11/28/2015

Leftovers

Thanksgiving has past. We had a wonderful day with my sister's family. There were leftovers, of course. Everyone liked the white meat, so I took the dark meat home with the intention of making soup. Instead, my daughter wanted something a bit more flavorful. 


I found a recipe from Martha Stewart's website HERE. It was good. And there were leftovers of that casserole, also!

I took my leftover green fabrics today and used my new Accuquilt Go! to cut the smaller scraps. It arrived today. I ordered it on Tuesday on their Black Friday Sale. I have avoided getting this, but decided that I was tired of using the rotary cutter for triangles, especially.  The pieces you see below were cut in about half an hour. The pressing of the scraps was the most time-consuming for me. I am looking forward to getting the apple core die for accuracy and ease of cutting. I look forward to making some quilts with these scrappy pieces.


And the final project I finished was the pillow my daughter wanted for her living room, a Michigan pillow. 

The yellowish fabric is a tiny dot that she picked. The state silhouette is black felt with fusible adhesive on the back to secure it. I also stitched around the silhouette to hold the edges. The 2 back pieces open with overlaps of about 6". She loved it! 

Don't forget to visit Marian's Seams To Be Sew website for her free Christmas tree patterns and Janeen's Quilt Art Designs blog for her sweet, free penguin patterns each day this week. There is also a giveaway to enter each day.

I found DJ Inkers' website while visiting Marian's site. I used their clip art years ago while teaching. Check their blog each day for their Freebies. 


What leftovers do you have...on your dining table or your sewing table?

Disclaimer: I do not get anything for mentioning any of the products or sites I mention in my blog.


11/25/2015

Gobble, Gobble Paper-Pieced Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving 


Pumpkin pie for tomorrow's dessert 
being watched by the paper-pieced turkey topper 
I made quite a few years ago with some fabrics that are even older. 


Sew and Sow Farm

Visit Sew and Sow Farm
where Jan tells you about a giveaway.

"Give thanks not just on Thanksgiving Day, but every day of your life. 
Appreciate and never take for granted all that you have." 
Catherine Pulsifer


11/24/2015

Yo-Yo Projects--Tools Speed Up Progress

Hello...I've been busy of late but decided I was long overdue to get a post up.
And, I see Val has Yo-Yos on the Tuesday Archives this week, so I am joinging in. 

Val's Quilting Studio

I don't have an old post to revive, so I decided to quickly click a few photos of yo-yos and write a short summary. 

I haven't done many yo-yos, but I did find that making them with the Clover tools really did help. 
As you can see from the photo, I have quite a few sizes and shapes of yo-yo making tools. I actually had a bit of a race with a friend. She did them by hand the "old-fashioned" way and I used the tools. I don't think she let me win, I truly think they help speed things up. 


Here are a few things I have made with yo-yos in the past few years. 
I like the angels most of all. 
The tree is stuffed. 
The brooch has an old button on it and a jewelry pin sewn on the back. 
The hair tie is sewn to the back of the star yo-yo.


Then the Valentine gift from my friend is very special. 
She actually used the heart yo-yo maker for that. 



If you have not visited Marian's or Janeen's sites yet, you should. 
For 12 days (2 days are done) they have a free pattern. You have to get it that day if you want it for free. 
They are cute...penguins and Christmas trees. 

Quiltart&STBS-12days

This week is Thanksgiving and I am counting the things I am thankful for.
And I am thankful you stopped by.




11/17/2015

Christmas Is In My Heart Quilt Project



Welcome to my post for the Blog Hop 
I want to thank Marian of Seams To Be Sew for organizing this blog hop. 
And a big thank you to Fat Quarter Shop for sponsoring the giveaways each day. 
They are fantastic sponsors.

Participating in blog hops pushes me to do a little extra quilting
and look for new ideas. 

We were to design a project that incorporated at least one heart in it. 
 I had a few ideas in mind until 
a book was placed on the Freebie Table at our guild meeting. 

I skimmed the photos in "True Friends Art to Heart" by Nancy Halverson
and found Heart Wreath Quilt by Teri Christopherson. 



I knew this was the pattern I would use to make this table topper. 


It will serve two purposes. The first for this blog hop post. 
The second, as my gift exchange item for our guild Christmas party.

I like the outline of the hearts made with red snowflake fabric. 
I used the Christmas tree fabric for the center of the hearts to say 
"Christmas is in my Heart" without having to use words.
And the backing makes it reversible for the season. 


I have a tip to share with you as to how I quilted the center of the hearts. 
I am not talented when it comes to free motion quilting of swirls and curves.
So I take a piece of paper cut into the shape of the area I want to quilt. 
I fold the paper in half and draw a design. 
Then I cut it out, see how I like it and spray some basting spray on the back of the paper. 
Place it where I want it and free motion stitch around the paper pattern. 



When I finish one part, I take the paper pattern off and put it on the other side to quilt it.
I like this method. Perhaps, as I use it more and more, I will get better at working without a pattern. 


Enter today's giveaway as you visit each blog participant for today. 

Tuesday, November 17
Patchwork Breeze (you are here)

There is a new giveaway each day, so visit the other participants each day. 
You can find the information
about those blogs HERE

Thank you for visiting. 
Have a great month sewing whatever quilting project is on your worktable. 





11/15/2015

My Trunk Show Link and FREE pattern.

Online Quilt Trunk Show | Whims And Fancies

Whims and Fancy is hosting a link up called Trunk Full of Quilts.
I am sharing with you a small trunk show of quilts I have designed and made.
I hope you might get inspiration for your next project. 


Eye Spy quilt I made 10 years ago.

My tree (UFO) with snowman added from
Seams To Be Sew's EQ Seasons Row-Along2015
pattern.

My Christmas design for EQ Seasons Row-Along 2015.


My wall hanging designed for the
EQ Seasons Row-Along 2015.
My design titled Pick-Up Sticks.



A 12" quilted wall hanging I designed for
Four-in-Art Group Challenge.

.
My design for an EQ Challenge.
Tree-Mendous Possibilities quilt I designed for
Cut Loose Press.
Quilt made with pieces left from Tree-Mendous Possibilities Pattern
I designed for Cut Loose Press.
Center from one of my mother's old tablecloths.
Wall hanging I made for my daughter's dorm room at college. 
Love You wall hanging made for my daughter's dorm room. 
Wall hanging I designed and available at PatternSpot.com
Christmas stocking I designed and available at PatternSpot.com

Tablerunner I designed. 
A quilt block I designed for the 52 Weeks of Twisted Traditional Blocks Quilt Along.
Available free HERE.

Thank you for visiting.

Stop on November 17 to see my contribution to the
Christmas Is In My Heart blog hop.
Find out all the details HERE.


Christmas In My Heart


11/14/2015

Anticipating Christmas Blog

The Christmas Is In My Heart Blog Hop has started. 

Christmas Is In My Heart Blog Hop

November 17 is my post date. 
I have one project I will show you; but, I wanted to share the Monthly Project Download from Electric Quilt that I do want to make. I won't get it started for the blog hop, but it is on my list. 

Here it is: Heartfelt Holiday

xmasquilt

Visit Electric Quilt for many more downloadable projects or all seasons.

Here is the schedule for the Christmas Is In My Heart blog hop. And I look forward to your visit on Tuesday, November 17, 2015.

11/12/2015

Christmas In My Heart Blog Hop

Welcome to the start of the blog hop 

CHRISTMAS  IS  IN  MY  HEART

Today I am sharing the links of all the participants under their posting dates. 

Do visit every one of them to see all the great things 
they have made for the Christmas season. 
You may have to fit a little time into your schedule to make 
one of these items this season.

You can also enter a giveaway each day.
Sponsored by 

Fat Quarter Shop

Be sure to stop back on November 17 to see what I have been making. 

For all the information on the blog hop visit Seam To Be Sew HERE. 




11/02/2015

Mini Quilt, Pincushions and Christmas Blog Hop

Yesterday I revealed my last Four-In-Art Mini quilt for this year. You can link HERE.




Two of the three pincushions I made for the swap hosted by Beaquilter.com arrived to my partners. I can post those photos now.






And one I got from a swap partner. I like snowflakes and "snowpeople".



And the Christmas Is In My Heart Blog Hop, hosted by Marian of Seams To Be Sew, begins November 12. You can see the details HERE.


Christmas Is In My Heart Blog Hop

I continue working on my wall hanging for the guild challenge. I found the background fabric that I ran short of at a fabric store not far from home. Yeah! I squeezed the final brown tiles from what I had painted...glad I didn't have to paint any more. 

Here are a few more pics of progress.



More hand stitching.


Some real shine!


11/01/2015

Reveal of Four In Art Mini Literature Quilt



My final quilt in this year's art quilt series with the theme Literature, as with my other 3 pieces, illustrates a children's book. The idea to use this book came to me in August while I was out with a friend, carrying our plastic pails as we walked the sandy soil of the local blueberry patch. (I wish now I had taken a few photos of the blueberry patch.) The photo below shows one small part of my 12" x 12" mini quilt.


In 2009, the book was ranked 13th of the "Top 100 Picture Books". The characters of Sal and her mother are modeled after McCloskey's daughter, Sally and his wife, Peggy, according the Wikipedia.


I remember, as an elementary school teacher, showing the 1967 film to my classes. (The film was ancient but enlarged the book illustrations, showing each page as the narrator read the story.) His voice sounded so kind and gentle. I can still hear the melody as he repeated the sound of the 3 blueberries Sal would drop in her pail before she ate them up. . . and then dropped 3 more into her pail, over and over again.




The word "onomatopoeia" is one I still like to say. It just sounds wonderful. It means the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named (like sizzle, clunk, hiccup).


The story is one of mother and child (human and bear) gathering berries on Blueberry Hill for the winter. Sal's mother will can the berries in jars; mother bear and cub will eat them before hibernating. It is an adventure as well as a lesson in concepts such as the seasons and comparison and contrast, to name just two.



 As both families head in opposite directions on Blueberry Hill, Sal and the bear cub wander off and loose track of mother. Hearing a sound, they begin following the wrong mother. Both mothers realize they are being followed by the wrong youngster and all are properly reunited. Sal does manage to drop one last berry in her bucket. 


I folded 2-1/2" fabric squares diagonally, sewed them in the top corners of the piece. Added the binding front to back. The corners are now pockets that will hold a dowel for hanging on the wall in the Children's Library room at the local library. 





An old photo of the Newaygo Carnegie Free Library which opened in 1915.
This year marks its Centennial.


Our town, and many others of various sizes, was a benefactor of the immense philanthropic efforts of Andrew Carnegie. "He believed passionately that wealth should not be squandered by the person who gathered it, but be reinvested into the community to aid the public good." This quote and the one below, come from an article on the subject in Michigan History Magazine.

"From 1883 until 1920 Carnegie underwrote the cost of hundreds of public libraries across the United States (and in some other countries). Grants were provided to small towns, large cities, and some of the earliest suburban areas. In total, the program endowed the construction of 1,688 buildings throughout the U.S., serving a total of 1,419 communities. Michigan--with 61 of these edifices--was a sizable beneficiary of Carnegie's generosity. Of these, 50 still stand and 26 still function as libraries. Their reach extends to all corners of the state, from Detroit in the southeast to Ironwood in the northwest."

It is amazing that he had such foresight.
And it is amazing that our small town has one of only 26 of these libraries still in use in Michigan as a library. It was over the span of 4 or 5 years that our library worked toward much needed renovations. With the efforts of the Friends of the Library and other citizens, funding was obtained for renovations and many citizens, community groups and businesses, and grants helped make it possible. 



Although this year's theme is completed, I will continue to make more mini quilts for the library.

Visit the others involved in the Four-In-Art Challenge:

Betty at a Flickr site: http://www.flickr.com
Catherine  at Knotted Cotton
Elizabeth at OPQuilt.com 
Nancy at  Patchwork Breeze
Simone at Quiltalicious
Susan at PatchworknPlay


I will be participating in the Christmas Is In My Heart Blog Hop
It begins November 12, 2015 and my blog date is November 17. 
Hope you are able to visit all the bloggers and see what they have 
come up with to add heart to their Christmas quilting.
Click the logo to get all the details on dates and giveaways. 

Christmas In My Heart