February Quilt Square Quilt Along

Happy Leap Day.  That's kind of weird, don't you think?  Every four years we have an extra day?  Crazy.  I always think about the people born on this day...

Anyway, today is the Quilt Square Quilt Along parade day over at Jo's Country Junction.  This month's block is this cute, itty bitty, bear paw.  I love the bear paw block, so this one was fun for me to do.  I used Triangulations for those 7/8" triangles, so they were a breeze to make.  Be sure to jump over to Jo's to see everyone else's block too!

This is the next project I'll be starting.  It's a gift for a friend who is a University of Florida fan and alumni.  I'm just doing a simple double 4 patch, similar to this one.  The Gator fabric will be used for the backing.

I got a lovely surprise in the mail yesterday!  Marcie at Patchalot Patterns sent me three of her new patterns!  I feel so honored!  I love her designs and have done quite a few of them in the past.  I'm putting "Diamond in the Rough" on my must do list.  I love it!  Thank you Marci!  Be sure to go check out her site...she has tons of great patterns and lots of freebies too!

Happy Quilting...enjoy your "extra" day!!  :)

Quilts of Valor

Wow, I was overwhelmed with the response to my last post regarding the word verification and the picture viewing changes!  I am happy to know that I'm not alone...and it's basically unanimous that all of you feel the same!  Maybe Blogger will take the hint and reverse all those stinkin' changes!!  :)

I quilted two quilts this weekend for Quilts of Valor.  The tops were made by ladies in our local guild...they'll be passed on to another member for binding.

Stars are obviously a theme among QOV and this one was made entirely of star fabrics.  So of course it needed some stars in the quilting too!

The second one is quilted with a simple meander and a few "USA's" throughout.

I snapped a quick picture of my kitties enjoying some sunshine together.  You might not think there is anything unique about this picture....but I have to say, this is the closest they'll ever get to cuddling.  LOL  These cats just tolerate each other.  Smokey (on the left) antagonizes Whiskers...he's just like a little brother, hiding around a corner and attacking her when she least expects it.  And she wears her queen crown proudly and will smack him whenever he gets even an inch too close.  

No, there will never be any "two cats snuggling" pictures with these two.

Happy Quilting!

Snow Days and Blogger Stuff

As promised, here is a picture of my Snow Days quilt.  This is an embroidery pattern by Crabapple Hill and was a block of the month that I started in 2010.  I so enjoyed the embroidery process...and hope I find the time to start working on another embroidery project again soon!

The bonus of a block of a month...someone else chooses the fabric!  Some of these were definitely  fabrics I would have never chosen on my own.  It was nice to step out of my box!

I quilted it with a design called "Blowin' Wind" and used an Omni thread called Pearl White.  I know some are surprised I quilted right over the embroidery stitches, but I think it turned out perfect!

Love the texture!

These little images are my favorite...the kids playing in the snow and building snowmen....

...or sliding down the hill (I don't know why this one is turned!  just tilt your head a little.  :P)

The churches are pretty cool too....

I just love them all!

So....a couple things about Blogger and some changes they've made recently.  The word verification has gotten more difficult to read and more time consuming when trying to leave comments.  I took the lead from a fellow blogger and turned the word verification "OFF" for now.  If I find I get horribly spammed, I might add it back at a later date.  I know my blog reading time is REALLY limited and I know everyone else's time is limited too.  I don't want to spend the few minutes I have trying to figure out those stinkin' words!  I love to get comments, but I've noticed I've been getting less and less and wonder if that's because of the annoying time it takes to complete the word verification.

Secondly....have you noticed there is a change in the way you can view the pictures?  When you "clicked" a picture before, you used to get a larger image.  You could even click it again and it would zoom in even more.  I really liked that feature!  But...then it switched to a photo-viewer type of format, which is nice to see ALL the pictures at once, but you couldn't really get a close up view of anything.  Maybe it's just me and my old eyes...  BUT...I found out that is an option!  I turned that photo-viewing option "OFF" and now you can click and double click the pictures to get a really close up view again.  Go ahead, try it up there on one of those embroidery pictures...I'll wait. :)  

Are you back?  Isn't that better??  If you have a blog...it's up to you how you want your settings.  I just thought I'd share that you do have the option to change things if you aren't happy with Blogger's changes.

I'm still not sure if I like the new interface...I switch back to the old sometimes, make changes, then come back to the new interface.  I think the new interface is easier to upload pictures, but the pictures get corrupted more frequently.  So...I'm not really sure if it's better after all!  Sigh....

Anyway...hope you all have a wonderful President's Day weekend!!

Happy Quilting!

Catch up

It always amazes me when I realize a whole week has gone by without a post.  Honestly, I try to do some type of quilting or sewing every day...but sometimes I feel like it's not enough to make a whole blog post about, you know?

Today I thought I'd share some random pictures of projects I've worked on the last week or so.  :)

First up is a little mini that I LOVE!!  It's the Quilt Square Quilt Along block for the month of February.  Those little HST in the paws are 7/8th's of an inch!!  Teeny-tiny, I'm telling you!  I couldn't resist making it in my favorite colors.  My goal is to get it quilted before the QSQA parade at the end of the month.  If you want to join in on the QSQA, check out Jo's Country Junction.

The next picture is just a little sneak peek.  I am hosting a mystery quilt for our local quilt guild and these are the fabrics I have chosen.  I have step one completed, but I don't want to show too much because I know there are a couple of guild friends that read my blog and they won't get step one until later this month.  :P  I love the fabrics that I chose and I think I already know to whom I will give this quilt...someone in my family has a 16th birthday coming up this year!  That seems like a reason worthy of a birthday quilt, don't you think?

Do you remember this project?  It's the embroidery quilt "Snow Days" that I worked on as a block of the month for the last year and a half!  It's quilted!  I wasn't sure how to handle the quilting....quilt around the embroidery or just quilt right over it?  Well...as you can see, I just quilted right over it.  I am soooo happy with the results.  I can't wait to show you a full picture and I will as soon as the binding is finished.

This is a Quilt of Valor quilt...it was made by all of us in the Cotton Club Quilting group at our retreat last fall.  We all contributed two star blocks and we had enough to make two (almost) identical quilts.  Isn't it cool?  (I didn't realize how much of a shadow there was in the picture)  The color on the left, in the shadow, is the most like the real colors.  The binding isn't finished...I'll pass it on to another CCQ member to stitch the binding.

I quilted it with a design called "Seaweed."  I saw someone use it on another QOV and I think it kind of looks like flags waving...

Lastly...I made my hubby a little Valentine treat.  They were yummy!!

I think that catches you up on what's going on in my neck of the woods!

Happy Quilting!

Scrappy Sister's Choice--Finished!!

I finished the last stitches in the binding of my Scrappy Sister's Choice quilt last night.  This is another one I love, love, love!!  It's a Bonnie Hunter pattern (what else, right?)...I altered the pattern just a bit, but the only difference is that my blocks are a bit smaller than hers.  I was able to use some old 9patches from years ago...which was a great bonus!

I also tried a new-to-me quilting design...baptist fans.  (you should be able to click the pic for a closer look)  Again...love.it.  I sound like a broken record, don't I?

And look at that...I got a little fancy on the border corners.  LOL  Truth is, if you knew how simple that was to do, you'd fall outta your chair.  :P  Peggy suggested the red binding...which was the perfect touch!

Now to finish my -mini- Scrappy Sister's Choice...see those little cuties...that bigger block is what was in the quilt above.  Aren't they adorable?

Happy Quilting!

Orca Bay Link Up and Weekend in Lancaster, PA

I hope you aren't tired of seeing posts about Orca Bay...today is the last link up day on Quiltville's Quips & Snips, so I thought I'd just share one last picture since the binding is finished.  I REALLY love this quilt!   I love the colors, the pattern...just everything!  :)

I love the polka dot fabric I had in my stash to use for the binding...Yay!  I still plan to make a label for this, so I really need to put that on a "must do" list.  Be sure to check out Bonnie's blog for a link up to other finished Orca Bay quilts...there are some color combinations.

This weekend I attended a longarm training expo...which was amazing!  I learned so much and came home with some awesome ideas I can't wait to try.  Conveniently enough, the expo was held in Lancaster, PA....which is practically the quilting capital of the world!  There are soooo many wonderful quilt shops located in that area, it's mind boggling.

A friend and a local longarmer, Lisa, and I drove up early on Friday so we'd have some extra time to do our own little shop hop.  Oh my...it was so fun, and really a bit overwhelming!  LOL  I really didn't -need- anything.  I had one or two things on a list...and do you think I found those two things?  NO!  :P

I found plenty of other things though...how can you pass up these prices?  Our first stop was Sauder's...do you see that price?  $3.89/yard!  They had bolts and bolts of fabric $2.99 and up...and good fabric too!

 Next stop was Burkholders...their prices are a bit higher, but still some bargains to be found.  That bundle of 25 fat quarters there....$25!  The black floral and the coordinating green is for a tote bag I want to make, the three fabric on top of the green is from the "Late Bloomers" line to go with a charm pack I have.  Also some black FQs, and 99cent remnants....OH and the best part?  20% coupon off most everything purchased! (FQ pack was already discounted, so it wasn't included in the coupon)

The next stop was Zook's...a bought a few neutrals that were only $5.79/yd.  I can always use neutrals.  I don't remember why I bought that blue...LOL.  It must have been a good price.  :)

Just about across the street from Zook's, is The Old Country Store...It's a beautiful shop, with fabrics and lovely gifty items.  Their prices are cheaper than average quilt shop prices ($7-8/yd), but I was beginning to feel overwhelmed and knew I just did not need to buy any more fabric!  Then I saw these little scrap bags of fabric....now really, do I really need to buy someone else's scraps?  Yep, apparently I do.  :P

A block or two down the street, we went to one last shop...called Bitty Kinna's.  Again...beautiful shop with decent prices, but my eyes just crossed when I looked at the fabric.  LOL  I did manage to pick up a few clearance FQ's...

By this time, we were "full of shopping" and it was time to go check in to the hotel/expo anyway.  It was a great shopping day!

Of course, there was a bit more shopping to do at the expo...this time a few supplies for my longarm.  Thread, bobbins, rulers....  FUN!!

 Whew!  That was quite a few pics...

Happy Quilting!