It Was Meant to Be

Another quilt made it through to the finish line lately. I've been kind of holding back on this one because I had decided to gift it and I didn't want to spoil the surprise. It's one that has been in the works for years and years.

Shattered is finished!

The first post I could find about this particular quilt was here in 2014. It's not been a particularly flashy or impressive quilt, but still, it's one that I. Just. Could. Not. Get. Rid. Of. Now I'm thinking maybe it was meant to be?

It's little, but it's mighty

This quilt named itself 'Shattered' way back in the early stages. All those little bits and pieces from the scrap bin coming together into a larger whole. I had big plans for this quilt and then the inspiration just melted away under the reality of making an entire quilt straight from the monster scrap pile. Too much good stuff in the stash totes to hide out in the scrap bin for weeks on end!

Loving the centerpiece now

I machine quilted wavy lines and ran into all sorts of troubles. Duh! While sandwiching and pinning, tape had popped loose on one side and it never really did get taut enough after that. You know me, nothing much slows me down once I get started, and I just shrugged it off and kept going.

The heart could be a little fuller on the left, but hey, that's improv.

I wasn't really too concerned as this wasn't something I felt especially invested in, if you know what I mean. And then I decided to gift it to a dear friend who had lost her husband of over 25 yrs. earlier this year.*groan.... I mean seriously, it's a perfectly good comfort quilt, right? But now what to do with my 'less than par' quilt? So I picked up a wash-out marker and roughly marked out a heart right in the middle of the quilt. Oh the symbolism! And then I stitched like a crazy woman for a couple days until it was all filled in. Let's just say that she is a very good friend.

I seriously considered putting the label over that red stain,
but thought that might be a little too weird, even for me...

And now let's just say WOW and leave it at that. I was {am}, frankly, in awe of what that simple stitched heart did to this little 'plain jane' quilt. So many, many times I almost dumped this quilt in the trash, or sent it down the road as an orphan project. Instead, I kept picking it back up and adding a little more to it. What if I use a recycled mans shirt for the border? What if I dig a little deeper into the stash totes and see what might work to bring this quilt to a good finish? I truly love it now. It all makes perfect sense and tells a wonderful story. All the scrappy bits, the meaning and symbolism, the texture, who it's going to and how much they might be needing a 'wrap-you-in-love' sort of quilt right about now...

So glad I didn't throw it away!

As usual, I washed the quilt after it was completed {in this case I did the 12 hr. soak},and wowsers, did this one bleed out! It was worse than any other I have ever finished before! Must be all those different red fabrics combined in one quilt. Very disappointing to see one little area on the back {see pic above} where the red had bled through to the back and would NOT go away. I'm sure if I had soaked it for another 12-24 hours that would have made a difference, but one day is about my limit to tie up the bathtub. Just so thankful that all the migrating dye didn't ruin the top and I don't think my friend cares one whit.*whew!

A nice little bundle of fun!

Something fun, I finally received my winnings from entering in the Bloggers Quilt Festival! Thanks Amy! It's been so long since I've won anything, that it felt a little like Christmas! It's a 'Lazy Days' by Gina Martin F8 bundle from Moda along with a cute bag, some lovely thread and a couple other fun goodies. Once piece of the fabric immediately caught my eye and will be washed up pronto. Exactly what I need for a project that I've been eyeballing as a new start! 

Quarter Circles--Round #2

I also was able to move another quilt into the hoop and get started stitching on it--Quarter Circles--Round #2. It's been a tough one to take good pictures of, but this quilt is making my heart very happy. Now. Back in 2015, it was one of those quilt top finishes that I made the best of and just moved on. So many good fabrics included in this quilt though, can't help but respond to that! 

My family is not very excited about the yellow, but it's Fall ya'll! And that means I like to get out some of those more seasonal colored quilt to stitch away on. Soon as this one is done then I have promised myself that I will finally get going on another one in similar colors that I'm not nearly as excited to stitch on. First the one that I WANT to work on and then, the one I've been dragging my heels about for the last several years. Even more than this one if that's possible....

A Hand Stitching Post

Sometimes the hand work gets lost in the shuffle. We spend innumerable hours on it, but then hesitate to show off our progress. {It doesn't magically happen overnight people!} This weekend finds me finishing up with not only the petals to my huge Folksy Flower, but also, getting the bias strip stitched down on the wobbly looking center.

Folksy Flower

The whole thing shifted on me more than I care to admit to, but should, in the end, work out just fine. I just had to try the basting method when I was adamantly assured that basting takes care of any wonky shifting issues. Uh huh. Not with with me. Or apparently not with this large of a piece? But then I probably did the basting incorrectly and caused the problems! lol  I measured my flower for those that seem curious and now I've already forgotten. It's either 44 or 48" square? Quite a large piece to work with. I just need to cut out the fabric from behind each petal and then figure out where to go next. There are lots of ideas percolating so it shouldn't be long.

I also started making a throw pillow for a friend this weekend. The center block was one that got left out of a previous quilting attempt and was begging to be used.

Starting a pillow

I added a youngish, sweet fabric and then went more 'modern' with the rest. It seemed fitting for a gal in her early 20's who is independent, but still very sweet and girly.

A finish!

The back of the pillow was fun to put together and I'm hoping the cowboy fabric (on the right) will be a personal touch for someone who loves her horses etc. This will go into my end of the year 'revealing' gift bag, part of a year-long gift exchange some of us ladies do in our church. So glad to get the bottom of the pillow hand stitched together and all ready to go!

Interesting back...

I've also been busy stitching down the circles for my Lil' Red Riding Hood blocks. First the quarter circles onto the larger light colored circles and then, stitching those onto the light green background squares. I am absolutely loving working with these calm, pretty fabrics. It makes me wonder why I ever avoid these sorts of colors as being too boring? There is something to be said for sewing together relaxing/calming fabrics once in awhile and of course taking the time {by hand stitching} to actually enjoy working with them!

Lil' Red Riding Hood applique...

Also, I received this little package of Quilters Dream Batting from the Fabric N Quilts Scrap Quilt Challenge 5. Thanks to the sponsors for all the fun giveaway prizes! I am itching to try this poly bat out as I've never used it before.

Something new to try!

My Old Fashioned Strings quilt was one of the many winners in the Scrap Quilt Challenge, something that was kind of a sweet little thrill. How fun to enter a quilt made from little bits of leftover scraps and then actually win a very usable prize! I'm wondering how it will do with hand quilting or if I should save it for a machine quilting project. Does anyone have experience with this type of bat?

Once again I'm linking up with Kathys Slow Sunday Stitching. Love her thoughtful post today!

More Stitching

Gotta love Mothers Day. The one day I'm guaranteed not to have to cook! I had a nerve wracking experience with a big, hairy, jumpy spider while sitting in the back of our Suburban yesterday, but you know how that goes. {Husband driving, dad, mom and mother-in-law in the captain seats, guess who gets relegated to the very back bench?} Also, I am encouraged not to shriek while husband is driving as I've heard it can incur an accident.

Panel #4 on the Fire quilt--more stitching

Hmmm. Let's just say that the spider is now dead and I personally, will probably never ride in the very back of our truck again. My kids were smart to drive their own vehicle to the restaurant and I'm betting they didn't have any spider issues. {Or shrieking issues.} And the view from the back seat is definitely not like I remember. For one, my son seems to get better snacks than we ever did judging from the wrappers laying everywhere and for another, I was viewing it through the eyes of a 44 yr. old. On Mothers Day. Oh the irony....

In case you hadn't noticed, I've been very focused on getting the top done for my fire quilt. The top needs to be totally done by the end of May in order to have plenty of stress-free time to get it hand quilted by the third week in July. I usually prefer to have a solid two months to hand quilt something this size, but with big stitch quilting (my go-to for heavy applique), I don't need quite as long. So.... lots of stitching still  to be done. This quilt is shaping up to be the most detailed applique quilt I've ever done except my Worry Baskets quilt and that took me three years. Onward ho!

Panel #4 contemplations....

I cut out the applique shapes on this panel in a period of two days. Messy business when I'm thinking and deliberating! There are  a couple pieces from 'Red and White Favorites', a pattern Karen very kindly gave me several months ago, and the rest are free hand applique or shapes I cut with the help of clip-art silhouettes. Notice the dog? My daughter and sister have chocolate labs, so I went with that shape. Who knew it was even possible? It's such a fun, personal touch.

Originally I wanted a more 'folk arty' whimsical look, but after much thought, decided the pieces needed to be a little more instantly recognizable; thus the clip art route. So far, all of my kids and my husband have passed the 'what is this supposed to be?' test with flying colors. If they didn't guess spot on, they at least got in the ball park. That is really all I expect {or want} as this quilt should also readily spark thoughts in others about their own experiences with the fire.

Panel #5 on the fire quilt prepped and ready to go...

I also spent some time printing out the words for the last and final panel. Couldn't get the letters the exact shape I wanted {too skinny when they were tall enough}, so finally caved and dug out some graph paper. With the words directly in front of me, I drew each letter needed onto the graph paper and then finally roughed out something I could more easily use for applique. It's such a relief to have the prep work done on that panel and know I won't have to fuss with cutting, clipping etc. later when I'm ready to start stitching. Things are progressing, my goal is looking doable, and I really, really want to start in on a different project. Patience!!

Solids fabrics to play with!

And look at this very, very sweet bundle of fabric! It definitely didn't help me to stop dreaming of the new. It's the Rita Hodge Kona bundle, my winnings from the Marsala Challenge! I have been wanting to play with more solids for awhile now and this just looks super fun. Thanks so much to Intrepid Thread for their very generous sponsorship of the challenge! I already have loads of ideas. You have nooooo idea.*wink

More Work On the Partial St. Paul Quilt

I've been wanting to work on this particular quilt all fall. And then I really haven't. It's one of those things where the next step is pretty much figured out and yet I keep waffling about it. So pathetic. I even annoy myself.

Partial St. Paul quilt progress

I finally bit the bullet and started cutting the tumblers out. It's a long process that always leaves me feeling somewhat stunned to see the rotary cutter in my hand and being all busy cutting the fabric out. As an aside, I'm always grateful for the soothing qualities of working with cream printed fabrics. I know there are people who just gag at the traditional look to them, but they just melt something inside of me. Using these fabrics, I'm almost guaranteed to like what I'm doing eventually.

Cutting out cream tumblers

So this is how I boiled it down in my mind this time, trying to clear out all those sticky cobwebs created by that nasty balking syndrome I like to call simmering PROCRASTINATION. Lets just call it what it is! You know I always try to start on an upbeat note:

Worst case scenario I'll have enough tumblers to make a little cream and blue tumbler quilt. {Okay, that does sound kinda interesting.} Nothing ventured, nothing gained. {Really? How original.} Just do something. Anything is better than nothing. {Um... Are you sure about that 'cuz  sometimes 'anything' can turn out to be sort of ugly. Or embarrassing. Or even embarrassingly ugly.} Huh. Who's in charge of this quilting endeavor anyway?*wink  Seriously, what's the worst that can possibly happen? I won't like it? Wow. Like that's never happened around here. Lemons to lemonade and all that....

I bought the 5" tumbler templates over at Diane's and they work wonderfully. Totally getting me over the hump of diving into something I'm feeling a bit ambivalent about. Love to work with these acrylic templates, especially in this particular size. No tracing shapes onto fabric and cutting out with scissors involved at all! I did switch over to my smaller rotary cutter to cut the tumblers out as the larger rotary cutter kept shifting on me. Not sure what size this one is (maybe 18mm?), but it's the little guy. Really great for cutting nice and tight against the template. Don't buy a cheap rotary cutter though, as I know from experience they don't hold up well with constant use.

Cutting out the blue tumblers

I also got a bit of fun mail from Dorothy over at Dorothy's Threads of Life. She does stunning applique and embroidery work. Always lots of eye candy over there!

A win!

And just because I thought this was pretty fun, here's a picture of my two youngest practicing for honor band. Isn't that saxophone humongous? Especially compared to that little skinny flute!

An impromptu concert...

Even though my son is in 8th grade and my daughter is a junior, they both somehow managed to make it into the same honor band event! Always, always, always something interesting going on around here....

Random Monday

A total of eight envelopes have arrived for my mother just since Friday! Very exciting to see all the lovelies that are being sent. Wouldn't you know, she actually got on my blog and read about what was happening on Thursday night? Mind too troubled, couldn't sleep etc. So not a TOTAL surprise, but still--she didn't read the comments so has been completely bemused by the amount sent. Already. lol

Sorry the pic isn't better, I think the yellow manila envelopes
affected the color in the entire picture!

I keep telling her there will be more, but she gives me that look. Hm. hm. We'll see. Yep. We will see!! I can tell she is finding this very fun even if she's a bit bewildered to be on the receiving end for once instead of being the giver. I'm also trying to tell her a bit about the person sending fabric if I recognize the name and/or blog. It's all very touching and again--such great fun! Thank you to all the participants for that! For now I am just gathering the names of people who want one of my brown fat quarters in return. Will send them all out at once to be more efficient!

My lovely win!

I also got some fun mail of my own. Barb from Fun With Barb sent me some gorgeous fabric {and thread} I won from her latest giveaway! I am already busy dreaming up news quilt projects for these beauties. Really. I LOVE this kind of fabric and rarely get a chance to buy it around here.

In the spirit of working my way through the UFQ list, I threw my Random Sampler quilt up on the wall this weekend. All I've done so far is sew the half square triangles around my large basket block. Originally this was going to be a queen size quilt, but now, I'm thinking to downsize a bit. Will need to make a few more random blocks and then work on the connector bits to tie it all together. Mostly I need to work on the length as I prefer quilts to be longer than they are wide.

Random Sampler

I also pulled out this old quilt top and made a very drastic decision. Yep. I'm unpicking this quilt. Every single time I pull this quilt out of the drawers to consider putting it in the hoop, I absolutely am not interested. 'Not worth the effort' is pretty much my thoughts.

Mini Cake Stand quilt

So.... that's how is has to be. I've slept on this decision for oh.... well over a year? And my feelings toward this quilt never seem to change. I love the blocks--hate the way I set it together. And the birds, while whimsical, annoy me. I fell in love with the brown and cream floral print and was determined to use it even though my gut was telling me that it wasn't going to work out.

Starting to take it all apart--maybe just to the 9-patch units?

Me, being stubborn, pushed on through and sewed it altogether, then added in a bit of applique to distract from the big 'ol mess I'd made. It's a large quilt so this will take awhile.*sigh  I really have no idea what I'll do to 'fix' things but almost anything will be better than what I had. Bottom line: the baskets are too sweet to lose to an good experiment gone bad.

I Feel Loved

I have received the very best presents this week. First off, I wanted to share with you the handmade gift that I won from my friend Clare of selfsewn blog in a giveaway! I picked up the mail on my way to a neighboring town where my son has a lawn moving job. We opened the envelope and I could feel my tummy give a little flip. Nope, not opening this in the car flying down the road. Too special for that!

All the way from England..

No matter how disappointed my son was at missing out, the packaging details were just too sweet to overlook and I knew you'd want to see them too. As soon as I got home and found my camera, I opened it up all the way and. just. stood. there. and sighed. I mean, look at this! Seriously for me? All the many hours of hand work and precision piecing--it's just priceless and I will treasure it always. The little birds? The stripey fabric? The colors? I don't even know what to say other than it's absolutely perfect.

Just look at this bit of sweetness!

Take a look at the back. So silly and sweet. I love that Clare personalized my little quilt. I've been anticipating this gift so much and it doesn't disappoint in the slightest. She has a quote on her blog that reads 'it's not what you have it's what you do with it'. And let me tell you, she does it very, very well! A big Thank You to Clare for my amazing win!! Go check out her blog--all her work is just incredible, always a huge inspiration to me.

I am smiling so very much just reading this....

And then my mom casually hands me this bag this week. 'Oh, I picked up a little something.' She had been to a quilt show last weekend and saw something she thought I (might) could use in my runnings around. Uh huh. It's all handmade to look vintage and shabby chic with several sweet little pockets inside for notions and thread etc. Again. Sigh....

Awww, love the stitching...

I hereby declare it to be my new quilting project bag! Can you believe the details on this side? The bird? The six-sided stars that are on my someday list of quilt projects? People know me so well.

So many sweet details. You would think it was a custom order..

I feel loved. And inspired. But selfish too. I don't think I ever give gifts that are this amazing. I'm going to have to do better, that's all there is to it. The bar has been raised.*wink

The. Best. Giveaway. I've Won. Ever.

Something came in the mail today that about made me hyperventilate. Wowsers. 12 lovely, lovely spools of Aurifil thread in it's very own carry case! And look! Scott also sent one of his special blue nickels! So quirky and fun. I just love details like that!

So generous!

What happened was this: I won one of the grand finale prizes for the #12 Days of Color series going on over at Blue Nickel Studios during the holidays!  Okay, trying to breathe here... I followed along because yes, the prizes seemed fabulous, but also because it is very interesting how different blocks will look made up in various prints and colorways. When you get to see them side by side especially, it emphasizes the differences (and also the many possibilities).

Thread love is very real and present right about now...

In his last post Scott also mentioned that he'd like to get some quilt blocks for his upcoming 50th birthday. Sounds like a great idea to me! The theme is woods and there are more details at his blog.

Just playing with a block idea

I pulled out some orphaned parts and pieces to see if I had anything to jump start a manly but woodsy sort of block. I might have to go with only half of this block because he wanted 'smaller' blocks, but I think there's enough to get started for now. Hopefully I can get this block sewn over the weekend and on it's way by early next week. Yay! for giveaways, generous quilters and the supportive quilting sponsors!

Playing With the Rolling Stones Blocks and Some Fun Wins

I may not have much time in the sewing room lately, but I'm trying to make the most of what time I do have! The Rolling Stones blocks are all finished up--36 of them--and yes, even trimmed. I had to trim them to 9 1/4" which may (ahem) affect some of the outside points.

Finished Rolling Stones blocks

That resulted in some remeasuring exercises. Like about three times worth and then I still cut off too much from my centerpiece. Grrr... Only about 1/2" though. No big. Certainly not enough to try and add fabric back on. ha! Oh no. I'm going to have to fudge the dickens out all my sewing from here on out though.

Seriously though, I'm thinking I need to stay away from working on any heirloom quality quilt projects (if I actually ever had any) right about now. My mind is obviously far, far away on all the presents that need wrapped and what in the world am I making for the extended family holiday dinner on Sunday? Quilting obviously equals Avoidance around here.

Works for me! (Can't you tell from the picture below?) I stumbled upon an ingenious solution for my sashing fabric. I pretty much decided that I'm going to use up some of those hard to work with light greens in the totes. Love how it ties back in with the Scrap Basket, lightens and brightens the entire quilt plus makes me feel frugal 'cuz I'm being virtuous and shopping here at home. Always a plus this time of year.*wink

Auditioning the sashing fabric

Also, two packages arrived in the mail yesterday that felt like an early Christmas present. The first one I opened was a Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Days win from Dragonfly Fabrics. I literally sucked my breath in at these lovelies! I thought I'd be making a fun little summer/baby quilt out of these, but after seeing them in person, I think they just might be the special something I've been looking for to jazz up a stack of fabric I've been hoarding for awhile!

Dragonfly Fabrics Win

The other package had these really fun, bright fabrics from Lizzie B Cre8ive. Perfect for making a quilt for a niece or nephew! I entered my 'All Grayed Down'  and 'Vintage Reproduction' quilts in Amy's 2013 Bloggers Fall Quilt Festival and won a prize from the random drawing earlier in the fall. I had almost completely forgotten about it when I stumbled upon their site during the Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Days! When I checked up on my Quilt Festival win with them, the Lizzie B Cre8tive gals were super nice and sent it right out to me.

Lizzie B Cre8ive Win

First time to win a prize from either of those blog hops, but I'm saying a big THANK YOU today!

A Win and Some Progress on the Baby Quilt

Real quick, I just want to say how amazing it was to receive so many comments on my All Grayed Down quilt! Thank you to everyone that commented as it made me realize that other people can see the charm of that quilt too. It's a quilt that I seriously wondered if only 'a mama could love'. lol  It's almost impossible to see our own work through unbiased eyes isn't it?

Wall hanging kit

Yesterday I got this kit in the mail! It was pretty thrilling to get a package all the way from Australia, let me tell you! Kate from Empty Field blog had a little giveaway a few weeks ago and I won this very sweet Prairie Flowers wall hanging kit.  I can't connect to her blog right now, but hopefully she'll be back up soon as I very much enjoy following her blog and viewing her beautiful quilting progress.

I'm definitely making good progress on the baby quilt now. I've spent a lot of time with the walking foot the last couple days trying to make it all come out right.  Some of my lines are a little bit wobbly (esp. where I stitched in the ditch) but I do think I'm improving slightly. Fingers crossed nobody will ever inspect the lines too closely.*wink  One of the things I most love about the modern quilting craze is the grid or straight line quilting and that's what I'm trying to learn first. I know it's very annoying to only see bits and pieces of a quilt, but after this coming weekend I should be able to show a full on picture of the quilt!

Baby quilt progress

Yay for me! I found a nice chunk of fabric for the binding hiding out in my totes. It's a reject piece that was given to me at least six years ago so it's especially fun to finally put it to good use. The very light green color is lovely and it works hard to pull the lightness of the quilt clear out through the borders. I ended up doing some big stitch quilting in the very center of the quilt too--probably too much as my finger is now feeling sore--but I think it adds another special dimension to the quilt.  Okay, time to get off the computer so the binding can get stitched down and this thing will be ready to go on a little journey this weekend!

Wow, Where Has the Week Went to?

It's been a long couple days starting with my computer crashing on Thursday morning. Yeah, I was not a happy camper about that. I've had to practically beg for time on the laptop just to check my email! Thankfully it was an easy fix and I was able to get my computer back from repairs this afternoon! So ironic, when we've been expecting the kid's computer to crash for almost a year.

A small sliver of goodness....

Anyway, like you'd expect, it freed me up from procrastination in the quilt room and I've actually got an amazing amount done on the baby quilt.  I couldn't resist and just had to show you a sliver of what I'm working on! My sister does not think she is picky, but I know her too well and it has resulted in so much frustration for me.  I know she does not like red, or most yellows, or a lot of orange and the quilt needs to be gender neutral, and well, finally I just did want I wanted to do with what I had in the stash. Ha! I wish. I also bought one charm pack and a half yard of border fabric because everything I had was totally ruining the look of 'light, bright and happy' that I was trying for.  Because of the charm pack, I also broke my rule of only using 2 of the same prints (different colors) in the same quilt. Waaah. You have NO idea what a relief it is to have the quilt top ready to be sandwiched and quilted. lol

Quilting Disks

On another happy note, I also received my winnings from Anita at Bloomin' Workshop! It is a set of quilting disks for free motion quilting called 'Grip and Stitch' from Clever Craft Tools. Very much a mixed blessing as I do not feel at all ready for free motion quilting, but on the other hand, I have a new walking foot that needs some exercise.  My son mentioned that he'd be willing to take a quilt back to college with him when he leaves this fall so next up will probably be the Scrap Attack Log Cabin quilt. He's very generous to be willing to take another quilt off my hands, don't you think?*wink