Design Wall Fun!!!

I've had lots of Quilty FUN this past week!

Our Guild held a Blooming Nine Patch class on Thursday, taught by the amazing Pam Thorne, one of our members who is a long-arm quilter and heads up our Scrapper Bees group.  Her goal was mainly to get us organized and help us plan our color schemes.  Pam is a super-organized quilter, so I knew we were in for a treat!

This is what mine looks like on the Design Wall so far....

This is just showing the first 3 fabrics, with the 4th just coming in on the right, and of course none of the blocks are sewn together yet except the nine-patches.  The pattern calls for 8 fabrics, but I will be using 9 in my quilt.  Of course, you can probably guess that my colors are bold and bright all the way to the end, right?

I couldn't decide between the first two, but I finally went with the more solid one on the left.

You should have SEEN all the fabrics in the middle of my studio as I tried to pick and choose the perfect ones for this quilt!!!  My husband took one look and turned and left the room without saying a word - yep, he was speechless!  It was a lot more difficult than I had anticipated to choose fabrics that would blend into one another in a pleasing way - and then to have enough of each fabric too.  I've been scrappy quilting so much lately, so I only buy half yards of something I like.  By the 5th fabric, you need more than 1 yard, and about 2 yards of the 8th fabric!  I did cut my strips a little smaller (1-1/2" instead of 1-3/4") so I could use my Sizzix machine to cut the strips :)  So that allowed me to use slightly smaller yardages.

There were some gorgeous quilts blooming in our class!!!  I wish I had thought to take pictures, but I'll try to share some of the finished quilts with you :)  This is as far as I got in class, and it hasn't been touched since I got home - because Miss Sara has been sewing!

Remember the pillowcase project we were going to start?  Well.....
          She sewed .....

New polish that matches her pillowcase! *sigh*

    
And she ironed.....

     And she made her first pillowcase!

Yes, she is hooked :*D

Best of all, she has been given a sewing machine - all her own - and she is in heaven!!!

The same Pam Thorne who taught our class saw on my blog that Sara was learning to sew and offered her first sewing machine to her!!!  Of course, Pam has come a long way from her learning days and this little machine no longer gets any attention.  Her girls have their own machines, and this one just got stuck in the closet.  When she offered it to Sara, I was floored, and Sara was thrilled!!!  She posted this picture to her Facebook timeline, and calls it "My new baby♥♥"

So all afternoon, Sara played with her new machine and we learned all about how to thread it, and clean it, and wind bobbins and ... well, just everything!  She said, "I can't wait to go home and show off my new sewing machine and make lots of new things!"  Thanks for making her dream come true Pam!!!

Everyone knows stitching goes better with Ruffles - right?!?
See the bag hiding there on her lap?
Like Grandma, like granddaughter - LOL!!!

Showing the cute stitches it will make to Grandpa :)

Today the girls come to my house for sit-n-sew, so I know it will be a fun day!  Sara will be sewing with us - working on her Dolphin pillow.



I hope to get a lot more nine-patches done for my Blooming Nine Patch :)  What's on your Design Wall?  Share with everyone on Mondays over at Judy's Patchwork Times!  Also linking up with Connie's fun Tuesday Linky Party!

And come back tomorrow for a recap of my fun day Saturday at TVQA Assembly Day!!!  

Hint - Jenny Doan of Missouri Star was there!!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Rainbow Scrap Challenge - Reds!

My sewing schedule has been all over the place of course this summer!  

I haven't been able to really play in my REDS yet this month, which is a shame because I love RED! - hopefully next week I'll get to start on RED Hootie.  But I can share my RED Soul Searching block with you today because I actually made it several months ago when I had to wash my REDS for another project.

So - Ta-Da!!!

(Did you know that "Ta-Da" means "There it is" in French?  I didn't either until Sara told me.  

She's taking French in school, a language I always wanted to learn - 

but it wasn't offered in my high school back in the Stone Ages LOL!)

Maybe you can see some of these wonderful RED fabrics better in this close-up?

I love this block!!!  It's huge, so you get quick rewards for your work!  The quilt is almost ready to put together - just the ORANGE block now to be done!

Share your RED creations with us over at SoScrappy today!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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On the Needles & Other Fun Stuff!!!!

I'm having so much fun with my granddaughter here for the summer!  We've been VERY busy!!!  But first, since this is an On the Needles post, let me show you my progress on Rocio....

I've worked the back down to the armhole shaping.  I'm telling you, I un-knitted more than I knitted on this lacework, but I finally got the knack for reading a chart down pat, and the last 20 rows were error free!!!!  Once I got to that point, this project has been FUN!!!

Then after I put the back stitches on a holder, I began to pick up the provisional stitches at the shoulders to start on the right front.  The front is done in an easy reverse stockinette stitch, but it has increases every 4 rows, as well as the armhole shaping to remember...

I really love the look of this yarn - the variegated blues just make my heart sing!!!  I think I'm almost ready to break off these sttiches and put them on a holder, but I have to figure out what kind of holder I'm supposed to use because what I have is not working!

See the red arrow on the left?  It is showing the clip I'm having to use to keep those stitches corralled on that circular end.  I even had to use a stopper on the tip to keep them from falling off of that!  I'll be doing some research today - any tips from my knitting friends out there?

I've been busy quilting too - although, certainly not as much as usual, since Sara and I have been gallivanting all over Nashville seeing the sights :)  Wednesday, we went to the Adventure Science Center - 

Sara thinks "Science is Awesome!" and we found the perfect souvenir T-shirt for her!

And let's not forget her puppy, Link, who has definitely been enjoying life at a quilter's home!

I think she likes Grandma's lap pretty good too :)

Sara surprised me with her desire to learn how to sew!  So of course, we got out the small Janome and began to teach her the basics before she could change her mind!  

She is a very controlled sewist and careful of that needle, which I am delighted to know!  She also sews a pretty cool quarter inch seam...

She will not be happy that I showed a picture of her fingernails in need of some new polish!

For her first lesson, I just wanted her to get the hang of sewing a straight seam - which she of course she ACED! - and then how to sew parts together...

Looks like she ACED that too - look at those perfect intersections!

Makes a Grandma proud :*)

We've purchased some fabric for her.... today she is going to make a pillow case out of these soft ocean prints.......

Then, we are planning a throw pillow....

Sara wants to be a Marine Biologist - can you tell from her choice of fabrics?

That cute octopus print will be the back :*)

She also likes little woodland creatures, so we are planning a pair of shorts from this fun fox print...

... and then some shortie pjs from this sweet flannel fabric.....

Probably enough to keep us busy and out of trouble - at least for this coming week!!!

We'll keep you posted on progress.

I hope you are having as much fun as I am this summer :)

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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A Free Pattern!!! (And it's soooo cute too!!!!)

I'm taking a quick break from my blogging break in order to let you know about a really sweet offer...........

Isn't this just the cutest pattern?

Ooooo - just makes me want to sit back & relax with a nice cup of tea :)

Jacquelynne Steves of The Art of Home is offering her sweet little pattern, Chamomile Afternoon, FREE on her website, for a short time only to her free e-magazine subscribers.  The pattern will only be offered through Sunday, July 13, and then it will no longer be free - so go to THIS LINK NOW to get yours!!!

What a lovely kick-off to remind us that the new Summer issue of Jacquelynne's e-magazine will be out soon!  It's always FREE and has such wonderful ideas and projects inside!  From recipes, to small crafts, to quilts - you just never know what she'll share with us each time - it's always a fun mystery to see what's inside!  And if you look closely, you might see a project or too that I designed from her new line of fabrics, Cottage Charm!  So while you are on her site snatching up that adorable FREE pattern, don't forget to sign up to receive her FREE e-magazine too!  You will be so glad you did!!!

Sara and I are having a lot of fun and I am so enjoying having her here for a few weeks!  I'm glad sixteen-year-olds like to have some down time too, or I would be totally worn out!  But I do miss you all!!!  I'll be back blogging soon, so don't forget me ♥♥♥

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Finishing Up the June Challenges!

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - this is the last YELLOW Saturday for the month of June.  You can read more about my YELLOW Hootie HERE, 

and Soul Searching HERE.....

The day after I finished the YELLOW Soul Searching block, I put them all on the floor to see how they are looking -- and I just couldn't resist.....

 ..... I HAD to start pulling blacks for the center block to see how it was going to look!

I want the blacks to have the same colors in them to mirror the blocks as they move around the quilt.  Here is a closeup of the fabrics I finally chose ....

Before I knew it, I had started cutting and putting the block together!

And here it is in it's place.  

Can you tell that the colors move around the center block in a mirror to the blocks around it?  I'm really happy with the way this is turning out!!  You'll notice that I have already made the RED block :)  I went ahead and made it a few months ago when I washed my red fabrics.  It's nice to have that done!!!  Now I only have to do an ORANGE block for that center bottom space and these blocks will be DONE!

See more Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks HERE.....

June NewFO Challenge - July Calendar Quilt

I call this one Flowercrackers!  This quilt has been fused but still needs it's buttonhole applique stitching and quilting before it is ready to go on the wall.  I'm really loving it !!!

See more NewFO projects HERE .....

Vrooman's Let's Book It  - Calendar Quilts

I had just about forgotten about this book and how much I really, really LOVE these little quilts for each season!  Thanks Sharon for encouraging me to pick it back up and make this cute quilt for July 4th :*)

See more Let's Book It projects HERE ....

I'm glad I have a few more days before June is officially over - 

I still have lots to do before July knocks on the door!!!

Hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as I am :)

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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On the Needles and On Pause .....

I'm sure you've noticed that my posts have slowed down...... Summer just seems to slow things down, at least for me.  Is that true for you too?

Not a lot happening On the Needles.....I've done more un-knitting than knitting on my Rocio summer sweater....

See that hole near the edge there at the top?
I have NO IDEA how that happened, but I had to go back & fix it.

So far, I have managed to finish up one full segment of the lacing for the back.  And that's an accomplishment, let me tell you!  I have put in and taken out every row at least twice, and sometimes more!  I thought it would get easier as I went along, but so far that has not been true. But it's actually beginning to look like it's supposed to, so I'm happy.

The Happy Dance socks have gotten very little love, but that's okay because I really only work on those when I have to fill time like appointments, etc.

One big reason I don't have time to blog much lately is that we are enjoying this sweet young lady granddaughter, Sara, and her puppy, Link, for a visit from their home in North Carolina ....

Having a sixteen-year-old in the house is a fun new experience for me and her grandpa.  Not to mention the addition of a puppy!!!  Needless to say, our elderly kitty, Gypsy who is accustomed to reigning supreme in this home has been very scarce these past few days.  Her nose is definitely out of joint!  Link would love to get to know Gypsy better and play with her, but Gypsy will have NONE OF IT!!!!

Our first activity when Sara arrived?   .....Grocery shopping of course for her favorite foods :)  Then our next stop was at the local Joanns.  Even though she is not really interested in learning how to sew or quilt, Sara loves to makes crafts.  We bought this fun kit to make a couple of cute pillows for her room.....

And she LOVES science!!!  We had quite a hard time trying to decide what to bring home from the many different science kits available.  Since our home survived my cooking experiments, we really didn't want to burn the house down with science experiments, so we ended up with this kit that has a lot of different simple experiments.

So far she has been happily making fun stuff like crystal rainbows, snow & crystal trees....

We also purchased fabric to make her a pair of shortie lounging pj's!

Sara loves anything with little woodland creatures!!
This is a soft blue knit - perfect for summer lounging!

I haven't sewn clothing in quite a while, but for some reason I've had a hankering for it lately, so we'll see how that goes!

What have you got going on for summer?  

Is it slowing you down?  

Maybe that's a good thing!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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Short and Sweet!

I'm on the road all day today - on the way to get our sweet granddaughter so she can spend some time with us!  Yippee!!!!

So I'll just quickly share my Yellow Hootie...... yes, I chose THAT one for the feathers LOL!!!

And also as a bonus - because you're all so nice! -  a new Happy Dance Block from my wonderful YELLOWS....

See  more lovely yellow projects HERE for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!

I'll share more tomorrow about some of the other things I have been up to :*)

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!!!

Hugs & Blessings!

Teresa

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