Vintage Valentines

I’ve finally been able to get back to the journey of my Vintage Valentines!  This makes me a happy girl =^..^=

I first saw this quilt displayed in a booth at my first ever AQS Show in Nashville – maybe 2006? – and I remember just standing there staring at it, just stunned.  I still tend to do that whenever I see one of these amazing quilts :*)  Several of the ladies in my Guild have completed one, and I am always SO jealous when they bring them to Show-n-Tell.  I want mine finished too!!!

There was no question when I signed up for the Patchwork Times’ UFO Challenge this year that Vintage Valentines would go on the list!  As I shared in THIS POST a few weeks back, when I opened my UFO project box to begin, it contained four blocks, two of them complete and two still needing to have the applique stitched down.  

I had also completed tracing off all the pieces for all twelve blocks and the center medallion – lots of work already done – YAY!!!  But lots of work still to go too :*)

So I got down to business and began the process of choosing fabrics for Blocks 5 and 6, then fusing and cutting out the shapes.  Since there are a million little flower petals in these blocks, I always lay them out in order in rows of 10’s on the side of my ironing surface so I can pick them up quickly and put in place.   Notice that I also "window" out the center of the fusible on any pieces large enough so the pieces are not too stiff on the quilt.

Before I do any fusing of the pieces, I always run a sticky Lint Roller thingy over the surface of the background to clear it of any fuzz or strings etc.  

Then I find the center of the background and the center of the design, marking both so I can be sure I fuse the design correctly in the center of the background.  I usually place a pin in the center spot through both to keep the design paper in place as I move underneath placing the pieces.  I’ve used both tracing paper and vinyl for this design sheet, and both seem to work really well. 

I only place a few pieces at a time, in numerical order, under the design sheet onto the background (needle-nose tweezers come in real handy here!), check through the design sheet to be sure they are in perfect place, and then lift the design sheet and press down on the pieces lightly, just enough to hold them in place and not moving the iron ....

..... but not too long, because if you iron it too much the fusible will burn off and the piece will not stick anymore.  Ask me how I know :*)  Always follow the instructions on your particular brand of fusible!!!  Then I lay the design sheet back down, making sure it is in perfect position once again before placing a few more pieces, and continuing the process until all the pieces are fused!

For Block #5, I had a hard time deciding on the fabrics I wanted for the little bird and his wing.....

...... so I waited until I had everything else fused down and then auditioned the fabrics until I had the ones I liked best.  I was very happy with the result!

Block #6 went together like a charm!  

It was a happy block from the word Go!  Have you ever had a baby like that?  Happy from the moment it is born and never cries or fusses and just smiles all the time?  Me neither, but I’ve heard tell they do exist.   Of course, that’s what they said about unicorns for a time too! =^..^=

So here they are…. 

My two newest “babies” in the Vintage Valentine nursery :*)  They also need to have the applique stitched down, but I have decided to go ahead and get all the blocks prepared and fused down before I do the stitching, sort of like chain piecing, but chain appliqueing instead … is that a word?  LOL!!!  I hope you enjoyed seeing them come together.  I’ll be working on the next blocks and updating you regularly!

I’m also putting my brain to work on a block for the Red, White and Blue Blog Hop starting in July.  My date is July 3^rd, so be sure to come back to see if I've survived and what I've managed to come up with :*)  Yesterday, I purchased these….

.... which should tell you that I’m probably in Big Time trouble!!!  Anyone who knows me, knows how horrible I am at any kind of math.  But I've got a new book with an awesome new technique I want to try, so you just need to come back and see if I survive this block design! =^..^=

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

=^..^=

Linking up with:

2012 UFO Challenge at Patchwork Times
Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
Tuesday Linky Party at Quilting by the River
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced 
WOW at Esther's Blog
Applique Thursday at A Quilting Reader's Garden

Little Pineapples…..

And a Stash Report too…

Here are my new little Rainbow Pineapples ----

 PURPLE!!!

YELLOW!!!

Look at this sweet little happy face saying Hello to you! *smiles*

Aren’t they just the sweetest things?  These are paper-pieced and will finish at only 3-3/4” square!  They go with these red, pink and green ones I have made so far -

- all out of my crumbs! - for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge over at SoScrappy.  I think the pinks are still my favorites.  I thought I would just love the purples, but the colors are so dark that they don’t show up as much against the black, so even though I love them, pink still reigns supreme :*) 

I’m all caught up now with this challenge.  I didn’t get my yellows made last month, so I had to get those done as well as the purples for this month.  I didn’t do any for the neutral month, so I’m thinking I can choose a color at the end of the year if there is one she doesn’t call that I like.  I love having choices!!!  =^..^=

Before I get down to the business of a Stash Report, Bonnie Hunter has asked all her blog friends to spread the word that her newest book, String Fling, is ready to ship sometime in July!  This is the cover pic she posted on her site...

She is taking pre-orders now, and will ship in the order she received the requests, so go on over HERE to see the new book and order yours!!!  I know I did!  There are at least two quilts there that immediately went on my NewFO list =^..^=  Talkin’ Turkey started talking to me as soon as I laid eyes on it, and you know I am such a sucker for sweet nothings whispered in my ear! :*D

Talkin' Turkey by Bonnie Hunter - picture from her blog

Am I right?  What’s not to love???  And I’ve coveted Jamestown Landing ever since she debuted it in Australian Patchwork magazine.  Gotta make it!!!

Okay, all fun aside now, let’s get down to the nitty gritty….  I took a bloggy break last week and didn’t do a Stash Report, so I’ll just bundle it all up this week.  I had a little come and a little go… and I ended up just about even. =^..^=

Used:  6 yards for the backing and binding of One Block Wonder (HERE), 1 yard for the backing and binding for June Calendar Quilt (HERE), about 1-1/2 yards for a Stitchery Keeper for a friend, and about a quarter yard in scraps for the Rainbow Pineapples.

Added:  I got lucky in the Bingo games and won 3 yards of backing fabric from Marcia at Marcia’s Crafty Sewing & Quilting!  

Yoohoo!  This is a gift I can really use!!! And isn’t this just gorgeous?  She had a lot of colors to choose from, but of course I fell in love with this beautiful blue :*)  I am one lucky girl!

Then I learned that Quilt Kit Market was going out of business and had their fabrics on sale, so I hopped right over and purchased these little gems….

2 yards of this gorgeous batik from Edyta Sitar's Laundry Basket line (Aqua's!!!!)

Half-yard cuts from Kate Spain's Good Fortune line

I’m really tickled with these new fabrics, and the prices were just too good to pass up.  But I really hate to see another shop go under.  It just breaks my heart!

So my totals for this week stand at:

Used this week:           8.75 yards

Used YTD 2012:           82.75 yards

Added this week:         8.5 yards

Added YTD 2012:        112.5 yards

Net Used for 2012:      -29.75 yards

I ended up a quarter yard better this week than last - so progress of a sort.  At least I didn't go further in the red, right?  =^..^=

That’s it for me this week.  See other Stash Reports at Patchwork Times!

Hope everyone has a beautiful and blessed Sunday!

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

=^.. ^=

It Really is a Wonder!!!

I promised to show you pictures today of a UFO from last year that I finally got quilted – thanks once again to my friend Joanne who allowed me to use her wonderful Gammill =^..^=

This is one of my favorite quilts …--- my One Block Wonder!

One of my earliest mentors when I first began quilting, Sue Pulling, taught this as a two-day class when Music City had its retreat in March of last year.  Sue came all the way from Michigan to join the retreat with her old friends and teach the class.  And what a class it was!!!  Sue is really, really good at what she does, and teaching is her specialty.  We had so much fun with this technique!

For those of you who are not familiar with this quilt design, it comes from the this book by Maxine Rosenthal.  

The basic technique is to choose a lively fabric with a fairly large design that contains at least 3 colors, making sure you have enough fabric to cover 6 repeats of the design run.  This was my fabric….

You layer the fabric so that six repeats of the design lay one on top of the other perfectly, cut it in strips, then in 60 degree triangles.  Then you sew the triangles back together to form a hexagon kaleidoscope!  It was a blast seeing each of these lovely hexies come to shape right before my eyes!

It was even more fun doing it as a class because we got to see what the others’ fabrics were producing too.  I wish I had pictures of them to share, but I wasn’t blogging back then and didn’t think to take pics.  One girl did hers in an African animal theme and it produced some amazing hexies!  Others chose orientals which worked out just beautifully!  Joanne (of the-friend-with-the-Gammill fame) chose a really lively and colorful fall fabric that turned out some of the most original and exciting designs of them all!

Because my fabric is so bright and the colors are not your ordinary run-of-the-mill, I had a hard time choosing the inner border.  I had a pink that went okay, and I also had a really nice lettuce green that worked perfectly. 

But both of them disappeared in the corners where they came next to the same colors in the quilt.  And I felt they were kind of blah for such a lively quilt.  Finally, just on a lark I picked this stripe out of my stash just to see how it would look – 

Eureka!!! 

But it needed something to stop the design between the stripe and the fabrics, so I put in a ¼” pink flange on both sides.

I really LOVE that look....

However that love did NOT extend to the quilting!  It was quite frankly a B**** to quilt because of those little flanges!  I wanted to do an allover panto because the quilt itself was so busy the quilting would have disappeared anyway. But in order to do the panto, I had to pin down all the flanges and stop/start at each one, tie threads off, take great care not to sew over onto the flange…. None of this is easy on a longarm!  I am really happy with the result, but I would only ever do it again for a special quilt like this one!

For the binding, I decided I needed to use the stripe again, but not on a bias as I usually do for stripes because that just didn’t work at all.  And once again, it needed that little bit of pink to corral the two different designs between the quilt and the stripe.  I chose to do a small 1/8” flange under the binding which I think works out perfectly!

 

It’s double the work, and a little tricky working the corners out because of all the bulk...

.... but the effect is well worth it, don’t you think?

So that’s my TaDa!!! For the day!!!  

Hope you enjoyed seeing my One Block Wonder come alive!  I’ll be teaching a class on this at The Quilter’s Path in Mt. Juliet this summer, so check at the shop for times if you are local and would like to make this quilt =^..^=

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

=^..^=

FYI - Check out the cool giveaway going on over HERE at Lily Pad Quilting!

And then go see what others are doing where I'm linking up this post:

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop? at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Link a Finish Friday at Richard and Tanya Quilts

June Finishes at Such a Sew & Sew
Tuesday Linky Party at Quilting by the River
Fabric Tuesday at Quilt Story

Yard Sale Goodies!

I’ve taken a nice long break from blogging.  Did you miss me?  I hope so, 'cause I sure missed you!!!

What have I been up to all this time, you ask?  Well….. not really a whole lot that would be blog-worthy I must admit.  Don was home all last week so my schedule was a little off all week.  Not that he gets in the way of the things I want to do – in fact, he stays so busy with his list of things to do around the house that I barely know he's here.  But one day he knocked me off my schedule altogether!  He had run out to do some errands and came home with this little antique cutie …

Isn’t it just the cutest thing?  I have to find some rhinestones to replace those lost ones but otherwise it is in beautiful shape.  The finish is still shiny and most of the goldwork is still pretty.  Can you see how the designer used pins for the capital letters in Pin Money?  Too stinkin’ cute!!!  Don was tickled to find something he knew I would love to have in my sewing room :*)  When he told me there were lots of boxes to dig through, I immediately dropped everything and drove over myself.  A girl’s gotta have her priorities, right? 

I had SO MUCH FUN digging through those boxes!!!  It’s been a while since I've been to a bona fide yard sale and this one was really perfect.  They had some really great items for dirt cheap prices.  I wish I had taken a picture.  They were obviously selling off things from someone who had been a collector and seller of antique-type items.  


My favorite find is this copper percolator from the 50’s.  It's only about 6" tall and cute as a bug's ear!  It's not a toy either - it's a real coffee pot!  The tag on the bottom said $67.50 but they gave it to me for $1.00 without ever even looking at the tag!

It’s in wonderful condition – needs polishing of course, but the insides are perfect!  I do miss the taste of real percolated coffee, don’t you?!?  It was part of a set of copper kitchen items ladies could get if they sent in box tops from Land-o-Lakes butter.  

Let's see... what else did I find?  How about this quilt for $3.00!!!!!

Yep, not kidding!!!!  It was wadded up in a black trash bag, half of it spilling out onto the dirt.  I was horrified and grabbed it up so fast I got dizzy!  When she said $3.00 I was just simply stunned.  It's a Hunter's Star - not easy to piece! - and it was obviously custom quilted.  

It was dirty but cleaned up beautifully!  Talk about tickled with a find!!!

Now let me tell you a cute story…..I showed this quilt at  my Guild meeting this Tuesday and told the story of finding it.  Just as I was saying, "Please be sure your kids know the value of your quilts so they don’t end up in trash bags when you die," one girl spoke up and said, “I think I made that quilt!”  Well the whole group broke out into laughter at that!  She got up and came over to get a closer look, and sure enough, she recognized it as a quilt she had made perhaps 10 years earlier!  She could not remember who she made it for and thought perhaps it was a raffle quilt.  But we were all amazed at the coincidence!  I told her of course there was no way she was getting the quilt back :*)

My next favorite find was this adorable Heartwood Country Store by Jim Shore that says “Quilt Sale” on the front for $1.00  *hearts*

It is in perfect condition and now has a very happy home on my shelf where it can be properly valued and loved.

I also found these interesting little doomahickeys, or thingamajigs, or whatever they are....  

I have no idea what they are, but since there was thread involved, I figure they must be sewing related.  Does anyone know what they are?  I've got to figure out whether to keep them or not.

There was also this tiny metal iron (about 1-1/2") that had a sticker that labeled it as Shaker, valued at $6.00 but I got it for 25 cents.  Isn’t it cute!  It's in pretty rough shape, but I couldn't just leave it there, could I?  

Later in the week, I stumbled over another great deal!  We went to the Lebanon Flea Market to get some things for our garden, and I found a lady selling embroidery thread at 2 spools for $5.00.  

I picked out four spools, and then just couldn’t resist going back to pick up 4 more!  I like using this shiny thread on applique to sparkle it up a bit :*)

Other than goofing off at yard sales, I did work on a few quilty projects.  I completed a Stitchery Keeper for my friend Mary, and began work on my Red, White & Blue Bloghop block (see button on sidebar for details!).  The July Calendar Quilt (ants & watermelon) is all quilted, bound and hanging in its place of honor on the wall.  I also quilted a UFO project which I’ll share with you tomorrow.   I promise, you won’t want to miss it!  So stay tuned…..

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

=^..^=