What's Up Wednesday: BOMs, embroidery and dresses

Here's my October Block of the Month for OrlandoMQG.  Michele is in charge and selected a designer's choice with a Halloween theme.  Those of you who know me know that Halloween is my least favorite "holiday" (sorry Doris).  But I can be a good sport (sometimes) so I played along.

Wonky spider web block

 This wonky spider web block was made with the few Halloween prints I have in my stash and other color coordinated fabrics.  The inspiration came from this gorgeous Quilt Con block by Quilting Cyclist.  I attempted to design a paper piecing pattern that would look wonky and random.  It wasn't easy as our blocks are 12.5" square.  Never mind the fact that I don't know a thing about paper piecing. Can't wait for my class with Penny at Quilt Con!  Anyway, I feel sorry for whoever wins these blocks today....mine is a mess.  I tried though...that should count for something, right.

Free form embroidery stitching

 Do any of you remember Amy's embroidery color wheel stitch along?  I was shocked to realize when grabbing the link that this was way back in 2009!  Anyway, at that time I made a small color wheel (that is still one of my favorite finishes) and started a much larger one.  Well, the much larger one has not seen any activity in probably three years quite some time.

Probably my oldest WIP

During last weekend's football game watching time, I pulled out the large color wheel and did some stitching. The three spokes of the wheel shown finished above were about 75% complete when I put this project away. I had to refresh my memory on some stitches and realized I need to learn some new stitches as I am getting bored with these.  I also had to start from scratch in determining thread color as I misplaced all my Cosmo threads originally selected for this project and was left with my stash of DMC floss.

 

Now on to the pinks

Even though I have plenty of quilting projects that need my attention, I find myself being drawn to embroidery.  It's a great portable project.  I think one reason why I put this project aside originally was the large size of the hoop.  This one is 18" where the other color wheel was only 7".  While stitching at home isn't a problem with this big hoop, I find it cumbersome in the passenger seat during road trips.  Luckily for me I saw on Stephanie's blog this gorgeous stitch along going on over at Shelly's blog.  I have already downloaded the patterns for blocks 1 and 2.  

Hemmed in Prayer dresses

My Mom sent me this fun picture of dresses she made with her Hemmed in Prayer sewing group.  I had sent her some fabric yardage and she and her sewing friends sent me scraps from all their dress making.  Aren't these dresses so cute!  It's amazing for me to see my unwanted quilt fabric transformed into lovely dresses for young girls in need.

Speaking of my Mom, she is taking her first quilting class today.  I am so excited for her!
We my mom, sister and I are going to get in so much trouble together now are going to have so much fun now!!!!

Great granny square block

Back to sewing, I managed to piece another great granny square block.  These aren't hard to assemble, just a little time consuming.  I find myself easily distracted, wanting to move on to other projects, so I think these blocks will be a long term project like all my other projects seem to be unless I set a deadline for myself.

Ugly fabric

I'm off to my guild meeting now.  Here's my fabric for our latest Ugly Fabric Challenge.  Wonder if I should finish the last one before I get started with this one?  Hmmm.....

So, what's up with you this Wednesday?  Have a good one!