Design Wall Monday - 8/18/14

This week was a week of stepping back and setting some priorities on my projects.  There are a lot of things calling for my attention right now, and some of them are pretty loud and demanding!

In two weeks I will begin the first of several classes for my pattern, Amish Beauties!

This class was accepted at Runaway Quilters Retreat in September this year, and I'll be teaching it to 20 students that week!  How exciting!!!  Locally, The Quilter's Path is also offering a couple of opportunities to take the class and make this quilt - Friday, August 29, and Saturday, August 30.  You can contact Marita at the shop for more details if you are interested.  The best news is that she is putting together KITS for this quilt, and her bright solids are amazing!!!!  Patterns will be available for sale on October 1, but those who are taking classes will of course receive their pattern at the class.

Needless to say, I want to be sure I have all my ducks in a row on this class, so a lot of paperwork is in process and taking up a lot of my time!  But it's a fun time and I'm enjoying it tremendously :)

On my Design Wall this week, I have my Blooming Nine Patch still, and I did mange to carve out some time for the joy of making 9-patches for it.

I finished up Color 8 this week and got halfway through Color 9, which is the Dark Purple and the last color.  These final strips quickly became units for the last of the 9-patches.....

Here are some units cut and ready for the final row of 9-patches, with a strip set all ready to cut more when needed....

I can't say enough about how fun this quilt design is proving to be for me!  I'm almost disappointed to be finishing up the last row of colors!  I've decided not to put a border on it, just finishing up with setting triangles and a binding in the dark purple.  Of course, there's still a lot of sewing on this top because all of those squares have to be sewn together to complete the top.

Then I saw this CUTE little Shark Pencil Case - it's a FREE pattern and tutorial on Patchwork Posse  - and knew immediately that I had to make one for Sara for school this year.  Doesn't every Marine-Biologist-in-Training need one of these???  I've even had a few other family requests for this cute little helper :)

I haven't started on the shark yet.  Of course, I had to wash all my GRAY fabric first :)  That worked great since I didn't have a color to wash for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge this month.

I even threw a few recent black purchases into the darker grays - isn't this just the cutest little black & white print????

So that's what's going on at A Quilt and A Prayer... how about you?  

What do you have on your Design Wall this week?  

Share with us at Judy's Patchwork Times!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Hello Yellow!

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge color for June is the audacious YELLOW!!!

"Audacious?" you ask?  Absolutely!  What other color unashamedly takes over quite the way yellow does?  And what other color is the color of the Sun, around which our entire universe revolves????  And what other color can make you smile, just by looking at it?  Yes, I think YELLOW knows that it is special, and it is audaciously smug about it too :*)  But you just have to love it, right?  It's like puppy dogs and kittens and babies - what's not to love????

But before we continue with our love for YELLOW, I have a little unfinished business to attend to....

Ta Da!!!  

Here is my GREEN Soul Searching block, finally finished!!!!

I was determined not to let this block slide - I've been really good about keeping up with my monthly blocks and I didn't want to fall short now!  I just love this GREEN one - such rich color!!!  And for once, I didn't have problems finding fabrics with interesting things going on :)

As soon as I had Soul Searching caught up, I happily dove into the YELLOWS and began washing them up so they could be ready for some serious playing!

It didn't take too terribly long to wash this color, considering I don't really have that many of them.  Which is a problem since I'm making my Happy Dance quilt in the Pink/Orange/Yellow colorway!  I'm finding that yellows are quite hard to find in something other than plain and boring.  However, I did run across these fun yellows while traveling a few weeks ago....

All washed but not yet ironed :*)

I found quite a lot of the yellow and black combination (top row) - so fun!!!  Don't you just love those glasses on the end of each stack on the right?  And those FUN bees?  They make me feel ready for summer!!!! 

I bought only quarter yards of these sweet prints.  I simply couldn't afford 1/2 yards of each at today's prices, and the shops did not cut fat quarters.  I think next time I'm in that situation, I may spring for at least a third yard.  Those quarter yards look so tiny!

I also picked up a few black-and-white prints - you can never have enough of those, right?  My favorite?

This fun monkey print - it makes me laugh!!!

(May camera makes some of the monkeys look stained black, but they are not :)

I haven't had time yet to begin with my usual RSC blocks for this month, but I've already begun to play with the new yellows, putting together the pieces for a Happy Dance block....

I've recently finished two more HD blocks....

This is going to be one bright and happy quilt!!!!

And remember the picture I showed you yesterday of my latest sock project?

I want to thank you all for your kind comments *blush*

And I've decided to name these my Happy Dance Socks!!!

I thought you might also like to see something I won the other day at Guild - it has YELLOW in it as well ...

A lovely mug and mug rug made by one of my favorite people in the whole world - Starr Howell!!!!  Can you see here that she even hand quilted around the flowers?  I'm not sure how I can be expected to actually EAT anything off of that lovely quilt!!!!!

Starr always makes everything so wonderful with her special touches!

And did you notice the beautiful green spatula in the above picture?

It came in a set as a gift from my lovely friend Lynn, who recently visited from Seattle!!!!

(They are not yellow - but lime green and aqua always win with me - every time!!!!)

While she was here, I loaned her one of my machines so she wouldn't have to bring hers on the airplane.  She was able to sew at retreat and then all the following week at her sister's house.  

And I was delighted to be able to help of course :*)

This week I hope to get my YELLOW Soul Searching block done.

But tomorrow will be more work in my sewing studio - if I have time I'll share some photos with you!

What will you be working on?

Check out all the fun projects in YELLOW at

SoScrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge

And see more Stash Enhancements at

Judy's Patchwork Times

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Bertie is in the House!

Before I show you the newest Bertie BOM, I just have to share with you the GORGEOUS cross-stitch piece my talented daughter made for me for Christmas.....

This project took her quite a while to work up - how's that for Slow-Stitching?  I had purchased the pattern (see photo below), fabric and flosses - and then they sat in my studio for ages waiting for me to find time to get to it.  Of course, it never happened.  I mean, when there are a million quilts in the world that I want to make, what's the chances I'm going to work on cross-stitching?  So when Christy - who loves to cross-stitch - had some time on her hands and was looking for a project to do, I passed it off to her and asked her to make it for me.  She started working on it last year, but she hadn't gone very far before it hit her that she could make it fit ME a lot better with a little tweaking.

Original colors.....

Peace, Love, Joy & Life Quilt Sampler
Picture from Cross Country Stitching magazine

Although the original is beautiful, Christy thought it would be even more beautiful in my colors, so she changed out the flosses to make it in Moonglow colors!!!  Black, purples, aquas - YUM!!!

Moonglow by Teresa Raleigh 2013

And then she took the redesign even further!  She designed new and more complicated designs for most of the blocks!!!  Oh my!  This proud mama is SO tickled with this sweet Christmas present :*)  Now I have to decide how I want to finish it.... Wall-hanging?  Pillow?  Needlework box cover?  I'm leaning toward mounting it on canvas as a piece of wall art, so it can hang in the bedroom where Moonglow lives :*)

So, now, on to my own Slow Stitching.....

I received my February kit for the Bertie's Year BOM a few days ago - how cute is this?????

 I am smitten with the sweet, shy - dare I say coquettish? - tilt to her head ♥♥♥

And I suppose in the bird world, these bleeding hearts serve the same purpose as mistletoe in ours?

January Bertie is almost done..... sorry - another night picture with a glare :(

All the hand stitchery is done except for the snowflakes.  I used the sharp tip of my needle to "draw" a line to stitch the center seam on the leaves.  I really like the shiny brightness of the threads - it gives it a little color punch :)

Then I used my favorite marking pencil, the Clover White Marking Pen to mark 1/4" marks on the seams where the white Fly Stitches outline the HST border....

I was having trouble keeping those stitches uniform without marking.  I love the way this pen's marks disappear when you iron the fabric, but with these stitches, the marks don't show anyway :)  This Fly Stitch actually took much longer than I imagined it would.  There was a definite learning curve - I kept making the stitches too fat in the beginning and had to pull them out several times.  And it took a lot of thread too.  And while I'm whining, let me say that I would have called this a chicken or turkey track stitch :)  This doesn't look like any fly I've ever met!

Now all I have left to do is sandwich it and lightly quilt it.  There is no mention of quilting in the instructions, and I'm not sure if that's because it won't need quilting or because they just took it for granted that I would??  At any rate, I've decided the little white snowflakes all over the center will probably be all the quilting that is needed.

The instructions also call for an interesting "false" binding and the envelope backing method.  I'll try to take good pictures and show more about how that is done next week.  Hopefully this little quilt will be hanging on my wall by then :*)

And guess what I just found last week while doing some cleaning in the studio????

Another Dinosaur UFO!!!  

This is a hand-stitch applique project from this 1992 Miniature Quilts magazine below .... you can see their finished project there in the middle.... of course mine is done in jewel-toned batiks ♥

I started it several years ago to practice my needleturn skills after Mary Sorenson came to our Guild.  I love the fact that each flower is made from a circle of hearts ♥  I got 3 flowers done, and apparently something more exciting must have come along and snared my attention - can you imagine that?  LOL!!!  I'm thinking to make some templates and finish it up using the starch method that I have come to prefer.  It would be a GREAT little carry-about handwork project!

Now for those of you who have hung around for all of this, I offer the reward of some 
Stash Enhancement!!!

I picked up these pieces at Little Blessings Quilt Shop in Crossville TN on my way home last week.....

LOVE that sewing fabric!!!   I told my husband I want a sewing machine like that!!!!!
And of course I'm always ready to add blacks, whites & grays to the stash ♥

I had been really good about not stopping at any of my favorite quilt shops on this trip, but I was bone tired and getting sleepy, so I had to stop for a bit.  (You know of course that the way home is about twice as far as the way to somewhere, right?)  And it just so happened that I was near the Little Blessings exit, so.... yes, I swear, all a coincidence my friends!  And that's my story, and I'm sticking to it :*D

And my acquisition of these luscious dots is all the fault of my friend Deb over at A Simple Life Quilts!  

She posted about these Spot On dots by Robert Kaufman on her blog - and she showed pictures!!!  Now how am I supposed to resist that?  I ask you?  Really?  Dots??????  And colorful, fun, happy Dots, at that!!!???  I jumped over to Hancocks of Paducah and pulled a few of these into my shopping basket lickety split!  And I have to confess, I'm glad I did too :*D  These are so beautiful and will enhance many of my projects going forward!  You'll be seeing these again soon my friends ♥

Linking up today at:

Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday 

Patchwork Times

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Slow Stitching, Stash Enhancement & NewFO's!

I finally got to play with Bertie!

I spent a great deal of time this week getting my sewing studio cleaned up and organized once again - it was a mess!!! Hubby was a huge help in suggesting innovative ways to organize everything and eliminate the clutter. Sometimes a big job really benefits from a fresh perspective!

My plan was to attack the January Bertie's Year BOM last week, but that didn't happen until this afternoon.  This is my December NewFO Challenge project, so I had to get busy!!!  Here is the block all sewn together and the applique pieces stitched down ...... don't these flannel fabrics look rich and so, so soft???  It looks a little plain without any embellishment, though, doesn't it?

Poor little Bertie - she thinks she's just a plain little brown bird .................

............ and she obviously would love to be so much more flashy and fabulous!  She wants to be a beautiful red cardinal!!!  (I'm really hoping that by the end of the year, she will have learned that she is beautiful just the way she is ☺)  I love her fearlessness and curiosity!  She's not a bit afraid of this cute little snow "ghost"...... I think she is trying to make friends with him!

Sunday will find me enjoying some hand stitching to apply the fun embellishments on this little wall-hanging so it can be ready to go up on my wall for January 2014.  You can see below the stitching that is called for - love all those little snowflakes randomly dotting the background ♥  And the buttons for "berries" were included in the pattern as well :*)

When I signed up for this BOM at Shabby Fabrics, I chose to receive the Presencia threads kit that goes with this series of little quilts.  What is it about shiny new spools of thread that make my heart sing?  Does that happen to any of you?

What a joy to finally sit at my machine once again and play with beautiful fabrics & design!!!

Once I'm done with Bertie for January, I'll move on to start preparing the applique pieces for the last blocks for Blue Collection.  They are all drawn out and templates made .....




Now, how would you like to see some Stash Enhancement?  
Here you go.......

I picked up these three fabrics for backings at Connecting Threads' Year-End sale - wow!!!  They have a lot of fabrics still on sale for 40% and 50% off, so check them out if you're looking for nice fabric at a great price.  I got such a great deal, I'm still smiling!!!!

This batik was one I just couldn't resist!  I have several quilts in progress that could be lucky enough to have this spectacular explosion of colorful daisies for the backing.... I will have to decide when the right one is finished.  I also got enough yardage to use this for borders on a quilt too.... just in case :*)  The colors aren't quite true here - there's actually a touch of lime green too - but close enough.

Next, these beautiful & colorful gilt-etched ornaments are for the backing for my Jovial quilt.  It's on my list of UFO's to complete this year so I'll have it for Christmas next year :*)

This is what the Jovial quilt looks like - mine will have lots more variety of color though :)  Several friends joined in together and swapped fabrics, so we have lots of wonderful fabrics for this fun quilt!  This is a free 3-D pattern - you can click on the pattern name above to go to the link.

Photo courtesy of Moda

And this wonderful Blue Snowflake batik was back-ordered when I first placed my order, so I really didn't expect to receive it.  That really bummed me out because it is PERFECT for Winter Wonderland!!!  I received the first two fabrics and an invoice for them, so I figured this one had sold out early and forgot about it.  Then a few days ago, I got a notice that my "order had shipped" from Connecting Threads - and it was this fabric - whoohoo!!!  I just love it!!!  Notice the touch of purple in there..... oh, it makes me happy!

Backings are always the part that I hate spending so much money on.  You know how it goes.... you've spent a small fortune already on the beautiful fabrics for the front of the quilt, and then you have to dish out big bucks for enough fabric to do the backing.  I honestly don't like making scrappy backings unless the quilt itself calls for it.  When I'm done with the front, I'm DONE, you know what I mean?  I don't want to spend hours on getting the back ready.  So I'm always a happy girl when I can find backing fabrics at dirt cheap prices!!!

We have family coming later this week and then I'm planning to scoot on over to North Carolina to get some cuddle time in with Mr. Cooper, so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to sew this week.  I do have one sew date scheduled, so at least I'm assured some time with my machine this week :*)

I also wanted to share one last look at Christmas 2013......

Here are a couple of mini-pineapple ornaments made and gifted to me by my sweet friend, Janet O, who blogs at Rogue Quilter ..... aren't they just adorable?????  Janet knows I love color and batiks :*)  I feel special and honored every time I spy one of these on the tree.  Of course, they will not be put away with the other ornaments!  They hang in my sewing room the rest of the year.  I have a small ornament stand that they adorn quite beautifully ♥

One of my favorite Christmas traditions is to sit and enjoy the tree once it is decorated.  I love to look at each ornament, remembering where it came from - each one has a history and is truly special to me.  These new works of art really added a sparkle to our little tree this year :*)

And speaking of sparkle - what sparkles more brightly than gold????  I won these amazing brass quilt-block ornaments from a giveaway hosted by Barbara at Cat Patches!!!

I couldn't wait to get them on the tree when they arrived!  You could hear me holler a mile away when I got the news that I had won :*D  Thanks again Barbara - they are unique and I just love them!!!!  I'm thinking these will also stay in my sewing room after the tree comes down ♥  I can't imagine them sitting in a dusty old box for 11 months out of the year, can you?

Wishing all my blog friends Peace and fun quilty things 

that make you smile this coming year!!!

I'll be linking up with the following fun Linky Parties - come and check them out!

Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday

Judy's Patchwork Times Stash Report
Cat Patches 2013 NewFO Challenge
Freemotion by the River's Linky Party

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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A Little Slow Stitching and Even Some Stash Enhancement :)

I can't believe it is December already!!!!  However, I suppose I've been in the "winter" mood, because I happily picked up several new tree ornaments during our travels last week between Nashville and Charlotte :*)  I've also done a little more stitching on my current Winter Wonderland block....

The tree is now done - those spindly tips were pretty darn fiddly! - and all that remains to finish up this block are the birds and snowflakes -  woohoo!!!

I was a VERY GOOD girl this past week, not even stepping foot in Mary Jos!  I know - I deserve a medal, right????  But when my husband offered to stop in Crossville for a quick rest on the way home, not one word of refusal was heard to pass my lips :*)  Little Blessings Quilt Shop is one of my favorite shops!  They have such yummy BLUE fabrics there, along with much, much more! :*)  And that is where I found these perfect fabrics for this quilt.......

It even says "Winter Wonderland"!!!!  And "Snowman", "Sledding", "Flurries" ..... of course, I had to have it for this quilt, although I really don't know how it will fit in just yet.  I think I will want my main border to be darker, but perhaps an inner border?  It would have been awesome for a backing, but there wasn't enough on the bolt.  Hmmm..... I wonder if I searched for it online...  I could get in lots of trouble here!!!

I also picked up these marvelous stripes to go with it.

Only one of these will make it to the quilt, but right now I can't decide which one works with it best.  It will probably come down to much later when I am actually doing the piecework for the quilt.

I couldn't resist a few other stash enhancers as well....

Plaids can be SO hard to find, and of course these bright oranges and hot pinks and yellows caught my eye!

And these two were in the childrens' prints, but I think they have a definite modern appeal and will make great stash additions!

I'm adding every cute gray I can find to my stash -
- and of course a little aqua had to sneak in the bag too ;*)

As for the ornaments I purchased?  Here are a couple I picked up at Cracker Barrel which I thought you might find fun.....

Snowmen are always a favorite of mine -
- and this one has yarn balls for a body and knitting needles for arms!!!
How cute is that I ask you?????
..... not to mention that cute little buttonhole-stitched heart.
Oh yes, there was never a doubt he was coming home with  me!!!

And how could I resist this wonderful ornament?
This adorable little sewing machine reminds me of my new Featherweight .....
..... maybe I'll paint it red?  Hmmmm......
It's totally cute, but it is really, really heavy!

And this isn't an ornament, but rather a small knick-knack....

Jim Shore!!!  A Cardinal!!!  On Sale!!!
I would say my friend Joanne is going to be SO jealous, but I imagine she already has this little treasure :*)

Hopefully it is not too very cold where you are, but I can assure you that it is plenty cold here in Nashville my friends!!!  December is a reality here by more than just turning the last page on the calendar!  Before we know it, Christmas will be here; our little Cooper will be born; and then the New Year will be upon us once again!!!!  I plan to take time to enjoy the season rather than just complain about the cold like I usually do....  This is the (Season) that the Lord has made, and I will rejoice and be glad in it!  I hope you will too :*)

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Linking up with:
Kathy's Quilts - Slow Sunday Stitching
Patchwork Times - Stash Enhancement