Long Time No Post!

Isn't it amazing how fast time flies when you're busy procrastinating...*cough*...I mean sewing.  Honestly though, I have been sewing but not very much.  Since my last post, I've packed for retreat, sewed at retreat for 4 days, recovered from retreat.  That's pretty much it in a nutshell.

Here's my car packed with my and my friend Beth's stuff

...poor car. 

 For two people we had a TON of stuff.  I don't know why I always take so much.  Well yeah I do.  I am always afraid I'm going to get bored with what I am working on...that ADD thing...so I take several projects and switch back and forth as I get bored.  Do you take too much when you go to retreat also?

While at retreat I managed to finish one quilt...And I embarrassed to admit that the blocks were already finished.  I completed the sashing at retreat the first night.  I'm calling it Starry Night for lack of a better name.

Oh yeah, I did finish this candy bowl for my husband to put in his office...per his request.  While at retreat I did give a quick tutorial on how to make things with clothesline.

I am not quite sure where the rest of the weekend went and why I don't have anything to show for it.  I must've spent too much time chatting and seeing what everyone else was working on.  Here are a few photos of some of the projects the other ladies were working on.

This last photo is my friend Lee's triangle quilt before she trimmed the sides.  It's KING size.  The woman is bonkers I tell you.  A while back I showed her how to diamonds and triangles.  And apparently she has really enjoyed making them because this is what she finished while at retreat.  She came to retreat with single rows of triangles with no real plan for the quilts size and just started sewing the rows together.  The picture does not do the quilt top justice...that thing is freakin' huge!

Well dang this post got long fast!  I'll wait till another post to tell you what I've been working since my recovery from retreat.

Till next time....

Another Giveaway!

Jaybird Quilts is having a fantastic giveaway!

 

With the help of the Fat Quarter Shop, she is giving away a Pure fat quarter bundle.  I am in love with the combination of blues, creams, and browns.  And while just telling you about it is lessening my chances of winning, I want you to have a chance to win also.

I've had a change of heart...

...about the Accuquilt Go! and I want one!

They now have dies for cutting Double Wedding Ring and Winding Ways blocks which would make my life a whole lot simpler.  They also have dies for the Apple Core, Drunkard's Path, and Robbing Peter to Pay Paul blocks.

If you'd like a GO! too, head over to Sew Many Ways' blog and enter for a chance to win one.

Good luck!

Better Late Than Never

Okay...so I'm a couple days late and it's not the best photo but it'll do.  Here's my newest quilt top.

As many of you guessed it's Miss Rosie's "Open Door" quilt pattern.  I used Three Sisters' new line Park Avenue for this particular pattern.  Although, I did have to throw in a few non-related fabrics to have enough blues and light browns.  Park Avenue was perfectly suited for this pattern. 

Now that the quilt top is completing and heading to the shop, it's time for me to get back to Ms. Crocket.  Stay tuned for an update on that one in the coming days.

Hope y'all are having a great weekend!

A Sneak Peak

Hopefully, *fingers crossed*, I'll have the completed 

quilt top to show you tomorrow. 

I'm a WINNER!

Don't you just love winning things?!

Last week Becky of Strumpet's Crumpets had a giveaway and wouldn't you know it...I won!  I signed up I swear like MINUTES before she picked a winner. 

It arrived yesterday in the mail and I'm telling you...it is made from the the softest yarn I have ever felt.  It's just absolutely awesome!  While Becky is not a quilter (as far as I know), she is a crafty crafty girl and has a really cute blog.  You should go check her out some time.

Pets on Quilts Entry

SewCalGal is having a online Pets on Quilts show

...and here's my entry.

Meet Lisander, our Main Coone, laying on the hearth atop my Dutchman's Puzzle quilt.  The quilt was made from batik scraps I had laying around. 

Lisander can usually be found laying on his cat tree but on this particular day I was lucky enough to have the camera laying about and find him on the hearth.  You wouldn't know it from the picture but this guy weighs in at 22 pounds.

A satisfied Grandpa...

...and here's the proof...sorta.  Little Austin doesn't look like he's bursting with excitement over his new quilt but I have it on good authority that both he and his mom love the quilt.

I never did get a picture of the completed quilt before it was handed off to my husband's coworker but Austin's grandpa was kind enough to send me this pic of him with his new quilt.

The story behind this quilt is when Austin's grandpa was a small boy his grandmother made him a large bedsize quilt.  He still has that quilt today along with many fond memories of his grandmother.  And he wanted to share that same experience with his grandson. 

That's where I came in.  Grandpa enlisted me to make a larger bedsize quilt that Austin could grow up with and use throughout his life.  The only requirement was  that it be Texas-ish (yes...Texas-ish is now officially a word).  Since Grandpa was from Texas and little Austin lived in another state, Grandpa wanted Austin to always have Texas with him.  Well I think that was accomplished.  DH even quilted it with a state of Texas pantograph.

Long story short...everyone loves the quilt and Grandpa can continue building memories with his grandson.

A story with a happy ending...I love it!

Another day, another bowl

Yesterday evening after finishing and posting about the the baby quilt from the previous post I decided that my sewing bug wasn't done yet.  So I pulled out my strips and clothesline again to make another bowl. 

It never ceases to amaze me how fast these bowls are made!  This about 4 hours of worth of work.  The bowl is approximately 9 1/2" in diameter and just over 5" tall.  I just kept coiling till I ran out of line and that's where I stopped.  Here are some other shots of the bowl.

Here's a trivet I made after seeing a photo of someone else's on Flickr.

Cool beans...yeah?!

Bountiful Bouquets

How's that for a funky baby quilt?  And it only took a few hours to make. 

The pattern is "Bountiful Bouquets" by Debbie Maddy of Calico Carriage Quilt Designs.  If you're not familiar with Debbie's work, she's well known for her "no diamonds/no Y seams" patterns.    Her patterns are easy to follow and come out perfect every time.

To be honest I would have liked to have made one of the large sizes included in this pattern because the blocks were on point but the next size up was 62"x102"! 

Yes, I could have recalculated to make it a more reasonable size but this little quilt is destined to become a kit for the shop.  And when you are making samples for a quilt you're going to sell a kit to, it's never a good idea to stray from the designer's original directions.  It gets to confusing.  I'm okay with it though 'cause now I have a reason to make this quilt again...but to the size "I" want.

done done DONE!!!

I can't believe it's really done!  This project was a real challenge...not because of the complexity because it was actually easy stitches and easy blocks to make but because of the shear amount of stitching this project required.  For those of you that are new to my blog, the pattern is called "Vintage Trick or Treat" by Crabapple Hill Studio and the completed quilt measures 59" x 59".

Here's a close up of the last block.

I absolutely love how this project turned out.  I'm not big on making quilts with a holiday theme.  In fact, I can count on one hand the number of times I've made a holiday quilt.  This one makes 3.  In the end I'm really glad I made it.  It was worth having an achy neck, headache, and sore fingertips every time I spent 8+ hours at a time stitching away.

What to do next? Hmmm......

It doesn't get any cuter than this!!!

I'm soooooo in love with this fabric!  My mind is racing with "Bliss"ful ideas! 

Check out what Darlene of Quilting Daze did with it.

What would you do with some Bliss?

Back to Trick or Treating

I am finally back to working on my "Vintage Trick or Treat" by Crabapple Hill Studio.  Here is the block I just completed this afternoon.

I thought I was never going to get this block finished.  While it wasn't difficult, it was definately time consuming with all the fill stitches.

Now I'm down to my last block to embroider!  All the pieced blocks are completed and just waiting on this last embroidered block.  My goal is to have the quilt top completed by week's end.  Here's a look at the center again...this time with the nine patches around it.

Stay tuned!