Design Wall Monday

Since I've finished up with some "have to do" work, I decided that I wanted to do something new and just because I want to. Yes, I still have things that I HAVE to do, and I'm working on them; but I want to start something new that's been sitting around just waiting to be made.

I decided on the Stars Over Texas quilt. I've had the pattern for quite some time but just never pulled fabric for it. That changed on Friday!

Annie and I were helping out at M & E Quilt Shoppe and we both agreed that Little Ruby line by Bonnie and Camille would look great in the pattern.

I've been cutting the triangles and just couldn't wait to put them up on the wall. Here's what I have so far.

This is by no means where I think these fabrics will end up. I really just wanted to play a little and get comfortable with the lay out process. These are big triangles (7 1/2") and the stars are going to be really big (24" x 27"). I'm laying this out on the diagonal and that can be kind of tricky if you don't pay attention to what you are doing. The final quilt size is 90" x 108" and since the pieces are so big, it should go together pretty quickly. I'll cut the rest of the triangles and then decide fabric placement by using small pieces of scraps and a sketch.

These are all equilateral triangles so I used a 60 degree triangle ruler instead of the template provided with the pattern, which will make cutting go much faster. Don't you just love starting new projects and finding easier and quicker ways to do things?  😄

Annie and I are teaching an umbrella workshop Tuesday so I won't have time to sew again until Wednesday. Yikes! I guess that's not entirely true. I will be doing some hand sewing which allows me to fondle fabric. 😛   

What are you working on today?

Check out Judy L's Patchwork Times

and

Beth's Monday Making

Quilting Friends!

I am blessed to have some really awesome quilting friends! I am very happy to share some of their recent quilting projects.  😄

Although she's not in the picture, Bonnie is working on an adorable cat quilt for her granddaughter. Love the bright colors!

Carol finished up this adorable baby quilt for someone and it turned out great!

Carol is also close to finishing her Heart to Heart quilt. She's making the queen version, so she had to make a lot of hearts. 😂

Diane bit the bullet and decided it was time for her to learn to machine quilt.

She's a natural and did an awesome job!

Kathy is a new quilter and she's doing wonderful work. Her Strip Shenanigans is ready for binding. She decided to make it scrappy and it's going to look awesome!

Kathy's Nine Patch Party is really nice and that's ready for binding too!

Sharon had previously made the Heart to Heart quilt that Carol is making. She had extra squares and decided to make pot holders.

Sheila has us all jealous of the fact that she's working on Christmas gifts already. She doing an awesome job!

As I've said before, I'm blessed to have so many talented people in my life.

Misc. Projects

I've been lax in posting pictures of projects lately so here you go...

This is a BIG disappearing nine patch that is created using 10" squares. Although I don't have a picture, this is quilted and bound.

I made another set of the Faith Hope and Love wall hangings. These make great gifts, hence the reason I needed to make another set. :-)

Although I use EQ a lot, I still like to use a sketch pad at times. This project is pieced, quilted, and bound. Yay! I'll share a picture of the finished project soon.

I have a few other projects done, but I don't have pictures of them. :-(

I also have a few projects done that I can't show yet. I'll be able to share them soon, and I'm looking forward to that.

Tomorrow I'll post pictures of a few projects some friends worked on while we were together. I love it when I see students/friends complete projects they started during a class with me. Of course I tell them that I feel like we should have joint custody of those projects, but no one seems to agree with that. 

Design Wall Monday

There are quite a few projects here that are in various stages. Some are still being pieces, while others are ready for quilting. I have four quilts that are at the point that I need to hand stitch the binding, but I just need to find the time to do that. I even have a few projects that are still in the sketching stage, but I've started pulling fabric for them. I guess my ADHD is in full force right now.   😄

I've submitted one project to Blank Quilting's American Honor Challenge (There's still time for you to participate!), but I'm still working on the second project. Here's a quick look at some of the fabrics and the blocks in my quilt. I hope to finish this by the end of the week, including the quilting. Keep your fingers crossed.

This quilt just needed to be quilted and bound and I was feeling ambitious last night so I completed it. It was too late and dark to get a good picture, so I'll show it in this state. Yes, that's watermelon fabric. I think it's quite appropriate since Milan hosts the Melon Festival every Labor Day Weekend and it's a really big deal!

You may remember when I was working on the Cathedral Window pillows for an upcoming class. Here's the first sample I made.

I wasn't overly thrilled with my points, so I made an identical pillow and added button embellishments. I like how this one looks. (The picture is not great, but I think you get the idea.)

I taught the class and had a really good group of students. Look at what Chris created. She did such a wonderful job and I love her fabric choices. The floral fabric was left over from the very first quilt she made.

Sharon is mixing things up a bit and she's going to make a table covering instead of a pillow. Look that the fabric she's going to use for the border. We've played around with how she's going to complete this, since the Cathedral Window portion is quilted. She's going to quilt the border and then add it. I can't wait to see this completed.  

What are you working on today? See what other quilters have on their design walls today.

Check out Judy L's Patchwork Times

and

Beth's Monday Making

Don't forget that it's time to sign up for the 

2017 Hands 2 Help Challenge.

Head of to Sarah's Confessions of a Fabric Addict to sign up today. There's a giveaway involved. 😊

Hands2Help

It's that time again!

Sign ups have begun for the 2017 Hands2Help Challenge.

Hands2Help - 2017 Sign Up

  This year's charities include:

Charity #1 - International Institute St. Louis

Charity #2 - Happy Chemo!

Charity #3 - Camp Hobe via Stash Builder Box

Sarah has provided information about each charity, what types and sizes of quilts they need, etc. You can read all about them here.

2017 Hands2Help - Confessions of a Fabric Addict

This challenge is filled with lots of fun stuff too! Besides just making quilts and sending them off to the charities, each week there will be guest bloggers (I'm one of them and will provide a quilt tutorial! 😊), prizes for participating, tutorials, linky parties, etc. I always look forward to this challenge and learn so much. I know you will too!

Sarah has this quote from St. Augustine on her blog and I feel compelled to share it. I think this is beautiful! Don't you?

"What does love look like?

It has the hands to help others.

It has the feet to hasten to the poor and needy.

It has eyes to see misery and want.

It has the ears to hear the sighs and sorrows of men.

That is what love looks like"

--St. Augustine   

Encourage your friends to join the fun.

You'll all be happy you did!

Catch Up Post #2

You never know when or where you'll find inspiration. This was the bed covering in the hotel where Annie and I stayed when we were teaching at Lake Farmpark. This looks really cool to me and I can see myself recreating it in a quilt.

For some reason I only have two pictures from the Mondo Bag class. I am really sorry that I forgot to take more because some of these ladies had picked really fabulous fabrics with which to work.

Here's Cathy's version using some of my favorite Kaffe Fassett fabrics. She chose to use 5" squares to highlight the fabric, make a larger bag, and be done quicker. 😍

Nicole's bag is so much fun! I love her fabric choices and think the bigger squares are wonderful.

I didn't get pictures at the class, but Nicole sent us a picture of the two bags she made after she got home. I love it when students do that. :-)

The day after I got home (Monday), Jack and I were blessed to have Lynn and Ty's girls here for a few hours while they had an appointment. It was such a beautiful day that we could all be outside without coats! Of course in the kids' minds, that means it's bike-riding time! Avery really wanted to ride the two-wheeler, but I need to get new helmets so she had to settle for this. (I thought I had plenty of time to get helmets since it's still winter. Wrong!)

Peyton was happy and all decked out with a hat and sunglasses. She made me laugh out loud!

Jack had two fine helpers with his antenna work that afternoon. 😍

Avery drew a treasure map and since it was windy, decided she needed to weigh it down with rocks so it didn't blow away. Grandpa Jack is guarding the map so no one else will know where to find the treasure. Avery told him that he did a good job and could share the treasure, which ended up being sliced apples and peanut butter.  Yummy!

One of the treasures we found were these little red nubs peeking out of the ground. That's rhubarb!

The daffodils are making their presence known too. I'm afraid that they might be in for a rude awakening one of these days - snow! Maybe not though, since it's been pretty much non-existent so far this winter.

And that evening, Nikki's three oldest kids spent the night because Zach had an early appointment (7:30am) and Nikki had to drive him. The plan was for me to drop off Quinn and Sadie at school on my way to teach a class, and Ronan would stay with Jack until he went to school at 12:30. Surprisingly, we were all eating breakfast at the same time Tuesday morning (7:40) and there was no mad rushing around, arguing, etc. These kids have really good appetites and even helped make breakfast. Jack and Ronan made scrambled eggs and toast for everyone and then Quinn and Sadie asked for more eggs - this time over-easy. They each made their own, with my help, and did a great job. Book bags were packed, my class stuff was loaded in the car, and I was having a second cup of coffee when I glanced at the clock and realized that it was 8:17! We needed to leave by 8:25 and I realized that hair and teeth still needed brushed. Yikes!

The mad rush was on, but we made it and everyone was on time and happy. I will admit though, when I got home that evening I was pretty darn tired so there was no sewing for me. :-)

Upcoming in the next few days will be pictures of some projects on which I've worked as well as some from various students. Stay tuned!

Catch Up Post #1

Where does the time go? It's been about two weeks since I've posted and really; I wasn't just sitting around twiddling my thumbs. I've been pretty darn busy and just did not take time to write up a blog post. Over the next few days, I'll update you on a few things that have been happening and share some upcoming events as well.

I've been sewing, but I can't really show most of what I've been working on because the projects are for blog hops, gifts, etc. I'll post what I can shortly, but no quilts today. 😞

Annie and I taught umbrella and Mondo Bag classes at Lake Farmpark a couple of weeks ago and we are headed back there a week from today for another umbrella class. Here are some pictures of the wonderful creations from the participants.

I just love this blue fabric!

Pat's tie-dyed fabric is absolutely beautiful as an umbrella! 

Raindrop fabric! How appropriate. :-)

I love Nicole's two-fabric version.

These flowers are gorgeous! I think they are perfect for an umbrella. 

This fabric was purchased while on a trip taken and as been waiting for just the right project. I think it works beautifully as an umbrella!

This is so darn pretty. Toni did a wonderful job!

This green fabric is gorgeous and have gold designs in it.

Can you see the green ring close to the top tip? It was intentional, and I'm thrilled that it worked out for Olivia.

This turned out so pretty!

Myrya used some really fun fabric and it worked out beautifully.

Isn't this pretty?

Ronnie's umbrella is perfect. I think the fabric looks like it's been out in the rain. :-) 

We had a wonderful time, but it was really hot in the room. As a matter of fact, we had turned the heat off but because it was almost 70 degrees outside and there are floor to ceiling windows on one side of the room, by lunch time, it was really heating up. Of course, the fact that there is quite a bit of pressing that takes place at the beginning of this process made the room heat up even more. By the time the students went for lunch, it was 78 degrees in the room and when it finally hit 82 degrees, the maintenance guys decided that we needed air conditioning.

I'm certainly not complaining about our mild winter, but who would have thought that we'd have to run the air conditioning in northern Ohio in February? We were teaching at the same time last year and there was a snow storm and sub-zero temperatures.

On Sunday we taught the Mondo Bag class and I'll post pictures of that tomorrow.