It Feels Like Monday

My applique class last week was so much fun! All the ladies are making this block, I anticipate seeing the finished ones soon! They were such a nice bunch and we enjoyed each other's company very much. I totally forgot to take pictures but will post them if I get some.

My sewing room has been a little lonely lately.

I found a box that I had forgotten about with lots of leftover pieced things.

Leftover wonky butterflies....

Strip pieces.....

A whole bunch of half square triangle! I can't wait to do something with these....

Some other blocks from I am not sure what....

These were cut off sections from a basket quilt I made a few years ago. Maybe this week I will get some time to throw these up on the design wall.

Doesn't today feel like Monday? This weekend we went over to my brother's very cool old house. Check out this wooden transom that is all hand carved. Isn't it beautiful? Underneath is a curtain rod that they used to block off the living room from the dining room.

It has huge windows and gorgeous woodwork, and parquet throughout. Every room has a different floor design.

All of the original light fixtures are still in the house (over 100 years old). This one was a brass gas lit fixture rewired for electric.

It also has a widow's walk! My brother, sister and I were up there taking selfies! Look at the beautiful wrought iron along the edge. It was quite a view!

Kelly

Winners!

Today we have an absolutely gorgeous spring day! The sun is shining, the birds are singing and the temperature is a heavenly 73* I could live with this weather year round. Above are some of my Dame's Rocket which are about the only thing blooming right now in the garden. We need some sun longer than one day!

I came across this book recommendation on Instagram and immediately went to the library to check it out. She is a fabulous author. I read her book These Is My Words years ago and it still remains one of my favorites. If you are looking for a book, go for it.

When I do go to the library I very seldom leave with just one book........how about you?

Now for the giveaway......I had enough to make up 5 packages! Anna, Stephanie, Lynne, Jean and Linda have all been contacted, please be sure to send my your address. I will get them out in the mail on Monday.
I will tell you I love reading all the responses from the beginner quilter to the quilter that can't fit one more piece of fabric in her sewing room but will try anyway. Yes it does seem like someone else's scraps must be better than mine, I think that all the time! I also enjoyed reading about the size scraps you use and why. The quilting community is the best and I am glad to be a part of it! Don't worry to all of you who did not win, there will be more scraps down the road of that I am sure!

Kelly

L#$%&

So yesterday I visited this lovely place........for 3 days my head was so itchy and I was convinced I had lice. I am scratching my head as I write this.....
For $30 they did a head check, running a very small toothed comb through my hair to see if any little critters were in there. I did not have them, thank you very much, it was worth the $30 to set my mind at ease!
This is my public service announcement for anyone that has ever had to deal with it. They are amazing! They do a one time treatment with no harsh chemicals and GUARANTEE you will be lice free. Now you do have to follow their instructions at home but why wouldn't you? It is expensive, $199 but I remember the stories of people dealing with it and I would have paid anything to be rid of them. I have 4 children and none of them ever got them, thank goodness! If you want to be totally grossed out check out Google Images for lice, it will make you gag. Moving on....

As I was cleaning up last night I came across these stars and put them up next to the checker board blocks. Not bad but it's not going in that direction, I just had to take your mind off the lice!

I am also prepping for an applique class I am holding next week in my home. Our guild had an auction and I donated an applique class for 4 ladies. It should be a fun day and I think they will like our pattern.

This is your last day to enter the scrap give away. The pile grows ever bigger! I think I may have 3 or 4 to give away. Come back tomorrow and find out and be sure to enter your comment over HERE.

Ok now a little rant....my computer automatically upgraded to windows 10 I feel like I have no idea where anything is.....any suggestions? My pictures took forever to download and then find. I need a tutorial. Does anyone out there like the change?

Kelly

May?

Seriously is it May? It feels more like October here. We even had a frost last night, thank goodness I have been too lazy and have not had time to put any plants in. I know it would have been a disaster for my tomatoes.....
I cleaned out my fabric shelves and can see all those pretty fabrics in there! The solids still need my attention but I will get to that another day.

As I have been cutting strips I am also adding to the scraps that I will give away on Friday. At this point it looks like I will easily have 2 bunches to give away, maybe even 3! If you would like a chance to win some of my scraps go here and leave a comment. Part of the reason I want to give them away is that I feel all my quilts are starting to look the same.

I cut out 206 ten inch strips and it took a long time. I still have to cut out the low volume strips. That will go much faster as I am only using about 12 different fabrics.

This is our raffle block for the Lancaster Modern Quilt Guild next month. It was fun to make and I look forward to seeing them all together. The requirements were a blue background and a yellow star.

So do you think this looks "manly"? This is a bee block and you know for sure it is not mine! I had a hard time finding any brown in my stash.

Now I need to put all 206 of those fabrics back on my newly organized shelves!

Kelly

Scrap Giveaway!

I just had to start with a non quilting picture. My granddaughter, Madison made her first communion a couple of weeks ago and today was their May Procession. The school has all the 2nd graders wear their communion outfits to the procession. At least they get 2 wearings out of them! She opted to leave the veil at home but the crown got the thumbs up! I just love this age.

I posted this on Instagram....we had a speaker (I can't remember who) and she told us to pick out your fabrics, mix them all up and throw them on the floor. If one color is not working it will stand out. I just realized I use this method all the time without even thinking about it. Notice there is purple in there! Have you ever done this?

Here they are all nicely ironed waiting for me to sew them together.

I follow Red Pepper Quilts and I love everything she makes! When I saw this rectangular postage stamp type quilt I knew I wanted to make it. I decided to try one block to see if it was for me. I think so.....it would be a good retreat block where you just sew and cut, sew and cut, little thinking required.

So as I decided to start yet another quilt, I really feel anxious about all these scraps. Here you see some sorted by colors.

Strips in a bin. mostly from assorted jelly rolls.

Another basket that sits on the floor next to my machine. I really do need to come up with a system that works for me and stick with it! For today it's just too much for me to deal with! So I decided to clean them out with a giveaway. I will not guarantee any sizes but there will be a variety for sure! If I can't stuff them all into one envelope I will have 2 to give away.
To win, leave me a comment and tell me what is your favorite size strip(s). Be sure to leave me your email address if you are a no reply commenter or I will not be able to contact you. This is in the US only because of the price of postage. I will pick the winner next Friday 5/20, I need some time to clean out those scraps! GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED!

In the wings are some more that need borders and quilting..........

Kelly

Penn Oaks Getaway 2016

Last week's getaway is in the books! We had a great time and I got a lot of things done. Not all 6 things that I brought but I made a good dent.
I found this star block in an old book. It has pictures but no directions how to put it together. I drafted my own block which is good because I want it to fit in a specific spot. I have started doing this because I like to rotate my quilts. Only the half square triangles on the right hand side are sewn on. I started getting bored and decided to stop plus I wanted to put it on my design wall to figure out how I wanted the triangles to go. The corners are going to get a white square.
I am looking forward to quilting this and want to do some "fancy" quilting in the big middle white spot!

This was my favorite project that I worked on. It required no measuring or anything precise.

I just randomly sewed my scraps together, no planning other than no same fabrics next to each other.

After I sewed things together I trimmed them up to get rid of the jagged edges. Sometime I just sewed over them, especially when I was getting tired.

Before you know it I had a bunch of strips.

They just kept getting bigger and bigger. I still have a ton of scraps!

I made another pincushion for the swap next week. I love that typewriter....

I started a paper pieced project but felt like I needed more room, so only 1 block got made. I will be going back to this one!

Fay Ann has been sewing for a long time and made some very cute kid's quilts. Every night she was the last one to bed! When I grow up I want to be as cool as Fay Ann!
Everyone agreed this was one of the best getaways. I am really lucky to have some really nice people to get away with!

Kelly

Scrap Happy

Last spring I participated in a house block swap with some friends. I started putting them together and put them away as I was not sure what I wanted to do with them. I added a tree that I did a tutorial on a long time ago.

My scrap sewing pile is growing. The other day I saw on Crazy Mom Quilts that she is doing a sew along with scraps and I happen to have a bunch! I will see what she is doing and maybe sew along. Notice there is no purple in the pile......my least favorite color. I am rethinking that idea.

There is something satisfying about stacking them all up and putting them in a basket for safe keeping.

Kelly

Stuck

I am stuck in a rut. I have a ton of things to work on but just don't have the umph to work on any of them. I have a hard time switching gears.
I pulled out some scraps today before my workout and just started sewing them together. It was soothing and mindless.
These colors are also way off, it is a gloomy day here and I can't get a decent picture.

This afternoon I dumped out some more and will continue sewing.  Who knows what it will eventually be? Just looking at the colors makes me happy. Good enough.

I did get one more Farm Girl Vintage block made, Butter Churn. I like these colors together.
The next block is pretty easy but I feel like picking out the fabric will be a chore today. Do you ever feel like that? Any other day the fabric would be flying!

Note to self, when you pick out a heavy weight fabric to cover your small ironing board, be sure it is 100% cotton....at least it is pretty.

Kelly