Gloomy Saturday

So this is the first block in the MODA Modern Building Blocks. It's huge! 36 x 36. I can't say I am in love with it but I will wait to see how it looks with the other blocks.

For most of the summer my front yard has looked like this.....pretty bad.

It's a swale that goes around the house to keep water from going into your basement. Depending on your yard, most people need this (and don't know it) and that is why they get water in the basement.

The big truck pulled up bright and early on Friday morning.

My husband and nephew, Macen spent the morning "carpeting" the hill. Instant gratification!

It looks so much better, but now the battle is keeping it watered so it doesn't die. Thank goodness it is overcast today with rain predicted for the next 2 days. I think we are the only ones hoping for that!
The dirt in front will be  new landscaping. I also want to replace the walkway and reconfigure it. So I guess we are putting the "labor" into Labor Day!

While they were laying sod, I was making pasta sauce with basil from my garden.....

and picking flowers. I love the combination of red and yellow!
Enjoy your weekend!

Kelly

All Over The Place

There are some days that I believe I need medication! I jump from project to project and can't seem to focus on just one thing.
I have decided to make the Moda Modern Building Blocks from prints in my stash. I am going to follow their colorway. There might be a solid or two if appropriate.

This is the first block and it is huge! 36 x 36. I had to re-evaluate my fabric choices because I didn't have enough fabric for some of the larger pieces. I may try and do 1 a week or maybe 2 of the smaller blocks.

Does anyone remember this quilt? It has been sitting around for a while. I have decided to use the Quilt As You Go method. This is either going to be a really good idea or a nightmare! It is queen size so it needs to be manageable.

I am doing various widths of straight line quilting. I am here to tell you it is so BORING! I had a hard time just finishing up one half of the first panel, there are 4 or 5.....goals will need to be set if I ever want to see this one completed.

Love all the green fabrics!

Kelly

August 28th

Happy Birthday to my youngest son, Colin! He is 33 today. He is getting ready to head out to the AT for a long hike. My friend Terry is also off, good luck to you both I hope you have great weather.

I "stole" this picture from the wall of their house. He has a magnificent view from this vantage point!

Louise

Yesterday I taught another Quick Curve Ruler class at the Quilt Block. My students were fantastic and very fast learners.

Betty

Betty is here for only a short while, next week she goes back to Japan!

Beverly

Beverly got into the groove right away and made quite a few blocks.

Betty was going to match up her curves until we mixed them up and thought they looked pretty good this way!

Beverly was using up some old fabric to try out the technique.

Louise was gearing up for Christmas and got a good head start.

All of these ladies were a joy to teach. They promised to send me a picture of their finished quilt, I will update when I receive them. They also were very clever and took pictures of the steps they were unsure of for reference when they got home.

You may remember the start of this little quilt.

I gave it to my friend, Sujata for her birthday. She used it to keep her bull warm. The other one was a little jealous, so she made one for him!They are a colorful pair!!!



Kelly

Remarkable Rectangles

I had the honor of making a quilt for a book by one of our guild members, Bob DeCarli. Bob is the only male member in our guild and a super nice guy. He puts up with all of us women quilters and adds a lot of fun to our meetings. Always the gentleman, he is there to help carry a sewing machine or 100lbs of fabric after a shopping spree at the annual getaway.
He is a former math professor and engineer who became interested in quilting when his wife asked him to help her make a quilt.

This was the quilt I made. It is named after his granddaughter, Charlotte. It is quilted by Charlotte's mom, Robin.
You may remember the other quilt I made for his first book Hill and Valley Log Cabins. Yes did I say he is an engineer???? He LOVES small pieces. You know the kind that are 1/4" x 1/4"!
Congratulations Bob on your newest book!

It's always exciting to see your name in print.

Today I sent out my 100 nine patches to Barb and can't wait to get my selection back in October. The wheels are turning as to what I will be doing with them. Have you made a quilt with nine patches that you love? I could be swayed!

Kelly

Vintage Bowties Tutorial

Part of the fun of going away on a sewing retreat is that there is a lot of time to sew! I am not good about following directions or cutting in a group situation, so I try to pre-cut all my fabric and I can start sewing as soon as possible.
The fabrics shown are 9 of my favorite vintage fabrics. Most of them were bought in 5" squares or charm square size so I had to be careful cutting them, there was no room for error.
I thought I would give you the measurements in case you wanted to make one for yourself. They are super easy and would use up a good bit of your scrap basket.

These directions make one unfinished block, that measures 4 1/2"
Print fabric cut 2 @ 2 1/2" squares
                  cut 2 @ 1 3/4" squares

Background fabric cut 2 @ 2 1/2" squares

2 1/2" background squares

My vintage fabrics are in the mid to light values. I am using a lot of different backgrounds and want to make sure there is some contrast.

I am laying them out to check before I sew.

I know that some of them will not have a lot of contrast but I am ok with it. I like how vintage quilts have fabrics that fade in and out.

1 3/4" squares

Once you are happy with your fabric selections, draw a diagonal line on the back of the 1 3/4" print squares. If you use a mechanical pencil, it makes a very accurate line.

Lay the fabric  across the edge of a 2 1/2" square.

Sew on the line. This is a good project to chain stitch. You could get a lot made in a short amount of time.

Press and check to make sure it covers the square. If not rip it out and do it again......

Once it is perfect, trim off the inside pieces, leaving a 1/4" seam allowance. If it isn't perfect you will not have a square, which will not make the block square, so take the time. You will be happy you did!

Lay out the block, sewing the top 2 together and the bottom 2 together. Again you could chain piece these.

Press the seam with the fabric going towards the print fabric. Next sew the 2 halves together.

I pressed my seam open because it made it flatter, which is my preference, and it is a small block!

There you go, 1 bowtie block only 96 more to go!

Saturday was our monthly, Meanix Family Fun Night held at my son Colin and his wife Jenny's home. It was freezing but we had a good time anyway.

Jenny always comes up with something fun. How about donuts filled with ice cream!!! The Krispy Cremes were a hit. I think there will be more of these in the future.....

Kelly

Lone Star Love

My Lone Star quilt is complete!  I am so happy to check this one off the list. It is my interpretation of an antique quilt I saw in a Fons and Porter magazine years ago. The original was also on display in Boston this year, you may have seen it all over blogland.

It was machine quilted by Barbara Persing. She has quilted a few quilts for me and I like how she understood what I wanted. I even drew quilt lines on paper and gave them to her, so she had a map to work from.

This is a very traditional quilt and I wanted traditional quilting.

I wasn't able to see how the original was quilted in the picture but I knew I wanted feather type quilting around the applique.

I am also happy with the quilting on the trees, it looks like bark.

Yep, I like it!

So does my husband, he always comments on  how it pulsates when you look at it. I think it may be called Psychedelic Lone Star.
Have a great weekend!

Kelly

Marketing Works On Me

Today I ran into my LQS, The Quilt Block to pick up one thing and came home with 6 things!

I saw these fabrics the other day and needed to run so I didn't have a chance to get them. They were on my mind all week long!
They are from a collection called Merry Stitches by BLEND. You could use them in a Christmas quilt but they would also work in a regular quilt.

I bought the embroidery needles now I got the regular sewing needles. Once again I love the packaging!

This was my original purchase. I ordered the pattern through the shop. The packaging is great. A fan deck that you can't lose. I am still trying to decide if I want to do it in solids, maybe even use my hand dyes or prints.
They still have some at the store if you are interested.

Tonight is book club. We will be discussing Sisterland. Has anyone read it?

Kelly