Free BOMs

There are so many wonderful free Block-of the-Month programs to join. I've printed up instructions before but this year I'm jumping in and doing a few. One that I'm taking on is from Shannon at Pieceful Kwilter. She is using batiks and that was all it took to make it irresistible for me. I've started pulling fabrics from my stash but I think a search for more purples and teal blues is in order...I'd like to do a purple and green quilt.

The fabric on the far right is my inspiration piece.

The second BOM I want to tackle starts today...it's Anne Sutton's from Bunny Hill Designs. I always love her quilts but have never made one. I think it's about time. She is combining patchwork with applique and telling a story about Henrietta Squirrel. So adorable. She is using wool for the applique on cotton blocks. I just might have to try the wool...another first for me since I have issues with combining different fabrics. Cottons stay with cottons, wool stays with wool and batiks stay with batiks. I know...silly me to set up these meaningless parameters.

And there is one more BOM I'm looking at from Nancy Rink Designs. She is commemorating the Civil War. I'm not a fan of reproduction fabrics so I am a little stumped as to what fabric I would use. I might even do one of her previous BOM designs instead but I'll definitely print this one up just in case...

Cross Stitch Finish

I finished a little Christmas ornament. This is "Frosty Santa." He is one of three Woodland Santas in a Mill Hill kit yearly series. The designer is Sandy Cozzolino. I covet her Santa designs. Mill Hill releases a new series of ornaments from her every year. I am only three years behind! But that doesn't include the other kits I have of her older releases which I picked up through Ebay that were produced by Janlynn, Bucilla and Astor Place. Collecting these ornaments is an ongoing hobby. These projects are very portable - great for travel.

I sewed my finger on Sunday. Needle straight through my nail and out the other side. Hubby had to get the pliers  to pull it out. Didn't hurt at all. Barely bled. After my husband pulled the needle out I thought I should have gotten a photo for the blog...you probably didn't want to see that. (I did soak it in some ice water immediately and drank two beers.)

Back to Frosty Santa. He is stitched on perforated paper which I will back with green wool felt. He's about five inches tall.

 I suppose you have your Christmas decorations down and put away...I haven't even thought about that...we like the festive lights to stay on a little longer when we are in the peak dark hours of winter. We had a wonderful layer of snow on everything...about 3 feet on the ground. Then we hit a warm spell. It's been above freezing for several days. So frustrating. Now we have a layer of ice on the ground and no snow on the trees. So DARK. It's supposed to get cold and snow again by the weekend. Can't wait!

Design Wall Monday

This is my #6 UFO

I spent Saturday and Sunday doing a machine blanket stitch around all the raw edges. This is a kit given to me by my mother-in-law...so cute. Can't remember how many years ago I got it but all I have left is quilting and binding.

My design wall holds step one of a Debbie Caffrey mystery

Check out Judy's players in Design Wall Monday.

Dog Walking

Nap time is over. 

Mom - don't forget to walk us. You've done enough sewing!

Layer Cake Quilt Along Update

I am also participating in Moose on the Porch Quilts Layer Cake Quilt Along.

 We are on our 5th block already. I stayed totally in my comfort zone using a layer cake from Tonga Treats - Coffee Cake. Blues and browns are safe although batiks for a sampler is a little challenge...batiks can lack contrast. Here are the previous 4 blocks.

This is one of those rare occasions when the contrast of the fabrics in the photos looks crisper than the real thing...go figure. This will make a smashing throw for the great room.

If you haven't joined...think about it. It is going very quick and the blocks have all been pretty easy! They finish at 12" so you'll make a nice size quilt out of 12. 

January's UFO Challenge

I have an easy UFO project - Good Tidings Banner. It needs top stitching, quilting and binding.

I will use a blanket stitch by machine to top stitch. I have everything but brown thread for the tree base. Since it is so small I may quilt it on my Bernina with the BSR foot. 

If you haven't hear of  Judy's Patchwork Times UFO Challenge you might want to check it out and join. Just think - if I got one UFO done a month...that would be amazing.

A New Year

It's always exciting to start a new year. I have so many projects planned. I'm hoping this blog will help keep me on track without keeping me at the computer too much.

As promised - a look at some of the show and tell from the monthly Breakfast Club meeting. First a little background. A quilt is selected every month as our project but often one or more ladies will decided to work on something else. November's project was Kitchen Sink from Scrap-Basket Surprises. The goal was to use fabrics folks already had...no new purchases.  (My photos are not the best...practice makes perfect.)

This is Gina's Kitchen Sink. She used some fabrics collected many years ago that she wasn't as fond of anymore.  A nice warm feeling to this quilt.

This is Carol's Kitchen Sink made with Thimbleberries. I bet some of those fabrics look familiar to a lot of folks.

Next up are two quilts from Bobbie who works at a school so we don't see her as often as we'd like.

Show and tell goes so fast I am really glad to get another look at this wall hanging. 

And here is Bobbie's Scrap-Basket Blues, another great design from Scrap-Basket Surprises. I believe Bobbie is planning to put a blue border on from her stash. I think all this was from her stash...she said she even has fabric stored at a friend's house because she ran out of space in her sewing room. I never thought of that!

Next, two quilts from Midge. First is Autumn Braid from September's class. It's a Cozy Strip Club pattern. I didn't tackle that project but I think they made one long braid and cut it to the sizes needed for the windows. 

Love that background fabric. Midge's second quilt is an individual project. (Things to learn for future blog postings...take close-up photos to show the quilting.)  Midge hand-quilted this entire quilt and is just finishing up the binding. I don't think there was more than 1/2'' of open space. Amazing. My hand hurts just thinking about it.

And finally my spin on Bali Sea Stars. 

We got a great start on our Debbie Caffrey Mystery. Just to add to my subject matter for postings I'll share the steps for that as I complete them. I'm very close to having step one done.