Pillow Party

 Hi Y'all! Sorry I have been MIA. We have been experiencing TV and internet issues for over a week with both going out for 12 hours at a time--very frustrating, especially when they have not been able to figure out why. It has just been my neighborhood that has been effected and has not seemed to be much of a priority...Even though several neighbors have already discontinues their service and we might be next!

I finally received my Spelling Bee by Lori Holt last Monday. As I expected, it is fabulous and well worth the hefty price tag. One of the mini quilts was this Y'all one. I have a sweet friend from Georgia and I needed a birthday gift for her, so I made it into a pillow. I put it on Instagram and had another friend want to buy one...

 She has a niece that just moved to Texas and wanted it as a house warming present.

 Her niece also loves pineapples, so I whipped up a pineapple block and made it into a pillow too.

 I really like making pillows with an envelope back. It looks finished and makes it easy to remove the pillow forms to wash the cover. Amanda Jean has a really fabulous tutorial for them here:

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2014/02/how-to-make-envelope-backed-pillow.html

I also recommend buying your pillow forms at Walmart instead of Joann's because they are a fraction of the cost!

I took this sheep embroidery I stitched last summer when I took my daughter to college and turned it into a pillow too. All of the pillows I made this week are 12 x 16 inches.

 Our local quilt show was this past weekend and I helped my local quilt store with their booth. We set it up on Thursday and sold goodies all weekend. The only thing I bought from another vendor was this Kona panel.

It shows all the different Kona fabrics. I order lots of Kona fabrics from Joann's and I have wanted one of their color cards, but they are really expensive. This panel was only $12!

My summer is winding down and I go back to work on August 10th, so I better get busy to get some more projects done before it is over!

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Flo & Freddy Flamingo Quilt

 Meet Flo and Freddy Flamingo! I had such a great time quilting them up. I used a wider foot with a guide I bought back in April for my Pfaff--the rows are a little wider than half inch apart. There were no puckers and it stitched up beautifully with the walking foot engaged. This is a sample for one of my local quilt shops.

I used some of the left over pinks for the binding and used this beach themed pink fabric for the backing. Doesn't this just emulate summer?

I have been in stall mode awaiting the arrival of Lori Holt's new Spelling Bee book. According to my tracking info, my copy should arrive tomorrow. I decided to stitch up some of her companion blocks as I impatiently await the book's arrival. This is her schoolhouse block that was featured on her blog. Here is the link: http://beeinmybonnetco.blogspot.com/2017/07/schoolhouse-block-tutorial.html

 This is the Honeybee Block that I bought during the Fat Quarter Shop pattern sale a few weeks ago.

 The Mixer Block done with my favorite aqua and red

and of course the Vintage TV Block. I am not sure what these blocks are for, but they are sure are fun! Hopefully, I will get my book tomorrow and will dive into a new project. Stay tuned!

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Elizabeth Hartman Projects

 Hi! I mentioned in an earlier post that I have been helping out one of my local quilt shops with making samples for the shop and our town's upcoming quilt show. She had several of Elizabeth Hartman patterns in, but no samples. I offered to whip some up.  This is the Florence Flamingo small quilt with smaller borders and made from some pink Bali batik strips.  I just got back from picking up a backing, so I can quilt it up this evening. I am going to quilt it horizontally about every half inch. I think it will be fun and modern. The shop owner was thrilled with how the sample looked and immediately ordered some more patterns in.

This is Dwight the Deer with glasses. It is a 24 inch square pillow cover. Since we live in deer country this is sure to be a hit.

And last but certainly not least, Bjorn the Bear also with glasses and is a 20 inch square pillow cover. Wouldn't this be cute with a bunch of them for a baby quilt? There were several sizes included with the pattern.

I had never used an Elizabeth Hartman pattern before, but I am now a huge fan. Her directions were thorough, all in color, and very detailed. You can find her patterns here:

http://www.ohfransson.com

A Perfect Week

 We had a great week in my neck of the woods! My daughter was able to come home for a quick visit from college--she had not been home since January. It was only five days, but they were wonderful. She got in cuddle time with our dogs, Mexican & Thai food, kayaking with my hubby, driving her convertible, eating some goodies from our garden, and sleeping in her own bed.

 I made a couple of quick projects. First was Moda's free pillow pattern Stripes & Stars. I used left overs from my Grand Old Flag Quilt. The only thing I bought was a pillow form. You can find the pattern here: http://unitednotions.com/fp_stripes-stars-flag-pillow.pdf

 I also made another Grand Old Flag block using Pat Sloan's free pattern and used it as part of a new door banner.

 Here is a picture of my front porch. I want to paint a WELCOME sign on some old barn wood to stick in the right corner---hopefully before summer ends.

Both of these projects, I quilted using my built in "Wave Quilt" stitch on my Pfaff. This is a picture of what it looks like on my screen. This stitch is very forgiving and gives nice texture to my quilts. I do use my walking foot with it.

 After I dropped my daughter at the airport yesterday, I hit the fabric store for some retail therapy--a needed distraction. I bought half yards of the whites for Lori Holt's upcoming Bee Happy Sew Along. My mom gave me the gingham fat quarters. This is an appliqué project--I will not be doing it by hand--Wonder Under and my buttonhole stitch will be my method.

Isn't it amazing? Details should be on her blog at the beginning of August and the sewing starts on August 28th. I hope her new Spelling Bee book comes out soon because I am itching for a new project to start!