Nice Block

Table toppers are a nice way to try out blocks you have never done before. This will be sent with the Disappearing 4 Patch block that I made a week or so ago during the Friday Night Sew In.

Dresden Plate Tea Towel

I finished the binding on my little frog and forgot I had a cute little button to put on there too. I also decorated a nice towel for another friend of mine, she loves green. I got this towel at the quilt shop and found one fat quarter of the green floral fabric to go with it. I made a small Dresden Plate to decorate the towel with, and I mean small. I cut the wedges at 2 inches, then the circle was so huge and I didn't really have anything to go with it so I just used the same fabric. I could have gotten my circle on a bit better but it still looks OK. I machine stitched around the circle and the wedges I thought it would be more durable. I really don't think she will use it but you never know. I don't think I would use it only to decorate with. Do you have any decorative towels you use??

Friday Night Sew In Project

I just finished up my sewing for the Friday Night Sew In. I didn't get the binding hand stitched down but I will hand stitch that tomorrow, or I should say later today. I had done the embroidery this past week and wanted to make a block out of it. This is a gift for a friend of mine. Every time I ask him how he is he says, "Finer than Frog hair". The white and green frog fabric Amy gave that to me so I put on the back. It was a bit tricky getting the lettering embroidered on the fabric and then cut so it would be in the right place.

I had a lot of fun doing this little project, I guess sometimes we need to just do some thing that is fun.

FNSI & A Disappearing 4-Patch Block

One night Amy were on the phone and blog surfing at the same time and we found this blog with a tutorial for the D 4-Patch block. I liked the block so I thought I would try it. It is super simple and looks great when it is done. I started with a 5.5 inch block and cut them at 1.5 inches on each side of the center. She cut hers at 1 inch on each side of the center. My block measures about 18.5 when done and I pressed my seams open. This one I will make into a small table topper for a friend of mine.

Friday Night Sew In is tonight as well and I will be working on a little project for a friend of mine, just a little Mug Rug but I have done some embroidery on it. I hope to finish it up tonight and will post photos tomorrow. It is rainy and nasty out there so it is a good night to sew, sew, sew.

Friday Night Sew In

Last night was the March Friday Night Sew In....I was a bit tired but managed to get a couple of little things done. I had met Amy for a long trek to two quilt shops in the area(sort of). We had a good time and after driving almost 200 miles, including a huge detour, I was a bit pooped. I did find the fabric for this block(below) and the Dresden Plate ruler that I have been wanting. The one I had was not really to my liking.

I did sew this block for the Untied Notions/Moda...Just One Star Project I might make another one since you know that they will get thousands of blocks and not just 100. It will be exciting to see the quilts they make with all of the blocks.

I also did more hand sewing on this Dresden Plate block I have been working on. I still have to sew the circles down but that shouldn't take long. I will be putting a bit of a border on it and have it for a table topper or a wall hanging.  I hope your Friday Night Sew In went well.

Practice

Here is what I did for Friday Night Sew In..I need the practice. I have only quilted one quilt this way(on my frame) the rest were straight stitched so I need the practice and I discovered a better light! I just put two plain sheets from the thrift store together and some batting. I am using thread from previous quilts as well. Might as well get it used up.

Quilting

I just started quilting my scrap quilt. Tomorrow night, Friday the 18th is the Friday Night Sew In. I will continue to work on the quilting and hope to finish it up then.

Friday Night Sew In.....

Last night was the first Sew In of the New Year. Hubby went to work and I sat at the sewing machine, put my 4-patch blocks together and watched John Wayne movies. Now, after laying them out I need to make about 12 more blocks. I need it to be a bit wider and a bit longer. So back to cutting.

Ahhhhh!

Finally some sewing done! Last night was the night for the Friday Night Sew In. I forgot about it the last couple of months. I didn't sign up for last night but I have in the past, guess I was afraid I would forget again. So I thought I would just sew. I started when hubby went to work at 9 pm and never stopped till 3 am. I made at least 16 blocks last night but I think it was more like 24. I lost count. I have been trying to get these done for over a month but with very little sewing time I have not had much luck.

Hubby has worked awful hours and sometimes no day off. He has had a couple of normal weeks with only a little overtime but the overtime is going to start again soon because this is their busy time with all the Holidays coming. One day, or should I say night, I had to wake him up at 7 pm just so he could get ready for work. I got nothing done that day but reading.

I am slowly getting my blocks back for the Bees Knees. I have 4 sets back and one set is on the way. I sent a total of 11 out. I have a few more blocks that I want to make in order to make the quilt big enough. I will post some photos of those when I get more of them back. The ladies are doing a wonderful job on them and they all look super. Thanks ladies!

Hopefully, I can get back to sewing and visiting blogs regularly again. It seems strange not to get on every day. We have some computer problems every now and then. Not sure if it is all this computer or our Jed Clampett phone system with the lovely DSL that they have. 

 Mom has been really sick and I did have my bags packed and ready to go but she is on the mend now so good news there. She will be 85 the end of this month. Still working and refinishing furniture and packing up estates. How she keeps going with that arthritis is beyond me. 

Has anyone read The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society? It is by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. What a wonderful book. It charming, funny and one that you do not want to put down for a second. I highly recommend it!  You are in for a treat if you do read it.

Now off to get some dinner. Have a great weekend everyone! Sorry this seems to be such a long post.

WHEW!!!!!

Two things...Whew! First of all I have not even gotten through one third of the blogs on the list of the Blogger Quilt Festival. It has been amazing to wander from blog to blog and see all the beautiful quilts. It is going to take a while to get through the list.

Also, I finally finished this quilt for my very dear friend. It was supposed to be done for her birthday in April but that didn't happen because I was there and not at home.This started out as a Friday Night Sew In project. I was so glad to get this quilt done, more than usual I think. I quilted the center of the quilt on my frame, I do squiggles not stipple. (No matter how hard I try to make the quilting look like I want it too, it never does and it looks more like a squiggle than a stipple.) I did some straight line quilting around the border. I used a bias cut for the binding that matches the gold in between the blocks and finished hand sewing that down last night while I was watching the last LOST episode.  I know for a fact that she is going to love it and the colors are just perfect for her house. I want to get this in the mail tomorrow because I can hardly wait for her to get it.

I hope you all have a good day, I am going to work my way through some of those blogs.

Pineapple Top

I finally finished the Pineapple quilt top. I started for the January Friday Night Sew In. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do for a border so I let it sit. Then it hit me to use the leftover strips for the border along with the rest of the fabric from the points and the squares.

This is for my very best friend ever. Diana, we have been friends since the cradle because our Mom's were good friends. We call each other Sis because neither one of us had a sister. She was such a life saver for me when I was back taking care of my Mom last year. Sis lives about an hour from my Mom's and I would go there some weekends and just sleep on the couch. She is so very dear to my heart. I did make her two silk ribbon embroideries and she just loves them. I framed them and sent them to her and she cried on the phone when she called me to say she got them. Her birthday is in April and I would like to get this quilted and bound before then.

I would love to do a scrappy binding too but there is no more of the fabric. I have enough of the outer border I could use or I could use some of the backing that I forgot to take a photo of, sorry. Not sure what I will do yet.

Friday Night Sew In Project

I started this quilt during the Friday Night Sew In. I have finally gotten the top together but it needs borders yet. Not sure what I will do yet. I think a small brown to match the sashing then I am not sure what. It will be a good sized lap quilt when I am done, approx. 66 X 66. I like how it has turned out so far. I will get some border and backing fabric at the 20% bag sale on Saturday at my LQS.

Now a sad story, the yellow quilt I was working on........well I had purchased the last of that yellow the quilt shop had. I wasn't sure how the quilt would progress when I got the fabric and then I switched gears in the middle, anyway I wanted the yellow on the outside for the binding but I have ordered 4 different yellows and had to wait since before Christmas for the one to come in. It finally came today and sadly no match, not even close, it was way to orange so I am going to take some of the blue and use that for binding. I guess the little guy won't mind, I hope. The thing I was disgusted about is that I could have had the quilt done a long time ago and he could be snuggled up under it right now. Well soon enough I guess. I am going to get the yellow one done and in the mail before I do anything else.

Friday Night Sew In Report

I would love to say that I got a lot done on the Friday Night Sew In, but I didn't. First off I had to stop around midnight when hubby came home, but I did start my "night" earlier, like when he left for work. Is that cheating? I got all my fabric cut, squares marked and did some sewing. Then the phone rings and it rings again and again. So I was not as productive as I would have liked. I did manage to get 12 blocks done.

These are a pineapple block and then you put sashing between them. It is from the book MORE STRIP CLUBBING. I have wanted to make a pineapple block for a long time and never have. The Friday Night Sew In was a good time to start it. I am not sure what I will use for the sashing yet I will wait till I get the rest of the blocks done.

I am going to go and check out the other blogs of all the over 100 people that participated in the sew in. I am not sure if Heidi and Bobbi will host another one but I was thinking that this was going to be once a month for the year, maybe that was in my dreams last night. I sure enjoyed it and knowing that I was not sewing 'alone'. Thank you to Heidi and Bobbi!

Ready, Set, Friday Night Sew In.....

Ready?....Almost. I am cutting my fabrics and about ready to start this project for the sew in. I am using picks out of two jelly rolls for this project plus some additional yardage. So half the cutting was done already. You gotta love those pre cut fabrics. I did post about the "sew in" earlier in the week but in case you missed it...

http://handmadebyheidi.blogspot.com/ is having a Friday Night Sew In tonight. I won't be able to sew all night because I have a small house and hubby will be home around midnight and then I guess my sewing machine turns into a pumpkin or something but I will have to stop sewing at that point because he has to work Saturday as well. Check tomorrow's post to see how much I got done. Hopefully I will have a block or two to show. I am a bit slow at getting ready for this. I was going to do another project but changed my mind, as usual. Have a good night all!