cool air

There's a chill in the air today at my house

so I went digging through my Christmas fabrics.

What did I find??....

Leftovers from my projects last year.

Lots of orphan pieces from my little

hexagon table toppers here and here.

You can see I'd even pieced some together to

MAKE a little piece of the hexagon pie...thinking....

maybe....

someday....

I'd be able to figure out a way to use them.

I do like thinking about what to do with leftovers.

Crazy. I know.

I figured something out!!

Yeah!

And I think I have enough little pie pieces to make
a quilt.

If I don't.....

That problem is EASILY solved!

tried and true

I made a quilt using this same pattern last year

and last week I was told again how much the quilt was

appreciated.

Well.....
I decided that would be my pattern this week!!

I had been struggling with what to do with this

novelty fabric.

I had only 1/2 yard I wanted to use

but just couldn't decide how to use it

in a quilt!!

After that sweet comment I knew I'd use the same pattern

and it actually worked out perfectly!!

I have only a couple of little scraps left!!

I cut twelve 5" squares

and had a piece left over for the middle of the backing.

The rest of the fabric are just pieces that went along with

the novelty children's fabric

and, of course, the white.

This one measures 42"x42"

I made the quilt exactly the same.

No thinking required.

Just what I needed.

That last piece of novelty fabric was a little too short

so I added the white piece for the label.

I plan to give the new Mommy a pen to fill
in the important baby details on that label.

Baby quilts are
fun.

quick.
satisfying.

and cute.

Who could ask for more?

I'm adding this to Amy's sew and tell....

just in the nick of time!!!

while I was gone.

While I was away

I received some mail.

Lovely mail.

Quilt mail.

The best kind.
My pile of bee blocks is growing...

and I'm getting excited!!!

Can't wait until they're all in and I can begin the

putting together process!!

I've also REALLY enjoyed seeing the little scraps

that my bee friends have been including in the blocks.

Thank you.

Those little triangles mean a lot! ;)

While I was away

I made ONE of these.

Only one!!!!

Guess that traveling and quilting do not go together very well.

At least not for me.

But LOOK at what I found during my trip!!

Amazing!

A centuries old pattern that is probably one of the

older examples of my quilt design!

Who knows?

Maybe it's THE oldest one???
I found this mosaic at the Israel Museum in

Jerusalem.

While I was away

I got to meet one of my blog friends, Miri.

Quilters are the best!!
Right?

Right.

flyfoot block

Frieda from the Nittany block party requested

a 12 1/2" unfinished block....any block.

I found this block pattern in an old

Georgia Bonesteel book.
I figured out how big those half square triangles needed to be...

(my half square triangles are 3 1/2" square)

and then began arranging!!

Isn't this an interesting pattern??

Frieda sent some very nice Christmas fabric.

She's thinking ahead!!!

I kind of liked it...

so....

I made one for me too!!

The beginning of another project!

Then I got busy getting my little travel bag ready.

120 petals...or so....



Cut from some fabric that I hope kind of goes with
the quilt I began last year!
Sometimes quilts take a l-o-n-g time.




I need 49 of these blocks.
UUggghhhh.
really?
Did I know that when I began?
Well....sort of.


I do know it's the perfect project for travel.
And I'm traveling!!!


This corner of blogland will probably be quiet this week.
Unless I figure out how to access computers where I'm going.
I'll miss you while I'm gone.
Thank you for leaving me such sweet comments.
I look forward to every one of them.
You are the best cheering section I know of!


You're all so inspiring and supportive!!!


I do enjoy writing about what I'm up to...
and I'm usually thinking about you as I sew.
Sometimes...even when I'm cooking!
I guess you could say....I'm never lonely.
;)
Well....

I'm off....on an adventure...with my husband....to
far away Israel!!


I wonder how many blocks I'll be able to finish while I'm gone?
Will there be a Joseph's Coat quilt in the year 2010?
Let's not hold our breath!!!

Monday

I finished putting some scraps together today

for this little quilt top.

This one measures only 35"x36",

but I began with only four little scraps of fabric

measuring Maybe 5"x 10" each.

I haven't yet decided if this will stay like it is

or if I'll let it grow.

Hmmmm......

I am satisfied that I got this far.

I think I'll fold it up or hang it up somewhere

and enjoy thinking about the possibilities!!!

This is how I often make scrappy quilts.

I first make the scrappy blocks

and eyeball the sizes as I go.

Then I lay them out and sew them in rows,

putting "like-width-sized" blocks in a row.

You can see my rows are all different widths.

Of course, I have to adjust some blocks by

adding and taking away fabric.
But I love it!!

Then....

I measure the lengths.

In this case, I barely had to add anything to

any of the rows.

They were all about the same length!!!

I was amazed.

Guess these fabrics just wanted to be

together.

They sure seemed to fit together

perfectly!!!!

Here's a close-up of my favorite little scrap.

This one measures only 3"x3".

Small but mighty.

It led me down a road that

got me to this quilt!!!

yum.

First, I did what I had to do.

That is....bake a cake for a neighbor in need.

I knew a whole cake was probably going to be too big,

and I Selfishly wanted some too.
You can't really give someone a cake with a piece or pieces taken out

can You????

So I bought another bundt pan and

experimented.

I DO like to DO THAT!!

Instead of one cake.

I made two...but I didn't double the recipe!

It worked!

I now have two little cakes

that still look cute.

A little short....but cute.

Thanks to Barb for posting the recipe.

and thanks to my nose for figuring out

WHEN to get them out of the oven.
They didn't need to be in there for a whole hour

when they're this little!!!

After doing what I had to do.

I did what I'd been really wanting to do.

This is my stack of projects.

Yes.

I have a few going at one time.

I have what I call

"quilting A.D.D."

A wonderful thing to have, by the way! ;)

These baskets help keep everything together.

I got to play with some scraps.


Now I have a pile of blocks.



Highlighting that old.
vintage.
goodness.

october first

History was made today.

I'm ready for Halloween!!!

The pumpkins usually don't come out until

the middle of October at my house.

I kind of drag my feet a bit...

Halloween is not my favorite holiday.

I don't know why...

Maybe it's all that unnecessary candy??

The kids love it, of course.

I just finished this table runner...

so I pulled out the pumpkins.

We're set.

Did you notice the quilt block?

Looks a lot different than this one, huh?

Well...

here's the candy without the calories

and cavities.

I think the kids will still clamour for the

real thing....don't you??


Then I also finished a little bag.

Not a success story...

I saw (from a distance) a bag that was made

using one of these measuring tapes instead of a zipper.

I thought:

"I'm going to go home and make one of those!"

Trying to reinvent the wheel is what I call this kind of thinking.

No pattern.

I didn't even look closely at the bag!!!

Silly girl.

I need a little bag with a clear front for

an upcoming trip.

My husband is taking me

on a trip to Israel.

Amazing...but true.

So I tried to make a bag.

The white card is blank....because.....

What am I going to use this little bag for???

I know what I'm NOT going to use it for.

I'll chalk this up to a creative adventure

that taught me some lessons.

1. My machine did NOT like that vinyl plastic. AT. ALL.

hence the hand sewing around the plastic.

2. I made it too big.

3. That white note card in there falls out...

so I guess that's not a good place for my I.D.

I'm going to the store today

to buy a small change purse

with a little window for my I.D.

Much simpler.

And I have a little bag
for......???

These are my

friday finishes for Amy's sew and tell friday!!