It's Rush Hour Here...

Okay, so here is my first blog hop for this year/season. I want to be sure to thank Madame Samm for another stellar idea for a hop, and Carol of Just Let Me Quilt for being such a great cheerleader. She reminds us, but never harshly. So this is my story:
I fell for the cool fabric from Studio e. I really wanted to use that, and not just any red, black, white and grey. I emailed Madame Samm as to where I might find it and after much looking, I did find it. So I bought some and I already had an idea of what to make. Here it is:

 Pillows! I thought the Dresden plate block reminded me of a clock. Rush Hour. So I decided to make a clock on a pillow. The red "hands" show the time. First, 9 o'clock for the AM rush hour.

 And I fussy cut the woman on the clock where it reads 9:00 for the center of the Dresden block. I love this!!

 I used the red numbers print for the back envelope closure of the pillow. I made my own piping in black for the edges of the pillow. Now, on to the next pillow.

 This is supposed to be the 5 PM pillow for the other rush hour. I had a few problems though. First, there was no 5 Pm clock on the print that I fussy cut the first one from.

 But there was one that was twenty minutes until 4. Okay, close enough. I decided to go with it.

 But then, see what happened as I was "rushing" to finish it? I put the thing on upside down. With fusible web. And top stitching. Permanent.

 I screamed and yelled and cursed. I showed my husband who said "What's the problem? That's what rush hour does to people." And I decided to just leave it and share it this way and tell you what he said. Because he's right.

Hope you have enjoyed your visit here. Now hop along to see the rest of today's participants.

The Quilting Queen Online
Quilting Quietly
Vicky Myers Creations
Grammie Q’s-you are hereFrom This to That
Quilted Delights
Sew at Home Mummy

 

WIP Wednesday

So this week, in addition to quilting on my Belle Waves quilt, I am trying to make some progress on the quilt for J. I was really letting it languish and yesterday I pulled it out and started it with renewed vigor.

 I marked and pinned and began sewing all the HSTs for the star points for the quilt. Originally I thought I would piece each block seperately, but that wasn't getting much done, so assembly line, here I come.

 I managed to get quite a few done yesterday while I chatted on the phone with my sister in California.

 And here are the two blocks that I had already finished, waiting for the other 10 blocks.

 I set myself up a little work station for my Grandma Ruby's featherweight so it could be my piecing station when I am in the middle of quilting a quilt on my Bernina. It really works out well.

Here's to progress. Linking up with Lee at Freshly pieced.

A New Quilt Started

As if I needed another quilt start. But, I have had some yardage of Lizzy House's Catnap line for quite some time. Always in the back of my head it sat. I was trying to find the perfect quilt design to show off those great prints. I never could get one I really liked, until now.  I saw a quilt the other day that had a kind of motion to it. It inspired me to sketch this:

It will look woven when it's done and there is some partial seem sewing to it. But the end result should show off the fabric nicely, which was my goal.

So I cut out a bunch of pieces. I have no idea how many blocks I will make. They finish at about 12 inches and I would like a nice size throw for my Cat naps on the couch. Here is the first block:

I think I like it. I am going to have to sew carefully on this so the strips match up. I might even have to use pins (eek!) And guess what else?
I am finally quilting this:

This is my Belle Waves quilt made with Squared Elements and the lovely flower print from Art Gallery fabrics. It is Essentials by Pat Bravo. Have a great day! See you soon.

Another Friday Finish

Seems like I am just humming along here lately. For so long I was working on things and now, I am getting things completed one after another. Here is today's finish:

 This quilt was not long in the making. My daughter bought this orange fabric several years ago and wanted me to make a quilt for her. Well it sat in my sewing room for all that time, until a few weeks ago when I pulled it out and said "let's get this done!"

 She shopped my stash for the blue and green fabrics for the accent stripes and the backing. The quilt design was chosen to match a quilt she had gotten from a friend a number of years ago Her friend was an art student and had spent some time studying with Denyse Schmidt. That quilt was so striking to me that I thought of it as the best way to use this orang fabric.

 An all over quilting pattern of swirls in a deep blue green Isacord set it off beautifully. I almost used the rest of the spool for all these swirls.

 And for the back, she chose this Amy Butler Alchemy print which we added a bit too. Sorry I can't remember the name of the purple dandelion print.

 She hasn't seen it yet, but after she picked the back, I had to add this green strip to get the length. It is from a Sweetwater line. The binding is more of the blues and greens pieced together.

 This will make for a cozy, colorful throw for the couch for this winter. Both sides I think are equally beautiful.

Have a great weekend. Linking up with Crazy Mom for Finish it Friday. This week's other finish is here. Take a look.

Wip Wednesday

Every time I make a finish, it spurs me on to keep working on those WIPs. Here is what is on my machine right now.

 A couch throw quilt for number 1 daughter. She bought this orange years ago for me to make a quilt, then recently selected the blues and greens from my stash for the stripes. It was quick piecing.

 And sew now I am doing all over swirls. I will show you the back when I get it finished. She picked that out from my stash too. Love using the stash.

 These wonderful pieces of Jungle Avenue were a win from a giveaway. Great colors.

Have a great rest of your week. Linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Fall Wedding Quilt Finished

Finally got around to finishing and photographing the Fall Wedding Quilt for my daughter and her husband. They had planned to be married this October, but circumstances made that not work out, so they went to the courthouse last February and tied the knot there. Fall is her favorite season and she wanted a quilt that would really bring that out. So without further ado, here it is:

 This first shot is so funny. My hubby is standing on the picnic table and is still not big enough for this queen size beauty.

 So we laid it down on the grass.

 This is Aria Lane's Concerto pattern. I made one change to the original by adding a fourth color to the squares on the left side.

 Here you can get a glimpse of the beautiful quilting. I have a wonderful long arm quilter here locally and whenever I have a large quilt, I take it to her. Suzan did a wonderful job helping me to select this all over pattern to give the feel of blowing leaves. Her studio is called Singing Stitches and they certainly do sing!

 The back was a fabric I chanced upon during Christa Quilts sale when she was closing her on-line shop. I think I paid $4 a yard for 5 yards!

 I threw it on my bed here. Fits pretty good!

 A close up of the quilting here. She used a variegated thread on the top, which was just perfect.

So, here it is my darling daughter. I hope you and T enjoy it for years and years together. Happy wedding!

Sunday Stash #28

No fabric to show this week, but I did get something sewing related. I joined a Massdrop for some lovely Gingher scissors and they arrived this week.

 The original drop was for 3 pair, but it was later reduced to just 2 pair, still a great bargain in my book. We were given the choice of opting out for a full refund, but I really wanted and needed some good scissors.

 This is what came. A pair of 5 inch scissors and a pair of 8 inch dressmakers shears, both with a sheath to protect the blades.

And the handles are the cool part. This is the Eve designer series. I love them but have not yet cut anything with them.  I know they will get lots of use. Linking up to Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash.

A Quilt is Not a Weapon!

So says my daughter upon my giving V and B their new quilts, which they we quite delighted to receive. I loved that line so much, I just had to share it and these three quick pics I took with my phone:

They seem to be pretty happy to have them. It makes this Grammie's heart happy.