SWOONING...

I saw this pattern in my magazine actually.  And I have seen it all over the internet. I love it.  I love everyone doing the block together.  I love how everyone's looks.  I had to join in.  I used my own pattern though.  My blocks are 30 inches each.  Big, humongous blocks.  One of my teachers had told me that anything more than 14 inches really isn't a good idea.  Ohhh, contrare.  Love the swoonage!

Craftsy Block of the Month

I went to a Stash Reduction sale last week.  It was an amazing sale.  I bought some really nice stuff at a fraction of the cost it would be to buy it new.  Even bought this nice little hexagon ruler for a buck.  How can you go wrong? One of the fat quarters I bought was this "bones" fabric.  I had to make it for my dog as soon as I got home.  Does she look chic in it or what? My kids went crazy over her when they got home from school.

I am in the Craftsy Block of the Month class with Amy Gibson. The class is free.  I am having a lot of fun with it.  I love these quilt alongs. 

Above and below are January's block of the month (BOM).

 These are February's BOM- half square triangles.  Had a blast with these.

I will show you March when I am done with them. They are  a lot of fun to do as well.

Asterisk Block

I had a lot of fun making this.   I am doing the Craftsy Block of the Month free class.  This block, the asterisk, is part of the quilt of the month class.  I wanted to see what it would look like as a quilt. My Mother bought my kids a fat quarter pack when this local store went out of business.  Being that my children are not quilters, the fabric was just laying around the playroom.  I asked them if I could use the fabric to make them a throw.  They happily agreed.  So this one totally suits my younger daughter.  I did add a border.  When I quilt it all up I will post another pic. 

Asterisk block-  fun but a little tricky getting all the lines right.

Drawstring Bags and Tutorials

I saw these at In Color Order but I have been wanting to make one since I saw this one here ( a free tote tutorial, among others, at Pillow and Maxfield).  They are super fun and easy to make and whip up in no time.  They make a great lunch bag that you can just throw in the laundry as needed.  Go here for In Color Orders instructions on how to make them.

Lots O Color

My in the round block

One of the quilting groups that I belong to is doing a round.  Each month we are given a new assignment to add onto. The first month was a 12.5 inch square.  I think, if I am remembering right.  The next was 6.5, pieced.  Next is a 2.5 inch add on, probably for me a border of some sort to calm things down a bit. It has been a lot of fun.  I just kinda went wild with my colors.

As you can see bright colors have been a them for me.  Maybe its the grey of winter that has made me crave all this color.

I am about 9 blocks shy of having 30 blocks to put a nice size quilt together.

Pinwheels and Strings

Aren't these batiks yummy!

I have only been meaning to say something about this lovely win I had during Christmas time.  The lovely Melissa of Sew Bitter Sweet Designs.had a giveaway and I entered and lucked out and won two half yard cuts from Fat Quarter Shop as well at the triangle foundation paper.  I had no idea what the foundation triangle thing was.  A friend of mine told me it is like piecing with training wheels.  Yeah, I knew I needed to give it a try.  It helps a lot in keeping my triangles from not getting wonky.  Recently I learned that  a lot of my wonkiness was coming from pressing and pulling when ironing.  Now that I have a softer hand things have gotten a lot better.  I wish I knew about that a year ago!

The pinwheel quilts had been put on hold for the time being because I am totally obsessed with finishing my string quilt.  I have ten more squares to go and then I will have 30 huge blocks to make my quilt.  Totally looking forward to seeing this one all the way through. 

A Gifted Stash

My parents have some friends that they go way back with.  We have picnics usually twice a year and we get to see them and their families.  Their grandchild and our daughters are around the same age, so my girls enjoy seeing him at the picnics as well.  My parents knew them from when they lived in Pennsylvania and thats going back a good 50 years.  Wow!

C, I will call her, is my parents age and she gave me some fabric that she has had for 30 plus years.  She had always wanted to make a quilt but never did.  And I gather she is not interested in making one now as she gave me her stash.  I was thrilled.  I received the stash before Christmas but with much to do I could not really do anything with it at the time.  Now, however, I had a moment after all the Holidays and birthdays.  I made her a tote.  Who doesn't need a tote.  And besides she admired the one I made for my Mom.

It was a little overwhelming at first trying to pick out fabrics that would work well together. But after spending some time with the fabrics I started seeing themes and colors that I thought would be pretty good together

Now, keep in mind, I did not exactly group them perfectly for these pics. I mainly wanted to get them photographed to post on this blog.

This flannel here, I love.  There is not a big enough piece to make pajama pants or anything.  But, I so can see it being used real soon.  I just love the design and color.  Kind of heathery.

Here is the tote colors and design that I decided on.  Since she is a traditional woman I went with a traditional design.