SCRAPPY SPIDER IS QUILTED & A Quick Salad Idea Using Avocados. . .

Remember the Spider Web Ring that Cattinka put together a few months ago? Many of us joined the SpiderWeb fun. Thanks again, Katrin! Making the blocks was fun... and, I used up a lot of scraps that were just laying around not doing anything. lol.

Above is my little WH. It is machine quilted, but not bound yet. I'm thinking maybe a RED binding... what do you think? Also, the SpiderWeb quilting design does not cover all of the Yellow Border-- so I am thinking of embroidering a few small black spiders in the Yellow... is that a good idea, or should I leave well enough alone? Please tell me what you think. Thank you. [Sorry for the wonky picture. . . I'm not sure how it got so crooked. ;-( ]

Recently we acquired an InfraRed Gas Grill. My DD Laura is getting very good at grilling! The other night she made some Alaska Wild Samon -- while she was doing that, I created an Avocado and Tomato Salad to go with it... no dressing, just a sprinkle of some mixed herbs on the top. We had just returned from a trip to the Carlsbad Farmer's Market with fresh produce, so that dictated our ingredients. lol. It was delish. We ate all the fish before I remembered to take a pic! lol.

Until next time, I hope you have the time and inclination to create something that makes you or someone you care about happy.
Hugs,

I FOUND IT.... I found it!

Yep, I found the picture that was 'lost' the other day when creating the post for the BowTie placemats. Guess where it was? Still in the camera! . So without further ado, here it is:

My house has a tiny little area off one end of the kitchen that we call the "Morning Room". Kind of a joke, really, as the area is so small. Because the window faces the street, it is a nice little place to sit and enjoy morning coffee, while watching the day begin.

The pic below shows how I finished the backing. I did a very simple layer, stitch around the edge [no binding!], and turn. Makes for a nice and very quick edge finish. After the item is "birthed", just sew up the little partial seam and ta dah, it is done! I like that.

Thank you for stopping by to visit. . . until next time. . .

Hugs,

TWO DOWN & 2 TO GO!

Quite a few quilters have been having a lot of fun lately sewing up BowTie blocks. There is a sew-a-long on the Net and FB right now. The challenge is to make One Block A Day during the summer months... get the scoop here and here. It's not too late to join in the FUN!

TWO placemats finished! Yippee. I like the way they turned out. I might put a tad more quilting in them. Definitely stitch in the ditch around the plaid border to hold the backing snugly in place. Then maybe outline around the BowTie shapes.  Above is a pic of one. The pic of the two finished ones sitting on my morning room table is currently MIA. Don't know where it is hiding! lol

Because I planned to attach the backing with a "stitch around the edge & birth" technique, I just created a very simple machine quilted grid on the top layered with Warm&Natural batting using a walking foot. Masking tape made a quick and easy line to follow . The tape was laid down using the block intersections and a ruler for the corners [which were rounded later] . Quick and easy-peasy.

I make sure to  remove the masking tape as soon as the line is quilted -- if left on it can leave a sticky residue that is a pain to remove. Ask me how I know this! lol

Until next time, thank you for stopping by. I hope where ever you are that you find some time to stitch something that makes you happy!

Hugs,

TO BORDER, or NOT TO BORDER. . . that is the question

This is a real "quickie" post:

Hmmmmmm, not sure if the six-bowtie-block placemats need a border or not. What to do? Set a plate on it and check for size! If it doesn't pull up too much in the quilting, then it will be fine without a small border. Then again, washing will shrink it a bit also. Perhaps just a small one-inch border which will leave extra room on the mat for the silverware, etc. . .

What do you do when 'weighing' border options?

Until next time, thank you for stopping by. . .
Hugs,

INKLINGO HEXIE SWAP . . . GFG Blocks in process

Hello!

The first few groups of sewn Hexie blocks just had their pictures taken! All of these hexagons are from an Inklingo Swap held in 2006. All are hand sewn. It has been so much fun to sew with other quilters' stash pieces. We all agreed to send six printed & cut hexies, in each of six different fabrics. The yellow/gold centers are all from my own stash.

Do YOU recognize any of the fabrics as the ones you sent? If you do, I hope you will leave a comment and let me know. As I don't have email for everyone, I am unable to notify all the participants that their hexies are up on my blog.

First set is from: CathyM, Kittery, Maine:

Hexies from -  DeborahW, Marysville, WA:

These are from: SandraR., Sandy Springs, MD:

This is how I pressed my blocks -- don't you love how the seam allowances twirl around the intersections? I just love using Inklingo for piecing hexagons!

Most of the Hexies I received are now sewn into blocks, and I hope to get all their pictures up here on my blog very soon. I have not decided how to set all these GFG blocks. Probably something traditional with a green 'connecting' path in hexies, or maybe one-inch diamonds.  Perhaps putting them up on a design wall would be a good idea. They are fun to work with.

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Thank you for stopping by. I hope you will come back and visit again. Until then. . .

Hugs,



I GUESS I CAN'T COUNT From 1 to 10. . . BowTie Block A Day Update

The plan: make several Bowtie blocks using Fruit and Veggie design fabrics and set them into placemats for my breakfast table. Easy? Sure. The Bowtie blocks finish at 6 inches, so if they are set 3 blocks across by 2 rows, that will equal SIX blocks per placemat. Right? OK, I handled it that far. . . so why do I have EIGHT different Fruit/Veggie blocks? Hmmmmm, someone -- me! -- can't count, that's for sure! lol

First layout attempt... notice the two 'extra' green blocks on the far left...perhaps not all the placemats will be the same afterall. lol :

More later... the placemat saga will continue. lol.  Tomorrow: Hexie blocks for my WIP GFG.

Thank you for stopping by. . . until next time I hope you have both the time and inclination to sew up something that makes you or someone you love happy.
Hugs,

A LITTLE QUILT SHOW... the gals at Tuesday Group have been busy.

The gals at Tuesday's Friendship Group Meeting sure have been busy, especially Rosemary! She made several quilts in the last couple of weeks. Here are a couple:

Rosemary also does beautiful embroidery!

The happy quilt below was made by Joy. She cut up a 'cheater' panel; added wedges to skew the blocks, then added sashing and a great pieced border. Very effective. She also designed some embroidery for the center block to embellish it.  This is Joy's original design -- great quilt, but I'm sorry I took such a poor photo:

Jill brought a fun gadget to share. It is a portable, hand-held scanner that she can carry in her purse. Her goal is to scan fabrics as she shops for them in order to create a personal fabric history.  Then she can upload the scans into her new EQ7 program creating her own personal Fabric Library to design with. Sounds like fun.

So, just for fun we scanned some of my Fruit and Veggie fabrics that I had in my sewing kit... just to see how it works, you understand...lol. . . we learned a little about the scanner by trying it out. . . here is the Corn FQ:

Today is a very short post. Tomorrow or Saturday I hope to post pics of my Hexie blocks. . . I have a TON of them! lol

Until then, thank you for stopping by. . .

Hugs,

BOW TIE BLOCKS #9. . .

Bowtie blocks: up to 9 now! These little things almost sew themselves together -- really quick! If you want to join in just click here for the info. Today I made "broccoli" and "cherries" to go with the lone "strawberry" block. More to come: corn, oranges, watermelon...etc.. These squares are already cut and can barely be seen, stacked on cutting board below.  Hopefully these will make fun placemats for the kitchen table.

Missy gets a little better each day. Now that we don't have to give her the antibiotics anymore, her little tummy has settled down somewhat and her spirits are higher, too. Ever tried to give oral meds to a cat? Trust me... it's no fun! Not for the cat and certainly not for the caretaker. Her beautiful fur coat has almost fully recovered. There is very little separation & spiking. Even the gloss is returning. Here is Missy hanging out and keeping me company while I was sewing Bowtie blocks earlier today...

Tomorrow I hope to get all the pics from Tuesday posted. Some of the gals in our Friendship Group shared some lovely quilts and I will share them with you [permission given ;-)].

Until then... thank you for stopping by. I hope you have time to sew today.

Hugs,

THINGS ARE GETTING BACK TO NORMAL. . . Thank Heavens!

First, let me apologize for being off blogger for so long -- almost 2 1/2 weeks! Things were very hectic around here with Missy being sick and then Laura had surgery. Life is settling back down now and getting back to normal [whatever 'normal' is...lol]. Thank you for being patient with me.

Have you joined the Bow Tie A Day group over on FB? The idea is no stress, no worries, just make ONE block per day and at the end of summer -- TaDah! -- you'll have enough blocks to make a quilt. Neat, huh? Check it out; it is fun. There is still time to join in and catch up. Today is only day 21. I have several blocks to go to catch up with the others, but I'm not worried about it -- I just plan on making placemats with mine.

Today was spent prepping 40 Siggy blocks. All the centers are finished. Tomorrow I'll sew on the setting triangles.
My plan is to keep several Siggies ready, so I can mail one right back just as soon as I receive one. Several  Siggies have arrived recently. They are a lot of fun. One of these days I'll get them sewn into a quilt! lol

Missy is doing much better. Here she is resting, which is what she does most of the time these days. But her spirits have improved a lot. She is even "perky" at times. Thank you everyone for the kind words and emails you've sent -- it's nice to know we weren't alone while battling her illness. She will be on a special diet the rest of her life, but if love has anything to do with it, she will be happy!

Thank you for stopping by. . . I'll try to post more pictures next time.  Meanwhile, I hope where ever you are that you have the time and inclination to make something that pleases you or someone you love. . . .
Hugs,