Ta Da! Thank You for your Input!!

And here is the final decision made for the block I asked for help about!  Thank you so much for sharing all your opinions with me! 

When Kate mentioned I should do purple in the next round a light bulb went off and I was wondering why I didn't have any purple in THIS round since the flowers had purple.  Don't worry, that canteloupe will be showing up again as we get further along!  Plus other colors. 

Here is proof of how wishy washy I was about what I wanted to use.  I pile of test pieces!

OK, back to an existing project.  This used to be on my design wall, but I had to give that up for my hubby's temporary office space.  It has to stay stored in my project box until I can work on it which is today!  Remember this one?

Inspired by this picture?

Many of you were EXTREMELY helpful to me on this project as I didn't have enough bright fabrics with black backgrounds you generously shared with me.  Thank you so much.   I think I have enough left over to make another quilt! 

Here are some of my string slabs.  Do you recognize any of these fabrics? 

Love those peace symbols and bicycles!

Saturn is so cool!

Ladies with shades!

And of course Thor's hammer!  Love this!

Dress form and chickens!

This is what I started with this morning . . .

And now three more rows sewn together and ready to add . . .

I just noticed something though.  I like the Kaffe Fasset squares that have more red and orange in them and not so much of the pink.  I have quite a bit of that left over so I may need to recut some of those squares to get more red and orange.

It's pretty cold out and we have our fire place blazing.  Now it's so hot in here I can't wear my favorite hoodie while I sew! 

So what are you up to today? I'd love to hear what you're doing! 

Linking to:

From Bolt to Beauty

Busy Hands Quilts

Can I get a Whoop Whoop?

Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Powered by Quilting

Please Help Me Decide

Time for me to ask for opinions!  Will you help me? I have decisions to make!

Please pardon the sloppy look of this block, it's not sewn together yet.  😊  As most of you already know, I am participating in Sarah Fielke's 2019 Block of the Month.

I LOVE hearing other's opinions on fabric choices.  Yes, I know it is MY quilt and yes, I will end up doing the way I like best,  but sometimes other peoples insights about how they would do something sparks an idea I hadn't thought of before so I hope you'll humor me.   In other words, you inspire me!

Following are pictures of my Sarah Fielke Block of the Month stuck up on the design wall in pieces.   I got my first decision made with the help of Instagram friends!  I was choosing whether to do a lighter green between the inner houses like this . . .

Or dark green like this . . .

I think I'm going to go with the dark green; however, should I use the dark green solid as shown?  Or the dark green print that is being used with the circles?

OK, that's the first decision.

Second one is regarding the canteloupe colored fabric in the corners.  I cut some alternate pieces with black and pink for two of the corners and here is how that half of the block looks.  Do you like the black or the canteloupe better or would you suggest a whole NEW color?

Keep in mind that this block is only the center of a medallion quilt using this design so some of the colors may feel like they don't belong, but they will be used again later in the quilt.

So yes, I am asking you to be co-designers with me!  These pieces aren't that big so if you have a color to try, I'm willing to try it.  I'm having fun with this block and am looking forward to sewing it all together for the first round of this Block of the Month.

Also, I completely forgot to share something I got in the mail not too long ago from my "pen pal" in the UK.  Kate Heads.  I guess she's technically an e-mail pal.  She is a sweetie and she sent me two house blocks out of the blue!  I was soooo excited!  I have two more blocks to finish a four by four layout and then I will decide whether I want to make one more row or not.   Here they are . . .

Love the colorful purples and cute calicos!

Thank you, Kate!  You made my day!!!!!!!!!!  Love you, girl!

OK, I am excitedly waiting to hear LOTS of opinions and ideas!  

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Linking to:

Quilting is More Fun Than Housework

Sew Can She

Main Crush Monday

Monday Making

Show & Tell Monday

Update on BOM progress + EYE CANDY

OK, I'm really doing this!  I'm taking the plunge and going for it on the Sarah Fielke Block of the Month.  You can see the first post I wrote about this design here along with some fun colorways other quilters have created.  I've colored about a half a dozen different plans before I landed on this one that I'm STILL not even sure if it's exactly what I'll do but at least I have a jump off place.  Here's what I've got so far . . .

The first block we make is only the square that contains the eight little houses.    My plan shows yellow on the houses but they are actually going to be this polka dot fabric with purple roofs, pink doors, and cheddar windows.  See, I'm already off the plan!  But the main goal was to keep it a light color so at least I managed to do that.  

I have so much enjoyed seeing all of the blocks that have already been made.  Everybody who is doing this BOM can sign up for the Facebook group and post pictures of their progress there.  SO MUCH EYE CANDY!!  Oh my goodness.  I got permission to share some of the different versions of this first block of Sarah Fielke's BOM.  So enjoy the view! I'll share my block when it's farther along.

This one is by Suzanne Hampton.  

I love how she used some Mary Engelbrecht scraps for the applique circles.

Here's another example of some fun fussy cutting with raccoons, bears, rabbits, and squirrels!  This block was created by Mari Linfesty.

This one was created by Bernadette Howson. who is going scrappy!  She did have a picture of her completed block but for some reason the fabrics show up better in this one.  Beautiful colors!

Helen Hope is responsible for these fun colors using some Kaffe Fasset fabrics.

This beauty is by Heather Stevens-Lott.  Have you noticed I tend to like the brightly colored ones?

This one was made by Tessa Van Vulpen from Perth Australia.  So crisp and precise looking!  She put house numbers on each house too.  😊

This cutie was made by Colleen Kobata.  Love the gingham and the fussy cut circles!

These beautiful purple and blue shades were put together by Inca Marie Turton

.

Love those fussy cut owls by Gina Olson-James!

Can you believe this psychadelic block!!   Such a great 60's vibe!   

This was created by Marianne Stewart.

As much as I like bright colors, I absolutely fell in love with this block by Dianna Alger using traditional fabrics.  I think this is my favorite and I'm TRULY tempted to start over using this color way.  It will go better with the colors in my bedroom.  I've never made a quilt for my own bed yet and I think this one might be the one.  Did I tell you my husband is making us a king size bed???  EEEK!!  I can hardly wait!  If the quilt rack he made me is any indication of how it's going to turn out, I'm thinking it's going to look fantastic!

I was told by Dianna that most of these fabrics are from Kim Diehl.   So I'm putting out a call right now!  If anyone wants to sell or destash any Civil War reproduction fabrics or Kim Diehl fabrics, please do let me know.   I am in hunter/collector mode!  I've seen the Wit & Wisdom bundle she has out right now.  YUM!!

Linking to:
Needle & Thread Thursday
Mid Week Makers

Laugh at Yourself

That's what I'm doing today! 

I am teaching myself to do inset seams today, also known as Y-seams for those of you who don't sew.  I thought instead of doing one of THESE gorgeous creations (which, of course, is the ultimate goal eventually),

 I will give myself a break and start by making just an 8 point star pillow with just one diamond per star point instead of jillions of tiny diamonds like this one above.  This pretty picture came up when I did a google search for Lone Star and I love it.   It happens to be a kit on sale at Bluprint called Glowing Lone Star and you can find it here.  (no affiliation)

The first thing I did was search for a class I could watch on making a Lone Star quilt.  The class I found is called  Luminous Lone Star.  The neat thing about this is it starts out with a very simple pillow project, then goes to a Lone Star with four fabrics in it and the one with six fabrics in it so you can get as complex as you wish.  I'll stick with the pillow for now.

I was pretty happy with the star part of the pillow although the middle points don't match as perfectly as I would like.   But this time around, they're close enough.   I'm persevering on!

Following the instructions, I did my first inset seam by sewing a square into the corner between two legs of stars and it worked great!  I was pretty proud of myself and quickly sewed 2 and 3.   I got ahead of myself and wasn't paying attention . . . and this is the part where I'm laughing at myself.  Sheesh! 

Here's how it looks after ripping out that little detour, sewing it correctly and adding borders.  And yes, that is Morgan's quilt in the background, spray basted, rolled up and ready to be quilted.  

Quite a few lessons learned on this project!

1.  Don't make a pillow cover if you don't have the right size pillow form ready to stuff into it.  You'll be disappointed you can't view your completely finished project!  Ask me how I know.  😞

2.  Make sure to choose a fabric with a lot of contrast with the background.  I chose a print with a white background that kind of blends into the white tone on tone I chose for the pillow background.  I lost my star points.  Good to know before I make a full size quilt!

3.  Do follow directions when it comes to WHEN you should backstitch.  I am so used to not back stitching most of the time that I forgot to do it at those places where it is important.  This pillow may or may not hold together.  We shall see!

4.  Trying something new is FUN!   If I practice the concept on a small project like a pillow and things don't work out as well as I hoped, it's not a great loss of time and effort.  This pillow although FAR from perfect is still going to get used because it matches the Vicki/Jen/Janice quilt in my living room.

5.  Learning Y-seams was not as hard as I thought and it makes me want to try curved seams now!  I've let them intimidate me for too long.

And this is my DrEAMi (linking with Mmm! Quilts!) project for the week because when this day began, making a pillow was the FARTHEST thing from my mind.    I'm supposed to be quilting Morgan's quilt this month and keep finding ways to procastrinate.   Hey, at least it's basted!  

What are you procrastinating this week?  😏  

Linking to:

Busy Hands Quilts

Brag About Your Beauties

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop?

It Was a Magic Moon . . .

on that blue and violet mysterious night.

The moon gazed down at the majestic moose grazing in the shallows.

The night was so still, music could be heard coming from the cozy, firelit cabin across the lake.

It was one of those mystical nights where imagination takes flight and whisks you away to just about anywhere you want to be.  And the magic is enhanced when those Northern Lights appear!

OK, so I"m getting a little bit carried away with the flights of fancy but I am beyond thrilled about what is taking shape here.  THIS is a panel that I bought a while ago with a different project in mind which never happened.   So it has been languishing in my stash.  Until . . . I noticed that the colors matched my son, Morgan's quilt perfectly!   So this panel . . .

with this magical scene that looks straight out of Alaska is going on the back of his quilt and the fabric I showed above really is called Northern Lights looks as if it was MEANT to go with this panel.  I bought the panel at Sleepy Hollow Quilt Shop here in Idaho (it's called Moose Creek Lake by Pippa Moon for studiofabrics.com) and the Northern Lights fabric by Liz Goodrick-Dillon was purchased from Mystic Sunset Fabrics on Etsy.  Even the name of the store fit in with the whole magical twilight scene we've got going on here.  I am not affiliated with any of these, I just like to give credit where credit is due!  And sometimes when I am reading a blog and I'd like to know where they got their fabric, they don't say!  So just in case anybody likes Alaskan scenes, there ya go.

I'm not sure why, but it took me FOREVER to get going on this but I finally got the back pieced . . .

And hopefully tomorrow I can start basting it to this . . . My son loves blue in case you didn't guess.

Oh!  Almost forgot.  This Saturday will be our third monthly meeting of the Owyhee Mountain Quilters!  I'm so looking forward to that!  I'll try to remember to take pictures this time.

So that's my latest progress.  What are you working on this weekend?  

Linking to:

Busy Hands Quilts

Confessions of a Fabric Addict

From Bolt to Beauty

Powered by Quilting
Peacock Party

New Quilt Rack! And a finish! (sort of)

I have been told I have a talented hubby.  And I agree!  His daytime job is building houses which he excells at; however, lately he has turned his attentions after work toward creating things out of wood besides houses.  Most recently a quilt rack.  LUCKY ME!  Is this gorgeous or what?  I love it!  Haven't decided what to put on top of it yet (if anything).

He says he has the parts for four more quilt racks cut out so I think I'm going to get one of these in my bedroom too.  I'm going to have him paint that one white or cream and see how I like it.  I have a love/hate relationship with the cupboard you see in this picture to the left of my quilt rack.   Here's a better view of it.

It's no heirloom but rather a veneer that can't be restained.  I bought it when the kids were little and it holds all our DVD's and Videos.  I'm kind of tired of it.  I am seriously considering painting it.  What would you do?

I FINALLY sat down and finished putting the binding on THIS quilt!

I bought this quilt before I had any finishes of my own.  When Vicki at Vicki's Crafts and Quilting showed this on her blog last year I fell in love with it.  I asked her if she had any plans for it and she didn't so she sold it to me.  Then about that same time, Jennifer of Dizzy Quilter was just starting her own longarm quilting business so put out an offer to the first 10 people to respond to quilt a quilt for $50.  How could I pass that up!  So I sent it to her.  She did a fantastic job and I love it.  So I've had it waiting to have binding for about a year.  What took me so long???  So glad I finally got it done.  It's draped on a chair in my living room.  The chair looks so drab now in comparison to this bright and happy quilt.  This picture shows the back and binding.

If you would have told me a week ago that I would be making scrunchies I would have laughed at you.  But guess what I'm doing?  MAKING SCRUNCHIES!   My daughter and her roommate Dana are both going on separate mission trips this summer that they are trying to raise funds for and this is something they decided to try.  It was just a random idea so they made up a few and Dana's sister advertised them on her instagram account and sold every single one they made plus got orders for more!   I guess scrunchies are a "thing" right now.  It's a GREAT way to use up old stash!  Now to figure out what colors and styles girls these days like the best.  I'll be sure to report!

Something fun happened to me this week!  I'm sure many of you may know Valerie Reynolds from Val's Quilting blog.  She lives right across the state border from me.  I'm in Idaho and she is in Oregon.  She told me she wants to come to our next meeting of Owyhee Mountain Quilters!  How fun is that!  It's kind of a long drive for her but she wants to come!  I'm so excited!  Better yet, coincidentally, one of the projects our group is going to work on as we have time is making a quilt for the Carolina Hurricane Quilt Project and Val told me she is a volunteer quilter for that group!  So not only can we make a quilt top, but Val has already volunteered to quilt them so we won't have to waste money on postage getting them to a quilter.  We will be making the blocks that will make this quilt:

So far, I have made four of them!  They are so EASY!  I would be delighted if any of my fellow quilter friends out there in Idaho/Oregon land would consider making a few blocks for this project.  As few or as many as you like!

 We will be collecting these for several months and when we get enough we'll make them up into a bed sized quilt or two depending on how many we gather.   Over 4500 families lost their homes and even more than that sustained major damage.   If you would like to be involved, you can just make a few blocks or even make an entire quilt if you wish. It does not have to be this pattern.  This is just an easy one we will be making.  But nobody is limited to only doing this block.  If you are interested in making this block, you can find the instructions here.

 If you want to make an entire quilt of some other design to donate, that would be wonderful as well!

OK, I've rambled on enough for one post.  Have a wonderful rest of your weekend!

Linking to:
Busy Hands Quilts
From Bolt to Beauty
Powered by Quilting
Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Quilting is More Fun Than Housework