A Wee Finish

A few weeks go I went on what was billed as a Mug Rug Hop by the four quilt shops that were putting it on.   For those that went on it they got everything needed to make a mug rug (well at least the top part).  Three of them were kits to make a pieced/appliqued mug rug.   One of them was just a "postcard" cut from yardage. 

I've started getting these made so that I can use them as gifts when I'm in Phx next month.  Here is the first one that has been finished.  Finished size is approximately 6" by 9".

Binding and backing were both out of my scraps.

Gratitudes:

1.  The dryer that had been in the townhouse when I rented it did not short out and cause a fire over the last year when used.

2.  The person helping me get the dryer out of the house did not get zapped and hurt when it sparked as he went to unplug it.

Holiday Weekend Progress

Lots of sewing went on over the Thanksgiving weekend.   Gotta love having 4 days in a row off.  =)

First project that I worked on was getting the remaining flying geese sections for the wedding quilt sewn.  I paper-pieced them so that I could make sure all were the same size.  I now have between 230 and 240 of them between both layouts for them (star points and pinwheel blades). 

All of them have been trimmed to size and the paper torn off of them.   I've started sewing the rectangle of background fabric to them and realized I still need to cut a bunch more in order to have enough......so digging thru the stash for different creams has begun as of this morning.  I'm using different "sets" of fabric on the points and the pinwheels to make it easier to make all fabrics in the blocks different.   I don't have as many different fabrics for the background as I do blues, so this helps me to keep from having the same fabric in adjoining blocks.

Next up was making the three remaining hat box blocks I needed to finish this quilt (the diagonal ones from lower left to upper right).   And then putting the top together.  Current size is approx. 48" by 66".  I'm debating about putting a border on it or just calling it good and quilting it as is.   this will most likely be sold, but might donate it.

I also worked on two little mug rugs, but don't have pics of those.

Gratitudes:
1. Three weeks till vacation

2. No argument on need for service calls for the house (electrical and a door problem) by management company, just waiting on calls now to have appts scheduled.

QuiltMaker's 100 Blocks Vol. 16 Blog Hop Winners

Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter the giveaways on my blog during the blog hop!

The three winners have been drawn and emails have been sent out to them telling them and asking for mailing addresses.   If I get no response from any of them, then I'll draw a another name and try again.

The three winners are:

       Tricia L - Rose Fabric and coordinates
       Karen T - Set of Green FQ's
       Nancy B - The copy of the magazine to be sent from QuiltMaker

Congrats everyone!


Gratitudes:
1.  For all those who take the time to read my blog.

2.  For all the blessings that I have in my life.

Moda & Aurifil Challenge Mini Quilt

I saw a challenge posted online that Moda Fabrics and Aurifil Threads were running this month in celebration of all that went on at Fall Market and the new fabric lines from Moda.   They blogged about it here.

the two main rules were - you had to use Moda Precuts and Aurifil thread to make a finished quilt, and the size was to have a perimeter between 40" and 100".

Well, there aren't a lot of challenges that I shy away from, and as it happened I had a few Moda precuts (alright, more than a few) that I hadn't done anything with since getting them one or another.  So I decided to challenge myself.    Well in looking at what I had, I realized why I hadn't done anything with them - most of them are not fabrics that I'd normally work with. 

However, challenging oneself occassionally is a good thing.   The one I decided to work with is called Botany.   And I pulled two Aurifil threads to work with - white for piecing and the variegated peach for quilting.

I decided to make 4 sawtooth stars blocks to form my quilt.  I used 5 different blues for the stars - the center for all four blockswas from on charm, and each block used another charm square to make the star points.  Two different fabrics were used to make the background of the blocks.  13 charm squares were used for the top.

Back of the quilt was made by sewing 9 more charms together in a nine-pach.   The binding used 6 more of the charm squares cut in half and then sewn together.

All total I used 28 out of 42 charm squares in the pack.

The peach Aurifil thread blended in with the peach in the blocks.   Finished size of the quilt is 12.5" square for a total perimeter of 50".   Now to decide what to do with this little quilt.

@modafabrics, @aurifilthread, #ModaAurifilMiniChallenge

Gratitudes:

1. Warmer weather today

2. Good thanksgiving service today at church and all of my friends there.

Progress and a new quilt

I've been able to get some quilting time in before work the last couple of days and have been making progress on getting flying geese units made. 

I've finished sewing 32 or sew flying geese, have 13 more that are pinned to the pp patterns and ready to sew, and approximately 90 more pieces of blue ready to sew (the pile in the back left). 

To have enough to finish the quilt though I'll still need to cut about 15-20 pieces of blues big enough for the geese.   And I know I'll need a bunch more blue cut for the star points.    Next up will be making a bunch of the flying geese that make the star points so that I square them up and then get more blocks put together. 

 And I'll also be starting a new and what has to be a quick project that has a due date.   Moda Fabrics and Aurifil thread are sponsoring a challenge for quilters to make a small quilt some where between 10" square to 26" square.  People are to use one of Moda's precuts and Aurifil thread to make it.  Entries are due before the end of the month.

I'm nuts, and I like a challenge, so I've decided to enter something for it.   As it happens I have a handful of Moda charm packs (among other precuts) and I decided on this one, and pulled these two Aurifil threads to use in making it.   Will use the white for piecing and the variegated peach for quilting it.    Finished mini quilt will be 12" square and there will be four 6" blocks in it.

Will be printing out my pp'd patterns and figuring out the size of cuts that I need to make today and will start work on it tonite after I get home.  =)

Gratitudes:

1. Only one month till I'm on vacation!  Oh wait, guess that means I should think about Christmas gifts....lol.

2. Being awake after a night where it was hard to sleep.

Scrap Happy 15th........

The next biggest scrappy project on my to-do list is this quilt.  Thankfully it is only 25 blocks that are 15" finished.   But then there is that pieced border.....lol......   This will be for my niece and her fiance and will be their wedding present.  It should finish out at 85" square.

The main colors in it will be assorted cream tonal fabrics for the background.   The stars and pinwheels will be scrappy blues, aquas, teals, and purples, with a touch of orange.

Here are the blues I've pulled to begin with all from the three 2 gallon bags of blue scraps in my stash.   I'm alternating between precutting the cream tonals and the blues/purples into the sizes needed for the quilts at this point. 

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This is the first block of 25.   15" finished size and uses 24 different fabrics in it.    There are three basic blocks in the quilt, all variations of this one (number of outer flying geese sections varies between them).

Anyone want to guess how many different fabrics will be in the finished quilt?


Gratitudes:

1. For my family

2. For a normal platelet (and not just my normal) count for the first time in 3 years