mom time.  Super memory.  I love my kids and it is so special to have them all together.

Cupcake anyone?

Now that you've had desert, join me in visiting the other lovely ladies sharing their picnics.

Ridge Top Quilts

>>>>>  A Stitch in Time  <<<<<

Quilting in a Not Shell

Just Let Me Quilt

Creativity Amongst Chaos

Thanks to Mdmn Samm and Mary for picnic inspirations.  Could be my favorite hop ever!

Happy Stitching!