WISP

There hasn't been a lot to post about here in the last while. Everyday I make progress on something but progress is SLOW. I still want to contribute something to this quilting blog world that I enjoy so much so here is a peek at my current applique block-in-progress.
It is the Bride block for my Bird of Paradise block. As you can see there is no Bride yet ... :0)

Just because projects are progressing slowly doesn't mean I'm not dreaming about new ones - lol. I should stay away from my LQS. This fabric I bought yesterday is just delightful. It's "Home to Roost" by Renee Nanneman. I have a few different ideas running through my head as to what to do with it. If only I had more time to sew...

Books are a constant source of new ideas too. This is what I've been looking at lately. The Swedish Quilts book is from the library so it'll have to go back - it was very interesting. The Civil War Sewing Circle is sort of a late Christmas present - Kathleen Tracy puts together such lovely books.

I hope to have something finished to show next post.

Happy Quilting!!

Happy Valentine's Day

I had to make a Valentine this year. I'm supposed to lead this little project tomorrow night at my guild.
A good friend of mine helped me out with the idea. Apparently this little heart basket is a Swedish Christmas ornament. When she was little she made them at Christmastime out of paper to hang on the Christmas tree. This one is made out of fabric. It's supposed to have goodies in it - I'll have to take care of that detail tomorrow :0)

I finished another block for my Bird of Paradise quilt. It's block #1 in the quilt. It's the only symmetrical block in the quilt which makes me wonder - Why? I'm starting the Bride block next. I'm quite excited - it's such a pretty block.

My daughters and I were busy baking today. Cookies were needed for school. My mom made cookies like these every year and so I do too :0)

I wish I could give one to each one of you. Happy Valentine's Day!!

Midnight stars

We had a very cold, snowy weekend and I managed to make good progress on Lori's Quiltalong quilt.
I was delighted with these little stars. I think if I hadn't had the corner triangles made already I'd have been tempted to just make a quilt of these simple stars.

The stars quickly became these blocks.

Some setting squares and triangles and...

A finished little top. :0) Thanks Lori!! This was such a fun little project. These blocks are so cute - I just love them. I'm hoping I can find time to start quilting it this week yet.

Happy Quilting!!

I've been away

I can't believe how long its been since I last posted! We went for a family holiday to Hawaii to escape some of our long winter. Lots of time went into getting ready to go and now after I have lots to catch up on. It was lovely and relaxing while we were there.
I worked on my applique blocks in the evenings. I finished up this block for my Bird of Paradise quilt.
I dramatically changed the birds. Following Susi's idea I made the "big pink pig birds" as she called them, into bluebirds. They look much more cheerful I think.

I laid out my first 6 blocks to see how they look so far. (They are in no particular order) These blocks are so fun to applique! I have a good start on the next block - block #1.

I am sadly way behind on Lori's Quiltalong. Here is what I have so far. Maybe this weekend I can catch up.

I found this book at the library to take along on my trip. I'm not a Mormon but I sure enjoyed this book. There are some wonderful antique quilts in it and with each quilt there are stories about the women who made them. Some of the stories are heartbreaking. I'm glad I didn't live in the 1800's!

I find myself drawn to the antique quilts with Trapunto in them. I'm going to look around and see if I can take a class and learn this technique. I still want to take a handquilting class too. So much to learn... at least I'm never bored. lol

Happy Quilting!!

top finished - on to the next one

In anticipation of Lori's quiltalong starting today, I finished this top up last night.
Because I resized the blocks I also had to resize the borders. I think the proportion is okay. For me this quilt is all about the fabric. So much color and so much pattern :0)

I would like to quilt this by hand but at 34 inches square it will take some time away from the 4 block applique quilt I'm currently working on so I may just machine quilt it to get it done.

My DH spoiled me again at Christmas with this book. The pictures are fabulous!!

Happy Quilting!!

a gift given

It was a very busy Christmas. A houseful of people for 6 days and lots of kids running around having fun. I've never hosted a major family holiday before and I'm happy it went well.
This little table topper kept me busy for a couple weeks in November. It was a gift for someone in my guild. So I can now post about it.
It looked so nice on my table with my gingerbread man it was tempting to keep it :0)

I decided I wanted to quilt it by hand. It was a fun little break from working on my 4 block applique quilt.

Maybe I'll make one for myself for next Christmas. I'll need to find more of that red stripe I used in the binding though - I just love that part.

Happy Quilting!!

A really good surprise!

It's getting close to Christmas! I hope I'll be ready :0) This little guy was the first of my Christmas sewing this year. I made one for myself and a couple more to give away. A fun little project.
Last night I stitched on the last applique piece on this block. It now needs embroidery. Quite a bit of embroidery. I'm not sure about starting in on it but I'm worried that if I don't do some - I'll end up with 25 blocks all needing some embroidery which will overwhelm me and cause the project to become a ufo.

I made a couple changes again. I took out the butterfly and replaced it with a leaf. I changed the feet a bit to make them easier. I decided after much careful study of the original block (shown here) that the brown shape in the top left might be a hummingbird so I tried to draw it more like the original. These birds get a whole lot of embroidery on their heads yet. Do I need to put something on the back to stabilize the background fabric?

A few days ago I was mixing up a batch of sugar cookies for DD#1 to take to school for her class Christmas party. The doorbell rang and when I answered the door there was a package for me from Carrie. I was so surprised!!

She very thoughtfully included a little something for each of my kids - they were so happy. And what a lovely assortment of things for me - an ornament, some fabric, a charm pack cut into circles and 2 cookie cutters! What a cute little vintage gingerbread man cutter.

Within 10 minutes of the package arriving I was putting that little guy to good use :0) I needed 25 trees for school and there was just enough leftover dough for 4 little men. They are SO cute. Thanks Carrie for your marvelous surprise package - it made my day! However did she managed to get the postal system to so perfectly time a cross continent delivery??

Happy Quilting!!