Ron, Dumbledore, & DrEAMi

Hello! I have not posted in awhile because I have not finished much that I can share with you all. Last weekend, I made the Ron and Dumbledore blocks for the 

Harry Potter Quilt Alongs I have been working on. Lately it feels like all I have been accomplishing are blocks for sew alongs which is not the most exciting or fulfilling. We did not have President's Day off from work this week and to make matters worse, we had parent/teacher conferences which meant late nights most of the week. We did have Friday off due to the late conference nights.

On Friday, we woke to a couple of inches of snow and it snowed all day. Diane from https://www.butterflythreadsquilting.com had asked me if I wanted to test a pattern for her earlier this month and of course I jumped at the chance. I already made 15 blocks, earlier in February and I whipped up the other 15 on my Friday off. This has definitely been my Drop Everything and Make It! for February https://www.mmmquilts.com/2019/02/dreami-25.html

I can't reveal it until April 1st when the pattern is released, but it is a fun scrappy one.

One of my teacher friends just had her first grandson arrive yesterday. He was two months early, but he is 3.5 pounds and expected to be fine with a little time in the NICU. I don't have any boy baby quilts ready to go, so I was on a mission today. I saw this Robert Kaufman Remixed Geese Quilt on my Pinterest board--I love how bright and cheerful it is.

I dug into my leftover Puppy Love fabrics and my Kona solid scraps to make my own Remixed Geese Quilt with bright primary colors. I am making my geese blocks finish at 2x4 inches. I think these will be fun to play with setting them and I should be able to get it done pretty quickly.

I took some time today to run up to a nearby fabric store because they had gotten some of the Little Snippets line in and had it on sale for $9 a yard--they only had five bolts, but I got a half yard of each along with some whites for my stash. 

I hope to get the baby quilt pieced this week, so I can quilt it next weekend and finally have another finish. My hubby just put a movie on and of course I have a pile of quilts ready for binding, so good night and have a great week!

WIPs Galore

My new machine has really been getting a workout! My favorite quilts to make are scrap quilts, but they take longer with cutting so many random fabrics. In the past, I have joined So Scrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but I get impatient and just get my blocks done before the year is up. I have some leftover Medallion Log Cabin blocks, so I made a couple of yellow blocks for RSC19. There is a link on my right side sidebar.

How to make these blocks is under my tutorials tab, if you want to try some!

The Harry Potter Monogram block instructions posted yesterday, so I got busy on it. I still need to make the Luna block for the other version, so that is on today's agenda.

 These Vintage Block Along blocks were also on today's agenda. This is the most recent one, Egg Money.

These were her Humble Blocks from last week. You can find tutorials on her blog:
http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com

I got started on my Village blocks too! I had planned on this being a Leader/Ender project for 2019, but I like it too much to stretch it all year...

I got 30 houses done and I look forward to making some more.

I spent some time yesterday going to some local thrift stores in search of a cabinet/table for my new Juki. I think it would be perfect to have both my Pfaff and my Juki set up at all times--it will mean sacrificing my comfy chair to make room, but might be worth it. I didn't find a cabinet/table, but I found this milk glass pedestal dish. I have been on the lookout for one for a couple of years. It was $5, so sold!

Your scissors can hang from the rim and many quilters have made a pin cushion to go in the bowl. I plan on leaving the bowl portion empty so it can hold my Clover clips I use for binding and the thread or perle cotton I am using.

I plan on embroidering this Spool block for my label for my Spools 2 Quilt for Slow Sunday Stitching this evening and I also have two quilts all ready for binding 

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/02/slow-sunday-stitching_10.html

Have a great week!

New Arrival

 Some of you who have followed my blog for a long time probably remember that I unexpectedly had to buy a new sewing machine last April--I had worn out my Pfaff Ambition 1.5 in less than seven years. I kind of scrambled and ended up buying another Pfaff, but a Pfaff Quilt Expression 4.2. It has a lot more features like a thread cutter and the needle down feature--I needed a machine with a buttonhole stitch for appliqué and the wavy quilting stitch I rely on, so I did not consider a Juki last April because it is a straight stitch only. The insides of my new Pfaff are all plastic and I will likely wear it out rather quickly like the last one, so I was thinking another work horse machine may be the solution for me. 

I had been doing some research and decided I would get a Juki TL2010Q this spring. I told my hubby about my plan and he told me not to wait and just order one in. He is totally off the hook for Valentine's Day and my next birthday now! There are not any local Juki dealers near me and even the ones in Denver do not stock this machine, so I bought it sight unseen. It arrived on Thursday and I am so impressed! It is very basic as far as threading it, but it flies through fabric with 1500 stitched per minute. You can push a button on the machine to cut the thread or rock back on the foot pedal. It also has a needle down feature. The only criticism I have so far is the lighting on it is lacking, so I will figure out had to add some more light...

  Rachel, my friend who got her longarm in August, quilted my Scrap Dance Two Step Mystery Quilt for me. 

 I picked it up from her on Tuesday afternoon and put the binding on it and then spent every evening stitching it down. I finished it last night and washed it this morning. It shrunk to 68 inches square.

 Rachel did a beautiful job with the quilting--I love the pattern she selected and the light green thread.

This is a wedding gift for two teachers who got married in August and I can't wait to give it to them this week!

I added the final borders to my Spools 2 Quilt on my new Juki. I need to finish its label and get my backing together.

 Since I wanted to play on my Juki, I made a yellow curved log cabin block last night for the RSC19.

 I also whipped up the first blocks for the Threadology Quilt Along with the Fat Quarter Shop this morning. Here is the link for information:

https://blog.fatquartershop.com/2019-charity-quilt-along-block-1/

 Next up were the Harry Potter Quilt Along blocks. Above is Hedwig and below is the Ron Selfie block. You can find links on my right hand sidebar.

I am working on my Farm Sweet Farm blocks for that quilt along, but they are not done yet as they involve appliqué. That is going to be an amazing quilt!

I have a queen sized quilt all ready to bind during the Super Bowl for Slow Sunday Stitching

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

Have a great week!

Spools 2 Underway

Greetings Quilty friends! I made it a personal goal to get my Spools 2 top together by the end of this month. I have been working all day today on getting the blocks together. I used a bunch of my Bonnie and Camille scraps for all the spools.

 All I have left is to add the outer 2.5 inch borders in the background fabric. I already have a backing and an extra spool block to turn into my label. It will be good to have this one in the waiting to be quilted pile.

I finished binding this batik beauty for my friend Rachel--I bound two this week for her and dropped off my Good Fortune Quilt for her to work her longarm magic on. I have a few more quilts all prepped to bind for Slow Sunday Stitching this evening:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/01/slow-sunday-stitching-achieving-your.html

Yesterday, I made my Harry Potter blocks. My door under the stairs will get a button for a handle.

This is my Hermione Selfie Block for that Harry Potter quilt. You can find links to the sew alongs on my right hand sidebar.

I also made the two blocks for the Vintage Block Along by Lori Holt that she posted this week. This is the Vintage Lily Block.

This is the Star Shine Block that finishes 20 inches. Here is the link to her blog for these blocks:

http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com

Lori's Farm Sweet Farm Sew Along starts tomorrow and I already have my templates, but I will be making mine out of scraps with Heat & Bond. The appliqué blocks look adorable and I love farmed themed quilts! 

I have a special delivery coming this week that I am really excited about and I am taking Tuesday off to get my teeth cleaned, my oil changed, some shopping, and hopefully some quilting. Have a great week!

Staying Motivated!

For Xmas from my hubby, I preordered a Bonnie & Camille Little Snippets FQ bundle and it arrived this week. I now have NINE untouched Bonnie & Camille FQ bundles! I need to start using them, but I can't bring myself to bust them all open. Does anyone have any ideas to push me to finally start using all of these beautiful fabrics? I do prefer scrappy quilts, so I envision using all of these fat quarters for my scrappy quilts--likely all B&C scrap quilts.

Most evenings this week, I stitched my Spools 2 blocks together. If I had my act together, I would have made this my January OMG--to finish this top this month, but I was too late to participate this month! I am still going to try to get the top done and in the "To Be Quilted Pile." I already have a backing for it!

Speaking of the abyss of my "To Be Quilted Pile," I picked up this gorgeous green for the backing of my Good Fortune. It was 55% off and I think it will add a calm to busy top. I will piece it today and get it ready for quilting. 

My friend, who got a longarm in August, will quilt it for me. She has reached the point where she is having "fun" with her longarm and is ready to quilt for me! I just picked up four quilts to bind for her on Thursday, so I am all set for Slow Sunday Stitching and the AFC and NFC Championship Games.

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/01/hand-quilting.html

Yesterday the directions for the first blocks for the two Harry Potter Quilt Alongs posted. I started with the pixelated block. It is 18 x 18 inches and so adorable! I made Harry's eyes green because that's how they are according to the books. This is Kelli's design and you can find the links on my righthand side bar. I am using purple Kona for my background which is darker than she is using.

 This is Lorna's Harry Potter Selfie block. She is offering two sizes 10 inch or 20 inch blocks. I am making the 10 inch versions. I like Harry's scar in this one!

Lori Holt posted her Rhinestone blocks for her Vintage Block Along on Thursday, so I also made them yesterday. I am just digging into my overflowing scrap bins to make them.

http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2019/01/vintage-block-along-rhinestone-block.html

My daughter made it back from Africa on Thursday night. She flew back into Syracuse and stayed with her friend. School is supposed to start tomorrow for them, but they have tons of snow and went back to Colgate yesterday with between 2-3 inches of snow predicted to fall each hour. She is getting all settled into her sorority house for the semester.

I do not have tomorrow off from school either--I am very unhappy about this on many levels! This is the first year our district has taken away MLK Day...

2019 Is Off to a Good Start!

 The winner of Strip Quilt Secrets from Diane at http://www.butterflythreadsquilting.com and her blog hop was Julie in WA and she is partial to blue. Congratulations Julie, I know you will love the book!

 I won this gorgeous pile of goodies from Sherri over at http://www.aquiltinglife.com

I was only expecting some strips and strings, but she also included a couple of mini charm packs from her fabric line Walkabout. Thank you, Sherri! I think I will whip up some string blocks.

I finished binding my Turquoise Twist quilt on Thursday night. The design is featured in Strip Quilt Secrets. Aren't all those strips together spectacular? It really is that bright!

The gray minky backing calms it down a little and my wavy stitch quilting on the two inch diagonals gives some curves in all those strips.

I dove into Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, Good Fortune, on Black Friday. Although I have made several of Bonnie's quilt patterns, I have never participated in one of her annual mystery quilt sew alongs. I decided to join in this year because it was going to be a relatively small quilt 72 x 72 inches (small by Bonnie standards) and I knew I had plenty of fabrics in my stash to make it with. I am so glad I made this! I learned some new tricks too--I had never spun seams before or sewed strip sets on telephone book pages. I was terribly worried about the pieced borders fitting correctly, but they actually fit! Now, I need to get a backing for this beauty and figure out how to have it quilted...

Does anyone have ideas for how to have this one quilted? I think I want to have the quilting dense because I am a little worried about the smaller seam allowances on the green chevrons and green border triangles...Here is a link to Bonnie's website where this pattern is available:
http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2019/01/mystery-monday-link-up-reveal-2.html

 Since my Turquoise Twist Quilt was done and my Good Fortune top was all done, I started working on the Vintage Block Along Lori Holt has been featuring on her blog:

http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com 

This is Grandma's Star. I am making the 12 inch versions instead of the six inch versions.

Next up was Pattern Basket and it finishes at 15 inches. I made the first two blocks yesterday.

This one also finishes 15 inches and I made it this morning. It is called Around the Corner.

This block finishes 12 inches and is called Little Farmhouse. I am using scraps and I seem to be making most of my blocks from aqua and red. Did you know a front door on a house that is painted red is supposed to signify that the house has been paid off? I just think it looks cheerful!

There are two Harry Potter Quilt Alongs starting this week. I was having a hard time deciding which one to make, but I have just decided to make them both. After all I have three classrooms, so why not have two HP quilts? I bought all the Kona purple they had at my Joann's and it is not enough for both, but I will just get some more. You can find the schedule and information for them here:

https://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/p/harry-potter-quilt-along.html

I have this little beauty to bind for Ludene and another huge quilt in the queue to bind for her too! I will work on this for Slow Sunday Stitching:

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2019/01/slow-sunday-stitching.html

I think I am off to a good start for 2019 with one quilt that I started on December 26th already done and another top together too. With the exception of the accent turquoise and the backings, both quilts were totally made from my stash!!!

PS My daughter is on safari with my mother in law in Botswana and she just sent me this picture of them with this elephant!