Playing in Pinks for February!

I really haven't finished with the January BLUES yet for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge, but February snuck up on me, so I had to start pulling out the PINKS as well :*)  My PINK stash is pretty slim, and the scraps are even slimmer, but I finally managed to pull together some fabrics for Hootie and Soul Searching.

It will be very interesting to see if these come together to make a few decent blocks!  

I traced off the fusible shapes for the February Hootie last night while watching TV....

I still need to dig into these crumb jars and whittle them down.....

Just look at all those yummy little scraps just waiting to become a gorgeous little quilt!!!

I have a few ideas of what I might like to do with them, but I probably won't decide for sure until I sit down and start playing :)

And after I finished tracing the Hootie pieces last night, I sat back and relaxed with some knitting.  Before I knew it, Wingspan was DONE - WOOHOO!!!

There are supposed to be 8 "wings" but as you can see from the tiny ball of yarn remaining, I didn't have enough for another wing.  I think this will be fine, though, since I'm built rather small - at least from the waist up LOL!!!  This still needs to be blocked, but all the ends are worked in and it is ready to go!  This will knock 400 yards off my stash yardage :*)

So what's in the works for me today?  First, I'm excited to show you the February Bertie wall hanging that I finished embroidering this week....

Isn't this just too darn cute?  

The white edging embroidery stitches took FOREVER and were not easy to keep uniform, so don't look too closely :)  Today, I plan to sandwich and quilt it and get it up on the wall so we can enjoy it all month.  The January Bertie only got two weeks' wall time, which is a shame because I love it so!!!

One last peek!!!!

Later on, I will be joining Kathy's Quilts doing some Slow Sunday Stitching on my little hand-applique Miniature Heart Blooms while watching the Super Bowl!

You can tell from the red hearts on the left that this was an early attempt at hand applique!  I was trying to do them by needleturn, but they are not very smooth.  I may end up taking them out and redoing them..... but then again, maybe not.  From past experience, I've learned that sometimes it doesn't really show that much when looking at a completed quilt.  Since this will be for my own personal enjoyment, I may decide to leave it as is :*)

I'm also hoping to get a few of these pieces for Rose Medallion prepped with the luscious oriental fabrics - I'm really anxious to see how that's going to look!!!  It's been quite a while since I played with the orientals - a task that I enjoy way too much LOL!!!

Also linking up with Judy's Design Wall Monday & Connie's Tuesday Linky Party :)

I wish a lovely week for you all!!!

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

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DWM - 1/13/14

My Design Wall has a hodgepodge of things on it (and around it!) this morning...

Block #10 - Vintage Valentine

My mom and my sister both asked for a Vintage Valentine block for their table topper frames for Christmas (see below picture - didn't it turn out cute???)  I did have to leave off the top valentine from the original design so it would fit in the frame, but it still looks beautiful, doesn't it?

I decided since I was doing this block, I might as well go ahead and make one for my quilt too, right?  All the pieces are fused down on the block and ready for machine buttonhole-stitch applique.  I believe that will make 8 of the 12 blocks complete, plus I have the center medallion fused down and ready for applique as well.  Since this is one of my Dinosaurs, I'm glad to get refreshed on it and know that I am this far along!!!

And speaking of Dinosaurs.... it's time for me to "bag" one - 

isn't that what the big game hunters do?  LOL!!!

Dinosaur UFO #1

Rag Circles Doll Quilt

These blocks are a REALLY old UFO!!!  A true Dinosaur!!!  One of my earliest, actually.  In my first year of quilting, I took part in a Guild sit-n-sew where we were given instructions to make so many raw-edge circle blocks from our scraps, like this one .....

And then we cut them up into fourths and swapped with others.  We then sewed the fourths together to make a new scrappy circle.  I got mine sewn up to halves in class ... I remember it being a fun day!!!

Of course, swapping with others that meant that not all the circles lined up perfectly, and some sewers made better circles than others, etc.  Part of the package in a swap, right?  But with rag circles it really doesn't matter because the edges will ruffle and lose definition when they are washed anyway :*)  And I think the wonky connections will add some edginess to it.

I used this Easy Circle Cut ruler for my circles, and it worked perfectly!!!!

This was originally intended to be a lap quilt, but I've decided that I don't really like it enough to spend that much time and energy on it.  I'm going to sew up the blocks I have - 12 - and make a doll quilt for my nine-year-old granddaughter, Reaghan.  She still loves baby dolls and I think this will make a lovely birthday gift for her.  It will go quickly, and that will be the demise of my first Dinosaur UFO!!!  I'll keep you posted :*)

January NewFO & "Let's Book It" Challenge

Rose Medallion

It was SO MUCH FUN to finally open this book and begin to work on this project!!!  

I made copies of the templates for this project yesterday and began to prep them for hand applique.  I had originally decided I didn't want to take time to do hand applique, but the more I looked at this gorgeous burst of colors, the more I knew that machine applique was not going to get it.  And besides, I've really begun to enjoy hand applique since I learned how to do the starch method, and these pieces will not be that difficult to do.....

I also prepped the hearts and other pieces for the Miniature Heart Blooms UFO at the same time.  I actually managed to get a lot done yesterday during the football games, even though our Carolina Panthers fell to the 49ers :(

And for those of you who may not know Morning Glory Designs, Reeze has announced a new FREE BOM design for 2014.....  there's a contest going on right now to name it and you can win some lovely fat quarters if you suggest the winning name :)

Isn't this a GORGEOUS design????

....Block 1 is available HERE now if you are interested in these lovely blocks!!!  But you must hurry, because after January, it will no longer be free.  Don't you love that border?  Reeze is famous for her borders :*)  PLUS - if you sign up for her newsletter, you will receive a Bonus Block each month - absolutely free!

I'm going to download and save the patterns, but in the effort to work my SIMPLIFY mojo this year, I won't start on this one now.  One day, though - I can definitely see this quilt in my future!!!

So that's it for me .....

What's on YOUR Design Wall?

I'm Linking up with Patchwork Times
& Connies Tuesday Linky Party

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Bertie is in the House!

Before I show you the newest Bertie BOM, I just have to share with you the GORGEOUS cross-stitch piece my talented daughter made for me for Christmas.....

This project took her quite a while to work up - how's that for Slow-Stitching?  I had purchased the pattern (see photo below), fabric and flosses - and then they sat in my studio for ages waiting for me to find time to get to it.  Of course, it never happened.  I mean, when there are a million quilts in the world that I want to make, what's the chances I'm going to work on cross-stitching?  So when Christy - who loves to cross-stitch - had some time on her hands and was looking for a project to do, I passed it off to her and asked her to make it for me.  She started working on it last year, but she hadn't gone very far before it hit her that she could make it fit ME a lot better with a little tweaking.

Original colors.....

Peace, Love, Joy & Life Quilt Sampler
Picture from Cross Country Stitching magazine

Although the original is beautiful, Christy thought it would be even more beautiful in my colors, so she changed out the flosses to make it in Moonglow colors!!!  Black, purples, aquas - YUM!!!

Moonglow by Teresa Raleigh 2013

And then she took the redesign even further!  She designed new and more complicated designs for most of the blocks!!!  Oh my!  This proud mama is SO tickled with this sweet Christmas present :*)  Now I have to decide how I want to finish it.... Wall-hanging?  Pillow?  Needlework box cover?  I'm leaning toward mounting it on canvas as a piece of wall art, so it can hang in the bedroom where Moonglow lives :*)

So, now, on to my own Slow Stitching.....

I received my February kit for the Bertie's Year BOM a few days ago - how cute is this?????

 I am smitten with the sweet, shy - dare I say coquettish? - tilt to her head ♥♥♥

And I suppose in the bird world, these bleeding hearts serve the same purpose as mistletoe in ours?

January Bertie is almost done..... sorry - another night picture with a glare :(

All the hand stitchery is done except for the snowflakes.  I used the sharp tip of my needle to "draw" a line to stitch the center seam on the leaves.  I really like the shiny brightness of the threads - it gives it a little color punch :)

Then I used my favorite marking pencil, the Clover White Marking Pen to mark 1/4" marks on the seams where the white Fly Stitches outline the HST border....

I was having trouble keeping those stitches uniform without marking.  I love the way this pen's marks disappear when you iron the fabric, but with these stitches, the marks don't show anyway :)  This Fly Stitch actually took much longer than I imagined it would.  There was a definite learning curve - I kept making the stitches too fat in the beginning and had to pull them out several times.  And it took a lot of thread too.  And while I'm whining, let me say that I would have called this a chicken or turkey track stitch :)  This doesn't look like any fly I've ever met!

Now all I have left to do is sandwich it and lightly quilt it.  There is no mention of quilting in the instructions, and I'm not sure if that's because it won't need quilting or because they just took it for granted that I would??  At any rate, I've decided the little white snowflakes all over the center will probably be all the quilting that is needed.

The instructions also call for an interesting "false" binding and the envelope backing method.  I'll try to take good pictures and show more about how that is done next week.  Hopefully this little quilt will be hanging on my wall by then :*)

And guess what I just found last week while doing some cleaning in the studio????

Another Dinosaur UFO!!!  

This is a hand-stitch applique project from this 1992 Miniature Quilts magazine below .... you can see their finished project there in the middle.... of course mine is done in jewel-toned batiks ♥

I started it several years ago to practice my needleturn skills after Mary Sorenson came to our Guild.  I love the fact that each flower is made from a circle of hearts ♥  I got 3 flowers done, and apparently something more exciting must have come along and snared my attention - can you imagine that?  LOL!!!  I'm thinking to make some templates and finish it up using the starch method that I have come to prefer.  It would be a GREAT little carry-about handwork project!

Now for those of you who have hung around for all of this, I offer the reward of some 
Stash Enhancement!!!

I picked up these pieces at Little Blessings Quilt Shop in Crossville TN on my way home last week.....

LOVE that sewing fabric!!!   I told my husband I want a sewing machine like that!!!!!
And of course I'm always ready to add blacks, whites & grays to the stash ♥

I had been really good about not stopping at any of my favorite quilt shops on this trip, but I was bone tired and getting sleepy, so I had to stop for a bit.  (You know of course that the way home is about twice as far as the way to somewhere, right?)  And it just so happened that I was near the Little Blessings exit, so.... yes, I swear, all a coincidence my friends!  And that's my story, and I'm sticking to it :*D

And my acquisition of these luscious dots is all the fault of my friend Deb over at A Simple Life Quilts!  

She posted about these Spot On dots by Robert Kaufman on her blog - and she showed pictures!!!  Now how am I supposed to resist that?  I ask you?  Really?  Dots??????  And colorful, fun, happy Dots, at that!!!???  I jumped over to Hancocks of Paducah and pulled a few of these into my shopping basket lickety split!  And I have to confess, I'm glad I did too :*D  These are so beautiful and will enhance many of my projects going forward!  You'll be seeing these again soon my friends ♥

Linking up today at:

Kathy's Slow Stitching Sunday 

Patchwork Times

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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