February progress

I'm loving the latest sew along from Temecula Quilts called Circa 2016. The blocks are little and they use scraps! Here's the last two additions. There are twelve nine patches that measure 2 3/4" unfinished and twenty four hour glass blocks that also measure 2 3/4" unfinished. They sew up quickly so there's still time to join in if you have been tempted.

Redwork Seasons from Paula Stoddard is now done, except for the label. My goal this year was to finish something from the UFO pile each month. It's only been two months, but I'm 2 for 2.

Linking up with She Can Quilt: Scraptastic Tuesday here.

Slow Stitching Sunday

It felt like a spring morning as we left for church today! I'm ready for winter to be over even if it has been a milder one than normal.

My Redwork Seasons quilt that I made back in  2013 from a free, BOTM from Paula Stoddard at Pacific Patchwork was up on the frame this week at the local longarmer. She does excellent work!  I loved stitching these blocks! Today, I am hand stitching the binding down and it will be done! (except for the label)

I also finished a little, strippy quilt for the January challenge in Kathleen Tracy's SmallTalk group.

Linking up with Kathy at Slow Stitching Sunday  
and She Can Quilt: Scraptastic Tuesday.

Circa 2016 And Updates

Well, I've started the latest Temecula Quilts sew along, Circa 2016. My willpower seems non existent! This quilt is for scraps! Perfect! The first week requires me to sew four, cute, little pinwheel blocks using medium and dark fabrics. They measure 2 3/4" unfinished. So far, so good. 

Here are my latest two blocks for Farm Girl Vintage. We are making two blocks each month. I am really enjoying these patterns and appreciate the fact that the size for each sewn segment is given. Sure helps to keep the blocks the correct size. 

And finally, here is my latest Whatnots quilt called Anthem sewn at the retreat last week. Kim Diehl's patterns are also fun to do. She seems to always come up with unique ways to sew the blocks. 

 Linking up with Freemotion by the River here.

Vintage Farm Girl

At QCU (Quilted Cottage University) we started making two blocks each month from the Farm Girl Vintage book by Lori Holt. They are so much fun to make. Here are my first eight blocks.

I'm using bright fabrics which aren't my normal choice, but they are making me happy each month.

Bring On The New Year

I've been buried in my sewing room trying to sort through the overload of stuff! My goodness, I'll have to live to be 150 to even have a shot at using most of it. It is January, though, and I always have high hopes in January that the new year will bring positive changes.

With that said, here is my first finish for 2016. This is my Woodlands quilt that I made here. The photo color isn't the best, but take my word for it, the Jo Morton fabrics in this one are so pretty.

Another Whatnots top is ready for quilting, too. Kim Diehl called this one "Five and Dime" and it was a fun little quilt to make.

This past week-end was spent in Chesaning at our annual New Year Retreat.
On Friday, our friend, Marlene, guided us through the making of the table wreaths that are popping up all over the internet. Here is my finish.

On Saturday I sewed half square triangle units and trimmed them to the size needed. They will make a little quilt soon.

We had team shirts for Saturday and Sunday. Always a fun time spent with these ladies!

A New Year

I wanted to share the Quilts of Valor I presented to my son, Mike, and daughter, Kari, at Christmas. They were both surprised!

Another year is about ready to begin. It still amazes me how quickly the days, weeks and months fly by. I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!

                                                     Merry Christmas!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I spent a fabulous few days at The Jane Stickle Quilt Retreat in Shipshewana, Indiana last week. One hundred and twenty quilters from all over the world sewing, laughing and sharing all in the same room! On Thursday evening, over
half of us donned our pink, sewing themed pajamas from Target and had our photo taken together. That's a lot of pink in one place!

On Saturday, we watched all day as the first snowfall blanketed the area and kept us inside for the most part.

At this retreat many of us sewed little dresses and shorts for children in Africa. The final total was almost 50 dresses and 7 shorts. This is one of the clotheslines that was hung.

Finally, a couple of pictures from Yoders Department Store. Five quilt blocks on the outside of the building and oodles and oodles of pre-cuts waiting inside.

 

                                       Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving!

Pumpkin time

Fall has arrived and so have the pumpkins! This local market has oodles of them in all sorts of colors and sizes.

I haven't had much progress to show lately. However, just attended the October Sleep At Retreat and finished another Whatnots quilt. This one was a lot of work, but oh, so worth it! It took me almost three days to get to the top stage. Nothing difficult, just a lot of steps. Sixteen 4 1/4" unfinished blocks became...

this top!

Also finished the Half Square Triangle block for the month. Three down and nine to go!

Boo to You!

We have had a few days that felt like fall. So I thought this Halloween project might be a good choice  to work on for Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday. I pieced the churn dash blocks at the retreat. It's ready for some pumpkins and stitching now. Of course, next week the temps should go back up to the 80s, so I'd better stitch quickly. Don't you love the Red Button Quilt Co. patterns?

Retreat Sewing at The Cottage

Another Sleep At Home Retreat at The Cottage this week!

My goal for this retreat was to sew the Whatnots quilt for the next club meeting.  The churn dashes are 3" finished.I really enjoyed making this one.

In addition to finishing that top, I was able to complete the extra pattern using the 1" strip leftovers. Both quilts were fun projects to sew!

My pillowcases were turned in for the challenge. My lot included four sports, four Halloween and two Christmas themes. These will go to children fighting cancer at Mott's Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor.

This month the first block was due for the Half-Square Triangle Sampler. Blocks are due at the retreat each month. I had a pile of Mary Engelbreight fabrics that I am using. The blocks are all half square triangle units and the quilt uses 8 fat quarters plus background to make them.

Happy Labor Day Week-end!

I hope everyone in the states is enjoying their Labor Day Week-end!

This has been my hand project this week. I have one for each month of the year.When the stitching is done, I will add patchwork to make Fright Night. It's a fun and fast table mat.

We have a local challenge to make Halloween and Christmas pillowcases for Mott Children's Hospital in Ann Arbor. I have fabric and did get two done so far.

Jasper and Annie have been especially cute this past week. They send their Happy Labor Day wishes.

                  Linking up with Kathy for her Slow Stitching Sunday!

Another Slow Stitching Sunday

Somehow a whole month almost slipped by between my posts. How does that happen? I may have been negligent with my posting, but I have been working on projects.

Today I finished the binding on my alphabet quilt from Moda's Spell It With Fabric Designer blog hop last year. I used a jelly roll to make the letters and a bold alphabet print for the backing.

During the last Sleep At Home retreat I finished another patriotic top. While trying to fix a couple of misplaced blocks, I had all kinds of help from Jasper.
After relocating him to his own chair next to mine, I was able to complete the top. It just needs a couple of borders now.

I've been sewing Time Warp Stars, too, and really need to lay them all out for another group picture. There is one star to do and I'll be up to date.

Spent a couple of days at the AQS Show in Grand Rapids. It's always fun to see friends, all of the amazing quilts and vendors (did I mention vendors).

We were fortunate to be in Chicago taking in two Tigers/Cubs games at Wrigley Field. And we won them both! It's been a brutal season, but a faithful
fan sticks with the team through the good and the bad.

Linking up with Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday.

Slow Stitching Sunday

One more block hand pieced so that makes six - halfway there! They are getting a bit more challenging.

I also sewed a little nine patch quilt for Kathleen Tracy's July small quilt challenge. Nine patches are my favorite blocks so I couldn't pass up this opportunity. My quilt has 1 1/2" nine patches and finishes 10 1/2" x 12 1/2".

Linking up with Kathy for her Slow Stitching Sunday.