Almost April

So a few things from here, as I prepare for the big move. This is my 493rd blog post. So close to 500! I think, even though it has been a long time since I have done a giveaway, I think I might need to have one for that 500th post. So as I finish moving, I will be thinking on what the prize should be.

Grey here this morning, but at least the weather has moderated into spring temps. That roller coaster the last few weeks was rough! No rain today, but plenty tomorrow. Which will be great to wash all that yucky yellow pollen out of the air. The only bad thing about spring in NC is the pine tree pollen.

Packing is almost all done. Address changes have almost all been filed. Just a few details remain and in less than one week, all my worldly goods will be headed west. Wow!

So, since this is a quilty blog, I feel the need for some quilty pictures. Back into the archives we go:

Some old, some newer, all loved and used. I sometimes feel amazed at the quilts I have made. Well, I will sign off for now. I am not sure if this is the last post from here. I still have my computer until Tuesday morning. It will be one of the last things packed. Have a great weekend.

Two Weeks Left

I have two weeks left, living in my home of 23+ years. I alternate between excitement at this new adventure in my life, and sadness at leaving what I have come to know and love in this place. The sewing room is all packed up now, even the machines.

Amanda Jean has been working on reducing the number of WIPs in her studio, so I thought I would see what I have that needs a finish. I plan to work on these things as soon as I am set up on the left coast. And just so we're clear, I will also start a few new projects too. The ideas are coming on fast and strong. Change of venue might be the best thing my creativity has had in years.

 First of course, my Penny Sampler. I will be in transit without my supplies for the first half of April, but am excited to see what the month's assignment will be.

 A small quilt to play with circles. This one just needs quilting. I am thinking of some very dense quilting for this, just to play and practice.

 This sweet plus quilt is so cute. It also is a finished top that needs quilting. I will need to figure out how to quilt it once I pull it out again.

 This small quilt is for my middle daughter. She had requested some small wall hanging quilts for her home. I have a whole box of fabrics that she picked out to make them with and a Pinterest board full of ideas. I need to decide how to quilt this one.

 This is my clambake quilt. I started this when I was home fighting cancer. I had cut out all the clams in one week, and began sewing. As fatigue set in, I lost the energy and the desire to work on it. I have since added many rows, but still more to go. My youngest daughter has asked for this one when it is done. It is a quilt as you go project, done with Rachel of Stitched In Color. Clearly some of my clam shells are not as smoothly rounded as others, but...practice, practice, practice.

 This is one I made to use up a jelly roll I had won a few years back. I love how it turned out. It is also for my youngest. It just needs quilting and binding. I think maybe a curved quilting design.

 This big thing is one I started about 15 years ago. I picked out all the hand quilting and need to add the last rows and machine quilt it. My skills have improved since I started this, so finishing it may be a challenge since the seams are not all flat on the stars. I really want to finish this, my oldest WIP.

 This is the small wall quilt made from Amy Gibson's Quilt Block Cookbook. It also just needs quilting. I haven't quite figured out the quilting yet. Maybe some stitch in the ditch and a bit of fancy work in the white space.

 And here is the very last quilt block sewn in my North Carolina sewing room home. The last of the ittty bitty blocks. This one was pretty tough. You can tell I put the top together wrong and had to rip it and re-sew it. These tiny blocks are truly skill builders. Patience and precision.

And here they are, all together. Some I love, and might make a few more of those. Some, not so much. Thanks for being here and hanging out. The sewing room will open up on the left coast as soon as all my stuff gets there. I hope to see you there.

Miscellaneous Mish Mash

Not much sewing going on these days. My life seems to consist of packing, cleaning, house stuff and saying goodbye to people.  We get on a plane in less than 3 weeks. There is so much to be done here still, but most of my sewing room is packed up, except for my machine.

I know that yesterday was National Quilting Day, so I did try to participate to the best of my ability, given the state of my sewing supplies. This is what I was able to do:

This is the fourth teeny tiny quilt block. Oh, maybe I forgot to show you the third one. Okay...

I made this one last week. It feels like this tiny bit of stitching is keeping me hanging on to my crafting by a thread. I am planning to take a few books with met, so I can stay connected to quilting while I am out of touch with my machine and fabrics during the move.

Have a happy Sunday and now I am off to bake some scones. My kitchen isn't packed at all yet. Yay!
Talk to you soon.

Moving Right Along

As moving day gets closer, there are so many things that need to be done. You know how it can be tough to create when your sewing space is particularly messy and you have to clean it up before you can get anything done? I feel like that is where I am right now. Except I am having to pack my fabrics and my books and tools, so as I empty out my sewing room, I don't have anything to create with. My original plan was to save a small cache of things to work with, but that has proven hard to do.

 These are pictures of my Penny Sampler Quilt that I am making in the 12 month plan with Rachel from Stitch In Color. I was able to get all the March parts done.

 I found that I am loving the sketch style of applique and I would love to do a quilt with just that some day. Also new to me is using basting glue. A handy little tool to avoid using pins.

 I had all of the components that I have made so far up on the design wall, so I took a bunch of pictures before I took it all down, for reference when I put it back up in California.

 Placement is approximate. Still too many elements missing to get it exact just yet.

 Having it up on the wall like this allows me the ability to audition colors before I cut and sew.

I think this bright green is one of my favorite parts. My goal is to get things set up on the west coast in time to work on April's assignment before the end of April. That is why I chose the 12 month instead of the 6 month.

 The trees are the last of the March blocks. I loved the way these turned out. So far I have enjoyed every section of this quilt making process and i am learning new things, and that was the goal.

 These boxes are full of fabric. Seems like a lot, I know. But I actually have more boxes I already packed with fabric. Do you think I have a problem? Ha!

 This is the storage for my larger scraps. This thing hasn't been empty in at least 15 years!

 All the books and such are packed now too. I donated about 75% of my quilting books. I was just not using the older ones. I hope someone else is loving them now.

And lastly, the one bit of sewing I made the time for is another tiny block. It finishes at 2 inches. It may become a pin cushion in the future. I hope to talk to you soon. Maybe one more time from the east coast. Have a lovely Tuesday.

And Now it's Monday

Life has been crazy here lately. Packing and showing and selling the house. We are now in the final stretch and soon I will have to pack up my sewing room. I am trying to leave a couple of projects out until the last minute so I can sew. I need a few minutes of that now and then or I will go crazy. I'm sure you know how I feel, right?

Last week I made this teeny tiny two inch block. Quilt Shop Gal has a thing going on and you can go there and follow the link to get the patterns. They are free and oh so fun. It is to help you work on precision piecing. This makes me want to make more.

 I also was able to finish another project. The sweet little words so sparsely sprinkled on the fabric melted my heart. I have been wanting to make something out of it for awhile now.

 It finished at about 36 x 40 inches. For the binding I used a blue Kona solid I happened to have on hand. I wanted a frame for all that softness and I think it makes the small blue flowers pop out a bit more.

 Sorry we're sideways here. I forgot to reorient the picture first before I posted it. I quilted it in a heart loop de loop on the horizontal.

 Here we go right side up. The hearts were made for Cluck Cluck Sew heart pattern. It's super easy and fun to make bunches of hearts. I am not done with that one yet. Still making more hearts for another project.

                           More words...

When my husband saw these words he came up with the name for this quilt..."The Accidental Princess Bride". And so it is.

 I used a yard of Amy Butler Gypsy Caravan for the back. I love the print by I have never been able to work it into another project.

               It's pretty here.

And then I made another one of those tiny two inch blocks. So precious. Have a great Monday and I hope to talk to you again soon before the big move.

Happy March!

I know it's not officially spring yet, but to me, March is the beginning of spring. It's been unseasonably warm in February here, so things are blooming!

These are all in my yard and there are lots more. Next up will be the azaleas and the dogwoods. But this weekend we are having a couple of nights of hard freeze. So we shall see.

 We went to Asheville a couple of weeks ago and of course went to a small, well not so small, quilt shop. 9000 bolts plus sewing machines. This is what I found. These are by Jane Dixon from 2014. I was able to find them on line as the selvedge doesn't give much information. It was called Daisy Splash and made by Andover.

 These two were also Andover from 2015 but I could not find them anywhere on line so I don't know the name or anything else. If you know, please comment and share the info. I am curious.

These two were easy and more recent. On the left is Pacific by Elizabeth Hartman and on the right is Nicey Jane by Heather Bailey. Love them both!

Gotta run...off to work. But I have more to share, so I will be back tomorrow. Happy Sunday.