Halloween Fun

My friend Stephanie makes these ghosts every year for her neighborhood kids! I want to go to her house! I just love it and think they are fun and easy. Thanks for the good idea Stephanie!

We only have 2 kids in the neighborhood, so I whipped these up for them today.

I usually go all out for them because there are only 2. They loved them!

I have another block made from my Christmas Figs book. I am a little unsure about the red. In the overall quilt though it looks fine.

I have started block number 12 and hope to finish it up this week. The blocks are addictive.

I bought a quilt kit from my local quilt shop, The Quilt Block. It will be a baby quilt.

It's a pretty simple pattern and the prints are fun. So do they looks, boy, girl or neutral? I have 2 nieces having babies in the beginning of next year. One is finding out if it's a boy or a girl and one is not. I want to get a start on these before the holidays get going. What are your thoughts?

Kelly

Christmas Figs Quilt

I am really enjoying making these blocks. As I said they are not hard but there are a lot of pieces and they're big! I am not following the color suggestions in the book which is also adding to the extra time cutting.

This is the latest, the bow tie block. I just love those added green and white polka dots in the background pieces as they are unexpected.

Here is the finished Lily block and I really, really like it! I am also happy with my color selections because I had something else picked out and changed it at the last minute.

I am not sure what happened here. The stems were supposed to be up higher in the corners. As long as they both match it looks like it was intentional!

This is the selection for the next block that has a million half square triangle! Only 11 blocks to go!

Kelly

Red and Green

I really love red and green together. It feels so fresh and crisp. I know it says "Christmas" but to me it is a lovely combination. This is a 3 Lilies block that I now want to make an entire quilt with! It is not sewn together because I still have to applique the stems.

The blocks are fun and a bit intense. They are not quick and fast though not hard, you just need patience. That block in the bottom left hand corner took an entire day! Lots of half square triangles!

I am using lots of different shades of green and red and a white background, not cream or off white.
I do like the sprinkling of polka dots throughout the blocks.

This is supposed to be done as a block of the month. I am just doing it at my own pace. I am also using up my stash as I have plenty to work with!

This was a page turner! It also gave me a lot of anxiety about both of the main characters. I think that makes it a win!

Kelly

Ho Ho Ho OH NO!

So exactly 2 months from today is Christmas!!! You know that time will fly by in the blink of an eye. I started this quilt during the summer. It is a complete kit by MODA, the only thing I needed to provide was the backing and batting. Now I have been quilting for a long time....42 years. You would think a simple log cabin block with a fused applique should be no problem. You would be wrong! For something like this I highly suggest you follow the directions, unlike me.

The Santa is huge! The log cabin blocks are 12" and the Santa is about 3' x 3'. I decided I wanted to quilt Santa a face. I had my good friends Carolyn and Jamie quilt the log cabin blocks in a wonderful Baptist Fan pattern. I was then going to fuse the face on and button hole stitch around it and add texture to the beard and face. I could barely get it under my foot on my machine. The bulk was too much.

So it sat for most of the summer until I could decide what to do. I quilted the face like a separate quilt and then the plan was to hand applique it to the blocks.

So now I have to applique through 3 layers of fabric and batting onto a bulky quilt. I took me all day to applique something that would have taken me an hour at the most. I can't even explain how I did it except along the way I was sure the back was going to get caught in my stitching. It was appliqueing a quilt on top of a quilt!

Finally it was done and now it just needed binding which was included in the kit. I tore the room apart and still have not found it......luckily this gingham did the trick. You know I will find it the next time I am in there!

So next time I will follow the directions and leave myself a note where I put the binding! That being said, it is an adorable quilt and I am glad I made it. I think the grand kids will love it!

Kelly

I'm Learning Lots of Lessons!

So I have made a real effort to blog more often but now the camera is my sticking point! I got a cheap one and should have got one just like my last one, lesson learned. I like using a camera with a camera card rather than using photos from my phone. It's not as clumsy.
This quilt has been a real pain. I did not follow directions, (another lesson learned) and I am paying the price. It is taking me twice as long to make! I will be sure to do an entire post on it when I am finished.

Today I went to my local quilt shop, The Quilt Block in Exton, PA and picked these pretties up. I have an idea and I need a hand work project for when I am at my bee. I know they feel more summer but by the time I make it, it will be summer!

I started this book thinking the theme seems a little familiar....and it is, but lots of twists a turns. I have had such anxiety reading this book! You know if Stephen King liked it, it has to be good. I am about 2/3 done and will let you know at the end how I liked it.

Kelly

Mid October

How is that we are more than half way through October? Our leaves have hardly even changed yet. I better not get gyped out of some pretty fall colors.
As you can see I did get a new camera, now I need to figure out how to get rid of the date......
Doesn't this fabric feel like circa 1970? Something about it appealed to me. Who knows where it will wind up!

 Some more vintage fabric that will find it's way into a scrap quilt. I need to do one with just plain squares.
For bookclub this month we read The Hour Husband. Only 3 of the 7 of us read it. The 3 of us who did were not impressed, just saying!

More baking! Here's tip.....Pepperidge Farm makes a wonderful "Farm House Cookie" I figured out it is plain old chocolate chip with Heath bar toffee bits added. Try it I think you will like it.
So I feel like I am getting back into the groove with the blogging. Now if I can only figure out the camera.....

Kelly

Short Post

I love FALL! Everything about it makes me happy. The colors, the smells, sweaters and snuggling in at night.
I love these leaves and hope to have some made for the next post. The pattern is by Center Street Quilts. The reason this post is short is I dropped my camera and broke it. I went to find the charging cord and realized when I cleaned out the junk drawer the other day I threw it out! I guess that is a sign. I was just getting back into the groove!

Another good Fall thing is baking. I love to bake for my husband. I make his lunch every day for work, so I like to give him homemade goodies and not Oreos! These are an amazing apple dumpling that is going to be my go-to when I need to bring a dessert to something. I am pretty sure they are a million calories each but so worth it!

The Halloween decorations are out. I bought these pumkins at Target last year and the checks are so fun and unexpected. I feel like I can leave them out through Thanksgiving too.

I babysat today for 2 of my grandchildren. Brynn, who is almost 2 was in love with this cat.....

and this kind of scary looking thing too! These are a few of the things I have kept from over the years. My decorating is very pared down from the past.

Well here is where the post must end because I don't have any other pictures right now! I bought a very small (2" x 2.5") sketchbook from the Brooklyn Art Museum.  Each sketchbook is numbered and there are larger ones too (5" x 7").  You fill up the pages and send it back to them. They have them stored in their library and you can check them out just like a book! If you want more information you can find it at The Sketchbook Project and find it there.
I am doing very small watercolors and am enjoying it! I thought about doing something quilt related,  but it would be too bulky as it is very small, maybe it would work with a larger one. If you are interested my number is B118170. I haven't sent it back yet but will most likely have it in the mail by the end of the week.
I hope you are inspired by this beautiful weather to make something fun!

Kelly

Random Stuff

This was a really fun quilt to make!! It is called Sewology. I love all the sewing gadgets and it's the first big quilt I made that is all solids. Quilting is done by Carolyn and Jamie. I love the pattern they suggested.

These are some close ups before it was quilted. It sewed up pretty fast too!

I have been painting a bit too. The top one I made for myself and the bottom one is for my friend, Cynthia who lives in Arkansas. She loves color so this was an easy one to make!

I took a workshop this week with Donna Stufft. She was amazing! We all left with a finished piece ready to frame! I highly recommend her to your guild.

The garden is definitely done. I pulled out the flowers that were limping along in my front bed.
The Morning Glories will continue until frost. The deer will come along and eat all the leaves but not touch the flowers. That's because they are poisonous! I am pretty sure a while back people used the seeds as hallucinogenics..........

These are the cutoffs of my temperature quilt, another quilt in the making. By the time I am done there will be 730 of these small half square triangles. You can be sure they will turn into something!

Kelly

The Cow

I love this quilt! I bought the kit, which was the pattern, interfacing and Steam A Seam at the Oaks Quilt Show a few years back. While I was cleaning my sewing room I came across this bundle and when I opened it up I decided right then and there to make it. The fabrics are from my stash, mostly batiks with a few other things thrown in there so it will not be predictable!

The pattern was not hard but if you follow patterns exactly you might have a little trouble. For example my strips are skinnier than the ones in the pattern. I think I ended up using a lot more too.
I was a little worried about making the eyes look right and in the end from far away they look good. This is a quilt that is definitely better viewed from afar.

I was also thinking I had too much pink in the nose but when it was done I think it worked perfectly.

I ended up machine quilting it myself just as pictured in the pattern. The idea was to make sure all pieces of fabrics were stitched down.
This also lets you see I did random widths. It is what I like to do and I think adds interest. I quilted all up and down first and then side to side. Yes it took a long time, 2 days!

I like to find a backing that feels appropriate to the front. The daisies felt right.

So I am pretty sure this is a steer and not a cow. When my husband was a teenager he worked at a place called "The Guernsey Cow" in Exton PA. They served hand dipped ice cream, burgers, fries etc. They shortened it to "The Cow" and the name stuck with many locals. It is no longer there but to many of us it has good memories.
Oh my 2 posts in 1 week.....

Pattern is called "Abilene"
Designer Laura Heine
Fiberworks is the website where you can find this pattern and some others (I love the bee and the santa).
Background Fabric ffrom The Quilt Block in Exton PA
Cow Fabrics miscellaneous batiks, solids and prints

Kelly