To and From

My manners are slipping. I should have posted a big thank you to Sandi. I won her give away and just now got around to taking a picture. Aren't the green fabrics great! And the little bear is so cute. Be sure to visit her blogs at http://teastitches.blogspot.com/ and http://alegacyofstitches.blogspot.com/. I'm sure you'll enjoy both.

I mentioned in my last blog that I was making a small quilt for the guild to auction at the fall quilt show. This is it. It is 17.5"x17.5" The fabrics were all from my stash and the buttons are old. I wanted to make it look scrappy. The idea came from a book, Little Quilts all through the House.

I'm all packed up for the guild meeting tomorrow...fat quarter for the fat quarter raffle, mini quilt to donate, Secret Sister gift, and the basket, dish, and napkin someone left at the last meeting. Guess I'm ready. This is going to be a busy week...guild Monday, new patio construction to begin on Tuesday, meeting here Wednesday morning, work two days ...hope I find time to quilt!

Bindings redeemed

After my last wallhanging I thought I had lost the ability to do decent bindings and mitered corners. This time it worked! I finished the sailboat wallhanging (Stashbuster 2) and have it hanging. Now I am ready to continue working on the dresden plate vintage block!

What was I thinking?

Yesterday morning I took a good look at the photo of the orphan square (churn dash) wallhanging that I posted on Tuesday...the binding looks terrible! Did you ever have that feeling all along that the project wasn't going right? The plaid fabric design didn't match the grain lines so I couldn't get the binding to cut right. Then when I was putting it on it wasn't sewing well. But I just kept going. I knew better but I kept dreaming that it would magically look ok.

So yesterday, I took the hanging from the wall and ripped off the old binding. I searched through my stash to try to find a green that would go just right and still with the other fabrics...I was lucky...or maybe it is just that I have so many fat quarters of green. Anway, I replaced the binding. It still isn't the best - I think ripping the old off may have stretched some of the border fabric out of shape but I think it looks better.

Stashbuster update

I have my second stashbuster ready to quilt. It is approximaterly 30x40 inches. I am going to hand quilt it. It will hang on the wall in the "kids room" - the bedroom I have for the grandchildren when they visit.

I also had a chance to hang the first UFO I did for my guild contract. All of the materials are from my stash...buttons, trim, etc. It is a far cry from the lonely orphan block I pulled from the pile.

Now just 4 more UFOs to do before January. I committed to another orphan block and two vintage orphan blocks in addition to finishing the quilt that I started 30 years ago! It was my first attempt at quilting and I am going to call it "Groan" - a play on words...it will show how much my skills have grown and how I groan over it!

Stashbuster moving along

Here is the next step of my stashbuster...I'll give a hint. We don't live far from the beach.

Today was a hot day -mid 90s - so I didn't venture out much except to check on the tomato and pepper plants. Later this evening I'll probably sit out on the deck and feel the breeze. Actually, I didn't do much today because I am such an old movie nut that I stayed up most of the night watching movies...started with The Thomas Crown Affair with Steve McQueen. Hadn't seen it for years!

Stashbuster continues...

I am attaching another snapshot of pieces of my latest stashbuster! Any ideas about what the project is yet?

An exciting email came yesterday from the co-author of the book I have coming out this summer (Reading, Writing, and Inquiry in the Science Classroom - Grades 6-12). She got a flyer from the publisher about the NSTA (National Science Teachers Association) 2008 Conference. The book was advertised in the flyer! Great feeling!!!

stashbuster hint

Here is a hint about the pattern I am making for my next stashbuster. Any ideas what it is going to be? You'll have to wait to find out!

Also, Ann Marie mentioned in her comment about my log cabin stashbuster that she hadn't seen log cabin blocks arranged in the zigzag before. The idea came from a great book, Log Cabin Quilts Unlimited by Patricia Cox and Maggi McCormick Gordon published by Creative Publishing International in 2004. The book has many creative ways to work with log cabin arrangements and block designs (rectangles, octagons, triangles, etc.) I have had this book for a while and love looking at it but this is the first time I actually made something from it.

Stash buster challenge

OK I have become obsessed. I decided that since I had already finished the log cabin wall hanging stashbuster and completed the UFO from an orphan block with scraps in my stash, I should keep at it. So I have decided to do another wall hanging. You'll have to wait to see what I plan for this assortment of colors!

Challenge Block

I am attaching some pictures of my summer challenge project.

First, I cut colored strips from scraps. I made these primarily dark or medium strips. The red center blocks were cut from a fat quarter I picked up somewhere along the way. Then I cut the beige strips from some fabric I had left over from another quilt (I bought much more than I needed.)










Then I put the colored strips in a bag according to their size and pulled out strips randomly as I needed them. I kept it random unless there would be two of the same design in the same block.




I laid out the blocks in many arrangements on the living room floor and then decided on the zigzag arrangement because it reminded me of waves.







There are six 8 inch blocks in a row and 10 rows. I am putting a narrow black border around the arrangement because I think I will use this as a wall hanging.

summer challenge

I just found the greatest "for fun" summer challenge. I was just doing such a self-imposed challenge so it fit into my summer plans! I am using up scraps from my stash and making log cabin blocks. I am arranging them in the zigzag pattern as suggested in the book Log Cabin Quilts Unlimited by Patricia Cox and Maggi McCormick Gordon. I am doing the zigzag because the pattern reminds me of waves..