A Mini-Vacation from Sewing

I have been keeping up with my hexie bee blocks and my Lucy Boston Blocks but not much else is happening.  I did get part of a charity quilt top made and went to a shop hope.  My husband and I have ventured into vintage film cameras and have been having fun buying cheap cameras and seeing what kind of pictures we can get.  This all got started by a trip to our local antique store to look for some end tables.  We got end tables, a wood veneer file cabinet and three vintage cameras.  Who knew where that would lead.

Here is a little pictorial tour of the last six weeks.

First off the blog hop:

I got some cute fabric and some patterns and notecards.

I won a couple things:

1st was my prize for the H2H challenge

And in the same thread mode, I won a large collection of Aurifil thread for making the most charity blocks for our AMQG last year.  Yummy colors.

I got my May, June and July Lucy Boston blocks completed.

Finally, I scored some Michael Miller Cotton Couture in pastels at the Fat Quarter Shop flash sale.

H2H Challenge

This post should be titled "The Joys of Moving" My husband got a promotion to another city which is about 1.5 hours away from Austin.  We took the plunge and moved south so that it is about an equal commute time-wise for both of us.  Between packing and moving not much sewing was done.  I got my quilts pin-basted and my Batik Jewels quilted last weekend when I finished uppacking.  I got the binding done today.  I did some straight line quilting and machine bound it to save time.  The machine binding went well.  This time I used Clover clips and some glue. 

My other quilt for Happy Chemo is a work in progress.  I have it half quilted.  This quilt is from some Moda weaves that I got several years ago and decided to use.  I love the yellow and blue combo. I should have this baby done by tomorrow so I can send both quilts off on Monday.  P.S. This is the new-to-me Juki Exceed 600 that is making my life so much easier.  It is so much fun to quilt on this machine with the bigger throat.  I am almost enjoying the quilting process.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day

Today is the day for big giveaways.

My reason for starting to collect Liberty of London Tana Lawn fabric is that I decided that I was going to make a pink hexagon quilt out of all Liberty of London Tana Lawn pink fabric.  I have a good start to it with about 500 1" hexagons basted.

Once I started buying Liberty of London Tana Lawn Fabric I could not stop.  I found a couple of sources on Etsy and Fabric.com where I could get some good bargains. I also paid full price for some of the fabric that struck my fancy.  I am a classics kind of gal.  So in the interest of sharing some of my pricing good fortune I am giving away two half yards of Liberty of London Tana Lawn both in a blue color way.  They are 52" wide so that gives you more than your average 1/2 yard.

Here they are up close and personal.  The names of the fabrics are Bourton Blue/Multi and Mark in Eggshell/Light Blue/Light Green.

I am using Rafflecopter to pick my winners.  You can use your email to check in if you prefer not to use Facebook.  I will ship internationally.

The giveaway ends next Monday at noon.  I will have Rafflecopter pick a winner.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

More Half Inch Hexies

Who knew when I started this hexie journey a little over a year ago that I would be basting a whole bunch of 1/2" pink tana lawn hexies.  I still had cut off's from my 1" die cutting adventure.  Had to use every last little scrap.  Here are about 200 of them.  I still have about 100 to go.  Good way to occupy my 15 minute breaks at work. I do not have a plan for them at this moment but was thinking more in the pincushion/mug rug direction rather than a whole quilt.

I did get my "Gemini" Villa Rosa together.  I used some 2.5" strips I got a couple of years ago on ebay.  They look like they might be Red Rooster fabric.  My oldest was here from Baltimore about a month ago and saw these blocks on the design wall.  He decided the quilt would look great on his family room couch.  Who was I to argue.  

I got my April block done for Jan.  She wanted Shabby Chic.  This was about all I had that screamed Shabby Chic.  I love all the bouquets of roses. I hope she likes green.

I went to an open house at the Quilt Haus a little south of Austin in New Braunfels.  They are starting a new modern quilt guild.  Since I am moving in two weeks just south of Austin it seemed like a good fit.  Hopefully they will get it started up soon.  My husband got a promotion but the job is in San Antonio which is about 1.5 hours south of Austin.  I still work in Austin.  We are moving somewhere almost in the middle until I can find a good job in San Antonio.  I have the sewing room almost packed except for the fixings for some block swap blocks.  I have been trying to do a little at a time.  Not looking forward to the move.  

March Blocks Finished

I finished up my Lucy Boston March block for Rundu.  She wanted orange and gray.

I got my other block swap done and sent off also.

This is my part of my pile of trimmings from my Liberty of London tana lawn hexagons I cut with my Accu-Quilt die.  These were too small to cut 1" or 3/4" inch hexies from.  With fabric that is $36.00 per yard I decided I was not going to waste these small trimmings.  I got some 1/2" hexie paper templates from Paperpieces and I went to town.  I got over 125 hexagons pinned and ready to baste.  

Jan of SewandFarm had a great idea for when you are pinning fabric on to the card stock.  She uses 1/2" appliqué pins.  I got some last weekend and boy do they work well for the 1/2" hexagons.  Thanks Jan.  

My oldest was in town this weekend from Baltimore.  Today we went to see Captain America on the IMAX screen.  I am not normally a fan of 3D but this movie was made for it.  Who doesn't love a good action movie.  Afterwards we went to my husband and my favorite Mexican restaurant for dinner.  It was a fun day.

Get Your Hex On Round Two

Sign up for the Get Your Hex On Round Two and you will be in the pool to win six sets of six Liberty of London tana lawn hexagons ready to sew.  I cut them out using the Paper Pieces 1" finished hexagon template which gives you a nice 3/8" seam allowance

Elita and I are the Get Your Hex On Moderators this time around.  We are planning for a six month bee with two blocks per month.  June will be the first month of the bee.

Those of you who were not in the bee last time please feel free to check out the Sign-Up sheet below and see if you would like to join us.

There is an option on the sign-up sheet for your bee mates to be Europe only, North American only, or you have no preference.  I know postage from Europe to the U.S. and Canada has skyrocketed.  This would be a way to keep postage down.

Sign-Up Sheet

Hope you will join us for some more hexie fun.

The Purple Rain

I finally finished up the binding on my Pantone Radiant Orchid Quilt that I am lovingly calling "The Purple Rain." I used the custom dyed fabric from Vickie Welsh for some of my raindrops, the binding and the back.  I used Superior King Tut variegated thread for the rain.  If I do something like this again the rain quilting will go on first and the raindrops will be appliquéd on afterward.  Starting and stopping the quilting for each raindrop was kind of a pain.  The quilt is 20" X 23".

I loved making this quilt.  The appliqué and the quilting were new techniques.

The Purple Rain

The third raindrop on the left on the top is from the sample fabric I ordered that is the official "Radiant Orchid".

I have some radiant orchids of my own just starting to bloom.  

H2H - Hands 2 Help Charity Quilt Drive

This will be my second year to participate in the H2H quilt drive organized by Sarah Craig.  There are three worthy causes this year to chose from.  I will be contributing to Happy Chemo again in honor of my daughter Emily.  She has passed her one year mark and is doing great.

You can click on the button below to get more information.  Today is the first sign-up day.   Last year Sarah organized enough sponsors so every contributor got a prize. This year I also volunteered to be a sponsor.  It was so much fun to get a prize last year that I would like to have a share in the fun.

I already have one quilt top done and have ideas for another one.  My Batik Jewels is Quilt #1.

The quilts have to be done by June 1.  There are various linky parties to post your progress.  All details are on Sarah's blog posting.

Radiant Orchid Pantone Color of the Year Quilt Contest

I decided I would try something new to me.  Freezer paper appliqué was it.  I had an idea for raindrops on a purple background.  I looked at all the freezer paper appliqué tutorials on Google.  I did the double freezer paper and starch method.  It was not as easy to go around the curves as I thought.  Hmm.  Room for practice.  Points were also an issue especially when I when to slip stitch the raindrops onto my quilt.

I got as far as getting most of the raindrops sewn onto my background.  I am going to have to come up with some awesome quilting to make this quilt come to life.  I did an on-line trip to Sew Modern and ordered some perle cotton.  Hope it is going to work for me.  I also have some metallic and variegated thread from Superior to work with.  It was a cloudy day today so the color is not so great.  I have to have it finished by next weekend so I need to be a speedy quilter when I get back into town.

The fabric I used is mostly from my basics fat quarter bundle from Pink Castle.  I also had some ombre fabric, some Melody Miller linen and some custom fabric ordered from Vickie Welsh.  I sent her the Radiant Orchid sample I got from Amazon. She has an etsy shop.  The radiant orchid raindrops that I made from her fabric are my inspiration.

February Hexie Blocks

I got my February blocks done over the weekend.  I have not made it to the post office yet.  Shooting for today.

First is my Get Your Hex On.  These are large 1 1/2" hexies.

My Lucy Boston block is pastel pinks and blues per request.

The Winner Is

And the winner is:  Gill who said "Gorgeous fabrics"  Gill I am sending you an email.  Let me know your address and I will be sending you your Liberty Charms.


True Random Number GeneratorMin: Max: Result:23Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Liberty of London Giveaway #1

I am on a roll with my Liberty of London tana lawn hexies.  I feel in a sharing mood.  This week I have twenty 5" squares to give away.  These are the various pink florals that I have been using for my pink hexagon quilt.

I purchased my Liberty of London tana lawn from various sources.  This week I want to highlight my favorite Liberty of London tana lawn on-line shop.

My go to for Liberty of London fabric is Jones and Vandermeer.  You get a quarter yard that is around 11" X 53" for $9.00.  They do not have as good a selection as some other on-line shops but you do get more fabric than a standard quarter yard of 42" fabric or a fat quarter and they have a $5.00 flat shipping rate.  You can see all their luscious fabric at https://www.jonesandvandermeer.com/categories/Fabric-Shop/Fabrics/By-Brand/Liberty-of-London/.

The giveaway ends next Sunday, March 2.  You do not have to be a follower to win but if you are a follower you get one more chance to win with a second entry.

Riley Blake Challenge Piece Finished

I finally finished up my Riley Blake Challenge piece today.  I got another pattern from Greta Gamma that I have been dying to try.  The fabric seemed perfect for some bright flowers.

Nothing like waiting until the last second.  I love to EPP and this pattern was a fun one to do.  It finished up at 14" in diameter.

I was a Winner

I got an email surprise from Rachel at "Stitched in Color" a few weeks ago.  I had made a comment on the Westminster fabric page on Facebook when she was participating in a "True Colors" blog hop. Her blog post was all about Anna Marie Horner's "True Colors".  I was the winning commenter.  I have been waiting patiently for my goodies.  Last week when I was out-of-town the box came from Westminster.  I have twenty new fat quarters to drool over.  The best thing, they were free so I technically did not break my fabric fast.  Not that I needed any more fabric, but they are blenders so they will be useful in the future.

Yummy.

When I was out-of-town last week I got stuck in the hotel on Tuesday because the city was iced in.  Roads were slick.  Luckily I brought some work back to the hotel Monday night.  The lobby was quite pleasant but it was icky whenever anyone came in the door.  That 21 degree blast was drafty.  Anyway, that evening and on the way to Abilene, with my associate driving,  I got a whole lot of hexes basted.  See the pretty pile.

Liberty Hexies

I used my new hexagon die for my Go Baby and made some hexies out of my pink Liberty tana lawn.  I used Best Press to starch them up a little first.  You can also cut the templates at the same time.  I bought some card stock today and did not notice it was gray.  Oh well.  I guess the color does not matter.  So now I have a tidy pile of templates and Liberty tana lawn hexagons ready to baste.

I am thinking I might have to spread the Liberty love.  Be on the lookout for a give-away next week sometime.

I Love EQ7

Okay.  I have succeeded in doing a basic appliquéd shape in EQ7 Patchwork Draw Applique.  This is someone who cannot draw.  I look forward to playing more.

I watched the EQ7video more than once in order to get this far.  I have been using Quilt Pro for Mac. It is a great program with a good block library.  I have used it several times to resize blocks for my Block Swap Adventure blocks.  It just does not have all the features you can get with EQ7.  I feel really lucky to have won a copy of this great program.  Even getting a new PC so I could use it was nice.  My husband is enjoying the new PC for his photography software.  He is learning Photoshop CS.

I am making a charity quilt with some of a somewhat dubious ebay purchase of 2.5 inch strips.  I am using another Villa Rose pattern.

This is the center of each block.  Have to add the background strips.

Another Block Finish

I finished up my Get Your Hex On and Lucy Boston Blocks this week.   I am only one day late. I will tell you what.  It was a lot easier doing the 1.25 inch hexes rather than than 1/2" from last month.  Both turned out great though.

I hope everyone is happy with their blocks.

There is a Square in There

I finally finished piecing the top to my "There is a Square in There" pattern by Kate Conklin.  It has one of my favorite Denyse Schmidt lines, Hope Valley.  I got all the blocks pieced quite a while ago but had to order more background fabric and then let it languish.  It is on my WIP list from January 1st.  I ordered the backing fabric and as soon as I get that I am going to quilt it up.  This one is a keeper.  Can't let all this DS goodness leave the premises.

Batik Jewels Finished

I finished up my Batik Jewels quilt top.  This is going to be a charity quilt.  I am still deciding where it should go.  Central Texas does not know how to handle ice and a teeny bit of snow.  I am off work today.  So glad I got this done and off my design wall.  Loft Creations inspired me to get a move on.

Now on to my Get Your Hex On and Lucy Boston blocks for this month.  I have the Get Your Hex On hexie's basted.  Still have to pick the other fabrics for my Lucy Boston January block.  I need to get a move on.

More Lovely Fabric and an Oops

I pulled out some more of the fabric from my stash.  I got this nice stack of Soul Blossoms with some Christmas money.

I got these six fat quarters of Heirloom at my friend's fabric sell off before the holidays.  Lovely orange colors.

I picked up some Liberty Tana Lawn in pinks before Christmas for my color wash hexagon quilt.  Saw one on Pinterest and loved it.  I have the Accuquilt 1" hexie die and I am all ready to cut at some time in the near future.  

I also have some London Calling Lawn fabrics.  These are the somewhat paisley ones from my stash. Not too sure what I am going to do with them.

I ordered some Aurifil thread from Cotton Bliss and I got this instead.

The owner was gracious and let me keep the charm packs because of the mix up.  Great customer service.  I will keep buying from that shop.

Then my oops.  I forgot to cancel my stash subscription from Pink Castle.  At least they are in the neighborhood of the Pantone color of the year.  

Lovely Liberty Hexagons

I ordered 100 precut Liberty Tana Lawn Hexagons from Very Berry.  A variety of lines.  I got done basting yesterday.  Not sure what I am going to make but they sure are pretty.

I met a fellow Liberty lover in Houston when I was there last week.  Lana from "It Seams to be So"  She has a very lovely blog.  We had a good time when we went out to dinner.  We talked quilting, of course, and just stuff.  I felt really lucky to meet one of the bloggers that I really admire.  She also has the cutest pet bunny rabbits.

Batik Jewels

I am hoping to get this done today.  Love how my batik 2 1/2" strip swap fabric turned into this colorful quilt.

More Catvent and other goodies

I got a total of 12 blocks done for the charity quilt and 8 blocks for my cat vent quilt for me.

I got "The Quilter's Album of Patchwork Patterns" by Jinny Beyer.  I think it will help me learn how to do grid blocks in my EQ7.

Some colorful batik strips all starched and ready to be sewn into strip sets.  I got these in a strip swap about three years ago.  Time to get used.