Before Procrastination Hits

Today I'm making myself write this post before I go downstairs and start sewing so that my horribly procrastinating ways are stopped in their tracks!  Ha, who am I kidding?!?  I met up with my MN quilting friends last night at Quilters Haven in Rosemount for QNO (Quilter's Night Out).  We had 2 new people there which was really cool.  I remember being that new person a year ago and the group was very welcoming and now they are friends.  :)  Yesterday morning was also the BOM at Twin Cities Quilting and although sitting still for an hour just about kills me I had fun seeing all the new tools (of which I bought several) including a new Creative Grids 8.5 by 12.5 ruler.  If you haven't used a CG ruler before, boy are you missing out!  My 6.5 x 12.5 has a nice slice out of one side from an overexcited cutting session so it was time to upgrade.  :)

February blocks for BOM

In project news, I made an appliqué cat to continue the "things that remind me of me" wall behind my sewing table.  And a wood piece that has been without a wall home for months.  It's perfect.  I added some bling to the sweet kitty's collar.  The pattern is by Patchabilities and I also bought some hangers from them which are essentially a hook with a clip.  Very good for those little things (and alleviates the need for the dreaded sleeve).

Finally, Elizabeth Hartman's patterns are incredible.  These are her llamas Lloyd and Lola and they were so fun to make.  I'm working up to quilting them myself (possibly after a Suzy Webster tutorial) :).

Have a great day!

Wow!  Way too long since the last post.  In honor of that, less words, more pictures!

This is Lion by Violet Craft - EPP (english paper piecing) without the red/pink mane.  

Mod Strawberries by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  it's all in pieces right now.  I love all the fabrics I chose from my stash.  There's a lot of cutting.

Cat in a box - Tiberius

The wall behind my sewing table.  2 littles done and a pic from a good friend of cats in boxes in space. :)

A little zipper pouch made out of this super cute fabric who's name and designer escapes me.  Anyone  know?

This is a little 11 x 9 inch wall hanging for the Modern Quilt Guild I belong to in Minneapolis.  I can't remember if it was due at the January meeting I missed...I'm hoping not. :)

More to come later about Farmer's Wife, a baby quilt, and a Lion's mane.  Have a great week!

Farmers Wife 2018 Update

It's snowing in Minnesota.  I'm chilling in my sewing room watching Project Runway Allstars season 2 and really enjoying how my Farmer's Wife SAL is coming out.  I posted in FB a few weeks ago about this SAL and the fabrics I'm using which are Tula Pink All Stars solids.  The question was should I do the blocks with all the colors - mixed up - or different shades of the same color?  I think the responses were split but I decided on the same color with different shades.  Pictures below of the first 3 blocks #Addie #Aimee #Alice.  Aimee and Alice are paper pieced.  I love paper piecing.  I'm getting ready to do a big paper pieced project soon.  Perhaps something from Sassafras Lane.  Sue M?  Ready for another one?  I actually purchased the foundation papers for Empire Place the other day.  Back to Farmers Wife..... I really appreciate all the information provided from www.gnomeangel.com and the CD that comes with the Farmer's Wife book.  I'm going to make all 99 blocks which is the queen size.  I printed out that sheet, put a small swatch of each fabric on the edge, and then used pencils to color in the blocks.  I'm really stoked with how it looks.

First Weekend of the New Year

This weekend had an unexpected day of fun!  Saturday I started off meeting 2 lovely ladies from the Chaska Area Quilt Club for discussion of our September 28-29, 2018 quilt show.  The 3 of us are working on selling tickets for the raffle quilt plus organizing the quilt's travels to different shops and guilds to sell tickets.  Then I met 3 friends for lunch and a trip to Twin Cities Quilting, a superb quilt shop in St. Paul.  The trip was to inaugurate a new car and what better way to do that than by buying fabric!  I bought some great fat quarters for zippered pouches, some new chrome microtrex needles, white on white for Lazy Sunday (Bonnie Hunter) and other projects, aurifil thread, and a mod cat pattern.

My On Ringo Lake mystery blocks are done.  All 50 of them.  Next is to cut the blocks for sashing and the corner triangles and start putting it together.  I'm so impressed with all the finished (and some quilted) tops I've seen of the mystery via the FB group.  Wow, those ladies are fast!

Quilty things to accomplish in 2018

Welcome 2018!  There are so many quilty things I want to accomplish this year....

1. Learn how to make clothing (even if just a shirt or pair of pants)
2. Farmer's Wife SAL (sew-a-long) #AYearwith1930FarmersWife with Tula Pink All Star solids
3. Actually participate in the AllPeopleQuilt.com ufo challenge this year. :)
4. Continue to quilt my own quilts with different methods such as rulers, free motion circle thing i got from Sparrow Quilt Co, embroidery hoop, and edge to edge in hoop.
5. Make mini quilts for my quilting studio - wall behind my sewing machine
6. Make more bags
7. Make a lot of charity quilts
8. Make more cat mats

That feels like a good list.  Part 8 of Bonnie Hunter's mystery, On Ringo Lake, is moving along...this is the part where we put the blocks together.  It's so cool to see all the pieces come together. 

And check out this cool book I got for quilters to explore quilting creativity.  I've already started writing in it and I love that there is fabric involved.

What are your quilty goals for the new year?  

P.S. one of my employees made this for me..it's an indoor plant hanger for air plants.  Now i just need some plants.  

Lots of projects to end 2017

December 31st is here (well, it was here yesterday but i forgot to post this then).  I hope you all have a safe and happy New Year's full of lots of sewing!  Today's projects....finishing up the double flying geese otherwise known as Part 7 in the Bonnie Hunter mystery; pic below.  And....Part 8 came out this morning!  Bonnie K. Hunter, you are blowing my mind!  Part 8 is putting other parts together to form blocks.  I also completed block 9 for Quilted Threads 2017 block of the month.  If you are ever in New Hampshire, you must visit this amazing quilt store located in Henniker, NH.

Tomorrow's (Today's) project (which remain secret until she gets it): finishing up a gift for a wonderful friend.  And here's a song I have composed for you about your friend and mine; the seam ripper.

The Sound of Ripping - to The Sound of Silence by Simon and Garfunkel
Hello seam ripper my old friend
I need to utilize you again
It doesn't matter that I just used you
On flying geese and strips of 2
And that the rows I just sewed were ripped 2 times before
and maybe more
It is the sound of ripping

#onringolakequilt #quiltvillemystery

Well, here we are.....2 days from 2018 and I can't wait.  2017 was a challenging year.  And on the Bonnie K. Hunter mystery front....geese that fly!

Lots of diagonal lines to draw on these babies.  And I started Part 6 yesterday while sewing with new quilting friends Suzy and Kathy.  Thanks again ladies, it was really fun!  I will post those pics soon...almost done.  And..... a little birdie told me Part 7 was posted today.  A week early?  What could this mean?  Perhaps the final clue is coming next week.  And while that is way exciting, even more exciting is the fact that I'm not weeks, months, or years behind on this mystery!  Have a safe New Year's!

#quiltvillemystery  #onringolakequilt