Tuesday, January 21, 2014

Classic Meets Modern Quilt Along Block

I have not participated in many quilt along's but I really liked the idea of this one. Each month she will give a traditional block and we are to reinterpret it modern. Now... I'm not sure what modern quilting is to me yet, I've yet to define it and don't like most of the definitions I have seen. I do know that I LIKE modern quilts and my style lately tends to be a scrappy modern twist on traditional quilts. lol... hows that for a style!

I do like that we will be redesigning something traditional and that's what i like most about quilts...

Here is my polar bear claw block:


and here is a link to the quilt along if yall want to join in too!

Sew at Home Mummy



I guess I am going to make a sampler quilt out of the 12 blocks I will end up with so I am going with the scraps from a solid quilt I have yet to finish. They are to me beachy colors and I like them (my husband hates them... oh well) The "inspiration" block was with 4 paws and a square in the center.


Other things I'm working on.... the quilt for the livestock show.... paper piecing and value... my lessons for January!!! I'm getting the hang of both and having a blast making the little blocks!


But... things just got interesting here in my little neck of the woods... or at least the dogs think so. I have the county clearing the ditches and a whole bunch of beeping trucks in the front of the house and out back I have about 10 weanling calfs making quick work on the hay bale.. problem is we don't have cows, we have horses... have to find out which neighbor is missing some cows before they eat all the horses hay! (and before these barking dogs wake up the sleeping grandbaby!)

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

My first Class!

I decided a present to myself would be the Color Play class on Craftsy. A few days after Christmas it went on sale and I just happened to have enough on my paypal to buy it!! woo hoo.

I am still taking the class. But the other morning I woke my husband up all excited and said "I GET IT" I have always picked my fabrics by what I think looks good. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. I didn't know why when I had a fail. I was picking fabrics for a quilt and one of my choices wasn't working and I knew WHY it didn't work! I was so excited. (Ralph, not so excited... and was a little grumpy)

It starts off slow with making a color wheel yourself from paints.... I live in the sticks and to get these paints would require a trip to a major town at least 50 miles away... so I just watched that part and didn't make the color wheel. I may still someday when I get to town... but i did learn from watching that part. It has been a series of light bulbs going off in my head! So.. if your struggling with color I vote go for it! this is a good class.

Online Quilting Class

I do have to say here... that If you click this link to buy the class I will receive financial gain. I have signed up to the affiliate program of Craftsy. Regardless, the above review is really my opinion. If you would like to sign up as an affiliate to Craftsy and receive commission on purchases from them, you can too! here is a link to sign up. You can choose what and how to advertise and you do get some pretty cool perks in the process. (perks worth the time to join!)

Meanwhile, I am still pulling fabrics for a value quilt... with my new knowledge.


Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Goals... why cant I stay focused???

I was looking through my blog for my wrap up of 2013 and i laughed at how many times i set goals... and ended up posting most of those to my unfinished pin board!!!

Once again Im going to try to set some goals... here goes... maybe prizes will motivate me.

I am going to join the Lovely Year of finishes. You post your goals at the begining of the month... and your finishes at the end of the month. Check it out if you need some motivation like I obviously do!!




My January goals....

For this I am just going to focus on one or two projects that NEED to be done... I do have a LIST of 10 things that i want done.....

What I need to get done are two tshirt quilts for a customer and a quilt for our county for the Houston Livestock and Rodeo 2014. 3 quilts... none of them started... but i have to have done by the end of the month.

The T-shirt quilts are concert t-shirts. Shouldn't be that hard. (this woman is a HUGE Bon Jovi  fan and I have enough concert shirts for 2 queen size quilts!)


For the quilt show... I cant use a quilt I have already made, since one of the rules is you have to use quilt store quality fabrics and honestly I do not even have a TOP that I can finish that isn't a mixture of quilt store fabric and upcycled fabric. So... a new quilt it is.

I of course plan on a scrap quilt... because that's what i make! I started by looking through quilt books, magazines and online. I had picked up a quilting book at Hastings about a month ago. Most of the quilts were dated as far as fabric because it was a 1980's book but there were a couple designs I liked in it. This was one of them. It used templates and I hate using templates, but it clearly can be paper pieced (and I am anxious to do more of that) so here we go... my paper piece template. (now what book? I searched my house for it today and I'm sure my grand-kids have taken it into their parents room which I refer to as the black hole. I don't know if I will ever see it again. I am certainly going to try)



Today I did a test block. I was going to do 8 1/2 in squares but I found I have very little scraps that big. So I drew up another that is a 6 1/2 inch (4 of them will give me a 12 1/2 in 4 pointed star) and I am going to use that instead. So... let me get a few blocks together and I will show ya what I'm shooting for! I still haven't decided on the size. I will probably do a bed size though, that's the other thing I tend to do!

The other thing I'm excited about is this is a value quilt. Lights, mediums and darks. I cant wait to play with scraps and really see if I get this concept... lol... so far my husband swears I don't.

Thursday, January 2, 2014

Long Arm Table... for 25.00!!

Ralph and I stopped by my favorite Goodwill today. I haven't been in ages, its in a town about 40 miles away. I only found one shirt to upcycle... we paid for it but on the way out, there was a rack with a great vintage pillow case... I went back inside to buy it but couldn't figure out how much it was so went to the room where they keep their sheets.... and NO WAY!!! there it was... I knew looking at it it was a Grace Quilting Table... It was in pieces... but the sticker was only 24.99!!! I have fit it into my room but it is missing a piece (a pretty important piece) so I'm hoping they still stock them and that it doesn't cost too much!!

I don't have a picture yet cuz its still in pieces... but i will share when its totally assembled. We wrote down our goals the other day and a Grace Table and new machine was on the list. This is a Little Gracie (although i think it has the extensions to do King size quilts. Older model... but at least I will have something to get started on to see if its something i want to have!!

I do have to also apologize... I have been remiss in that I keep forgetting to blog about this:


Isn't it the cutest little zipper pouch???


It was essential when I was doing all those Christmas ornaments and the little flowers for a customer. It is my new hand sewing bag, has my needles, thread, scissors... and a bunch of buttons down there when i feel like throwing one on something.

It was made by Elizabeth from The College Seamstress who is a very talented young lady (I am totally impressed with her clothes making ability!!) She participated in Pay it Forward... she got a towel and potholder and the deal is she had to make three things to pay forward over the next year. What a cool idea! So... I quickly responded and got this. Now I have to make three things in the next year to pay forward... (still thinking about what to pay forward... but I'm excited about the prospect!)

So... Thank  you Elizabeth. It is sitting next to my computer right now, ready to throw my hand sewing projects in and grab as I go out the door.