Design Wall Monday 06/24/13

I found a link to a really neat tutorial on Pinterest.  It is a variation on a Disappearing Nine Patch.  As soon as I saw it, I knew I just had to make one.  The sample was made with beautiful batiks and narrow black sashing, which is what I was also going to do, but then I saw a charm pack of pretty Christmas prints, and I changed my mind.  Hopefully this line will work out well.  I'm excited to be working on it.  I haven't been sewing much lately and it's fun to be motivated once again!

This block will be cut twice to make four smaller blocks.  You can watch the You Tube video to see how it's done.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone else is working on today!

Stash Report - Week 25, 2013

Oh boy.  It looks like I'm failing miserably at stash busting this year.  Oh well.  I've been really good in the past.  I bought a total of 7 yards of fabric this week!  But I have plans for all of it!  The Christmas fabric in the top picture are for a project that I've already started (see Design Wall Monday post tomorrow for more on that).  Two of the fabrics in lower picture are for a "mail sack" type bag that I'm going to make.  I'm going to be traveling, and I think this style of bag will work well.  Then there is a piece of London print fabric that was on sale and I thought I'd pick up.  Okay, I really don't have a plan for that piece at the moment!

Hopefully the Christmas quilt will be done soon so can count that out of my stash.  It's a pretty quick quilt that I'm really excited about.

I'm linking to Judy L's stash report today.  Now I'll go and see if everyone else has been as bad as me!

Fabric used this week: 0.00 yards
Fabric added this week: 7.00 yards

Fabric used this year: 7.50 yards
Fabric added this year: 19.75 yards

Design Wall Monday 06/17/13

A few more hexagon flowers are done.  I'll add these to the (short) pile I've made.  The one on the lower right has a couple of different fabrics in it.  I'm trying to use my scraps, but a lot of times the scraps are too small to make six hexagons.  So I experimented with mixing fabrics.  I think it looks pretty cute that way.  The one at the top uses a fabric I thought would be too busy for the small hexagon, but I like how that one turned out too!  I'm going to get a little bolder with my fabric choices now that I know these two worked.

Tonight is the last night for my quilting class until September.  I taught the wall hanging above this session.  It is just a quilt top, but I really want to hang this in my office, so now I'll work on layering it up and doing a little quilting.  I'll start with some stitch in the ditch to outline the shapes, and then maybe I'll try something a little more creative in the background spaces.

It really is square, but the corners folded in at the bottom when I took the picture.  It measures approximately 31" square.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone else is working on today!

Dear Jane - L3

I got another Dear Jane block finished this week.  It was a pretty straight forward paper pieced block.  It looks like I have 46 blocks finished now.  I think that puts me at about 20% done.  I have a few more blocks prepped, so hopefully I'll have a few more done soon!

Design Wall Monday 06/10/13

Still just hexagons on my Design Wall today.  I did finish a Dear Jane block during the week, but these are what I have out as my ongoing project.  They keep me motivated to make more.  I prepped a bunch of single hexagons that aren't shown.

My Monday night quilting class is winding down, only one more class after tonight's class, and then we are off for the summer.  We usually start the Fall session in the beginning of September, but it looks like we'll be traveling at that time, so I'll start it up about mid-month.  This usually means I end up taking a bit of a sewing break around this time of year.  Of course I shouldn't, because I need to have the projects and patterns finished before we travel.  We'll see.  I need to get inspired again.

I'm sure I'll get some good inspiration from Judy L's blog - hop over there to see what everyone else is working on today!

Dear Jane K13

I finished a Dear Jane block last night!  It had been all prepped and kitted up just waiting for a few spare moments.  This was a fairly easy one to piece and I like how it came together.

Now I really need to start doing some applique blocks.  I think I say that after every block!!

Design Wall Monday 06/03/13

I've been in a bit of a sewing slump lately.  Just haven't been feeling it.  I didn't sew at all over the long Memorial Day weekend.  And this past weekend all I did was prep a Dear Jane block.  I am continuing to work slowly on my hexagons while I watch tv at night.

I'm sure I'll get back into it soon!  Meanwhile, I'll keep plugging away at these small projects.

Be sure to check out what everyone else is working on today over at Judy L's blog!

Design Wall Monday 05/20/13

Today all I have to share on my Design Wall are a couple of hexagon flowers.  I haven't done much sewing lately, except for these hexies that I've been hand sewing in my down time.  I'm not really sure where I'm going with these, but I'll definitely do something with them eventually.  At least I don't feel like I'm completely wasting time while watching tv anymore!

I do have a quilt top that is nearly complete.  I bought some border fabric over the weekend (add two yards to the stash report!), but it's packed up to take to class so I couldn't take a picture of it.  Hopefully I'll have a picture of the completed top soon!

Meanwhile I'll be working on my hexies!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today!

Blogger's Quilt Festival May 2013

Today I'm linking up with the Blogger's Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side.  The quilt I'm sharing is very special to me and my family.  Back in the 1970's, my Mom started quilting.  She decided to make a family quilt to present to my grandmother (her mother-in-law).  She got everyone in the family to make a block that represented themselves and my grandmother.  She gave each person a packet of fabric, including several purple fabrics (Grandma's favorite color).  My Mom and my aunt Shirley made some filler blocks to round out the setting.

The upper blocks of the quilt depict my Grandmother and Grandfather, Viola and Lee Parham, and their seven children.  My grandmother was originally from Australia, and my grandfather was from Indiana.  They settled in San Francisco, where they raised their family.

I love looking over the quilt and seeing the story in the blocks - those of my grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles, and cousins.  My sister and I each have a block in the quilt as well.  I was the youngest contributor at 8 years old!

The quilt was presented to my grandmother in the late 1970's, and it hung in her bedroom until she passed in 1981.  I recently took the opportunity to photograph each block, which I posted to Flickr, so everyone could see the quilt and blocks at any time.  Head on over there to see each one!

Thanks to Amy Ellis at Amy's Creative Side for allowing me to share this very special quilt.  It looks like this time around the quilts in the Blogger's Quilt Festival are split up into categories.  You can find this quilt posted on the Group Quilts page.

Be sure to check out all of the amazing quilts in the festival!

Design Wall Monday 04/29/13

This weekend I felt like trying something different.  I've been wanting to make some hexies for a few years now.  I pulled some scraps that were sitting on my cutting table and put together seven.

Then on Sunday, I thought it would be nifty to make a little pouch to hold my hexie making supplies.  This is also something I've been thinking about making for quite a long time now.  I really didn't think I'd actually finish the pouch, but here it is!  I used Noodlehead's tutorial and it worked out great.

Here it is all zipped up.  Now I'm all set to sew up some hexies in my spare time (like watching tv).  I used a fat quarter that I've had languishing in my stash for years.

Now I need to decide what to make with my hexagons.  Probably a mug rug.  I'll applique them to a square of fabric and quilt it a little.  I have a binding technique I'd also like to try out.  It was a weekend of trying new things!

Be sure to hop over to Judy L's blog to see what everyone else is working on today!

Design Wall Monday 04/22/13

We are having a little bit of a heatwave going on right now. Today is supposed to be in the 90's!  We were out and about most of the weekend.  I did pull out this Dear Jane block that I had started a while back.  I sat down to sew a few times, but got sidetracked each time.  Oh well.  I remember I was having some issues with this block, and so I printed out another set of foundations on freezer paper.  I think I might try out Freezer Paper Piecing and see if it helps me on this one.  If it works out well, I might use it more in this quilt.  No paper to pick out after the block is made!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today!

Design Wall Monday 04/15/13

Not much sewing went on last week.  On Saturday, I did sew a few more of these blocks above that I started in a class last week.  I paired up all of the units and realized that I am short some pieces.  I can still get enough from the scraps I have left over, but I'll have to do some more cutting.

Class starts tonight.  I spent most of the weekend writing and printing patterns.  Nothing like waiting until the last minute!  At least all of the sewing of the samples was finished.

I didn't post a stash report yesterday, but I did buy a little fabric last week.  Someday I want to make a Spool quilt using striped fabric to look like thread.  It's a project that's been in my head for a while and I just haven't made it yet.  But I just found some fabric with spools on sale, so I picked up a yard to somehow incorporate into the quilt.  I also got some 10" squares of batik fabrics to add to a batik scrap quilt that I'm making.  Not sure exactly how much fabric they make total, so I'll call it a yard.  I'll add these figures to my sidebar so I don't forget about them next week.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what every else is working on today!

Design Wall Monday 04/08/13



Yesterday my sister and I took a class at a wonderful quilt shop in Livermore, CA called In Between Stitches.  The pattern is called Tradewinds, and it uses 2 1/2" strips.  We both already had a Bali Pop in our stashes, so it worked out really well.  Above are four blocks that make up one pinwheel.  I have all of the strip sets sewn and everything is cut using the Strip Tube Ruler.  Now all I need is a little time to sew these puppies up and I'll have the top done.

We had a great time and got really far on a new UFO project!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what is on everyone else's Design Walls today!

Stash Report 2013 - Week 14

Time for a stash update!  My sister and I took a quilting class at a shop today, and I couldn't leave without getting a few pieces of fabric.  I wanted a piece of everything in the shop, so I think I actually did pretty well!  I got a half yard of a new scooter print and two fat quarters from the new Comma line. 

However, I finished a project that I've been working on, so I can count out two yards out of my stash.  I actually came out ahead this week!

Fabric used this week: 2.00 yards
Fabric added this week: 1.00 yards

Fabric used this year: 7.50 yards
Fabric added this year: 7.75 yards

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see how everyone else is doing.

Design Wall Monday 03/25/13

These are the fabrics I bought recently at Joann's (except the white that I already had).  They are brighter than what you see in the picture - bad lighting again.  The dark fabric is actually wonderful dark chocolate brown print.  I forgot to take a picture of the actual project in progress!  This picture was actually taken after the wall hanging was almost complete - just needs the final border of the print on the left.  So you can see I overbought again.  I've already added it to the stash report.  Once that final border is on this week I can count the yardage I used out of the stash.  If I can find the time to machine quilt it, then the piece on the far right (which is the backing) will come out of stash as well.

Tonight is the last class of our current quilting class session.  We'll have a nice pot luck dinner and door prizes and I'll draw names for the block lottery.  As of last week, we had about 25 blocks in the pot.  More may get added tonight. How fun!

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone is working on today!