WIP Wednesday

It has been a busy week here, seems that has become the norm. Not always a bad thing, just saying..
Let's see what I have to show for the week

Simply Solids bee block:

 

This is for Lisa and is actually the March block-- yea! I am ahead of schedule ;) gotta take that where we can get it, seems many times we are chasing deadlines.
 

This is the Tilt a Whirl pattern and it is paper pieced. Went together easily and would be a good pattern for anyone just starting out. You can find the tutorial here. I love the colors Lisa chose!

 

Do.Good.Stitches. Nurture Circle

Wonky Stars in different sizes. These have a twist-- the block is trimmed at an angle so they are not straight up/down, centered. Makes them a bit more fun! You can find the tutorial from I'm Feeling Crafty here.

 

I have also completed my February Paper Pieced block for Feb Sugar Block Club with Amy Gibson over at Stitchery Dickery Dock. I am doing these blocks in my Flea Market Fancy stash that I had been saving for just the right project! I am also adding solids in with each block and using grey as the background or accent to tie it all together. I haven't been able to get a pic yet but will get one up soon.

Ongoing:

 

 1. Finish Baby quilt-- Ready to baste and quilt

2. Con't work on Modern Medallion- Handstitched Class-- I have made progress here, the dogwood blossom is complete and the first 3 borders are on. Next up is ALOT of handwork (like 2 wks worth according to the syllabus). So I am thinking of piecing the next round of borders and blocks and coming back to the handstitching... not sure yet have to read and see if this would work.

 

3. Paper Piecing Stars BOM with Don't Call Me Betsy - Printed patterns and chose fabric - ready to start - I am finding the paper piecing a bit intimidating, I just need reprogram my brain and sit down and do it!! Jan and Feb blocks to do.--Ok back in the swing of Paper Piecing - hope to get these done in the next week or two

 4. Sew South - this is coming up fast March 21-24. There is some prep work for this as in   cutting fabric for a duffle bag, purchasing fabric for PJ bottoms and some sewing projects for swapping, this will move to the top of the list in March! If you are interested Jennifer had one person who could not make it and her ticket is/was for sale as of 2/25

Check out the post here: http://ellisonlane.blogspot.com/ (2/25/13 post)

and last but not least a secret project for a fun event coming up next month! Can't wait until I can share that with you! Lots of fun and prizes too!

Linking up to Lee over at Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday!

Happy Stitching!
Ginny

Progress!

Some weeks it seems progress is hard to come by...this was one of those weeks, busy with work, friends and other committments! So here is the progress this week so far--

Work on my Modern Medallion with Rachel over at Stitched In Color. I love this Dogwood center and the handstitching. I did swap colors for my two borders. I originally planned to use a neutral, sand/stone color -possibly the second border fabric for the first but something spoke to me today about that yellow so I swapped them. Not sure I like it.... my thought was the next step where the white is- is all hand stitching with many different colors of pearle cotton and I thought the yellow would highlight that stitching. Next after the stone colored border there will be another border of multiple colored bright solid color squares. I guess I was thinking the stone color would help contrast with these squares..... don't know, have to see when I get there. I do wish the yellow was a lighter, less saturated in color...

 

but you know....maybe it's just because I have been up close and personal with it today....have you been there? Did you like your work better the next day? In the end did it all work out?  Hope so!

Well off to the grocery store - celebrating my oldest son's birthday tomorrow and he has requested Lasagna!  Hopefully a bit of time later (after laundry) to work on some Bee blocks! Whew, I really need to win the Lottery so I can have someone clean and do laundry LOL!

 I guess it would help if I actually played the Lottery!

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

Triple Zip Along!

 Or should it be Clash of the Titans?

 

WIP Wednesday

Here it is Wednesday already! And that means it is WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced with Lee.

How has your week been? Productive? Mine has been! Let's take a look--

THE  List:

1. Finish Baby quilt-- Ready to baste and quilt. (She said she didn't need it for another couple of weeks so it got bumped a bit down the list) 

2. Do. Good.Stitches Nurture Circle January Block-due end of Jan Jan block complete and Feb ready to start

 January Block

3. Con't work on Modern Medallion- Handstitched Class-- Wow! I love this project and fabric and I want it to be perfect!  Sometimes that also makes me hesitate because I don't want to screw it up! But hey, if you don't try you never learn! Reverse Applique dogwood cut out and ready to stitch. 

4. Modern Stash Bee Blocks for January (2)- due 2/15  January blocks are complete and so are Feb! Yea!

January Blocks

and February blocks:

5.Sugar Block BOM with StitcheryDiceryDock for January- due end of Jan Jan complete! on to Feb block

6.Paper Piecing Stars BOM with Don't Call Me Betsy - Printed patterns and chose fabric - ready to start - I am finding the paper piecing a bit intimidating, I just need reprogram my  brain and sit down and do it!! (I have done it before - a looong time ago- and love the results!) Jan and Feb blocks to do.

7. Binding on Batik Flowers quilt for A Lovely Year of Finishes- due end of Jan-- started the binding but didn't get it finished in time for January prizes. Will move it to Feb for a finish.

8. The Triple Zip Along with Debbie over on Flickr- this is going to be so Fun- it runs Jan 28 - Friday 2/15 -- Fabric and lining Cut out ready to stitch up on Friday.

9. Finish my House Block for the Sew South group quilt for the Ronald McDonald House in Charlotte NC-- such a fun and worthwhile project! It is going to be sew awesome!

Wonky House Block for Sew South Quilt

10. Solids Bee- Feb block for Erin - started, was on a roll until I accidently cut a piece of material wrong, so I am waiting on the replacement strip-- how embarrassing! You know stuff just happens sometimes!

 March block fabrics and pattern received.
11. Swaps: Lizzy House Pearl Bracelets, Low Volume II, and Text Me a Text FQ -- all mailed

and the best news this week so far: I won a gift certificate from Christa Quilts! She gives a $10 gift certificate away each week to one of her newsletter subscribers! I was so surprised! I have purchased fabric from Christa along with other quilting notions. She has a variety of fabric and precuts and runs daily and weekly specials. I must admit my favorite service is that she ships for free (with in the US) with no minimum order and she ships FAST! Stop by and see her store here and sign up for her newsletter for your chance to win. 

Thanks for stopping by! Happy Stitching!
Ginny

Log Cabins and a Free E Book!

Hi everyone! Hope your week is off to a great start! Lots going on here but more on that tomorrow :)

How about a FREE e book? I was asked to review Log Cabin Quilts by Fons and Porter awhile back and unfortunately life got in the way! I must admit I just had a chance to read through it last week. If you have been quilting for any amount of time you probably recognize the Fons and Porter brand. They are giants in the quilting world and have many books, a magazine and even a TV show along with a line of quilting notions. Check the Fons and Porter website out here. On to the review:

There are a ton of great layouts and tips in this book. There are pics to go with each detailed pattern along with some quilting suggestions The log cabin can be an easy to intermediate pattern depending upon the layout you use- Log Cabin, Courthouse Steps, or Woven are some of the choices. Woven is shown in solids in the book. 

The block has many different looks with colors (light/dark) and fabric (traditional vs modern) placement  making a huge difference in the final outcome. This book does demonstrate more traditional fabrics but after all isn't that what quilting is all about? Taking a great pattern and making your own interpretation of it? These patterns are great for scrappy quilts and solids alike. 

Here is the link to your free e-book.  Or here is the address which you can cut and paste in your browser:  www.fonsandporter.com/landing/free-log-cabin-quilt-patterns  

It makes a nice addition to any quilting library!

Happy Stitching!

Ginny

 

Meet Chickie and More Bee Blocks

I would like to introduce you to my new friend Chickie!

Isn't she cute! Yes, she is a kitchen timer... errr, a sewing timer in my world.

You see I have been thinking about sewing time, and I know that I am not the only person that has been thinking about this. I have read quite a few blogs recently where this topic came up at least briefly. I have read many times how you should devote at least 30 minutes a day to sewing. That's 30min/day = 4.5 hours/wk= 14 hours/month=168 hours/yr. Now that may be alot to you or not so much, just depends on what your projects are and what other committments are front and center in your life. 

I find I do sew that much - and more, but usually in a chunk of time, like one long session on the weekend. So my thought is to try out the 30 minutes per day and see if it is more productive, there is nothing that says you have to stop at 30 minutes. But if you are pressed for time 30 minutes is not that long - you can cut a block out, sometimes you can even sew a block up. So that is where Chickie comes in. She is going to monitor that 30 minutes for me and let me know when it is up, and then I can decide if I am going to continue on or not. 

My hope is this will make me more consistent and will allow me to finish more, which in turn makes it much more exciting and enjoyable. I'll let you know how it goes! Hey if it works, maybe I can use her to get my daily exercise in too!

The 4th quarter of the 3x6 Mini Bee is now over and I wanted to show you the blocks I received all together! The 6 blocks above are from Hive 13 which was a sampler hive--aren't they gorgeous! I love them! My colors were Raspberry, Aqua, Lime and white/grey. They are going to make a great quilt! The 6 blocks below are from Hive 2 which was a star hive. I used the same color pallette and look at all these great blocks! I am always amazed at all the different blocks/styles! Please forgive the awful lighting--so hard to get great pictures inside in the evening, during winter. The lighting really messes with the colors --more yellow, more purple vs lime and raspberry.

When you add in the two tester blocks I made shown below, there are 14 blocks, pretty good begining. I am joining one more quarter, and signed up for another Sampler Hive. That will give me a total of 20 blocks for the quilt, a good size to work with.

Hope you are have a great week! Happy stiching!
Ginny

Text Me A Text FQ Swap

                             

 Just a quick shout out for Plum Patchwork's Text Me A Text FQ Swap

Do you love text prints and would like a little variety? Well this is the place!  You can send in as many FQ's as you like and receive back the same amount but different fabrics.(May be some dup's depending on how many you send and what get's sent in the pool)

Probably the minimum to send given the US postage is 5 to make it worthwhile. 16 FQ's will fit into a US Flat Rate Envelope and you can use a legal size Flat Rate Envelope to fit a few more in for the same price! (New to me -just found that out!) International participants are welcome but ck the discussion re: postage -- Deadline to mail is 2/15/13.

So stop by on Flickr and get your Text on!  Just click here for the link! And spread the word! The more variety the better!  Have a great day!
Ginny