Sunday Sewing

Not much sewing around here lately, or at least not enough to stay caught up with everything I want to get done. A quick trip to the LQS netted some BOM kits priced to sell at $1.00 each. I actually bought nine alike thinking they could be put together for a quick wall hanging. I thought I could hurry through it and get it done, but nooooooo. Here's what happens when I get in a hurry:

One of these block has a problem..... I decided to take a nap before I got it fixed, but I did get it taken apart and put back together the right way.

Other than that, I got some blocks made for one of my monthly swaps.

Three-inch nine patches--very cute, and I like this month's color theme (cheddar and brown) because it worked well for using some of my 1800's repro stash. Even better news:  they're not due until the 28th, so I'm ahead of schedule on these for once.

More later,

Carolyn

Blog Giveaway

Here's something I'd really like to win:


An Accuquilt Go! Cutter. What a great tool for a gadget lover like me! I know Accuquilt has given Go! Cutters to some bloggers to give away on their blogs, but I usually discover them a few days too late. This one I found before the drawing. I'm crossing my fingers that I win!.

UFO's

I had a long weekend, and it was a rainy one. Perfect for sewing. I actually got a UFO done but forgot to take a pic--I'll try to remember to get one up later. Also found this UFO while looking for something else. I don't know where they all come from, they seem to be multiplying when I'm not looking!

 I really don't even remember starting this one....it's several years old as those are some of the first charm packs I'd seen. They're American Jane from Sandy Klopp. The good thing is that it was already cut and about half of the blocks were sewn. All I had to do was finish the sewing, iron, and trim. Now they're all done and ready to be put together. I even had a few left overs from the charm packs:

Not many, but enough to try something fun.......which reminds me that I got a cool new tool. It's called L'il Twister, and it's a template designed specifically for use with charm packs.



So, I saw a demo at the quilt shop and it's supposed to be easy to use...............just sew the charm squares together, add a three inch border, and start cutting.



I added solid red squares to get some more intense color as my leftovers were low-contrast, and here's what I got:

It's quite a bit longer that this, but it wouldn't all fit in the pic. But you get the general idea. Starting at the border, you lay the template with the cross at the intersection of the first block corner and the border. Like this:

and cut all the way around the template.

Here's what it looked like after a few cuts!

And here are the first two rows laid out to sew.

By the way, the sewing is super-easy as there are no intersections except when joining the rows. One word of caution though, all four sides of the square are on the bias--not the true bias, but still stretchy enough that I had to handle them carefully, especially when pressing. I hope to finish getting this together soon and figure out what kind of borders I want. I'm trying to think of a way to use up the little squares that are left over from the cutting to make some type of border.

Later,
Carolyn

First Day of School

Here are some of the pictures from granddaughter's first day of school (Pre-K).

Guess you can tell who's proud of their new backpack!

Outside the school.

At her table and feeling like a big girl. 

With the rest of the class.

1st Day of School

Here's some pics of granddaughter's 1st day of school:

Quilt Show

I had forgotten I'd taken some pictures at the recent Victoria quilt show until I discovered them while looking for someone else. I have few spare minutes this morning so I'll get them uploaded to this post.

This one is the "Rabbits Love Chocolate" BOM from the LQS.

The quilt on the left is a sampler of the shop hop blocks from the Houston International Quilt Festival -- I don't remember what year these are from......

There was a one-block wonder class done at the guild last year--may have been where these two originated.

The last one was my favorite. Wish I would have taken more pictures of it. The colors were so warm and soft, and the piecing was excellent.

Happy quilting,

Carolyn

Rotten Dogs

Just thought I'd share what I came home to after church tonight. I stopped at the grocery store after work and got everything put away except for one bag. Left for church. Came home to this:

An overturned bag and a carton of dog food with the top gnawed off and licked clean. Who'd have thought they could smell the dog food through the packaging? I was a little annoyed but probably should just be happy they didn't eat all of them. Although... I can't remember for sure how many I bought, and there may be one missing. Rotten little creatures......

Table Runners

Where has the time gone? I am happy to say that I've gotten lots and lots of things made, finished up some block swaps, and have several UFO tops completed and ready to quilt. I have been on a table runner kick for several months now....I started last year and was able to get some made in time for Christmas...here are pics of three of them, also pics of the recipients:

Melanie is a dog groomer (also a dog lover) so her runner has dogs.

Julia and Nichole got coffee prints to match their kitchens.

After the first of the year, I made two runners for a table runner challenge sponsored by one of my on-line quilting groups. These were my two entries:

Neither one was the winner of the challenge, but I am happy with the way they turned out.

About this time, I saw a short demo at my local quilt shop for a really fast, easy pattern, and I was hooked again! The pattern demo coincided with Easter prints going on sale at the fabric store where I work, and the result was lots of Easter table runners:

I have made several more from the book Let's Do Lunch by Terry Atkinson, but don't have pics as they are not quilted yet. It's a really great book with lots of great patterns; I recommend it to anyone who is looking for patterns for quick gifts. I bought mine at the Calico Cat Quilt Shop in Lake Jackson, Texas, so I know you can get them there if you are interested.