Saturday, September 21, 2013

Scattered?

Last Sunday we had the dedication for the quilts my friend Sandy and I made for the boys' home a couple in our church is starting.  Sandy pieced four of the quilts and I pieced the other three and quilted all of them. No clue what happened to the pictures, but each and every one of them is blurry.  Bummer.  But you can at least get an idea.  They were all held up and admired and then everyone came up and laid hands on them and prayed over them.  We believe they will be a blessing. 

There is a Bible verse about the rock you roll on someone else coming back and rolling on you.  We are seeing the demonstration of that every day here.  Remember when Lady was such a rambunctious little pup?  (As if she isn't still!) Well, now Miss Dinah is giving to Lady what Lady gave to everyone else.  Here you see she discovered what a wonderful and amusing toy Lady's tail is.

Of course she is also now trying to take over Lady's job of "quilt helper".  It is interesting, to say the least, to get a binding sewn on a big quilt around here.

This churn dash is finally finished except for adding a label.  It will go to long time friends of ours in ministry.  I really like this one.  

I backed it with this pretty Rajasthan fabric from Jinny Beyer .  There was enough left to make the binding from that same fabric.

I have rows sewn together for another child's quilt.  Just need to get those rows sewn together and bordered and the quilting can begin.

I've also been working on these blocks, which are a little bit of everything - orphan blocks, experiments, you-name-it.

I've been going round the blocks above using some of this hoard of one-inch and one-and-a-half-inch strips.  Whenever I cut fabric, I usually finish by cutting all that's left into strips closest to a usable size.  These bins (yes, they are ice cream buckets) are just a small part of the leftovers I use in various projects.  It does help to have this much already cut and ready to go.

Then, while cruising around in blogland last night, I ran across this post and decided I needed to make some Ten Minute Blocks. I had some 6 1/2 inch squares I had cut with the Go! cutter a while back in my never-ending efforts to use my fabric stash effectively, so I used those and completed 12 blocks.  Just need to get these bordered and this one will also be ready to quilt.

Isn't it amazing how much you can get done just muddling along?

We had a LOT of rain yesterday and more today.  No flooding here, thank God, but still lots of much-needed rain.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend, full of things you enjoy and people you love!

Hugs and kisses,

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Another Quilts Beyond Borders Made by Sandy

This is another of the QBB quilts made by my friend Sandy.  I think our count is up to nine now!  We need to get these delivered soon.  As you can see above, Esmeralda has already inspected and approved this quilt. ;)

What?  Chickens don't inspect and approve your quilts?  



Sandy used some more of this cute hippo fabric from Ikea for the backing, and don't you love the binding stripes!  Altogether a happy quilt.  Some child will love it!


There is not a whole lot growing out in the back yard right now.  The Summer's heat took its toll.  

I hope you're having a great weekend and lots of fun where you are!

Hugs and kisses,

Tuesday, September 10, 2013

This is the latest in the Quilts Beyond Borders.  There are some really cute jungle-type fabrics in here that I think a child would love.  I need to move on to other projects, but it's just so much fun to make these small-ish quilts!  I had a limited amount of these blocks, so made it big enough with added borders.  There is a row of piano key blocks for one of the borders.  I looked and looked for the perfect green for the outer border and ended up with Kaffe Fassett's "Plink".   (Of course then I had to put up all the other fabrics I had pulled out of the stash!)

Here is the backing.  I sort of continued the jungle theme here.

I had some leftover half square triangles that I had trimmed from blocks in this quilt.  So, I squared them up and put them in two lines along each side in one of the borders.  Actually, some of the blocks are also leftovers from that same quilt.  I found that I had more of the fabric, so cut it into squares and made it work. Love that!  I do hate waste.

And this is Dinah.  She came home with us on Sunday.  A lady at our church had kittens and Miss Ru decided it was time for her to have a new kitten.  This is one super cute little girl.  She is not taking any nonsense from any of the dogs and has Ruthie completely in her little tiny paws!  So far Chloe is ignoring her presence, but I don't foresee any problems there either.

I can feel Autumn trying to ease itself into our neighborhood.  I just wish it would get here!  I'm tired of the heat of Summer and ready to go outside and play again.  In Houston, we hibernate in the Summer.

I do hope you are having a wonderful week and finding plenty to keep you busy and make you happy!

Hugs and kisses,

Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Quilt by Phyllis for Quilts Beyond Borders

My friend Phyllis made this quilt for our joint project.

There are so many happy fabrics in it.

Even the smallest little glimpse of sock monkeys just makes me smile.

Here's a look at the backing.  It goes together well, doesn't it?

 
I quilted this one with circles.  I saw a video using this inside circle template
somewhere, can't exactly remember where, but I decided to order one and give it a try.  The inside diameter of this circle template is 3 1/2", which makes a 3 inch circle.  You just travel around the inside of the circle with your hopping foot.  It was really fun.  Of course you know that I am not a professional quilter.  Not even close. But I did have a lot of fun playing with this one.

I think this is another quilt that some child will really love.  Phyllis, Sandy and I have seven quilts completed for Quilts Beyond Borders, but I have two more on design walls, so who knows?  There may be more before it's all said and done.

Phyllis is coming over tomorrow to quilt a personal quilt.  Isn't it fun when your friends share your quilting passion!

What's firing your passion today?

Hugs and kisses,

Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Tumbler Quilt for Quilts Beyond Borders


Here is the latest QBB finish.  I used some of the wonderful sample fabric I bought recently on ebay.  They are smallish pieces, but exactly perfect for tumblers.  The border fabric is one I bought at a local quilt shop several years ago.  I liked it but had never found the right use for it.  I think this was it!  I freehand quilted around the circles in the border fabric.

And how cute are those biker chicks?

This cute cat has a lot of attitude, too.


Speaking of attitude..... Yes, Chloe still has hers.  Got to love her! 


I did not get a great shot of the backing.  It's a Daisy Kingdom border print that, once again, I've had for years.  And it plays nicely with the other fabrics.

Mr. Muddling did a little painting on the backyard project yesterday. Still lots to do, but there's no hurry.  I'm enjoying it already and it's not nearly finished!

I have another dental appointment this afternoon.  After the root canal comes the crown.  Fun times. Not.

Hope your weekend was good and that you have started your week with plenty of fun things to do!

Hugs and kisses,