Friday Finish: Peace on Earth

It's nice to have a finish to share.  Seems like forever since that has happened.  

Christmas Peace

I finished the peace sign quilt top that I was working on Wednesday using Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas  for the peace blocks and Moda Bella Solids Scarlet for the background.

Since making the Feeling Groovy peace quilt for a school auction years ago, I have made several more, each one a little different from the one before, and I have learned something from each quilt.  Peace Baby for my grandson was made with small squares,  Peace Love & Happiness was made using pinwheel blocks, and this one is a Christmas version made with charm squares.

Outside shot

I do have ONE more idea for another pinwheel version, so I guess I am not QUITE done making peace quilts ;-)  Also, as soon as I get the green light from the pattern testers, I will publish the pattern for all three versions!

Linking up with Amanda Jean's finish it up Friday.  Happy Friday and happy stitching!  

Thanks for stopping by,

What's Up Wednesday: Cutting and Prepping

I am back working on my Cowboy/Cowgirl quilt....cutting more fabric for the blocks and deciding how to create that planned scrappy look ;-)

36-patch block

I think this is my favorite 36-patch block so far.  The fabric is Moda wovens and two different colors of shot cotton.

Cutting area

Anyone else make a mess when cutting fabric?

Pair of blocks

Here's one of each - fussy cut block and 36-patch.

Latest book purchase

Picked up this book the other day.  Just love anything Melody Miller.  There is a Ruby Star Wrap Along going on right now that has some pretty cool projects from the book.  Haven't made any yet, but I've been taking notes ;-)

Free stuff

I received this lovely Marmalade layer cake courtesy of Moda as part of the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Hmmm....wonder what I should make with these pretties?!

More Peace

And because you can't have too much peace, I started another Peace quilt.  This time I am using Christmas fabrics.  The squares are Aneela Hoey's Cherry Christmas.

I am excited (and a bit nervous) to announce that I will have the pattern for this quilt (in three sizes) out soon!

So, what's up with you this Wednesday?  Happy stitching!
Thanks so much for stopping by,

Mini Monday: Paper Piecing

On Saturday, the OrlandoMQG hosted a paper piecing workshop with the talented Carolyn Friedlander.   Disclaimer:  most of the photos in this post are from my Instagram ;-)

Carolyn showing her Olive quilt

We were lucky to see Carolyn's quilts in person, including a few made with her new Architextures fabric line due out soon. 

Pattern for workshop

I am a beginner paper piecer at best, so I was a little nervous about keeping up at the workshop.  I needn't have worried.  Carolyn is a very patient teacher, and her explanations and pattern directions are easy to understand.

Quilting with my walking foot

During the class, we paper pieced trees from her Olive pattern.  I wish I had taken pictures of all the different blocks made by our members.  There was such a wonderful variety.  I completely assembled one tree block, finished a second tree, and made progress on a third during the Sew Day workshop.  

Tree Mini

With all the other projects I have going on right now, I knew it would be a while before I finished all four Olive tree blocks and assembled them into a quilt.  I didn't like the idea of shoving this project in a corner as I usually do until I have "free time".  With that in mind, I took the first block made and finished it as a mini quilt.  I had seen something similar during Carolyn's trunk show.

Quilting lines on the back

The tree fabric is a Moda woven; the background is Kate Spain Fandango gifted to me.  I used an orangey shot cotton for the borders along with a scrap piece of linen.  The quilting lines can best be seen on the back which is a Riley Blake fat quarter.  I used a yellowish thread (can't remember name) from Connecting Threads.  Binding still needs to be done, but it finishes at 12"x15".

Shirts pattern by Carolyn Friedlander

I was feeling so confident in my newly acquired paper piecing skills that I purchased Carolyn's new Shirts pattern!  

Thanks Carolyn for sharing your time and talent with us!!!  

What's Up Wednesday: Challenges

Today is our OrlandoMQG meeting day which means showing off our ugly fabric challenge, Blocks of the Month and any other quilt projects for Show and Tell.

Photo taken on the road

My baby has spent the last three days (including today) of school home with a fever so I am not at the meeting.  I did my homework though and am showing it virtually ;-)

First one made

 The block of the month you've seen before.  Yep, a great granny square block.  Think I might be in the doghouse with some for picking this block; it's not complicated but does take more time than our typical block.

Challenge block one

Our ugly fabric challenge is to make a 12.5" modern block using the fabric we received in the ugly swap.  All the blocks will then be assembled into a charity quilt.

Both challenge hocks

The ugly fabric I blindly picked was not ugly at all, so I chose a block that would feature the fabric.  Both blocks are from the Modern Blocks book - page 162 and page 14.

Straight line quilting

In between taking my daughter's temperature, I am quilting the Baby Chevron quilt.  Sure would be nice to finish this today.

How does my garden grow? by Mary Sorensen

Even though voting for the U.S. elections is now over, there are still opportunities to cast your vote going on right now in other situations.   OrlandoMQG member Mary Sorensen has a quilt in AAQI's online Celebrity Invitational Quilt Auction.  You can "cast your vote" for her quilt by bidding generously; all funds raise money for Alzheimer's research.  November's auction ends on the 10th.

Rainbow Quilt finalist

Monday I learned (thanks Michelle) my Liberated Quilt made the Blogger's Quilt Festival finals in the Favorite Rainbow Quilt category!!!!  I am thrilled that so many of you like my quilt and took the time to complete the nomination form.  Thank you!    There are so many gorgeous quilts nominated in the different categories.  Go here to vote for your favorite in each category.  Your chance to vote ends tomorrow (November 8th).

My good friend Cindy's quilt nominated too!

I am so happy to see many of my favorite quilts make the finals, and rather sad to realize others did not. However, you can vote for ANY of the 628 quilts for Viewer's Choice!
Good luck to all!

So, what's up with you this Wednesday?  Have a good one.
Thanks for visiting,

Mini Monday: More Color

I guess I should name this the AAQI Tree as I seem to photograph all my Priority: Alzheimer's Quilts here.

Hanging out

Another Monday, another mini quilt made.  The background fabric came from Pink Chalk Studio as part of their  Charming Solids club.  It's Mod Century Tweed Texture Red by Jenn Ski.

Variegated thread

 The squares and rectangles on the top are scraps of linen, solids, and shot cottons.  I randomly layered and placed them on the Tweed Texture, made a quilt sandwich and quilted straight lines using King Tut variegated thread at the same time securing the scraps to the top.

Floral backing print

The backing fabric is from my stash.  According to the selvage, it's "Fernhill's Hollyhock Dolls and" something ;-)  All that's left is to attach the binding and then it can be registered.

I haven't been doing as much sewing as I have been planning and thinking about sewing...you know what I mean?!

Happy Monday!   Thanks for stopping by,

Really Random Thursday: It's November!

Time for another episode of Really Random Thursday hosted by Cindy!  In this week's episode....

Ready to go

I received my renewed passport in the mail from the State Department.  My husband and I are invited to a destination wedding in Cancun, and I almost waited too long to get my paperwork submitted.  I put it off because it required getting my picture taken.

Don't forget to vote

I didn't wait until the last minute to vote though.  I took advantage of the early voting we have here in Florida.  Got my sticker.  Yay!

At the library

It was strange seeing our Sew Day location filled with voting booths.  No pictures are allowed in the voting area, so I settled for this sign.  I really wanted to have a picture of the room for side by side comparisons with how it looks during our guild sew day, but no such luck.  Didn't want to be accused of influencing the vote...ha!

Illegally parked

 Here's another strange sight!  Don't know what the Oscar Mayer wiener van was doing in this parking lot, but it drew a crowd.  Apparently quite a few people wanted their picture taken with the Oscar Mayer wiener vehicle.

Pink enough?!

 The weather here has been cool enough this week for me to wear my bright pink shoes out in public.  I got a few good days in while it was still October.  I thought I would wear any color besides pink today since we are now in November, but I found myself wearing these shoes with a pair of jeans and a white shirt.

First Halloween

Here's my token Halloween photo.  They are so cute when they are little ;-)

Sending dollars to the American Red Cross and virtual hugs to those affected by Sandy.

So how random was your Thursday?  Thanks for stopping by,