Saturday, February 28, 2015

Scrap Saturday 2.28.15

This week I completed one of my RSC14 quilt tops.  The pattern is called Butter Churn & Dash.  It's a free pattern that you can get at Jo's Country Junction.  It was super easy and fun.  I especially loved that it was Accuquilt friendly.

Here's all of my rainbow colors:

I made the outer border just a little bigger than what it was supposed to be.  It will get trimmed down to the correct size.  I needed a little "longarm" room.  If this quilts nicely, it could be one of my fair quilts for this year.  The blocks and points look sooo nice!

I'm linking up with Angela and the others at soscrappy: ScrapHappy Saturday for the RSC15.  Always a lot of fun, scrappy projects being posted in the linky parties.  Sometimes it's hard to refrain from starting a new project when I see someone else's scraps being happy. 

RSC 15

Made creamer today.  I just thought I'd share my recipe...  (I use 2 cups of Almond Milk.)

'Homemade Creamer - Light on the chemicals and LOTS of different flavor variations, easiest way is to just add "(whatever flavor you want) Extract" ;)

Sweetened Condensed Milk, Regular Milk, and Flavors!

Cinnamon Cake - Cinnamon and Vanilla Extract
Chocolate Almond - Cocoa and Almond Extract
and so on.... :)

More flavors, pin, etc.... right here :) - http://myfridgefood.com/ViewRecipe.aspx?recipe=21288'

Friday, February 27, 2015

Friday Finish -- Customer Churn Dash Quilt


On my WIP Wednesday list this is called "Customer Quilt #1 -- Churn Dashes".  Consider it done.  I quilted it for her with the Egyptian Eye giant board from Circle Lord.  It came out great.  This particular customer lets me decide what pattern to quilt for her on each quilt.  She loves the Swirls pattern and requested that I quilt that on all five of them last time.  This time I'm going to give her more options.

 
The wind chill today here in Ohio is -25F today.  Sorry for the indoor pics, but it's too windy and too cold to get outside to put them on the clothesline.
 
 
Here's a closer look at the Egyptian Eye quilting. 




I'm linking up this finished quilt with Richard and Tanya Quilts for Link-A-Friday Finish.  Check out all the other projects getting finished!

LAFF - Richard and Tanya Quilts
I'm also linking up at A Quilting Reader's Garden for the weekly WIPS Be Gone!  What great motivation to get rid of those WIPS in 2015!  I need it.

 photo wind_dandelion3-1.jpg

Thursday, February 26, 2015

Let's Book It -- Scrap Crystals

It's time for the February Let's Book It linky party with Sharon at VROOMANS QUILTS. 


I am still working on Scrap Crystals, pattern by Bonnie K. Hunter in her wonderful book


This is Bonnie's newest release.  You can order it from her here.

I have packed my "to go" bag for when I take our son to speech therapy.  This time in my to go bag are all the little finished four patches that need to be assembled into stars.  I also take my felt squares that were cut from a cheap picnic table cloth.  I assemble the squares that need sewn, and roll up the stack of squares and secure with a rubber band when it's time to go.  The next time I open up the neat stack and make more.  It's a very convenient way to take my blocks with me for assembly.  I only have a few more blocks to assemble and then I'm ready to SEW!!!




I'm hoping that March is GREEN month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2015 (RSC15).  That would give me good reason to work more on this quilt.

 
This is a partial scrap crystal block that hangs on my curtain above my sewing machine for motivation and inspiration.  The sashing in this quilt really pulls it together!  You can see a pic from Bonnie's Quiltville site here.  The red/white/blue version looks awesome on that page too.
 
 

Wednesday, February 25, 2015

WIP Wednesday 2.25.15

Here's what happened this week:

I finished block 3 of the Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM.

 
I finished my Urban Churndash QA quilt today.  You can read more about the quilt along at Piece N Quilt.  What a fun pattern.  I made my blocks smaller for a baby quilt (and it was Accuquilt GO! Baby friendly.)  Here's my finished top:

I inherited some new treasures from my mother-in-law.  The area is all organized and ready to sew.



I got all caught up on my pink blocks this week for the RSC15 Sampler Challenge.

Here are the two pink blocks:





Here are all the four patches for the chain blocks:

I'm caught up on the blue four patches too. Whohoo!!!

 
RSC 15
 
I have good and bad news about the 2015 Spring Tea quilt for my local quilt guild.  The idea and quilting was coming along beautifully.
 

Sadly it's still too cold to use my longarm with the negative temps here in Ohio.  It takes too long and takes a lot of expensive fuel oil to heat the room.  When my longarm can't get warmed up I have tension issues.  When the temps are at least in the 30's it goes back to stitching normal with no adjustments.  It's a machine; it doesn't like the cold.  I did make the back for this quilt and my part is now done.  I am crossing it off my WIP Wednesday list.  It has been passed on to the next guild member to finish where it is nice and warm.

 
I got some of my Churn & Dash quilt put together.  Three rows to go.
 
 


I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!  See what everybody is doing here.
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced


New Projects This Week
1.  None
 
Pieces Still Need to be Cut & Sewn
1.  Underpants Project 
2.  Digging up Bones (Owen's dinosaur quilt)
3.  Rock Island Campfire Quilt
4.  Picadilly Circle
5. ...And Sew On BOM at Quiet Play (one block to go)
6.  MSBHQAL (Molli Sparkles Broken Herringbone Quilt Along)
7.  Spring Sampler Series at Cora's Quilts
8.  Gypsy Wife QA (recycling  Red/White Flower Basket Quilt into this project & duds.)
9.  Leah Day Building Blocks QA

10.  Love Laugh Quilt Christmas Improv QA
11.  Classic Meets Modern BOM
12.  Mod Mod QA (turning this one into a baby quilt) 
13.  Super Mario QA
14.  Grand Illusion -- Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt 2014 
15,  Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM (made from shirt scraps)
16.  Kite Girl (RSC14) Need one more red block and sashing made
17.  Modern Trees QA (at Christ's Quilts)
18.  Cabins at the Lake (from Fons & Porter Magazine) (only one house block complete.
19.  Wanderlust (A Bonnie Hunter pattern -- only 2 blocks done.)
20.  Flowers and Watercan (wall hanging)
21.  Little Houses
22.  Split Stars (Block Lotto win)
23.  Spools (Leader & Ender project with Bonnie Hunter)
24.  Fortune Teller (RSC14 started -- need blocks each month)
25.  Slabs with White Rectangle (RSC14 started -- need blocks each month)
26.  Pat Sloan 2015 BOM -- Vacation Time
28.  Charm Square Sampler QA by Modern Tradition Quilts
29.  QM Bitty Blocks QA
 
Blocks Still Need to be Made
1.  NY Beauty
2.  Orca Bay
3.  We Can Do It Skill Builder Sampler
4.  Sweet Simplicity BOM
5. Finding Nemo Scrappy Trip quilt
6.  Color coordinated hexagon quilt
7.  Gourmet Quilter Sampler
8.  Bluepatch Mystery Quilt
9.  Amanda Murphy Designs (ugly fabric quilt)
10.  Drunkard's Path Variation baby quilt
11.  Scrap Crystals (working on blue pieces for RSC15)
12.  RSC15 Sawtooth Star Sampler

Blocks are made but need to be sewn together (and/or some sashing)
1.  Block Swap Adventure Orange/Yellow Sampler (2011-2012)
2.  Block Lotto Dud (Orphan Block Quilt)
3.  Orange/Blue Fish Blocks (that I won)
4.  Split Stars (blocks won from Block Lotto; October, 2012)
5.  African Violet baby quilt (Block Lotto inspired)
6.  Tall Fly
7.  Scrumptious Butter Churn  All blocks are made!!!
8.  Sonja's Windows string quilt
10.  December 2014 Block Lotto Big O blocks that I won 12.31.14!
11.  Block Swap Adventure (2013) Churn Dash Blocks
 
Quilts back needs to be made (tops are done)
1.  Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter Mystery 2013)
2.  Surround Stars Pillow (one big block is here somewhere.  It will be a pillow when I find it.)


Ready to longarm
1.  Little Letters QA Quilt (A RSC14 project)
2.  Customer Quilt #1 -- Churn Dashes (almost done!)
3.  Customer Quilt #2 -- Scrap Squares
4.  Customer Quilt #3 -- Bonnie Hunter Stars pattern
5.  Customer Quilt #4 -- Browns and Golds
6.  Customer Quilt #5 -- Scrappy Fun
7.  Julianne's Grand Illusion
 
Quilted, needs binding
1. 
Completed this week:
1.  2015 Spring Tea quilt for the local quilt guild 
 
64 -- Current WIPS
04 -- Finishes for 2015

Tuesday, February 24, 2015

Some New Treasures

I'm linking up today while showing off my new, organized treasures at Val's Quilting Studio.  Sadly my mother-in-law passed away on January 31, 2015.  She was an amazing seamstress.  She loved me and left all of her sewing room to me.  Below are some of her treasures that are now mine.

It started off with a bin of threads.

 
Here's a picture of everything in it's new home.  This is the unheated room where I keep my longarm.  It is in the house that we have been building for quite a while.  See all of the bins on the right?  They are soooooooo organized!  Clear, see-thru bins are awesome for organization.
 
 
She didn't hoard a lot of fabric.  Only the two green totes have fabric in them.  The fabrics are mostly flannels and fleeces.  But see all those drawers on her homemade sewing desk?  When I open them I feel like I am walking down the notions aisle of JoAnn Fabrics in 1980 -late 1990's.  She kept most of her notions with the instructions in baggies -- all very neatly organized.  I know that she knew exactly where everything was.  There are all kinds of scissors and there are many things I didn't have!
 
 
This is her prized Memory Craft 9000.  She purchased it on 11-21-1996.  It does lovely monogramming and stitches great.  It was well loved.

 
This is a MyLock334D.  She made many clothes for customers.  It made many weddings beautiful.

 
I have both of the manuals on my desk and will take them with me to many appointments where I can just read and read.  I can't wait to use all of my new treasures.
 
Check out the archives at Val's Quilting Studio for organizational tips.
 
Val's Quilting Studio
 

Monday, February 23, 2015

More Snow!

You would think I would get a lot of sewing done while we are snowed in, but it's usually just the opposite.  With my 1st grader home for two more snow days last week, we spent more time doing what "Owen wants to do".  Quilting never crossed his mind.  I think the lowest temp I saw was -13F, but that does not account for the wind chill factor.

I did manage to get five rows of my Butter Churn & Dash quilt put together.  These are blocks that I did for the RSC14.  You can find this free pattern from Jo at Jo's Country Junction here.

 
Three more rows to go!  This is one of my four Q1 goals for the 2015 Finish-Along.  You can read more about that at On the Windy Side.   I'm also linking up with Oh Scrap! at Quilting is more Fun than Housework.
 
2015 FAL at On the Windy SideQuilting is more fun than Housework
 
Here's a picture of our good ole snow plow truck.  It's a '71 Chevy that was a pulling truck at the local county fair.  It's got a mean rat motor in it and tears up the driveway.  My husband, my hero, gets us dug out on most days with this without getting out any of the bigger equipment.  If we have to get out the bigger equipment for our driveway, we might as well not go anywhere.  The roads won't be clear.
 
I'm sitting safely in the neighbor's drive as he gets his work truck unstuck from the driveway.  This is our road between us.  Notice that you can't see our house very well from the road.  It's back in there.


Here's what is happening in the back of my truck...  our son is making silly faces for me.


Earlier that day we went to a pinewood derby hosted by another cub scout group in the area.  He had a blast.  We may move to this group because it does a lot of scout activities that our group doesn't.


Here's another interesting picture I took on Saturday, 2/21/15.  See all those little black dots in the field at the top of this hill?  You can barely see them.  I counted at least 55 of them and wasn't done.  This all happened while driving down our street.

Here's the best shot I got of the little black dots (zoomed in).  They are wild turkeys!!!  Lots and lots of wild turkeys!  I love it out here in the sticks!

Saturday, February 21, 2015

Scrap Saturday -- RSC15 -- Pink

I got all caught up on my pink blocks this week for the RSC15 Sampler Challenge.

Here are the two pink blocks:















Here are all the four patches for the chain blocks:

 
I also caught up the four patches for the blue blocks:

Whohoo!!!

 
RSC 15
 
 
I'm linking up with Angela at SoScrappy Blog here.  Check out all the other pink pretties!

Friday, February 20, 2015

Urban Churndash Flimsy Complete

I finished my Urban Churndash QA quilt today.  You can read more about the quilt along at Piece N Quilt.  What a fun pattern.  I made my blocks smaller for a baby quilt (and it was Accuquilt GO! Baby friendly.)  Here's my finished top:


I don't usually throw my quilts in the snow, but it's a heatwave here at 11 degrees (I have no idea what the windchill is...)  It's just cold.  It was pretty windy too.  But I do love how the purple inner border really pulls this little quilt together.  I need to think how I will quilt it.  I'm sure it will come to me.



I'm linking up my flimsy with Richard and Tanya Quilts for Link-A-Friday Finish.  Check out all the other projects getting finished!

LAFF - Richard and Tanya Quilts

I'm also linking up at Michelle's Romantic Tangle for Let's Make Baby Quilts!


I'm also linking up at A Quilting Reader's Garden for the weekly WIPS Be Gone!  What great motivation to get rid of those WIPS in 2015!  I need it.

 photo wind_dandelion3-1.jpg

Wednesday, February 18, 2015

WIP Wednesday 2.18.15

Wow, it's been a hectic month.  Three different things happened to three family members on the same day.  My mother-in-law passed away on 1/31/15.  My sister-in-law moved back home from Virginia and will be living with us for an extended stay and she was hospitalized for six days this week.  Another family member is aware of a difficult situation that I better not discuss on the blog because I have " cray-cray stalkers".  We won't go in to any of that.

My sewing/quilting has really slowed down, but I did manage to get back in to some of it.  Here's what happened this week:

I finished block 4 in the Sew Sweet Simplicity Sew Along.  Here it is in shirtings:


I made progress on my Scrap Crystals quilt pattern is in More Adventures with Leaders & Enders by Bonnie Hunter.  Here are all the little units pressed and ready to be made into stars!  I'll happily put this box in my "to go" work box and take them with me to all of my son's appointments where I wait and wait and wait.


All of the Big O blocks that I won in the Block Lotto are home.  Here's what they look like together.  This is not how I plan to do the layout of the quilt.  I'll surprise you later with that.

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!  See what everybody is doing here.
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced


New Projects This Week
1.  None
 
Pieces Still Need to be Cut & Sewn
1.  Underpants Project 
2.  Digging up Bones (Owen's dinosaur quilt)
3.  Rock Island Campfire Quilt
4.  Picadilly Circle
5. ...And Sew On BOM at Quiet Play (one block to go)
6.  MSBHQAL (Molli Sparkles Broken Herringbone Quilt Along)
7.  Spring Sampler Series at Cora's Quilts
8.  Gypsy Wife QA (recycling  Red/White Flower Basket Quilt into this project & duds.)
9.  Leah Day Building Blocks QA

10.  Love Laugh Quilt Christmas Improv QA
11.  Classic Meets Modern BOM
12.  Mod Mod QA (turning this one into a baby quilt) 
13.  Super Mario QA
14.  Grand Illusion -- Bonnie Hunter Mystery Quilt 2014 
15,  Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM (made from shirt scraps)
16.  Kite Girl (RSC14) Need one more red block and sashing made
17.  Modern Trees QA (at Christ's Quilts)
18.  Cabins at the Lake (from Fons & Porter Magazine) (only one house block complete.
19.  Wanderlust (A Bonnie Hunter pattern -- only 2 blocks done.)
20.  Flowers and Watercan (wall hanging)
21.  Little Houses
22.  Split Stars (Block Lotto win)
23.  Spools (Leader & Ender project with Bonnie Hunter)
24.  Fortune Teller (RSC14 started -- need blocks each month)
25.  Slabs with White Rectangle (RSC14 started -- need blocks each month)
26.  Pat Sloan 2015 BOM -- Vacation Time
28.  Charm Square Sampler QA by Modern Tradition Quilts
29.  QM Bitty Blocks QA
 
Blocks Still Need to be Made
1.  NY Beauty
2.  Orca Bay
3.  We Can Do It Skill Builder Sampler
4.  Sweet Simplicity BOM
5. Finding Nemo Scrappy Trip quilt
6.  Color coordinated hexagon quilt
7.  Gourmet Quilter Sampler
8.  Bluepatch Mystery Quilt
9.  Amanda Murphy Designs (ugly fabric quilt)
10.  Drunkard's Path Variation baby quilt
11.  Scrap Crystals (working on blue pieces for RSC15)
12.  RSC15 Sawtooth Star Sampler

Blocks are made but need to be sewn together (and/or some sashing)
1.  Block Swap Adventure Orange/Yellow Sampler (2011-2012)
2.  Block Lotto Dud (Orphan Block Quilt)
3.  Orange/Blue Fish Blocks (that I won)
4.  Split Stars (blocks won from Block Lotto; October, 2012)
5.  African Violet baby quilt (Block Lotto inspired)
6.  Tall Fly
7.  Scrumptious Butter Churn  All blocks are made!!!
8.  Sonja's Windows string quilt
10.  December 2014 Block Lotto Big O blocks that I won 12.31.14!
11.  Block Swap Adventure (2013) Churn Dash Blocks
 
Quilts back needs to be made (tops are done)
1.  Celtic Solstice (Bonnie Hunter Mystery 2013)
2.  Surround Stars Pillow (one big block is here somewhere.  It will be a pillow when I find it.)


Ready to longarm
1.  Little Letters QA Quilt (A RSC14 project)
2.  Customer Quilt #1 -- Churn Dashes
3.  Customer Quilt #2 -- Scrap Squares
4.  Customer Quilt #3 -- Bonnie Hunter Stars pattern
5.  Customer Quilt #4 -- Browns and Golds
6.  Customer Quilt #5 -- Scrappy Fun
7.  Local Quilt Guild 2015 Spring Tea quilt (longarm)
8.  Julianne's Grand Illusion
 
Quilted, needs binding
1. 
Completed this week:
1. 
 
64 -- Current WIPS
03 -- Finishes for 2015