Latest Sewing Projects

My husband and I enjoyed the Easter weekend with our daughter and son-in-law. It was a welcome diversion from the normal routine around here. My daughter asked to sew some nature-themed bowl cozies and a potholder for friends they will be seeing soon. I did the sewing while she helped with cutting, turning right side out, and pressing.

Three more April blocks arrived just before Easter for my Queen Bee Gridster quilt.  I put them on the design wall after taking the photo.

I'm working on reveal projects for The Endeavourers Challenge on May 1

and my post for the Christmas RAPPers Blog Hop on May 6. The blog hop begins on April 29-just a few days away. You can click here to find out more.

 

I helped out for a few more days in the high school art room. Just a few students were finishing up. But the supplies were in need of major organization. While going through the monster lists, the teacher found one 2nd grader's projects that wasn't chosen by an art student to make. So I worked on this at home, so no one was missed. It was very fun to "create as I sewed." It's a pretty good likeness, don't you think?

Using my scraps, I began working on "Scrappy Flowers Coaster Set" to hopefully sell at the consignment shop. The pattern is in Quilters World magazine from Spring 2016. It's an easy, quilt-as-you-go pattern by Chris Malone.

I also made some journal covers for the consignment shop. I watched a few YouTube videos that showed how easy they were. It was extra practice in free motion quilting. 

Gosh, when I look at the week in summary, I see I have done a good amount of sewing. What have you been sewing this past week? 

April's Queen Bee Block

Now that April has arrived, I can post that it's my month to be Queen Bee of the Gridster Bee (#gridsterbee) group. Being a member of this group has been so fun. The group changed it's name to Gridster Bee in 2017. Prior to that it was the Mid-Century Modern Bee. I joined the MCM Bee in 2016. There are 12 of us from various regions of the United States. I enjoy the anticipation of each month's Queen Bee revealing her block choice. We don't if she'll choose a traditional or modern block, or designed an original block that might become a written pattern!

I chose a traditional block this month. It is a scrappy red, white and blue Friendship Star with 4-Patches in each corner. I am pretty sure I had seen it as a free pattern on Pat Sloan's website, but I didn't bookmark it and can't find it now. I re-drafted it from a 9" block to a 12" block.

I already received some blocks from some very speedy Gridster members. Thank you, Elizabeth, Linda, Allison and Kelley.

That got the plan rolling for a queen size quilt setting. I want to use fabric from my stash. The setting I am toying with looks like this, which I designed in Electric Quilt.

I'll be making a few star blocks and lots of blue and white patches to fill in the quilt. I look forward to the completed quilt sometime this summer!

I leave you with a little peek of Spring from outside my door.

From afar it's more like Autumn.


A closer looks reveals grape hyacinths and snowdrops popping up.



A crocus stretching after a long winter hibernation


And a few more open


And the not-so-shy chickadees are always around the feeder. I wish the goldfinches and nuthatches weren't so cautious of me.

Quilty Mail

This month I am the Queen Bee of the Gridsters Bee Group. The block I asked my fellow beemates to make was one I designed that I'm calling "Schoolhouse Friendship Block." I have wanted to make a schoolhouse quilt for 20 years. I thought by asking for help making the blocks, I might finally get the quilt done.

Here are the two I made when I tested the pattern. 

The roof is paper pieced and the rest of the block is pieced units. 

Here are the 4 blocks that came in the mail. 

I only expected one block from each member.

Mary made the top two. and Joan made the bottom two. 

Joan even made a pincushion with a schoolhouse. 

The pieces around the door are 1/4" wide!

I'm working on my projects for:

Island Batik Alumni Ambassadors 

Spring Fling Blog Hop

Begins April 16, 2018

The Endeavourers Quarterly Quilt Challenge

Reveal May 1, 2018

Theme of "Change/Transformation"

and 

What are you working on today?

10 Days of Quilting

Since I last blogged (10 days ago), I have been able to work on quite a few sewing projects--even some that were not quilting related. It really does energize me when I get some sewing completed. And I cherish each day I can sew, as I have hip replacement scheduled for later this spring and I never know how long I can sit comfortably.

Rachel, who is also a member of the Gridster Bee, began making the monthly block for each Queen Bee, and one for herself, too. This way she'll have 12 Gridster bee blocks for her own quilt. I decided that I would do this as well. I completed the pineapple block for myself as well as Sherri, who requested them. Pat Sloan has a tutorial HERE.

 Sherri's is on the left. Mine is on the right. On mine, I tried the leaf patchwork that Elizabeth used for her pineapple HERE. I am not sure which one I like better. 

I will make my own New York Beauty (Susan requested them in January). But it is a block I have not done until now. I found the curved piecing on the machine to be nerve-wracking. But I was please with the 2 I sent Susan. 

I spent about 3 days finishing my niece's T-Shirt quilt using her sorority shirts. I put it together in January. I quilted it on Feb. 2 using the Sweet 16 at the art studio I go to once every so often. This week I put the binding on it. One shirt had a pocket. I printed a photo on fabric of her and her dad at the Dad's Day event. I fused it to a thicker fabric, stitched around the raw edges and tucked it into the pocket. A nice memory. I forgot to take a photo of the finished quilt before I mailed it out. So you here it is trimmed and ready for binding. 

I finished my sister's birthday present. The center panel was 1/4th of a table cover our mother had in the 1950s or 60s. It was one of the things I saved after she passed away (many years ago). I have now made each of my siblings a table topper with one of the pieces. I have mine yet to make.

I was very pleased with the mitered corners. 

I had happy mail one day. I received the rotating Calibre Arts Cutting mat I won from the Sunbonnet Sue and Sam Travel The World BOM at Seams To Be Sew. I have wanted to get a mat from this company because of what I have read about their products. 

The mat does rotate very smoothly and I am pleased that I don't smell an odor in the room like I have when I have purchased mats from the stores. If I put my nose right up to it I smell a little odor, but my sewing area doesn't smell!

On the same day, my order from Missouri Star Quilt Co. arrived. I am going to make a quilt for the Modern Quilt Guild Challenge with Riley Blake fabrics. I tried to find Riley Blake fabric locally, but to no avail. MSQC had the best selection, so I placed the order. 

I saw these Island Batik Stamp packs and couldn't pass them up. So they went on the order, too. 

One final project that I sewed yesterday was Dilby Duck from Funky Friends Factory. I am sewing it for Island Batik Fabrics with some of their new fabrics. I have not sewn any stuffed animal this involved before. It wasn't too hard. I thought 4 hours total wasn't bad for my first time. I stuffed it while watching TV that evening. I don't know if I can show a photo of it yet, but here is the photo from the Funky Friends Factory site. You'll have to believe me, I made him much more colorful!

So that is a summary of the past 10 days. 

New York Beauty Blocks

 


I was very happy to have sewn these 2 New York Beauty blocks for the Gridster Bee swap today. For the last few months hip trouble has made anything including sewing difficult. Today I could sew! These were the first New York Beauty blocks I have ever sewn.

I used Electric Quilt to print the paper piecing patterns. I used the patterns available in the EQ7 Block Library.

I also sewed some of the scrap blocks for the Scrap Dance Mystery Quilt Along at From My Carolina Home. One never knows with a mystery quilt, so I hope the blue and white scraps I'm using will make a great king size quilt for our room.

Have you ever sewn a mystery quilt? Were you happy with it?

Are you participating in the Scrap Dance Mystery Quilt Along?