Thursday, April 29, 2010

Garden Inspired Schnibble

Posted by Strlady at 8:14 PM 6 comments
Completed this one just under the wire so to say but the little bugger turned out so darn cute!


My Garden Inspired Schnibble.

Used Garden Inspiration charms by Kansas Trouble. Still have quite a bit of this fabric and really ned to think of how I'm going to use it because I like how they go together.


I originally was not sure about the dark tones but in the end... I like.

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

End of the month is Closing in

Posted by Strlady at 12:03 PM 5 comments
Sorry for the lack of updates but I've been a busy beaver. I think I just might make this month's goals (still have a few days to go!).

First off, an update on my Two Pieced Puzzle.


I have half of the blocks finished!


After our last update, I pieced the hourglass centers over the week and then when the weekend hit, I got all the cornerstone blocks made.


Here are all 28 of them (three are on the back of the wall because they didn't fit in front). Don't they look WONDERFUL! It also shows how big this puppy will be. I have never made one this big. I am so excited!

I had to stop myself from making the others because I had another project to work on this month.

A Garden Inspired Schnibble...


Making this one using Kansas Troubles' Garden Inspiration line.
I worked on this one over this weekend and by monday I had the center completed.


It's darker than I thought but I think after I quilt it I can pop out the stars that I selected to make. (Notice there are four stars forming in the center).
With just a few more days in the month I am working on the border (almost completed) and wrapping up the binding on The Bounty quilt.

Will post soon with the final tally of projects for April.

Monday, April 12, 2010

Weekend updates...

Posted by Strlady at 2:03 PM 3 comments
I was a bit crabby last Saturday. It was bad. I felt like I needed to crawl back in bed and ask god for a redo. Nope. Cannot blame it on PMS or some hormonal thing. Just plain crabby. I planned to go to the Ft Worth Botanical gardens with some friends and then hit the Bear Creek Quilt Guild show but after I was ready at 10:30 am the thought of waiting on others got me so irrationally rattled I thought it best for all involved that I avoid social gatherings altogether (didn't want to ruin everyone elses day).

My daughter was good enough to weather the fire with me and offered to go to do lunch and a movie. Sounded good to me. Well, the lunch never happened because I had to send the undercooked pasta back twice and the movie was a bit of a let down (saw Date Night and it really didn't live up to my expectations), so I decided to call it a day and GO HOME!

I entertainied myself with a few movie rentals and tried to stay FAR away from the sewing room. No need to share the bad day with my wonderful fabric. I might either cut things VERY wrong or cut off some useful apendages. I will tell you that I could not wait for the day to end.

Sunday was wonderful just to make up for Saturday.

Saw this movie...


FABULOUS! I had no intentions of seeing it.
The trailers did nothing for me but the movie bowled me over!
Laughed like a crazy freak.

I also finished cutting my Two Piece Quilt. Yuppers!


Everything is cut and lined up. If you are familiar with the pattern you might noticed that I have a few pieces cut that are not on the instruction sheet. Well I'll tell you... I'm not a big fan of small loose blocks. The pattern calls for two sizes of 2" strips that will eventually get 2" cornerstone squares attached to them.


I cut the red fabric into a larger 8.5" strips (one 4.5" and the other 7.5") so I can add two neutral strips to each end.


I can then cut the resulting units into 2" strips without ever dealing with the smaller 2" squares.


I get the same end results but never had to cut all that tan fabric into those small squares. I also find that this helps with the accuracy of the final strip.

Downside? It limits your fabric combinations. Since I had a good fabric selection to start off with, this didn't bother me much. I think I would play it by ear when it comes to using this technique for all patterns. This one just worked out well since there were many blocks to make and a good amount of fabric to use.

Overall the weekend was not a complete flop. I got alot done on Sunday to make up for the washout on Saturday.

Oh! Almost forgot...


I also picked up a new Iron on Saturday. My old one (cheap walmart purchase) died within 8-9 months of arriving in the house. I decided to get a 'good' one (Rowenta 8080). Some people love Rowentas and others just hate them. I got a traveling Rowenta iron for Christmas and have loved it, so when I had to replace the home unit, I decided to go with Rowenta again. I find it's much heavier than any other iron I've used in the past and the steam is REALLY HOT, so the work gets done quicker. I'll keep you posted if it's not up to par.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Making one for me...

Posted by Strlady at 6:00 AM 2 comments
I have made several quilts but none really feel mine. They are born with a purpose and they go to be loved by others. This year I knew I would be making quilts for me. Some would go on to live happy lives with others, but I would finally have one to call my own.

I thought the first "My Quilt" would be the T for Texas quilt but then I fell in love and decided to make another.

I started cutting on Sunday....


I am excited!!!

I have a few other "My Quilts" planned for this year. You all know about my T for Texas (fell in love with it as soon as I saw it at the Houston Quilt Festival) but did you know that I also enhanced my stash for this quilt?


True Blue by Carrie Nelson from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.
I saw it made at Houston and knew I had to have one.

I also decided I wanted a Christmas Quilt and after seeing Nicole (Sister's Choice Quilts) make this one here, I knew I needed my own.


It's called Opening Day and it's also by Carrie Nelson from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.


I have my eye on Buggy Barn's Crazy Goose quilt but I'm not sure if I'll get to it this year. I'm planning on using the new Looking Back line by Moda. Who doesn't love Buggy Barn quilts but funny thing is, I've rarely seen them made. Don't you feel like sometimes everyone else knows something that you don't?

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Pinwheel Sampler Update

Posted by Strlady at 6:35 AM 2 comments
First goal for the month... check!


All six blocks. There are two of each design so I have 12 of the 16 blocks completed. Now I just need to wait for Rachel to post the next block. I'm pretty happy with the outcome.

Here they are individually...

Block One (completed last month)


Block Two


Block Three


Block Four


Block Five


Block Six (my personal favorite so far)


Onto my next goal...

*** Note: For those inquiring minds. I did modify my blocks in comparison to Rachel's tutorials. She makes all her blocks with half square triangles. I find that adds bulk to the block (more seams) so if I have a section that can be made differently and yeild a less bulky (seam ridden) block, I'll take it.

I made several blocks (# 4, 5 & 6) with Flying Geese units. I used my wonderful Fit to Be Geese ruler by Open Gate. I love the darn thing and decided to order thier Fit to be Square ruler too. I'm hoping that it will give me just as impecable square in a square blocks. I'll keep you posted.

Monday, April 5, 2010

April is here with the promise of new beginings.

Posted by Strlady at 6:30 PM 5 comments
This time of year is such a treat. The grass is turning green and flowers are blooming and after next weekend, we will be NASCAR race-free for a good 6 months. YEAH!!


We decided to remove the tree that would not grow in our front yard and replace it with a Maple tree so last weekend while I worked on my first project of the month we had quite a few hands uprooting our garden to get some color in the flower bed.


They are new blooms but they promise to grow into something... colorful!

My quilty goals?


First: Catchup with ps i quilt's Pinwheel quilt along (see link on sidebar). I'm making this using Moda's Garden Party by Blackbird Designs. I got the first block made last month but I'm a bit behind since Rachel is on block #6.


Second: Cut and start piecing Two Piece Puzzle by Tara Lynn Darr. This one appeared in American Patchwork and Quilting's February issue and as soon as I saw it.. I fell in love. I have been enhancing my stash for this one and now that I have what I need, I'm ready to get going. I would love to finish it this month but I'll be happy to make a good dent on it.


Third: Make this month's Schnibble. That would be Tag along. I was not sure if I wanted to tackle this one but the pattern sort of fell in my lap and I decided I should not skip two months in a row.


While we are on the topic.. Did you hear that Miss Carrie has a new book coming out? This one is out next week and I've already pre-ordered my copy. I can't wait for it to arrive!


Last but not least: I need to bind The Bounty. This one is headed off to a special home next month so no more procrastinating!! I NEED to finish this one.

Keeping it simple this month and hoping I can meet all my goals.

Have a great quilty month!!!

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Meeting Karen Stone Again

Posted by Strlady at 5:50 PM 0 comments
I had the pleasure to sit through a chat with Karen Stone when she visited my (and her) guild meeting this month.


I took a class with Karen about 11 years ago when I had just started quilting and Karen was at the Vermont Quilt Festival teaching her NY Beauty pattern. I loved her color theory and I quickly figured out that I like taking classes that have more to offer than just a pattern.


Since Karen is local to Texas (although not so much local to Dallas), she brought 3 suitcases full of her quilts. Unfortunately the hall where we have our meetings has terrible lighting and most of my pictures ended up blurred (shutter stayed open too long).


You can still get a glimpse of the beauty of the quilts from the blurry pics.


I fell in love with this one in particular. It's called McComma's Beauty and Karen made it with civil war repro fabrics. It has a very masculine look because it was for her father. It is really quite gorgeous.


It will need to go on my list of quilts to make in 2011 because I am done modifiying my 2010 list!!


 

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