Florabunda Block Six -- Lucky Me!

I can't believe I am already finished with six blocks of this quilt.  Erin from One Piece At A Time makes them so easy with her great instructions.  I am really enjoying this quilt and I especially like this block.

Today was my lucky day.  I won the charm squares from Kris at  The Quilting Garden. Thanks Kris. 

Now to come up with a plan to use them..

The Quilting Garden

Just learned about a new giveaway over at 
The Quilting Garden. 
Kris is giving away a Moda Charm Pack for her 5000th post. 
Jump over and check it out.

Busy Week

I got a couple of the quilts on my "Quilts Waiting to be Quilted" list finished.

Classic Blue & White was one of Little Quilts 2005 Second Saturday Sampler quilts.

The second quilt is from the book Jelly Roll Quilts and is called Pandora's Box.
I won a Mother Goose jelly roll from All Washed up in June 2009 and this is the quilt I made.

I quilted Classic Blue and White  with an all over design and used wool batting.

Pandora's Box also has wool batting and is quilted in a feather design.

I have also been working on my scrappy nine patch and snowball quilt. 

I sewed all the blocks together and now I just need to decide what kind of border

I want or even if I want a border. 

What do you think?

Chloe

We have company coming Saturday! 

Chloe my almost 5 year old Granddaughter will be here for a visit.

Her 5th birthday is on July 16th and she will actually sit still long enough now  for me to snap a picture.

No Strings Attached Challenge

Wow!  Lucky me.  A while back I entered Loft Creations

 No Strings Attached Challenge - hosted by Stephanie and guess what I won a prize.

Carrie P.  of  - A Passion for Applique -  donated the prize I won.  A wonderful box of strips.

My scrap quilts should be greatly improved by the addition of all this colorful fabric.

Plodding Along and A Little Tip!

I have been sewing little nine patch and snowball blocks

for a while and this is what I have accomplished so far. 

I have four more rows planned but will wait and see how large the quilt is after sewing the rows together.

Thanks to my friend Judy for contributing lots of colorful scraps. 

My scraps always seem so dull compared to hers. 

Her quilts are  wonderful. 
You should check out her blog Quilting by Judith.

Just a little tip for anyone  as messy as I am.

Are you tired of bending over to pick up

all those threads on the floor?

A "new" toilet bush is a wonderful thing. 

Sweeps them right up.

Snowball Night

I joined Snowball Night on Karen's blog Sew Many Ways and this is what I came up with.  I had a couple of Moda charm packs in my stash and some cream fabric that matched so I started sewing.  I did have to go to  Sweet Home  my local quilt shop to buy some border fabric.  I will say - snowball's are not my favorite blocks.  I always seem to have trouble with those little corners coming out just right, but with some creative pinning and pressing all is well.  One more to add to the quilting list.
Don't you just love those little strings that sneak into your pictures?

Nine Patch Challenge

A while back I joined the Nine Patch Challenge over on
Karen's blog.    The challenge was to make just one nine patch a day using your stash.
Just one block each day -   any size, any color, using any method.  Simple enough.
By the end of the summer you would have a quilt.

I am trying to make at least two blocks a day using the
Bonnie Hunter leader's and ender's method because my blocks are so small. 
I had already cut a lot of 1 1/2" squares out of my scraps and this seemed like a good way to use them.

So far I have made 78 - 3 1/2" blocks.  Unless I want a really small quilt I need to make a lot more.

Later in the summer Karen is going to provide us with simple sashing and setting instructions.

Quilts From My Past

I haven't had much time for quilting or blogging for that matter in the past few weeks.  Lots of Family things happening.

So I thought I would post a few pictures of quilts I made before I started blogging.

These three quilts are made from the book One Block Wonder.  I belong to a mini group and we all decide to make this quilt together.  Since I am considered an over achiever I couldn't stop with just one -  I had to make three.  This is a fun quilt to make and I think they look a lot more complicated than they are.

Leaders & Enders - Florabunda Block Five

I finally got around to getting
Bonnie Hunter's latest book
Leaders & Enders. 
It's a great book for me because I have lots of 2" squares already cut.  I bought some  background fabric for one of the quilts "Rick Rack Nines" and hope to get started sewing those leaders and enders today.

I also finished block five for my "Florabunda"  quilt.   Lots of orange in this quilt.

Another Giveaway!

Another great giveaway over at  By Hoki Quilts. I hate to tell everyone but you should check it out.

Scrappy Trips Around the World

Finally something to scratch off the Quilts waiting to be quilted list.


I quilted my Scrappy Trips Around the world yesterday. This is one of Bonnie Hunters quilts from Quiltville. I like this quilt even though it still looks a lot like my Scrappy Bargello.

I did add some pinks and a few other colors I had but that didn't change the look much.

I used a wool batting and it made the quilt nice and soft and shows off the quilting nicely.

The thing I like the most about this quilt is it's finished !

Florabunda Block Four

I finally finished block four of my Florabunda quilt. Patiently waiting on block five to be posted.

Most of the fabric I am using in this quilt was left over from my Aunt Millie's Garden quilt. They don't look the same on the white background. You always seem to need so many different fabrics for an applique quilt.

Florabunda

I have been working on Florabunda a BOM Erin Russek of One Piece at a Time is offering.

It's not too complicated so I have been able to keep up. The first three blocks are finished and I am working on # four.
Erin give wonderful instruction on how to do the applique. She makes it almost easy.

Another Finish

There hasn't been much time for my personal quilting lately but I did manage to finish a lace scarf in my UFO box.  I usually knit at night while I watch TV because you don't need much light.  I used to applique but my eyes have gotten older and they don't seem to see as well as they used to.
This scarf is one of Birgit Freyer's patterns from Knitting Delight she is a German designer and has a Yahoo Group I am a member of.

Cutting Bias Quilt Binding

I was cutting some bias binding today and thought some of you might like to know how I cut mine.

The first thing I do is fold my fabric cut edge to selvedge so I have a bias fold.

I always press as I go so I have a nice crisp edge to work with.

The next step is to fold again along the bias fold.

Then you fold a second time.   Always keep the folded edges together.

After folding the second time you will have a little bit left over.  Just turn this piece down. (got tired of using the word fold.)

Now you trim  all the folds .  Cutting off just about a quarter inch.

                                                                             Turn your fabric around- if you are right handed like I am- and start cutting your strips whatever width you want.

I was a weaver in another life and this is the way I would cut strips when I wove with fabric.  If this isn't clear to anyone (not sure it's even clear to me) let me know and I will try to help.

No Words Necessary

The top is finished. I still have to get a backing and quilt it.  This has been a fun experience. My first time using all solids and only the second time I have used Tonya's letters.  It will have to be put aside for a while as I have other things I need to get done and I am going to  VA to see Lillian.

Liberate Amish New Direction

Turns out those fans weren't as inspiring as I thought.  I really didn't enjoy making them so I decided to go in a different direction. I am using #25  as my inspiration now.
I used the layout I had planned for the fans and think I got a similar look.
Now my big problem - the letters in the border.  I have no idea what I want to say.  I really want them on the front.  Maybe just my initials in the corner.

Hooked Rug - Another UFO

I finally finished this hooked rug I have been stepping over for about 2 years.

Nice to have it off my to do list.
I used to hook a lot but now not so much.
I love hand hooked rugs and have several projects I need to get back to.

Liberate Amish Get Together

OK, as if I don't already have enough to do. I joined the Lazy Gal Liberated Amish 2010 get together - Tonya has organized. I am a little late joining but we have until June to finish. Sounds like a long way off doesn't it? It really isn't when you have as much going on in your life as I do.

We are supposed to use solid fabrics. Make the quilt liberated and use letters either on the front or back of the quilt. Our inspiration should come from the book

Amish Abstractions.

I have decide to use Fans Variation as the inspiration for my quilt. These are the fabrics I have chosen. They are actually brighter than the picture shows and some of the ones that look black are brown and Burgundy.

The Quilts that are being made in this group are really wonderful. You should go over and check it out. It's still not too late to join.

My quilt won't be too large just a wall hanging.