Got my CQ block pieced

I signed up for a CQ for ME challenge that Nicki is hosting on the HGTV quilting board. There was a catch though. We were all sent the same 2 fabrics and 1 motif that we had to incorporate into the piece. We could make what ever we wanted with it. I decided to make a door hanging for my SIL. I did have a hard time at first trying to figure out how I was going to make the teal fabric work for me because I personally like things a bit country, but turns out that the bright teal fabric made the perfect rooster tail. The other fabric was the sage green silk that's in the background. I haven't done any stitching to my block yet but plan to do quite a bit. I'm not sure if I will make the deadline of Jan 1st because I'm over 2 months behind. I'm not giving up though, it's better late then never. I do have a vision in my head of where I'm going with this but you know how that goes, once you get stitching, LOL!!! I see a sunflower in there, maybe some morning glories and some barbed wire on that fence and well we'll see...Here's a few pics of my block I finally got pieced today. I just noticed that part of the tail looks black, but it's not it's just a deeper shade of the teal. I don't know why but my camera makes most darker colored fabrics look black. Maybe I should start taking my pics outside......

More sewing

First I want to thank you all for your nice comments on the scrappy quilt. It's not exactly my pattern or anything I was inspired by a quilt I had seen on creativechicks bogspot. I just loved hers and knew this would be a great way to use up some of my scraps. I got my top finished it just needs a strip of the white sewn across the top and bottom. Usually by the time I finish one I'm sick of looking at it but this went together so fast I still love it, LOL.
Remember this quilt. I don't have a pic of the finished top. It had a wide border of the red print. I was planning on quilting some of the tops I have finished this year. I was going to start with this one but it can't be found. We looked and looked for it. I searched high and low. Practically tore the place apart, but no quilt. After telling my daughter whom I had made this for, she came over thinking she would find it. I tried to tell her I went through everything 3 times it's just not here. She couldn't find it either and it broke her heart. I guess it somehow got thrown out when we moved. I always fold my tops to where the seams are on the out side, so it probably looked like a bunch of scraps just laying around. But you know how the story goes no one knows nothing. It's just gone, at least until we maybe one day come across it. In the meantime I start her a new quilt. I have another bundle of Tula Pink's Flutterby fabrics that are pretty similar that I had saved to make a braid quilt with. They are some of my favorites but I guess I'll use them to make her another top. I found one that I really love over on interchangableparts blog. She made it using Tula Pinks nest pattern. I really like how hers turned out. I also love the merry-go-round quilt she made. I'll have to give that a try one day.
So, I gave up my great idea of quilting all weekend and decided to go ahead and piece her a new top before I started quilting all these. I no longer have room for both my big tables set up at the same time so I have to either piece or quilt. My little EZquilter has to set up on a table and I just don't have room to keep it out all the time now. But luckily it's easy to set up. When I bought it I had attached it to a big board to keep from have to put screw in my table and boy am I glad i did Now all I have to do is get it and set it on top ANY table!!! If I had of attached it to the the other table (I no longer have room for) I would have been in a pickle and had to go back to tugging those BIG quilts i like to make through the machine again. I've done enough of that to know it's not an easy task. I don't guess I've ever made a small quilt other then the 2 baby quilt I made and I hand quilted one and did quilt as you go on the other. Now I do love making mini's. But I have to say when I make a bed quilt I make it BIG, real big! I have a hand quilting frame I use sometimes but mostly I like to machine quilt mine, because it takes me forever to finish one hand quilting.
Well, I did get started on my sister tumbling block lap quilt. It's my first ever lap quilt and Y-seams. I've always been a bit intimidated by Y-seams but I gave it a try and they aren't difficult at all. Then after making some of the blocks I thought how am I going to piece all these rows together. So had to see if I would be able to join those zig- zag rows together. I used the same method of pivoting as I did on the Y-seam and it went rather well and the seams lay nice and flat so I guess she'll get her tumbling block lap quilt after all. She choose the Metro Goes green fabric line we had seen when we went to Mariette to meet up with Some of our quilting friends form the board. They didn't have enough, so I thought maybe since we were soon going to the retreat and would have the chance to go to Keepsake Quiltshop I could find some there, but we didn't find it. As soon as I got home form the retreat I googled around to see if I could find some since I knew she loved it so much and she just didn't see anything else she liked as much. I was lucky enough to find it so I got them and some of the dots for the backing and strips for the binding.

Margw, Here's a pic of the block construction. It's pretty simple. Sew two 9" squares on the diagonal to make 2 big HST. Then just add a 3.5" square on opposite corners and sew on the diagonal. Here's what the block looks like. Then here's how I layed them out to get that top.

All it took was a pep from Beck and some scraps.

I was feeling a little down on Friday, maybe even a lot down but my sister called to talk about how she needs to get in gear and work on her to do list and next thing I knew I was feeling better and motivated to tackle some of those scraps. So, I broke out all those bits and pieces you end up with after cutting those strips to swap out nickels and coins. I always have those end of the strip pieces that don't quite measure up. That why they end up in the loose change pile. I found that most of the end pieces could be cut to 4.5" pieces with the least waste. I got to cutting and in no time at all I had plenty of 2.5"x4.5" pieces. Now I like the way brights look so crisp against white so I pulled some white from my stash and cut 2.5" strips and then sub cut to 4.5". I sewed all my bright pieces to white pieces, then pressed all those while watching some scary Halloween movies. Today I sat down to sew all those together into strips. Then got to crying which made it hard to see, so I took a break and went outside which somehow seems to cheer me up. I went back to sewing and wa-la, next thing I knew I almost got all my strips sewed, only 5 more to go. This is going to be a very bright and cheery quilt. Here's what I have so far. I plan to put a 2.5" of white between the rows. I really like how quick and easy this was to make. A the best part is I'm one step closer to my scrap busting goal!!!! I'm going to call it Loose Change.

Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe: It's a Happy Halloween Giveaway!

Pumpkin Patch Primitives Quilt Shoppe: It's a Happy Halloween Giveaway!
Lets see now, I know I decrease my odds of winning by doing this but she made me do it for a chance a winning these yummy fabrics. So go on over take a look but you don't have to enter if you want my odds of winning to be greater, LOL. But if I was you I would do what I did and help spread the word to have a chance at winning this wonderful giveaway.

It's been awhile

I just want to start by saying thank you to all of you for helping me through this difficult time. I'm doing well and have know that sewing and spending time with all my quilting friends is the best for me now.
I want to share with you a little mini I received from expatquilter in the Fall mini swap that Holee hosted. She did a fabulous job and i just love it!!
I would show you a pic of the mini I made expatquilter but I didn't get a pic of it before mailing but it's like the one I made for my sis except the blocks were 3" instead of 1.5"
Next is a little mini I made for my sister out of some very small 1.5"blocks I was going to use in the inchie swap but had a difficult time trying to put a binding on them so ended up sewing them all together and this is the result. This little mini measures 5x5". It's it cute. When my sister got it she she it was so much smaller then she had envisioned and she loves it.
Here's a quilt I'm working on for my daughter. I didn't really plan it out or anything. I just seen one someone else had made and knew I wanted to give it a try, so I guess that explains why I've run out of background fabric. I was hoping to have enough blocks to make it large enough but I guess I'll have to make some sort of border to make it a bit larger. I know I seen on SQ that you shouldn't put a border on just to make your quilt larger but Hey, I also heard there are no rules in quilting and after my visit to Handcocks today for more fabric, which they no longer have guess I'll be adding a border. I still have one more layer cake of the 9 patch blocks so maybe I can work with that. I open for suggestions on the border. I was thinking about adding 9 patch block all the way around but my other DD said to add a solid fabric. I have so much fabric now that I'm trying not to buy anymore until I use up some of this that I have stock piled.
I'm also working on a bear quilt for my DGS John and it still likes one more row of blocks. It's okay but I'm not sure I really like it or not. Maybe it will look better once it gets quilted. I'll show how it turns out when I get it done. I had also started my first tatted piece which I was working on when I wasn't able to spend time at home and sew on my machine. I was nearly done but had to lay it down and now I'm not sure if I remember how to. I'll have to send my sis a pic and see if she can help me figure that out.
I want to show you the gorgeous block I received from Carmellady in the CQ one block swap, hosted by Nickilee. I asked for french country and it couldn't have been more perfect. It is more then I had ever hoped for.
Gosh, while I'm at it I'll show you the blcok I made for Ely. She asked for fairies, pink, blue, yellow green and she even likes orange. I thought I was the only one who liked orange!! My sister painted the bird nest and sent it to me to make postcards with but I told her I had to have it for Ely's block so she didn't make me beg she gladly let me have it. She also made me the 2 tatted pieces, it's like they just belonged here. The 2 dyed lace pieces where some that I had got from Nickilee. I used the big one for the woodland garden floor. The yellow flower vine was inspired from Ivoryblushrose. I don't even know if she know but I love her CQ. This is my second CQ, my first one drove me crazy and was just a disaster,but this one was a joy to make. I need to get started one the other CQ for me block. I think I have an idea of what I want to make I just haven't had the time to get it out and get started.

I spent most of the day yesterday cutting my scraps into squares to use as leaders and enders. Some people with this much fabric might have just tossed these bits of scraps but I just couldn't bear to part with them. I love scrappy quilts, plus I'll have bits of most of the quilts I made all in one. I didn't color coordinate them or anything. I've just decided to sew together what ever I pull out. I like doing this, you end up with a big pile of 4 patch blocks before you know it and when my jars of square starts getting low I just get my scrap drawer out and cut up some more. Maybe I'll win the battle with the overwhelming amount of scraps I have accumulated.
Oh almost forgot here's the mini I sent Susrina for the Christmas mini swap. It's about 13x14 if I remember right. My sis brought me the kit to make it when she came down. I was a little intimidated about try to paper piece something so small but it ended up going together pretty easy. I added some embroidery and beads to finish it off. You really can't see them but I did a few embroidered snowflakes with this thread that looks just like snow that my sis had gave me. I love that stuff.
Me and a few of the other girls from the HGTV board are all planning to go up and spend a week at my sisters in Ohio this June the week of the quilt show. I'm excited and June can't get here fast enough for me. We're going to have a blast. I know they have some great quilt, thread and bead shop so you know we'll be going to those.
I sure have missed all of you!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

MIA

I just thought I'd let you know that there was just too much going on for me this past month. I'll spare you all the details and just say some good and some bad. I do have some quilting things to share with you, that I managed to complete during all the chaos. Just don't have the time today, but I hope to get to it in the next couple of days. I can't wait to read all my favorite(your) blogs too and see what all you have been working on.

Another mini and a fun giveaway

Sewmeow is having a fun giveaway and is adding something new everyday to her giveaway for the next 18 days. here's a link to her blog so go on over and sign up....http://sewfunquilts-sewmeow.blogspot.com/
Now, that she has received it I can post a pic. I'm happy that she likes it. I was worried, then after seeing the one she made me I got real worried. But she said it was her and it screamed her name. So that made me feel better. This was a fun swap and all the little mini's are just amazing. The ladies on the HGTV have incredible talent. I'm going to keep joining this swap, I want a mini from all of them, and it wouldn't hurt my feeling to have two from each of them. Having these mini's on my wall mean so much to me. The are all so unique and inspiring. I just love being surrounded by them while I'm back there sewing, which is where I spend a lot of my time. Here's a link to all the mini's in the 2nd swap Holee has hosted. She has a link to the first mini swap photo too, in her side bar. I see she doesn't have all the mini up yet but they should be headed to their new homes and added soon. Thanks Holee for hosting these fun swap. After getting the top done I could not figure out how to quilt this thing. The hexagons were very small making the seam allowances bulky and hard to sew through. So, I asked Lois(bluesnail) if she had any ideas and she had a wonderful idea which I knew a soon as she told me would be perfect. I have a real hard time quilting mini's because of the bulkiness. But she made it easy for me. She suggested tying the center of the flowers to make it look like stamen. and then just hand quilt around the bottom of the fence and around the outer edge of the applique & flowers. So that's exactly what I did.

Look at this Mini quilt

I received the most incredible mini quilt today from my partner Shawana. I was going to wait until I could get a better pic, because the wind kept trying to sweep it away but I just have to share her beautiful work. Remember the other day I said I just has this feeling it was special, well I was almost right it is special but I think it is more then special, it's absolutely the prettiest mini. I could not believe my eyes when I opened it. I was just in total shock, speechless and in awe. This is a tresure for sure. I'm going to have it framed. I would just die if it got one speck of dirt on it. Words can't describe how lovely this is. Click the pic and you will get a close up and see all the incredible details. I just can't stop looking at it.

Time for the tooth fairy

Isn't she so cute without her tooth. She so excited about the tooth fairy, she might actually go to bed on time tonight. I had to run down and snap a few shots when she called me with her exciting news. She also went for her appt. today and they are trying to fit her surgery in the first part of this month, were expecting the call from the Doc in 5 days. She's so brave, wish we were.

MY CQ sneak peeks

Here's a couple peeks of my CQ block for the swap. This is a secret swap and I was so lucky and got the name of a lady I had met at the retreat and she was just someone that when you meet for the first time that you know is very special. She has the best hugs and the biggest beautiful smile. I only got to spend a few minutes here and there talking to her but those were some of the best minutes. We were only allowed 2 small peeks. I choose these because I didn't want to reveal any of the main parts of the block. These were such small areas that is was hard to crop them and get them big enough to see without some blurring. But you get the main idea. I have this block filled from top to bottom, although I'm new to CQ, I found it easy because I wanted to give her everything. The theme she picked was fairies, pinks, blues, lavender, greens and peach. So I got it all and it took me a bit to get all those colors to play nice together but it's all there, and I hope that she loves it. I laid awake at night dreaming of what to put on her block and it's like God just dropped little ideas down one by one and it went together so fast, even with all the things I had to take out to put new things in. This block is nothing like what it started out to be. I learned a great deal working on this block, and am anxious to start another, and I know just what it'll be. I want to add that I got some of my inspiration from other CQ blogs. And shame on me because I don't think they even know I read their blogs, I am guilty of not always leaving a comment on many of the blogs I read. I feel pretty bad about it too because they are big inspirations to me, so I will do better and at least leave a small comment from now on to let them know that I appreciate all the pretty things they share. So thank you my favorite bloggers for all your inspiration. We will be swapping our blocks out at the end of July so I'll have the block I receive and this one to share. I can hardly wait to get mine and see what she has made for me. We get a block from someone other then who we are making one for, I'm sure I will love the block I receive. I seen her work last year in the swap and it was very beautiful. One more thing. It's time to swap our mini quilts too, so mines going in the mail tomorrow and I should receive one from my partner in the next few days too, I can't wait to share those with you, my partner in the swap does amazing work and I know she has worked very hard on this mini. I just know I will be getting a very lovely quilty form her. You'll see, I can just feel it in my bones that what she is making me will be very special. You can see all the mini's on Holee's blog, if you look in her side bar she has a link to where she adds them as them are received, go have a look there are some really pretty minis being made in her swaps. She'll be hosting another one very soon.

Quilting on a Budget: Extraordinary Creativity

Quilting on a Budget: Extraordinary Creativity
WOW! check out this video I just seen on one of the blogs I read, it is so cool. I wish I had half the creativity of others.

My CQ do-dad find of the day

I went to this antique, collectible, second hand thrift shop today that has about 4 levels and just enormous. It is impossible to navigate this whole store in one day. But that's okay because I didn't make it past the first room before my budget was spent. But I'm happy with today's find and see another trip there in the near future. My very favorite of all the things I got is the yellow roses and the rhinestone bird, I probably paid too much for them but they were the two pricier items I just couldn't live without. I need to clean the little bird up but it has a lot of pretty stones on it. I don't know why the alligator struck my fancy but you never know when you might need an alligator, LOL, and I may never need the gloves either but they didn't cost too much so I got them. The pic doesn't show good but the milky looking stones on the earrings to the right are more like opal stones they have pretty sparkles in them. There was just too much for me to take it all in. I'm going to divide these goodies up and send some to my sis who is just starting her first CQ block. I'm going to be stingy though and keep the bird and yellow roses. I did find some pretty rose beads that I love and want, so I'll split those up with her so I don't feel bad about keeping the 2 yellow roses all to myself.I had planned to go to Hobby Lobby afterward but decided to call it a day, maybe tomorrow. I think this thrift store shopping could become an obsession.