FNSI September

 I was not sure I was going to be able to sew last night because I took a computer class at work from right after school until 7:30 pm. They provided a pizza dinner so when I got home late from work, I just headed straight into my sewing room. I am making these blocks for a quilt that will be a wedding gift.

I cut all the pieces on Sunday and have been working on the parts all week during the evenings. For Friday Night Sew In, I sewed all the nine patches for the middle of the blocks. 

I need to make 26 blocks.

 All the fabrics are from my scrap bins.

Today I will get all the blocks pieced together

 and hopefully find a good sashing in my stash

 and maybe a border fabric.

Then, I can hit the fabric store and/or the LQS for a cheap backing.

I also got my Little Letters D blocks made on Wednesday night. So far, I have been keeping up as the patterns are posted on Wednesdays and Sundays over at http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com

Here are my country colored blocks

and my bright, modern blocks. Check out what everyone else did for FNSI here http://sugarlanequilts.blogspot.com/2014/09/fnsi-sign-ups.html

Around the World Blog Hop

I have been reading these posts with great interest because it is great to gain insight from the process of others. A thank you to PugMom for inviting me to join. You can check out her post here http://pugmomquilts.blogspot.com/2014/09/around-world-blog-tour.html

I apologize ahead of time for how long and picture heavy this is, but I think the pictures show my quilting style.

My name is Tanya and I have been quilting for nearly 20 years. I started right after we got married when my hubby told me I needed a hobby. I had learned to sew as a child and decided to try quilting. I took a free adult continuing education class with Peggy Martin (she is a published quilt book author and did amazing things with color). I soon took over my hubby's garage as my sewing studio and have been totally obsessed with quilting ever since. There have been times when I toned it down (like when I had a newborn and when I got my masters), pretty much only when  life gets in the way. Quilting is my therapy and crucial to my mental health!

1. What am I working on? 
I always have multiple projects going on...Maybe it is ADD, but the variety helps anything from becoming monotonous!

 This is a sewing machine cover and mat that is a Lori Holt design from her book, Quilty Fun. I want to use it with my Singer Featherweight for a retreat I am going on next month.

 This is an "Angry Birds Square within Square" quilt I am making on commission for  a nine year old boy.

This is the base for a perpetual calendar that is embroidered. I need to quilt it and embroider all the designs for each holiday. It is a free pattern you can find here http://www.crabapplehillstudio.com/other-stuff/downloadables/how-time-flies-bom.html

This is called "Country Homecoming" and has been a quilt along over at  http://kimsbigquiltingadventure.blogspot.com I am supposed to have the border appliquéd by mid-September. I am going to use wool felt and hand appliqué it, so I better get a move on!

This is "Lucky Stars" from Terry Atkinson made with Parasol fabrics by Heather Bailey. My sister asked me to make it for one of her friends. I plan on quilting it with my mom's long arm when it gets back from being serviced next week.

I have many more UFOs, but these are my most current projects!

2. How does my work differ from others of its genre?

I am kind of all over the place with my quilting. I do not stick with one style...

I have made many country style and primitive quilts over the years. 

 These are companion quilts "My Country Week" and "My Country Seasons" designed by Cheri Saffiote-Payne. Here is a link to her site http://www.quiltsbycheri.com

I appliqué with wool felt and hand quilt with perle cotton, but I do not do much other appliqué- like needle turn or any hand piecing. I have not jumped on the hexagon bandwagon!

I love to embroider with perle cotton. This is "Journey of a Quilter," a BOM, I have been working on since April.  

I have always made bright quilts especially as baby quilts.

 Recently, I am more inclined to make more modern quilts. This is Pretty Posies.

3. Why do I write/create?

I can't imagine not creating! I find making quilts fulfilling for my soul and a way to relax after a long day at work.

4. How does my writing/creating process work? 

I am all over the place with my process. I rarely make a quilt from start to finish. I will start it, stop and do something else, and then come back to it. My biggest problem for finishing quilts is the quilting part...I am still learning to use my mom's long arm machine, but I lack confidence and often avoid it!

My favorite way to quilt is to dig in my scrap bins and stash and make a quilt from nothing.

I organize my scrap bins by color and they are directly under my cutting table for easy access.

 This is my "Bee in my Bonnet Row Along Quilt" featured in Lori Holt's Quilty Fun book. It is not finished because I cannot make a decision regarding borders, but it was made using up some scraps.

This is my "Farmer's Wife" quilt also made from my scraps.

Thank you for learning more about me! I have tagged

Narelle over at http://pinsandwhiskers.blogspot.com

Diann over at http://littlepenguinquilts.blogspot.com

and

Kim over at http://quiltingwithkim.blogspot.com

They will all be posting on Monday, 9/22.

Sunday Smorgasbord

 Letter C of the Little Letters alphabet quilt over at Temecula Quilt Co. posted this morning. Here is the link http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/2014/09/little-letters-c.html

 Here are my more manly/country colored letters

 and my bright ABC's. I think these will be fabulous baby quilts! I know that Val is making these over at http://myplvl.blogspot.com and we would love to know who else is working on them. Maybe we can start a link up and encourage each other to stick with them...

It is Sunday, so it is time for Slow Sunday Stitching and football. I am working on hand quilting the background for a perpetual calendar with perle cotton.

I decided to use black perle cotton which is a risk for me because my sloppy stitches will show more, but all the numbers for the calendar are outlined with black perle cotton too. I think it will all tie together this way. See what everyone else in the slow stitching world is up to here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com

 I am going to a wedding in a couple of weeks for one of the teacher's I work with, so I of course need to make a wedding quilt. I have been to her current home, but her fiancé has purchased them a different home that I have not seen. She revealed at her bridal shower last night that she moved the curtains from her current home to the new home. Her current home is country with blues, reds, greens, browns, etc. So, I started digging in my UFOs and found four blocks that I inherited from my sister. I have know idea the block's name, but it measures 10 inches and will go together fairly quickly.

I figure a decent size lap quilt will need a total of 30 blocks set 5 x 6 which means I need to make 26 more blocks. I started digging in my scrap bins and cutting away. If everything is cut, I should be able to make a few blocks every night this week and have a completed top next weekend. 

It truly is a Smorgasbord of quilting going on over here at my house. I will be participating in the Around the World Blog Hop tomorrow, and I have invited quilters from near and far to join me. 

Little Letters-B is for Block

 Did you see that the B directions for the Little Letters quilt were posted today? Here is the link http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/2014/09/little-letters-b.html

 It took me a half an hour to make my country color one

 and my bright one. This bright B is orange even though it looks red in my picture. Two letters will be posted every week and it is free!

These are the completed quilts. I am going totally scrappy and using a scrappy background too.

Little Letters

 Have you seen the Little Letters Quilt over at Temecula Quilt Co.'s blog? Here is the link http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/search/label/Little%20Letters Two letters will be posted each week and it is totally free! I could not decide which color way to go with, so I am making one of each. I also am only using fabric from my scrap bins including the background fabric, so mine will be very scrappy--just how I like!

Here are my A's. The quilts will measure 34 x 39 inches with 4 inch finished blocks. Sounds like the perfect size for a baby quilt! I can't wait for letter B.

 I finished this fall door hanger last night. I quilted it during football on Sunday and bound it last night during the Monday night games. I inherited it as a UFO from my sister.  The pattern is by Cottage Creek Quilts from Pam Puyleart as part of her "Backdoor Quilt Series." Here is the link http://www.cottagecreekquilts.com/patterns.html 

I have made several from this series. My hubby likes how they are narrow, so you can still see out the door. I am thinking of making door hangers for both my from and back doors because we use the back door much more. I am going to send this one off to my sister and make another one for myself. It is nice to have a finish so early in the week.

My Rainbow Orange Peel Quilt is up for a viewer's choice award over at Quilty Habit. There is some awesome eye candy, so be sure and go cast your vote for your favorite here http://quiltyhabit.blogspot.com/2014/09/viewers-choice-voting-orange-peel-qal.html

I was tagged for the Around the World Blog Hop and will make my post on Monday, 9/15. I am supposed to tag three more bloggers, but everyone I have asked so far has declined or they have already participated. If you would like to participate let me know and I will send you the questions and link my post to your blog. Thanks!

September Friday Night with Friends

I spent Friday Night with Friends virtually and a bottle of Redd's Apple Ale! I finished piecing this quilt for a 9 year old. It has Angry Birds fabric, not my favorite fabric or easy to figure out a design that would show the large print fabrics. I just cut a 3.5 inch squares for the centers and surrounded them with 3.5 inch strips making 9 inch finished square in square blocks. I plan on quilting it vertically along the seams and in the middle of the squares with a wavy stitch. Keep it simple is my motto when working with fabrics like this...Check out what everyone else accomplished here http://stitchingcubbyhole.blogspot.com.au/2014/09/today-is.html

Today I joined my mom and Lindsey for some real stitching with friends. I worked on my sewing machine cover and mat. I am going to try to machine quilt it diagonally tonight. This is a Lori Holt design from her row along book. It think it will be perfect to use for traveling with my Singer Featherweight. I pieced the hourglass blocks at the beginning of summer and just now got around to putting them all together, but I have a retreat coming in October and I want to have this ready. 

I also pinned this door hanger to hand quilt during football tomorrow for Slow Sunday Stitching. Be sure to check out what everyone else is working on here http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com My sister had started this one and I am finishing it, but I will probably make another one so we can each have one!

The Good and the Bad

The Good is tonight is the first NFL game of the season and my family is thrilled beyond belief!

Don't let the sleeping dogs fool you, we are happy dancing at my house over the start of football again!

But the Bad, we are very sad over the passing of Joan Rivers. We all adored her and watched "Fashion Police" often to hear her hilarious jokes. There are not many celebrities out there that can appeal to a 16 year old fashionista, a 42 year old quilter, and a 53 year old outdoorsman, but Joan did. We will miss your snarky and politically incorrect humor. RIP Joan! 

When I came home from work, I checked our peaches. Our tree is loaded and the peaches are the biggest we have ever had. They are not quite ready, but the wind had knocked several to the ground.

I used the fallen peaches to make a peach cobbler for dessert during the game tonight. I added extra sugar and softened up the peaches in the microwave, so I hope it tastes good.

I also made homemade pizza. This one has tomatoes and basil from our garden plus pepperoncinis and red onions for my vegetarian daughter.

 This one has bacon alfredo sauce, baked potato slices, and turkey-pepperjack sausage for my meat and potatoes hubby.

 My beverage is ready

and so is our new "Loser" hat. My family of three make our weekly picks of all the NFL games and the loser of the betting will get to wear this new ball cap my mom an dad had made for us. I don't plan on wearing it often, but it fits my hubby just right!

My sewing basket is loaded up with handwork for during tonight's game and Sunday's all day marathon of games.

 Here is my spot

and here is our giant 60 inch TV with the game. Go Seahawks! My hubby picked the Packers...