A Terrible Cold

Well, I have had one of the least productive weeks ever, but at least I have a good excuse. I came down with a terrible cold--you know it is bad when even the kids in my class avoided me and told me to use hand sanitizer! I did not touch a sewing thing until today. I did manage to cut and sew the borders on my 2016 Butterfly Threads Mystery Quilt during this morning's football games.

I ran outside when the wind seemed to calm to down for a picture because this is my October One Monthly Goal (OMG) and I have to get it posted ASAP. Here is the link for that:

http://redletterquilts.blogspot.com/2016/10/omg-its-finished-october.html

 I love this picture because Fergie made an appearance and got rather spooked by my flapping in the wind quilt/kite. She even put her ears down and cowered a bit. Not much scares her...

This is the backing I have in my stash for the mystery quilt. I have five yards which is good because the quilt is big! Now, it heads to the large to be quilted pile.

One of my schools is having a Halloween Carnival tomorrow night, so I am making bundt cakes for the cake walk. I made two devil's food this morning and have two spice cakes in the oven now. I will melt the cans of icing in the microwave and drizzle them on top. Wrap them up in plastic wrap, label them, and deliver in the morning.

I am working on an embroidery project for Slow Sunday Stitching, but it is secret--so no pictures yet. Be inspired with other handwork here:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2016/10/slow-stitching-sunday.html

Have you been participating in the Missing Market posts over on Instagram? I have and have loved seeing all the things there and from the Quilt Market in Houston. My Instagram is @tanyaquiltsinco

This will be another Lori Holt Sew Along in 2017--count me in!

Have a great week!

Indian Summer

Hi friends! I finally stitched my 2016 Butterfly Threads Mystery Blocks together this week. This was a really fun mystery project hosted by Diane.  I used up lots of scraps for this one. You can find the link to the pattern here:

 http://www.butterflythreadsquilting.com/p/free-patterns.html

 I love how rings were formed when the blocks were connected! I taught my Quilty Fun class yesterday and picked up a beautiful green to use as a border for this project. I also have a perfect blue backing from my stash, so hopefully this will get quilted and into the finished pile soon. I am not sure who is going to receive this beauty, but it would go nicely in our family room so it may just stay on my couch.

 I am so excited because I booked my daughter's flights home for Winter Break. We are not going to see her for Thanksgiving or parents weekend, so we are really looking forward to her visit at Christmas.

 She is doing amazing at Colgate University--2000 miles away in central New York. She is enjoying her classes and so far has earned A's on all her midterms and papers. Her great study habits are paying off.

 She has made some great friends and is volunteering in the admissions office as a greeter and gets to go on a recruiting trip in the spring! Of course, she is having a very fun time with socializing too! They refer to Saturdays as Fraturdays.

 The one thing she really misses is our dogs, but she got to go with one of her friends to her house for a visit and got a dog fix with their Bella! I know our dogs miss her too because they have to inspect every room in our house looking for her and go crazy when we mention her name. They also seem confused when one of us drives her car.

I miss her so much! It is so nice to be able to communicate regularly with texts, emails, and FaceTime--luxuries that did not exist when I went to college. She sends me funny pictures like this one when she does activities she considers "adulting." Since she is loving college so much it makes it easier to deal with our empty nest. Plus, I have been enjoying sending her care packages.

We are having perfect weather with temperatures in the mid-70s--Indian Summer, so my hubby and I went to watch a soccer game that a bunch of my girls were playing in. They played great and tied. We spent hours and hours at soccer games with our daughter, so it was nostalgic for us and not nearly as stressful.

I am participating in Slow Sunday Stitching with Kathy and crew

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2016/10/slow-sunday-stitching-treat.html

What I am working on is a present, so no pictures. But, this is my Down in the Garden Block 1 with all the embroidery completed. I still have to make a Dresden plate to appliqué on the green gingham.

I am heading to my sewing room to watch football and be productive. Have a great week!

Hectic Week

 I survived three 16-hour days in a row finally ended with a day off--Friday. I headed into my sewing room not sure what I was going to work on. I had pulled some fabric from my stash to make a baby quilt and had left it out in a pile. My friend is due with a little boy in December and she is doing the nursery in woodland animals--foxes, raccoons, rabbits, etc.

 I really wanted to feature the animal prints, so I fussy cut them into 3.5 inch squares and surrounded them with scrappy coordinating fabrics. The colors really came out very fall-like.

 My friend's taste seems a little more modern, so I thought some simple blocks surrounded by a white/cream would help calm things down. The blocks are 9 inches finished and I set it 5 x 5. I am going to quilt it a quarter inch inside the squares. Do you think it needs a border?

I got together yesterday with my mom and I brought my Magic of Christmas blocks to work on. I made blocks 7-11. Each block finishes 6 inches, so there is some very tiny piecing especially the one on the bottom left with all those half square triangles. I am anxiously awaiting more block instructions from Lisa Bongean. I think there are supposed to 25 in all. I started my mom watching Scandal on Netflix because she liked House of Cards and we got Thai food for lunch. It was a perfect day!

I need to get into my sewing room to tidy up and prioritize my projects. I will be working on some handwork for Slow Sunday Stitching, but it is a secret project--no pictures yet. Get inspired here:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2016/10/slow-sunday-stitching_16.html

Have a great week!

October Embroidering

Happy Fall Y'All! I finished my Down in the Garden Block 1 this week, but forgot to take a picture--I will get a picture when I am back home. I came to Denver yesterday to hang out with my college roommate, Lauren, before attending a work conference this afternoon.

Every time I make it to the big city, I try to eat and do things we don't have or do in our small town. We went out for a seafood dinner last night and I had amazing raw oysters and calamari. So yummy! I took my first Uber and we joined some friends of hers for a drink at Elway's downtown and then went to a club. I have not danced like that in decades! So much fun and I am glad I drank water for most of the night.

Now, I am going to head up to Loveland for my conference. I am going to hit the mall and Trader Joes for some goodies. I will meet my colleagues in the late afternoon and then watch the debate while stitching on my Down in the Garden Block 2. I also have block 3 all prepped and ready to go--I guess I am being optimistic about my stitching! See everyone else's handwork here:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2016/10/slow-sunday-stitching.html

This week is a hectic one for work with Monday and Tuesday attending the conference, driving back 6+ hours on Tuesday night, we have parent/teacher conferences on Wednesday and Thursday--won't be home until after 8:00pm, but then we have a four day weekend. I hope to spend it all in my sewing room! Sounds like I am going to need a lot of caffeine!

October OMG

 Well, I was not that productive this week. I did manage to finish this woolly block for Jeni Gaston's FB Sew Along during the presidential debate. I hope to prep the next two blocks today. With the fall weather finally here, I love to work on woolly projects!

 I guess Boss's Day is coming--one of my schools is organizing Sunshine (Yellow) Baskets for the principal and assistant principal. They were seeking money donations, but I said I would make something yellow for each. Yesterday, I made these small zip pouches with their initials. They are 4x6 inches. I think they are worth more than the $4 they wanted.

 I also dusted off this project. It is my Down in the Garden Block 1--I don't know why it got shuffled to bottom of the pile. I finished up the sage part and will be working on the 

rosemary part today for Slow Sunday Stitching. Check out other inspiration here:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.ca/2016/10/slow-sunday-stitching-link-up.html

For my October One Monthly Goal (OMG), I want to piece my Butterfly Threads Summer Mystery Blocks. If I have it all put together, I can be on the lookout for a border and backing. See what everyone else is hoping to accomplish here:

http://redletterquilts.blogspot.com/2016/10/a-new-month-and-new-goal.html

Have a great week!

Secret Sewing--Mom's Birthday

I have been doing some secret sewing this last week for my mom's birthday. I have so much fun compiling gifts for other quilters. I made this 16 inch square pillow using mostly Bonnie and Camille fabric and the cottage pillow design from Lori Holt's calendar. My mom recently made Bonnie and Camille's Summerville Quilt using Vintage Picnic fabric for their bed, so I think this will fit in nicely with it.

I picked up this vintage picnic basket for her a couple of months ago. I bought myself one when we were antiquing for my birthday and she seemed a little envious, so when I spotted this one I bought it instantly. The weave on it is so cute. It has some water stains on the trim and top and I considered chalk painting it like mine, but I was not sure what color to use--I was leaning toward pink or green. I figured she can decide on that.

I made this Goody Goody Binding Kit. Here is an excellent tutorial to make one:

http://lellaboutique.blogspot.com/2015/07/goody-goody-binding-kit.html

It is about 6 x 18 inches. The zippered pocket on the left is perfect for putting binding clips in it. Again, I used Bonnie and Camille fabrics from my stash. I went all over town trying to find a small pair of scissors to put in the strawberry pocket, but could not find a pair that would coordinate. Next to the strawberry and the wool rectangle, is a loop to put thread on. This would also be a nice sewing kit for English paper piecing too.

It folds up nicely into thirds. I am going to make myself one of these sweet binding kits soon!

I added a booklet of mini patterns from Cluck Cluck Sew because my mom loves mini quilts. I put a bottle of Best Press in there and a Scrabble tile holder spelling out "QUILT." I wrapped each item in tissue paper and tied bows around them with left over pieces of binding. I used a ribbon and attached a pack of buttons that I wrote on like a gift tag. Needless to say, my mom was thrilled with the gift! 

We spent today together sewing. She was working on a Sasquatch quilt for my nephew and I finally made the blocks for Lisa Bongean's The Magic of Christmas Sew Along. Here are the details:

https://lisabongean.com

Don't look too closely at my blocks as they are not perfect, but they are done and I am all caught up and ready for the next block! I am trying to live by the mantra: Done is better than perfect...

I did finish up the binding on my Bloom Quilt this week. I love how colorful and sweet this one turned out!

 I machine quilted it on the diagonals using my walking foot and wavy stitch. 

 I appliqued an extra tulip block to use as a label. 

After washing, it measures 38 x 48 inches. I am adding this to my stash of baby quilts as a future baby gift! This was my One Monthly Goal (OMG) for September and it has been met and early even. See what everyone else accomplished here:

http://redletterquilts.blogspot.com/2016/09/one-monthly-goal-linkup-celebrating.html

I am not sure which handwork project I will be working on for Slow Sunday Stitching tomorrow, but I have plenty to choose from! Get inspired over at Kathy's

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

Enjoy your week!

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Fall Is In the Air

This morning was crisp and beautiful with the golden sunshine rising and my pasture starting to lose the green--fall is definitely in the air here in western Colorado. I ran outside to take pictures of my latest finish--Kindred. I used a Bonnie and Camille Hello Darling Frivols kit and pattern. The pattern showed the background as white, but I used a gray instead and opted to add a border.

 I had planned on adding this quilt to my baby gift stash, but I think I may keep it for myself and use it in my sewing room on top of my hope chest. These are the colors I want in my sewing room, so why not keep it for myself?

I think my favorite part of this quilt is my quilting. I usually hate my quilting, but I decided to try circles again. I used some of my bowls and small Fiestaware plates to mark the top, I just used plain old number 2 pencil. The backing was from my stash and is aqua with circles, so it is definitely the circle theme.

The smaller circles were more of a challenge, but I reduced my sewing machine's speed and took my time. Before I knew it, I was done. I did work from the center out and the half circles in the border were so easy. I finished it up in two evenings this week. It measures 41 inches square after washing. I did not make a label, but just plan on writing on the backing in a corner the quilt's details.

I finished up Be Thankful last night watching Stranger Things with my hubby. This is a Jo Ann Mullally design. I made myself one ages ago, but I found the embroidery already traced onto some tea dyed muslin in my stash. I think my sister had traced it and gifted it to me as part of her big stash purge several years ago. This was the embroidery project I took with me back east to take my daughter to college a month ago. I am pleased to have it completed with a month and even before it is officially fall!

I used perle cotton #8 for the embroidery

and the quilting. Jo Ann recommended plain borders, but I decided to go with a checker board border and use this gorgeous autumn leaf fabric from my stash.

I used a brushed cotton for the backing because it is so soft and lovely to quilt through. It measures 19 x 23 inches. 

 Yesterday, I quilted my Bloom Quilt from Lori Holt's sew along and have it ready to bind for Slow Sunday Stitching and football watching. Get more handwork inspiration here:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2016/09/slow-sunday-stitching.html

I also got this wooly block all stitched up this week and another block started. I didn't realize how productive I was this week! Now, I am inspired to get back into my sewing room and get more done. Have a great week!