Keeping Busy

 Friday was spent quilting on my mom's longarm machine. I am so intimidated by it, but I will not get any better with using it unless I practice. I was actually really happy with how this quilt turned out. I tried to quilt loopy five petal flowers and loops all over the quilt.

 Here are some up close pictures of the quilting.

 I bought a very busy backing in the sale bin at my LQS Memorial Day weekend. I like busy backings because they hide my terrible free motion quilting.

 The label shows one of my flowers pretty well. I am hand binding this now for Slow Sunday Stitching and hope to wash it and share pictures soon. See what everyone is up to here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

Now, I want to try this same kind of quilting on another quilt. I am thinking my Sugar Stars UFO would be perfect for this same kind of free motion quilting. This is a Lori Holt pattern where I used all Bonnie and Camille fabrics for the flowers and a navy Kona for the background. I needed a backing.

So, my mom, dad, and I headed up to the discount fabric shop a couple of towns north. I bought some more of the pink and red print on the right. I had bought two yards a week ago planning on using it as the backing for my baby chicks quilt instead I will use the pink and red chevron on the left for the baby chicks backing and the pink and red print as my Sugar Stars backing. The aqua in the middle was a splurge! All of these were in the flat folds for $6 a yard and are Henry Glass fabrics--very nice quality.

Saturday, I got caught up with my blocks for the Farm Girl Vintage sew along. Here is my Churn Dash Block

and my Cool Threads block. These are such fun blocks to make and I am in love with the book.

I have not decided what to do with my vintage sewing box. I found this one on Pinterest 

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/412853490817758173/ and was thinking of something similar in turquoise. I will get some other opinions first before I do anything. 

Our weather has finally gotten better, so I will also take some time to enjoy my book out in the sunshine!

Treasures

 Now that I am on summer vacation, I have been sewing, reading, and shopping up a storm! I ran down to the little fabric shop in my town and found some good fabrics for a quilt's border. Right around the corner from the fabric shop is an antique/vintage shop. I like to pop in there and see if there is anything I have to have. I spotted this sewing box there last summer and it was over $60 then, but today it was in the sale shed with no price tag. When I went into the shop, they said it was $24. SOLD!

 For that price, I figured I could just paint it--of course when I say "I," I mean my hubby! The sides are a pretty wood, but the top is not. My hubby checked it out and thinks I should just dust it which I did with some lemon oil. The lemon oil helped.

 He thinks it was handmade. It is pretty heavy. When collapsed, it measures 16 inches long, 9 inches wide, and 10 inches tall.

 Both sides expand out like this. The expanding cubbies are 2.5 inches deep and have an old laminate in the bottom--maybe from the late 1960's or early 1970's? The base has the same laminate and is 4 inches deep.

 There is actually quite a bit of storage in it.

 There were some old sewing odds and ends in it. Mostly vintage buttons and some really old fasteners with price tags for 25 cents. I condensed all the vintage goodies into one cubby.

Here is the view from the top. I like the glass knobs on the top and the sides. My hubby thinks they should be changed to something more industrial, but I think they would be cute if I painted it turquoise. He is not in love with the painting idea, but we will see what I decide. :0)

 I finished one of the Medallion Log Cabin quilts I made!

 I quilted it on my Pfaff with the wavy stitch both horizontally and vertically about every 2 inches.

 I pulled it out of the dryer this morning and ran outside to get some pictures.

 I pieced the back to get it wide enough.

 I did label it and plan on donating it to Happy Chemo as part of Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge 2015. It measures 54 inches square which is a good size to take back and forth for chemo treatments.

 I am usually not a fan of my quilting showing up this much, but I really like how it came out--so in this case I like it!

I am going over to my mom's today to use the longarm and quilt this top.  I am going to attempt free motion quilting with flowers and loops...

Charm Square Sampler

This is my Charm Square Sampler Quilt Top. I used a two Eat Your Fruits and Veggies by Pat Sloan charm packs and a red with white circles Lake House background from my LQS. I cut my sashing 2.5 inches and the blocks are 16 inches. Right now the top is 55 inches square--big enough for my kitchen table. I may add and additional outer border to allow for some shrinkage. Here is a link to Shannon's directions for this quilt http://moderntraditionquilts.blogspot.com 

Now, I need to find a good quality backing as this will be washed all of the time.

 My dishes are Fiestaware--in a rainbow of bright colors. I always make bright scrappy tablecloths to show them off.

 I use quilts as tablecloths because these are absorbent, cheerful, and useful. I have made quilted placemats too, but they tend to shift around and have more spillages. Here is my Good Night Irene tablecloth quilt I made last spring. My Fiestaware looks great on it!

My birthday is coming and I am getting the Fiestaware canister set as an addition to my collection. I am trying to decide on what colors to get them in. My canisters go in my cabinet, but I may want to put them out on the counter. I like this color combination of the scarlet, tangerine, and sunflower. These colors look nicely with my granite and maple cabinets.

I finished up my Canning Season Block for the Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along

and the Chicken Foot Block.

Here are all of my Farm Girl Vintage Blocks so far. I am making them from my scrap bins and love how they are coming together. 

The LQS is having a sale, so maybe I can find a backing for my Charm Square Sampler...

Fabric Therapy

Look at this awesome fabric I found! I LOVE aqua and red. I found this yardage at the discount fabric store a couple towns north of us. It was only $6 a yard and I bought all five yards they had. It was a splurge, but I think it will either be a great backing or a possible border for the Farm Girl Vintage Sampler I am working on.

 The aqua dots were precious too, but I only bought three yards of it. I tried to show a little self-control which was not easy!

 I got some half yards of these three because they were also $6 a yard, so $3 for half yards is a great bargain and I need more yellows.

The reason I went up to the fabric store was to get a backing for my Baby Chicks top and I found this--

which is PERFECT and only $6 a yard! I need to embroider the legs and eyes before I can quilt it, but  I love the backing.

I finished binding the apron block for the Snapshots BOM at Fat Quarter Shop http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/p/snapshots-quilt-along.html I am making my blocks into mini quilts.

Here is the backing with the label/corner hanger.

 Today was my last day of work for this school year! I am so ready for some home time. I came home and got caught up on my Farm Girl Vintage blocks. This is the Baking Day Block. It went together very easily. I am making the six inch blocks.

 This is also a Farm Girl Vintage block--the Butter Churn Block. I did not make the flying geese blocks in Lori's method, instead I just used the rectangles and squares method as it is the easiest for me. Here is the link for information about this sew along http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com

 I also made my last two blocks for the Charm Square Sampler Quilt Along. This is block 8 http://moderntraditionquilts.blogspot.com/p/charm-square-quilt-along-2015-block.html

and block 9. There are only nine blocks for this quilt and they measure 16 inches each. I am going to turn mine into a bright, summery tablecloth for my kitchen. I am going to work on piecing this top and finding a backing for it. With my summer here, I will be spending a lot of time in my sewing room trying to work on my many UFOs! 

Thank you all for your hugs and condolences about our dog, Dora! 

Goodbye Sweet Girl

Dora 1/25/03 - 5/12/15
It has been a rough week here. We had to have our oldest dog, Dora, put down. We all miss her terribly especially our other two dogs!

 I tried to be productive in my sewing room to distract myself from my grief. I made this month's BOM from the Snapshots Quilt Along-- the cute apron. Here is a link to the directions http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/p/snapshots-quilt-along.html
I am going to attach the binding and hand stitch it this evening for Slow Sunday Stitching, you can see what everyone else is up to here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

 I am participating in the Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along with Lori Holt, there is more information here http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com We are supposed to sew two blocks each Friday, but I have not done this past Friday's blocks yet because I was making a whole quilt from the book. This is the Baby Chick Block six inch size set in the Farm Fresh Quilt Setting featured in the book on page 108. I decided to put the cornerstones and sashing as an outer border on mine. It currently measures 40 x 50 inches which is a great size for a baby quilt, so I don't plan on adding any additional borders. This sweet, cheery quilt looks great out on my pasture fence with all the green, lush grass that has been growing like crazy because of rain we had this week.

I dug into my scrap bins for the yellows, reds, and pinks.  I already had the white with pink print in my stash and it was a perfect background. I traced the legs and eyes on each chick, but have not embroidered them yet with perle cotton. The chick's beaks are a dark brown, so I will coordinate the legs and eyes in brown too. Lori's book shows this quilt quilted to look like chicken wire and it is adorable and maybe worth me trying to figure out how to copy it myself.

I found my favorite quilting magazine for sale this week and I have been enjoying discovering new shops and trends in it. Our last day of school is this Wednesday, I know out before Memorial Day and boy am I ready! I will get caught up on my Farm Girl Vintage blocks and quilt up one of my Rainbow Medallion tops this week for Happy Chemo and the Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge. I also need to get another handwork project going. What are you up to?

Journey of a Quilter Finished!

Whoop whoop, my Journey of a Quilter is finished! I am happy dancing. This Journey began in April 2014 when I signed up for this quilt as a BOM from Material Girls in South Jordan, Utah. We received a block each month from April to December. It was pretty expensive, but I am so glad that I splurged.

The shop did a fantastic job with the fabrics even though they sometimes forgot to post pictures of the blocks which put me behind. The shop closed right after I received the last block because the owner died unexpectedly.

 I stitched in the ditch for the interior of the quilt using perle cotton #8 blanc.

 The pictures do NOT do the quilt justice with all the embroidery details--the light was not great outside because it is cloudy and threatening to rain.

 It took me awhile to find the right border fabric and I am really pleased with the fuchsia.

 The lime green binding is a Moda Marble and it is a cheerful frame for the quilt.

 The yellow floral backing is so cheerful and came from the sale bin at my LQS. I bought all the had and barely had enough for this project.

 I attached the label before quilting and just quilted right on through it too.

 Here is where it is hanging in my sewing room--this is the only wall that I have that is big enough for it. I think a coordinating throw pillow might have to be made for my chair.

 This Journey has been fantastic because I love embroidering and hand quilting and this gorgeous project included both. It is a Leanne Beasley design, but my colors are drastically different than what her pattern shows. Here is a link to her website http://www.leanneshouse.com

 This is another design from Leanne called Down in the Garden. I would love to trade my Journey of a Quilter pattern set for this one. If you are interested in trading please leave me a comment. These pattern sets run about $150 and the only place I can find them available is Australia so the shipping is really expensive too. I looked on eBay and didn't find one.  If you are interested in trading please leave me a comment!

 Today was Mother's Day and usually my mom and I spend the day sewing, but with her recent hand surgery she was not up for sewing. Instead, we went to see the movie, Still Alice. We both loved the book and wanted to see the movie and it was shown as part of a special movie offering in our town today. We cried our eyes out as I expected and the movie really followed the book and was so tragic! I am loving Lori Holt's Farm Girl Vintage book so much that I decided to get my mom one too. I also picked up some farm looking fat quarters and made her the Apron Strings pin cushion. She was thrilled!

This was my fantastic Mother's Day gift from my daughter! She has great taste and filled this gorgeous basket with all my favorites--EOS lip balm, a couple of chick flicks, a beautiful infinity scarf, pens, miniature Heath bars in a fun Starbucks mug, more chocolate with caramel, a Taste of Home recipe magazine, and some lilac color Essie nail polish. I will be painting my toes this new color tonight and digging out some more handwork while we watch one of these movies together.

I am so proud of this finish, I will be linking this finish all over blog land--see all the buttons on the right side!