Dec
29

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt – Clues 4 and 5

Posted Monday, December 29th, 2014 in Quilting | Read More

I have been busy preparing for the holidays and trying to stay current with the mystery quilt. I had clue four sewn but not pressed before Christmas.  Clue five was given on Friday, the day after Christmas, but I didn’t begin to work on it until today. (Monday, Dec. 29) Today I made all of the blocks for clue 5 and pressed all of the finished blocks.

We are getting near the end of the mystery. I can’t wait to see how everything goes together!

I am linking to Bonnie’s Link Up where you can read more about the mystery.

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Dec
14

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt – Part 3

Posted Sunday, December 14th, 2014 in Grand Illusion | Read More

This week the blocks are easier to cut and  assemble. The piecing was quicker because I made strip sets, re-cut, and sewed again. I pressed each strip in opposing directions and was able to nestle all the seams and sew without pinning.

I had a large piece of solid green that was left over from the Zelda quilt I made for Tristan in 2012. I  used the  this green fabric for all of the blocks rather than making them scrappy. I used fat quarters for the other colors in this block.  I have been able to find all the fabrics I needed in my fabric stash. It feels wonderful to make a small dent in my piles of fabric!

Here are my 120 blocks for clue three.

I am linking up to Bonnie’s link up page.

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Dec
11

Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt – Part 2

Posted Thursday, December 11th, 2014 in Fabric Stash, Grand Illusion, Quilting, Scrap Quilts | Read More

This week we are making 200 pink, black and white rectangles and sewing two together to make 100 blocks. Bonnie gave us three different ways to assemble the rectangles. I chose to use the second method.

I printed the template for the diamond and taped it to the EZ Angle ruler to cut the diamonds. I wanted to try to make a block before cutting 200 pieces and took the template off my ruler to cut a few triangles. The pieces fit together perfectly.

I like to sew assembly line style. After sewing all 200 rectangles, I pressed them. Next I pieced all the blocks together and again did all the pressing.

To see the progress of other mystery quilters, click on this link.

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Dec
1

Grand Illusion Mystery – Part 1

Posted Monday, December 1st, 2014 in Fabric Stash, Quilting | Read More

The first clue has arrived and I am busily sewing blocks. My Thanksgiving guests left early Friday morning and I started cutting my fabric in the afternoon. On Saturday I was busy putting up Christmas decorations but did squeeze in some time for sewing. I now have all 288 half square triangles finished and sewn to the solid squares, reserving 80 for another clue to come later. The block assembly has begun! I am making 100 Broken Dish blocks.

I used Triangulations to make the HSTs (half square triangles) rather that using the EZ angle ruler. I’m not sure it saved any time because of having to remove the paper but my blocks all finished perfectly.

All the fabric for this quilt came from my fabric stash. I found that the pink fabric matches the paint chip perfectly. I had been saving this fabric for something special and the time to use it has arrived! To see all the fabric I am using, click here.

If you are also making this mystery quilt, you can link up to Bonnie Hunter’s blog with this link.


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Oct
25

August, September,October – Quilt Doodle Doodles BOM

Posted Saturday, October 25th, 2014 in Quilting, Scrap Quilts | Read More

I have been making the blocks each month, but since the move, did not post them on the blog. Here are the last three blocks/rows.

I am making this quilt  entirely from my stash. As I was finishing up the last row, I ran out of the background fabric so I mixed in another fabric that I used in another block. That is the beauty of scrap quilts, you do not have to panic when you run out of a certain fabric.

The background in the pattern used 2 1/2 inch squares but I cut larger pieces rather than piecing all the squares. I did this with all the blocks and rows. It not only saves a bit of fabric, but it takes less time to sew.

August – Sweet Tooth (ten peppermint candies)


September – Evergreen Tree


October – String of Lights

This is the last row of blocks. I have enjoyed making these blocks/rows. Thank you to “Quilt Doodle Doodles” for the free patterns.

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Oct
20

Grand Illusion: A new mystery quilt

Posted Monday, October 20th, 2014 in Grand Illusion, Quilting | Read More

Each year, Bonnie Hunter gives her blog followers a free mystery quilt pattern. The mystery begins the day following Thanksgiving and a new clue is given each week until it is completed. She gives the fabric requirements earlier along with numbers for paint chips that are available at Lowe’s. The paint chips are the colors she used in her quilt. She posted the “Introduction” on October 9 which includes the paint chip numbers and pictures of the fabrics she used in her quilt. She chose colors that she saw in the Grand Hotel on Mackinac Island.

Last year I made the Celtic Solstice mystery quilt from Bonnie Hunter’s blog.  I was able to find all the fabric colors I needed for the quilt in my fabric stash. I enjoyed the process very much and want to follow along again this year. I was hoping to find all the fabrics from my stash again. I picked up the paint chips last week. These are the fabrics I pulled from my stash for the new quilt, “Grand Illusion”. Bonnie makes scrappy quilts, so if I need to add a bit more fabric it will still look great.

My fabrics are not a perfect match to the paint chips but are actually closer in color than they appear in the picture.

I will be blogging about my progress with the quilt as I do each step. Would you like to join me? Click the links above to see Bonnie’s blog and to get the fabric requirements.

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Oct
16

Autumn in Columbus

Posted Thursday, October 16th, 2014 in Wall Hanging | Read More

This is the view from my new sewing room window. It has been a big change for me, moving into the city after living in the country my entire life. My sewing room is the bonus room upstairs. I now am able to have all my sewing supplies in one room, including my quilt frame. The room is still not completely organized but it is getting better. I am going to go to Ikea and buy book shelves and storage furniture to match the tables I have in the room.  I will post pictures when it is completed.

I have found time to make a Christmas wall hanging and also a small pumpkin wall hanging in my new sewing room. The pumpkins were a kit that I bought at a quilt show, put away and forgot for a few years. The kit surfaced during the move and I made it last Sunday afternoon.

This picture was taken this morning from my front porch. The leaves have been changing since the picture was taken from my sewing room window and are beautiful! There is another fountain to the right but can’t be seen from this angle.

I have missed blogging since the move. I hope to be more productive in my quilting this winter and will share it with you on the blog.

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Aug
8

Hello blog readers!

Posted Friday, August 8th, 2014 in Quilting | Read More

I haven’t posted for quite some time but I have a good reason. We have been moving from north western Ohio to Columbus, Ohio. We bought a house in Columbus, just one mile from our daughter’s home in Gahanna. We didn’t really expect to move as soon as we did, but everything happened quickly.

Our family had been pushing us to move closer since the grand children have been born. Our son lives near his in-laws but our daughter and her husband had no family nearby. Jennifer was especially insistent that we move closer to all of them.

We drove down to Jennifer’s house (a three hour drive each way) to look at some houses in late June. We had a few requirements such as a  master bedroom and laundry on the first floor. Most of the houses in her area are two story with laundry in the basement. We were scheduled to visit 7 or 8 houses and had expanded our search to the neighboring town of Blacklick. We were expecting to make several trips to the area to look at homes during the summer.

The first two houses we viewed were in Gahanna and were awful! I said, ” I’m not moving if I have to live in one of those!” The third house we viewed was just inside Columbus and had almost everything we wanted and was only 3 years old. We went on to see several more houses in Blacklick, which were nice. We found ourselves comparing all of them to the third house. When we arrived at the last house on the list, we told our realtor that we decided we did not want to live in Blacklick but would like to see the third house again. He scheduled a visit to see it again the next day.

After we toured the house and yard again, we made an offer. The owner had until 5:00 PM the next day to accept or reject our offer. She accepted the offer but countered with an earlier closing date, July 11. From that time on, everything happened at top speed!

A friend of Jennifer had just moved and had lots of empty boxes he gave us. We needed many more boxes though! Bob made a couple trips to Lowes and Menards to buy totes and moving boxes. The task of packing was over whelming. We had lived in our house for 41 years and had accumulated too many things! Every cupboard and closet was full and the new house has fewer closets and cupboards but it has a basement!

We are still unpacking and deciding what we really need and what we can let go. For now, it is going in the basement. If we don’t use it in the next few months, we plan to get rid of it.

I have a beautiful new sewing room. It it is the only room that is upstairs. It is a large bonus room facing the street. Across the street there is a large pond with two fountains and a gazebo area with a picnic table and benches. Just around the corner and across the street from the pond is a small playground for children.

We have met several of our neighbors and they are all very friendly. I’m hoping to find a friendly quilt guild soon and make some new quilting friends too.

My next project is to unpack and arrange my sewing room. I hope to have a new quilting project to show you soon!


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Jul
2

A Hunter’s Star Baby Quilt

Posted Wednesday, July 2nd, 2014 in Accuquilt Go cutter, baby quilt, Quilting | Read More

Bob gave me a Hunter’s Star die for my Accuquilt Go cutter last Christmas. I made a sample block and loved the way it went together. I decided to use this die to cut out a quilt for my newest grandson, Ezra. I have had a bundle of 6 Lily and Will fat quarters along with  coordinating background yardage that I was keeping for something special. I decide this was the “something special”. I had to purchase fabric for borders and a quilt was born!

I was able to cut out two blocks from each FQ using the background fabric for the contrasting fabric.


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Jul
2

Quilt Doodle Doodles BOM 2014

Posted Wednesday, July 2nd, 2014 in Quilting | Read More

With a big move coming soon, I got busy and made the rows for June and July this week. I don’t know when I will have time to sew for a while and don’t want to get too far behind.

The June block is a row of hockey skates. The blades are appliqued but the rest of the blocks are pieced. The July block is a row of mugs with steam rising above. Again, the handles of the mugs and the steam are appliqued.I chose to use a different fabric for each mug and have switched to a white background for these two rows. The reason for the change in background fabric is because I am running out of the blue. The white is also from my stash and has white on white snowflakes and stars with a bit of blue.



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Jun
1

The Cat in the Hat & Samantha

Posted Sunday, June 1st, 2014 in Quilting | Read More

I made a Dr. Seuss quilt using two different panels of fabric.  The large image of the cat was one panel and the smaller sections were  another panel.  I did not have a pattern for this quilt. I pieced the checker board sections and the stripes plus the blue sashing to fill in between the blocks. I quilted it with a large meandering pattern.

I saved the best for last! This is my granddaughter Samantha, the recipient of the quilt.

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May
18

Great Granny Squared Sew Along

Posted Sunday, May 18th, 2014 in Fabric Stash | Read More

I finished the Great Granny Sew Along quilt top today. All the fabrics for this quilt top came from my scraps and stash.

We were given our choice of two ways to finish the top. I chose Kim’s version. Both quilts used the same size pieces. The only difference is how they are sewn together.

I plan to put it on the quilt frame later this week or next week after Memorial Day.

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May
9

Night Sky / Lily Pad Lake

Posted Friday, May 9th, 2014 in Quilting | Read More

Some of my Piecemakers friends and I went to the quilt show at Sauder Village on Saturday, May 3. We enjoyed viewing all the beautiful quilts and watching the demonstrations of new quilt products. The demo that caught my eye was the quilt pattern “Night Sky” and the accompanying ruler, “Sidekick” by Jaybird Quilts. Each block in the quilt uses four shades of the same color. Four fat quarters will make six blocks. I have the perfect fat quarter bundle for this pattern. Last Christmas, Bob gave me a Robert Kaufman Fat Quarter Bundle in Farmer’s Market Colorstory. It contains solid color fat quarters in 23 different shades of green.

I do not want to use black background as shown in the pattern because the darkest FQs are very dark. As usual, my daughter had a great idea for the color of the background fabric. She said the blocks reminded her of water lilies and suggested a blue background. I will expand that theme a bit and  make one block in shades of pink to represent a water lily flower.

My next step in the construction of this quilt will be a trip to the quilt shop to choose background fabric and some pink fat quarters.

Stay tuned for the finished quilt, hopefully soon!

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May
1

Hot Air Balloon Quilt

Posted Thursday, May 1st, 2014 in baby quilt, Quilting | Read More

I worked on a quilt for our newest grandson for about a month, a little a time. I had to think and rethink how to design a quilt with hot air balloons to go in the room that he shares with his big (2 year old) brother. I found some balloon designs online at EmbroideryDesigns and purchased them. I used thread colors to match the colors in fabric I was using in the border and to match colors in other decorations in the room.

I machine embroidered the blocks, assembled them into a quilt top and quilted it. After the quilting was finished, I thought there was too much empty space on it. I drew some small hot air balloons and hand appliqued them on the quilt. I also drew a larger balloon in three sections and appliqued it on the quilt. Before appliqueing them, I machine stitched outline stitches with black thread to co-ordinate with the embroidered blocks.

I finished the quilt and gave it him when we visited on Easter weekend.

The quilt will hang on the wall above his crib.



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Apr
28

Great Granny Squared Sew Along

Posted Monday, April 28th, 2014 in Quilting | Read More

A new sew along began on April 21. We were away visiting our children and grandbabies for a few days and I didn’t start my first block until the end of the week. I finished my basket block on Sunday and cut out the yarn block too. On Monday I put the second block together. I have to admit, I didn’t know what the crochet hook block was until I read the blog. (I thought it was an arrow. lol)

I am using 1930’s reproduction fabrics leftover from the barn blocks I made last year.  I may have to use a few fat quarters from my collection before this sew along is finished.

If you want to join the sew along, it can be found on the Jolly Jabber blog. There are two settings for the blocks. I plan to use the setting by Kimberly.

Basket block


Crochet hook and balls of yarn


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Apr
8

Quilty Fun Sew Along – The End!

Posted Tuesday, April 8th, 2014 in Quilting | Read More

The top is finished! The original pattern has another border. I decided to not put the last border on my quilt. I like that the pieced border is more prominent without another border on the outside edge.

I have enjoyed making this quilt entirely from my scraps. The white background came from my stash and scraps also.

I am going to use bleached muslin for the backing and a pieced binding on the finished quilt.

Lori Holt will host another sew along, Great Granny Squared, beginning on April 21 that will go for five weeks. We will be using her new book, Great Granny Squared as the manual for this quilt. The sew along is free but you will need the book for pattern instructions.

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Mar
27

Quilty Fun Sew Along – part 4

Posted Thursday, March 27th, 2014 in Quilting | Read More

The last block of the quilt was posted on Monday. The pattern has hand embroidery on this block but I chose not to add it to mine.

The bee block is in the center of the middle section. Next Monday we will be given the finishing instructions. There will be a pieced border around the entire quilt.

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Mar
17

National Quilting Day – March 15, 2014

Posted Monday, March 17th, 2014 in Patterns, Quilt Shows | Read More

Did you celebrated National Quilting Day on Saturday? I spent the day with friends at the Gathering of Quilters in Fort Wayne. I have gone to the Gathering for several years and think this was the best I have attended. The quilts in the show were wonderful and there was a nice mix of vendors. Of course I had to purchase some goodies. I found two (new to me) panels to make cloth books for Eli and Samantha.  Kris and I found a pattern with templates for a different style dresden plate block. We both purchased it and made a block when we went home. You can see Kris’ block here.

I pulled fabric from my stash to try the block. I haven’t stitched it to a background fabric or stitched the circle to the block.

The name of the pattern is “Dresden Star”  by Edyta Sitar of Laundry Basket Quilts. The pattern and templates can be purchased at her online store under Traditional Quilt Patterns.

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Mar
13

BOM 2014 – March – Big Tree

Posted Thursday, March 13th, 2014 in Quilting | Read More

The original pattern for this Block of the Month is made with 2 1/2 inch squares and half square triangles. Again, I don’t want to piece the background fabrics that I can cut in one solid piece so I made a few changes. I wanted more variety of fabrics within the tree so I did piece the 2 1/2  inch squares of green fabric. I’m not entirely happy with my fabric choices.

It’s not too late to join in the fun. You can find the tree pattern at Quilt Doodle Doodles.

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Mar
12

Quilty Fun Sew Along – part 3

Posted Wednesday, March 12th, 2014 in Quilt Blocks, Sewing and Crafting | Read More

The blocks are starting to fit together to complete the Quilty Fun Sew Along quilt.  There are three sections in the quilt.  I am still making blocks for the center section but the two edge sections are almost complete. The section on the right will have flower blocks on the bottom.

Today I made the 17th set of blocks, the mittens.

Every week we can put pictures of our blocks on a Flicker group, Quilty Fun Sew Along to be eligible for prizes . On Monday, three winners are announced. One of the prizes each week is a package of “Alphabitties”. They are little laminated cards with the letters of the alphabet and ten numbers.. I was lucky enough to win a pack of Alphabitties. I used them for the first time today when I cut out the mitten blocks. I found they were very helpful.. This is how I used them.

These are the rest of the blocks I have made since the last blog post.

Neighborhood Houses

Butterflies

Sewing Spools

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