Patriotic Ensemble - Finale

I finished quilting my 'grande finale' piece of the patriotic ensemble and it now hangs with glory.  The design was published in The Quilter Mag a few years ago. I just used the photo as inspiration and made it to suit my own dimensions.  I really like it!

I wish you a blessed day.  Thank you for visiting!

Patriotic Ensemble - Part 2

Two more small pieces to share.  The first one is a skinny banner.  I have a special little wall I love to hang seasonal banners.  They are such fun to make.  I even got to use up a leftover roll of binding.

I needed a very small table mat, so I made up this 12 inch block.  This binding was also borrowed from my basket of leftover binding pieces.  You may notice that I lost my star points.  I didn't want to piece the Ohio Star, so I cut squares, pressed them in half on the diagonal and stitched them onto the blue background pieces. Okay, I know that is cheating, but that was my mood at the time.

One more piece of this set to quilt today. I call it the grande finale!

Patriotic Ensemble

I am working on a 5 piece ensemble to show off my patriotic decor.  I've got 4 pieces finished.  I forgot to photograph 2 of them, so that will have to be shared tomorrow.  These are all small items.

This is a buffet (table) runner. It began as a bucket list challenge on my favorite yahoo group, Cbees.  The challenge this month is seminole piecing. Fortunately, the seminole piecing I chose was large enough to account for the center of the runner.  I just had to add narrow borders.

This next piece is a 14 inch square mini quilt. It hangs on my table top wire frame.  I saw the block on the internet, re-drew it in EQ and printed the star out at 10 inches for paper piecing.

It's been a long time since I've posted, but I've been very busy.  LOL   I will be back tomorrow with a few more patriotic pieces to share.

I wish you all a blessed day.  Thank you for visiting!

Patriotic Wall Hangings

I have been working on patriotic wall hangings.  I've had to fudge from my original plans.  The border widths are not what I wanted, but in the end I had to improvise just to get them finished. I've certainly spent more effort on these pieces than they should have required.  But if you're finished,  you can move on.   (grin)

Scraphappy Saturday - Yellows

All my life, I've avoided yellows.  I never wore it because I believed I would appear washed out with my dark hair and ivory skin.  Just in the past year, I've grown attached to yellows.  Strange, is it because I've entered a new 'decade' in age? Sometimes, I think we morph into new stages of tastes; i.e. now I love neutrals, and earth tones and yellow!

But I dont have alot of yellows in my stash, though I've acquired a couple new ones this past year.  As we are working with scraps, my yellow scrap bin has enough scraps, but not alot of variety.  I have many commitments coming up and thought I should work up my yellow challenge early.  It makes me think of bright sunshine.

 My photography is also challenged.  These yellows are brighter than they appear in the photo.

Thank you for visiting.  Go visit  soscrappy  where you'll find more yellow link-ups..

Patriotic Flag - Redux

Okay, so I do have a quilters' conscience.  I knew I made a bad choice in placing the large star so that it overlapped onto the braid. Originally, I thought I might have to cut more off the top for a  proportionate appeal.  That idea didnt work out, lol,  so I unstitched the star.

Here it is, appliqued back into place.  I will still be on the lookout for the perfect ornament/button to stitch in the center of the white star.

Happy Memorial Day!  Thank you, Veterans, ALWAYS, for your service for our freedom!!  We love you.

Scraphappy Saturday - More Blues

It's hard to stay out of those scrap bins once you get into them. As this is the last Saturday for blues, I had to put them to more work.  Unfortunately, this challenge has created new projects, but what fun it is to create a project around them.

So, this past week I worked up another project in EQ7. I made 10 log cabin blocks.  My project is a creation from another photo found during google searches. Google gets me into so much trouble.  This is just a portion of the project.  Can you guess what it will be ?  Clue:  A fitting symbol for Memorial Day.

Thank you, Angela, for continuing this Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013.  It is so inspiring.  I am linking up   HERE    where you can find all the other wonderful entries.

I wish you all a safe and  HAPPY  MEMORIAL  DAY !

Patriotic Flag W.H.

Over at Cbees Club we have a bucket list.  The challenge this month is braids. A long time ago I discovered a neat USA Flag and I used the image as inspiration for my wall hanging.  After much fighting with machine and thread, it is finally finished.......just in time for Memorial Day.I will be on the lookout for a big decorative button to put in the center of the star.

May I take this opportunity to extend my gratitude to all our courageous military personnel and veterans!  I
                     THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE !

ScrapHappy Saturday - Blues

Thank goodness for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013.  It is great encouragement to work through those scrap bins, PLUS it is stress-free sewing.  How can you pass that up?  The theory is that they are scraps now and it doesn't matter what you do with them, as long as you DO SOMETHING with them!

So, to continue my scrappy stars project and more crumb blocks to be inserted as part of another block unit... which is a quilt plan for another time, I offer this current display on my design wall.  I must confess that this didn't make a dent in my blue scraps.  I might have to resort to some string blocks which translates to "stitching at high speed".

This is just my favorite monthly challenge ever!  Thank you, Angela. I will be linking up over at Soscrappy.  Be sure to visit here to see all the other participants who link up.

I wish you a blessed Happy Day.

d9p QAL - Flimsy

My D9P quilt along project is now a real flimsy as it waits in line for the backing and quilting phase. So much fabric, sew little time.

Since there were so many fabrics in the center, I thought I should tie it together with some calming border strips.  So much going on, I expected it was fun to make the border strips all from different fabrics!  I am such a traditionalist, but in this case, I'm happy with that choice.  I wish I could say I used up all my charm squares.

Here's wishing you a blessed Happy Day!

D9P QAL - Phase 2

I've made some progress.  My 9-patch blocks are re-cut and placed on my design wall.  I tampered with two layouts.  The first layout is placed with some space between 4-patch collections, so I can visualize a narrow sashing to tie them all together.

This second layout has staggered the colors in a vertical angle, like a staircase.  I think I like this one since it will be going to a child.

Now on to Phase 3.  May you have a blessed Happy Day!

D9P QAL - Phase 1

Our quilt a long started today over on Cbees yahoo group.  So, I am not a fast worker.  I managed to get twelve (12) ,  9-Patch blocks stitched.  They still need a trim, since I used all charm squares, and charm squares are NOT all created equal!  Here is my batch of blocks hanging on the design wall..  I will save the re-cutting process for tomorrow.

I think I will sash my blocks after they are cut apart and re-assembled.  I need to decide, sash with brown, black or white?  If I can't find a suitable border fabric, I'll need to stitch together some more charm squares.  But, hey, please don't make me do that.  Tomorrow,    Phase  2 .

I wish you a blessed Happy Day!

D9P - EQ7 project sharing

I am sharing my EQ7 project file with all the D9P layouts I displayed in this post: http://scrapboxquilts.blogspot.com/2013/04/d9p-show.html.  This is one of the virtual quilts from the post:

If you would like  to discover your own  d9p creations, you can download the file here:
https://www.box.com/s/xyw6nnhtym51sz0h3bbj

**You must have EQ7 software installed on your computer, in order to open this file**
**Please do not share this file with others; please refer them here to get their own copy**

So get inspired and come join us for the D9P quilt-a-long.  It starts tomorrow on Cbees yahoo group.  See you there.

D9P Show

I am hosting a Disappearing 9-Patch QAL this weekend.  It will begin on Friday. It takes place over at my favorite yahoo group, Cbees.  Actually, Cbees is a sister list of Cyberquilters.  You do have to be a member of Cyberquilters in order to join Cbees, but hey, they are both free and fabulous, so come join us.

In honor of our QAL this weekend, I thought I would display a few examples of the D9P design options.  The possibilities are really only limited to your imagination and choice of fabrics, but I hope these examples will ignite your creativity and convince you to join in our fun quilt-a-long.

These projects were created with Electric Quilt software.  No fabric yardage was harmed in the making of these quilts.

We'll start simple and work our way up. This is a quick tablerunner. It finishes at 22 x 56.

This is a 12-block straight set - a nifty lap or child quilt at 45 x 57 inches.

Now we'll get into the fancy stuff.  This quilt takes 24 blocks. That includes the setting triangle areas too. It measures 60 x 77

This pretty little number is also set on pointe and includes a little sashing.  I like the separating effect of the sashing.  This quilt measures 70 x 88 and also takes 24 d9p blocks.

And the Grand Finale ..........  a beautiful vertical row quilt. It measures 57 x 73.

So,  care to come join us in the QAL?  I will offer this D9P project file for EQ7 users, as soon as I get the file tidied up. I'll make a post announcement when it is ready.

Scraphappy Saturday - Greens

I managed to get into this months RSC13 challenge - just under the wire.  I kept it simple ......... my 16-patch star block here:

This will go with my collection - one star block every month which should finish into a very nice sized scrappy quilt.

And I made some more crumb blocks.  I must be getting desperate.....beginning to crumb pieces together to get a length long enough to continue around a side.  These blocks finish at 6 inches.  Eventually, I will insert them into other block units  for a quilt design. Ever so much fun, eh !

I have to say my green scraps are still plentiful.  After doing these blocks, I feel more comfortable in tossing out some little bits, sans guilt.  These greens are so old and dull in my stash. I'm ready for some fresh stuff.

This challenge has been a real treat for me - encouragement to dig into those bins and use it up!  I am linking up with  Angela over at  SOSCRAPPY   for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge. Make a visit to SoScrappy to see all the other great link-ups.

Road to Round Rock - Center

Phew!  I have been busy, really I have.  I've just finished assembling the center of my Road to Round Rock QOV.  This is a QAL happening over at patchworktimes.

I will be not be following Judy's plan for the finishing borders.  I have a special print fabric that I want to use as part of the border, and I didn't want the quilt to finish quite as large as Judy's plan. This is a good stopping point.  I have some other sewing commitments that will take precedence right now.

This piece is a quilt of valor commitment.  Is it safe to say ............. HAPPY  SPRING !

Wonky Revisited

While doing a bit of recycling in the closet, I came across this piece I worked on last year.  I fell in love with the pattern when it came out in Quilters World and immediately set out to make it. I even found a lovely paisley fabric perfect for the border.  I've since forgotten the name of the pattern, but mine I shall call Wonky. It was written to be a 60 inch piece. I made it in half-scale or maybe less?  It measures 24 x 28 inches.

Then I started quilting it.  I love the background but they are only 1 inch wide strips. I quilted every strip so I could secure the fused leaves at the same time. I quilted it into wonkiness and hung it away in the closet.

This weekend it got pulled out of the closet.  I still love the piece and I'm still trying to overlook it's wonkiness. So, I hand stitched down the sleeves and decided to hang it up, for awhile, anyway!

Welcome,  Spring!  It is my favorite season!

Scraphappy Saturday - Orange 3

In an effort to clear out my orange scrap bin, I was encouraged to stitch up this Autumn Rose Wreath.  This  is a 12 inch block plus borders and ALOT of work. When I started the wreath, I realized I used up most of the oranges during these past two Saturdays, so I had to incorporate alot of rusts too.  I could have raided my stash for more orange yardage, but wouldn't that defeat the purpose of clearing out your scrap bin?

You can find the free pattern for my Rose Wreath on my pattern page HERE.  I have linked up at Soscrappy where you can visit all the other link-ups with their orange creations.  Orange you glad it's Saturday!

New Attraction to an Old Tool

I've been getting re-acquainted with my Easy Angle Ruler.  It has turned out to be a very efficient tool for my half square triangles.  Why have I been keeping it idle in my toolbox?

 Here is a sampling of 24 HST blocks I  made this morning. I didn't have to draw a diagonal line down the center of a square, stitch on both sides of the line and cut in half..... and I didn't have to do more trimming down to size at the finish!  When pressed open, they were the correct size.  I checked!

I think I'm trotting off to make another batch!  See ya soon.

QAL Instr #2

So far, so good. I've managed to keep up with the quilt-a-long at patchworktimes.com.  Here is another set of 6 blocks for my "QOV"  Road to Round Rock project.

This set finishes off the outside perimeter of the design.  I guess we'll now be moving on to smaller half square triangles.  Wish me luck.  LOL