Choose Your Own BlockAlong 1/26/15

A bright red Dear Jane block to start off a dreary Monday!

Block L-8

Doe fabric for the background and Brandon Mably prints from my stash for the accent pieces.  I'm up to 34 Dear Jane blocks now!

Rumor has it Cindy has finished her Christmas Tula Pink City Sampler blocks.  Head over to her linky party and see for yourself.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a lovely Monday!

Sewing With Friends

Saturday was our OrlandoMQG Sew Day at the library, and we had an especially large group.  It amazes and impresses me how far members drive to sew together!  Another example of how special our guild is.

Sweet gift from my friend Doris!

Members modeling our necklaces.  Thanks Yumi!

Presidents of two nearby MQGs drove over to sew with us, my sister drove down from Georgia and Yumi sent these gorgeous fabric necklaces from Japan.  Too bad Japan is a bit far to travel for a Sew Day!

Michelle's project

My sister worked on her MCM Bee block.  Love the bright florals against the text fabric.

Wish Circle block in progress

I brought fabrics to work on my MCM Bee block too but didn't quite finish with my Wish Circle block.  I blame it on the awkwardness of my walking foot having forgotten to switch feet from my last project.

Fabric gift

Michele was generous in adding to my cowboy fabric for future Leo quilt.

I'm so blessed!

 My sister also hand delivered my Christmas gift!!  She spoils me with her beautiful quilty creations.  Thank you Michelle!  I have spent most of the last few days cuddled underneath.

Pondering options

 Another reason for my sister's visit was a trip to IKEA to purchase furniture for her sewing room.  My daughter went with us as she believes "Ikea is a magical wonderland!"  Michelle did not agree ;-))  She was successful in obtaining her items though.  No need for her to visit Ikea again!

 Yesterday, I enjoyed hand stitching with friends for Crafty Tuesday.  So nice to pull this old WIP out after several years.  I even learned a new embroidery stitch.  At QuiltCon (only 29 more days!) I am taking an embroidery class with Alison Glass.  Will be interesting to see if I add more embroidery WIPs or finish this one sooner because of the class.

Do you get together routinely to sew with friends?

Choose Your Own BlockAlong 1/19/15

Happy Monday and Martin Luther King Day!

Dear Jane Block K-3

I spent a little bit of time already in my sewing room this morning which felt good.  It's been too long.  My sister drove down Saturday to attend our OrlandoMQG Sew Day, and we had a nice time sewing together.  More on that tomorrow.

Block K-3 was rotary cut and machine pieced.  All strips/squares are 1" cut and .5" finished.  Tiny!  Happy that I found another block that didn't require paper piecing or appliqué.  I cut into my new Carolyn Friedlander Doe fabric for this one!  Love it.

33 blocks made

I am going to make only one block per week for a while.  The blocks are getting more difficult and there are other projects I need to work on.  This Dear Jane is a long term quilt goal for me.  No rush.

Last week instead of working on DJ blocks, I played around with adding my blocks to an Excel spreadsheet.  This exercise took WAY longer than it should!  I placed the completed blocks according to the Dear Jane book.  Because of my random pick of fabrics per block, I will be laying my blocks out differently.  Still working on that arrangement.

How are y'all doing with your projects?  Thank you so much for leaving comments and encouraging me along the way!  It helps a great deal knowing others are interested in my progress.  Linking up with Live a Colorful Life.

Happy stitching,

Bee Blocks

December was my month again to be Queen for the Mid-Century Modern Bee.  I selected the Dresden block and quickly made my first one using this tutorial.  Who knew the Dresden Plate block was so easy?!  If I had, I would have made some much sooner.

first ever Dresden plate block

auditioning centers

I received a few blocks before leaving town and was excited to open two weeks worth of mail today and find several more (along with tons of junk mail, bills and a few Christmas cards).

where's my flash???!!

I love the blocks I have received so far with the scrappy fabrics in my requested color palette and various size centers of the dresden plates.  I have an idea but am still tweaking my plan for this quilt.

goldfish block

 I brought the fabric ingredients for the goldfish block with me on vacation.  This is December's Wish Circle block for do.Good Stitches based on this tutorial.  Such a fast and fun block!  I highly recommend this one.

pineapple block

November's bee blocks were sent on time but not posted here:

November's MCM Bee block for Elizabeth.  She made it simpler for us by sending precut strips and the printed paper pattern.

Fieldcrossing quilt block

November's Wish Circle block following this free pattern.

Now on to January's bee blocks....

P.S. Just a reminder I will be back next Monday with my Dear Jane blocks, but Cindy has a linky up for Choose Your Own BlockAlong this week if you're playing along.

Thanks for stopping by,

Friday Finish: First of 2015

It's the first Friday of the year, and I have a finish to share!  Woo Hoo!

20" pillow cover

My pillow cover for the Angled class pillow swap is complete and in the mail.  I followed a pattern by Katy Jones of I'm a Ginger Monkey in the Pillow Pop book.

Envelope back

The recipient likes greens and blues which I happen to have an abundance of in my stash.  I chose favorite fabrics from Carolyn Friedlander, Alison Glass and Cotton+Steel to piece the plus/crosses.  The backing is a simple envelope style flap.

quilting on vacation

I assembled most of the pillow top at home, then brought the remaining supplies with me on vacation to finish on my little Janome.  I quilted straight lines using my walking foot with the only Aurifil thread (1148 in 50wt) I had with me which happened to be a perfect match. 

in the mail

Some extra goodies include a journal cover made using Rachel's tutorial (appropriate don't you think as she hosted the swap!), Wonder Clips, washi tape, Montana delicacies and my Peace quilt pattern.

I hope my partner likes her package.  There are some amazing pillow covers posted on the group's Flickr page.  Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts.

Thanks for stopping by,

Hello 2015!

Goodbye 2014!  Hope everyone enjoyed a safe and happy New Year's Day!  I don't know about you, but I am ready to start a new year.  Originally, I was not planning to do a 2014 recap because I'm not pleased with my lack of creating and blogging.

Quilty New Year card

Then I got to thinking about all the wonderful quilty experiences from 2014 and what I DID create.  Here's a quick recap (in no particular order):

Good times after a weekend of workshops

SewDown Nashville was a blast!  Four wonderful teachers, reconnecting with quilty friends and meeting new ones.

My spiderweb quilt made with the help of my MCM Bee buddies

Our Mid Century Modern Bee's second year was full of fantastic blocks, and my first completed bee quilt is my favorite finish of 2014!

One of my favorite blocks

I'm thrilled the Wish Circle of do.Good Stitches welcomed me to their group in February.  I have long admired this charity bee.

Collaborative quilt made for Doris

Hard to believe 2014 was the fifth year retreating with my friends at Gruber's.  I love these girls so much!

I attended several great classes and workshops in addition to SewDown.  Here I am hanging with Carolyn and friends at Bok Tower Gardens for Carolyn's Quilting Florida exhibit.

Me and Jacquie

It was fabulous seeing Jacquie again in Florida where she gave a lecture and workshop at a LQS.  Of course I attended both the lecture and workshop!  Can't get enough of Jacquie!

Love this one!

So happy my sister drove down for one workshop

Our OrlandoMQG brought in Victoria for two days of workshops.  It was an inspiring couple of days!

Destined to be my first finish of 2015

Joined others in Rachel's Angled Camp class as well as a pillow swap.

Heart warming to see children enthusiastic about sewing

Participated in Maker Faire Orlando where our booth won a ribbon.

Festival of Trees quilt

Our OrlandoMQG presented a collaborative quilt to The Orlando Museum of Art's Festival of Trees.

32 Dear Jane blocks pieced in 2014

Started the Choose Your Own BlockAlong with Cindy and Michelle.

I did not complete as many projects as I would have liked in 2014, but you can see a few shown on my quilty New Year card (first picture in post) and by clicking on the link on my sidebar.

Looking ahead to 2015, I am excited about...

Attending QuiltCon again.  This time my sister is going as well!

Gruber's retreat in Minnesota!

My sister will be sewing with the OMQG in 2015!

The OrlandoMQG's sixth year.

Continuing with the MCM Bee and Wish Circle as well as joining a new Sew Sisters Bee.

Participating in several sew alongs and online classes including, but not limited to, 12 Months of Christmas, Choose Your Own BlockAlong, Pile O' Fabrics Skill Builder and EQ University.

Of course, I would like to finish more projects and be a  consistent blogger.

Whew!  This turned out to be a long post.

 Thank you for continuing to stop by and an ever bigger thank you to those who leave comments ;-)))

Happy New Year!!!