Farm Girl Vintage Top & 2016 Goals

 One more finish before 2015 ends, well not a complete finish, but the top at least of my Farm Girl Vintage Sampler. I joined Lori Holt for her Farm Girl Vintage Quilt Along, but set my blocks aside to finish up charity quilts when it ended. I decided I needed this all put together before I could start any other projects.

 I am so thrilled I made this! It is definitely a bucket list quilt. 

 Despite the snow on the ground, I just bundled up, threw on my snow boots, and trekked outside for pictures. I took a picture of each quadrant for more detailed up close pictures. This is the top right side.

 I used a white with black dots for the background. This is the upper left side and

 the lower left side

 and finally the bottom right.

 I have gotten in the habit of making an extra block for a label on the back of my quilts, but I could not decide on just one block. I made four blocks--the barn and silo with a sweet heifer in my barn, two sunflowers, and a giant John Deere tractor. I will be embroidering the tractor details and label information on the panel.

I had been planning on using my aqua floral border fabric for the back. But when I ran up to the fabric store the other day to find a red for the flying geese border and a green for the tractor, I spotted this red with large polka dots fabric for $5 a yard--I bought all 4 yards. I think I will use it instead. Now comes the hard part--figuring out the quilting. It is so busy that a simple quilting design would probably be best...If you have any ideas, I'd to hear them!

Onto my 2016 Goals--I bought the pattern for this Down in the Garden Embroidery Quilt by Leann Beasley this last summer

and I have collected some of the fabrics to make it. I want to work on this as a Block of the Month in 2016.

In 2016, I plan on making the Lori Holt Pig Quilt and I even have a kit waiting in the cupboard. I also want to finally make a quilt for our bed--this was a goal last year that never happened!

I am teaching my first quilting class in 2016--it is Lori Holt's Quilty Fun as a Block of the Month. I hope to share my passion for these cheerful designs and make some more of the book designs as models for my students.

My last goal for 2016 is to manage all the rest of the senior year and graduation activities and send my daughter off to college in the fall. 2016 sounds like a busy year!

Check out what other quilters are up to for 2016 here

http://www.inlinkz.com/new/view.php?id=591603

Have a Happy New Year!

Last Slow Sunday Stitching of 2015

 There was an NFL game on last night, but it was becoming a blow out, so we decided to watch The Martian. I cannot watch a movie without some handwork, so I grabbed my Cottage Garden Quilt. It has been in limbo for a couple of months because I could not decide how to quilt the borders. Decision made---continue the cross hatch quilting from the blocks into the borders with the help of some blue painter's tape and perle cotton. I am in love with using the blue painter's tape and may invest in some more rolls with different widths. I continued stitching this morning and already have a whole side done. Perhaps this will become a 2015 finish instead of a 2016 one! Check out what everyone else is up to here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

 Before I can commit to any new projects for 2016, I want to get a couple of works in progress together. My number one priority is to finish my Farm Girl Vintage top. I decided to make a couple of blocks not included in the book, but that I had purchased or received. I made this adorable 6 inch cow block. It was pretty time consuming to make, but so worth it!

I also made the 6 inch Penny the Pig block, she was much quicker to put together. I have a kit waiting to make the big version this quilt, but I can't start it yet. See self-control--sometimes I have some! :0) I am going to work on assembling these blocks with the sashing and cornerstones today, so I can start on the borders and the backing. 

There are some great football games on today and I was 14-2 last week, so now I am ahead of all the experts on ESPN with 147-77 for the season! It is chilly only 12 degrees right now and not expected to get above 25 degrees for most of the week. Perfect quilting weather!

Best of 2015

 I decided to take part in the Best of 2015 Linky Party sponsored by Cheryl over at Meadow Mist. There is a button on my right sidebar if you are interested in more details or you can go here
http://meadowmistdesigns.blogspot.com/2015/12/best-of-2015-linky-party.html

I decided to focus on my five favorite quilts I made or finished this year. They are in chronological order.  First up is the Elephant Parade Quilt. This was a great quilt along with Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts. Here is the link for information about it

http://sewfreshquilts.blogspot.com/p/elephant-parade.html

and here is the link to my blog post back in March

http://tanyaquiltsinco.blogspot.com/2015/03/elephant-parade-finish-h2h.html

This was such a fun quilt to make and is still waiting in my stash to find the right baby for it.

 Next up is the Tulip Patch. I made this for a friend/coworker who had a recurring brain tumor. I wanted to make something scrappy, bright, and cheerful. I used a pattern from Lori Holt's Quilty Fun book. See my complete post with details here
http://tanyaquiltsinco.blogspot.com/2015/04/tulip-patch-quilt-finish.html

This is my Journey of a Quilter Quilt. I worked on this as a BOM in 2014 and managed to finish hand quilting it May. You can check out this blog post for some more detailed pictures

http://tanyaquiltsinco.blogspot.com/2015/05/journey-of-quilter-finished.html

The picture for this one is terrible, but I actually made two of these Scrappy Summer Quilts for my mom's charity quilt drive. I love the simplicity of the design, but the bright fabrics make it a stand out. I think I will break down and actually make another one to keep for myself. Here is a link to my post about them

http://tanyaquiltsinco.blogspot.com/2015/09/scrappy-quilts.html

And last, but certainly not least is my Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Quilt. This was a companion quilt using Lori Holt's Quilty Fun and extra block directions she posted on Instagram in 2014. I made it on a whim and I am so glad. For more details visit this post

http://tanyaquiltsinco.blogspot.com/2015/12/have-yourself-merry-little-christmas.html

2015 has been a productive and successful year for quilt making for me!

White Christmas!

 Merry Christmas! We woke up to about 5 inches of snow with more falling--it finally stopped with about 8 inches total. I decided to get a picture of my Scrappy Snowmen Quilt on the blanket of snow in our front yard. It measures 28 inches square after washing. I quilted it vertically with my large wavy stitch on my Pfaff.

 I made it completely from my stash!  That means it is a freebie.

 I made an extra block for my label and embroidered the details on it. Speaking of details, it needs some buttons on each snowman, so I will work on that this afternoon.

 My hubby put the chains on his riding mower/snow plow and is out plowing our driveway. We have a large circular driveway and side driveway that total up to about the size of 4 tennis courts, so it takes him a couple of hours to plow it. A county plow came up and plowed our cul-de-sac already this morning--that is only the third time they have done it in 10 years. The snow is supposed to stick around and at night we will be in the single digits. I am thrilled to stay in and do some sewing.

We celebrated early this morning with Christmas gifts and breakfast. I got a few quilting goodies, new Ugg boots, some sage Fiestaware, an immersion hand blender, and some other luxury goodies--scarves, a knit cap, Reese's peanut butter cups, nail polish, bath bombs, pj pants, etc. We are having cheese fondue for dinner which takes 10 minutes to throw together. I planned it that way, so I can get some sewing done and enjoy the White Christmas outside of my windows instead of slaving in the kitchen all day. Have a Merry Christmas!

Scrappy Snowmen

 My Winter Break started yesterday, so I decided to start a new project. I made the Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Quilt over Thanksgiving Break and I fell in love with the snowman label. I actually thought it was sad it was on the back where no one could see it. I decided to make an entire Scrappy Snowman Quilt. It is 16 snowman blocks that are 8 inches square. Here is the Instagram link https://www.instagram.com/p/wEdbAKMM5Y/?taken-by=beelori1

 Of course, I made an extra block for the label. I am  going to embroider all the details on my snowmen this afternoon for Slow Sunday Stitching while watching football. See what everyone is relaxing with here

http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

As a teacher, I receive lots of small goodies for Christmas--chocolates, gift cards, mugs, ornaments, etc. This year, two of my fifth grade boys carved me this bear candle holder. They even included the tea candles! It is signed and dated on the bottom. I love it and it looks perfect on our gas stove in the family room that is decorated rustic style with antique guns and other manly gear.

 I have a couple of other finishes that I have not shared. Here is my last Snapshots Mini Quilt Walk in the Park--I am a huge fan of picnics and pink wine, so I am in love with it. I think it is hysterical how big the wine glass is in comparison to the picnic basket--the priorities are clear. :0)

 I made this flame goodie pouch for my favorite custodian. He loves Nascar and the New England Patriots. Since we live in Broncos country, I could not find any Patriots fabric. I decided to use some cool racing flame fabric from my stash.

I lined it with checkered flag fabric from my stash and filled it with his favorite Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. He was stoked and already nibbling when I gave it to him. 

We are scheduled to deliver 70+ lap quilts to the nursing home on Wednesday. Santa helped us deliver 25 lap quilts last Sunday to the smaller nursing home. It was so fabulous to see all the amazing quilts appreciated! The quilt above went to grateful gentleman named Kurt.

We have some icky weather scheduled for most of this week, so I am going to sew and read my vacation days away!

Crunch Time

I got a panicked call from my mom on Thursday morning that there were three more male residents at one of the nursing homes than the count at the beginning of November. Of course, she had extra feminine quilts, but not masculine ones. I said I could get a top together by Monday to give her time to quilt it on the long arm. She is cranking out the other two.

I needed a quick design, so I decided on Cluck Cluck Sew's Scrappy Summer Tutorial http://cluckclucksew.com/2013/06/finished-scrappy-summer-and-pattern.html

It is just 4 patches and squares. Mine is not quite as long as the tutorial, but I set it 8 by 9 blocks and it measures 64 x 72 inches before washing. My version needed 18 2.5 inch strips of the background and  the colors and 144 4.5 inch squares. To speed up the cutting, I did not really dig into my scrap bins, but dug into my stash for larger left overs. I also had the tan Moda Marble in my stash with exactly enough for the background. I think it looks masculine and cozy. We are delivering quilts to the smaller nursing home this afternoon and this one will be ready for the deadline on December 23rd.

Next up, I have a couple of pouches for coworkers to make--it is much more difficult to make them masculine! I also hope to slow down by the evening and do some Slow Sunday Stitching along with everyone else http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Finish

 My Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Quilt is done!

I just got it out of the dryer and added the embroidery details on the gingerbread man and the buttons.

Plus, I added buttons on my snowman label. 

My cross hatch machine quilting and Warm and White batting really crinkled up nicely. Its' finished size is 29.5 x 40.5 inches. I can't wait to use it as a model for the Quilty Fun Block of the Month class I am teaching next year. I have a feeling lots of students will want to make some extra blocks and have two tops made by the end of 2016.

Fergie was busy eating her rawhide treat while I was taking pictures. The other dogs like to go outside with their treats, but she prefers nibbling on her bed.

Speaking of treats, I whipped up this adorable picnic basket and wine glass mini quilt-- it is the last block from the Snapshots series hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop. I am going to attach the red binding and hand stitch it down this afternoon for Slow Sunday Stitching. You can check out everyone else's slow projects here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

Have a great week!

Ready to Quilt

My week of sewing has continued. I did stop and bake for Thanksgiving--two pumpkin pies and my first cheesecake--a chocolate chip decadent one to be exact! Plus, I took care of some Christmas shopping both in store and on-line. I finished piecing my border for my Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas Quilt last night and just snapped a quick picture before I get it ready for quilting. This will be a sample for the BOM I am teaching next year of Lori Holt's Quilty Fun book.

This little snowman is going to be the label. He needs some embroidered arms and buttons.

I went to Joann's this morning to take advantage of their 50% off coupons and 60% off of the designer quilting fabric. This pink is so soft and I decided would be an excellent backing for the Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas quilt. I think I will just cross hatch quilt it on my Pfaff and then add on all the embellishments.

This gorgeous quilt arrived yesterday from Deborah in California for my mom's charity quilt drive. My picture does not do the colors justice--they are gorgeous. She also sent lovely fabric for the backing. My mom has 96 quilts completed enough to be donated to all the residents at two nursing homes in our town. She is also gathering more lap quilts for another nursing home for Christmas 2016!

It has gotten chilly in our neck of the woods, but we have had very little snow in our immediate area. Our surrounding mountains are covered and everyone is excited for ski season. It is cuddling weather for our dogs. Fergie, the puppy, loves to be between Lola and Bella with all three squeezed on one bed. I had to snap this picture through the window to actually catch her and Bella sleeping.

I will be keeping warm with some binding and hand quilting for Slow Sunday Stitching

http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

Thanksgiving Temptation

 Since I have the whole week off of work and I am not cooking Thanksgiving dinner or hosting it, I am quilting my days away. I made two of these reindeer door banners that can be made from Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts' reindeer blocks featured in Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks  magazine available now.

 I whipped up some zippered pouches for Christmas presents for some of my coworkers. There are lots of bag and pouch gift ideas with tutorials over at Elm Street Quilts and their Bag It! features. Find them here http://www.elmstreetquilts.com

 I really wanted to start working on something new, but I have so many big quilts in the UFO pile awaiting quilting. I decided to make the Snapshots Sail Away block as a mini quilt. It took only an hour even with the quilting. I am saving the binding for movie night tonight.

 My sister has recently discovered Lori Holt and her amazing quilts. She messaged me last night asking if I had the patterns for the Have Yourself a Quilty Little Christmas Instagram Sew Along from last year. I did not have the patterns and I am not on Instagram since I do not have a smart phone, but I want to make the quilt after seeing everyone else's. My techie teen helped me find the patterns on Instagram with my regular computer. Needless to say, I gave in and started this Thanksgiving Temptation. I made a bunch of the blocks today. Here is my gingerbread house,

 my cup of cocoa mug,

 and my Christmas tree.

 I made cupcake mittens

 and the sweet little gingerbread man. I had to buy the baby rick rack, but I think I will be able to make this quilt entirely from my stash. It is also fairly small, so I will be able to machine quilt it on my Pfaff without too much effort.

 The Christmas lights show my overall color scheme.

 My Christmas candle,

my Twinkly Winter Star, 

 and my Ornament went together so quickly.

I just finished my Sewing Basket block. Another reason I gave into the temptation of starting this Christmas quilt is because it is based on Lori Holt's Quilty Fun and I am teaching the row along project featured in the book next year as a BOM at my local fabric store. I think showing other quilts made from the blocks in the book will be good for my students. Here is a link for info http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2014/11/have-yourself-quilty-little-christmas.html

I hope my Have Yourself a Quilty Little Christmas Quilt will be finished up this week!