Sit and Sew Snowman

Finished my snowman from the sit n' sew. Did make a few changes. There was a kind of Christmassy tree beside him but I wanted something different. Have a pattern for some winter birds in tree branches so I appliqued some of the branches and used a couple of cardinals. I like it.

Sit and Sew Mystery #4

Here's my most recent Sit and Sew project. I started it the end of November so decided I would use Christmas colors. It turned out pretty well considering the Mystery pattern was a Star. For now there aren't any new Mystery Quilts coming. That Friday night Sit and Sew has been turned in to a UFO get togeather. Thats great for me! I have more UFOS than I can think of.

Sit and sew number 3

Finished my project started at the Oct. 19 Sit n' Sew. I chose colors for fall since it was October. It was a mystery quilt as usual, so I was pleasantly surprised with my fabric choices. The Maple Leaf block was really easy to make so I decided to do a king size quilt this time. Finished the top in the months time on the sewing machine, of course, and had it ready to show at the next meeting. Got a free fat quarter for having it done. Now it's waiting in line at Miss Millie's to be machine quilted.

Sit and Sew #2 Tiger Quilt

Another Sit and Sew project done. And actually I was able t0 sew this in one evening. Now, all the flannel squares were pre-cut beforehand, but still I was very excited at the minimum of time it took--about 3 1/2 hours. There was more time involved in finishing but that I could do sitting in front of the TV. The quilt is sewn together with a half inch seam leaving the raw edges. After it's all put together those edges have to be snipped into fringe about 1/4 inch apart. Then all I had to do was wash it to make it fringe more. It's a real no brainer and thing don't have to be perfect. the other neat thing I learned is that this can be done with other shapes and lengths of fabrics. It's just the technique of sewing. I think I'll have to try a few more of this type of quilt. This one goes to my son, a BIG Mizzou Tiger football and basketball fan.

The sit and sew was fun as usual. I've met some new quilting friends. And all of us keep signing up for every month so we're becoming a nice little group. Also the food we have is always great. This time it was snacks and appetizers-little hot dogs in BBQ sauce, cheeses, crackers, fruits and veggies with dip and more. We had plenty to eat. In October they're having Chile( one of my favorite foods) and we'll be using fall fabrics for a quilt-pattern still a secret at this time. As usual I'm looking forward to it.

August Sit N' Sew

I finished the project from the August Sit n' Sew. As I sewed on this project I started wondering if I wanted it to be some type of quilt or wall hanging. I had used most of the fabric strips that I had cut but had some of the rust and green strips left over. If I wanted to make something larger I was going to have to cut more of most everything. I looked at it for a while and then decided it would make a nice fall tablecloth. Really, it would look nice in my kitchen. I wouldn't be doing that except I've been using other nice tablecloths (mostly from my mom and gram- they are old enough to be vintage now) I've wanted to use all these wonderful linens, but never did. Always was worried that something would happen with a spill or something. Got a brite idea one day and went to Joann Fabrics and bought some nice clear vinyl and put it on the table over the cloth. Now I can use any of my special linens and even a quilt tablecloth without fear of them being ruined. All I had to do was add borders which I already had with the leftovers and my tablecloth was ready.

Mile-A-Minute Quilting

Here's my quilt from the July Sit & Sew at Miss Millie's, the Quarter Square Log Cabin Block. We had the choice of making anything from a table topper to a king size quilt. This time I decided on a lap size so maybe I could get it done faster. I also decided to try the Mile-A -Minute technique to machine quilt it. I've had this book for a couple of years and just didn't get my nerve up to try it. It's like quilt as you go but in long strip sections instead of just single blocks. I've tried to do some regular quilting on my sewing machine and it was just so hard to manipulate. I gave up. Then I found this book and knew I had to try quilting on my sewing machine once more.

The Sit & Sew was a lot of fun. Because of space there is a limit of 10. There were quilters I knew and some I didn't so I made some new friends. We all had such a good time. We paid 5.00 for supper. This time pizza, snacks, and ice cream. And we sewed for about 4 hours straight. It's amazing what you can get done with no interruptions except talking. Since the Sit & Sew was so popular it is continuing. I, along with most of the other Friday Nighters signed up again for the August Sit &Sew which was this past Friday. And we signed up again for September. Because of the response there's a Saturday one and a Sunday one will probably start. It's really nice to be using our stashes and not have to buy fabric for the project. Of course there always seems to be some little thing that we need. Luckily we're in a quilt shop where we can find every thing.

Oh, and as usual someone was in the middle of my quilt while I took it's picture.Good ole Cotton had to walk all over it . The kitty stamp of approval.

Subcouciously in a purple mood?

In the last two months I have chosen purples (and greens, too) for three projects and didn't realize what I had done until this morning. I was laying my blocks out for my 1/4 square log cabin from the sit and sew, getting ready to assemble the quilt top. For my setting strips I'm using a dark purple and green batik fabric which I used the class on Saturday to make the fabric bowl pictured. When I picked the fabric for the bowl, I thought the batik would be pretty and did want something more subtle than print fabric for my first try, didn't think about it being purple. While cutting the strips for the bowl I thought it would be nice for quilt setting strips. I had been struggling a little trying to figure out how I wanted to put the quilt top together. So now I'm almost done assembling the top and the bowl was finished at the class on Saturday. Lastly the Sunbonnet Sue wall hanging( about 18" square) is for Missouri Girls Town. I needed to put a sleeve on the back and add a decorative rod. When I took it to where I was sewing and laid it down I saw purple again. Pam at Miss Millie's had asked anyone who would like, to make a wall hanging. I chose the purples when I started it two months ago. They will be donated in October and hung throughout the rooms, just to do something nice for the kids( last year we made Christmas stockings and the year before cute pillow cases for everyone.) Miss Millie's does something for Girls Town every year and lots of us participate. It really surprised me to see how similar all three of these items are in coloring.

frriday nite stash buster sew in

Well I picked my fabric for the Friday Nite Sew In at my local quilt shop. We'll get to just sew and eat pizza. Sound like fun? The main idea is to pick fabrics from our stashes and use them if possible. I decided not to buy anything new this time so this is what I came up with. my daughter loves purple so this will be here quilt when done. The pattern will be a mystery until we arrive at the shop, then we'll all know what we're sewing. I think it will be lots of fun. The one hint is that we will be using only 3 1/2 strips to make the quilt but that's all we know. After I've been to the sew in I'll post a pic of what we did. The sew in is on July 27th.