Scrappy Trips Quilting

 Fall is in the air here in western Colorado! The leaves are starting to change and the mornings are brisk--it was 35 degrees the other morning when I left for work too cold for the convertible, but 82 degrees when I left work at 3:30pm. I pinned my Scrappy Trips yesterday and quilted it up the rest of the weekend. It is big--not too big to quilt with my Pfaff's 10 inch throat, but pretty much too big for me to pin--72 inches square. I may need to get another pinning table!

 I quilted it on the diagonals with my big wavy stitch--it looks organic and adds some curves in the sea of squares.

 This project tickles me because I bought nothing specifically for it--the pattern was a freebie from Bonnie Hunter, all of the fabrics were from my stash including the backing, and I finished off my roll of Warm and White batting (I already have another one still in the box).

 At first, I thought I would use a black and white stripe for the binding, but I don't want anyone to limit this quilt as a Halloween project with the orange and white backing. I opted for a dark gray also from my stash instead.

I am not sure if I will keep this one or pass it on, but I did embroider a label for it. I will Slow Sunday Stitch the binding tonight https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2018/09/slow-sunday-stitching_23.html and tomorrow night while watching football. I sure hope that Fitzpatrick aka Fitzmagic leads Tampa Bay to their third victory!

I usually grocery shop on Sunday mornings at 8am because everyone is either at church or sleeping in. I hit Walmart and City Market (Kroger). I always make my rounds to the clearance section, but from some reason today I looped through the kitchen goodies at the Wall too. They had these 16-quart Pressure Canners for $15 instead of $65. My mom and I bought one years ago that we share, but it stays at her house, so now I have one to stay at my house if I want to can anything! They also had dozen packs of canning jars for $5, but I already have plenty in the garage, so I skipped them. I can't pass up a good, practical bargain!

Have a great week!

Scrappy Trips Top

 I made the most of the first NFL football Sunday last week and finished all of my Scrappy Trips blocks. I got busy yesterday and sewed them all together! It is about 72 inches square. I used a free pattern, you can find here: https://quiltville.com/scrappytripspf.html

I dug into my stash and found an orange and white to use for a backing which means I have not bought anything specifically for this one--it is completely from my stash! I think I will quilt it on the diagonals using the wavy stitch on my Pfaff. I don't have any specific plans for this quilt--I'm not sure if I will keep it or pass it on...Quilts always seem to end up where they belong.

 My top for the Fat Quarter Shop's Fat Eighth Fruitcake Quilt Along is complete. I can't reveal it yet, but I used mostly Smitten fabrics.  I ordered this red gingham backing from Connecting Threads--it is a wide one, so no piecing! I haven't figured out the quilting for it yet, but there is still time. I plan on slowing down since it is Sunday and embroidering labels for this one and the Scrappy Trips.
https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2018/09/slow-sunday-stitching_16.html

 I got my Smitten Fat Quarter Bundle in the mail this week. I preordered it back in July. Now, I have eight untouched Bonnie and Camille bundles--why can't I bring myself to use them? 

My daughter went with her study group to Scotland this weekend. She went there last Thanksgiving too, but for this visit they made it out to the Highlands and to a whisky distillery--both things she didn't get to do on her prior visit. That makes four countries in a month! Have a great week!

Ready for Some Football!

We are so excited about the new football season in my family! I made this Broncos quilt last year, but I only finished it at the end of the season. We can't wait for it to be cold enough to cuddle under this and watch our Broncos. For now, I am geared up in shorts and a Bronco t-shirt and plan on spending the day in my sewing room with NFL Red Zone on and quilting.

I have this lonely leftover football block that I think I am going to turn into a door banner today. I am a little obsessed!

I have my Fat Quarter Shop secret sewing ready for the quilter and the other project complete which means I had time to get back to work on my Scrappy Trips blocks. I have 27 blocks done and I plan on making 36--9 more to go!

Have you found the new Quilt Sampler yet? I picked it up yesterday and I am excited to check out some exciting quilt shops all over the country--there is one in the Denver area I will check out the next time I am in Denver...

We have seven apple trees--our own mini orchard. Each tree is a different variety. My favorite is the Granny Smith--partly because I have always loved tart, crisp apples, but mostly because it is the biggest tree and I spend lots of time with our dogs sitting under it in the shade reading. Our dogs love to eat the fallen apples and play with them. The little apple is a Granny Smith, but the bigger apple from another tree was a treat with our dinner last night--I am not sure of the variety. I am going to make some apple sauce in my Instant Pot this week. I am so glad fall is finally arriving!

My daughter is enjoying her semester in London. She sent me this picture from the flower market with these amazing sunflowers from last weekend.

This weekend, she and a few friends flew to Oslo, Norway to check it out before it gets too cold. Both my hubby and I have Norwegian ancestry, so Viking blood runs in her and we are thrilled she is exploring. She is going back to Scotland next--this visit is included in the school's study group curriculum and then she is off to Munich for October Fest. Don't worry, she is studying too for her three economics classes and one theater class; their academic schedule is designed to accommodate travel and exploration!

Quilters Meet & Greet

Greetings! A couple of months ago, I was contacted by Benita Skinner https://benitaskinner.blogspot.com

asking if I wanted to participate in her Quilters Meet & Greet she was planning for September. 

https://benitaskinner.blogspot.com/2018/09/2018-online-quilters-meet-greet.html

I was honored to be invited and jumped at the chance. She asked us to select our favorite quilt to share--this is so difficult for me! Quilts are like children and you can't pick a favorite unless you only have one. One of my current favorites is my Spelling Bee--it is not even complete, but I love it dearly. It was designed by one of my favorite quilters, Lori Holt from Bee in My Bonnet. I am working on the backing and then hope to have this quilted and done soon.

 My favorite quilts tend to be scrappy. This is my Kona Kaleidoscope Stars I finished up this summer. I made it from my Kona leftovers from the quilt below.  I used a minky backing because it is so soft, but it is a challenge to work with due to all the stretching. I quilted it on the diagonals and used my domestic Pfaff. It was finally cool enough the other night to cuddle under it and it was luxurious!

This is my Postcard from Sweden Quilt I also finished this summer and quilted it horizontally. I had never made an all solids quilt before, but I am in love with it!

Over the last year, I have had the opportunity to quilt for the Fat Quarter Shop. I recently finished up this beautiful quilt, Clementine. Currently, I am working on two secret projects for them both using Bonnie and Camille fabrics that will be revealed in October, so be sure to check back.

Benita insisted we include a picture--so here I am. I live in western Colorado with my hubby and three dogs. We live in the country on a couple of acres--I love living in the country even if it means early morning buzzes from the crop duster and random gunshots.

Our daughter (the one in yellow) is off at college and is spending this semester in London.

I plan on surprising her with this Jumping Jacks Quilt in some of my favorite Bonnie and Camille florals when she returns in mid-December. 

The party lasts all of September and there are prizes, so take some time to check everyone out!
https://benitaskinner.blogspot.com/2018/09/2018-online-quilters-meet-greet.html

https://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/fabric/

FQS Fat Eighth Fruitcake

I survived my first week back at work! It was lots of meetings and paperwork--the kids don't come until Thursday. I even managed to come home and sew a couple of evenings. I received a Bonnie & Camille Smitten Fat Eighth bundle and a background for one of their shortcut quilt projects--Fat Eighth Fruitcake Quilt. It will tentatively be revealed on October 23rd. Friday night, I drank a glass of wine and headed to my sewing room to start cutting it out. These are mostly Smitten fabrics, but I added in a couple of other B&C fabrics. All 30 of my blocks are almost done--that proves it is definitely a fast one. I have another quick project that is also secret sewing for the Fat Quarter Shop and I will probably use the scraps leftover from this one for it too...No B&C scraps go to waste at my house!

 While I headed back to work this week, my daughter ventured to Iceland! She scheduled a stop over there for a couple of days on her way to London. She traveled alone in celebration of her 20th birthday--and she loved solo traveling. One day she spent touring Reykjavik

 and the next day, she took a horseback tour of the Golden Circle. Then, she caught an early flight the next day to London. She will be in London for the whole semester and already has trips scheduled for  Venice, Munich for October Fest, Berlin, Copenhagen, and Spain. Several of her friends are also on their semester's abroad, so she will be meeting them all over Europe and taking advantage of staying with them. She loves to travel and spent her summer working to pay for it. I am so excited for her adventures!

Back to Work

Tomorrow is my official report to work day, but I have already been easing in by organizing my classrooms. This amazing Cow Quilt was made by my mom for a local charity silent auction. She used Lori Holt's cow and zinnia patterns as well as the flying geese blocks found in Lori's Farm Girl Vintage book. The charity is our local children's shelter and they are having a barn dance/silent auction in September.  Since we live in ranch country, she thought the cows would be appropriate with the locals and the barn theme. I know the people who own the gorgeous barn venue where the event is being held and I suspect this will be staying with them! While she was over, we dug into my black and whites tub for another cow quilt she is making with black and white cows. This is for sure on my make one list and hopefully soon!

I have been working on these Scrappy Trips blocks--I am planning on 36 blocks and so far I have made 17. Each block takes awhile despite making them from strip sets. I am using this free pattern from Bonnie Hunter http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/scrappy-trips-around-world.html

I have a white going down the diagonals of my blocks, but the pattern does not show this. 

I will be cranking out some more today as I binge watch Bosch on Amazon Prime and enjoy my last day of summer.

I also need to spend some time today slow stitching this label for my Spelling Bee Quilt.

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2018/08/slow-sunday-stitching_19.html

If all you are interested in is quilting, stop reading now. The rest is about my teaching...

At one of my schools, the principal gave of us this fascinating book they are going to be using this year for professional development. I have been teaching for 23 years and I know I connect really well with kids and enjoy teaching, but this book gave me some insights as to why. We took an online quiz where you had to answer each question within 20 seconds. The quiz figured out your top five strengths, then you read about your strengths in the book so you can focus on them more in your teaching. My strengths were:  competition, strategic, achiever, relator, and significance. The achiever and competition were no surprise as well as the relator--I win kids over and make them want to learn and perform for me. I see many of these same strengths in my quilting habits too!

When you work at three schools, you have to take some shortcuts when setting up your classrooms especially when your room is shared and used by other people when you are not there. I really like to use black and white and then an accent color to spice things up. I love aqua/turquoise, so that is my accent color. We have to post our daily learning objective for each subject, so I had my hubby spray paint some clipboards black to hold my laminated aqua card stock. He made me three sets! The tissue paper flower I found on Pinterest and I have made a bunch of them--they are inexpensive and can add an extra dimension and pop of color.

I bought a roll of bulletin board paper that looks like barn wood. This room is used for a conference room when I am not there, so I was trying to keep things looking clean and organized.

I painted the paper mache READ letters myself--for on top of this bookshelf. I made another set in aqua for a different room and I am not sure if I have space for some in the last room. I still need to alphabetize my books--another bookshelf collapsed last year and the custodians just shoved my books into this replacement.

I strongly believe that the right books turn kids into lifelong readers, so I have this wall space labeled with each student's name so they can put a post it up with what book they are reading. My name is up there too--I read kids books and try to guide kids to books I think they will enjoy. The more the kids talk about their reading with one another, the more they read!

I actually have to move out of this room midyear, so I like to make banners because they are easier to take down and relocate. I think this simple "Choose Kind" banner says how I expect the kids to behave...I need to remember this as I sit in lots of challenging meetings this week!

August Is Awkward

August is always awkward because it is still summer, but back to school looms! I start to prepare for my back to school--working at three schools means three classrooms to set up. I move away from quilting mode to back to school mode. I finished all of my Summerville quilt blocks, but I have not sewn them together yet. I am not sure if I am going to make it 70 inches square as the kit is designed or go bigger with extra blocks or a border, so it is in limbo.

Our garden is producing lots of zucchini, so I have been making delicious zucchini bread as well as stuffed zucchini. The tomatoes are trickling in and the peppers are kind of pathetic--it has just been too hot for them.

We had a going away gathering last night for a colleague who is moving. She loves green so I used some of my leftover half square triangles from my Clementine quilt to make her a zip pouch.

This is the back of the pouch and I lined it with the same left over Clementine fabric.

I saw this Scrappy Trips quilt on IG--an oldie from Sherri @aquiltinglife and I want to make one of my own--isn't it gorgeous? The pattern is a freebie you can find here:

http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2005/06/scrappy-trips-around-world.html

I want to make 36 blocks, so I need 180 color strips 2.5"x 16.5" inches along with 36 strips in white because I want my blocks to have a center diagonal of white. I have been slowly cutting my way through the color tubs in my stash. I hope to finish up the cutting and start sewing the strip sets this weekend.

I also have a few projects for my classrooms--painting some clipboards, painting some paper mache letters, cutting some bulletin board goodies, etc. I like prepping my classrooms ahead of time because then I can actually focus on the teaching if my classroom environment is organized, clean, and cute--kids appreciate it too. I report to work on Monday, 8/20--I will try to enjoy my last week of summer!