April Breakfast Club Show and Tell

I've got my afternoon coffee and cookies ready as I put this post together. Hope you enjoy! 

First...a few miscellaneous projects. Two runners that were supposed to be "quilt-as-you-go." The technique in this case was just too bulky were the smaller sections converged. Rhona is our resident "pattern tester." If she says it didn't work...it didn't!

Super-quick runner that is perfect for those special themed fabrics.

Two of the ladies brought in their January mystery quilts. This was Gail's first time sharing a completed top from one of our Breakfast Club patterns. She added side panels of fabric for drops on a queen bed.

Here's Norma's mystery back from the quilters...bound and ready to go!

The backside...very pretty!

March's Breakfast Club (BC) pattern, Hunter's Star. I think this fabric line is called Black Tie Affair. Very elegant.

Look at this...Gail's second BC project for show and tell...she's on a roll! I have to share one more bit of history I have with Gail. Her daughter adopted my Bernese Mountain Dogs when we moved to Paris. I met her years ago in Breakfast Club...then she stopped coming for a while. I met her daughter at my vet because she is a vet tech. Funny how things work out sometimes! Gail and I are back to attending BC regularly. Jenny and Tonks are doing great....though Jenny did have a recent cancer scare but doing well right now.

Kathy's Hunter's Star is ready for quilting. She changed the number of blocks on hers...I think everyone did!

Barb's Hunter's Star is in the same Bali layer cake that I used. So fun to see it with her awesome pink background. This is what I love most about BC projects....seeing everyone else's interpretation with their fabric choices and pattern changes!

And my version. I pulled 10 layer cakes from this colorway out of the mix because they were too light to work with my background. Barb used a lot of those in her top since she had the darker background. I also had a set of the 2 1/2 strips in this colorway...Seaholly. I knew from the start I was going to do this border. Love it! Hunter's Star was on my bucket list so it is great this was a BC project.

And April's BC pattern, " Himalayan Pink." Uses a 60-degree ruler. This is Joyce's version that she finished in class. She had it to the point of laying it out when class started.

Which is where I am at now with mine.

My cookies and coffee are done...ready to tackle that layout on the design wall.

A Little of Everything

The last two mornings I have had to wait for a moose to cross the road when driving into town for my morning workout. This morning I had my camera ready and sure enough I had to stop for a moose...again! Moose have a very high opinion of themselves...they expect the world to make way for them...not even a quicker step when they see your car. 

Everything finally came together for quilting to commence on my midarm. Loving it. 

I am so close to finishing the Hunter's Star quilt...that's good because Breakfast Club is just a few days away...sure would like to share this at show and tell. One more section of the border to add to all the sides.

Stitching away on a stocking and starting two companion ornaments.

Sunset a couple of nights ago. When I walked into our great room with our picture windows of this view I was momentarily terrified I was seeing a forest fire. Our winter was so mild...not much moisture in the area. I'm sure Alaska will have many fires this summer...we had some bad ones last summer.

It was a spectacular sunset...about  9:15 p.m. Loving our longer days!!!

Blocks Becoming Rows

I am actually still putting together the blocks...but I'm doing that as I put the rows together.

Lots of points to deal with so going slowly for accuracy.

Friday Finish

I love having a Friday Finish...that just doesn't happen often enough!

This is a quilt of my own design. "Sparklers." It is about 85-inches square.

Not my usual colors. It is my goal to have it quilted by the Fourth of July...2016!

I have also been repairing some of my older Bucilla stockings. I had to replace the linings of 13, on which I had used an adhesive backed felt. I had no idea when I started making these stockings more than 20 years ago that I would get addicted to them and keep adding to the stash.

I will now try and finish the March Breakfast Club quilt which is a Hunter Star from a version designed by the Missouri Star Quilting Company. The most tedious part so far is trimming all the half square triangles. Very easy to sew the HSTs together incorrectly. I've done it twice already and have only finished two blocks.

I'm super excited about April's Breakfast Club project called "Himalayan Pink." It's a fat quarter pattern and I knew instantly I had a set of Moda fat quarters that had been aging just long enough to be perfect for this pattern.

I think it is fabric line called "Dragonfly Summer." I actually bought half yard cuts...I guess I really liked these fabrics! I tried several times to come up with a pattern of my own but never got there. My main design challenge was working with a line of basically medium values. Everything looked mushy together...I think it won't be a problem with this design as some mushiness in the colors seems to enhance this design. And it is a super simple construction method. We get to use a 60-degree ruler which I already own. 

And I am still working on "Spring Cleaning." My sewing room got a good cleaning last week...though I do see some areas of dust I missed as I write this. Cleaning never ends...

Show and Tell

I can't believe it has been over a week since the gathering of Breakfast Club in March. 

We had a full classroom so lots of great show and tell!

In December and January we did a mystery quilt from Debbie Caffrey. Tops were completed by three more ladies and one brought in her quilt completely finished!  

I think this was a pattern from October's Breakfast Club, "Strip Lash." Two of the ladies brought in their completed quilts.

And February's project was the apron!!!

 One of my favorite projects. Two more ladies finished theirs.

The pattern for March...Hunter's Star. Here's the class sample.

Fun unrelated quilt projects! A baby quilt with 3D ears on the elephants.

The backside of the elephant quilt.

A stunning quilt...the maker didn't know the pattern source right off hand so we are hoping to get that info at April's Breakfast Club.

A fun mini quilt.

A work in progess. The maker was tossing around border ideas.

Too many projects to work on...no more chatting!

Just Off the Quilting Frame

I've been busy on my quilting machine. My goal is to get one top quilted every month. This looks a lot like what I did last month. I had a layer cake of Tidepool from Hoffman and made it into this pattern called Paris Cafe.

I am always working on a Christmas felt kit. Finally finished this stocking that I started in Paris right before I left last April. Christmas Puppet Show.

And a stocking that needed repair, Holiday Hill. I used to line these stocking fronts with an adhesive backed felt. Very bad idea! I have 13 stockings that were affected by that bad idea and I have been working to get that bad felt removed and replaced.

And of course, I must always be starting a new kit. This is a kit that I get lots of questions about so I decided it was a good one to make. I have so many adorable kits that it is hard for me to pick one.

Not much time for computer activities. Spring cleaning has commenced along with all my quilting and embroidery projects.

An update on my quilt show entry to Paducah...didn't make it this year but I am going to keep trying. 

Organizing....

After I finished that adorable apron last week...I was able to take the scraps and make this sewing station caddy. The Breakfast Club crowd made these in a class not so long ago...but I wasn't ready to commit. Now I know I was just waiting for the right fabric to inspire me.

 

The pattern is from a 2015 Better Homes and Garden special issue, "Christmas Gifts and More." The pattern calls for pockets on both sides...I didn't have enough scraps of the fabrics to make that happen. No worries...it is the side my sewing machine can sit on anyway when I take it to class.

Perfect little pockets and a bigger pouch for my 6 1/2 x 12 1/2" long ruler that is one of my favorites for taking to classes.

Yes...now it all makes sense. The lime green coordinates with my sewing machine tote and my matching class supply bag.

I'm marking another quilt top...simple but tedious. If my hopping foot was centered accurately I wouldn't have to do so much marking. I have spent hours trying to fix that problem but never get anywhere...so marking straight lines when I need them reasonably even will be a necessary evil with these kinds of designs. I must go with some free-form designs on the next project. Feathers are so much easier...probably part of the reason we quilters love to quilt them so often!

I really need to get back to this project. Two hours of cutting...eight blocks.

I have lots of fun activities to attend starting this weekend...Alaskan unique!