KNOWLEDGE IS POWER, BUT IT DOESN'T MAKE MY BLOW DRYER RUN!

Thursday, July 31, 2014

Pink


My pink baby quilt is finished and now just needs some quilting. A lot of times I just skip the border or slap on a plain border and call it a day. I really like this border and it was easy to make.
My favorite part is little red riding hood in the center.



I played with the borders before I sewed them on. I have always wanted to make this zig zag pattern, now I really want to make one!


This was an interesting design too.....



A garden update.....isn't this an awesome sunflower? It is black when it first blooms, I find it a very interesting addition to my garden, it has multiple stems.


My Gerbera Daisies are flourishing this year, maybe the cooler temps?


As long as I live I will always have black eyed susans and


zinnias in my garden. Mother nature gets her colors perfect everytime!

Your comments on the Blue Scrap Giveaway have been fun to read. One person wants Maddy to start her own blog, please don't give her any ideas! She already is begging for her own cell phone.... Check it out if you are interested in winning a big box of blue scraps.


I never do this but I am today. I got my lone star quilt back from Barb Persing, the long arm quilter. It is amazing, she did a super job. It is supposed to rain all weekend so there is a good chance I will get it bound this weekend.


Ok, one more.......

Kelly

Tuesday, July 29, 2014

Blue Scrap Giveaway!

Madison, scrap sorter extraordinaire

As you can see the blue scrap bag is overflowing! Today my granddaughter Maddy came over and helped me go through my scraps. She was just as bad as any quilter....."let's give this one away, oh keep that one, it's my favorite."


As you can see there is a lot!


She wanted to do a yoga pose with her embroidery thread......as you can see the fabric is as tall as an almost 7 year old.
She wanted to do the give away....uh her rules, so get ready........

##1

A scrap we found that looked like the number "1".....

#2

She took random.......

#3

pictures....

#4

in my sewing room...........

#5

and around....


the house.....

#6

can you tell.......

#7

from the angles?

#8

So vote for your favorite......

#9

quilt and you could be a winner!


For some reason she needed a picture of this too.

Leave a comment and a vote for your favorite quilt and some how or other there will be a winner! Maddy will pick the name on Wednesday August, 6. I promise you a nice big box of all kinds of blue scraps, some big and some small, some dark, lights and mediums, hand dyes and more.
Thank you for the indulgence, I love to promote creativity!
The Giveaway is now closed.

Kelly and Maddy

Thursday, July 24, 2014

Today Is Another Day


Today's sewing adventure was much better! I think this morning I made 3 blocks in the time it took me to make the 1 yesterday.











I am enjoying these blocks, especially with the quick flying geese method. They go together very quickly.


So this is how it is going together. A polka dot print in between the stars. The projected size is 30 x 30 but I am also thinking about doing a pieced border, we will see.



This is what my horoscope said in today's paper. Interesting, I think it is telling me to work on my math skills!

Kelly

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Some Days.....


I decided on a star block for the baby quilt I want to make. It is going to be pink stars with every other block a plain polka dot. Sounds pretty simple and straightforward right?
This only took me 2 HOURS to make!


I drew my size out on graph paper, a 6" star. A good start.


Next came the math.....not my favorite part at all....I am also thinking of my friend Terry right now for some reason.....
Ok, so I do remember how to convert fractions, but do I have the right fractions?????


I wanted to use the same technique I used to make these flying geese blocks.  But oh, how to figure it all out!!!
Then I remembered that Sophie from Sophie Junction sent me her tutorial page on how to make them any size your heart desires! Yes now I am saved from doing math!!!! Do go check it out, save it, pin it on Pinterest or print it out so you have it if you like this method.



So now you would think I am down the home stretch right? Uh no, I sewed the flying geese wrong. The pink and white fabrics should be switched. Now while this does not look bad, it is not the look I am going for here.


Next once I finally got them sewn correctly, I sewed it on the center square the wrong way. Will I ever get this sewn right?


I finally did but not before I cut the corner squares the wrong size too! Maybe this was a day to walk away from the sewing machine....
I know now that directional fabric will drive me crazy making this block. This was to be an experimental block (I'll say it was!). I have enough of the polka dot fabric to do the whole quilt so that will stay. I also pressed the seams open which I seem to be doing more and more. I like how it makes the block nice and flat, especially smaller blocks.

Kelly

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Red Hot


I laid out all my Farmer's Wife blocks to see what I had in the way of colors. I am heavy on the red and blue! I am up to 50 blocks and I am trying to decide how far I will go. I definitely need more yellow and green.


I really like the combination of these two fabrics together and I love basket blocks.


So you will notice both of these blocks have red and blue in them.  Now I have to plot out the rest with a little more green, yellow and a dash of pink.
I do love these blocks and think it will be a nice quilt when I get to the end.


I also made some more nine patches, I can't stop making them. Some of them were made with the scraps from the FW quilt and some were just scraps laying around on the sewing table.


Oh and I started another quilt, for my cousin who just became a grandmother for the first time. I also need to make a baby girl quilt for a special mom who thought she would never have a baby. Sometimes you get the nicest surprises when you least expect it! I am so happy for her.
Do you have a go to pattern for a baby quilt?I would love to know......

Kelly

Monday, July 21, 2014

Mini Vacation


My husband and I got away for a long weekend at this gorgeous place! Yes it really looked this good!


As my friend Judie says, there is nothing like being on the water.....it's so calming.


We were on the ground floor, right behind that clump of trees to the right, overlooking the water.......


We had front row seats to a wedding at the end of the pier! How fun was that? When the ceremony was over, the yachts honked their horns in celebration!
I will be back with some sewing this week.

Kelly

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Really Random Thursday Post


I have a few random things to show you today. I have a lot of almost finished things.
This is going to be a quilt for our quilt show's mini quilt raffle to be held next spring. I totally copied another one I made (well not exactly). The point is to make things people will want to buy a raffle ticket for. Who doesn't love a sunflower?


My friend Chris has recently discovered hexagons. She has been laboriously cutting them out with scissors. While I do have some larger ones already in progress, I want to make a small grandmother's flower garden. This paper punch is a 1" and makes tons of card stock hexagons in a jiffy!

Maddy's flower
It even encourages kids to be creative and they love to punch them out.



These are from the quilt along with 1/4" Mark.  So last week when I wasn't on the computer, I got these out to sew together. I couldn't remember how we were to lay them out and of course they were not in the order that I made them, so I had to wing it.


Have you heard about these new needles? I LOVE the box. You can get them at the Quilt Block in Exton. Jan, one of the owners gave me one to try and I really liked it. I will be buying more if for no other reason than I like the box! Marketing does work on me....


I also got a box of thread. Aurifil is my favorite thread to use. What is your favorite?


A box of thread that are totally my colors!


I taught a Quick Curved Ruler class yesterday and look at all the beautiful blocks!!! These are Holly's.

Sue and Holly
They did such a good job and caught on right away.


Sue is making a Christmas quilt.

Mary Lou

Mary Lou even brought her own table to get good and comfy. What a nice set up.


Mary Lou went through her stash and came up with this pretty combination.


I should have stole some of these scraps to make some nine patches.......I can't stop thinking about them!
Thank you ladies for a really fun day!


Kelly