time flies...

one year ago.....

i said "I DO"

(and i still do....)

stitchin' away...

i worked on some quilts to be published in a book, so i can't share pictures til after the book is released...

but i did stick one of my own quilts on the frame couple weeks ago.

this is a jelly roll quilt (aka 1600 quilt) that i made from strips cut from my dog fabric stash. i can't believe i'm getting ready to admit this, but i cut 80 strips with no repeats *eek* and those are just the 'smaller' scale prints...i cut my WOF strips in half cause some of my strips were cut from FQs for a total of approximately (158) 20" x 2.5inch strips.

so basically, i used two jelly rolls worth of strips and here's the math: the strips go up and down instead of across, so all my dogs are going sideways *shrug* doesn't bother me....the finished top was 64" x 103" and i could of sewn one more 'lap' that would of made it about the same size and all my dogs would of been right-side up with my strips running right to left. i felt lazy and just chopped 20inches off the bottom and added my borders...finished quilt size 83 x 98 inches.

the outer border needed to be pieced, and since it was a larger scale i didn't want floating chopped off dog fronts and backs across the seam. i had a genius moment and pieced in a matchy paw print. i think it solves that problem quite well...


i named it 'dog days of summer' and there's my cute label...i love piecing my labels into the back and quilting over them.

and to change the subject- i've been very good with my goal of finishing up some of my UFOs this past year, and have been looking to start a few new future UFOs :)  i laid out all my african wax prints that i've been collecting and i think i'm ready to start cutting in to them. i was thinking i might make some really big granny squares with them paired with a black background...whatcha think? 

while i was snapping pictures of my fabric, look where Petal hung out. such a sweetie....

reminds me of this picture...


speaking of petal, i have news- she will be chauffeured north to Salem, Massachusetts on Tuesday. so, we will be saying goodbye (barney will be saying 'good riddance') to our house guest.

(yes i'm in PJs- it's just one perk of working from home :) )

SAL 2012 Part 5

here's the latest and greatest installment in my Scrap Bash Stitch-A-Long....

happy stitching!

don't forget to add photos of your blocks to the Flickr group. i like to see what and how yall are doing these :)

(i want to apologize for the long pause between postings. the computer i had it on burped. but we're back on track now :) )

Petal

the stray i found, Petal, is settling in nicely. she has commandeered barney's bed (much to his chagrin)

look at them short little legs.....and the ears! too cute. such a sweetie. she'll be a good companion to someone!

but not here :) she officially belongs to a rescue group that caravans dogs north to be adopted. up north, their spay and neuter programs have been so successful that they have more people to adopt than they have dogs, so the rescue shuttle dogs north for adoption. cool huh? i joke that i'm teaching her to bark without a southern accent so she'll fit in better :)

i swear i'm not a robot!!

i love comments, i do. makes this whole blogging thing feel not so one sided. so when i'm out cruising thru blog land, i try to return the favor and leave comments on blogs (i do read thru the previous comments before posting so i'm not a repeater)

 

i have to laugh at some of the word verifications i've come across...here's two i found yesterday. can you read them??

needless to say, i got both wrong and got new (easier to read) words to prove i'm not a machine....




ETA: this is a spam comment i got that blogger caught and wasn't published:

Attractive section of content. I just stumbled upon your web site and in accession capital to assert that I acquire actually enjoyed account your blog posts.

Anyway I'll be subscribing to your augment and even I achievement you access consistently quickly.

huh???  *giggle* it just occurred to me- it was Yoda....the force is strong with this one....and so is Google translate

Glacier Star and a house guest

vickie picked up her JN Glacier Star quilt today.

she did a great job!! i like the fabric choices and colors... 




you can click the pictures for a bigger, better view.

now, i think JN quilts are gorgeous!! but (there's always a but) from a LA quilting perspective they are a pain to design custom work for!!  although they look symmetrical, they are in fact, not really...the points of the geese don't touch, makes it hard to 'travel' the stitching  motifs from one patchwork piece to another...

but with all that said, when i'm done- it really is a beautiful finished quilt...

i have a house guest!! look at that face *aww*

Meet Petal (i picked the name!! great name for a dog, huh? :) ) she's a 1.5 year old basset hound mix.  someone dumped her close to my neighborhood. found her huddled on my front porch covered in mud and fleas and smelling like dead fish. After a bath and vaccinations, she looks like a new dog. she is a sweet little lap dog that loves belly rubs!!

i'm fostering her til she finds a (responsible) forever home.

and no- that's not here with me....she'd be a perfect fit into our 'pack', but three dogs is a bit much...i told her she showed up too early....

feedsack irish chain

every once in a while i get a old, vintage quilt top to quilt. 

sue brought me this gorgeous hand pieced feedsack irish chain. those squares are one inch finished.

it was so much fun quilting it- there were actual 'aunt grace' feedsack prints in the quilt!!

i CCed the squares and put my favorite, feathers, in the negative white space.

here's what the back looks like.

i like to think the piecer is in heaven thinking "thank goodness! it's finally finished!"

no waste granny square sizes

so what size granny square block would you have if you cut your squares to finish at 3 inches?? or 4inches??

i figured it out for ya!!

CLICK HERE for a one page pdf with cutting sizes for the squares, side triangles, and corner triangles to keep the edge of your block on the straight of grain....

i think it's pretty self explanatory, but if you have questions post in the comments or email me...

there are tons! of how-to sew a granny square block, just Google it!!

happy stitchin'

ETA: i also figured the math on specific block sizes; 12", 14", 16", etc. that pdf can be found HERE

medallion quilt part two

i finished up the second round of my Medallion Quilt.it's a freebie from Patchwork Pumpkin.

i chose 20 different oranges and purples from my stash for those little churn dash blocks. the next round is a 'stacked bead' border and i plan on digging through my green drawers (that's right, drawer-S, plural)

i'm really enjoying the challenge of sewing those one inch finished squares! i'm cutting my borders a bit wider than the pattern calls for.  i use a scant quarter inch and it's throwing off my border measurements. that 2 inch wide border looks humongous next to all those tiny pieces :)

stupid headache

i hate migraines!! i have better things to do, ya'know? these last two weeks have been the second worst one i've had....put a big kink in my ponytail, let me tell ya...

i had plans on getting the wedding quilt quilted, but all that i got around to was (at least) hanging the flimsy where the quilt will hang....as you can see, i added a lime green inner border and an orange outer border *perfect* i did follow the suggestions and auditioned a dark blue or green border, but they were too dark and heavy...

i'm way behind on customer quilts and my headache still hasn't gone away

*shrug* maybe i can get it quilted before our second anniversary....

quilts done!

three flimsies went home all grown up and quilted

Madeline had two:
a grey and yellow HST quilt. it is a wedding present.

since the fabrics were a bit on the 'busy' side, we decided that my E2E swirl in a grey thread would look nice.

then this little 1600 variation quilt in turquoises. her niece called 'DIBS' the minute she saw it.

the backing was this beautiful paisley print that has tons of quilting design possibilities!

Melanie picked up her red and cream snowball quilt.

(barney was supervising the photo shoot)

i decided a free motion baptist fan in a red thread that matched the fabric in the quilt.

this is the first customer quilt that i BFed.

barney is feeling tons better!! look at that smile.

he says, 'boof buff wuff fuffbuff guffh' which i'm pretty sure translates to 'thanks for all the well wishes, i'm feeling much better. throw the ball!!!'

i need some help-

 i have all this University of Tennessee Volunteers fabric and i'm wanting to make me a quilt with it and i was wondering if anybody had suggestions on what pattern would look good. i would like something simple that shows off the fabric...i'm only wanting to use three colors- orange (duh), white, and the prints i have...

GO BIG ORANGE!!
ROCKY TOP!!

poor barney

i feel so bad for Barney. he had been acting 'funny' and i didn't quite figure it til the other day.

so off to the vet we went, and i was right- ear infection. poor bubba...

so now we have liquid drops that go in his ears and oral antibiotics, plus i give him a benedryl so he can sleep through the pain (per vet directions) ....i am being a very good nurse.

i had no idea how much he actually weighed. i guessed him between 50 to 55 pounds. boy was i off- he is close to 70 pounds.....fatty :)