Design Wall - August 22, 2016

Here's what my design wall looks like today.  The leader/ender zig zag blocks are the result of my newest quilt top finish.  I can't show that yet, but I will tell you it involves our Quilts of Valor Chapter of Eastern MO.

Also this week I finished quilting another quilt that was donated to our local QoV by a gentleman from North Dakota who pieced this beautiful top. Thank you so much R.L. Your piecing was perfect and I love the design.  It was too big for our hand quilting frames, so they asked me to quilt it.  I'm happy with the results.

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall Monday.

Design Wall Monday

Today was supposed to be a sew day with a friend and I cleaned up my sewing room and tried to make it comfortable for us to work on our projects.  She called to say she was not feeling well, so that leaves me open to many other tasks besides sewing to fill my time -- a mountain of laundry, cleaning the rest of the house that I omitted previously, cutting down unwanted honeysuckle and grapevines that have grown rampant throughout our property, loading a quilt on the frame, OR sewing up my foxy block for my piecing group.  Decisions, decisions.

But first, here's my design wall.  The blue/neutral blocks are from Bonnie Hunter's 'My Blue Heaven' which I started in September last year at her workshop here in our area.  I may just stop this after I get those 3 star blocks done and call it a baby quilt for a little boy.  I'm just not into this project right now, and I want to reclaim my wall space for other things.

The other is my new leader/ender project that I mentioned yesterday.  I saw this at Flourishing Palms blog and fell in love with the simpleness of the block, but the dynamic results when you put it all together.  My friend Linda has such a knack of coming up with great scrap ideas to use up little pieces.  So, I've got a bunch of 2.5" squares all ready to feed them in between whatever block I'm making. They are like eating potato chips, you can't stop at just one, you want to make just one more, then one more.  I know this will be a fun scrap quilt for this year.

Scrappy Zig Zag

Guess I'll sew my exchange block which was the original plan to work on with my friend.  It's a fox block from Marsha in ou monthly piecing group.  We were given all the pieces except the color for the fox - I'm making mine a rusty brown   They are all cut and ready to sew together.  Guess that's what I'm off to finish before tackling the laundry or more cleaning and pruning.

Sorry it's turned sideways.  I'll show you a finished block later.  It's really a cute block.

Hope you are all having a good, fun filled day.  It's beautiful here today and hard to stay inside.

Stop by Judy's to see more Design Walls.

Design Wall - March 30, 2015

Here's my design wall this week. All the Stripes and Stars blocks finished.   Hope to get them all sewn into rows this week. This may be wishful thinking considering how many other commitments for the week that I have.  We'll see how far I get.

QOV Stripes and Stars

What's on your design wall?  Stop by Judy's Patchwork Times and see more design wall possibilities and be inspired. 

Design Wall and Stash Report-#12

Oops!  Is it really Monday already?  What happened to Saturday and Sunday?  I swear my calendar didn't have them on there last week.  I remember Friday and then it was today.  The weekend was a blur.  Yes, you are right, my eyes need checking and I did take care of that.  Now they are really blurred with a new prescription that seems a bit too strong. The computer, TV and road signs are not clear at all.

Well, I did do some sewing BEFORE my eyes got blurred.  More pillowcases, but not the dragon ones this time--watermelons.

Another 2 yards out of my stash!  And none bought in 2015.

I also spent a little time working on my Stripes and Stars QOV quilt.  All the Ohio Stars are finished and only a few log cabin blocks to go. Soon they will be ready to be put into rows.  Here is a shot of my Design Wall when I first started this project.  Disregard those stack and whack blocks vying for attention.  It's been 7 years or more since these were started.  I think that is long enough to procrastinate, don't you?  They really are starting to bug me, but that's all the fabric there is so I was stumped as to how to use them. Maybe a baby quilt with an alternate block?.  

Week #12 Stash

Fabric Added - 0

Fabric Used this week- 7.16 yds 

Fabric Added YTD - 0

Fabric Used YTD - 33.75 yds

Net used in 2015 - 33.75 yds

Linking up with Judy's Design Wall. If you haven't checked out, you should.  Lots of eye candy there.

Design Wall and Stash Report - Week 40

The only thing on my design wall today is this little pumpkin block.  It is for a block exchange group.

My stash report is definitely headed in the wrong direction for reducing my stash!  After attending the MQX show in Springfield, IL and the River Heritage Quilt Guild Show in Cape Girardeau, I had added an additional 12 yards  One booth had some fantastic prices on fabric and if you know me at all, I can't pass up a good sale -- even when I really don't need any more fabric.  I do have a plan for some of this.  These are for pillowcases for our children's project.

For baseball lovers

Under the sea

Blue Flames for boys

Daisies with green cuffs

And  a few fat quarters to add to my oranges.  I'm behind on making my last two months of Soul Searching blocks, plus the new one for October.  Guess I'd better get busy.

Fabric added  - 12 yards (2 weeks)

Fabric used   -  .25

Fabric added YTD -  39.5 yds

Fabric Used YTD - 28.45 yds

Net Added in 2014 - 11.05 yds

I'm linking up with Judy's DWM and Stash Report (a little late).  Stop on by and see what others are doing. There is sure to be something that will inspire you.

Design Wall Monday - July 14, 2014

My "Friendship Jewels" would be on the design wall IF it was big enough to hold it and IF the two large sections were sewn together.  It also needs 2 blocks to finish a row (can you see the table through those those two empty squares)?

The "Soul Searching" blocks are up on the wall for now.  Still don't have the green May block finished; however, I'm washing the green scraps, so maybe I'll get it done before July is over!

To check out other design walls, visit Judy's Patchwork Times.

Design Wall - February 24, 2014

My design wall is getting so crowded that I've moved some of my blocks to a tabletop.  My string blocks are starting to come in from some of my friends and they are looking great.  I love them!













These blocks are from Barb, Linda, Donna, Tommi and Faye.  Thank you so much ladies!  They look great!




Then there is a new project I started last week.  It was named  "Snow Friends" by a good friend who put together 3 kits for her special friends to make during the wintry, snowy months. Our instructions are to work on this whenever it snows.  That means this quilt should be finished by now since we've had a lot of snow this winter.  I'll show you more as I get it cut out and stitched down.  I love the fabrics she chose for the pieces of this quilt.  It's going to be so cute and we are having fun doing it together.

Beginnings of Snow Friends

The biggest project on my design wall is my Celtic Solstice.  It is still waiting for the first border. Maybe that will happen at a retreat real soon.  Or maybe not.  I can't decide what to take with so many UFO's all wanting to go!

If you have time, go on over to Patchwork Times and see what's on others have on their design walls.  

Design Wall and Celtic Solstice

On my design wall are the beginnings for two projects that will use a rainbow of colors (and my stash).  One is the RBS Challenge and the other is a quilt I'm making with the help of friends.  Both use strips/strings of colors from the stash bins and are so much fun to do.  I can't wait to see the final results when all the different blocks are put together with many different hues of color families.

Here is my worksheet for the colors and layout I wanted and to keep track of who is doing which color block for me.  With a little help from my friendss (22 blocks), this will be one of my favorite quilts for sure.  I still have almost 60 more blocks to make myself, but I'm looking forward to the finished quilt and all the great fabrics it will contain. 

Celtic Solstice did not make it to a flimsy by the time Bonnie had her last post, but  I am getting close. Here's where I am and now comes the decision on how to finish.  I've seen lots of good ideas from others who have theirs done and I want to make it mine, so I just need to make a decision and get it done.

To see more Design Walls, go to Patchwork Times and for more Celtic Solstice, check out Bonnie's Finale link up HERE.

DWM, No Knead Bread and Celtic Solstice

Brr !  It's cold outside.  Our outside thermometer reads minus -2 and there is almost 10 inches of snow on the ground, but the sun is shining brightly.  It's a good day for staying indoors and sewing and baking. I love to heat up the house with good smells coming from the kitchen.  How about some homemade bread the easy way   

I came across an easy No Knead Crusty Dutch Oven French Bread recipe on the internet and decided to try it. I've put it under the Recipe Tab at top of page. I couldn't believe how well it turned out for such little effort.  You mix it up the night before, set it in a big bowl to rise overnight, punch down in the morning, let it rise another hour and bake for 30 mins. in a dutch oven or heavy pan with a lid.   Ta-Da

Right out of a 450 degrees oven

It was very good. Very crusty outsdie and soft inside with big holes to soak up whatever you desire - butter, jam or the broth from homemade soup. The texture reminded me of sourdough bread, but without the sour flavor. I'll be making this again real soon.

Now on to the sewing room.  I'm betting there are a lot of design walls today that have some of these blocks on them.  These are the two blocks that make up Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt, Celtic Solstice. I'm putting them together in between working on other things, but wanted to see how they looked. 

 You can see more design walls over at Patchwork Times. 

Design Wall Monday and Celtic Solstice

Well, I finally got caught up on Celtic Solstice (Thank you Bonnie for a quick part 4 during the holidays).  Here are all my little 4-patches sewed and pressed awaiting their turn. Each stack has (10) 4-patches in them.

On my design wall this morning are blocks for my block exchange.  These little 4 inch bow ties looked so lonely up there all by themselves, I thought they needed some company.  

So I played around with the CS mystery blocks like I've seen on other blogs earlier.

I tried it with the 4-patches turned with the green inside/orange outside then reversed it.  To tell you the truth, I cannot see much of a difference either way.  I am using a bit darker rusty orange in place of Bonnie's bright orange on most of the blocks.   

I'm linking up with Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday and Quiltville's Celtic Solstice.  Go check them out to see more of what's going on in blogland this morning.

Design Wall 12/9/13 and Celtic Solstice Part 2

These were the blocks on my design wall last week.  Actually they are on my dining room table in this picture.  They are blocks for the block exchange group I'm in. This time the fabrics were provided and we put them together as instructed.  Everone got 2 different florals and center colors. The pattern is called Radiance.

The other block is one I made for our Christmas party tomorrow night.  Each participant bought a square of fabric for $1 and was to make a 12.5" block.  It could be any pattern or technique. I went simple because of time contraints, but the red will be the common thread that makes all the blocks go together with each other.  We should have several lucky winners because lots of packets were purchased.  Hope I'm one of the winners, but I won't hold my breath.  I've done this for 20+ years and haven't won any yet. lol

Christmas block

Celtic Solstice blocks would be up on my design wall if there are not so many. After taking so long to finish Clue #1, I decided to get better organized so I could keep up this week. Here's  where I am on Clue#2 - ALL 600 pieces cut, marked and sewing.. I have about half of the cute little Chevrons put together and will easily finish the rest before the next clue releases. 

Here how I set up my work space for Clue #2.  I sew 10 pairs together then get up to iron.  This keeps me from sitting too long and helps with the repetition.

You can see my greens, yellow/golds and neutrals that I'm using.  I also have a 200 fine grit sandpaper to put under the 2" blocks for marking diagonal lines, scissors for trimming off the triangles and do you see that little red bobbin holder above the instruction sheet? That is a section of  plastic from a spiral bound notebook that someone showed on Pinterest for carrying extra filled bobbins to retreats or classes. Isn't that a clever idea?

Here are some of the chevrons put together.  I'm clipping 10 with red binder clips. 

When I was searching for greens in my stash, I came upon a piece that was way back in the closet. It must have fallen off the crowded shelves. I know it's at least 10 years old.  But look, it was meant to be found and put into this scrap quilt. It has horseshoes, shamrocks and pots of gold.  If this does say Ireland, nothing does.

I am linking up with Patchwork Times and Celtic Solstice Linky#2. Take some time and have a look at both places for lots of eye candy.

Design Wall Monday

My design wall is empty at the moment.  The liturgical quilt has been taken off the design wall, all the applique is finished and it's now loaded on the longarm in the process of being quilted.  I've got a good start on it, so hopefully before the end of the week, this little baby will be done!

Also, because it's Trick or Treat time of the year soon, I put out a few items to get in the mood.

Here's a little tablerunner I made for decorating at Halloween along with pumpkins and other "wicked" items scattered around the house.  A motion-activated ghost, a witch that hit the telephone pole while flying through the night (she's not IN the house), and orange and black candles placed around the house for when the lights go out and the wind is blowing and strange sounds can be heard howling at the full moon.

 This is the back.  I just love those little ghosts on there.

This Halloween is going to be a very special one for me.  I'll tell you more about it later.  It involves a trip with friends and lots and lots of eye candy.  Did I mention there would be lots of wonderful things to see?  I might even see some of you there.

Stop by Judy's and take a look at more Design Walls.  There's are lots of design walls that you will enjoy.

Design Wall Monday 10/7/13

Here's part of my design wall today.  These is an old, old UFO that I was experimenting with to learn how to do reverse applique.  I used my own hand-dyed fabric.  The blocks still have the 2nd contrasting piece of fabric behind the top one and they are not very well done, but I can't throw them away. I'd like to something with them and not have to make any more.  Maybe I should just add these to my orphan box with other partly finished things and incorporate all of the orphans into a backing for a scrappy top. Any ideas you might have would be welcomed.

Reverse applique schoolhouse blocks

The other design wall has the liturgical piece on it.  I'm working on the applique section and it still needs some tweeking, but here's a peek.

Drop on by Patchwork Times to see more design walls today.

Design Wall Sept. 9, 2013

Here's what my design wall looks like today.  There are 20 flag blocks made for Alycia's Big Block Blowout for QOV.  You can find out more by looking at Alycia Quilts and Judy's extra incentive here. There are 2 different blocks you can choose from.  I chose to do the Flag block and it was so much fun.

I'm off to a good start for my September goals.   One down and only 5 more to go. This was the easiest of them all though.  To see more design walls, go HERE at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall 9/2/13

Here's what my design wall looks like today.

Blocks that will be leaving my house

The 3 blocks to the left are optional blocks for one of my quilting guilds that will be added to many others in the group.  We were given the pattern and told to use Fall colors. Some lucky person will win all that are donated in a drawing this week.

The 6 little blue and white 9-patches are for a friend at our block exchange group, Pieces of Friendship which meets this week too.   

My other design wall is still looking the same, except I did sew the outer row of bright blocks on the right side to the stained glass row.  Now I'm ready to start the applique in the middle, WHEN I figure out how big it needs to be.  Nothing was added to the hexies. 

Go on over to Judy's to see more design walls and be inspired.

Design Wall Monday - 8/19/13

Just a little added to the design wall since last time.  I'm starting to play with scrappy hexies.  Not sure if I want to just go with the flow and put them next to each other, or plan a constant color path running through them the traditional way.  Right now, I'll just keep making flowers.

And while I'm talking about flowers, it's a good time to introduce you to "Floral Fantasy".  This is our raffle quilt for the Bits 'n Pieces Quilt Guild.  It was made by a sub-group called The "A-Team", of which I am a part. The A stands for Applique, naturally.  These blocks are all done by the needle-turn technique. We have around 20 in our group when everyone comes to our monthly meetings.

I showed you a few pictures of the quilting from the back on an earlier post and now, as promised, here are a few more from the front.  I'll be showing a picture of the whole quilt later, but because of it's size 97" x 110", that shot doesn't even come close to doing it justice.  It's best seen up close and personal.  

There are many more intricate and difficult ones to come.  This will be raffled off in March, 2014 at our bi-annual quilt show.  More details on that later; stay tuned.

To see other design walls, visit Patchwork Times.

Design Wall 8/12/13

It's been a bit since I've posted to DWM, but this exercise is a motivator for me, so I thought I'd get back to one of my older projects.  I've added more stained glass to the outside of the first panels that were completed.

Next will come the center and hardest challenge -- applique a cross with a heart draped over it.  Figuring out the dimensions and how best to achieve the look I'm after may be more than I am capable of doing.  Might have to call in a "real artist" to advise me on perspective and size.

To see what is on other design walls, go to Patchwork Times.