Sewing, Tagging and a Tip

This is a week where I'm feelin' the urge to sew! Is it spring in the air? It is just a mood? All I know is, I want to sew, and I'm goin' with it.

My "obligation" sewing is out of the way first. Here are my March blocks for the Blogger's BOM. This is month seven, so I've got 14 of these 8-1/2" blocks under my belt. 

Strawberry Fizz and Lime Pop blocks

Here's a peek at what I'll be wearing Easter Sunday morning, at the sunrise service. Our choir is singing at 6:45 a.m. worship! I made a new skirt with those two Anthology prints. I'm pretty pleased with my shopping efforts to make it a complete ensemble.

My Blog is a Liebster Blog!
My *FAB Leanne who blogs at Daisy and Jack -she's Daisy - gave me the Liebster Blog award. I had to look up the German word "liebster" to learn it means sweetheart, beloved person, or darling! It's been a long time since I've been associated with such terms, even if it's just through my blog! (In case you didn't know... *FAB means Friend After Blogging.)

The Liebster Award rules are:

• Post about your win on your blog You're reading it!
• Link back to the blogger who presented you with the award

Thanks Leanne! I'm so glad we met through our blogs. You are a great encourager and a good influence on my attempts at modern quilting with the many bee blocks you make. They're always beautiful. I have a fondness for the pictures you post of kangaroos near your house.

• Copy and paste the award to your blog There it is, in the right-hand menu.
• Present the Liebster Award to five blogs with less than 200 followers that you think deserve to be recognized.
• Let them know by leaving a comment on their blog

Di at SnippetsnScraps is just about the best blog-writer I've ever come across. She should be paid for it! She writes with a delicious sense of humor. It's also notable that she often writes about what her friends are making. If Di's your friend, you are blessed!

Kerry at ALittleStitching has the neatest quilt projects going. Oddly enough, we seem to be working on similar UFOs, so we have a great bond there. How remarkable is it that we can be friends when we're on opposite sides of the world?

Karen at NanaGirlQuilts machine and hand quilts with great skill. She just received a ribbon for a gorgeous log cabin quilt. She's also a lovely person. I'm hoping that one day Karen and I will meet in person, right there in Florida!

Maylene at QisforQuilt is always working on something that I want to make too! How does she do that?! Maylene goes to Kansas City every now and again, and in all my visits to KC, we've managed to miss each other - one time, only by one day! I am sure hoping it will work out one of these times.

Elyte at TeaFabricandOtherThings has just the prettiest name, doesn't she? But she's more than just a pretty name. She's a traditional quilter, who does a lot of embroidery too. I always enjoy seeing her latest fabric purchases, where she goes on retreats, and the many projects she keeps up with.

Now, Let's Play Tag!
I've been tagged. As in the game. "You're it!" Thankfully this version isn't physical - I'm not running anywhere these days! - but still involves some chasing around to come up with answers! Carla gave me these questions:

1. Morning person or night person? Morning. Though it doesn't happen all the time, I like getting up before dawn. You can get a lot done when your day begins before 6 a.m.

2. Do you save the selvages on fabric? If so, have you ever made anything with them? Sure do save them, and sure do use them! I've made several items: travel bag, purse and a pillow. I'm saving now to make a big quilt.

3. Which color of fabric is most prominent in your stash? Hands down, green.

4. What is the smallest scrap that you save? 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" I'm using them for a leaders-and-enders quilt.

5. What food do you crave? Popcorn. Made in a Whirley-Pop stovetop corn popper. With butter. Without butter. Sprinkled with salt. Occasionally sprinkled with brewer's yeast. I can eat popcorn seven nights a week, and sometimes it's even called "dinner." 

6. How often do you change your sewing machine needle? Oops! Time to do that again.

7. Pre-wash or right off the bolt? Pre-wash. Fabs don't go into the sewing area until it is. Washed.

8. What quilting project are you most proud of? Snowflake Medallion, finished in 2011. It will be in the Machine Quilter's Showcase in Overland Park, Kansas, May 16-19.

9. How many hours a day do you spend reading blogs? One to two hours? Maybe.

10. What's your favorite music to sew by? None. I never listen to music. If I need to focus on the task at hand, the TV is background noise. But when the work is mindless, I'm an audiobook gal.

Now I'm tapping: Carrie P. at APassionforApplique, Jackie at JackiesStitches; Karen at WhereismySeamRipper; and Jeanette at JeanettesPlace. You're it! These are your questions:

1. Where is one place in the world you haven't yet visited, but would like to?
2. What's your favorite quiltmaking gadget?
3. How often do you oil your sewing machine?
4. What's your favorite perfume?
5. Machine-piecing/applique or hand-piecing/applique?
6. What's your favorite dessert?
7. Who's your favorite author?
8. What quilting technique would you like to learn more about?
9. What dish do you cook/bake that is considered your best?
10. Machine-sewn binding or hand-sewn binding?

A Tip
Since my fabric preferences are leaning more toward modern quilting, I've been collecting a nice stash of solids. But, I haven't been doing a very good job of keeping track of which colors I have! Just a good assortment of Bella, and Kona seen in the photo. Without a color card, I was at a loss until Tammy showed me how to keep track with these labeled swatches.

Use an extra fine-tipped Sharpie to write along the selvage, then safety-pin the swatches together. I still have a few more, unnamed Kona colors to track down.

Now I'm off to play in my sewing area. I have some ideas rolling around in my head - no, they aren't marbles - that need to be tested with fabric. Have a blessed Holy Week. Linda

Visiting Grandies, Fabric and Spring

Last week I was in Kansas City for five days, where I helped take care of two of our little grandsons. The weather was glorious for lots of outdoor play time.

Aesa, 16 months

I brought with me our daughter's old doll bed and high chair that Tay found entertaining. That crib doesn't meet new safety regulations since it has a drop-down side. Ha! Are dolly cribs being recalled too?

Tay,  29 months

Celina's keeping busy with school, track, volleyball, Arabic lessons and cheer, so I didn't get to see quite so much of her.

Celina, 13 years

At Marmalade Fabrics, I picked up these pieces. On the right are some of the Kona solids for the QuiltCon block challenge. Our Des Moines Modern Quilt Guild will be participating as a group. 

On the left are Kaufman Stockholm prints in a great hexagon design.

In the center and above are white and sand Essex quilter's linen. I've been wanting to quilt with linen for some time. 

Since I'm totally a pre-washing gal, I wonder if anyone has experience with washing quilter's linen. Is that okay? Will it shrink quite a bit, and if so, is that a good thing?

And my! Isn't spring in bloom?! 

In front of the house is our show-stopper, a white-flowering crabapple tree that we call our popcorn tree. Typically it blooms in mid-May, and here it was on April 1st!

Our yard hasn't looked better, with all this glorious color! Lilacs are blooming too, and smelling so wonderful. A lilac bouquet with its scented goodness was a lovely addition to the kitchen table at yesterday's open house - our fourth open house. Our house has been listed 31 days now. Nothing's happening. In respect of Easter, we won't have an open house next Sunday. 

"For in Him we live and move and have our being." (Acts 17:28) I'm fairly sure I've interpreted "move" too literally, but this verse gives me something to lean on. Linda

Post About Anna

Actually, this post is "All About Anna." That's the pattern name for the bag I just made. A couple months ago I won the pattern in a giveaway hosted by the designer, Stephanie at Loft Creations.

Instead of making mine with a charm pack - I'm not a typically a charm pack buyer - this comes from stash. "Hometown" by Sweetwater is the feature fabric on the outside pockets. There's also a bit of Central Park, Denyse Schmidt fabrics (Picnic, Fairgrounds, Aunt Edna) Juicy Blooms, Castle Peeps, Sunkissed, Metro Living and Moda Marble.

I modified Stephanie's pattern to suit my need for pockets. By my way of thinking, a bag can't have too many pockets. First, I put pockets on the outside front and back.

tote back

On the inside I added a second pocket. The one at top is called for in the instructions. The one opposite (on the bottom), is another, larger one with a stitching line so I can have a place to put a pen and pencil. I also interfaced the inside pockets. On the bottom you see a base I made, for stability. It's a piece of foam core covered with fabric.

In this close-up you can see two things I want to point out. The decorative button closure is actually two buttons. I first sewed a sew-through gray button to the bag, and then sewed the aqua shank button on top of it. That's called improvisation. The button I wanted to buy was $5.95! Also, my city's name appears in the fabric. "Des Moines." It's entertaining to read all the cities listed. My editor/proofreader nature came to bear when I discovered the letter "v" missing for the city name "Spring Gro e."

Thanks for the pattern Stephanie! I'm already using this! Linda

Giveaway Winners

"My Birthday Presents to You" giveaway winners are:

Patchwork Pumpkin Pattern - Sue R. (Mtnquilter) of Canada
Patchwork Pumpkin Pattern - Carla T. of Missouri, who blogs at Lollyquiltz
Friendship Medallion Quilt Kit - Heather W. of Canada, who blogs at Creative Confessions

Congratulations to each of you!

A blog post isn't right without photos, so here are pics of fabrics I bought yesterday. The first bundle is half-yard cuts of a dozen prints in the newish Aunt Edna line from DS Collection (Denyse Schmidt) sold at Jo-Ann Fabrics. I have six each of two colorways: "Cherry" and "Far Meadow." But they sure look nice all together. According to Red Pepper Quilts, this line will arrive in Australia's Spotlight stores in May.

The close-to-me Jo-Ann's didn't have all the Aunt Edna prints, so to get them I went to the grand opening of a new Jo-Ann's on the north side of Des Moines. I picked up a few other not-on-sale items, so I managed to use three 50 percent off items coupons, a 25 percent off the total purchase coupon, and the $10 gift card I received for being one the first 100 customers! I made out like a bandit! FYI: Aunt Edna regularly sells for $12.99/yard.

It's shop hop weekend at area quilt shops. That means 15 percent off fabric. I found these two Rendezvous pieces at the only area quilt shop that carries Anthology. Can't you picture the pretty Easter skirt I'll be wearing? 

And this fabric? Well it's just so appealing. Retro. Gray. Chartreuse. Wine-y. A few of my favorite things.

I hope you're having a happy sew-y weekend. Linda

Quilting My Friendship Medallion

My Birthday Present to You giveaway remains open until Thursday. Click the link, or scroll down to the next post to comment. NOTE: Four of you who commented are "no reply" bloggers: Me, Myself, and I; linny; Joanne H.; and Jannelle. It means your Blogger profile is set to hide your email address. If you want to be in the draw, please contact me with a way to reply to you.

While I've been waiting to draw for the giveaway, I've been free-motion quilting the quilt - the one like the kit I'm giving away. Actually, I've been quilting on and off for a couple weeks now. It's a large quilt!

Instead of going straight to my favorite go-to quilt design, feathers, I decided to challenge myself to not quilt feathers - a "Feather Free" Quilt. Feathers just didn't seem to suit the fabrics, which have a more modern feel. And I didn't want dense quilting since this quilt is plenty heavy as it is.

In the center medallion I quilted a sort of spirograph design using my favorite quilting templates. They're a set of 1/8-inch thick, nested acrylic circles purchased from a vendor at the Overland Park, Kansas, Machine Quilters Showcase a few years ago.

 I used a Frixion pen and circle templates to mark my quilting lines.

The spirograph is quilted with aqua-colored 50-weight Aurifil.

I switched to white-colored Aurifil thread for the rest of the quilt. These Hole in the Barn Door blocks are free-hand quilted in a snail design - spiral in, and spiral back out.

Simple loop-de-loos here.

Flying Geese blocks are covered with arcs.

The most dense quilting is a wavy echo behind the red zig-zag blocks.

Triangles are echo quilted.

In this photo you might be able to see, on the back of the quilt, the last rounds of quilting. Nine Patch blocks were simply outline quilted, and the Sawtooth Triangles were quilted with arcs, once again drawn using my nested circle templates. I intentionally kept all the quilting very light.

85" X 96-1/2"

Binding is made with Patrick Lose's dark red Satinesque, a favorite fabric line of mine.

Between the grand size of this quilt (85" X 96-1/2") and recent rains that have left everything wet, I had a difficult time taking pictures on my deck. The quilt's laying across a bistro table and chairs.

Still, it's a very happy finish. I hope my quilt inspires some of you to head to Patchwork Pumpkin to sign up to make this fun, stash-busting quilt. It's a free pattern. Linda

My Birthday Present to You

Today's my birthday. I'm not ashamed to admit I'm 59.

Three years ago today, I quite vividly remember spending my birthday in this down under city.

Foreground: Sydney Opera House; Background: Harbour Bridge

That day, we rode the ferry from Five Dock... 

 

to the CBD (Central Business District) 

Sydney CBD view from the top of Sydney Tower, the gold spire in the center of the previous photo.

In the CBD I shopped for opal (the national gemstone of Australian) earrings, and got them.

Most often though, birthdays are low key in our family. This year is slightly different because I'd like to give you a chance to win one of three presents. This is an Australia-themed giveaway.

You might remember that back in August 2011, I started making this Friendship Medallion Quilt. The pattern is a freebie from Patchwork Pumpkin, an Australian quilt shop. Instructions come with a few strings attached.
1. You are not allowed to purchase any fabrics for the quilt top. You must use your stash!
2. You may swap fabrics with your friends.
3. Show us your quilt centre to get the next border instructions. No proof? No pattern. No exceptions!
Wanting a stash-busting project, many of you saw my posts about this and decided to join me. Because so many of you did that, Patchwork Pumpkin asked if I would like to give away two of their patterns! Two of you have a chance to win a pattern of your choice from Patchwork Pumpkin.

While I was cutting out each of the eight parts for this medallion quilt, I thought about how great it was to be stash-busting. And gosh, why not cut out TWO of every piece needed?

So, for example, in part one (as seen on the right) instead of cutting out just 64 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" turquoise prints and 40 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" white prints...

I cut out 128 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" turquoise prints and 80 1-1/2" X 1-1/2" white prints.

I continued to double-up on my cutting throughout all eight parts, setting aside the half I didn't use. With permission from Patchwork Pumpkin, I printed instructions to accompany each part.

That means, my giveaway gift is this. THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.

A cut out kit, not just hunks of fabric, to sew your own 85" X 95-1/2" medallion quilt top like mine.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED.
Anyone can enter once for a chance to win one of two patterns or the kit. Here are the parameters:

• I'll ship the kit within the lower 48 U.S. states. An international kit-winner should expect to pay shipping. 
• Three winners will be selected Thursday, March 22.
• In your one comment, tell me two things:

1. Whether you'd like to win the "pattern" or "kit" or "either."
2. Something you know or like about Australia, whether you've ever been there or not.

THIS GIVEAWAY IS CLOSED. 

As for celebrating my birthday, what I'll be doing is this.

Hosting our second Sunday afternoon open house. Last Sunday's visitors, who numbered a dozen, were mostly curiosity peepers. We're hoping this Sunday's visitors will be more serious since we'll be hosting an open house every Sunday until the house sells! I can't think of a better birthday present than an offer. Linda