November 2012 NewFO Challenge

I'm not sure why it has taken me so long to get back into blogging mode!  I know it has a lot to do with the amount of travel I've been doing - how do the traveling teachers/bloggers like Bonnie Hunter do it?  They must wear a Superwoman shirt under their sweaters is all I can figure :*D  And I'm off again tomorrow, but just until late Saturday, and then hopefully I'm home for a while!

I'm so glad Barbara at Cat Patches leaves her linky party open for the NewFO Challenge for a week!  I'm sliding in just under the wire :*)  I'm crossing all my fingers, toes, eyes - you name it and I'm crossing it! - hoping to win one of her lovely pins she is giving out for gifts to the winners this year.  If you haven't seen them, hop on over - they're too cute!  So of course I want one :*)

I do want to share one win that I have to admit I am very late in blogging about.  Carrie over at A Passion for Applique picked my entry to name her newest quilt.  It was made from the book, Hop To It by Edyta Sitar, and I suggested "Afternoon in Wonderland" because she used very soft shaded colors and the center block featured an adorable white bunny!  As the winner, Carrie sent me her book and 3 really wonderful pieces of green batik to use for my own Hop To It quilt!  Thanks so much Carrie!!!  :*D

I have been so busy running around the countryside this past month that I didn't really get to sew very much.  I certainly didn't have time to start new projects, but as you know I just couldn't resist starting Bonnie Hunter's Mystery, Easy Street!  Here's my first completed 4-patch!!!  TaDa!!!

Ain't it cute?

So, yes, I did get busy and finish up all the 4-patches :*D  I pinned them in sections of 10 as Bonnie suggests to make them easy to count....

I finished these up and then started on Clue #2 yesterday.  I cut all the HST's and purple strips with my Sizzix die cutter, which made that part of the process so darn quick & easy!

All Clue #2 pieces cut and ready to be sewn into colorful little flying geese!

Tonight I'm trying to get those flying geese sewn up so I will be caught up when Bonnie releases Clue #3 in the morning, but I'm not sure I'll get them all done.  At least I won't have too much to do to catch up when I return home Saturday.  I'm excited to see what Clue #3 is going to be! =^..^=

I'm also excited about the 2013 NewFO Challenge already!

Click HERE to find out what Barbara has planned and join in the fun!!!

I'm building my 2013 NewFO list and so far I have 15 projects and only 12 months - uh oh!!!  But never fear, I'll have them whittled down to 12 by January ;*)  Hope to see your projects there too!

Hugs & Blessings,

Teresa

=^..^=

What's Up?

Fun stuff, that's what!!!  
                   Mysteries and NewFO's and Giveaways... 

                      ____________________________________________________________

***  Looking for my Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Vol 6 GIVEAWAY?  Click HERE! ***

____________________________________________________________

First of all, Bonnie Hunter's new 2012 Mystery starts today!!!

Fabric requirements for Easy Street are published on Bonnie's blog today and I've printed out my copy.  Have you?  How many of you are Bonnie fans?  Yep, me too!  I haven't yet decided whether I'll join the craziness of doing it on the Mystery schedule, but I will definitely save the instructions.  The colors in this year's mystery are absolutely YUMMY!!!  They tempt me, yes they do!!!

I love her mysteries, but I'm having a hard time justifying the start of another project right now, you know what I mean?  Although, she DOES promise that this quilt will be less intensive than the last couple were.  That's good to know, right?  Tempted.......

Bonnie is coming to our Music City guild in April 2013, so our program for November will be all about her and her quilts to give everyone a chance to learn to love her like we do :*)  I'm heading up the program, so not a lot of sewing has gone on in my house this week.  I did manage to get some prep work done on my current handwork project The Blue Collection and the tracing done for a little Christmas table topper, Partridge in a Pear Tree...

Won't this make a gorgeous bowl???  YUM!!!  This is the bowl for those infamous PEACHES!!!

Doesn't look like much yet, does it?  Hehehe.....

And don't forget that today is the day to link up with Barbara at Cat Patches for her 2012 NewFO Challenge party!


I started several projects in October.  First was the Partridge in a Pear Tree that you see in it's infant stages above.  I also joined up with Sew Kind of Wonderful's Curve It Up QAL and made my first block for that, a curved up Churndash .....

+++++++++++++++

I want to thank you all for responding to my question of whether you work on all one section of a quilt at a time or put blocks together as you go.  It seems a lot of you work the same way I do - I was surprised since most of my sew buddies are in the "one section at a time" camp.  It's nice to find out that so many of you like to see your blocks come to life as you go, just like me :*)

++++++++++++++++

And since I always like to leave you wanting more..... 

Lookie what turned up in my mailbox the other day!  

Two copies of the newest Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks - Collector's edition Vol 6!!!  

I was a block tester for this issue and had great fun with the blocks that came my way!  It was fun seeing the blocks in the published magazine too, I almost felt maternal toward them :*)

Since I was gifted with 2 of them, I think it's time for a GIVEAWAY here very soon!  We've got lots to celebrate, you know.....  I just realized the other day that I'm very near 300 followers - woohoo!!!  And I'm right on the verge of 40,000 post views - I never dreamed I'd reach even close to that when I started A Quilt and A Prayer last December.  And last, but not least, it will be my birthday this weekend!  So.... how about I give YOU a gift on my birthday?  Come back to visit this Saturday and we'll see if I can add any more goodies to this giveaway, what do you say?  Fun, right?!?

And speaking of FUN, I'm also linking this post up with Kathy's Slow Sunday Quilting and Angie's Applique Thursday :*D

Okay, I'm off and running - lots to accomplish today.  

I'm sending prayers out for all those in Sandy's wake. My heart breaks to think of the suffering she has caused.   Please join me in prayer for them!

Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

NewFO’s and UFO’s and DWM – Oh My!!!

Wow!  I can’t believe September is gone already, can you? 

That means it's time for a little recap and report on my progress for the month.  And since it also happens to be Monday, let me start with what is on my Design Wall today….

This is the expanded block from The Blue Collection that I showed you yesterday.  I'm happy to say it is now completely finished with the exception of a few stems and leaves that I cannot add until the blocks are joined together.  It was already mostly complete, I only had to add some leaves and stems and the upper lip around the bowl …

These little stems & leaves may not look like much work, but let me tell you, I'd rather do ten of those oranges than just one little stem!  They are such tricky little boogers to turn under and get them just right!!!!  These two stems and leaves took me forever to complete!

….and then, because it was a heavy sports day, giving me lots of time for handwork, I finished up another one!

This one I completed from start to finish.

(And yes, I know it needs to be pressed LOL!)

The top went together like a charm - I love the fussy cut lid :*)

I think my needleturn applique is definitely improving!!!   =^..^=

I also prepared the next block for this quilt so I can be ready to work on it next Sunday :*)

It’s been quite a while since I have had a completed UFO to report for Judy’s UFO Challenge, so I was delighted to finish up Girls Just Want to Have Fun while at Runaway Retreat a few weeks ago!  I'll definitely be asking, Can I Get a Whoop! Whoop! on Friday!!!

I've got to get a better photo of this quilt!

This quilt required a lot of cutting and sewing up of a lot of little pieces, but it is well worth the effort, don’t you think?  And as I've said before, it is probably the only 30’s quilt I will ever make, so it will definitely be special to me :*)  I think my guests will truly feel pampered with it on the bed when they come to visit.  Now if I can just get it quilted. =^..^=

For Barbara’s NewFO Challenge, I had quite a few ideas and projects that were calling for my attention, as I reported HERE.  But I finally narrowed it down to these fun new starts…..

Most of you will remember that I participated in the Dots on Dots Blog Hop and made this cute little teapots table quilt which I named A Spot of Tea.  I received the Honorable Mention award that day – yes, I know, I’m special – hahaha!  :*D

I also jumped on the Hawaii Sunset bandwagon and got this block put together before I had to put it down for a while.  You can read more about my progress on this quilt HERE.

I hope to get back to it again later this week.  I just LOVE this quilt!!!!  There are quite a few bloggers working on this quilt right now, which makes it so much more fun! :*)

So that’s it for my September!  A lovely month, made even more lovely by the fact that my daughter came into my life in September.  I love you Christy!!!

October is always a bittersweet month for me.  I love the onset of fall with its cooler temperatures and the trees all resplendent with color and majesty!!!  But it also means winter is approaching, and that I do not like!  I've never enjoyed cold weather, coats or blustery winds – brrr!!!!!  But I know we have to have winter in order to have balance in our ecosystem, and in order for spring to come around once again, so I will choose to ENJOY this winter!  That has been my word for 2012 – ENJOY!  And for the most part, I think I've done a pretty good job of that.  What about you?  What is your favorite or least-liked season?

But today it is still just the first day of October, and I am now on my way to go and ENJOY spending the day sewing with some of my bestest quilting buddies!  I hope your October is an amazing month for you and yours :*)


Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=


Be sure to go over to these fun blogs to see what others have been having fun sewing up ......

The Nine-Patches are Disappearing :*)

I saw this on Facebook today and just had to share it....

Isn't this just hilarious!!  I wish I had a dollar for every time I've told Gypsy, 

"Make up your mind, in or out!!!"   LOL!!!!

***  =^..^=  ***  =^..^=  ***  =^..^=  ***

Now to get back to the serious stuff (*grin*)....

I am really enjoying working on these happy and quick Disappearing Nine-Patch blocks!
It's a good thing I chose this pattern for Raney's quilt, because now I can finish it up quickly and get it to her before she heads off to her first year of college :*)  I'm thinking of naming it "Raney Days & Mondays".... gotta love the Carpenters!!!!


I thought I'd share a little bit about the process for those who have not seen it before.  If you want to know more, there are a ton of tutorials on the web!


As a reminder from my post HERE, these are the fabrics I chose from the paint chips my sister sent me....

I had so much fun cutting into these sweet-as-cotton-candy pastels!  I started by cutting a number of 5-inch squares out of each fabric.  You can cut them any size, depending on how big you want your blocks and your final quilt to be.  I cut enough of the 5-inch squares out of the purple "zing" fabric to have one in the middle of each nine-patch.  

Then I sewed up a million nine-patches.... okay, maybe I'm exaggerating just a little bit :*)

This is where my 17-inch Olfa Rotating Mat really came in handy!

I just placed each nine-patch on the mat and cut it in half.  Then I turned the mat and cut it in half again.  Because I didn't have to move the pieces after the first cut, they stayed in place which made the second cut easy!

This gave me 4 blocks from each nine-patch that looked like this.

Now here's where the fun part begins!!!!  Just start rearranging the blocks to get a design that you like and sew them back together.  Easy peasy =^..^=

Here are all of my blocks on the design wall ready to be sewn together.  

This picture is not great because I took it rather late Tuesday night when I got finished arranging them.  I'll post a better picture in the light after they are all sewn together :*)


That's all there is to a Disappearing Nine-Patch!  The next time you are in a time crunch and need a quick quilt that still gives a lot of visual PUNCH... remember to try this pattern!  I've seen it done as a two color scrappy, in reds/whites/blacks.... the list of ways you can make this quilt is endless!


This quilt was my project for the NewFO Challenge for July!  Thanks Barbara =^..^=


I am also linking up with..... 
*    WIP Wednesdays at Freshly Pieced
*    Can I Get a Whoop Whoop at Confessions of a Fabric Addict
*    Really Random Thursday at Live a Colorful Life
*    Trying New Things Tuesday at Jo's Country Junction.


Hugs & Blessings!
Teresa
=^..^=

July NewFO - Disappearing Nine-Patch

Lookie what I got!

My sweet sister, Laurie, picked up this really cute license plate cover for me, and of course I just LOVE it!!!  Almost as much as I love her :*)


And speaking of Laurie, her daughter Raney is leaving for her first year of college in a few weeks! 

We are all so proud of her!!! And of course my niece MUST have a fun, bright, happy quilt to take to college with her, right?  So I asked Laurie to send me some paint chips to be sure I picked out the right colors...

.... and this worked great! I took the samples to my favorite shop - AKA My Stash! - and had a ball picking and choosing enough different pastels to make an interesting Disappearing Nine-Patch.

This, my friends, is why I enhance my stash!!! (Well, yes, in addition to the fact that I love fabric and can't resist it LOL!!!)


There's nothing more fun than going to my own fabrics, pulling what I like, auditioning the fabrics together at my leisure, and then happily digging into a project - all in my pj's! 

Stash organization in progress.... to be continued .... LOL!!!

No driving around to 3 different shops to find the right color or print ... no pressure to hurry and pick something before the shop closes ... and the price is always right because most of my stashed fabrics have been purchased on sale! :*)


Look at the sweet variety of fabrics I was able to pull together....

I love that there are a lot of bright happy DOTS in this collection!  I chose the dark purple as my Zing fabric, which will be sprinkled throughout the quilt. All the pastels will dance around it and hopefully play well together. I'm looking forward to coming up with a name for this quilt - something fun and light and joyous, just like Raney!


The Disappearing Nine-Patch design is one I have wanted to try for a while now, so I'm excited to get started! It's supposed to work up pretty quickly, which is a good thing since I don't want Raney to be receiving her quilt at graduation!!! =^..^=  I'll share pictures of the quilt in progress soon.

Have you started anything new or tried out a new pattern lately? Why not join the NewFO Challenge fun at Cat Patches? Barbara is the "hostess with the mostess" for this linky party and you might even win a prize!


Hugs & Blessings,
Teresa
=^..^=