Monday, October 24, 2016

Post Wedding Quilting

It's been three weeks since our daughter's wedding, and I'm just now getting back into the swing of things. It didn't help that I was drawn back into the job I retired from last May. But that's another story.

My story right now is that I am super pleased at the entire wedding week. We got them married, everyone had a great time, and we have excellent memories to carry us forward. How can you beat that? 


This is a photo of my immediate family - my son and his girlfriend on the left, my husband, me, and then Jessica and Charlie, the beautiful/handsome couple. They were married in the mountains north of here on October 1, an iffy time of year at the 7,000-foot elevation. But everything worked out.

So, I am beginning to take customer quilts again, and work on my own things a little bit. In fact, I got a quilt top all pieced together this week! I cut out the blocks and worked a little at a time sewing them up as I was recovering from my knee replacement this past March. I look forward to quilting it up into a real quilt soon!



The lighting is not so great on this, but I took the pattern off a little video tutorial from Missouri Star Quilts. Using a jelly roll of Kate Spain's Canyon fabrics, I'm partial to the way it turned out. I had to be careful laying it out, though, because those bright magenta fabrics really 'pop' and I swear I rearranged them about a zillion times before I simply threw in the hat and said, "That's fine." Do you ever do that? Geez.



We are experiencing the collision of Fall with Winter in my part of the state.  The trees are absolutely gorgeous this year, but we have a good amount of snow in the high country (like where the wedding was held, lol!).  I'm winterizing the gardens and yard, I've organized my sewing studio, and I am READY to bring on winter. After all, what a great time for sewing and quilting!

Quilting with a smile,
Barb

Linking up with:
Linky Tuesday 
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop!

Thursday, September 22, 2016

My Daughter Is Getting Married Soon

My daughter is getting married soon. Raise your hand if you've been in my shoes!

We have 8 days to go, and what a ride it has been. I knew to plan for the unexpected, but didn't plan on something weird happening every day for the full month before hand. Ah, well, it all works out in the end. Right? Tell me I'm right!!!

Here's my daughter at her bridal shower. This isn't a very quilty post, but you will see quilts and table runners in the photo. They are such a part of my life, how could they not be in the photo?


Her fiance arrives Friday, and relatives start arriving Saturday. His family will all be here Tuesday, with the wedding being Saturday. I'm thinking I need to be done with everything by Friday. This is all making me tired, but in a good way.

Thanks for letting me share with you, just a little bit, before all the flurry of activity begins. My days will be quite boring once this wedding goes down in the history books. But right now, a day in my sewing room sounds awfully nice!

Quilting with a smile,
Barb

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

My New Favoritist Quilt




Okay, so that title isn't grammatically correct, but this it is my most favorite quilt to date. It was simple, easy, and the pattern lets the fabrics speak for themselves. And I'm going to keep this just for me!


This is one of the projects that I started in the quest to Make All The Quilts That I've Already Bought Fabric and Patterns For.  I'm not sure I'm the only one, but I seem to have a bit of a problem that is akin to people over-filling their plates - my eyes are bigger than my stomach is!  When I find a really good deal on fabric, or kits, or patterns, my mind races to the possibilities. So I buy it, and then it sits. And sits. And sits. Sometimes for a good long time.


This quilt sat for two years. Then it moved out of hiding to sit on my cutting table, uncut fabric and pattern, and there it sat for, oh, about 9 months.

Auditioning thread - I chose a teal Magnifico, a #40 thread by Superior Threads. I used an off-white in the white blocks.


This was the first project that I started after my retirement this spring. I had been drooling over the teal and dark gray and yellow for so many months, that I just had to get it sewn up! And once I got the top sewn, the quilting went rather quickly.



Here's a photo of the back. The pattern was a little odd to follow (I would have written it much differently), and so I ended up with lots of chopped off pieces. I turned these into a random patchwork, added my original backing fabric and a splash of the yellow. I do like the way the back turned out, too.



Oh - when it came to quilting, I had aspired to do some inventive FMQ. I started on the upper right hand corner with a design I drew that resembled the paisley fabric.  I didn't trace it on the fabric, I just eye-balled the design as I was quilting. However, it merely blended away into the fabric. SO not worthy to repeat that process throughout the quilt, so I'm calling that right-hand corner my Signature Block because I really didn't want to rip it out. The ultimate design element.  End of that story!




I did enjoy sitting in the evenings hand-stitching the binding down. Now this fun lap quilt is thrown over the back of our couch, and I look forward to snuggling in it this winter.

But before winter gets here, I snapped a photo of some violets that were blooming among the strawberry plants.  The purple and hint of yellow looked so fresh against the green, that I almost thought it was spring!



So, one project down. On to the next. Hmmmm, I wonder what that will be?

Quilting with a smile,
Barb

Linking up with:
Linky Tuesday
Sew Cute Tuesday
TGIFF
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop
Show Off Saturday
Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday

Wednesday, August 31, 2016

It's Time!

I have missed my little blog spot, here in the Quilting Universe! I believe it's high time to get back to putting words to paper and sharing a little bit of my corner of the world with you!



2016 has been quite a year for me. First, a total knee replacement in March. Then, after 17 years, my retirement from my Day Job and training of my replacement, transitioning from Working My Day Job at Home to just quilting (pure joy!), and all along the way, working with my daughter plan her wedding which is coming up October 1, which if any of you have experienced this, it has potential to make blood pressure go up!

Whew! Makes me tired just writing about all that.  But in retrospect, even though I've had some problems with the knee replacement recovery, it has been a good year so far!



I'm spending most of my time in my sewing studio, which is a pure joy for me! These photos are a sampling of what I've been up to this summer.

I've even had time to rearrangement my thread storage - how awesome is that!



So, even though I am beyond busy throughout September, I want to make my blog a regular part of my quilting life again. Join me, if you will, as I love to have company along for the journey!


Quilting with a smile,


Barb

Linking up with:
Quilt Fabrication Midweek Makers
Linky Tuesday
Needle and Thread Thursday
Let's Bee Social
TGIFF 
Can I Get A Whoop Whoop 

Wednesday, March 9, 2016

Nighttime Blossoms Quilt Finished!

Are you motivated by deadlines? I know I am. Big time! I have a knee replacement surgery coming up next week, so I have been busy around the house, and at my work, trying to take care of projects that I don't want to think about when I'm recovering. You know, like the dust on top of the refrigerator, or the recycling bins overflowing, or the sack of goods that needs to be taken to the thrift shop, or several of my quilting projects that have had to take a backseat to my daily life!

This is one of the more fun projects I have worked on in quite a while. The pattern is Nighttime Blossoms by Cynthia Brunz Designs. It was featured in Fons & Porter's Easy Quilts' Fall 2015 edition.




This was a fairly fast, fun and easy quilt to put together!  I used a layer cake of Amy Butler's True Colors and some dark navy blue Kona for the background. I love the way the white centers and diamonds really pop against that background.


I liked the pink and green patterned design in the center of the photo above, so much so that I made the backing entirely of that fabric.


I followed Cynthia's quilting with spirals in the navy background and wavy lines radiating through the blossoms. I left the white alone so it would pop!


This was such a great pattern to use for fat quarters or your stash. Each fabric is distinctive in its own right, so it is showcased in each blossom.

I am tickled to have this finished. I began stitching it together at our guild's retreat in October, and now am pleased to have it all quilted and bound. Makes me happy looking at it, and it will be a great quilt to snuggle in. 

Quilting with a smile,
Barb

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday,  Sew Cute Tuesday Linky Tuesday

Friday, January 1, 2016

ALYOF 2015 Comes to an End

A funny thing happens over the course of a year. You work on projects, and they're given away, or put to use, or sold, or stashed in a closet. And you forget how many you've actually completed.

After making this collage for the finale of A Lovely Year of Finishes, I was delighted to revisit some of these quilts I've made this year. And, putting them into a collage, it looks pretty sweet!


I only completed 6 months worth of goals this year, but I'm okay with that. It's probably five more than I would have completed without the Goal Setting motivation of ALYOF. I want to thank Melissa and Shanna for sponsoring this the past three years - THANK YOU!  We look forward to seeing what else you fine ladies might have up your sleeves.

Here are the links to my finishes:
January:  Goal and Finish
February:  Goal and Finish
April:  Goal and Finish
June:  Goal and Finish
July:  Goal and Finish
October: Goal and Finish

Well, shoot - guess I didn't link up my April finish.  But I completed it anyway. Oh, well, time always seems to get in the way. I'm still glad that I got six goals completed so I could work on other projects. It's all good!

Happy New Year to everyone, and thanks again, Melissa and Shanna, for all your efforts.

Quilting with a smile,
Barb


Remembering All The Little Things

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