Over the River and Through the Woods

I finished the embroidering the last panel!

What a great feeling! Below is the fabric I have been saving for the piecing.

Sheesh! You think I have enough? LOL! This is probably enough fabric for at least two of these quilts!

I'm not sure when I will start working on the piecing. I need to get ready for my Sue Spargo class since it is next week. I also have some tops I'd like to quilt before starting on something else that will need quilting. I was just glad to be able to find the stack of fabric I'm saving for this! Now I can put the embroidered panels with the fabric and pattern. Hopefully I won't put these in too safe of a place so that I will be able to find it again once I'm ready to work on it some more.

Mom's Yellow Brick Road, Part 2

I originally posted about this project on August 12th. If you are interested, click here to read that very brief post. I said in that post that I hoped to get it basted that week. It didn't happen. I got it ironed and laid out on my basting tables on Thursday, August 21st. Then it got "catted."

For those of you who need a translation, this look says, "You need to go do something else because I am not going to willing get off this quilt!" I have learned to pick my battles carefully. Miss Spooky won this one. I didn't get it basted until later that evening after she had her nap and willing moved.

I'm happy to report that it is now quilted and ready to be mailed back to my mom.

I didn't do fancy quilting, just an all-over meander. I love the backing fabric she chose!

In other news, Friday was somebody's first day in 7th grade.

He grudgingly allowed me to snap a few photos before he left for school. He is almost as tall as me now!

August Scrap Group

I had 9 ladies attend my scrap group yesterday! I was worried that we wouldn't be able to fit that many in our small classroom, but we all fit just fine.

The project for this month was Half Square Triangle blocks. I posted photos of my two sample quilts previously. Click on these links to see photos: Half Square Triangle Sampler and Chevron.

Here are a couple of blocks that were finished yesterday.

Mary Ann also brought some of her completed Bird Dance blocks to show.

I had a second class yesterday afternoon - a free motion quilting class. We worked on practicing designs and coming up with specific ideas for how to quilt a paper pieced star quilt she has made. We were both so excited with what we came up with for her quilt! I can't wait to see how it turns out. She promised to bring it in to show me when it is finished. I'll be sure to take some photos when she does.

It probably goes without saying, but I didn't get to do any sewing yesterday. But it was a fun day at work!

Stash Shopping

It has been a while since I have purchased any fabric "just because." When I saw this Charley Harper line on the Fabricworm Facebook page, I purchased the half yard bundle within minutes. It was also on sale when I bought it, 25% off! Double score!

I love Charley Harper's style and art work. I have no idea what I will do with these fabrics other than pet them. This was a "I just have to have some of that" purchase.

P.S. While finding the link for the fabric line on the Fabricworm website I noticed that these fabrics also come in flannel, canvas and knits. I'm not tempted by the knits. Flannel would be nice but the cotton will work just fine for most things I will make with it. However, CANVAS - I might not be strong enough to resist getting some canvas to make myself a bag.

Saturday Sewing

After my guild meeting on Saturday a few ladies stayed to sew bags for our Quilts for Oncology project. I wrote a simple pattern - click here for the tutorial - that everyone followed.

Below are some of the bags I made as well as one donated by my mom.

A few of ladies also brought finished quilts to go in their bags. Below are the four I brought home to deliver to the hospital this week.

I put them all on my clothesline this morning and had to stand in the furtherest corner of the yard to get them all in one shot.

This and That

First, we got a good report from the doctor yesterday about my husband's recent foot surgery. Everything is looking good. He does not need to use crutches any more. He can walk, just not far or for very long. And he can drive. So we can resume some semblance of normalcy!

Second, I finished the Chevron quilt top.

I used 3" finished size half square triangles. Thus, this top measures 48" by 60".

Third, I finished block 7 of the Christmas Quilt.

The tree is suppose to have some buttons on it, ornaments I suppose. I will wait until I quilt it before adding those. The strip pieced tree looks great, but all those seams made the hand applique "interesting." Not something I'd like to tackle again any time soon. Luckily, block 8 does not have any pieced appliques.

WIP

I'm making progress on my second HST scrap project.

It will hopefully be a completed top by the end of the day!