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!!!

Christmas Sewing

I didn't do much Christmas sewing this year at all.  I'm already planning to redeem myself in 2015 ;-))  Below is the quilt I made for my grandson and a few other small gifts made.

photographed at our holiday rental house

This quilt was made for Leo following the same design layout as quilts made for my mom and sister.  Those quilts were made using three leftover BOMs (my mom's quilt) and three extra great granny square blocks (for my sister's quilt).  This time around I specifically made three blocks to feature certain Cotton+Steel fabrics from my stash.

fussy cut tigers

 All blocks finish at 12" and instructions can be found in 501 Rotary Cut Blocks.  This one called Carrie Nation was selected to showcase fussy cut tigers.  The only non-Cotton+Steel fabrics are by Carolyn Friedlander like this ledger fabric that I can't get enough of.

made sure Florida and Washington were represented

I chose the London Square block for that large triangular piece that is perfect for the States fabric.

X block

Notice the lion background fabric?!  Lions for Leo!  Basically, the entire quilt was planned around this lion print.

the back

This quilt is an example of how the backing doesn't necessarily have to match the front.  It's difficult to see in the picture, but the backing is the Mustang print and a sparkly Basic print.  Leo loves horses!  The navy binding  (another Basic print) ties the front and back together.

Lions, Tigers and Horses...oh my

Quilt Stats:  3 Blocks Quilt for Leo, quilt designed and made by me, quilted using Aurifil #2600 and my walking foot, Cotton+Steel fabrics with a little bit of Carolyn Friedlander, finished size 54"x72"

hand warmers

Another gift for my grandson was a pair of hand warmers.  These are quick to whip up and I plan to make more of these....next time in a smaller size for toddler hands.  These were made with 5" squares lined with two pieces of batting and filled with rice.  Zap in the microwave for about 25 seconds and you're good to go.

Christmas tea towel

Sewing a 3.5" wide strip of Christmas fabric to a flour sack towel makes a nice gift.  I paired this with an Amazon gift card for a friend.

foot warmer

Under Leo's hand warmers is a rectangular-shaped warmer that can be used as a neck warmer or placed under a blanket to warm the feet.  This was made the same way except I added scented oils to the rice.

sachets

In keeping with the scented rice theme, I filled pairs of 3" Liberty of London squares for pretty and nice smelling sachets.

That pretty much sums up this year's Christmas gift sewing.  Did you do a lot of handmade gifting?  Are you like me and already making your list for 2015 gifts?

Choose Your Own BlockAlong 12/29/14

My Dear Jane blocks are on hold for a few weeks as I'm away from my book and fabric stash.  

I'll be back with two new blocks January 12!

32 Dear Jane blocks

I'm looking forward to getting back to my two DJ blocks a week routine.  How about you?

Thanks for stopping by, 

Choose Your Own BlockAlong 12/8/14

Welcome to another edition of Choose Your Own BlockAlong.  I'm continuing to make two Dear Jane blocks a week.

low volume prints in pink

Block D-5 is rather plain so I added a thin strip of the pink low volume to the sides.  We'll see how that looks once the blocks are all assembled.  I'm realizing that many of these blocks have a thin 1/4" outer strip that will pretty much be swallowed up when joined together, and I am giving myself permission to change them up a tad if I want ;-))

Block D-8

Block D-9 is similar to this block that I paper pieced.  It's so much easier for me to rotary cut the strips and sew an accurate 1/4" seam which is what I did this time.

I find these little blocks to be time consuming but addictive.  I need to walk away for a little bit and do some Christmas sewing.  Hopefully I can manage both.

Thanks for stopping by.  Are you finding time to sew?

Choose Your Own BlockAlong 12/1/14

It's December already, and I really need to work on Christmas gifts every second of the day in order to make all on my list.  Despite that impossibility, I have two Dear Jane blocks to share.

no paper piecing

These Dear Jane blocks are getting harder and taking a big chunk of my available sewing time.  Last week's paper piecing was not pleasant so even though the instructions for today's blocks suggest paper piecing, I went old school.  By measuring the block diagrams and adding a quarter inch to each section, I was able to cut and piece without any foundation.  Too bad all the blocks won't be that "easy".

Block E-8

Block E-8 made with Liberty of London cotton print from my scrap pile.

Block F-7

The purple print is a Brandon Mably while the background is a Cotton + Steel basic.

on my design wall

I've progressed to 30 blocks so far.  I sorted the blocks by color and realized I have a duplicate print.  My intention was to use different fabrics (other than the background) in each block which means I will need to remake one.  Great....

Wonder what Michelle and Cindy have been up to this week?

Thanks for stopping by,