Katie's Salt Marsh Path

In Appreciation of Followers

2013-04-27T11:17:00.002-07:00

April is just about over and I haven't quilted the 3 tops that were on my list. I did sew the backings for them.

I prepared the small apple backing for a project that never got off the ground so I added green borders to make it big enough for one of the Tetris Quilts. I think it would make a great tablecloth, but unfortunately I don't have a table it would fit.

It is the last Saturday for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013 at So Scrappy. I did manage to finish 3 green blocks for this month's challenge. I am linking up to Sew Scrappy for the last green Saturday of the month. Other participants will be displaying their green projects for April.

I completed 4 more Saw Tooth Star blocks. Although I did not finish them during the season of Lent, I still managed to complete my goal of 40 blocks. I will continue this project until I make a dent in my box of crumb blocks. I have a pile of HSTs waiting to be trimmed so I might have another group finished next week.

I made one more pink block for my rainbow postage stamp blocks. I decided that I would like to have 3 of each color so this will finish the pink group.

Over the last few months, even though I have not posted very often, I have acquired more followers. Thank you to those of you that have been following me for a while and welcome to any new followers. I planned to have a giveaway when I reached 100 followers. I now have 101 so it's time for the giveaway to proceed. If you would like to be the recipient of 8 luscious fat quarters of Laurie Wishburn fabric, please leave a comment. The name of the winner will be drawn on Mother's Day, Sunday, May 12th. I will ship internationally so that all of my followers may be included.

If you are participating in the Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Challenge, please indicate that in your comment and you will receive and extra chance in the drawing. If you are not already signed up to participate in the H2H Challenge, it's not too late. The quilts will be donated to two very deserving charities and many generous prizes have been donated to award to participants. The button is on my sidebar.
Sorry, this giveaway is for followers (new or old) only.

April Goals

2013-04-03T11:29:00.001-07:00

After finishing only one UFO in March, I decided to recommit myself to the quest of finishing more UFOs in April. I have chosen 3 projects to work on this month. They are exactly the same and need backing prepared, layering, basting and quilting. They are the three Tetris tops that I pieced over Super Bowl weekend.

I enjoyed making the blocks as part of the Tetris Quilt Along at Happy Quilting last summer, but once I finished the blocks I wasn't sure what I was going to do with them. Over Super Bowl weekend, I participated in a quilt along with the Sunshine Quilters online charity group. The group is devoted to making quilts for WAS (Wrap a Smile) and WTIL (Wrap Them in Love) .The quilts are given to children undergoing cleft palate surgery as well as to children in orphanages worldwide. At last, the blocks could have a home. The tops have been sitting for 2 months waiting for backings to be made so they can be finished. This is the month it will happen.

I am linking up with Carrie at Passion for Applique and A Lovely Year of Finishes at Sew Bitter Sweet Designs so that I will have some accountability.

Last Saturday of the Month

2013-03-31T06:59:00.001-07:00

For Christians, today is not just the last Saturday of March, it is Holy Saturday. The most important feast of the year takes place tomorrow, Easter Sunday. I promised myself I would finish a lot of UFOs this month, but I only finished one of the items on my list. Instead, I have been making small cloths to be used on a shelf in front of the tabernacle in my church.

It is hard to see the details of the embroidery because most of it is white rayon thread on white linen.

The machine embroidery patterns are from Embroidery Library. The fabric is 2 layers of Irish linen sewn pillow case style with braiding around the edges. After seeing how wrinkled they were in the photos I starched and ironed them again. We were so busy preparing the church for Easter that I didn't get a chance to take a picture of the cloth on the altar.

I completed a few orange blocks for March's Rainbow Scrap Challenge and will be adding my photos to the link up at Sew Scrappy. I have enough strips and triangles cut for a few more blocks, but that will have to wait until April.

I found more pink strips so I added another pink block to my Rainbow Challenge from January.

I did manage to complete one small UFO. It's now put away to be used on a small table under my poinsettia plan next Christmas.

I have been trying to make one Scrappy Sawtooth block for each day of Lent. Traditionally, Lent is considered to be 40 days, but this year the time from Ash Wednesday to Easter Sunday stretched to 46 days. I only managed to make 37, but I have more crumb blocks and triangles ready to go. These are the latest Sawtooth blocks added to the pile. Although they look like a rose color in the photo, the star points are actually an odd brick color.

Sorry to place so many photos in one post, but I am just catching up with my completed projects. I needed to replace my camera. After 7 years, the battery refused to charge and they no longer sell the battery it needs.. Our local Walmart is closing their camera department and I was able to purchase a Canon at a great price with more mega pixels. Hopefully, that will improve my photo taking. Happy Easter to all who celebrate

Hands 2 Help Challenge

2013-03-29T12:57:00.001-07:00

One of the things I like best about the quilting community is how generous quilters are with their time and resources. Quilts cost more to make than the average person would be willing to pay, but quilters continue to donate their handmade creations to people they will never meet. Sometimes the quilts are sent to places they will never visit or countries they can barely find on the map.

Sarah, of Confessions of a Fabriholic, runs a thriving quilt ministry at her church. For the past few years, she has also sponsored an annual charity quilt challenge called Hands to Help. This year, 2 charities will be the recipients of the quilts made during the challenge. Sarah always manages to find quest blogger's who offer tutorials and lots of prizes. To read all of the information about the challenge and how you can participate, visit Sarah's blog. If you sign up by tomorrow, March 30th, you could win a prize.

The Traveling Stash Box Moves On

2013-03-06T06:33:00.000-08:00

We are expecting a snow storm starting later today with sustained wind at 50 mph. Ugh! Hopefully, the Traveling Stash box will make the winner's day a little brighter.

My macho assistant, Retired Guy, has consented to draw a name.

Congratulations Sherry. I will email Sherry for her address and the box will be winging it's way to a new home.

Traveling Stash Box Arrives

2013-02-28T21:42:00.003-08:00

Yesterday was a rainy, windy day, but receiving the Two Sister's Traveling Stash Box from Sharon V at Vroomans Quilts made the day fun in spite of the weather. The box is filled to the top with mostly fabrics, but there are a few books and patterns and some very useful notions including zippers.

I removed one 2 yard piece of yardage and well as 2 Tapestry charm packs.

I put in one quilt pattern.

1 Moda panel.

A one yard piece of Mermaid fabric, 4 half yard cuts of Moda fabric, one 3/4 yard piece of black and white fabric, and 3 fat quarters.

Due to the high cost of postage, only US residents are eligible to receive the box. You can check all of the rules and guidelines governing the Traveling Stash Box at . Sewingly Along. If you would like to receive the box, please leave a comment stating your favorite pre-cut. I will draw a name on Tuesday, March 5th and notify the winner by email.

In spite of great intentions, I did not finish even one UFO this month. I did however start 2 New FOs that I am linking to Cat Patches Newfo Linky party. I really love the crumb Sawtooth blocks I started in February. I will be using them for donation quilts later in the year.

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I also started work on the blocks for the 2013 Wiggly Whimsy Quilt Along at Terry's Treasures. I really liked this quilt when I saw it at the Moda Bake Shop, but I probably would not have started it if it wasn't for Terry and her quiltalong.

Stop over at Cat Patches blog and see all of the new projects that were started in February.

Making Up For Lost Time

2013-02-26T13:03:00.003-08:00

I was really excited about my daughter coming home for President's Weekend, but the time went very fast and we didn't get to spend much of it together. Plans were changed on that Saturday morning when my future daughter in law called and asked if I would go to David's Bridal Shop and give my opinion on the gown she chose. No one from her family was able to go with her so I tagged along. I'm sure the day was difficult for her. Most women would prefer to have their mother or a close female relative, but she made the best of it and it turned out to be a lovely experience.

The dress is a size 6 and fits perfectly so the only alterations she will need will be to add a loop to pull up the train.

This shows the back detail without the halter tie hanging down.

After the bride chooses her dress, she rings a bell so everyone can see her. Some of the women were very excited about it. Our bride was not. The frothy thing on the mannequin to the left is one of the gowns Kim Kardashian wore during her wedding festivities. It looks like a float made of toilet paper that high school kids would make for home coming. The bridal consultant told us that almost every bride that comes in tries it on. We passed on the opportunity.

I pulled out my purple scraps and continued to make blocks for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013 and linked up over at So Scrappy. Unfortunately, the colors look a bit off and are showing up as blue. They really are a dark purple. I'm using leftover strips of white on white (at least 3 different kinds) and strips and charm squares of purple.

I continued to use my crumb squares to make more Saw Tooth Star blocks. I have been using pieces of tone on tone and solid fabrics from my stash to make the star points. This will be an ongoing project for me. I don't plan on sewing them into tops until later in the year.

I finished sewing all of the blocks for the Wiggly Whimsy Sew Along over at Terry's Treasures. Now that my blocks are sewn, I can slow down and sew the rows together a bit at a time. I did not use Rebecca Silbaugh's method from her recipe over at the Moda Bake Shop. She uses a white jelly roll for the background and a charm pack cut into 2.5 inch charms. I cut yardage into 5 inch squares and matched each with a charm and after sewing on 2 sides I cut them in quarters which gave me 4 blocks with 1 charm square and 1 background square. I sewed some of the 2 piece combos on one side and cut it in quarters resulting in 2 two patch blocks., 2 unsewn background squares and 2 unsewn charm squares that I could attach to the sewn 2 patch blocks to make a 3 patch block. The original quilt finishes at 56.5 square. I like rectangles so I added one and a half extra blocks. You might notice that the bottom row has one block in the wrong position. When I sew them, it will be corrected.

I am determined to finish my chosen UFO this month. Time is running out, but hopefully I will get it done by midnight Thursday.

Snow Bound Stitching

2013-02-15T07:54:00.001-08:00

Last weekend we were snowbound. The storm that blanketed the northeast turned out to be less of a disaster than originally predicted for our area. The original forecast was for 12 to 18 inches and as the storm approached, the numbers ratcheted up to 20 to 22 inches. Luckily, the storm moved closer to the coast and we only saw 12 inches. My daughter is in graduate school outside of Boston where they received 27 inches.

In the background of this photo, you can see some of the trees that were knocked down during Super Storm Sandy back in October.

By late Saturday, our driveway was plowed, but the surrounding roads were treacherous and so we hunkered down near the wood burning stove and didn't venture out until Monday.

Last week I was the lucky winner of some scraps from the cutting table of Stephanie at Spontaneous Threads. I apologize for not taking a picture before I dived into the pile, but they arrived just as the snow started to fall and they inspired me to play. There were lots of strings and strips in Stephanie's box that I wanted to use right away. I had a large pile of crumb blocks in various sizes that I immediately pulled out to play with.

The scraps are lovely (the fussy cut typewriter is super), but it really made me question my own sanity. I have LOTS of beautiful uncut yardage, precuts of all kinds, a pile of UFOs that rivals Mt. McKinley, and TONS of scraps, so why am I excited about using Stephanie's scraps. I know I am not the only one who falls into this category. I have curbed my participation in blogs hops and limited commenting on every giveaway post I find, but there is something magical about receiving a package in the mail from someone you have never met.

I pushed aside the UFO list I planned to work from and instead made some scrappy Saw Tooth Star blocks with a white on cream background that was buried in my stash.

I have a dozen more ready to sew today and they are starting to take over the family room floor.

One of the quilt alongs I am taking part in this year is the 2013 Wiggly Whimsy Sew-Along at Terry's Treasures. I'm already behind, but yesterday I bought my background fabric at Joann's and this morning I chose the charm squares I will use from Lovely by Sandy Gervais.

The quilt only requires 37 charm squares, but I eliminated everything with a white background, plaids, and stripes so I needed 2 charm packs.

It's a very easy quilt, so I should be able to catch up over the weekend. Terry has a wonderful blog with lots of beautiful projects to look at. It really is worth stopping by and taking a look.
Have a wonderful President's Day weekend. I'm all excited because my sweet baby girl (even though she is 24 she is still the baby of the family) will be home for the weekend. She will also be bringing a ton of wash and empty plastic containers that she will expect us to fill with all of her favorite foods. I can't wait.

Close But No Cigar

2013-02-01T18:55:00.001-08:00

Even the best of intentions can fall by the wayside. I was determined to finish at least one UFO in January. Unfortunately, that never happened. I did manage to work on 2 of my projects and start a new one.
I will be linking up to Cat Patches January New FO Party with the block I made for So Scrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

I cut apart and resewed the blocks for my Twister Wreath table topper. It went from this.

To this.

Although I was less than successful in January, I hope to complete a few more of UFOs. This wreath table topper will be at the top of the list. It will be my UFO for February for A Lovely Year of Finishes at Bitter Sweet Designs.

A Drop in the Bucket

2013-01-27T20:02:00.000-08:00

With piles of UFOs filling the sewing room, it was very satisfying to finally get a start towards finishing one of them. I completed the rest of the blocks for the quilt I started as part of the Tetris Quilt along at Happy Quilting. Tomorrow I start auditioning sashing to complete the top.

I also found some bright pink 2.5 inch strips to make a block for the 2013 Rainbow Scrap Challenge at So Scrappy. The blocks finish at 16 inches so at the end of the year, 12 blocks will make a good size quilt. This will also be my NewFO for January as part of Cat Patches 2013 NewFO Challenge.

After 2 weeks of the flu it felt good to get back to may sewing machine and play with some fabric.

How Did It Get to Be 2013 So Fast?

2013-01-06T21:28:00.001-08:00

Since it's been 5 months since I last posted, I'm not sure there is still anyone checking my blog. Thank you to anyone who has stopped by. After my last post in August, I wasn't sure I wanted to continue blogging. My projects were not unique and I didn't have any tutorials or quilting tips to share. Unfortunately, this lack of motivation carried over to my quilting and I found that without the accountability of a blog, I wasn't finishing my UFOs or starting many new projects. When I finally decided that I wanted to blog again, Hurricane Sandy hit.

Unlike coastal communities in New York and New Jersey, our area of northern Westchester was mostly menaced by downed trees and was without electricity for 8 days. Even though our electric power was restored, we experienced problems with our internet and landline telephone service caused by software problems that Verizon was not able to remedy for about 7 weeks.

It took me quite a while to catch up with my favorite blogs. Seeing all of the UFO challenge posts starting off for 2013 has really inspired me to open up the sewing room and allow my UFOs to see the light of day.

As you can see by the buttons on the right of the blog, I'll try and use the inspiration from a few blogs including: A Lovely Year of Finishes at Sew Bittersweet Designs, 2013 the Year of the Finished Project at Never Too Hot to Stitch, 2013 Finish Along with Leanne at She Can Quilt, Judy at Patchwork Times' Getting it Done Challenge, and Nothing But UFOs in 2013 at A Passion for Applique. I don't plan on limiting myself to UFOs. I think I would get discouraged if I couldn't start anything new so I'll also be participating in Barbara's 2013 NewUFO Challenge at Cat Patches.

Some of the UFOs I'll be tackling were on my list last year and never managed to surface to the top. A number of them are tops that need to have backings put together and quilting.

1. Disappearing 9 patch.

2. This bright quilt was made during Marcia's scrappy challenge last winter.

3. The tutorial for this quilt is available on Sharon's blog at Vroomans Quilts. I'm sorry I couldn't find the link to the tutorial. I will try to provide in a future post.

4. These paper pieced blocks were the reason I started to blog. They were part of the "Too Good to Cut" challenge. The pattern is Jambalaya.

5. This top was also part of Marcia's Scrappy Challenge last winter.

6. I made the "Little Twister" center for this quilt as part of a charity round robin. The borders created by the other 3 quilters are gorgeous.

7. These blocks were made in response to a Veteran's Quilt challenge on Debra's blog.

8. These blocks were made from an Eleanor Burns pattern in a class at a LQS. They are for a table runner.

9. Strips of 2.5 inch charms and the central block ready to be made into "Fading Charms" a tutorial available at Wedding Dress Blue.

10. The Tetris quilt along last summer used 5 inch squares for each of the 6 blocks. I decided to use 2.5 inch squares and make 4 blocks each week. The blocks for weeks 5 and 6 are still undone. Melissa still has the tutorial available at her blog Happy Quilting.

11. These blocks will be cut and reassembled as Twister blocks. The pattern is from a video tutorial from the Missouri Star Quilt Shop.

12. This Little Twister table topper wanna be was made for the Cyber Quilters' Bucket List Challenge.

13. This star quilt featuring 3.5 inch square novelty blocks was part of a The Made in Cherry quilt along at Pins and Bobbins. I experienced some problems with the white setting squares. Hopefully, I can find a way to resolve the problem.

I have 6 more projects in various stages of abandonment. It's exhausting just thinking about all of these UFOS so they will have to wait for another time. My goal is to finish quilts, 2, 5, 11, and 12 in January and 1, 4, and 10 finished by March. Hopefully, the UFO challenges will keep me focused on the finish line,

How Lucky Can You Get?

2012-08-10T15:56:00.002-07:00

I really enjoy participating in all of the blog hops that Madame Samm comes up with. I have only made blocks for 2 of them, but I always visit the blogs on the hop and see what everyone is doing. It's a great way to get ideas and to find blogs you might enjoy reading. Sometimes when I stop to make a comment, I notice other comments that sound interesting and I check out the blogs of the quilters who wrote them. That's how I found The Slow Quilter. I liked a comment that she made on my favorite blog Vroomans Quilts. The rest is history. I enjoy The Slow Quilter's warm, friendly style. I always feel like she is bringing her quilts and lovely bags to my house and sharing a cup of tea with me. Obviously, many other people enjoy reading her blog because she is almost at 100 followers. I won the R/W/B blog hop giveaway at the Slow Quilter's blog.

It included some beautiful batik fabrics.

The Slow Quilter collects turtles and sent a beautifully carved wood turtle from Malawi, Africa to guard the fabric and make sure it got to its destination. It has a bottle opener on the under side. When I was a nursery school teacher at the Nature Center, we had many animals who were injured and could not be released into the wild. My favorite was a one eyed Eastern Box turtle named Willi. Although this turtle has 2 perfectly good eyes, he is now called Willi.

Included in the package was a special surprise. This wallet is made in Ghana from recycled water containers. It has a velcro closing so it is not only environmental sensible, it's also very practical.

Thank you Slow Quilter for the lovely giveaway and for sharing your work and wry sense of humor on your blog. Stop by and have a visit with The Slow Quilter. You'll be glad you did. Just don't read her post on Underwear Dust if you have a mouth full of liquid, it may end up on your key board.

Welcome Christmas Blog Hoppers

2012-08-03T21:40:00.000-07:00

Thank you Madame Samm and Lesley for putting together another fun blog hop for all of us to enjoy. I'm embarrassed to admit, I've been so busy I have only been able to visit a few blogs during this hop. Hopefully, I can catch up and see them all this weekend. Welcome! Please come in and take a look at my Christmas tree. Doesn't it smell wonderful?

Two years ago, Denise at Just Quiltin with Denise Russart organized a swap featuring a snow globe block that she designed and distributed for free. I loved each of the 8.5 inch blocks that I received. I must have loved them so much that I put them in a treasure chest and buried them, because I can't find them or the pattern we used. Using Denise's block for inspiration and a cake plate to trace the shape, I came up with my own 12.5 inch version. Although Denise is not one of the stops on the blog hop, visit her blog to download a gorgeous butterfly quilt she is sharing.

I'm sorry for the poor quality of the pictures of my blocks, but I snapped them at 11:00pm. Hopefully, I will be able to edit the post and put in better quality photos tomorrow. The snowman is machine embroidered on the tree print fabric. I think they look kinda sorta like the real thing if you squint.

Sally over at Sew Wonderful has a great tutorial for the Disappearing 4 Patch, also known as the 4 to 9 patch block. I decided to put a wintry spin on the block by adding some Redwork snowmen. Charming Station Embroidery offers free Redwork machine embroidery designs of snowmen and clever sayings to go with them. Over 200 of their free snowmen designs are available to download for machine embroidery. I embroidered the snowmen on 10 inch squares and trimmed the squares to 7 inches with the snowmen centered on the square. Major error!!! I did not take into account that when creating the 4 patch block you cut one inch from the seam both vertically and horizontally. As you can see, the snowman with the song book is too close to the edge. I embroidered the squares before we left for vacation so it was too late to embroider another block. I love the block, but when I get back to my embroidery machine he will be replaced. I am showing this block as a cautionary tale and to remind myself that Sister Diane Marie was right 49 years ago when she told us that geometry/math is an important skill. If only I had paid attention.

Thanks for stopping by. Don't forget to visit the other blogs scheduled for today.

Creations On The Island
That Other Blog
Sunshine Girl
Hallbrook Designs
The Recipe Bunny
Sisca At The Other Blog
Polka Dot Classic
Ariane Quilts
Katie's Salt Marsh Path (you are here)
The Cuddle Quilter

Tetris Quilt Along Blocks Week 2

2012-07-31T06:01:00.002-07:00

I just wanted to post photos of my Tetris Blocks from week 2 of the Tetris Quilt Along before I started my blocks from week 3. If you haven't joined the quilt along, it's not too late and it's lots of fun. The pink and yellow look washed out in the pictures, but they are very bright when seen in person.

Sorry for the picture quality. I didn't notice how much alike the blocks were until I just posted the pictures. I think once they are distributed though out the quilt it will be fine. I can't wait to start on this week's blocks.

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

2012-07-25T13:33:00.001-07:00

I belong to an online charity quilting group called the Sunshine Quilters. They are currently running several Round Robin groups. This is the first time I am participating in a Round Robin where you add a different border to each block you work on. I really want to make my row in the Round Robin to enhance the block I have already received. This is where you come in.

This is the 17.5 inch center block sent to me by Kathy from Tampa.

I decided to add one solid border to make the block 20.5 inches square. I also wanted to use half square triangles in the border. I have the blocks made, but I can't make up my mind if I want to echo the purple and black star point or to go in a different direction. This is a bold step for me.

After sewing a row and a half of the blocks in this direction, I decided I should explore another opinion.

This would be the other choice. I can't show the complete border because some of the HST are already sewn in the direction above. It wouldn't be a problem to take them apart.

Hopefully, you will share your opinion. After me, there will be 2 more participants to add rows.

I also made 2 more Tetris blocks from last week's shapes. I plan to sew this week's block later today.

After seeing all 4 blocks together, I decided I will not be using sashing between the blocks. I also feel kind of dumb realizing in all 4 blocks I put the orange shape in the bottom row. I don't know how I didn't notice it before, but when the blocks are all sewn together it won't be a problem.

Tetris Quilt Along Week 1

2012-07-21T07:37:00.001-07:00

If you haven't succumbed to the infectious fun known as the Tetris Quilt Along, visit Melissa at Happy Quilting. She has designed a quilt based on the colors and shapes of the Tetris game The shapes for the first week have been released and it is an enjoyable challenge putting these blocks together. Melissa is using 5 inch squares for her blocks, but I prefer using 2.5 inch squares. I am planning to make 2 blocks each week from the shapes using a different placement. It's so much fun I may decide to make 4 blocks per week so that my quilt will be closer in size to the original project. I used white squares to represent the empty spaces where I wasn't able to fit a block. There are no restrictions as to size or even color. I plan on saving the extra squares from the parts of the shapes that did not fit and plan to use them to make a block for the back of the quilt.

I'm going to link my blocks with the rest of the Tetris quilters at Happy Quilting and also with Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict for "Can I Get A Whoop Whoop?"

Sharon of Vrooman's Quilts is hosting a Crafter's Campfire today. Put on some sunscreen and bug spray and stop at her place to see the fun craft she has posted.

Red/White/Blue Blog Hop Giveaway Winner

2012-07-18T16:12:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the 124 hoppers who stopped by during the Red, White, and Blue blog hop and left a comment. The winner of the Tried and True charm pack by Nancy Halvorsen is number 108, Sharon of Camp Gramma She said, "Both blocks are beautiful! and that is a great little charm pack...hope it finds my house :)

My handsome assistant Retired Guy chose the lucky number.

It's been miserably hot here for the last week. I can't bring myself to iron the fabrics I need for my projects. I did manage to sew some blocks with strips that were already cut.. The quilt requires 110 blocks. I only need to make 13 more.

I was also able to make some HST to use for the Round Robin I am in. I'm not sure if I like them with the block, but I'll make my decision once they are all made.

It's raining now, so hopefully that will help to cool it down a bit and I can cut my charms. for Melissa's Tetris Quilt Along at Happy Quilting

Taking Inventory

2012-07-11T20:17:00.003-07:00

In April, I was inspired by Rhonda over at Quilter in the Gap to pick some unfinished projects and bring them to completion during the second quarter of the year. It's July, the three months are up and I have to admit, I did not finish even one of the projects. I don't feel guilty or embarrassed. For the most part, I just found myself busy with other projects.

I'm going to give it another try this quarter and have found a few projects to target.

Most of these blocks were leftover from a quilt top I made earlier in the year. Hopefully, when I finish this top, I will quilt the both of them and send them on their way.

I finished the center for the Faded Charms quilt from Wedding Dress Blue. These are the rest of the charm strips that I pieced as leaders and enders. It's a great quilt so I'm eager to put it together.

This block is part of a Round Robin from the Sunshine Quilter's blog. Kathy Thompson sent it to me. I'm struggling with the math for the border I planned to use. The block is 17.5 inches square. It has a deadline, so I hope to put my border on and get it in the mail next week.

More leftover blocks from a quilt I made for Sarah's Hands 2 Help Challenge last year. I have the strips already cut for the rest of the blocks and plan to finish it to send to Sarah's NOLA project for children affected by Hurricane Katrina. It's hard to believe there are still people suffering from the aftermath of that terrible tragedy.

I love this quilt and placed it on my list last quarter. I did add 3 more rows and the top is finished (this picture was taken when it was in progress). This is also slated for the NOLA project so it needs to be quilted and sent on its way.

I'm going to link up over at Quilter In The Gap's Third Quarter Challenge. Hopefully, these 5 projects will be finished before the summer is over.

Welcome Red, White and Blue Blog Hoppers

2012-07-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

Happy 4th of July and welcome to all Red, White and Blue Blog Hoppers. My apologies to everyone for posting so late. My plans to post last night after dinner went awry when we found out our phone service was out and of course our internet was out with it. Our good friends at Verizon informed us that we will have our service back by July 11th. Ugh!!! I've eagerly visited all of the participating blogs this week and am really excited about hosting the hop here on my blog. I didn't want to miss my big day so I drove 35 minutes to use the WiFi at Panera Breads in Brookfield, CT.

I have two 12.5 inch blocks that I designed to share as well as a giveaway. The first block is a stylized flag using twenty seven 2.5 inch HST (finishing at 2 inches) and a 6.5 inch blue square with rough edge machine applique wonky stars.

The second block is hand appliqued and was made using Darlene Zimmerman's Easy Dresden ruler. I used a 4 inch strip for the blue blades, the red is made with 2.5 inch strips and the white blades are cut from 1.5 inch strips. The center star is also hand appliqued. I plan on making 3 more blocks varying the color placement to turn it into a table runner.

Thanks for stopping by, please leave a comment to be entered into the giveaway for a Tried and True charm pack by Nancy Halvorsen for Benartex. It's a great pack and contains 55 charms.

Don't forget to visit the other bloggers featuring special posts today. Please click the blog hop button on my sidebar for links to bloggers who posted earlier this week.

Quilter in the Closet
The Recipe Bunny
A Reformed Heath'n
Jane's Fabrics
Kris Loves Fabric

Thanks to Madame Samm and Jane for organizing a fun blog hop and to Panera Breads who bailed me out with their free WiFi (even if it is so slow it took over 2 hours just to load this post.

Happy 4th of July!!

Sneak Preview

2012-06-30T10:37:00.001-07:00

Tomorrow begins the very special Red, White, and Blue Blog Hop. Over 100 bloggers will be participating. Each blogger will feature either a 12.5 or 10.5 inch red, white, and blue block. Some will provide tutorials and many will be offering giveaways. This is the first time that I will be participating in this type of blog hop. My blog's day to host is Wednesday, July 4th. In addition to the red, white, and blue block that I designed my very own self, I will have a giveaway.
This is a sneak peak of the fabrics I used for my block which features my nemesis, the dreaded half square triangle.

I'm sorry I can't figure out how to make the Blog Hop button operational within the text of this post but you can visit Jane's Fabrics and Quilts or use the button on my sidebar for the blog hop schedule.

I have been very negligent about showing the lovely items that I have won in recent blog giveaways.

This fabulous book arrived yesterday from Vanessa at The Crafty Gemini. She has a lovely blog and offers lots of video tutorials.

A Year of Making Life Beautiful, by Melissa Stramel is a beautiful spiral bound book that features, projects, quilt patterns, crafts, and gardening for each month of the year. It's a delight just to turn the pages and look at the gorgeous pictures.

A few months ago, I won an incredible giveaway on Australian designer Val Laird's blog.

Val is currently offering a free BOM called Thoughts in Thread that combines pieced blocks with applique and hand embroidery. Although the BOM started in January, all 6 of the blocks are still available. Feast your eyes on these goodies and try not to drool on your computer screen.

The color of the etui is much prettier in person. You can see better pictures of the giveaway items on Val's blog. Val's handwork is beautiful. Her stitches are tiny and even.

The Herb Garden wall hanging has the names of 19 herbs embroidered in the outer borders and features appliqued pots of mint, rosemary, and cloves. It's hanging near our kitchen table and it makes me happy to look at it at every meal. She also sent a charm pack of Grace by Three Sisters and a pack with charms suitable for embellishments.

Last month, I won 2 patterns from Amber at A Little Bit Biased. You are probably familiar with her fabulous tutorial Scrap Jar Stars. The patterns are really well written and I have a charm pack that will be perfect to use.

Don't forget to check out the Red, White, and Blue Blog hop tomorrow and come back to visit for my blog hop day on July 4th to see my block and enter the giveaway.

A Glimpse of Giverny

2012-06-12T20:42:00.000-07:00

I may never make the trip to France to see Monet's beloved gardens at Giverny, but I was able to catch a glimpse of the beauty that inspired him. The New York Botanical Gardens, in the Bronx, is holding a special exhibit of flowers growing at Monet's Gardens at their Conservatory. The exhibit will be on view until October. We visited shortly after the opening in April and returned again on Sunday. In addition to the floral display, the Library at the Botanical Gardens has diagrams and photos of the gardens as well as 2 of Monet's paintings and his sketches of the gardens.

The Botanical Gardens feature a changing array of gorgeous gardens that change with the seasons. The heavy down pours this June have taken their toll on the Enid Haupt rose gardens, but there are still many beautiful and fragrant varieties to enjoy.

On our first trip in April, the 20% chance of rain that was predicted turned into a heavy rain that soaked through my raincoat and filled my camera with water. The camera is a loss, but the memory card managed to survive with the few photos I was able to take of the peonies..

Viewing the beautiful colors and varieties really made me want to try a water color quilt. One more quilt to add to my "must try" list.

May For Me

2012-06-03T13:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Marcia, Sharon, Snoodles, and Tonya for inspiring quilters all over the world to take some time to do something just for themselves during the month of May. On the first Saturday in May, I attended a local quilt show and was able to see Bonnie Hunter's trunk show. After years of reading about Bonnie traveling around the country to give workshops, it was great to be able to see her in person. Her talk was funny, informative, and full of beautiful quilts. She gave several workshops in New York state and she taught Jared's Star for the local guild. Unfortunately, the workshop was filled, so I wasn't able to attend. I did get to have Bonnie autograph one of her books as a surprise birthday present for a dear bloggy friend. I was surprised that a large number of quilters that I talked to on the shuttle bus and at the show had never heard of Bonnie before. After her talk, everyone was talking about how great she was. It was really weird visiting her blog and reading about restaurants in our local area that she visited during her stay

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On Mother's Day, my Viking daughter and I went into Manhattan and attended Mass at St. Patrick's Cathedral. We had lunch at a Thai restaurant called Thainy and it was small enough to live up to its name. ON our way back to Grand Central Station, we decided to visit the observation deck of the Empire State Building, I had not visited there since I was a little girl and my daughter had never been there. I got to meet King Kong. The visibility that day was 25 miles so the view was great.

I also managed to join a weekend sew along with the C-Bees online group using the Twister Tool. I used 5 inch squares and the small size Twister ruler. It will be turned into a table topper for my night table. I found it difficult to judge where to position the light and dark charms for the best color balance.

In my next post, I will share more May for Me adventures.

H2H Challenge

2012-06-02T12:38:00.003-07:00

Today is the last day to link up to Sarah of Confessions of a Fabric Addict's Hands 2 Help (H2H) Charity Quilt Challenge. Quilts from the challenge will be donated to the NOLA Project that sponsors trips to Louisiana to assist children still suffering from the aftermath of hurricane Katrina or to the Happy Chemo project which distributes quilts to cancer patients.
My original plan to donate 2 quilts to each project didn't come to fruition in time. The photos below are of 2 quilts that will be going to the Happy Chemo project. Two more quilts that are earmarked for NOLA will be finished soon.

This quilt is X Rated from Carrie Nelson's Snibbles Times Two. Each quilt in the book can be made in 2 sizes, from layer cakes or charms. The gold tone Xs are from 10 inch squares, but the green Xs were cut from yardage. The backing is the same green tone on tone as the binding. I left off the scrappy piano key border so that the quilt would finish at 60 inches square. I've never made one Carrie Nelson's patterns before and I really enjoyed it. The instructions are very clear and easy to follow.

The red, white, and blue quilt was made using a tutorial from Cluck, Cluck, Sew. It's an easy stack and whack block that starts with 8 1/2 inch squares. The resulting blocks are 7 1/2 inches.

It's wonderful knowing that these quilts will soon have a good home thanks to Sarah and her H2H Challenge.

It's Cat Patches Birthday!

2012-05-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

I usually resist the temptation to blog about giveaways on other blogs. Part of the reason is that I write so few posts of my own, that it seems lazy to just give links to someone else's post. Today is an exception. Barbara at Cat Patches is one of my favorite bloggers. She always has photos of the beautiful quilts she makes, her sweet cats, George and Gracie, recipes, and a weekly fat quarter contest. Some of my favorite posts are about her walks with George and photos of the sights around her Pacific Northwest home. Today is Barbara's Birthday. As if that isn't enough of a reason to visit her, she is offering a giveaway of a 10 fat quarter bundle of Misty Impressions by Ty Pennington. She also has another giveaway of a years subscription to Quiltmaker magazine. I am confident that once you visit Cat Patches, you'll want to stick around and enjoy all of her adventures. Don't forget to say, " Happy Birthday!"

UFO Incentive

2012-04-15T08:55:00.001-07:00

Rhonda from Quilter in the GAP is encouraging quilters to finish up UFOs by hosting a quarterly finish along. I missed out on the first quarter, but I am signing up to finish a few UFOs for this quarter. The sign up is open for one more week so you still have time to take part. I'm eager to display the items that have been sitting around looking for attention that I am targeting for this quarter. These are shown in no particular order.

I started this quilt last summer using a tutorial by Sharon from Vrooman's Quilts. All of the blocks are together. It needs to be layered, basted, quilted, and bound.

I haven't touched my postage stamp quilt since I started it 2 weeks ago. I have all of the 2.5 charms cut and I'm determined to get it finished.

This paper pieced batik quilt was started as part of the "Too Good to Cut" Challenge two years ago. The pattern was for a wall quilt, but I will add a few more blocks, make it lap size and call it finished.

This quilt was started about 18 months ago. It is from one of the PS I Love You books. I love the 3 dimensional pinwheels. I don't know why I stopped working on this one. I really like it and think it will be a great baby quilt.

This was made for Marcia's Scrappy Quilt Challenge back in January it just needs to be layered, basted, quilted and bound.
Five quilts seems like a lot for me. I have only finished one quilt, a dryer topper, hamper topper, and a tabernacle cloth for my church in the first 3 months of this year. I think it is doable since 2 of the items are completed tops and 2 of the others just need a few blocks to be finished. I would like to use the first quilt for Sarah's H2H Charity Challenge which is due on May 27th so I will work on that this week. It's not to late to enter the H2H Challenge for 2012 so check the link or the button on the sidebar to see what it is all about.