My Tammy for Fall

I chose the fall Tammy, since fall is my favorite season. I am so happy that I did. I love all the rest of the wonderful designs, but the fall...mmmmmm. This is my very first Tammy ever and I love it! It will not be the last.

 I made my Pinny first. I had a bit of a struggle with it, just me, interpreting directions, I think. But finally it came together.

 I decided not to attach it to the Tammy bag. I kind of like it separate. It was fun to embroider again.

 Love the sweet little pocket on the back of the pinny. All that orange is so autumn-like to me.

 I am especially happy with the way the handle came out on my Tammy. Such neat stitches! I really struggled with this making coin purses in our other hop. Maybe they were just too small. I may attach something to the two handle loops later.

 Look how much room there is inside! I elected to not put any pockets on the inside. I probably will in the future Tammy bags I am planning. My confidence is higher now.

 I do love the pockets on the back. I can see how cute it would be to have pockets both front and back, but with the stitching, you can't do that on this one.

 Here is my bright orange inside! This is Art Gallery Fabrics Elements line and perfect for this.

 I was finally able to get outside for a few pictures and the natural light makes all the difference. The colors are just so much better here.

 Don't you just love the cute vintage stitchery here? This was a great pattern to stitch.

 Pearl Bracelets has so many colors, and this orange is so vivid and crisp. Just like a bright autumn day.

 See here that the ruffle on my pinny matches the edging on the Tammy pocket.

 A clouple of close ups of the stitching.  Again, just a delightful design.

And now, the list of thank yous: Madame Samm, as always, choosing a winning design for us to stitch and sew. Mary, never was there a better cheerleader. She was on top of things every step of the way. Brooke Nolan, what can I say? Your designs are amazing. What a talent you have. Cori, your sweet pinnies with the wonderful applique and stitching are a delight. Now, if you are ready to see more of these wonderful creations, here is a list of the other wonderful ladies with whom I share my day:

January 12, 2015

Living with Purpose

Grammie Q's

Stitchin By the Lake

Ipiece2-Mary

Just Let Me Quilt

 

Go and enjoy and show those ladies some love too.

Fabulous Friday Finish

I accidentally deleted this post after I had scheduled it to post today, so now I am rewriting. I hope I can convey the sentiments the same in this version as in the previous. I will try. I have been very excited to share this finish with you. I wanted to make a special something for a special friend of mine. I was sitting in my chair and looked down at my lap and saw my picnic quilt. Then it hit me...a mini picnic quilt!

 Here is the original quilt that I made for a blog hop on Sew We Quilt. I made my own gingham in reds and white low, medium and high volume. It has a black and white strip binding. This is my new favorite quilt for evening relaxing with my hubby. (who are we kidding? I seldom relax)

 Here is the original quilt with the mini. The original is about 50 or so inches square. The mini is about 12-13 inches square.  I could not use all the scraps left from the original because cutting them smaller changed the value of the fabrics sometimes.

 I even found a black and white sort of stripe to use for the binding on it. This was meant to be!! They are so cute together.

 Here is the original folded up next to the mini. I still can't get over the way they look together. I took tons of pictures.

 Here is the back of the mini. I used a birds on a wire print from Sweetwater's Wishes collection I think. Definitely Sweetwater at any rate. Not much of that left in the stash.

 And here is the mini, all rolled up and ready to go on a picnic of its own. How cute is this!!

Happy Friday to you all and I hope you have a great weekend doing wonderful holiday things with your loved ones. I know I will.

Post Number 385

I had great hopes of hitting number 400 this year, and I was on track until just recently. Life has started getting in the way of my blogging. Sometimes, I have nothing to blog about. Sometimes, I just don't feel like blogging. That is the first time that has happened to me. So, here I am, still 15 posts away from 400 and only 14 days until Christmas. Not gonna happen.
So here is what I have and can share with you, during this season of surprises that cannot be shared yet:

 I am in the holiday mood, thanks in part to these pretty fabrics. I bought this bundle from Fort Worth Fabrics. I am in love with red and white right now.

 This was the print that sealed the deal for me. So cute! I can't wait to figure out what to make with it.

 I found this on crazy black Friday weekend shopping on line. I got the last of it from Fat Quarter shop. I bought two yards.

 And this too.

 And this. I recently discovered a distinct lack of reds and pinks in my stash. I am out to fix that.

 I got this cross stitch pattern for the January blog hop at Sew We Quilt. Still a few spots open if you are interested.

And from Craftsy, these two great rolls of Riley Blake goodies. Lots to do. Hope to talk to you soon.

Monday Musings

So, this is my 376th post. Closing in on 400. I set myself a goal this year to post more often, and I have done that. I pushed myself to post with some of the weekly link ups, as a way to keep myself going. Sunday Stash, Wednesday WIP, Friday Finish, Sewjo Saturday. That, right there is 4 posts per week, and many weeks, I made it. Some weeks, I did not and some weeks I did other posts. I did some blog hops with Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt. Why did I do this, you might ask.

Well, a couple of reasons. One, having deadlines, for me, keeps me motivated and moving forward through my many projects. Two, when you link up, it brings more traffic to your blog. I wanted to increase my readership. I love showing what I do.

 I entered contests and blog hops to get further exposure. I enjoyed showing my creations, but I also found that this pushed me to try things I might not have tried.

 I finished quilting a couple of quilt tops that I had hanging around for years, and I was delighted to finally have them finished and put into use.

 I made a few larger quilts and some I quilted and some I sent out to be quilted. I found the best local woman and her husband who do long arm quilting.

 I made quilts from patterns in books that I received for Christmas. I love a good quilt book, but if I don't make at least a couple of things from it, it is a waste. I do have one book like that, but maybe this next year I can get into it.

 I found great joy in using up some of my stash and actually did not buy any fabric for the first few months of the year. It is tough. There is so much beauty out there. But this pushed my creativity too, so I did like it.

 I made more baby quilts this year than ever. It is a great size and goes pretty fast. I have one more coming up. This is one of those deadline things I mentioned earlier.

 I used on line patterns that I found and fell in love with. Some stash that had been waiting for that elusive "perfect" project actually found it. We know that doesn't always happen.

 And I found fabric that just cried out for a made by me pattern so out came the graph paper and the colored pencils.

And I pushed myself to make a quilt or two with lots of pieces. I usually don't have enough patience for that.
So, where am I going with all this rambling reflection? I am trying to decide the direction for me in the next year. I will definitely keep on in the same vein that I am currently in. I want to make so many things. I still love to share here and show lots of pictures. I hope to use some of the weekly link up parties and some blog hops to keep me moving forward, but I am not going to beat myself up if I miss some. The goal of more posts this year has been successful. Deep Breath. I want to keep the joy that is quilting and drop a bit of the stress that is too many deadlines. Not sure I can do it. I am a real type A and driven. My husband knows I cannot sit still without a project in my hands for very long. Thanks for reading and thanks for following my journey. More to come.

My Perfect Picnic

Okay, I took way to many pictures and it's hard to cull some out. So I am including lots here. Consider yourself warned. This is what I started with:

A picnic quilt, to me, needs to be red and white. I sorted by saturation of color and drew it out before I began. That is a first for me. Here is what I ended up with:

I wanted gingham, but I had none. So I used only fabrics from my stash. Didn't buy a thing. And I. Love. It.  I even had the perfect backing fabric in my stash:

So I used it.  And my perfect picnic quilt is also perfect for the beach, which is where it got it's first test run.

 Mr. GQ and I went to the beach to participate in a race on our anniversary weekend in mid-May.

 We took the quilt and the picnic basket, which is soooo awesome, with us. It made the perfect little table between our beach chairs and a perfect place to stash food an beverages out of the sand and sun.

 And the backing being a beach print was serendipity. I loved every minute of it and said so often.

Mr. GQ agreed with me. It was perfect.  Now, it was time for the next test, an actual picnic.  We picnic in our yard or on our deck.  That is where we set up and you will see why.

 This is my favorite planter in the deck area. I can't seem to capture the beauty with my camera, but those flowers are so blue!

                           These little guys come around often.

                                 Pretty...

                         More pretty...

                           And here is our picnic...

 We love snack style picnic meals in the summer. Cheese, sausage, wine, fresh fruits...

                          More pretty...

             Best purchase ever...thanks Madame Samm...

 So cheers! We listen to Pandora with some of our favorite music; sometimes lite jazz, sometimes Frank Sinatra and other great stuff our parents listened to...

 Relax and enjoy. You don't have to travel far to do this. And clean up is easy. We can spend the day, or the evening after a long work week.

          The black and white stripes made a perfect binding to capture all the red and white.

                            Here is the back and front together...

 And this is the view from my deck, so you can see why it is our favorite place to be. It took a long time to get it this way.

So now, I bid you adieu...go and visit all the other wonderful picnics taking place.  I must thank Mary for a wonderful job as our head cheerleader on this one, and Madame Samm, I can't thank you enough for coming up with such an exciting and fresh idea for a hop. I have loved every minute of this one and will continue to enjoy it for a lifetime, with my quilt and my picnic basket. Here are the wonderful quilters I share my day with:
Monday June 2

Sew Incredibly Crazy
How Art You?
The Reluctant Quilter at Hazelnut Deux
GrammieQ's-you are here
I Piece 2 -Mary
Pig Tales and Quilts