Design Wall Monday 08/26/13

Above are the only little pieces that I sewed this week (aside from finishing my pillow earlier this week).  They are for the Mystery Mondays project.  Just a short clue this week.  I've been getting ready for a vacation, fixing my broken car, and generally catching up on things, which left little time for sewing.  But I'm happy that I've been able to keep caught up with this project.

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

Star Pillow Finished

I finished up my Star pillow this week!  I need to move the pillow form around inside so it fills the edges better.  It is a 12" foundation pieced block in the center, with 2" borders all around to make a 16" pillow.  The back is two overlapping pieces so the pillow form can slide in - and I didn't need to add a zipper!

I'm linking up to Finish It Friday on Crazy Mom Quilts!

Design Wall Monday 08/19/13

Above is the latest project that I've been working on (for a while).  It is a paper foundation pieced block that I am turning into a pillow.  I decided to back the block with thin batting so the seam allowances wouldn't show through the white fabric.  I knew I wanted to use grey and yellow/gold, but I really struggled with the choosing the fabrics.  Too many choices in my stash.  I wanted the two yellow fabrics to have a little more contrast, so it would have a bit of a 3D effect in that area, but in the end, I think the values are too close together to achieve that look.  Oh well, I think it still came out pretty nice.

There was no Mystery Mondays clue last week, but there should be a new one today, so nothing to show on that front.

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

Design Wall Monday 08/12/13



Above are the three latest blocks for the Mystery Mondays quilt along.  These were fun little 6" blocks.  All still coming out of my fabric stash - which accounts for the busy one in the lower left hand corner.  It has all the right colors, but I think the scale of the print is a little big for that block.  It was actually a scrap from one of the past Mystery Mondays projects, that I had used as my focus fabric.

Above are my sister's blocks.  Is it wrong that I want to raid her stash after seeing her blocks each week? 

Other than that, I'm still working on finishing up some class projects.  I'm making a pillow with a paper pieced block on the front, but it's a little bigger than the ones I've made in the past.  I find that sometimes the pillow ends up a little bigger than the pillow form, so the edges/corners are empty.  I think today I'll make a quick "practice" one out of muslin and play with the size a little.

Be sure to check out Judy L's blog to see what everyone else has on their design walls today!

Design Wall Monday 08/05/13

The lighting is not great on this one - I had a lamp shining in the upper left.  Oh well.  I still need work on my picture taking skills!  Here is where I am on the Mystery Mondays project.  We added a checkerboard strip at the top and put the parts together that we've made so far.  There should be another clue today.  This is a fun one!

Above are my sister's blocks.  Looking good!

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

Design Wall Monday 07/29/13

I finished the Mystery Mondays block for the week.  It is another pumpkin block, but in a bigger scale.  I can't wait to see what next week's block with be.

Here are my two blocks together.  Other than the pumpkin, and finishing the quilt top I posted yesterday, I didn't do much sewing this week.  I did choose fabrics for a pillow I'm about to make.  Haven't cut into them yet, though.  They are calling to me, so I'll probably have part, if not all, of it finished by next Monday.

And here are my sister's blocks.  So far we are both on track!

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

Stash Busting 2013 - Week 30

This past week I finished putting the top together that I've been working on.  I have a hard time taking pictures of my bigger projects, so today I decided to take a cue from some of the other bloggers and took it outside pinned to my fence.  It worked out perfectly.  I took the picture from a few different angles, but in all it took less than 10 minutes.  I had to wait for the sun to move away from that part of the fence.  I think the colors are fairly true - they are maybe a little warmer in real life.

I'm approximating the yardage on this one.  I think it took about 4 yards total.  I used 2 charm packs along with yardage, so this is an estimate.

Fabric used this week: 4.00 yards

Fabric added this week: 0.50 yards

Fabric used this year: 11.50 yards
Fabric added this year: 20.25 yards

Be sure to check out Judy's blog to see how everyone else is doing with their stashes!

Design Wall Monday 07/22/13

After a bit of a dry spell, I did a bunch of sewing this weekend.  Above is the project that I've been working on recently.  I got a little road-blocked when I decided it needed an extra row.  I had used up my charm packs, and so I had to pull fabrics from my stash that were similar in color to the charm packs I used.  Sometimes too many choices make it harder to choose.  Above are all of the blocks laid out.  After I took the picture, I sewed them all together and put on the first narrow border of solid red.  At the last minute, I decided to wash my final border fabric, so I called it quits for the day on that project.  I wanted to finish the top, but I'm pretty pleased with how far I got.

Next I worked on the new Mystery Mondays project.  This week was the first "clue", which was a pumpkin block.  My sister is also going to do this project, and I didn't want to fall behind on the first week!  Below is my sister's block:

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

Design Wall Monday 07/01/13

So I've been working a few more of these blocks.  They are called Window Pane Disappearing Nine Patch (D9P) blocks.  First you start with making a nine-patch block with sashing strips to look like a tic-tac-toe block.  I used charm pack squares (5" squares) and 1 1/2" cut sashing strips (1" finished).

Next you cut the block in half horizontally and vertically.

Then you twist and turn the quarters to make a new block.  It looks like you did a lot of piecing, but it was actually very easy.  I've used up one charm pack already, which makes 4 blocks (16 quarters).  I have another pack of the same fabric to make more blocks.  Then I'll put them together to make a small quilt.

You can go here to see the video tutorial for this pattern.

This is what is on my Design Wall today.  Go to Judy L's blog to see what everyone else is working on today!

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!!