Splendid Sampler Blocks 17 - 19

Block 17 - Family Stars

Gosh I love this block!  I love stars and whats better than itty bitty ones!   The 4 stars represent my 4 grand kids.  Oh...did you count the number of pieces in this block?  57!  Yes, you read that right.  57 in a little 6 inch block.

Block 18 - Lena's Gift

This was a nice easy block after the last one!   :)

Block 19 - Measure Twice, Cut Once

Isn't this a clever block?  The original pattern had you embroidering the numbers on fabric but I had some tape measure fabric.  I had to turn fabric over and then upside down so it'd look like a real tape measure laid out.   :)   

I love seeing what block is coming next.  Come join in the fun if you haven't already. You can catch up with blocks at the Splendid Sampler site.

Splendid Sampler Blocks 14 - 16

Boy am I behind in showing my blocks here on my blog!

Block 14 - Flying High

 I'd been doing needle turn with the applique blocks but decided these birds were too little to fuss with it.  So I fused and raw edge appliqued.  With 86 blocks to go I didn't want to be behind by adding more hand work.  

Block 15 - Family Affair

This was the first paper pieced block.  I had one boo-boo but decided to fix and not re-do it.  I really like this design.

Block 16 - Pieces of Friendship

Vacation

 I love these women!  Love doing life with them.  We counted and this was our 17th vacation together.  So much fun.

   It was our first time vacationing on Whidbey Island. The house we rented was right smack dab on the beach.  Gorgeous views.

The weather was amazing. A lot of time was spent on the deck soaking in the sunshine.

I didn't really get much sewing done this year.  I was thinking I'd do tons without the puppy around but....girlfriend fun is just as distracting!   :)

I had hoped to finish up the Norway quilt but I only managed to get a few blocks done. I still have two left to do.  

We often do a group project.  This year we all made a Simple Little Pouch from Bloomin' Workshop. Its a decent sized pouch - 12 inches long.  

Thanking God every day for the love of good friends!  Couldn't imagine life without them.

Splendid Sampler Blocks 7, 12, 13

I finished block 7.  Its called Snug as a Bug.  The original design was embroidered only but I decided to applique the quilt. I also enlarged it a tad. 

I'm still working on block 11...another embroidered one....lots of embroidery so I think it'll be while.

Block 12 - Checkerboard

The designers block was just two fabrics but I had to go scrappy!   36 different squares in this one.  :)

Block 13 - Scrap Star

I veered a lot from the designers on this one.  Hers had a two borders and corner squares....I went with just the star middle.

I was on vacation when blocks 14 & 15 were released.  I've been either too tired or distracted this week to catch up and then block 16 was released yesterday.  Ugh.  Hopefully I'll get caught up this weekend.

Splendid Sampler Blocks 8 -10

I am still working on block 7. It is embroidered and applique.....hand work....so slow for me.  I also was sick for a week and hand work is harder to catch up on than piecing. 

Block 8 - Friends Around the Square

Block 9 - Local Quilt Shop

This one is suppose to have an embroidered name above the door but I can't decide if I want to do that. I made it red in honor of my local quilt shop, Quilted Strait.  

Block 10 - Iowa

These blocks really are fun to do.  I find myself anxious to log on and see whats next!

Splendid Sampler Blocks 4-6

I've been keeping up pretty well with the blocks as they are being released.  Just not so good about blogging them! 

Block 4 - Happy Happy

Block 5 - Simple Simon

Block 6 - Focal Point

So fun!

Pouch Swap

The Mini QT Swap group on Flickr that I'm in did a side swap of pouches.  I love making pouches....so no brainer about signing up!  :)

The first pouch I made for my partner didn't turn out like I wanted.  I did some hand stitching on the outside pocket and didn't think about how boxing the corners would affect the placement.  Half of it was pulled to the bottom.  Decided to keep this one and make a new one.

I went a different route and it turned out great. 

I also made a matching needle book as the little extra we were to send.  

 Both pouches are the Open Wide Zippered Pouch (medium size) by Noodlehead.   Great pouches to make....wonderful tutorial. 

I received a beautiful pouch that had so many things I love!  My extra was a matching mini mini.  Cuteness. 

LOVE swapping with this group of ladies.  

The Splendid Sampler

Have you heard about  The Splendid Sampler that Pat Sloan and Jane Davidson are hosting?  It began on Valentines day and is a free quilt along.  Two six inch blocks a week for a total of 100 blocks.   I had so much fun making the Women of the Bible Sampler blocks last year that I decided to sign up for this one.  

 Block 1 - Hearts Aflutter

Block 2 - Wings   Lots of tiny pieces in this one! 

Block 3 was called Lots of Love and was a cute block with many pieced hearts (representing the designers family). But I didn't want two heart blocks in my sampler so I substituted a different block.  I liked this one for representing my family...has 4 parts coming together.

  

I am using two lines of fabric from Fig Tree & Co....with a few odds-n-ends thrown in with them.  Love the soft palette. 

I am also choosing to do needle turn when there is applique instead of fusing. I like the softness of it done that way.

This is going to be another beautiful quilt!

Latest Minis swapped

My partner has received her mini so I can post pics now.  :)  This is for the Mini QT Swap group on Flickr that I belong to.  Its my favorite group!  Such sweet ladies who do great work.

Our theme was Monochromatic.  We couldn't tell our partners what color to use but we did give input into likes and dislikes.  My partner said she was loving gray right now so I went with that as I have a nice stash of it.

Here's what I made:

 The hexagon design I got from a Zen Chic pattern called "Hexagon Brilliance" and just sized them down to a mini size using the mini hex-n-more ruler.  

The pattern has the hexies in a random layout going horizontally.  I didn't like it in this mini size so arranged them this way.  I really like how it turned out.

And this is what my partner sent me:

I love it!!!   Its bright and happy and whimsical and small!  I really like my minis to be small.   The quilting is wonderful too.  My skills are all straight lines....someday maybe I'll be able to do this.  

Yay to another fun round of swapping with this group!

Fancy Fox and Urban Beads

Two of my quilts are currently hanging at Quilted Strait where I work part time.  Its fun to see them together.

 I made Urban Beads a while ago.  Blogged once about it here.  Shelly Nolte (Bunny in a Box Quilting) did my quilting on it.  Love how it turned out.

I just made Fancy Fox for the shop.  It sews up quickly.  I made the baby size so it went even faster.

We have this super cute flannel that is on the back and I used it to pull fabrics from my stash for the foxes.

Isn't he cute?  Love the glasses.

I'm working on another sample for the shop but I think its gonna take a while.  Puppy time trumps sewing these days.  :)

My latest distraction...

Long time no post!   I've been a bit distracted and busy lately and here's why:

I got a puppy!!!!

We've been without a dog for over 3 years.  It was time.  

Her name is Miranda and she's a yellow lab. 

  I can't get enough of her. If she sleeps, I like to hold her. She uses an old towel as a binky to fall asleep.  So cute.

Or I'm outside on one of a zillion potty runs or playing.  

She'll be 10 weeks old this week.  Its gonna be a busy year puppy training and puppy loving!

I imagine I'm not gonna have loads of sewing to show.  :)

Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2015

Twice a year Amy Ellis hosts the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Its such a great time to blog hop and see some wonderful quilts and read inspiring stories.  I've only entered a quilt once before in 2012. You can see that quilt here.  Mostly I like to just see what others have done.  But I just finished a mini that I'm in love with so decided to enter the show!   

 So cute!  

Its a single 16 inch block from a quilt pattern called "Whirlygig" by Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins. From their book called "Quilts with a Spin".

The center is hand appliqued. The circle of triangles is paper pieced. 

I am always saying how I don't enjoy paper piecing (and I don't) but I keep doing it!  Some things are just better done that way.  :)

I quilted in the ditch all around the applique and triangles.  Then did some circle quilting around the entire center.  

This mini is actually for a swap....so yea, I'm giving it away.  I sure hope my partner likes it cuz I really really love this one!

There are 12 categories in the Festival....mine is in the Mini group.  Go check them out:  Bloggers Quilt Festival Fall 2015,

January Block Mini

I occasionally swap mini quilts in the Mini QT Swap group I'm in on Flickr.  The gals in this group always do great work so I'm never nervous about swapping!  The theme for the one I just did was "Circles & Curves".  I picked the "January Block" by Lady Harvatine.  I've had my eye on the block for quite some time and this was a great time to try it out.

 The block is originally 12 inches.  I needed it to be smaller in order to fit our measurement requirements.  So I reduced it down to a 9 inch block.  I'm pretty comfortable with curves but still this was a challenge.  Slow sewing and pins were my friend!  

I also tried my hand at some spiral quilting.  Turned out pretty good.  

I made a Boxy pouch as an extra for her. First time making one of those too.  I used this tutorial from Pink Stitches.

My partner just got everything and loves it.  Happy dance!

House Mini

I joined a mini quilt swap via Instagram called "Home Sweet Home". My partner has gotten her mini so I can show it to you now.  I made two mini houses using the 2014  Row by Row pattern from Quilted Strait.  I love these little houses!  And I had fun fussy cutting for windows.  

And then since my partner liked light houses I had to add one of those too.

Here is the finished mini:

I embroidered her house number on the purple door - her favorite color (aqua is mine!).  I machine quilted in the ditch around each house and each section.  Then I added some hand quilting.  Here's a detail picture:

We were to add one mini item as an extra in our package.  I decided mini houses needed a mini mini quilt so I made one that measured 3x4 inches.  I forgot to take a picture of it all bound and quilted but here it is before I did that:

This was my first swap via Instagram.  My partner was silent through the whole thing which was disappointing but I had fun creating for her anyway.  Creating for swaps makes me stretch and I like that!

Holiday Stitching Club

Isn't Latte Bunny the cutest?  

Wild Olive designs the most adorable embroideries.  I recently joined her Holiday Stitching Club (just started and still open if you are interested) and this bunny was our first project.  Small enough to get done!  I like that.  

Women of the Bible Sampler Blocks 39 & 40

The last two!  

Block 39 - Elizabeth   10 inches.

Block 40 - Mary     15 inches.

Those are the last of the main blocks in this sampler.  I still need to make all the filler blocks...and there are 22 of them!  I haven't even begun to do them yet.  They aren't very big and they aren't hard (flying geese, 4 patches and pinwheels).  I've been procrastinating because of color placement.  I decided today that I'll just sew them as I go along putting together the top.  Its sewn in 5 different sections.  That way I can lay out the section and choose fabrics to balance out that particular part. I think I'll be be most happy doing it that way.  

I really, really, really don't want to lose steam on this quilt and have it end up in my never ending u.f.o. pile!  I'm so bad at getting distracted with new projects.  

Not this time.  Nope. 

Poor neglected blog

I have been sewing! But these lovelies are what has distracted me from remembering to blog my creative projects this summer!

Grand kids over for summer play.

Vacation time!

Baby cuddles.  She has finally gotten used to Nana. :)

Summer is winding down so I should remember my little blog again!  Hee, hee.  

Quilty pics to come.