More Granny Squares

Remember when I said these things were like potato chips?  I can't stop - LOLOL!

Here are the next four...

These are great blocks to use up scraps, but they do not make any kind of a dent in them - LOL!  I do loving looking at them and seeing fabrics that are special to me.  Lots of good memories in these blocks.

Bargello Quilt-a-Long - Complete!!

I finally finished my Bargello table runner - quilted and all!  Katie did a great job of hosting the quilt-a-long.  Her instructions were great, I just needed to pay more attention to what I was doing. Focus...Focus...Focus!

I'm very pleased with the result.  I chose the Fay Feathers pantograph (one of my go-to patterns) and love the way the quilting mimicked the bargello "waves".  I didn't realize that would happen when I started - I love when serendipity steps in!

I backed the runner with an old piece from my stash and bound it more of the brown from the front.

It looks very "Fall" to me.  As soon as daughter-in-law Raqhel saw it she claimed it for her new dining room.  (I love that she loves what I make o:) )

Thanks again, Katie, for hosting this great quilt-a-long!

New Jersey Quilt Fest!

I waffled until the last minute on whether I was going to the New Jersey Quilt Festival in Somerset, yesterday.  All that mental energy while I debated with myself over the last few days - should I go, shouldn't I go?  Gas is so expensive.  I'm going to MQX next month, I shouldn't go to this one.  I don't need anything.  It's a long drive, etc. etc.  I wound up going, and thanks to my new GPS, I made it without incident (well, there was one incident, but I think it was my fault, not the GPS.  Like I keep telling my husband, I need a driver!)

I was at the show before the doors opened and was finished by 2pm.  I did the vendors, looked at the quilts and sat in on two demonstrations.  The first was for the AccuQuilt Go cutter and the second was on new notions.  They were fun!

Like I said, I didn't need anything, but I managed to come home with stuff anyway.

Actually, I've been thinking about this for awhile and it was shown at the Notions demo, which of course, made me absolutely have to have it (those demos are great marketing tools!)  This is the Olfa rotating 12" mat.  The other night I was doing some cutting and kept having to move all around the cutting table and contorting my body.  I was wishing I had this.

I'm also always on the lookout for good needle threaders.  My favorites are the Collins Quilter's Threader.  They don't last forever though, so I always pick up a package when I go to a quilt show. I have seen the price on these go up and up over the years.  I remember they were around $2.00 a package when I started buying them at quilt shows.  Yesterday, I paid over $3 - geesh! (Oh my, I see I can get them from Hancocks of Paducah for $1.49 a package - guess I got ripped off!!)  I'll let that one go.  I also had heard about a machine needle threader (because the ones on machines never work right (at least on my machines!).  I finally found it.  It's by Bohin.  I also heard that their desk needle threader was pretty good, so I picked that up too.  I tried them.  They are awesome! 

These cute little microfiber discs are for cleaning up threads, dust, etc.  They were $1.00 each and in such pretty colors.  I picked one up for me and one for my quilt-buddy-at-work, Lindsay. 

I also picked up a couple of books.  The first is the story of Indigo.  Looks very intriguing. The other is on folklore of American quilting.

I also picked up some Quilts and More mags from 2009.  I just started reading Quilts and More last year and am really enjoying the projects so was happy to get some back issues.  Plus, they were 30% off!

The only fabric I bought (and I'm still finding that hard to believe - LOL!)  were these "frosty" blues for a winter quilt for my daughter-in-law.   These all have a bit of silvery metallic on them.

 Last week at Sunday dinner, she looked closely at my "winter" quilt and said "I love this!"  I'd love to have one just like it.  Well, that's all I needed to hear - great gift idea!  So, I went on the hunt for appropriate fabrics.  I made mine about 5 years ago and Keepsake Quilting had a great bundle of metallic blues that were perfect for this project.  Of course, they don't have them anymore.  I was able to put this collection together from a few different vendors at the show.  Here's mine - it's the Take 5 pattern and quilted with my snowflake boards.  This is quick and easy to make, but very stunning!

 So, obviously, I did *need* some things.  Oh, the quilts were good too!! o:)

Granny Square Quilt-a-Long

I've officially declared 2012 the year of the quilt-a-long!  I got sucked into another one...

The Granny Square Quilt-a-Long!

It starts today.  I first read about it on Dana's blog.  Krista is hosting  and Jolene also has a great tutorial.  This is a great scrap-buster and I'm having fun going through my scraps to choose fabrics for my squares.

This Q-a-L called to me because the last afghan my grandmother (who raised me and who lived with us for the last eight years of her life - she passed away in 2004) made me was a Granny Square.  I remember her making this for me from the left-over - or scrap - yarns...

My grandmother was a crocheter.  She tried and tried to teach me, but with her being right-handed and me being left-handed, I never got past the double crochet - LOL!  I have many of her crocheted creations and treasure them all!  When I took up quilting she told me it was always something she wanted to do.  When we moved in together, I wanted to teach her but she'd always say she was too old.  I would have dearly loved to have shared this hobby with her, but she did love everything I made.

When I was a little girl, I think we did every craft out there together.  We did ceramics (I think my grandfather, Pop, painted a couple of ceramic beer steins too), we made candles, did decoupage and I think we even did some macrame.   It was a fun, crafty childhood - but no sewing, not a stitch!  Who'd have thought I'd become an obsessive quilter as an adult who can't be away from her sewing machine for too long - LOL!

I couldn't wait for March 1st, so I started pulling scraps last weekend to get ready...and couldn't resist.  I had to make one.  Well, these things are like potato chips, you can't make just one - LOL!  Here's what I've got so far...

Up close...

Too much fun!

Another Year of Schibbles February - How Long Does it Take to Make a Schnibble?

On February 1st, the day Sinta and Sherri announced the February Schnibble, I placed my order.  When did the pattern arrive?  February 22nd.  Not a happy camper.  But, I wasn't going to let that stop me - I was determined not to flake out on only the second month of AYOS and finish this Schnibble!!

The pattern is I.S.T.H. (that means, Insert Snappy Title Here - designer Carrie Nelson just couldn't come up with a name).

So, how long does it take to make this Schnibble top?  Nine and one-half hours over 5 days.

Drawing the line for HSTs on the wrong size squares is NOT a time saver!

 For the stars, I used A Breath of Avignon charm pack.

Then decided to pull from stash for the borders and setting triangles...

I decided the scrappy squares middle border didn't do a whole lot for me, so decided to go with one piece of fabric.

So, I made it with a few days to spare!

Check out the AYOS Schnibbles parade on March 1st on Sinta and Sherri's blogs!

Random Bits

This weekend we had a blizzard.  Well, it was almost like a blizzard for about an hour.  My husband has been laughing at me all weekend when I'd ask people "did you see the blizzard?!"  It was the closest we've had this very bizarre "winter".  It was fun because I knew it wasn't going to last.  My kind of snow - doesn't stick to anything!  Lilly and I went out to run around in it for a little bit. 

We (well, my husband) bought a new car this weekend!  The color is called "Alien" - LOL!  Sounds weird, but it's actually a really nice shade of metallic green.   This was an inevitable purchase my husband has been putting off for way too long.  We dumped so much money into his old Sonata this past year to try to keep it running and then it got totalled two weeks ago.  Luckily, no one got hurt and he got more money for it than he thought which was good.  This is when I am glad we pay for good insurance!  We also traded in our Jeep that he used to haul his crap items when he sells at shows.   So, we had to get something with some capacity, but at a economy price (not only on the purchase, but gas, repairs, tires, etc.)  So, he got a Kia Soul.  We really like it so far.  And, he loves the fancy stuff like the bluetooth - which he actually got to work all by himself (a techno-geek he is not).

So, while we were running around Saturday, back to the dealership (twice) to retrieve things he left in the Jeep (I think the salesman thought he was stalking him - LOL!), we went to lunch in Doylestown and, how 'bout that - we're right next to Sew Smart!  See how I maneuvered that - ha ha.  I only purchased some fusible fleece (too boring to even take a picture of) and 4 yards of a white-on-white background fabric for my brother's wedding quilt.   It was hard to get a good photo, but it's very elegant.

And, because my bag was way too white, I threw in this charm pack of Pezzy prints they had on the counter....I missed these prints the first time around, so now I feel better that I have some...

 I also got started on the quilting on this large HST quilt.  I'm using the Fay Feathers pantograph.  I'm really happy with the way it's turning out.

And, now the weekend's over.  It went too fast, but they always seem to. Luckily, I have no obligations after work this week, so I'll be sure to get my sewing fix in every night!

Daisy Chain Sampler

A couple of months ago, I fell in love with Kristyne's (from Pretty By Hand) version of Alicia Paulson's (Posie Gets Cozy) Daisy Chain Sampler...

Alicia's original version is done with crewel wool and is gorgeous, but it was Kristyne's softer version with this beautiful palette of Cosmo floss that really caught my eye. 

I do have all 300-some colors of DMC floss (cross stitch was my "thing" before I found quilting), but this was a special project and I decided to splurge.  I had heard how awesome the Cosmo floss was and how fabulous it is to sew with.   I got mine from Thimble Creek.  The floss is about 3x more expensive than DMC, but I still only spent about $15.  So, the verdict?  It's nice but I'm not sure I'm noticing much of a difference yet.  I guess I'll have to do a stitch test - stitch a line with Cosmo and then with DMC.  But, the colors are gorgeous and I'm happy I'm working with them.

Next, I hunted for a soft, creamy background in my stash and found this piece.  I marked it with a Frixion pen so I would be sure that none of my marks would show after stitching (I just have to resist the urge to iron the piece before I'm done - LOL!)

Here's where I am so far...

Some detail shots.  I'm not great at embroidery, but I'm sure I'll get better after completing this sampler...

I have to fix the "circle" at the end of the E, it's not as round as it should be, so I'll go back and fix that and then finish stitching. 

Look at G - what a fun letter - all French knots!  I love doing French knots.

I've never done some of the stitches, but that's what makes this sampler so much fun!  Every letter is something different.  I know I'll be making more than one of these!