APRIL FINISHES FOR CHARMING GUYS & GIRLS QUILT CLUB

April is almost over and it is time to post about finishes. I have six finishes. I met all but one goal. The one I did not finish was the wool mat with the houses on it. I am not liking the way it looks with the designs on the edge of the wool mat. I am going to think about that project a little more before abandoning it.
I machine quilted the "Spring" quilt and did the binding. And Spring isn't over yet!
I did the raw edge machine applique on the "Noel" quilt, machine quilted it and did the binding. It is a small piece and I like it very much.
This is the same photo of the basket blocks I posted a bit earlier in the month. I don't which baskets are the ones I made in April and which were done earlier. And they aren't all shown in this photo. I had them laid out to try to decide on a setting. I had wanted to get 20 blocks done this month and went over my goal on that.
I finished the stitching on the wool mat using the pattern "Under the Cherry Trees".
I also finished the stitching on the Santa wool mat.

The School House quilt was on my last post. I still have not found the missing left over fabric from the center. It was supposed to go on the four corners of the quilt top. I substituted one of the house fabrics and can live with it the way it is.

I posted pattern names and designers earlier in the month in case you are interested. Just look through April's posts.

I managed to do some stitchery blocks, another house quilt top, and a tote bag. April was a busy month but I feel good getting all that done.

Now to think about what I want to put in the pot for finishing in May. Lots to choose from.

Stop back again soon!

Karen

HOUSE QUILT TOP #2

Welcome! I have another quilt top to show you. I finished this house quilt top yesterday. If you have been following my blog, you may remember that I showed a few of the house blocks earlier in the month. I got busy and completed the house blocks a few days ago. Then I sewed the rest together yesterday. This is much more my style than the house quilt top I showed in yesterday's post.
This is pinned to my design wall and is not hanging smoothly but you get the idea of what it looks like. There are twenty-two houses. I repeated one of the red star fabrics once, so I used 21 different fabrics making the houses. The center fabric is one of the reproduction coverlet fabrics. I had cut the center piece earlier in the month and was supposed to cut 6 1/2" squares for the four corner of the same fabric. I decided to wait until the house borders were ready to sew on to cut the corner pieces. Well, the fabric has disappeared. I looked and looked and finally gave up. I used one of the house fabrics for the corner. I had originally purchased a different piece from the Coverlet line for the center. It is nowhere to be found either. So, the two pieces are together hiding from me.

The pattern I used is from the same book as the house quilt I posted a picture of yesterday. It is "Fig Tree Quilts - Houses". The pattern name is "Village Square". There are more good house patterns in the book and certainly do not need to be made in Fig Tree fabrics.

This is a sewing weekend for me with Beth and Colleen. We are thousands of miles apart but will be in contact via computer. I was up early this morning and doing raw edge applique. Now I am preparing a wall hanging for machine quilting. I'm off to the sewing room.

Karen

HOUSE QUILT TOP

I have a new quilt top put together using Moda Fig Tree fabrics. The pattern is from a book called "Fig Tree Quilts Houses" by Joanna Figueroa and Lisa Quan. The pattern is called "My Cotswold Cottages". I don't know if I am meant to use this type of fabric. It is different than my usual fare. I do like the fabrics and I think I like the quilt viewed from a distance. When I am up close, I see such a busy look that I am not sure that it looks good.The pattern called for 16 house blocks set in four rows. I added one more row of four blocks to make a rectangular quilt.

This past Wednesday, I met a fellow blogger for the first time. Her name is Jackie and her blog name is 1836 Victorian Farmhouse. I am not exactly next door to where she is vacationing in Florida. I drove about 50 miles to meet her at a Sit & Sew at Lillie's Quilting Loft. We spent about 3 hours stitching and talking getting to know each other. It was a good visit. Jackie will undoubtedly be making more trips to Central Florida in the future and I am sure we will get together again. This was my first time to meet a blogger in person. Jackie is working on hand piecing blocks for a Dear Jane quilt. The quilt shop has an online store that is part of Quiltshops.com. I think most of you are familiar with that web site if you care to take a peek.

Thanks to all of you that left comments on my last post about the setting for the basket blocks. I think I have made up my mind about the setting. Need to applique more of the blocks and I am working on that.

I have lots of sewing to do today. Hope you get some sewing time too.

Karen

BASKET BLOCKS

One of my goals for the month was to applique 20 of these basket blocks. I have done 21. Added to what I already made previously, there are 62 blocks. I have still have more to applique. I took time to lay the blocks on the floor to get an idea of what I want to do with them. I can't contort myself enough to get a decent picture.

I need to add more green in, so I will be moving down into the pile of those waiting to be done and select some with green. Now I don't know if I want the blocks side by side or if I should add some narrow strips of left over fabrics in between. Or maybe I should add one fabric in between in say a very light tone on tone. Give me your opinion please.

Karen

UNDER THE CHERRY TREES

I had a busy weekend sewing to my heart's content. As you can tell from some previous posts, I participated in the Tote Bag Sewing Party. A full day of sewing resulted in a fair size prim style tote. I also participated in a virtual sew-in with two fellow bloggers. That lasted through Sunday night. Lots of e-mails and encouragement for projects.

I finished a wool table mat from a pattern called "Under the Cherry Trees". The pattern was purchased from a site where you can download Penny Lane Primitives patterns in e-pattern form. My only complaint about the pattern is that there is not a pattern for the larger base mat portion. Only the tan part. I don't think these trees look much like cherry trees but it is prim style. The sheep are what drew me to the pattern in the first glance. If you are interested in the pattern or seeing others, just click on the word "site" above and it should take you there.
I also appliqued basket blocks. I will show you those in another post. I need to press the blocks and lay out a bunch of them for a photo.

I hope to do some more stitching today. I have school house blocks ready to sew. I have made part of the 25 I need but still have a bunch to go. I dropped the pieces on the floor and need to sort everything out again.

Have a great day and take time to sew.

Karen

PART 4 OF THE TOTE BAG SEWING PARTY

Finally I am done. I did not have the best light for taking photos so the bag color looks a little washed out. The color is a darker green than it is showing. This is the front of the bag. The pincushion is hanging from green rickrack. It can be tucked inside the bag or into the front pocket.
This is the back of the bag.
And the inside. But you can't tell much from this photo. There is a double pocket on the one side. You are supposed to be able to slide a 6" wide ruler in the one side of the pocket.
The tote bag is heavier than I thought it would be and took longer to make than I anticipated. I am happy to have made it but would not make another. The instructions were easy to understand until I got to the part about the handles. I had to read and re-read about three times and think some to understand. The handles were attached last and had to be sewn clear through the lining. I thought I was going to have to sew through the pockets inside because the handle measurements for placement landed it there. I finally realized that the handles are stitched by machine only at the top edge of the bag. Then the bottoms are hand stitched so that the stitching does not go through the inside pockets.

I am done for the night. I will check on the party attendees that are still sewing and then come back in the morning for a final look see.

It's been fun.

Karen

PART 3 OF THE TOE BAG SEWING PARTY

This is where I am at on the tote bag. I have to hand stitch the top band to the bag on the outside. Then I have to make the handles and sew them on. I made the wool pincushion just a bit ago. Had to do that with hand stitching. That will get sewn in with a handle. I hope to get this done yet this evening. I will post photos of the whole bag inside and out when I get it all done.
It's been a fun day. And I have only eaten three of the little Reese's Cups.

Karen

PART 2 OF THE TOTE BAG SEWING PARTY

Just a short update on my tote bag progress. Do you think I have enough chocolate for the party? I could go buy more. LOL! I had three of the Reese's Cups earlier with a Diet Coke. The Diet Coke surely cancels out any bad the sugar from these might have done.
I have the Bow Tie pocket ready to attach. And the wool applique is done. Now I am in the process of machine quilting the green twill stripe to the batting and backing. It won't be long and I can start doing some assembly work.
Oh, I forgot to mention that I am again listening to the BeeGees on my Zune! Back again later.

Karen

TOTE BAG SEWING PARTY

Today is tote bag day. I am participating in the Charming Guys & Girls Quilt Club sewing day. I think there are 25 participants. If you want to take a look at the totes or purses that others are working on, pay a visit here. There is a list on the right side bar of those taking part.

Below is a photo of most of the fabric that will be going into my tote bag project. The stripe is a Moda twill so it should make a sturdy tote. The tote is meant to carry quilting supplies for taking to a class.

The pattern that I am using is from a Quilt Sampler magazine from 2004 and was designed by someone at The Quilted Crow in Boxborough, Massachusetts. The finished size is listed as 16"x16"x4". I prepped one of the outside pockets last night. I needed a quilted square of fabric to applique the wool pieces onto. In the photo, the flower isn't laying on the stem so it looks a bit off kilter. You can see what it looks like for real later on today if you stop back.

I have a couple things to do and then I will be back to working on the project. Have a great day.

Karen

CINDERELLA SEWING MACHINE

I have acquired another smaller size sewing machine called "Cinderella". I found it in an antique shop last week. I had injections in my lower back today so I can't get down low enough to get a good photo and I can't lift it either. And I am home alone so this will have to do. The machine is lacking a belt for the motor but I do not think it will be a problem to replace it. We have already measured and know that it needs a 15" one. I did a search on the internet and found next to no information on the machine. I do know that it is referred to as a "1/2 size machine". We know that it works as my husband took the belt off the machine we purchased at a thrift store recently and put it on this one for a trial run. I do think I will have it serviced as it needs a good oiling. Or maybe I will just try oiling and see if the machenisms sound smoother running. The booth where we found the machine had 30% off on all the items so we got this one for $30.00. Again, I did not need a machine but I do like these smaller size ones.
For comparison, I am showing the photo of the other one I purchased recently. They are both very similar in size. The shape of the machines is different. And the Cinderella machine is more ornately decorated. With my Bernina, Pfaff, and these two small machines, I can have a sewing party at my house without guests bringing a machine if they so chose to do.
We still have company and are immensely enjoying our time with them. I am getting in some hand stitching time. Currently, I am working on the hand applique basket blocks trying to get my 20 in for the month. I think I have eleven of them done so far. I will post them soon.

Hope you have enjoyed your visit. Come back soon. I will be here!

Karen

WOOL MAT FINISHED

The prim style Santa wool mat is complete. I like the way it turned out. The bottom green wool is from an old army blanket. I had thought of using a red plaid wool for the bottom layer. That did not work out as none of the red plaids in my stash that were big enough were the right shade of red. One was too bright of a red. One was too much to the purple tone of red. Sounds like the story of The Three Bears. The green seems to be a good choice. This will make a nice gift.
I have some basket blocks appliqued and one block of a stitchery complete. I will take photosof them for the next post By that time I may have more done.

It feels like vacation time here at our house. Our oldest and dearest friends are visiting for several days. We vacation together two or three times a year. They like to come to our home in the spring because they live in Ohio and are tired of winter. We have been eating out at least one meal a day and have been out seeing the sights. Our friends like to go to the beach and will be doing that again today. It is a beautiful sunny day here. I will spend some time sewing while they are gone. They are very good guests and we look forward to them coming every April.

Last week one day, we drove to Sebastian. Stopped at an antique shop on the way. Then we went to Captain Hiram's which is a small resort. The restaurant is Key West style. We had a table close to the river. The food was good and so was the company. Everyone but me had a Pusser's Pain Killer. Here is a picture of John & Judy.
Here is a picture of my DH and myself. I never like seeing pictures of myself. In my mind, I am tall and slender. In a photo, I am short and very non-slender.
Judy is going to clean my sewing room on Wednesday when I go to the doctor. I am getting it ready for her to do that by putting things away. A big project in itself. But what a treat to have someone to help!

Back to my stitching!

Karen

APRIL'S LIST OF CHARMING PROJECTS

Time for the big decision of what projects to pick for completion during April for The Charming Guys & Girls Quilt Club. I have lots to pick from but have narrowed it down and will hope for the best.

#1. I want to machine quilt the "Spring Quilt". I didn't take a photograph of it for the post.

#2. I would like to get the house quilt top done. I started on it yesterday. The pattern is from a Fig Tree Designs book that has all house designs. The quilt pattern uses two fabrics for the 22 houses. I am using 22 different reds. The Coverlet design fabric will be the center of the quilt.
#3. I prepped this small wall hanging called "Noel" and need to do the raw edge machine stitching. The pattern is by Renee Plains. I purchased the pattern about a year ago. Time to do something with it.
#4. I have decided to try tohand applique 20 more of these basket blocks. I don't know how many I have left to do nor how many are already stitched.
#5. I have three wool mats prepped for the hand stitching. I also have a wool candle mat kit not shown here that I would like to add to it. I will give the pattern info in a future post as I don't have it with me here at the moment.
Big wishes to get these projects to the finishing line. But whatever I do get done is one more off the list.

Hope you had a very nice Easter weekend. Come back soon for another visit.

Karen

SOME STITCHING DONE

I have finally finished stitching the September block of Sweet Nostalgia. At first, I thought the stitching was going fast. Wrong! There is a lot of stitching on these designs. They remind me of the Dick and Jane books that I learned to read from as a child. I would like to do all the blocks in the series but it will be a long term project. I just have too many other projects to do. I used Crayola Crayons for the color added to the stitchery.
And I have caught up on the Bunny Hill Snowbound blocks. Here is February and March's blocks. I just noticed that I did not stitch the snow line on the March block. That should only take a few minutes. I saw a block on another blog done with red polka dot skis and decided I needed to do the same.

And the last photo is for Darlene of Quilting Daze. She asked that I take a picture of my pincushion collection that I have displayed in a basket. I think I have shown them all individually as I made or acquired them. There are more I would like to make.
I am still prepping a wool table mat with cherry trees & sheep. I was tracing the shapes onto freezer paper & pressing onto the wool the other night when I had trouble sleeping. I surely did not count correctly. Possibly due to the lack of sleep. I have to trace & prepare a few more shapes today. Lots of tiny pieces on this mat.

A beautiful day here in Florida today! Take care & come back to visit me again soon.

Karen

EASTER STITCHERY AND SOME RETAIL THERAPY

I finished the Easter stitchery. I had stopped at my LQS a week ago for some background fabric and spotted this pink & brown floral fabric. I thought it would make a nice border for the stitchery. I chose a pink DMC floss that closely matches a pink in the floral print and got busy stitching the design. This is Kaaren's design from The Painted Quilt. Her First Friday Freebie pattern from March. I stitched on the design one evening and then the next morning, so it did not take long to do. My original intention was to put the design in a frame similar to what Kaaren did but the fabric colors inspired me to do it differently. I enjoyed making this.
And a little retail therapy. I have not purchased much fabric of late. This is the "Blessings" line of fabric by Brannock & Patek. I am a fan of their fabrics and patterns. I found a good price on the print fat quarter bundle at Rossville Quilts. I had to order the plaid bundle through another shop in that is in Oregon and now I forget the name of the shop. I have no immediate plans for the fabrics. I just thought I should get some before the bundles were sold out. I need to think about what I would like to make and then order some border fabric.
I worked last evening on BunnyHill applique blocks. I am very close to finishing the two blocks. I am going to work on that this morning. Also, I did not feel good last night. A tummy upset. I got up about 12:30 am and worked in the sewing room until 2 am as I could not sleep. I worked on prepping another wool mat project. Hope to have something to show you soon on these projects.

I need to think about what projects to commit to for April and The Charming Guys and Girls Club. I have a few days yet for that. Lots to choose from for sure!

Stop back for a visit when you have the time. I enjoy it.

Karen