Gooseberry patch start

My BOM 

Gooseberry Patch by Kansas Troubles.

I purchased a few more fabrics as I needed the gold color for my center block.  And after I found 3 half yards, I located a pack of a 12 fat quarters on sale for 24 dollars.  I couldn't pass it up.

It is hard to see the colors  2 reds, 3 greens, 2 browns, a blue and a purple. Good variety to add to my collection.

I have always liked the Goose in a pond block, and in this wall hanging  I will get to make several.

Here is a fuzzy close up of one block.  

And here are the 2 that are made.  Two more are cut up and mostly ready to go. 

And that is my BOM for January; I am a little behind. But I can still get it done for Christmas

Winter Quilt show

First quilt show of the year! Time to get those creative juices flowing.  I volunteered to sell tickets for the raffle quilt for my guild for the early morning shift and then walked around to see all the quilts and vendors.  Of course, I only got what I NEEDED.  Right.  I keep telling myself that. Oh,  and they were on sale. Well 2 fat quarter bundles anyway. 

This is a quilt made from a series in quilt magazine which has been made in a pattern.  And I know a friend who has it.  I think I just might have to do this!

I loved this quilt and up close all the little inch squares were so bright and eye catching. 

Here are some minis I really liked.

And this is a ribbon woven bag.  Really, just satin ribbons. Looks so neat! 

And then this Batik quilt was great with all the points and the black contrast.

Finally something to show!

And this is not sewing.  But I am so excited.  I have my 30's quilt I am making strings for in between my blocks.

Believe it or not, I am running out of fabrics, 30s fabrics only. I have had a bag for many years and have completed at least 5 quilts of different sizes out of it.  So my good news is that I got the first selection as the left overs from my guild's raffle quilt from a few years ago. Bargain!  

The 2nd assortment came from a friend with whom we had shared 30's fabrics for a quilt earlier. I had a wonderful container full of inch and a quarter strips that were leftovers from a quilt of hers. I knew I would have repeats of many of the fabrics that are currently in my quilt.  

This is some of my Rainbow scrap challenge blocks. The blues  and the  purples are in 2 strips each: one of 6 blocks below. ( Which  I see I am going to have to take apart and redo as they don't line up. ) The 2nd strip of the 2 colors is 14 blocks long. ..not photographed.

Next is my Magnolia mystery from Meadow Mist Designs.  I have lots of the blue for borders and  backing.

Another mystery is the Square Dance by From my Carolina Home.  Using up more of my homespuns. I did buy Kona black on sale for the background.  I like how the black makes a great contrast.

Seriously, my issue was that I left my phone at school for a 3 day weekend. Ugh..!

Happy Valentines Day

   Happy Valentine's Day, a little late

It has been a winter week.  We just came out of the very cold temperatures to the 30s.  Oh my!
It has been a break, and the accumulated snow of over a foot has begun to melt.

But I still feel sapped by the cold and regular work week. What with the recent shootings in Florida, and 2 deaths of family members of my staff  leaves a somber note on things.  I know I am aging; but it doesn't seem right anyway you look at it.

Anyway, I had guild this week; always fun to be with creative people.
And my grandkids and I had a fun stringing project with cereal.  The little one was the most focused. Having them in my lap is just the best feeling in the world!!!!!!!!!

Sewing: I love the weekends.  I get concentrated time to sew.  So here is my Meadow Mist Mystery TOGETHER!  All I need is to add the 2 sides which are the same blue as the background.






Then I started assembling Do Si Do, the 2nd step to the Square Dance Mystery  by From my Carolina Home. This will be a donation quilt. Still trying to get rid of these homespuns.   I bought the Kona black at JoAnns and was so excited to use the 50 % coupon  2 yards for 10 dollars.

SNOW day!

My school district called at 5:15 telling me school is cancelled for the day.  "We have about 6 inches on the ground so far,"  my husband the snow remover says.  But the snow is to still continue to accumulate until 9:00 this morning. I know that all the students and teachers are glad for some time off.

So that means a sewing day  ( maybe a little cooking and cleaning, too.).

O.K. I had a blast last night doing an art project for Valentine's Day with my grands.  I gave the 3 year old strips of colored paper ( reds, sparkles, pinks) and a pair of children's scissors. A little guidance and he was cutting away having a great time.  So the little guy ( 2 year old) was given the cards I had prepared with glue on the center of the heart. His job was to take the cuts from his brother and put them on the glue.  They both stayed at it for 45 minutes. Great job by the little guys! Now to send them to special loved ones.



First project up:

Finishing up the purple strings into blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge.



I still need 6 more for my row for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

2nd project:

Cutting out some homespuns for the Square Dance Mystery  by From my Carolina Home.
My light is going to be black solid.

Monday Monday

I can't get the Mamas and the Papas out of my head. Kind of a nice melody.


Anyway,  I needed some handwork to do while watching the Superbowl last night.  So I remembered I had already traced a bouquet for my daughter on a Kaffe shot cotton in gray.  She loves daisies.  So I embroidered a few flowers using a chain stitch. 





Then after school today, I purchased some purples.  I don't have very many at all. And I need some for my strings for my rainbow scrap challenge.  I did go to JoAnn's.  This is going to be a donation quilt  anyway. 

JoAnn's is closer than the closest quilt store which is about 20 minutes away. And it was next to a dollar store for art supplies for my grandboys to make a card for Valentines Day. I think I will send a couple to the great Grandmothers, too.

A new month, another week

Not much in the land of cold.  It was a sad week at at school as a 7th grader had died. Sometimes, life is not fair.  It touches many people.

But on another note, I didn't get much sewing; I think a bug has hit me again. Fortunately, swimming really seemed to boost me mentally and physically.  I can't really describe how being in the water makes a difference. I swim laps for a half hour before school a couple days. It is peaceful and yet a time to focus on the inner self while working on the repetitive stroke, stroke strokes.

So I did not sew much at all during the week.

I did get my new Stash Bee block done.  I try to be prompt at the beginning; and it gives me a small accomplishment at the beginning of the month.



Then I pulled my purples out for the new RSC color. I really don't have much purple.
But here is the  start



And then I just wanted to do something fun.  And as it is February, I pulled the hearts I had started last year:
These blocks are made using fusible interfacing with a grid on it.  Cut the fabric in squares. Arrange on the grid.  Iron lightly to adhere. Fold on the back and sew rows. Clip seams, open them up and then resew the perpendicular lines.


Here is my inspiration for more blocks to add to them from Small quilts and doll quilts.





So I started creating some new blocks:
These are just after ironing.

These are after vertical rows are sewn:


These are some letters: done on grids:



Now to finish them and assemble all together.