What's Up Wednesday: It's Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone!  Be safe.  Sending hugs to all those affected by Sandy.
I have two more great granny squares done, but I am tired of showing those.  Here is a picture of the first twelve completed that I didn't share last week.  I still haven't decided on a layout of the quilt or even which blocks I will use since I have extra.

Not the final layout

Moving on, I started another project, basted a quilt and cut batting for future AAQI minis.

Baby chevron

Surely this baby chevron quilt top won't take me too long to quilt now that I finally have the backing and it is basted.

Batting ready to be used

While measuring the batting for the baby quilt, I went ahead and cut a stack of 10"x12" batting pieces to have ready for basting Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts.  Maybe this will speed up the process of finishing these minis.  I have a tendency to whip up a quilt top and then have it sit because I am too lazy to pull out the huge roll of batting (or my bag of leftover batting) to cut a small rectangle.

One of seven in Houston at the moment

Seven of my AAQI quilts are in Houston for the International Quilt Market.  If you are lucky enough to attend, stop by their booth in Row S and view the over 2,000 quilts and purchase one or two five.  It is for a very worthy cause!!!  They make great gifts for family and friends, especially quilt friends.  I would love to attend Quilt Market one day for no other reason that to see this booth!

Image from Amy's blog

For those of us not attending Quilt Market, there is Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Have you entered your quilt yet?  Today is the deadline, so get on it.  I love seeing all the lovely quilts and discovering new blogs.  Each year I vow to read and comment on every entry....I have yet to make it.  There are just so many.  Last time I checked there are 519 (think I am up to 100).  I'm not giving up on my attempt to read (and leave a comment) them all.

Future Christmas quilt

Yesterday, I took a break from blog reading and spent quite a bit of time cutting strips for a new quilt project.  Now that the cutting is finished, the fun part can commence!

What's up with you this Wednesday?  Hope you are having a wonderful day.
Thanks for stopping by,

Mini Monday: Two Projects

I quilted the AAQI mini made a few Mondays ago.  

Echo quilting

Using orange Sulky thread I quilted organic lines around the three color bars using my walking foot.  

Before the binding has been hand stitched to the back

I didn't use the facing method this time as I had this leftover Kaffe binding strip which has the perfect colors to match the solids and is just the right length.  Correction:  the binding strip is  Pretty Bird by Pillow and Maxfield

The back

 Half of a fat quarter is the perfect backing size for these Alzheimer's Art Quilts.  For this quilt I used Groove by Caleb Gray Studio for Robert Kaufman.  

NYC fabric

I made another journal cover using Stitched in Color's tutorial, this time for a friend's birthday.  The fabric was picked up at our NYC girls'  trip from City Quilter.  

 The first one seemed a bit tight, and this one seems a little loose.   Maybe the next journal cover I make will be just right!

Thanks for stopping by,

Bloggers' Quilt Festival: Fall 2012

Thanks to Amy and her wonderful sponsors for hosting once again the Blogger's Quilt Festival.

Photo shoot on the ski bridge

If you are a regular reader of this blog, you have seen my Liberated quilt before.  The colorful solids used to make the strips are mainly scraps from my oldest son's Artist Palette quilt with some corduroy, shot cottons and silk thrown in.  The strips were finished over a year ago but put aside because I could not make a decision on the sashing/background fabric.

Should have pressed the quilt before hand

Wanting to show this quilt at our Gruber's retreat this summer, I finally decided on KONA Ash for the sashing strips and a bright KONA Eggplant for the backing.  I quilted Liberated with my walking foot in a square spiral using Silver thread by Connecting Threads.  The binding strips are also leftovers, this time from my oldest son's high school graduation quilt.

The back

After the retreat, I took advantage of our vacation spot, and with the help of my daughter, had a photo shoot with the quilt in the mountains.  I waited until the last day which ended up being very windy.  The quilt now lives with me in Florida and hasn't seen the mountains since.  Come to think of it, neither have I ;-)

Breezy

 Because my daughter lost interest in the photo shoot rather quickly, I had to drape the quilt over the ski bridge which  meant I don't really have a picture showing the entire quilt.  I think this is my favorite picture though.  I had to be quick with the shutter before the wind blew the quilt away.

A lull in the wind

Blogger’s Quilt Festival Stats

Finished quilt measures : 49″x 66″

Special techniques used : improv pieced strips

Quilted by : Yours truly on my home machine

Best Category : ROYGBIV, Quilt Photographer, Scrap Quilt

Edited to add: Festival Number:345

Thanks for stopping by, and I hope you will visit again soon!  

Enjoy the rest of the festival.

Really Random Thursday: Not Much

Browsing through my photographs for the week, I'd say it wasn't very random.  Must have been all that sewing I accomplished ;-)

American Flag from childrens' hand prints

This banner at a local car wash never fails to grab my attention, and I finally thought to take a picture.  The hand prints are from nearby elementary students.  Love this!

Love me some passion fruit

I go through quite a few of these greek yogurts a day.  So glad my neighborhood food store finally restocked the passion fruit variety!  It's almost like dessert....almost.

Outdoor concert

My daughter's school orchestra put on an outdoor concert last weekend.  Like last year's event, the weather was perfect!  The theme was Harry Potter, and the kids did a fabulous job!  My daughter was a little upset that only the high schoolers got to wear Harry Potter scarves though.  Her teacher, her teacher's mom and some of the students made the fun scarves that I didn't photograph.  It was very cool that the mom in question was viewing the concert out of state via Skype.

Pink ribbon clogs

My daughter requested that I not wear my pink ribbon Danskos to the concert (or at any time while on school property).  I realize they are a bit bright, but kind of fun, don't you think?!

Pink toes

Instead I wore open toe sandals to show my bright pink toenail polish.  I only received an eye roll for that decision.

Blingy notepad

 October is almost over, but I am still finding fun pink ribbon products out and about.  While at Staples, these cute notepads grabbed my attention at the register.

Pink stuff

JoAnn's usually has some pink ribbon sewing kits, but the other day I found this measuring tape.  Can never have too many of those lying around.  I also picked up a pair of bright pink quilting gloves.  They technically aren't for breast cancer awareness, but I like them anyway.

Upcycling!

Even my husband contributed to the theme.  He made this pink ribbon from his straw wrapper the last time we dined at Ted's.  

Thanks again Cindy for hosting these Really Random Thursdays!  

So how random was your Thursday?

Thanks for stopping by,

What's Up Wednesday: Getting Old

You may think from the title that I am referring to my old age, but in fact it's these great granny squares that are getting old!  I have made quite a few great granny squares since last Wednesday's post, but first I want to show you a few other things I am also working on.

Heart Block

 This heart block was made using Diary of a Quilter's tutorial.  Amy's instructions are very easy to follow.  However, I am ready for some blocks with not as much piecing and matching of seams ;-)

Ugly Fabric Challenge

I should keep that in mind when selecting the modern block to make for our guild's ugly fabric challenge.  This book is a great go-to book for 12" modern blocks.  I already have a few choices in mind for this challenge.  Any suggestions on how to use my "ugly" fabric?  I don't think it's ugly so I'm thinking of making a block that will showcase this fabric.

Added to the library

I've been browsing these two books on stitching.  I highly recommend them both.  I've compiled another list of projects I want to make.  I am running out of journals!

Block Seven

I was surprised to see that last Wednesday I was only up to five great granny square blocks.  I have now made twelve!  Before I forget, here is the link for the tutorial on how to make the great granny square blocks.  I was remiss in including it last week.  

Block Eight

I won't bore you with showing individual pictures of the latest seven, but they are up on Flickr if you are interested in seeing them all. 

Block Nine

I am sure I mentioned before that most of the prints in all these blocks are from Kate Spain's Serenade line.  The white used is KONA white.  

Block Eleven

Occasionally, however, I have included prints from other lines just because I was running out of combinations with the Serenade for variety.  The above block for example has Verna (also from Kate Spain) in the center.

Block Twelve

I guess I ended up showing you most of the latest seven after all.  I have to say I am ready to move on to a different project.  You may or may not see more of these great granny square blocks around here.  I do have three more blocks cut out and ready to go.  I'm thinking I might as well finish those too.  I like to have a few extra blocks in case some of them don't turn out or play well with the others ;-)

What's up with you this Wednesday?  Hope you have a wonderful one.
Thanks for stopping by,

Mini Monday: Pajama Pants

In an attempt to learn how to sew expand my sewing skills, I tried my hand at a pair of PJ pants.  I used this tutorial I found while browsing the internet. 

PJ bottoms

There are quite a few tutorials out there, but I like the only-one-seam feature of this particular pattern.  I would have liked more instruction with certain aspects, but they are probably sufficient for someone who sews regularly.

Step One:  make your pattern

The first step is making the pattern.  I used a pair of PJ bottoms from my drawer and a roll of craft paper I have had since my oldest was a kindergartener.  There is an advantage to hoarding! 

Gorgeous Karavan fabric

 The fabric is Valori Wells Karavan from my stash.  The pattern is pinned on the fold to alleviate one of the seams.  In addition, I doubled up the fabric so I only had to pin and cut once.  

Self portrait

I deviated from the pattern in that I didn't add contrasting cuffs because I wanted a fuller, capri style bottom.  Even though there is room for improvement, I am pleased with my first pair!

On to the next pattern

For the next pair, I am planning more of a lounge pants style that is roomier in the waist and longer.  I might even try adding the contrasting cuff.

Happy stitching!  Thanks for stopping by,

Really Random Thursday: Family Stuff

So my daughter has now discovered Etsy.  For Halloween, her group of friends are going as The Avengers.  I've mentioned before that I am not a big fan of Halloween.  

She loves them

For this reason, I didn't mind that my daughter took the initiative and found a pair of shoes and a t-shirt on Etsy to combine with a pair of jeans for Iron Man.  Easy peasy!

Got my pink on ;-)

Homework while tailgating

 We visited our middlest for Parents Weekend at FSU.  Love these weekends with him!  We are regulars at this particular tailgating spot.  So glad we won this time.

Have you seen this video?  They played PSY's Gangham Style during the game and the crowd went wild and started dancing.  Of course I was unfamiliar with the song/dance, but when I noticed that the older woman next to me knew what was going on, I insisted my kids educate me.  No wonder I couldn't understand the words to the song....it's Korean....I feel better now ;-) The video grows on you.  If you decide to watch it, I will say the main dance part starts a minute into the video.

Creator of Spanx

Took a picture of this billboard while in Tallahassee.  Very cool!  I didn't know about Spanx until a few years ago.  Now couldn't live without this product ;-)

What I'm reading

 I am reading Winter of the World now.  I downloaded the free sample on my iPad after finishing Fall of Giants, but it's nice to read a "real" book every now and then.

Patchwork note cards

 I usually find inspiration from random objects while browsing Barnes & Noble.  I have quite a collection of cell phone pictures snapped of various notebooks, coffee mugs, etc. to use in some future quilt project.  I spotted this cool notecard box and thought it'd make a great quilt.  When I looked closer I realized, it WAS a picture of a quilt!  Inside are five different note card designs of patchwork from Tula Moon.  It was added to my purchases.

Growing so fast

Family fun

 Apparently Leo is experiencing cooler weather up there in the Pacific Northwest.  

Max likes the sun

  It's a little warmer here in Florida.

So how random is your Thursday?  See Cindy's blog for other randomness.