Saturday, September 27, 2014

Something CUTE and SWEET

For seven years I've wanted to make this quilt!
(that's how long I've had the pattern)


And now I have a reason.

Her name is 

NANCY

and

she will be here sometime Tuesday.

One of our employees is having a baby and I thought I had a little more time to do this, but isn't that
how it always goes?!

This is my first block and the others are all prepared and ready for the flowers to be sewn down.  It is
just so stinkin' cute in person!

More on this later!

Thursday, September 11, 2014

In The Mean Time...

Yes, I am waiting for a fabric order to arrive with a few fabrics needed
to go with my FLAGS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
quilt.  You know, the quilt along with LORI
over at Humble Quilts I talked
about in my previous 2 posts.

IN THE MEAN TIME…..

I've been working on my blocks for the 9 patch swap BARB is hosting over at her blog
FUN WITH BARB.


She decided on 2 groups, one with bright fabrics and the other group with Civil War style fabrics.  I chose the Civil War style because it was something new and different for me.
She offered up this great little tutorial on a super easy way to 
sew up these 9 patches.  You can check out this tutorial at her blog, click on the tab at the top of her blog header.
Each group was to make 50 pair.  Oh my, that's 100 single ones.  Some brave souls joined BOTH
groups.  I thought about doing both and now I'm glad I didn't.  I calmed down that
overly ambisious urge pretty quickly!!! 

IN THE MEAN TIME….

You can have a look-see at a few of my sweet little 9 patches.


These are sooooo addictive to make!!

As I've sewn these up, I made sure to set aside a pair of each fabric style for myself.

I can't wait to see the ones I get back from the swap!  Clapping! Clapping!
I'm excited!!

IN THE MEAN TIME….

I better get back to the sewing machine and get the rest of my 9 patches sewn up so I can get them mailed out to BARB and meet the deadline of October 1….and sorry, the swap entry has closed.

P.S.  In my previous post I was worried about my eagle design fitting on the only fat quarter I had that would work ( well, in my mind anyway ).

It fit perfectly…YIPPEE!!

(As you can see, the eagle is pinned to a stack of fabrics I auditioned.  I think this is my final decision)

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

Trying To Make It Fit

I got the parts of the eagle pattern all pieced together to make  this final freezer
paper one.

The fabric yardage calls for a fat quarter for the eagle,
and as you can see I am just barely going
to squeak by…..I'm hoping!
I've done a little trimming here and there on the pattern to get it to fit.

I'm showing the back of the fabric, the way the freezer paper will be ironed on, but you can see a peek  
of the front there on the right side of the eagle.  I like to use the starch method to prepare for my
hand applique.
I'm using 2 pieces of freezer paper ironed together for extra sturdiness since this
is such a large piece.  I'll see how that goes.

Here is the quilt the eagle belongs to.  You can read my previous post to learn about the 
quilt along using this pattern.
Each block represents a particular flag that was used during
the American Revolution.

I. LIKE. THIS. QUILT.

Cross your fingers my eagle will fit on the fat quarter when I go
to press it down!!!

Monday, September 1, 2014

It's The Black Eyed Peas Fault…….and THE squash……and THE okra!

I joined the Flags of the Revolution quilt along over at Lori's blog.  This is my first quilt along and guess what?  First rattle out of the box I'm behind. 
The quilt is in a book by Jan Patek published in 2009.  I finally found a copy of the book and
started digging through my stash and discovered I had about 5 fabrics I
thought looked primitive-ish.  This is my first primitive/patriotic style quilt and I just didn't have these 
style of fabrics.
I finally got the fabric issue solved (maybe).

 Isn't this a GREAT quilt!?  I was really excited to get to it.

AND THEN

 the squash was over flowing and the okra began to
jump up and down and demand my attention.
The bossiest of all this last week has been
the
black eyed peas!
Yep,
Luuuuvvv me sum black eyed peas.

Seeing everyone's eagle blocks shared today at Lori's blog lit a fire in me to get my
black eyed peas finished up today. (at least those that were picked and ready, we have a friend who has a w-h-o-l-e field of peas so I can have as many as I want)

I finally made it upstairs for some fun fabric auditioning and play.
I think I have a plan.

I WILL get caught up with the others.  The other ladies blocks are great and it's fun to see 
the different variations of fabric used.  Run over to LORI'S blog and have
a look see.

My thumbs are so sore from all the pea shelling I hope I can still hand appliqué!! Ha!

Thanks so much Lori!!  I always wanted a patriotic style quilt and your little
quilt along has inspired me to finally sew one!!