Kiwi Mail & February Recap

I received this lovely package not ten minutes ago!

I have a finish to share today, but first,

the birdie and pulltoy fabrics are absolutely gorgeous, yes?

I participated this year in the Grow Your Blog linkup, and my name was selected for this wonderful giveaway by Wendy at Wendy's Quilts and More - I feel like I won the Lotto!

 

What great timing too, as I was just sitting down to post my February Finale Post:-)

 

Introducing: Purple Kisses!

A 2013 QAL by Christa at ChristaQuilts.

A perfect way to use scrap fabrics of all sorts, vintage and new...

Quilting:  Complete

Binding:  Complete

Finishing Purple Kisses was my goal when I linked up with A Year of Lovely Finishes back in January! When I did not reach the goal, it became my February goal, however when I mentioned that in my Feb. post, I did not link up to the party. I am thinking it is another month without qualifying for a prize, but I will get better at this & enjoy the party for it's purpose!

Anything that brings finishes about is good for me:-)

We are having some rare rain and dark conditions her in Nevada, along with normal desert winds, and I had to fore-go my usual outdoor photo shoot. I posted a flimsy shot here. I managed to capture quilting shots that are not too dark and blurry though.

I used no marking, and just very little scoring and free-motion quilted this on Mr. Juki with no walking foot. After some debate, I ended up doodling hearts at the intersections of the purple connectors and a simple grid for the round centers.

The back is one of my first scrappy backs:-)

The quilting is fairly heavy, so I blocked it prior to adding the scrappy binding.

 

Once all the hand stitching was complete, I was able to get back to my January NewFO, inspired by the BookIt Linkup that I never joined (How do ya'll do it all anyway?!). The book I selected is Jinny Beyer's Patchwork Balls. Here is my progress so far,

A bit slow, but it has moved anyway:-)

 

March is time for my annual Stashsweep. Honestly, I don't remember what month I did it in last year, but it seems right. I began re-arranging and deep corner cleaning yesterday, and fabric will be pulled and piled in utter chaos while I sort through the weekend. Hopefully I can finish by Monday and begin to reap the reward.

Thank you for reading today!

 

Linking up with

 AYOLF at Sew BitterSweet Designs

January New FOs at Cat Patches

TGIFF held at Mila + Cuatro this week

Can I get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

 

 

 

 

 

 

Purple Kisses 2B Quilted in January

Finishing this sweetheart is at the top of my list this month!
I love this mix of vintage & modern fabrics, sewn last spring with Christa's Hugs and Kisses QAL.

The O's are all quilted - just the center's & the X's are left...

Putting this goal in writing spells c-o-m-m-i-t-m-e-n-t.

I think I can.
               I think I can.
                              I think I can...

Linking up with Fiber of all Sorts for A Lovely Year of Finishes:-)

Quilting Purple Kisses, & A Coupla Finishes!

Do you spend too much time choosing a quilting design for your quilt tops?

I have really been working to improve my planning so that once a quilt is basted and ready to roll, it doesn't sit around waiting for me to change my mind repeatedly while mulling over sketches and old FMQ swatches. I have made several tops with the quilting actually in mind prior to the patchwork being completed, and it is nice - if I actually stick to the plan. Inevitably, some new idea pops into my mind though, and I set about sketching all different options to contemplate.

Under the Juki today I have Purple Kisses, the quilt top I finished this spring with Christa's Quilt Along. I am not sure exactly my quilting plan on this one, but I spent enough time thinking about it and decided to get a move on. Christa presses seams open when piecing, and I pressed all the four patch seams open. I knew that I wanted to avoid in-the-ditch quilting on open seams and decided to first outline the pattern that I want to emphasize.

For the purple X's, I will probably channel two more lines to connect them all.

I like the pattern the O's make with the snowballs included. I have in mind a line pattern - kinda like the NM flag, but it leaves the center snowball open and undecided. Maybe some sort of filler, but probably I will try to mimic the purple part a bit, with whatever ends up between the lines. Maybe someone from Leah Day's FMQFriday will have a great idea;-)

We had friends visit from Washington State this week, passing through from Southern California on to the Grand Canyon. They were hit hard with the 115 degree temps and we did not go touristing on The Strip, but stayed home with the A/C. Lovely visit, our favorite kind:-)

I managed a couple finishes for Friday sharing:

I quick-stitched-up-and-mailed these tiny little trees after I read Amy's plea for Village Blocks

At last, the binding on Terry's Log Cabin is complete!

 

I enjoyed a good chuckle this morning when I read yesterday's post at Lily's Quilts, on being 47.

Two weeks ago, I happened upon this little treasure at an estate sale..

This needle threader gizmo is the type of thing I would see at a craft store and walk right by.
But oh, I have found it to be so sweet. It saves all kinds of time. I have even left my quilting room to use this gizmo, which is now part of the living room décor. How thankful I am for this find!

If you look, you may be able to see the knot in my thread right at the base of the needle. Am I the only one who stitched who-knows-how-many bindings without realizing this trick? Another time saver I am now thankfully aware of...

I finished up two more orphan-block pillows.
Both are backed with chenille and include hidden zippers.

I have several projects in the works I had intended to blog about this week. Although I have continued to read posts I follow, I do not write from my phone and have not been posting or commenting for awhile. I look forward to doing a bit of blog-touring this weekend:-)

Linking up with Needle and Thread Thursday, Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?, TGIFF

Progress Report!

I am going to try to do a better job of linking/participating in linky 'parties', and will start with Lily's Fresh Sewing Day. Click the linky on the sidebar to view other participants and join in the fun!

 

I am so proud of myself for keeping up with the weekly assignments for Christa's Hugs N Kisses Quilt-Along! Today I completed the top, and next week we will piece the backing. I will visit my stash over the weekend to pick the backing fabrics..

 

And I finally got back to work on my little Amish Arrowhead Quilt. This week I quilted it with brightly colored variegated thread, cut my first ever wavy border, and made the bias binding. I should be able to finish that binding up over the weekend. These blocks went together pretty easily with that speedy method I blogged about in January. The quilting took longer than I expected however (besides the two months it took just to pick it up again!). Allover patterns by FMQ really are faster than straight line stitching, but I do like the results.

Let's see what else I can catch up with over the holiday weekend!

Christa's Quilt Along - Hugs and Kisses Quilt

OK, I am half way finished with this week's assignment for the Hugs and Kisses Quilt Along led by Christa over at Christa's Quilts. I have been wanting to make this pattern for a long time now, so participating was a no-brainer for me. The Quilt Along will keep me on track, and I am loving my fabric choices - it is going to be so cute!

If you are into FABRIC, you may enjoy this shameless post:

All my projects were brought to a hault this weekend! I was unintentionally sidetracked Saturday morning when I went looking for a pink fabric in my fabric closet. Only a quilter could understand, but three hours went by before I realized I was actually doing an overhaul. I just kinda got stuck in my closet -

I removed anything under 1/2 yard and folded it like a fat quarter.



I removed anything I did not feel I need to keep any longer (a large laundry basket full!). I separated the vintage fabrics that I just can't part with. I filled a bin with fabrics that may be good for art quilting, but not likely for anything else. It turned into quite a project! It all looks pretty good now, but I did not touch all those flannels, knits, wools, tons of CHENILLE'S (up top), fleeces, the scrap drawer, or the leather drawer, most of which are very rarely used and really taking up valuable (cotton!) space in there.

And if I were to sort those too, I could probably fit my Christmas fabric box (stored in my bedroom at this time), and my batiks (overflowed into a cardboard box) which have outgrown my 'batik cabinet'

Can you relate? I know it is SHAMELESS, but I LOVE my stash! 

 

This is my palette and I hope you enjoy the view!

 

I am proud to say I did not purchase any fabric for the Hugs and Kisses quilt:-)

Making 3D Puffy Bow Tie Blocks - Tutorial

 

I made a few Block of the Month quilts from Marti Mitchell in the early 90's. One block included these three dimensional Bow Ties, and this morning I threw together some scrap squares to see if I could recollect just how it was done. I am participating in a Hugs and Kisses Quilt Along with Christa Quilts and I am considering making mine in this way:

 

 Start with five equal size blocks:                              

 

Fold one in half and arrange as pictured, then flip another on top and sew that righthand seam:

 Open up your bundle and place that folded piece onto the next square, aligning raw edges. Then flip the last square on top and stitch:

 I finger-pressed seams to dark side. You should now have somthing like this:

 Now, open up that middle square, nestling your center seam and catching all raw edges so they will be caught in your final seam:

 

Open, press and trim for completed block!

I couldn't find a photo of that original BOM I mentioned - it now resides in Spokane, WA.
But here is another I made at the same time period. It is a UFO I pulled out last fall and added the sashings to, it is not quite as this layout shows and I actually did finish all the corners with white stars  - just need to layer, quilt, and bind.
I hope to complete this before Christmas this year!