bad bad blogger - UFOs

UFOs ... in fabric, projects, and blogs.  
I offer my sincere apologies to anyone who's been awaiting an update 
from my little part of blog-land.  
All is well here in central Ohio, and there are no excuses, 
I've just not taken the time here to sit down and write on this blog.

Fun with the family, and activities with friends, quilting and hand stitching time, too.... life just happens! Don't know how to go back and put it all into written word now without making myself crazy trying to remember what happened when, 
so I'm just going to start back in, jumping around a little as I come across pictures.

In May, at a quilt retreat, a couple friends and I started a FB group -  
Scrappy Four Patch Friends ... 
using the simple four-patch block. 
We discussed that we really wanted to challenge ourselves to 
step outside our usual fabric box - 
and not necessarily use the fabrics that we are normally drawn to.
 
I have many double four patch blocks made:

 Like 400!!  
(Most of us are making the little four-patch pieces cut at 1.5", and the larger squares cut at 2.5" to make the double four-patch.)
Stitched into rows and ready to press:

Lots and lots of polka dots in double four-patch blocks!
Definitely NOT my usual civil war repros!, but loving it!!!

Such a simple layout, but will be a great look, I think.

If you are interested in joining in, 
you can search facebook for the group 
Scrappy Four Patch Friends, 
and I'll get you added!

Happy middle of September, and hope everyone is doing well!

Havine fun working in the scraps.... still,

and totally enjoying the progress!!

Seven stacks of tens,
plus one more block and six strip-sets gathered:

They all still need a pressing 🤣

for a total of seventy-seven!  ...
I only need THREE more stamp blocks (if I figured correctly) !!!

It seems that this particular quilt
has it's hooks in me!!!

 From this book:

All the one inch cuts of  fabric are just
mesmerizing to me.
So many great memories of previously used fabrics,
and shopping trips, and quilting friends!!

Sweet memories! And it's going to be a sweet quilt!!!

scrap play

Scraps.  Lots of small scraps. 
Postage stamp sized little pieces of fabric... 
one inch finished little squares!
I've had this style of quilt on my 'someday list'
for almost as long as I can remember. lol

So when this quilt:

in this book:

was mentioned at the Fall quilt retreat...
well, I was hooked.  
But I wasn't the only one enthralled.  
There were handfuls of us that needed to do this quilt!
There was a movement of sorts. LOL
We all ordered or purchased books.  
We stocked our fabric stashes with setting fabric.
A facebook group was started for stamp-sized-fabric-minded quilters 
(Thank you Rosemary Youngs!!).


After Christmas, I started gathering scraps.
My scraps,

Scraps sent to me by friends:

Thank you Wendy! Constant Quilter blog

The pattern calls for width-of-fabric strips.  

I decided I'd like my quilt to be a little more scrappy, 

so I cut the equivalent of only quarter WOF pieces.  

Equaling a whole lot of scrap play!!!

And here are some of my strip sets:

There are many more strip sets, but that's a good representation.

I'm finding so many old favorite fabrics in working on this quilt,
and a great way to spend some of my leisure time.
Which is where I'll be this afternoon!

Thanks for visiting!  I hope you are having a wonderful week, too!!

Firefly nights - #2 of Gwennie Inspired medallion

'Childhood Memories' was the theme for this past month's 
Gwennie Inspired Medialion challenge...

I was so excited thinking back on my childhood,
as there were so many good memories 
and great inspirational ideas that came to mind
for this challenge.
I grew up an Ohio farm girl, the oldest of four children;
there were chores to do, cooking, gardening,
cleaning, and more chores, and I absolutely loved them all.
Many times at the end of the Summer day, we had 
a bonfire and could stay out a little later and
hunt fireflies.  There were at least a gazillion!
It was almost magical, as they lit the trees and fields
with their twinkly lights.

 So, Firefly Nights was my choice for the second round:

Can you tell I used to love my Summer nights and fireflies?
Truth be told, I still love my firefly nights!
At this point, my quilt top measures 25 inches by 30 inches. 
I've used more scraps from the scrap basket.
Also, I still need to give it a good pressing. lol
I can hardly wait to get going on the next 'round'/challenge!
Cathy of Big Lake Quilter blog 
has chosen the theme of 'Log Cabin' quilt blocks.
So more fun to come!

You can check out all the others who have joined in on this
four month challenge by clicking on this link:  wabi-sabi quilts
There are SO MANY great quilts in the making!!!

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!
And happy Independence weekend to my fellow countrymen and women!

baby quilt gifted

Isn't that the greatest quilt picture, ever ?!?!?!
I didn't get a picture of the quilt I made
with the new baby when I gifted it, 
so I requested a picture from the new parents, 
and THAT ^^ is the picture I received!
I just adore it!
A much better picture than the ones that I took. :)
The pictures I took pale by comparison - 
Front:

Back:

This quilt is the one that I pieced together last month at retreat.
I used my favorite block layout
of the X block and 16-patch block,
(aka: Good Night Irene).
I had about 50 different prints of fabric,
cut at 2.5 inches wide.
Makes it nice and scrappy, I think - a good 'Eye Spy' !
But since it's all strip-pieced, it really goes together
much quicker than it looks like it would.
And, yes, I did stitch in her name and mine in the quilting:

 Another good finish,
and great memories made! 

dappled sunshine on my Vintage Farm Girl blocks

We've had our killing frost here in central Ohio,
and Autumn weather has arrived.
Sunny, crisp, and a warm breeze trying to warm things up!
It was such a beautiful day today,
so I went out and walked around the back yard
(rather the back garden if you're from the other side of the pond - 
or so my Dutch friends tell me).

Whilst enjoying the weather and my walk, 
I realized it would be a great idea
to photograph my lastly made blocks
from the Vintage Farm Girl sew along!
(Yes, the sew-along is finished, but I'm still working on mine!)

I had a whole STACK of VFG blocks I'd made
and sandwiched in my pattern book,
so I checked to see what I'd already photographed, and
I guess when you have a stack of blocks almost 20 high
that it's waaaay past time to share!! :)

Notice the leaf that came to visit in the last picture?  
The wind picked up and that beauty fluttered in!

 I left the leaf there when I placed my next blocks:

 I laid out the following blocks, and another leaf came to visit, too:

 I LOVE all of the blocks, and have been doing them very scrappy.
I did do just a little fussy-placement of fabric when I did that last block, above ^.
Here's a closer view:

Wowza!!! NINETEEN blocks I hadn't shared! 
I didn't know it was that many!
I already have the next few blocks cut out, 
which leaves maybe only another six, so the end is in sight!!  

Oh, but I don't have my border fabric chosen for this.
I really should think about that, shouldn't I?

Thanks for visiting, 
and I hope your day has been filled with dappled sunshine, also!

snack bags

A friend gives me her scraps -
boxes of scraps,
and I love it!
She's cleaning out and feeling good about it,
and I'm getting great, usable strips and pieces of scrapiness!

Last time I saw her, 
she gave me two, one-foot-square boxes of goodness.
But what makes me smile the most
are these little bags of snacks she packs for me:

I know, it's the little things, isn't it?  :)

Happy Tuesday!

funny, even after retreat!

So all the projects that I had to take retreat?
Here's what I got done - (wedding gift quilt progress)
this:

a boatload, 128 quarter-square triangles

this:

the second boatload, 96 half-square triangles

and some of the above blocks made into these:

about half of the needed star blocks

I still need to strip-piece the 9-patch blocks that go between these stars. I think there are just over 30 of those.  Should be pedal to the metal since the strips are all cut.  (insert laughing soundtrack here :)

And why do I think I can get through 10 project finishes when
I didn't even get one done during retreat??

Yep, I'm definitely funny!

Now, off to make the rolls for tomorrow's family dinner. The turkey is roasting, the potatoes are washed, ready to peel and boil, and the tables are ready to be set.
I love this time of year!

Are you ready for the upcoming season?

issues, issues

I think I've mentioned before that I have issues?
Well, here's the latest (that I'm acknowledging) :

I've been making these snowball blocks,  (shown above, right).
Each snowball is 2 1/2 inches unfinished.
You know when you are making them 

that you have those little corners that you cut off?

Well, I turn the block around and 

sew down the little corner that's going to be cut off  (shown on the left).

Then cut between the seams,

cutting off the corner triangles (shown middle).

In this case, 
a LITTLE corner triangle... 
What I'm cutting off is small - a little less than an inch...
I then press them open, trim, and sew them together:

So that little pinwheel block on the right will finish at one inch.
See? Issues.
I just can't throw away scraps of fabric - even the littlest of scraps.
No, I have to sew them together to make bigger scraps/blocks...
well, little blocks.

Do you do the same?  
And is there a size to your how-small-to-save-limit? 
And, then do you USE these little blocks, 
or just save them in a box like I do?

Issues! But probably better than some issues that I could have. :)

building tiny Shipshewana houses...

little THREE INCH HOUSES!!

Aren't they just the cutest??!!

My messy process, above, 
is a little dab of glue on the paper to the first fabric piece, 
then the usual paper-piecing from there, using 
Judie Rothermel's trimming ruler for the little seam trimming.

I don't know if I'll do a house a day, as some are doing, 
but they sure are fun to fit in here or there during the week!

Many thanks to Hanne for the pattern
(Her pattern of her own design, is available at:
 Hanne's Quilt Corner -Tiny Shipshewana House),
and to May Britt (AbyQuilt) for helping me get going on this!

Along with Hanne and May Britt, there are many other gals from around the world that are making these tiny houses so that when we all return to Shipshewana, Indiana for the Dear Jane retreat in November of 2015, we'll share our quilts of our own little neighborhoods!
 

royal friends and scrap built houses

You meet the best people through quilting, I think.
And those friends get you into THE best quilt-y projects!

First up: Royal Friends

Last Autumn, at retreat in Shipshawana, Indiana, 
a friend and I were going to a quilt shop (imagine that:) .
We offered a ride to a couple of other quilters (they are from out of the country).
Little did we know that those out of country quilters were royalty.
After fabric shopping, they acquired their royal headdresses!

Here is a picture of the new friends in the back seat,
riding like the royalty they are - 
the Norwegian Queens in their crowns:

 I was riding up front (as co-pilot) with our driver:

(She is even wearing her driving goggles and cabbie hat!)
And, our royal bounty for the day:

Secondly: Scrap Built Houses

So what do I see online recently?
Those very same royal friends 
shared pictures of their foundation-pieced, 
three-inch houses!!!

I never knew that royalty could be such troublemakers!!
             That's my way of saying that I let my arm be twisted.  Again.
OK, full confession here - there was really no arm-twisting involved. :)
The royal plan is to bring a finished quilt top of little houses 
to the 2015 Shipshewana fall retreat.  

We have a year, and I'm full in - 
Building Little Shipshewana houses!!

I'll soon have more to share on my little, scrap built houses,
because I'm starting my construction this week!

See?  That's the kind of stuff that quilting friends 
(even royal, quilt-y friends) get you into!
Stash building AND house building!!!!

sew along - month 8 of 10

My half-pint sized August block/row for the ongoing
Quilt Doodle Doodles sew along is DONE 
(and it's not yet midnight on the 31st - lol)!
It another cute block -
a whole row of little wrapped sweets:

mylifeisastitch.blogspot.com
August's row for QuiltDoodleDoodles sew along

Just had to make ten!

mylifeisastitch.blogspot.com
August's row for QuiltDoodleDoodles sew along

(I'm always asked, so here's my disclaimer:
Yes, my blocks are smaller than the original pattern -
each of my squares finishes at 3/4 inch 
because I've cut at one and a quarter inch, 
not the two and a half inch as Cindy's pattern has shown.)

Thanks again Cindy, for another cute pattern!

ahead of the game

I am the just-under-the-wire type of gal...

Instead of acknowledging that I procrastinate,

I tell myself that I work better under pressure

(insert big smile here).

So, by the 2nd of July,

I had sewn my blocks for the Quilt Doodle Doodles 

JULY Block of the Month! 

'Toasty Mugs' by Mylifeisastitch.blogspot

 

This month's finish in the first week of the month?

Unusual for me, I know.

I think it was because I had just finished (TWO days before)

the previous month's block (see? procrastination!),

still had all the fabrics on my sewing desk, 

and was on the *miniature 'roll'.

*Miniaturized because I can not follow a pattern

(I also acknowledge that I have that problem -which I call tweaking, but that's another story).

So for this BOM, 

I've tweaked half-sized the pattern.

Well, I've cut my strips at 11/4 inch - 

 half the size of the original 21/2 inch strips

Which is not really half-sized, if you know what I mean, 

as my blocks finish at 3/4 of an inch not an inch.

I did the cup handles by making scrappy quarter-inch bias

and pinned them into shape then starched them:

I pinned and machine stitched the raw edges into the block seams, 

then hand-whip-stitched them down to the blocks.

I added wool 'steam' to the mugs, and will use Valdani floss to applique.

It's another cute block, for sure.

Thanks, Cindy of Quilt Doodle Doodles!!

Another fun block

is finished!!

My Quilt Doodle Doodles block

for the month of May:

and I snuck it in
just under the deadline/wire... Again! :)

another baby quilt plus a question

Another baby, another "small" finish:

I cut 2 1/2 inch by 10 inch strips and

did my own small version of Trip Around the World

(with five-square blocks).

All scrappy strips, and border & backing from stash.

Can't tell from my picture, but that's a pretty, purple batik border (that finished about 2 1/2 inches), so a made-in-a-day quilt for a baby shower gift.  I was unable to make it to the shower, as we had a BOAT LOAD of  "stuff"  for this past weekend, so I sent it along with the grandma-to-be.
I sure think it turned out cute.

Now the question:
Do you gift quilts? 
And if you gift a quilt, do you intend, like or dislike
the gifted quilt to be used?

I know that a gift is just that:

a gift.

It's use, how it's used, or not,

 is up to the recipient's discretion.

I have no control for after it is gifted...I'm not questioning that.

 

I'm just surprised by the number of folks that I quilt-gift to

that choose to "put them up"

for the child to have when they are grown.

OR, an adult who's received a quilt and "puts it up for good".

I guess that while I'm making a quilt:
cutting and piecing and quilting and binding,
that I'm enjoying the whole process
and envisioning the comfort, smiles and USE that the quilt will bring. 
I never have imagined that it would be "put up" as an heirloom...
I might have to re-think my quilt making!  Heirloom??!! - pressure, pressure! :) 

Thoughts?

Now, back to the shower-quilt-gift, shown above...
the shower was for a good friend's d-i-l,
but to be held at a location over two and a quarter hours drive one way.
I explained to the good friend about all the "stuff" I already had planned for the day
and she totally understood (as her daughter lives out of state also).

So with daughter home/airport pick-up and drop-off,
family in for dinner to visit out-of-state visitor,
two grad parties and a wedding shower this weekend, 
PLUS the out of town baby shower,
I chose to stay home and visit, not travel the almost 5 hours to the shower.
I decided I needed a Jethro Gibbs-like "rule" (:no # yet:) -
RULE:  I have to be able to stay at a party longer than the total drive time
or I can't make it. :)

So, the weekend is over, & my boat-load has (mostly) disembarked...
company is gone, dinners (plural) done, parties & showers over for this weekend, some laundry going & dishwasher running now.
AND it's almost Monday! I need to do some stitching to relax!

Hope your weekend was great, too.
Happy June!

Valentine's week and I hope NOT a precursor

I'm still feeling like I'm in hibernation mode
from when my electricity was out last week.

Though the electricity was back on late that same evening,
I left many "things" off and enjoyed the quiet-
listening to the roaring fire in the wood stove and stitching away.

I did some relaxing hand stitching...

yes, hand-stitching IS relaxing to me.

I worked on:

my Lucy Boston honeycombs,

did some needle-turn applique on My Sally Post Garden blocks,

and put the binding on this little table quilt:

It finished 21 inches square, and is made of dark pinks and light reds scraps, with a little red/pink/checked binding.
As I had already had it put together, layered and quilted on the Sashiko machine before the power was out, I just had some hand-binding work to do.  (PS, I LOVE that Sashiko machine.)

But, I seem to have a reoccurring theme here...
now that I have taken the photo of it "finished",
I see that I don't have all of the quilting done!!!
The second diagonal quilting line within the heart (top, left)

is missing!!!

Aaakkk!!!  Just like my Snowy Days (last post) that I "finished" last year!!
Not really finished after all!!

Sure hope that even though
that's how the last couple of pics
I've shown as finishes-not-really-finished have been,

it's not a precursor

to how things are going to be

around here this year! :)

Guess I'll have to get on that, won't I?

Finished or not,
Happy Valentine's Week!

naked lips and fabric scraps

Yes, you read that correctly: I said "naked lips". 
Naked lips are tragic.  They need moisture.  And maybe a little color now and then. 

To my way of thinking,
the tragic, naked lips are kind of like fabric scraps. 
They just need some lovin'. 
They need just a little attention.

And they will bloom. 

Bloom into something wonderful.

Scraps of fabrics for this Farmer's Wife Sampler?
Yep, I have them collected!
Scraps of reproduction fabrics that are from the 1890's through the 1920's. 
Maybe not enough scraps of the dark colors, so I probably will have to add a few more fat quarters.
Like adding a dark colored lip balm.  Very soothing, and the color just pops! 
And I love a couple of the new/old cheddars, so definately some of those scraps will have to be added.  More fabric balm needed!!!

Do I have scraps of miniscule proportions?

Yep, those also.

Like the scraps in this quilt called Oh My Gosh, by Sue Garman.  The irish chain  nine-patch blocks in this pattern finish at one and one half inches.  Yes, I said 1 and 1/2 inches.  Each. 

That is like those little lip sticks that used to be offered as samples from the make-up companies.  Really too little to use in most instances, but you kept them anyway, just in case you might need just the right color without buying the full-size product.

Maybe you will call me crazy, but I'm thinking that the Oh My Gosh quilt is calling my name.  I have the pattern in my studio.  I picked it up at a shop on the bus trip on the way to the International Quilt Festival, held in Chicago.  And I think that was two years ago. 
This one may be like the lip color that was just a little trendy,
but you had to have it before it was gone!
Both of these projects will use some of my scraps.
The scraps that just need some lovin'. 
The scraps that just need a little attention.

Scraps that are under-rated.... 
After a little pondering,
maybe it's the fabric scraps that are like the tragic, naked lips,
not the other way around.

Scraps that will bloom with a little "balm".
Bloom into something wonderful.And they will bloom. Keep smiling and scraping!