Red Chair #2

Another chair.

I guess I have a series going now.

:)

 

The little pieced triangle in the back of the chair...

chosen at random from the scraps on the table...

put TRIANGLE in my mind.

 

So...

that's why the background is quilted in triangles.

 

One thing leads to another.

 

That's how it works.

 

This little 12"x12"

is winging its way to the SAQA auction.

 

If you like art quilts...

you'll have fun looking at the quilts

that have already been sent in.

LOTS of lovely work.

 

 

Homemade weekend

It is SO satisfying living a homemade life.

I love using the things I make

and eating the food my husband grows.

The past weekend was FULL of homemade over here.

 

We ate outside on the thrifted table cloth

that began life as a shower curtain.

;)

I Pickled the beets from my husband's garden.

I also ate a few blueberries off the bush he has on the patio.

It's the PERFECT snacking tree!

 

Living a homemade life is also knitting between things.

between cooking.

between computer.

during computer...??

while waiting for school buses....

During picnics talking with friends.....

I love getting a FEW more stitches in!

 

 

During the picnic this weekend

We used the scrappy patriotic quilt....

that shows how much we LOVE using it!

We used my Homemade picnic bag.

 

Yes.

It's FUN to USE the things we make.

Isn't it?

It's not as much fun to CLEAN.

But...

Long weekends are good for that too.

and...
HOMEMADE means

MESS

at my house.

;/

 

Homemade also means GREAT containers!

Right?

 

I saw this at the thrift store

and knew I'd find SOMETHING

to fit inside.

 

Are you living homemade too?

 

 

Quilt Festival!

It's time for Amy's quilt show again!

I bet I'll be the VERY LAST to enter my quilt.

:)

There are about 650 quilts already!

That's a lot of quilting folks!

This is a scrappy quilt.

My very favorite kind.

It includes one white strip in most blocks

and a HOST of blues and greens.

I was able to include some old fabric

as well as lots of new contemporary prints!

The binding here from connecting threads

pulls it ALL together!

Of course,

the backing is also pieced.

 

Just a little.

LOVE this blue from Robert Kaufman

called Way out West.

 

This quilt is going to a high school graduate.

I enjoy making and giving these EACH year.

Sometimes I enlist helpers as I get them together.

I had a few of my friends make some of the blocks in this one.

I like to send a little LOVE to the kids

as they transition into that BIG world we call....

ADULThood!

beginnings

Saw this Yesterday.  

A quote and photo

from my daughter on facebook:

 

"I sat down at my sewing machine today

and accidentally started quilting -

It must be in my genes."

 

 

I think she's off to a GRAND beginning.

;)

Red Chair

I DO like chairs.

I like the kind you sit in

and I like the kind you can make with fabric!

 

I realized as I pieced this newest RED chair

that I have a collection!

 

It's bigger than I thought.

I searched my blog using the search word  CHAIR

and came up with QUITE a few.

Here's a sampling:

Here, Here and Here.

 

I've finished basting

and now I get to PLAY with embroidery thread!

 

This is going to be a real simple quilt.

Sometimes beauty is in simplicity.

 

Here's another chair quilt.

This one hangs near my laundry room.

 

I call it my coffee break quilt.

There's a little coffee cup, a book,

slippers and pot of flowers.

:)

 

I'm off to get a cup RIGHT now.

Had my brisk walk.

Did some sewing.

It's that time of day.

 

come on over.

do you take cream?

 

 

**linking up with freshly pieced today**

 

 

 

 

 

 

Springtime

It's springtime and things are blooming over here.

I've always wanted a little fairy garden...

and this year it FINALLY happened. :)

 

It's little.

The plants are just clippings I found around the yard.

I plopped them in and they've been growing.

YEAH!

 

I enjoyed sitting out on the patio today

Knitting and

watching my granddaughter play

in the little GARDEN for fairies!

 

 

 

Cat

Hi.

Fabric and a little bit of stitching.

 

This little kitty cat is ready to play....

or....

lounge around with friends!

;)

 

The little Tutu is my favorite part!

This is what I copied.

A knit softie seen at a baby shower.

Yes.

I'm a copy CAT.

 

*************

Family news:

 

Daughter graduated from master's program in

Occupational Therapy along with her fiance.

 

They met the FIRST week of class 2 1/2 years ago.

The wedding is in August.

There's a Happy Mom over here.

:)

Pillow Power

One almost finished crewel embroidery piece.

One piece of old ACID green fabric.

One bag of pillow stuffing.

 

One DYNAMIC pillow.

 

I added some quilting stitches around the border

after layering it with batting.

I think it gives this pillow a great finished look.

 

This is a big week.

Lots of family happenings.

So...

why am I goofing around with old embroidery pieces

and making unnecessary pillows??

Because.

That's what I do when life gets busy!

LOL!

 

Another Rescue

A trip to the Thrift store led to

another RESCUE this week!

 

Oh.... those UFO's.....

They speak to me.

They KNOW my NAME!

Their voices drown out my common sense.

 

I take them home with me EVERY time.

 

I can't leave them there on the shelf.

Such a lonely life THAT would be!

 

We usually get to be GOOD friends.

:)

All this one needs are a few brown stitches here and there.

We may not have TOO much time together!

 

I imagine this floral basket will make a LOVELY pillow

someday soon!

 

 

 

Progress report and thanks

Thank you friends.

It was so nice of you to stop by

and leave such SWEET comments

and encouragement yesterday!!!

Blogland is a very nice place to be.

;)

 

This is where I decided to go with my son's quilt.

I cut the 1/2 yard pieces of the dreaded sports fabric

into 18"x18" squares.

I'm surrounding them with my free style log cabin blocks

that I had already pieced into columns.

 

Only two more sides to GO!!!

 

Of sports and quilts

Every year I make quilts for graduating high school seniors at my church.

This year....my son is one of them!

He has developmental delays so it is a REAL occassion in our lives.

When I asked him what color he'd like his quilt to be....

he surprised me.

"Can I have a sports themed quilt?"

My spirits SUNK.

What do you imagine when someone says sports theme??

Cheesy fabrics?

Well.....

That's where my mind went.

 

SO.

How am I going to do the GOOD mom thing

and still make a quilt that I'll be happy making???

I began by making some blocks.

stripes, shirts, plaids, greens, blues...little bit of red....

Great BOY fabrics!

I have quite a collection of shirts and stripes.

;)

Here's the DREADED fabric requested.

 

(He plays these three sports

in a league called "challenger".

It's the BEST thing for kids with disabilities!!)

 

Will I add this fabric around the outside???

 

Sorry friends.

I bet lots of you LIKE this fabric

and then there's the REST of you

who think I'm a terrible mother.

LOL!

 

I'd love to know where YOU would put it.

 

*********

p.s.

 

The minute I hit publish I started feeling bad.

I think writing this post was VERY GOOD medicine for me.

Feeling like I need to get my priorities straight.

I will HIGHLIGHT the fabric he wants

and think about how HAPPY he will be.

 

Thanks for the kick in the pants blog.

When we write...we bleed sometimes.

 

 

 

Christmas Quilt Along - Progress

 

There are a couple of BRAVE SOULS out there

who decided to come with me on a quilt along.

Sort of a mystery quilt along....

since I didn't know QUITE where I was going when

I announced it!!!

 

This is where we're at

SO FAR.

 

Today we get to SHARE.

What have you made so far?

What fabric are you using?

Just one tree?

That's o.k.

 

All the quilts will be a bit different.

This is a quilt along WITHOUT a pattern.

Just a PROCESS.

 

See?

That's why these participants are BRAVE!

 

If you are interested in making

some or ALL of this Christmas quilt....

the instructions are listed in the page above.

 

Let's see what you've been up to.....

Here's your chance to link up.

You have all week.

;)

 

 

It's never too soon

Start 'em young friends...

start 'em young.

 

;)

 

My young friend is learning to SEW!

LOVE.this.picture.

Friday Finish

I finished this quilt yesterday!

I've had a backlog of baby quilts to make

and this is the LAST one that has a due date!

Yeah!

 I quilted it simply with my walking foot...

following along with the chevron pattern.

Good thing it's a baby quilt!

There was a lot of stopping and turning involved.  

I even found a great fabric for the backing!

This quilt went together SO quickly.

Thought I'd share with you how I did it....

the SPEEDY way.

;)

I began with 9 different fabrics

cut in strips 7"wide width of fabric.

One strip of EACH fabric.

I folded them in half and made a few RANDOM cuts

using my 45 degree line on my ruler.

I began Placing my ruler at the top left corner

and finished on the bottom right corner.

Each SLICE is different.

I didn't MEASURE how wide each slice would be.

Some are wide.

Some are thin.

I was able to get 4 slices from each strip.

ACTUALLY it looks like 4...but it's double...so it's 8!

I put my slices off to the side as I cut.

I had a lot of triangles left over.

I saved these.

Then...

I opened my stack of slices and made TWO stacks.

One slice goes one way....

the other slice goes another way.

I  made SIX columns of slices.

(this photo shows only 2)

Three columns go one way.

Three go the other way.

I just picked them up RANDOMly and sewed them together.

I have a DESIGN FLOOR at my house.

As I worked I laid them out and EYEBALLED the lengths.

For you that are NEW to sewing....

this is what the seam looks like.

The point hangs over the end a bit where the seam begins.

Here they are all lined up together.

When they were all ABOUT the same length...

I added the leftover triangles to the bottom and top of each column/row.

and then cut OFF what was too long!

(my quilt measures 38"x43")

It was a FUN way to sew.

NO stress!

NO worries.

ONLY FUN!

I also made bread yesterday.

Actually...

the BREAD MAKER made the bread.

I just added the ingredients.

:)

Mmmm...It was yummy.

(instead of candied fruit, I used some dried fruit I had on hand)