DID ANYONE SAY SNOW? ALREADY???

My sister lives in Washington and she has already gotten snow this last week-end while I am here in Texas sweating it out.

This is my pattern "SNOWFLAKE"

The Island Batik Challenge this month is table runner or topper using applique.

I used the blanket stitch.

Here is a peek at the black Hobbs batting.  I just had a piece big enough.

I used Aurifil Thread #2720 to quilt this round topper.  I didn't have any navy Aurifil  for the blanket stitching but you can see the stitching in the background.

Island Batik  Blueberry Blender, Coral French fabric that came in out last box, and Island Batik white.

This pattern I made up for the "Desire to Inspire" Challenge that Henry Glass puts on.  

 I was inspired by a design on the fabric "Holiday Magic" by Jane Spade.

I love doing runners and especially round toppers.  I believe I have about 11 topper patterns which at one time were on crafty and etsy.  I keep thinking about reopening up my etsy account.  They closed me down because I wouldn't give them my bank account number.  Do any of you have a problem with that?

CHILD'S PLAY - BEAR'S PAW

The Island Batik Challenge for this month is Child's play using the BOB (block on a board) Accuquilt Go die.  It does not get any easier than this or any more fun!

I was given the Bear's Paw die.

Here are a few things you can do with this die.

Beaquilter received the same die, if you are interested in seeing what she has done for this months challenge, go here.

I used Hobbs Batting

Aurifil Threads #2605 (grey) for sewing and #2130 (light yellow) for quilting.

I made the center block by using the ten minute block method.

I had originally planned a different border but didn't like how it looked so I opted for this border.  They are sewn together like you would sew your binding pieces together (on the diagonal).

The brighter the fabric the better.  That is my Motto!

51" x 61"

I used Island Batik Foundation Bundle Coordinates - basics and blenders from the recent box they sent to us.  Island Batik White (can't go wrong with white).

The whole time I was making this quilt I kept thinking of crayons. I always loved the beginning of the school year when we had a brand new box of crayons.  I also love smelling them....just like glue, and fabric....ha ha....  yep...I am a crayon,glue, fabric sniffer and proud of it!

FOX ON ROCKS? FOX ON TREES?

I am happy to tell you that I have only one of the five quilts left to bind.  It is a bugger, will try to finish it today.

Unfortunately, I am only able to show you two of the quilts.

Here is one of them.

         I am not much of a red person but I like how the border just fits right in with all of the foxes.

You do know if you are SHORT, that it stinks to be SHORT????

I had to go and get my step stool and carry it around with me while trying to decide how to takes photos of this quilt.

When I was making the Fancy Forest quilt I said to myself after making the fox block that one day I was going to make a fox quilt.  I am so thrilled with how it turned out. 

I used Island Batik scraps (again)......   You just need 2 1/2" x 18" for the actual fox, the black and white fabric don't take much either.  Trust me when I tell you that I had left over bindings that worked great, left over scraps large enough to cut down to 2 1/2"....

I used Aurifil Grey, White, and Red 50 weight threads.  I do get thread in my box from Island Batik but I also buy a lot from Hancock's of Paducah or on amazon.  I am trying to get a stash up but in the last few weeks I have gone through one spool of grey and have almost used up a spool of off white and I call it a light yellow brown  # 2310...  Oh well...I do know how to order online, much to my husband's dismay.

These last few weeks have been so fun in my sewing room.  It is not often I can just spend a lot of time in there.  I am trying to get all five of these quilts finished before I move on to other projects.  I am dying to do the Ocean by Elizabeth Hartman, I have an idea for my Sept challenge with Island Batik, well...you know...more projects you want to do than have time for.

Hope you all have an amazing week-end.

THE QUILT THAT GOT AWAY FROM ME!

Remember these squares?

56 of  them

\\

I still had a lot of half squares left over but you will have to wait to see what I did with them.

It seems that this quilt just kept growing and growing.

As I was trying to get a backing for it, cut the batting, pin it...Oh my stinking gosh

I was thinking....How did I let this quilt get this big???

It is 80" x 92"

Then after I got it all pinned, I thought....NOW I AM GOING TO HAVE TO 

 QUILT IT!!!!


                                                    What was I thinking?

My long arm is indisposed for now, it is backed against a wall and I can not get to it due to the lodgers in my sewing room.

No worries.....many moons ago I quilted a king size quilt on my domestic machine....I can do this one.

                                        

                                                    Stuff and fluff....stuff and fluff

Took me most of the day to do this quilt.  I would do a row and then go do something else.  I worked in 4" segments and I just did a meandering stitch.  My aurifil thread hung in there, no breakage and I used most of my spool up between this quilt and another one.

I will show you the end results when I get the binding on.

Now I have five quilts to bind.  YEA ME!!!

Notice the grey fabric, that is the only one that is not Island Batik!  Yes, I can use fabric other than Island Batik but I so enjoy using batiks, always have even before I became an ambassador for Island Batik.

I remember when we lived in Samoa when my husband would go off island he would bring me home yards of batiks.  Couldn't get enough of them and I am still the same way.  The brighter the better.

So much has been going on in my home.  Besides having lodgers my husband decided to come out of retirement and then he decided that what he wanted to do was not all that great so he is now in retirement again.  Allergies are horrible for me, my little grandson was sneezing all day today.  I believe we both took turns in the sneezing department.  Poor us.  We did manage to make a pan of brownies during the sneezing....I had to wash a bowl that he sneezed into but we made it through all of that.  Every once in a while I would see his little finger go in the batter, you can't help but laugh.

LIFE'S SIMPLE PLEASURES

A few weeks ago my cousin text me on facebook and told me of a gal getting rid of her fabric stash.

Needless to say it didn't take me long to get in contact with her.

She was charging 10 dollars for whatever you could fit into a laundry basket (ones she purchased at the dollar store).  

So I picked up my cousin and we drove to her home.  Sorry to say that most of the "Good Stuff" as the owner put it was gone.

POOEY

I did manage to find several yardages and a lot of remnants bigger than fat quarters.

I filled up three baskets then put them all in this tub.

Then she asked if I was interested in zippers,  She was selling them for 50 cents a piece.  Was I interested?  She could probably tell by the slobber on my chin that that was a silly question.

Life simple pleasures for sure.

Then I went to an antique store here in town looking for my mother some crochet patterns and came across these two books for a dollar a piece.  

Yep....life simple pleasures.

Aren't these threads just delicious?

For my Island Batik project in July I purchased these beautiful threads off Amazon.

Just love the Aurifil colors

I have had these little items finished, for some reason my camera put a blue tint to them.

This is part of my Fancy Forest project using Flea Market fabric by Island Batik.

I have part of another hedge hog done and then two butterflies left to to and then I can put it all together.

YEA ME!!

CHRISTMAS RAPPing BLOG HOP

What a wonderful time to start thinking about Christmas and not waiting til the last minute to get a few things done.

Nan (left) and Margaret with their Star of Wonder and Star of Light Vests

Margaret and Nan have come up with this Amazing book "Christmas RAPPing Christmas Quilts Featuring Reverse Applique and Paper Piecing"

YOu can find the book on Amazon  or

Eye of the Beholder or

Purrfect Spots

I chose "Star of Wonder, Star of Light"

I truly enjoyed this pattern, I will say it made my abilities stretch, I am always up for a challenge and learning something new.

Always read the instructions first, will save a lot of time and energy...don't ask me how I know.

Using Island Batik Fabrics which I purchased online at Hancock's of Paducah (great prices and fast service, Aurifil Thread  great for blanket stitching.

Hobbs Batting, works like a dream.

I would like to thank Nan and Margaret for this wonderful opportunity to stretch my quilting abilities,

and June Taylor, Aurifil Threads, and Island Batik for sponsoring this Blog hop.

Two (2) winners will receive one (1) Bundle of nine (9)Island Batik Fat Quarters + 3 spools of Aurifil thread

GO HERE  

Find out what happens when you mix two creative minds together by joining us on this awesome blog hop.

Here is the line up and if you missed some this past week, please do go by and check them out.

April 29 - Joan Kawano, Moosestash Quilting, https://www.moosestashquilting.com

• April 30 - Linda Pearl, One Quilting Circle, https://onequiltingcircle.com/ 
• May 1 - KathyBruckman, Kathy’s Kwilts and More, http://www.kathyskwiltsandmore.blogspot.com/ 
• May 2 - Bea Lee, Beaquilter, www.beaquilter.com 
• May 3 - Sherry Shish, Powered by Quilting, http://poweredbyquilting.com 
  
• May 4 - Jennifer Strauser, Dizzy Quilter, http://dizzyquilter.com/ 
• May 5 - Barbara Gaddy, Bejeweled Quilts, www.bejeweledquilts.blogspot.com 
• May 6 - Nancy Myers, Patchwork Breeze, www.patchworkbreeze.blogspot.com 
• May 7 - Vicki Schlimmer, Vicki’s Crafts and Quilts, http://knitbug2.blogspot.com/ 
• May 8 - Gail Sheppard, Quilting Gail, https://quiltinggail.wordpress.com 
• May 9 - Michelle Roberts, Creative Blonde, http:// www.creativeblonde.co.uk 
• May 10 - Maryellen McAuliffe, Mary Mack Made Mine, http://www.marymackmademine.com/ 
• May 11 - Denise Looney, For the Love of Geese, https://fortheloveofgeese.com 
• May 12 - Maria Hrabovsky, Maria Michaels Design, http://www.mariamichaelsdesigns.com/blog/ 
   Each day from Monday, April 29 – May 12, you will be able to see the wonderful quilts by our talented designers.
• 
  

APRIL SHOWERS TRULY DID BRING MAY FLOWERS! April Showers Topper

It has been raining so much this month that I am sure the mosquitoes will have a field day this year.

Here is a little topper I designed a few years ago.  This was taken off the craftsy site when Craftsy did their purging.

Here it is using the beautiful Island Batik Fabrics.

Today I put the binding on three quilts.

I can only show you one.

If you have been reading my post, you will remember that this quilt is made from the scraps of another quilt.  I used the Accuquilt Go orange peel die to make the shapes.  I also used Aurifil 50 wt. thread.

I have yet to quilt the other quilt but it is sandwiched.

I love this Oriental fabric from Inchworm Fabrics.

I have really made some headway this month in all of the quilts I have an obligation to make.  I always worry about meeting deadlines but I think I am going to make it.

I have two quilts that need to be quilted (this is not counting the UFO's), yes, I have plenty of those.

READY SET GO!!

The month of April Island Batik Challenge is to make a square (QUBE) baby quilt using the Accuquilt Go Dies.

Look who is playing in my grandson's room and on his bed no less!!

The month of April Island Batik Challenge is to make a square (QUBE) baby quilt using the Accuquilt Go Dies.

Time to take them outside!

Mr. Brown Bear has had enough of the photo shoot!

44" x 44"

Maybe next time I will take a straighter picture???

This is my inspiration for this quilt.

I have had this design made up for several years but last year I made it with Island Batik fabrics.

I kept thinking that it would make an adorable quilt.  I am talking about the hearts that border the runner.

I used the 5" stash Builders by Island Batik, just perfect for cutting with the Accuquilt Go cutter!

  

So when I received the Accuquilt Go Qube, I saw that it had the half squares and I have the circle die (which is not shown nor included in the 8" cube) would be perfect to make the hearts.

Unfortunately, my circle die grew legs and walked off!!  I used the small circle and cut them in half.

I used the rectangles for the 3 rows of 20 each (sewn together randomly)

Here you see the half square triangles with the half circles on top of them.  I glued them down just a thin strip across the straight edge, just enough to keep it in place while I was sewing....and as you can see, I did not take the half circle all the way to the raw edge.  If you chose to you can just use the whole circle.

Anyways, I sewed the half squares together, in this case, ten half squares to a row, 4 rows.

White Island Batik foundation fabric for the half squares as you can see in the picture above or on the quilt.

A two and a half inch strip x 40 inches long for the half circles to be blanket stitched onto.

 After sewing the 2 1/2" strip to the half squares and the glued half circles, I flipped up the half circles and then blanket stitched.  In this case, I waited until I had the whole quilt top together and just blanket stitched through the top, batting, and backing.

For the complete quilt you will need:

A row of hearts (ten each row) 4 rows

A 2 1/2" strip in between each row (six total)

Then a row of rectangles (20 each to a  row)  (3 rows total)

2 1/2" side border

4" top and bottom border

I did something I have never done before and that was use my embroidery designs on my sewing machine to quilt this quilt.  I used the hearts and the curvy line.

This quilt was so much fun but I have to confess, quilting it using my embroidery designs on my machine took longer than actually constructing the top....still fun

I used Hobbs batting 80/20 Bleached Cotton batting

This beautiful Aurifil Thread

Now it is time I go pick up my grandson from Preschool, hope you have an amazing day!