Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Ta-Da!

Hooray!  Just in time for the Schnibbles Parade hosted by Sherri at A Quilting Life and Sinta at Pink Pincushion!  I've completed the pattern chosen for the month of August and is the first time for me to join this group. Its been a fun and rewarding challenge.  It was love at first sight when I saw the pattern Canasta by Carrie Nelson at Miss Rosie's Quilt Co. I loved all the little baskets.  
So, I collected the fabrics and went to work.  Many of my friends ask, "how long did it take you?"  Well, this quilt, at approx. 39"x48", took one solid week with no time spent on any of my other on-going projects.  It took me a good afternoon to decipher the cutting instructions and sew the first basket.  I found the instructions to be disjointed and unlike any of my other favorite patterns and projects. There was a huge disappointment and moment of frustration one night when squaring off the first block to the required 5 1/2"...I realized my points were being cut off!!  The flying geese would be perfect...everything would be perfect, and then I realized my scant quarter inch seam was too scanty!!  Arrrgghh!  Well, I learned a valuable lesson!  ...and that's one of the fun things about it!  ... after you get over the initial let down! :-))




But, I love the finished quilt!  



Stats:  
Pattern - Canasta by Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.
Dimension - 39"x48"
Fabrics - Simply Style, V & Co./Moda
Quilting - by me on my Baby Lock Crescendo
Critique and Support - Steve and son, John :-)

Happy Tuesday ya'll!!
Debbie






Thursday, August 15, 2013

Catching Up

Home sweet Mississippi home!  After a destination wedding trip for a special young lady in Cabo San Lucas (yes...it was fun!), I was so happy to be back.  So, finally beginning yesterday I got to work on my WIP's!  So anxious to begin work on the Schnibbles pattern Canasta, but I needed another pack of charm squares. 

First to complete were two of my modern quilt blocks (Tula Pink's City Sampler 100 Modern Quilt Blocks).

This is #31:

and this is #32:



Can't wait to get through the rectangles, but I need a few more Kona solids to continue.  I need to get to #36 to catch up with the Flickr group.  

Next to work on were two steam punk blocks that were cut out before I left town.  They were laid out on my design boards and all I had to do was sew, sew!  



These are fun.  Disappointed in how the colors show in the photos.  They were shot with my Ipad, but I guess its time to use a real camera.  

And lastly, I tackled Lori Holts' Quilty Barn Along, Barn #10 with "Summer Star Block".  This block proved to be a bit of challenge for me.  No matter how hard I try for perfection, they are not as good as Lori's!  You can see her 10th barn on her blog...Bee In My Bonnet


My brain feels a little mushy right now...maybe I should have waited to write this! :-)  It's difficult for me to set aside the time to improve this blog...but, golly its fun to do!  And the most exciting part, I can participate in the comments, link ups, and all sorts of fun stuff!! Love it!  ...and Green Carlson, you are my new best friend! :-)

Happy Thursday and happy weekend!
Debbie

Tuesday, August 6, 2013

Barn Block

Things are way too busy around here this week, but I did manage to finish my latest silo barn block.  This is my fourth silo barn in conjunction with Lori Holts' Bee in My Bonnet Quilty Barn Along ... Quilty Barn Along.


Lori has named the block "egg basket"... seeing as how I have some backyard chickens and collect eggs in my basket, this seems pretty appropriate!  The seamripper is displayed in this photo to remind me of the dismantling that I did the first time around.  My barn fabric did not have enough contrast and just kept bugging me until finally I just decided it had to go!  Barn burnout...or maybe just time to collect a bit more pastel fabrics! :-)  

I'm excited to have just downloaded a new PDF pattern (Schnibbles) from Miss Rosie's Pattern Co. called Canasta.  I'm totally in love with it and hope to jump right in on this project next week!  Stay tuned!  

Debbie



Friday, August 2, 2013

Friday Fun

Ok, this is my second attempt to write my first blog!  haha, I just lost my first attempt.  Remind self to save work before I go moving around to add links and pictures!!  

Alright, lets begin again...its Friday, and the chores are done.  Over coffee, I've decided, while the walking foot is on my machine, to go ahead and add the binding to a wall hanging I quilted yesterday.  I'm pretty proud of it, by the way!

This is what it looks like so far:



Whoohoo!  I just added the picture...pretty cool!  Next, I'm gonna build a barn!  Lori Holt of Bee in My Bonnet came out with her new silo barn on Wednesday with a block called Egg Basket.  If you'd like to check out her Quilty Barn Along, click on this link...Bee in My Bonnet  
I've three barns so far...



I haven't decided on the colors for this next one yet...all part of the fun, and sometimes the most fun.  Obviously, I love to play with fabrics.  I've been into scrappy projects this summer, all meant to be stash busters, but it seems they are stash builders for me.  Its a good thing because they have been fabrics collected years ago and though still great fabrics, not the modern fabrics that I'm having fun using right now.  More on that later!  

This is all great fun!!  I'm so excited!  Let's hope this is saved...

Have a wonderful Friday and happy weekend!

Debbie