Montana state mini - a finish Friday

Another state mini finished!  This one is for the lovely state of Montana (where I very much desire to visit one day) and is supposed to depict Lake McDonald, known for its colorful rocks and pebbles.  I barely did it justice.  Just Google "Lake McDonald, Montana" and see what I mean.

I used tulle for the first time in the making of this mini.  I used it in layers to get the effect of depth of water while preserving a bit of reflection of the mountain.  I admit that tulle does make quilting over fused (or glued in the case of the rocks) bits much easier; however, unpicking any quilting on tulle is very difficult.  It is almost impossible to pick your stitches without getting a few of the tulle fibers cut too.

Only Louisiana and New York left to go.  I will have to tackle them after my Mom-cation.


Thanks for reading today,

Jen


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Red Hexies - Building Blocks Tuesday

My red hexy project is progressing.  I've got them all basted and in rows, now what?  Oh yeah, more handwork to come.  How lucky that I should have an opportunity with the long weekend approaching.

I've actually been counting the hours until school starts tomorrow.  While it has truly been a great summer, jam packed with fun family time (and a 6 state tour), I am ready to return to a more structured schedule.  It is ironic that I will only have one day of that schedule before I jump on a plane and head off to Northern Michigan for a fun and relaxing Mom-cation.  Luckily, that structured schedule (and also the kids) will be waiting on me when I return on Tuesday.  There is hope that whatever sanity I regain during my trip, might linger for a while!

What blocks have you working on?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading!

Jen

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Another Tinker Tote - a finish Friday

I've made another Tinker Tote from the Craftsy class,  "Quilt-As-You-Go: Patchwork Bags with Tara Rebman" . It seems these fun little totes are becoming my "go-to" handmade gift this year.  This one is for Arianna, who is visiting from Italy.

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links

It takes me about 3 days to make one of these bags.  Usually around the time I making the bias binding, I start thinking about how I probably could have made a simple quilt in the same amount of time.

But, since Arianna will likely not have room for an entire quilt in her luggage anyway, I am happy I made her this bag instead.

Her favorite color is blue.  I had to add in some aqua scraps to fill out the bag.  I hope they make it "interesting" and not just "weird".

If you want to make your own Tinker Tote (cough, Patti), I highly recommend  "Quilt-As-You-Go: Patchwork Bags with Tara Rebman" - I reviewed the class HERE.   I also talk about the adjustments I made to the pattern for my 2nd bag  HERE.

Thanks for reading today,

Jen


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Quilt Design a Day - day one - Building Blocks Tuesday

OK, so this isn't really a block today, but I don't have any new blocks to share today.  Instead I want to share a new challenge I joined over the weekend.  It's called Quilt Design a Day (QDAD), and it was created by the lovely Anne of Play Crafts.  She recently did a webinar for the Modern Quilt Guild on how to find your creative process, and what she learned through her experience challenging herself to design a quilt a day.  "QDAD" is a Facebook group, filled with other people who have taken on the challenge too, and is a wonderful community of encouraging people.   We use one of the palettes created by Design Seed for the day, and just go from there.  This is the design I created using the Harvest Hues from yesterday.  I haven't finished today's design yet, but I already enjoy the process.  Hopefully, this challenge will help me with one of my other goals for the year - learning EQ7.  I'm only a 1/4 of the way through my tutorial book, but this challenge should help me put into practice some of the things I have learned.

If you are a member of the Modern Quilt Guild and missed Anne's webinar, I highly recommend watching it (it is available on the Community page of the main MQG member website).  If you aren't a member, Anne has plenty of posts about QDAD on her blog, including her fabulous designs, and anyone is welcome to join the group.  Even if you can't design every day, it is a fun process.

What blocks have you working on?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading!

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Washington DC mini - a finish Friday

If you've been following me for a while, you have seen versions of this block before.

I made two of these Washington Memorial blocks during the Star of Africa bee, one for May, and one for Sana.  It only felt fitting that I make one more for my guild's "Across America" challenge for their upcoming quilt show in September.  This time to speed up the process a bit, I used raw-edge applique AND the quilt-as-you-go method.  I'm not sure if I like the results better or not.

Thanks for reading today,

Jen


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Paper Pieced Houses of San Francisco - Building Blocks Tuesday

I'm showing off another block that I made previously for the Star of Africa bee.  This one was inspired by the Painted Ladies of San Francisco.  I only wish I knew then what I know now about how to stabilize the embroidery of the bridge better.  Ah well, we learn from our mistakes.

I've been doing lots of sewing lately, but just don't have any new blocks I can share.  I've been working furiously on my next mini and would have finished it today; however, we have relatives in town and are headed to Disneyland this morning.  Perhaps, I will find a little time tomorrow.  Fingers crossed.

What blocks have you working on?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading!

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Massachusetts mini - a finish Friday

I hope it is not to late to post a finish for Finish Friday!

I finished up quilting this mini for a guild challenge really late last night, but I didn't get the binding on until today.  The guild I belong to up in the mountains is having their annual outdoor quilt walk coming up on September 27th in Blue Jay, CA.  The theme this year is "Across America" and each member was asked to pick a state and make a mini to represent it.  I actually have several more states to complete, but Massachusetts was the first one I tackled.  It was inspired by a travel poster I saw for Martha's Vineyard.

It as the first time I tried that McTavish-like design in the sky.  I don't think I have it down quite yet.  Luckily, I have 4 more minis to complete, so I might get some more practice.

Thanks for reading today,

Jen


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Huge Craftsy Sale - going on now

I am a lazy affiliate.  I don't always tell you about every little sale Craftsy has going on, but this one is HUGE!  Every class is on sale.  Yep, every one!  Even the new ones.  Even the ones you've be been waiting to go on sale.  Check it out.

August Big Course Sale at Craftsy!
Run Time: Thursday, 8/7 thru Monday 8/11 at 11:59PM MT
Details: Save up to 50% off ALL online classes
Click this Link:
Save 50% off ALL online classes!

**This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links


I didn't realize that they released several new classes recently.  There is one from Elizabeth Dackson of Don't Call me Betsy, there is an applique class from Amanda Murphy that looks good too.  And if you are thinking that you couldn't possibly need another quilting class, they've added a bunch of classes in the cooking, art, and other craft categories.  And, I was interested to see that they even have some woodworking classes - perhaps your man might enjoy a class (that is, if he is handier than my man).  And best of all, they are all on sale!

Yippee!

Jen

I am not with it - Building Blocks Tuesday

My August We Bee With It bee blocks are done.  Sara requested these in lime, raspberry, black, and white.   Raspberry is not a color I have a lot of, but I managed to pull a couple that look close to put these blocks together.

These were a nice distraction from what I am supposed to be working on (5 minis for my guild).  It's amazing how when you are procrastinating all kinds of stuff gets organized, cleaned, etc.  I haven't this much scrubbing of stuff in a while.  Alas, tomorrow I will need to get to work.

What blocks have you working on?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading!

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up