More Rollin' Along

July bee blocks for Wish Circle of do. Good Stitches were stitched at Gruber's.

Rolling Stone blocks

How appropriate to make these blocks at retreat.  I used this Rollin' Along tutorial written by retreat buddy Shelly and love how my new Cotton+Steel fabrics work with scraps (thanks AJ and Michael Miller).  These blocks were also made into a quilt and given to dear friend Doris at our retreat.  I just love this block!

Happy stitching,

Gruber's Retreat 2014

We just had our fifth Gruber's retreat, and I just can't put into words how much I love these girls! 

Cindy, Amanda Jean, me, Doris, Toni, Mary, Terri and Stephanie 

Michelle and Shelly were missed, but we sewed virtually through Instagram hashtags, texting, and FaceTiming.  Fun, but so not the same.

don't ya love technology?!

We added an extra day this year which still wasn't enough. 

Mary and Doris

During our four days we did our fair share of hugging,

silliness after a day of sewing

and laughing,

pieced all my MCM Bee spiderweb blocks

and sewing,

our one night out

and eating,

collaborative quilt (read more on AJ's blog)

show and telling,

fabric sharing is just one aspect of our sharing

and sharing,

Thanks Soak for the nail polish and Flatter spray!

and primping,

behind of the scenes of our traditional group photo

and picture taking,

gifts from my sweet and creative friends

and of course happy exchanging!

(photo from Toni's IG feed....love her quilt!)

Is it July, 2015 yet?!

Friday Finish: Home is... quilt

Last year my oldest son was married in Washington, and at the Florida reception we had guests sign quilt blocks. You can go here to see the quilt for their wedding (delivered just a little bit late), so I was happy to give them the quilt made with the signature blocks in person on their one year anniversary (which was celebrated in Montana).  We're all over the place ;-)

Leo with his parents

The theme of their wedding and the subsequent Florida party was based on the Edward Sharpe and The Magnetic Zeros song Home.  My daughter even played this song on the violin during the processional, so I decided to make a wall hanging with the song's chorus on the front and piece the signature blocks on the back. 

some guests have a wicked sense of humor!

During the process, I randomly came across this quilt which also has the lyrics but uses a different piecing method.  (Has this ever happened to you?) Using the techniques in Tonya's Word Play Quilts, I free pieced the letters using natural linen, quilter's linen and a variety of my favorite fabric scraps.

individual letters making the words

from design wall to design floor

 As I mentioned the signature blocks were written last summer, and the individual letters have been pieced for a while.  I brought the "parts" with me to Montana in order to finish the wallhanging by the anniversary date.  Working with a design wall is so much better than a design floor ;-)

it's growing

The assembling of the quilt top, quilt back and most of the quilting was done before the "newlyweds" arrived, but a little quilting remained as well as the binding.  This called for some sneaky stitching ;-)

straight line quilting

 Straight line quilting was done with Aurifil #5011 to match the linen and a variegated #4060 to give a little texture.  There is also a line of a bright King Tut variegated (#944) stitched randomly here and there just because ;-)  

only quilted through the top and the batting

I worried the numerous lines of quilting would interfere with the handwritten messages on the back, so when basting I left off the backing.  This meant the quilting only shows on the top.

another humorous message

I learned this trick from Juanita Yeager's workshop.  The backing was then stitched to the back of the quilted piece and bound.  This technique probably wouldn't work on a large quilt but is just fine for a wallhanging.

Home is... quilt

Here's the completed quilt hanging temporarily in Montana.  Looking forward to receiving a picture of the quilt hanging in its new home.

beautiful family

Quilt stats:  "Home is...." quilt, free pieced letters in linen and quilter's cotton on front, signature blocks in Kona cotton solids on back, binding is Weave by Moda, measures 26"x39"

If you want to see other letter quilts and/or lyric quilts, check out the Unruly Quilter,  The Proverbial Quiltalong with Poppyprint using Denyse Schmidt's pattern,  Elizabeth Hartman's Billboard Quiltalong, and of course Kaye's beautiful version of Home I mentioned above. 

Linking up with finish it up Friday and crossing this off my WIP list for our OrlandoMQG challenge.  

Thanks for stopping by,

Throwback Thursday: Liberated

Being in the mountains reminds me of this quilt I photographed here a few summers ago.  

one of my favorites

I thought a quilt version of Throwback Thursday would be in order since I am vacationing with my family and not getting much sewing accomplished.  

love the colors

You can read more about this quilt here if you'd like.  Hope you are getting time to sew and/or enjoy your summer.  Thanks for stopping by,

Wonderful Wednesday: Fun With Leo

It's been awhile.....

Happy!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Shop Hopping

Anyone participating in the Row by Row Experience?  I like the idea but so far the two states I have visited, Mississippi and Montana, have no quilt shops participating.  That hasn't stopped me from paying them a little visit though.

Visitor Map

Even though this quilt shop isn't participating in that shop hop, I was able to represent Orlando on their U.S. map of visitors.

Main Street Quilting

 A few purchases of fabric and Aurifil thread were made there.

I preordered Savor Each Stitch and had it shipped here to Montana.  Enjoying the nice weather (and a brownie),  I read through half of the book.  Loving it so far!

reading material

 I also stocked up on a few quilt magazines to read while sitting outside on the deck.

Leo and his parents are here for a week and they were kind enough to bring me the Row by Row Experience pattern from the Quilted Strait in Port Gamble.  I don't believe this is how the shop hop is supposed to work, but I did recently visit the shop (and would again if I happened to be there during the specific times) so I think that counts.

My daughter-in-law also brought back some lovely fat quarters from her trip to Paris.  

I have also done a little bit of sewing these last few days, but since that sewing is for a gift, I can't share it quite yet.

Thanks for stopping by!  

Happy stitching,

Happy Independence Day!

Happy 4th of July!

an oldie but a goodie

Enjoy the day with family and friends!!!!

Thanks for stopping by,

Really Random Thursday: Montana

Last week's post was all about my trip to visit the parental units in Mississippi.  This week I'm on vacation with my family in Montana.  

false advertising

It's a good thing I have already read the book and seen the movie because contrary to the screen, this movie was not available on the flight.

growth

 This sign makes me a little sad.  One of Montana's draws for me is the lack of people ;-)  Of course, the state is just so beautiful it stands to reason the word would get out. 

multitasking

The USA had a good run in the World Cup for a while.  During that time I would watch the game on my laptop (couldn't get TV to work) while sewing and glancing out the window at the glorious view.

Ugh!

Our family went on a hike yesterday.  Not the best time to see this on your camera screen, especially after taking some awesome wildflower and family shots.  Times like these we can all be grateful for the cameras on our cell phones.

birthday hike

Wore my Patchwork Threads shirt.  Gives a whole new meaning to "Make It" when you're out of shape and attempting to climb a mountain.  I did it though.  The 5.65 miles doesn't seem as impressive as the 94 flights of stairs my Fitbit stats showed for the hike.

the boys are WAY ahead of us girls

Sometimes the view going down is just as spectacular as at the top. We finished our hike before the storm came through.

dandelions everywhere

 Today's hike is the first one of the season, but I've been taking morning walks and appreciating the beauty and lack of humidity.  The cooler temps and lower humidity sure makes exercising much more enjoyable than Florida's summer heat.

Linking up to Really Random Thursday.  {Oops...no Really Random Thursday going on until August.} Thanks for stopping by!

What's Up Wednesday: Organization and new projects

Not too long ago I moved my sewing room upstairs.  I'm still in the process of arranging it exactly the way I want it which means organizing fabric, machines and tools.  One day soon I will share a full reveal.

loving my new pegboard

In the meantime, I will say having this new pegboard is helping with the tool organization.  Rulers, rotary cutters and scissors are neatly hung on hooks and within easy reach; I love the Ikea "bowl" that keeps my Flatter spray right next to my iron; a magnetic strip holds the latest pattern I'm working on along with other items; several Longaberger baskets are put to good use holding pens, binding clips and odds 'n ends; other hooks hold washi tape, patterns I want to make, a mini AAQI quilt and even mini charm packs.  

free pieced letters

As far as sewing goes, I started another project using the Word Play Quilts book.  I have a few letters pieced already.  We'll see where this goes.

siggy blocks

Pulled out these siggy blocks from last summer.  I'm playing around with layouts for this quilt which needs to be completed by next week...yikes!

What's up with you this Wednesday?  Thanks for stopping by,