Making Progress on the Piggies

Here we are again, in the Mezzanine Room.  Still working on our Fiberworks Collage kits:  "Lola and Olive" (here after known as "Dona and Nyla") and Purrrfect Cat.

The "piecing" is slow... a lot of moving pieces around to get just the "right look."

The Piggies

Charlotte's Kitty

I was having trouble getting the piggies to look like piggies
and not just a big mess of pieces.  Charlotte gave me this tip;
Take a picture of the project in black and white.
















WHAT A DIFFERENCE!  I can see exactly where I need
more definition. (Specifically around the snout on the pig on the left.)  Very Cool Tip!

The next step is fusing all these pieces.... I'd like to have that part completed by the end of this week.

Stay tuned...

A New Year - New Projects

This new year is well under way.  I have been in a bit of a fog since my mother's passing and have had a hard time "getting started."  Kind of like an old car that keeps cranking over and cranking over until finally it starts.

A couple of us ladies have been getting together in the Mezzanine Room this past week to work on our projects.  Finally, I have "started."













In January a gaggle of us attended the Road to California in Ontario, CA.  It was fun. But, truth be told, a bit over whelming... so much to see, so many "geese" taking in the sights!

Charlotte's (aren't the eyes weird?)

Toward the end of the day, when my resistance was low, I purchased a kit.....
first because it reminded me of my mom and
second because my friend purchased one, too.

Quilt Collage wall hangings by Fiberworks

Mine.  My mom loved pigs.
I'm going to rename mine "Dona & Nyla"
for my mom and her sister, my favorite Auntie.

Absolutely adorable, donja think?
Go to the website, take a look.

I won't lie, it's not as easy as it looks.  It is very time consuming.
Charlotte and I have both struggled with "placement."  But, it does get easier, the more you work with it.

Charlotte's is coming along faster than mine.

We have ears and snouts!
It doesn't even look like anything at this point.

We got this far after two evenings.  Lucky for us we can leave our projects laid out in the Mezzanine Room until mid-April.

Until next time, keep those machines humming....

2016 is in the Can

It's a brand new year...and like a nice, new piece of fabric, the possibilities are endless.

Time to take inventory of your UFOs and make that
New Year Resolution to get them FINISHED in 2017!
Well, that is the plan for me....
 

As a matter of fact, I am so committed to finishing up all my UFOs that I'm not even going to attend Piecemakers annual 40% off sale today.... (but if you're in the area you may want to...just sayin...)
 


I did finish my Christmas Quilts:

Spring is in the Air by Lizzie B Cre8ive

For Miss Sadie (my great niece), which I’d been working on for several months. 

If you like applique, Lizzie B Cre8ive are the patterns for you!

My Own, Personal Quilt Police--The Littlest Babe

Sadie's brother also received a quilt this year.  This was a fast, fun quilt to sew.
The pattern is Starburst from Missouri Star Quilt Company's magazine, BLOCK.
See this blog post for October 24, 2016.  (This is a great magazine!)



This was the first time I've ever worked with pre-cuts.
I will most definitely use pre-cuts again.


















Before Binding & Binding

Finished

My friend Charlotte Smith quilted this one for me.
She used a CANDY CORN pattern!!!
Isn't it fun?!

The quilting really does make a difference.
True, it's not cheap to have your quilts professionally quilted,
but if you are making memory quilts, it is so worth it.

Mr. & Mrs. Charlotte Smth

Sew,  2016 is a wrap.

Before my work world gets ramped up for the new year I will clean my sewing room and take inventory of all my UFO's, make my list for Christmas 2017 quilts and get ready for a sewing 2017.

In Memory

I have a friend, we'll call her Mary (because that is her name).  She asked me if I'd help her make a memory quilt for her daughter-in-law.  Mary has never made a quilt but her daughter-in-law was very close to her grandfather and now he is gone.  (And we mothers-in-law can use all the points we can get. Is that not the truth?)  Of course, I said "yes."

Miss Mary

We had ONE shirt from "papa"...that's all we were able to get, ONE shirt.  I wasn't too hopeful we could do much with one shirt (and I didn't get a picture of it...I'm still kicking myself.)

But, we started out.  I picked up the key to the Mezzanine room.










Mary ripped apart the shirt.  We picked a pattern.
Then we went shopping for some fabric at a local fabric store, Jenny's Fabrics.
Mary was skeptical when I suggested we pick a red fabric.  (Actually, she thought I was crazy.)

We started assembling.  The pictures sort of speak for themselves.

We'd cut; we'd sew; then we'd lay it out on our Design Floor. Then we'd repeat.
Cut, Sew, Lay it out, Repeat.

We used every single inch of that shirt...including the crumbs.
If you look close ... we preserved the pocket (second row, last block on the right)
and the placket (third row, second block from the left.)

 

 


Does the pattern look familiar?
It's the same one I used to make the baby quilt  for my colleague and his wife
(which I just fetched from the quilter last night... more about that one later.)
Friendship Star from Missouri Star Quilt.
See my posts from September 7 and September 22.

About 10 days later... it's done.  well, kinda.... 

We were both willing to accept the outer border,
but it didn't quite settle with us.

Certainly didn't add any ZING.

 








So, a couple of days later we got together again
and swapped out the border.  





TA DA!  Ready for the Quilter!!!
There'll be a bunch of hugs (and maybe even a few tears)
on Christmas morning.

Love Your Postal Person

Whether by US Postal Service, UPS, Fed-Ex or Special Delivery don't you just want to KISS the delivery person!?  Not even RAIN in Southern California can keep them from delivering your package!!!

Received a box stuffed with goodies from
Missouri Star Quilt Company

Said Goodies.  

They even sent a free treat, 

embroidery scissors.

Using a pattern from this issue of BLOCK,
I am going to make a lap quilt for my sister's grandson.

Holiday Vol 3 Issue 4
Starburst (page 85)








TA DA!  I've never sewn with pre-cuts before.
I may need to do this more....

All the half-square triangles are finished.
Different technique, really fast.

Laid out on my design floor

It was fast and easy.  The layout took a while.

It did not use the entire pack of the 10" pre-cut blocks.  The pattern says to use half, but I wanted it to be a lap quilt and not a wall hanging so I used more.  That is why the layout took a while...


Now I need to sew the blocks together
and take it to my friend to quilt.

Club House Turn

Here we are in the last quarter of the year.  For those of us making quilts for Christmas, it's time to burn the midnight oil.... 

As normal for me, I have been traveling for work.  When I travel I work on my Glorious Hexies in the airports and hotel rooms.  I'm actually making some progress. (And, it keeps me off the street corner.)

Sitting in the Phoenix airport last night, it was interesting to me that other passengers waiting to board the plane who were so engrossed in their iPhones, iPads, Blackberries, Blueberries, Marionberries and the such were "alone."  But there were several people (like me) doing some sort of hand work (knitting, crocheting, etc.) and while they worked, most were chatting with their seat mates.  Actually interacting with people!!  Can you imagine?!

I was chatting with a very nice young woman traveling from Michigan to San Clemente, CA to get married!  Her young man was in the army and just back from deployment.  She was so very sweet.  I prayed a quick blessing with her. 

Finished

Finished these three on this trip.

My neighbor text me while I was away that she picked up a box from my door from Missouri Star Quilt Company.....YIPPIE! 

In it is a "layer cake" that I will use with a pattern from Block magazine (Holiday issue. Vol 3, Issue4) and that will complete my Christmas quilt list for 2016.

I will open it today!

OH, NO!!!

Mary Engelbreit (I love her... click here)

Has this every happened to you?  You're working on a quilt and  "OH NO!" you don't have enough of a certain fabric!!!???

I am working on several quilts at the moment: 

one for a colleague who's wife is about to have a baby; one for a niece who is about to have a baby

and a Christmas quilt for my sister's granddaughter.

I must say, I'm moving ahead very nicely.... until.... DUN--DUN--DUUUUUNNNN

(click HERE) (turn your sound on)

I discover I need more of a certain fabric.

I've been working on this quilt, Spring is in the Air, by Lizzy B Cre8ive. (I've written about this quilt before:  July 4, 2016;  July 14, 2016 and  July 16, 2016.) It is looking so cute.

But, I have a bad habit of making changes along the way.

On this one, I decided to add a pieced border from The Border Workbook.   After I worked on the border for a while (it's pieced....seems to be taking forever to get together) THEN I decided to add another, simpler border of one of the border fabrics.  But I do not have enough fabric of the one I want to use.  What to do, what to do ?????

First I go back to the fabric store where I purchased the fabric...it's local.  No luck.

Then I  look on the salvage of the piece I have for name, manufacturer, lot number, etc.  No luck, I've already removed the salvage.
THEN I REMEMBERED!  I read recently that you should save your salvages and being a bit of a rule-follower, I've started doing just that.  So I dig it out of the scrap drawer.  I get a partial name "CX6220 Mini Chic Chevron."

Another piece of fabric, similar, says Robert Kaufman.  So, that is where I start my google search: "Robert Kaufman"+"CX6220 Mini Chic Chevron."  I find a lot of pretty fabrics, but not the one I'm looking for.








Next, got to the Fab Shop Hop website.  They have a link that allows you to search a lot of different fabric shops for specific fabric.  And what to my wondering eyes did appear????

MY fabric!!  It is not Robert Kaufman.  It is Michael Miller.

Now my only decision is to order it on line from this supplier, or, now that I know it is Michael Miller, continue to search and see if I can find it cheaper.

And, in case you were wondering, the other two baby quilts are finished and ready for the quilter.

Baby Quilt 1 (boy)

Baby Quilt 2 (girl)