rogue quilter

And "Sow" it Goes!

2012-03-11T03:08:00.000-06:00

If you have been "Sowing" along with Randy at Barristers Block blog, you are aware of changes made to our "Sow-A-Long", due to circumstances beyond her control. It is now the Barrister's Sow-Along, and in support of her efforts on our behalf, I have added her button to my blog. My third installment of blocks are finished and shown below. I did add a handle to the basket by redrafting one of the Temecula Quilts Blessings Basket patterns to fit this size.

I am loving these blocks in plaids. I am forcing myself not to fussy-cut. It is hard not to sometimes. The middle block above was made with that lovely purple plaid shirt Doniene sent me and it was so tempting to cut it so that the design was symmetrical. But I restrained myself. I am trying to go for more of a "make do" look.
Here are all 9 of them together. Aren't they fun?

Some of you are aware that with the second set of blocks Randy posted, I decided to make a second set of the blocks in Christmas scraps. Then I discovered I didn't have that many Christmas scraps. Randy generously donated half of hers and my Mother sent a few my way as well. So here are the six Christmas blocks I have made so far. This will be a very random collection of Christmas blocks when all is said and done.

Finally, if you saw my last post you may recognize the center of this runner.

It was made from the leftover pieces of the table topper I had made. But when I tried it out under my soup tureen on my hutch, I realized it was too small. Hardly anything showed beyond the edge of the tureen. So I made a couple of stars to lengthen the thing and made plenty of mistakes in the process. Can you see that one set of the star points are switched? I didn't notice that until I was basting it for quilting and at that point I just turned the other cheek. It is all quilted and bound. Yippee!
Next post I hope to show you the progress on my second Primitive Blessings Picnic Quilt. It is coming along well.
Until then,
Janet O.

Welcome March!

2012-03-03T00:18:00.000-07:00

Do you do much decorating with a St. Patrick's Day theme? Since DH was a missionary in Ireland for 2 years, back in his youth, and has some distant Irish ancestry, we usually try to celebrate in some (non-alcoholic) way. The limited decorations would come out the beginning of March and on the day itself we would usually watch the John Wayne/Maureen O'Hara classic, "The Quiet Man", while feasting on potato soup, soda bread, ginger ale, and finishing up with shortbread. This year I realized how truly limited the decor is. I found the pattern for this little quilt above in a recent online newsletter from APQ and it cried out to be made in greens. It finishes up at a 22" square.

After getting it stitched together (and making a few cutting errors along the way) I scraped together the leftover cuttings and sewed up this little piece--about 9" square. Now I need to get these two items quilted so they can sit on my hutch and dining table.

Oh, I think I have found my feathered friend, as far as quilting goes. If you read my last post you know that I am not overly fond of my FMQ feathers. Today I remembered a FMQ pattern book and DVD a friend loaned me recently. Have you heard of the Pajama Quilter? She lives somewhere north of me in Idaho and she is a longarm quilter who has put together some designs that have been successful for her. Watching the dvd was an interesting experience--she sits in her pajamas with a large whiteboard in her lap and shows you how to draw the designs. Then they are shown being quilted on the longarm. And when you get frustrated with your attempts she recommends having chocolate nearby in an unlikely container that no one else will suspect.

You can get a workbook, dvd or both. Anyway, I remembered that one of her patterns that had intrigued me the most was what she called "Wonky Feathers". After my frustration with formal feathers I thought maybe it would be fun to try the wonky approach. Now these are my kind of feathers!! It is not so much a border as an overall pattern, and it loops and swirls every which way. There is no need for an exacting 1/8" echo or getting the feather shapes teardrop perfect. It is just fun, and flowy and freeing! This was my first attempt and I'm sure I can improve on this with some repetition (unlike my repeated efforts with the more formal look). I took a photo without flash because the shadows improve visibility. I actually enjoyed doing these feathers!!

Have you tried anything like this?

I need to mention a couple of other things. When I shared the fun mail I had received a couple of posts back I inadvertently left out this little gift that almost got thrown away before it even got opened, but that's another story (which I shared with the sender).

Nancy, who blogs near Philadelphia, sent me this fun little mug rug she had made. That is a woman with a tube of hair gel and I could swear that somehow Nancy has seen me after I wash my long hair and knows I could benefit from the application of something to bring it under control. : ) Thanks so much, Nancy!!

The other cool thing that just arrived was this book that I won on Julie's blog giveaway! I can't believe I won it. I gave away the first volume on my blog last year and loved it enough to buy myself one. I was very excited to see this one and am thrilled to own it. Little quilts have really become a passion for me thanks to bloggers like Kathie, and Dawn, among others.

I can't wait to break out the charm packs and get stitching! Wonder when I can fit that in?

Well, I have tried yet again to fit too much into one post, but if you have been following me for any length of time you are probably used to that. : )

So, until next time,

Janet O.

p.s. My thoughts and prayers are with those in the path of the tornadoes. Please post soon if you can to let us know how you have fared!

Feathers are for the Birds!

2012-02-29T23:55:00.001-07:00

There are so many people doing the Free Motion Quilting Challenge that have made beautiful feathers, that I am hesitant to post my efforts. I think I am feather-challenged so I struggled with February's feather challenge, in spite of Diane's great tutorial. However, I'd love to have my chance to win prizes (LQSs don't carry Aurafil thread), so I am swallowing my pride. Here we go. I will admit that they look better in the photos than they do in real life!

Kind of hard to see the darker ones. I kept trying because I thought I would eventually get one I liked. I'll just keep trying. : )

Until next time,

Janet O.

Robots Welcome!

2012-02-24T22:15:00.001-07:00

Well, maybe not welcome, but you don't have to prove you aren't one in order to leave a comment!

As you can see, I have most of the Rocky Mountain Christmas (aka Smoky Mountain Stars) flimsy assembled. I am down to borders and wondering if I want to square up all of the little bonus HSTs created in the making of this quilt and slip them in between two of the cranberry colored borders. They are 1 1/2" unfinished. What do you think? I've put the few I have finished on opposite sides of the quilt in different layouts. The original pattern has the two plain borders.
Squaring up all of these little HSTs is not fun, I don't know about you, but on the tiny blocks like this the seam just seems to make a teeter-totter out of the ruler and it is so hard to hold it stable. I'm okay on the larger blocks--the bigger surface area allows more contact, or something. I had seen the Bloc-Loc rulers online before, and it seemed that they would solve the problem. Sandi has posted about them on her blog here, and I thought it was something I wanted to try. Then Bonnie posted about it here. There is a channel cut into them that you place over the center seam. It does kind of lock in place and make the job much easier.

They are kind of pricey for such little things and then to pay shipping besides, I just couldn't bring myself to do it. But when I started considering doing all of these little HST I knew I would be playing teeter-totter again. So I was excited to find that my LQS now carries the Bloc-Loc rulers. They are still pricey, but at least I avoided shipping!

I have had fun playing with my new toy (I have GOT to choose a name!) this week and got my version of Pink Lemonade quilted.

I've played with the name for this one and "Flies in the Mustard" is settling in, I think. I used the Handi Quilter 2" clamshell template to do this. There is a learning curve to get used to it. Masking tape helped hold it securely in place. If you look closely you will see some misshapen shells in the finished product, but I think if you aren't looking for them they don't jump out at you. I unpicked the worst ones, but there are some that I am leaving in place.

Some fun mail lately--I got this LOVELY PURPLE PLAID cotton shirt from Doniene at Now It's Just Quilts blog. What a treat. She knows I am making The Farmer's Wife from plaid shirts and she knows I love purple. Oh, I love this fabric. Thanks again, Doniene. I owe you one!

Then Randy at Barrister's Block blog generously DONATED (she said dumped, but I don't consider this a dump) half of her Christmas scraps to my second set of the FW blocks which I am making in Christmas scraps. This is more than scraps, Randy--this is a prize package! I owe you, too.

Finally, I know many of you follow Judy L. over at Patchwork Times, so you have probably seen this new book. I have her Weekend Quilts book and I think it was her clever border treatments that really drew me in. So when I saw that she had a book devoted to borders I immediately put it on my Amazon wishlist. I checked local shops, but couldn't find it, so I finally ordered. Got it today and it is a great source for border inspiration! It includes 15 quilt patterns, which in and of themselves are fun layouts. But each quilt is paired with 4 different border options. The title doesn't lie--60 borders in all! How cool is that? And there are instructions on how to adapt the borders to any quilts. Judy uses primarily bright tone-on-tone prints for her quilts. Those are not my fabrics of choice, but lets face it--a beautiful quilt is a beautiful quilt, no matter your fabric preferences, and Judy makes beautiful quilts made all the more beautiful by her creative borders. This is a keeper! Check it out! No affiliation, I just appreciate a job well done!

Lots of random stuff in this post. If you stayed with me, thanks!

Until next time,

Janet O.

Made to order!

2012-02-19T00:32:00.000-07:00

At least that is how this quilt top looks to me on the back of my living room sofa! What a perfect fit!

Recently Lori D. of Humble Quilts blog listed some quilts, tops and patterns for sale for a friend of hers. I was the first to comment and was thrilled to get this log cabin star quilt top very well-made by Jill Reid from New Jersey. Thanks Jill and Lori. The border fabric on the top matches the sofa so well you can hardly tell it is there (I know the sofa looks solid brown, but there are actually flecks of red and green in the upholstery fabric). When I have become more confident with my new toy I will be quilting this up to use in my living room.

Speaking of quilting and my new toy, here is the first finished product--remember that I am relatively new to FMQ and very new to this machine, so I have a long way to go. The tension wasn't the greatest due to the thread I used, and I should have made more curvy, flowy lines around the large butterflies, but I am not unhappy with it. I think there is potential here.

I had blogged about this top here. You can't really see them in the photos, but the outer border has a tone-on-tone butterfly print, so I carried the theme into the quilting. I did stencil the large butterflies but was just winging it on the little border butterflies. (Get it? Winging it--butterflies.) Sorry, it is late and I'm getting punchy. : )

I'm so proud of myself for getting my Farmer's Missing Shirts (aka Farmer's Wife) blocks made the same week Randy posted them. She has been making two of many of the blocks. I decided this time I would follow suit, but I am making my second blocks out of Christmas print scraps. The top row, shown below, is the first set of blocks Randy posted. The second row is this week's posting. I'm really loving the plaid shirt look. Can't wait to add more to the wall.

These are my Christmas blocks. I have Christmas scraps in brights and "dark & dirty". I think I am going to stick to the latter for these blocks, but the photo makes them look darker than they really are. I have altered one of the blocks to fit the scraps I had. I had to wing it a little on that one, too. It is the angel block. (I know, pretty bad, huh? Winging it--angel block.)

I've been using some Orca Bay pieces as leader enders, so I am making slow progress there. Rocky Mountain Christmas continues to get sporadic attention and I have started sewing together strips for my second Primitive Gatherings Picnic Quilt. You can see the first one here.

One last thing--I don't know how much time is left on this, but my friend, Doniene, from "Now It's Just Quilts" blog listed a fabric giveaway on Wednesday. She said it would run less than a week, but she hadn't posted a winner yet as of this writing. She just wants you to leave a comment about one of your favorite quilting tools to be entered. If you hop on over there you might still be in time to enter. She is planning on posting a small fabric giveaway the 15th of each month.

I was trying to have this posted before midnight. It never works out that way, but I tried. That'll do it for tonight. Until next time,

Janet O.

My New Toy!

2012-02-12T02:03:00.000-07:00

Thursday morning there was a delivery at my house. It came on a day where I had next to no time to play with it. Isn't that how things go? But even in the few minutes I did stitch on it, I could tell I loved it!

This is my first real quilt to go under the needle.

My two favorite features, okay, maybe three--1) the ring of LED lights that shine down over the needle area. I don't have to shine an Ott-Lite there, like I normally do when I sew; 2) the ability to preset my favorite speeds on the touch screen. Trying to FMQ on my regular machine was maddening. It either zoomed faster than I could control the quilt, or it was so slow I could barely move the quilt or the stitches would be toenail catchers! Finding the "sweet spot" on the presser foot was next to impossible and once I found it I hated to stop stitching or it would be lost forever! 3) LARGER bobbins! Yippee!! I love lots of other things about it, but those top the list. Now I have to come up with a name for her. Any suggestions?
I am so grateful that DH was not only supportive of me getting it, he pretty well talked me into it. I was really dragging my feet. It is pricey and it was giving me knots in my stomach thinking about it. But even so, I realize that when I am no longer quilting by check, this little girl will pay for herself before too long!
Today I finally got my Itty Bitty Primitive Pinwheels bound and in place. It is 10" square. What a fun little piece. I really like the look!

Finally--Randy, I'm ready for the second set of Farmer's Wife blocks! Here are the first three.

The first one (on the left) isn't my favorite. I think my light fabric choice didn't work. But I'm hoping as more get added to the wall, it won't be so noticeable. If it still bothers me after a few more rounds I will have to remake it. : ) I just washed another batch of thrift store shirts today and I am excited about some color combinations that I can see for future blocks. I'm calling this one, "The Farmer's Missing Shirts". In case you aren't aware, this is a "Sow-Along" (that is not a misspelling), using The Farmer's Wife book. This fun event is being sponsored by Randy of Barrister's Block blog. She posts 3 blocks twice a month. It just started this month, so it isn't too late to join in.
That's it for now! Until next time,
Janet O.

Orca Bay (and a few other things)

2012-02-09T02:57:00.000-07:00

I decided to get in on Bonnie's last Orca Bay link-up, though my "Bay" is currently not much more than a puddle.

This is less than half of the blocks I will make, but it still won't be as big as the original. You may recall that "Sunset Over the Men's Department" is made from thrift store shirts and there just isn't enough coral plaid and purple stripes to do the full size quilt. It can be tricky to get all of the stripes (and strings for most of you) pointing in the right direction. I've read in blog after blog of quilters realizing that one piece or another was sewn in wrong. I've had to do a little unpicking myself. But I do love the bold graphic design in this pattern. Bonnie hit another home run!

I got my Raspberry Lemonade version of Lori's doll QAL quilted and bound. I used Leah Day's paisley heart design that LuAnn at Loose Threads blog linked me to. It was my first attempt with variegated thread and I'm not sure it was the best choice. When the lighter thread color would come through I couldn't always see my quilting and I would sometimes think the thread had broken.

The stitching is anything but perfect, but it will have to do. You can't really see it in the photo and that is probably a good thing.

Now it sits on my hutch beneath my soup tureen.

I got block number two of "Ramblin' Rose Meets Jamestown" finished. I am definitely messing with the value placement on these blocks. Since I don't have the fabrics specified, I am using a bunch of fabrics from my stash and I don't always have the same number of lights and darks for a block as the pattern indicates.

The one on the right, that looks crooked, is the newest addition.

And finally, my Rocky Mountain Christmas (aka Bonnie's Smoky Mountain Stars) Is coming along. Last time I mentioned that mentally I had divided it into twelve sections. Now I only have 4 sections to finish, but I'm toying with a border idea in my head that may take some time to complete, if I decide to add it. Good thing I have plenty of time before next Christmas. I definitely want it done by then!

It is late and I am typing some pretty silly things as my eyelids droop. I hope I have caught and corrected them all. If not, have a good laugh on me. I'd better call it quits. Tomorrow morning my new HQ Sweet Sixteen is being delivered and I want to be awake enough to understand the training. : )
Until next time,
Janet O.

A Plethora of Projects

2012-01-31T02:25:00.000-07:00

(I love the word plethora.)
When I was making Lori's "Pink Lemonade" I made a few extras of the red Shoo-fly blocks. I needed a runner for my hutch to blend in with the Valentine's Day decor, so I pulled out those little blocks, made a couple more, and put this together.

I will call this one Raspberry Lemonade.

I think I want to quilt the center with the paisley heart design I saw on LuAnn's blog. She was kind enough to send me the link to Leah Day's tutorial for this design. I will bind it with the red I used in the setting squares.

I finally quilted my Itty Bitty Primitive Pinwheels. The one at the LQS was quilted in a straight line grid and I couldn't see a better way to do it. You can see the pattern more clearly on the back.

My lines aren't perfectly straight, but it will do. Now I need to choose a binding and get it finished. I already have a home for it. For Christmas my oldest son gave me a shelf unit he knew I wanted for my sewing room. Can you see the picture sitting on top?

Next to the shelves is the cabinet to my Mom's 60-year-old Bernina.
I can see that I need to trim the dangling threads from those flimsies
hanging above the shelves!

That was a gift many years ago from my youngest daughter. I love it, but have never had a place to display it that I felt did it justice. Now I do and I want this little pinwheel mat to go beneath it.

This picture is a print of "Hands of Time" by Liz Lemon Swindle. I love her artwork. Enlarge it and get a good look.

Rocky Mountain Christmas is coming along. It is still kind of a background project. Mentally I have divided it into 12 sections, and I have 4 of them assembled.

I take one section, put it on my largest design board and take it to the cutting table. I trim up any corners that didn't turn out as straight as they should have and then take it all to the sewing machine. I web this section, sew the rows together and place it back on the wall. All of this takes very little time, so when I have a few minutes and don't want to think too hard about what I am doing I work up another section.

I'm in the cutting stage of another quilt. I've decided to make another Primitive Gatherings Picnic Quilt from the rest of my Kansas Trouble fabrics. This is the quilt that was my secret at Christmas because it was a gift for my oldest daughter and her husband, but this one is no secret.

I have jumped on board Randy's "The Farmer's Wife Sow-A-long." The particulars, as far as we have them, are found at the end of her post if you click here. My book came in the mail today.

I'm a little nervous about keeping up, but I am anxious to try! I'm thinking I will make it from my shirt stash and call it The Farmer's Wife Cut up His Shirts. I don't know--that title is still a work in progress. Maybe I will go crazy fussy cutting all those plaids (you know I will have to do that), and give up on them, but I think it would be really cool, and different, in the plaids. Okay, I know I already have two plaid projects going, but I just love plaid fabrics in quilts!

I've rambled long enough. Until next time,

Keep stitchin'

Janet O.

ETA: I forgot all about linking up my FMQ challenge project, until I saw Denise's link on her post today. Thanks Denise!

Here is my effort, feeble though it may be. I feel like I have regressed in my ability because I haven't been practicing regularly. Hopefully that will change soon--more to come. : )

I had tension problems this time--which I don't usually, my motion seemed anything but free, and I kept running into the pins. Talk about not seeing the obvious!! Lovely, it is not, but finished, it is! And now for the link.

On the Wall

2012-01-26T22:38:00.000-07:00

Rocky Mountain Christmas (aka Smokey Mountain Stars by Bonnie Hunter) is back on the design wall. I intend to at least get it to flimsy stage in the next 2 or 3 weeks, amid all of the other projects. I won't be quilting it until much later this year, but I want to have the top ready. Right now I do have all those corners sewn to the squares, but the squares and borders are just stuck to the wall. I wanted to make sure I could get enough border cut from the shirt I wanted to use. It was only an XL shirt. I have made the quilt a tad larger than the pattern and I wasn't sure if I could get enough 5" strips from the shirt. I made the border 4" instead and I could have still cut 1 or 2 more strips. I had to fussy cut them in order to match up the plaids when I piece them. Maybe I am the only person who would have done that (no, I think I know at least one other blogger who would do the same. Do you know who you are?) but I had to do it. : )

I'm not sure which was the leader/ender and which was the real project, but today Pink Lemonade by Lori D. got assembled along with Block #1 of Marti Mitchell's Ramblin' Rose Meets Jamestown. The name "Pink Lemonade" doesn't seem to fit mine because my yellow isn't anything like lemonade. I've been trying to come up with a name for it. Cider Squeezin's comes to mind. Have you ever had cider from an apple press? I don't know--I'll have to give it more thought.

I'll leave you with this shot of the cloud cap over the mountains out my back door. The alpacas came to the fence after I took this shot and I took a couple of photos of them looking me right in the eye, but those turned out blurry, of course.

Janet O.

This and That

2012-01-23T10:06:00.000-07:00

I looked at the date of my last entry and realized it has been over a week since that post. I guess I have been busy, but I can't really say with what. On the quilting front, I finally got the corners of Pink Lemonade made on Saturday night. Up to this point I had been really careful with the directional prints. That all went out the window with these little guys!

Hopefully tonight I can get the rows all sewn together and get this to a flimsy. I'm really glad I joined in on this little QAL. Thanks for doing this, Lori! I made some extra of the red shoofly blocks and am hoping to work them into a Valentine's table runner.
Have you seen the haul Bonnie received for her 50th birthday? I have to share a little coincidence about the block I sent her. Remember the Storytime Stars quilt she made for the baby her brother and his wife are expecting any day? Though I usually only quilt with bright fabrics for my grandchildren, I was very taken by this quilt. The bold graphics and primary colors just grabbed me. I was so happy when she posted the pattern and I printed it off immediately. So when I got word through my blogging friend, Mary C., about sending Bonnie birthday blocks, I knew immediately I was going to adapt Storytime Stars somehow. I made the blocks smaller and instead of piecing a tiny checkered border, I used a checked print. EVERY single bit of fabric in this block came from the scrap basket I used to raid with great regularity at a now closed LQS. I knew all of those bright pieces and those b'day prints would come in handy someday, even if they were out of my normal color-comfort zone.

Some have wanted to know the size of this block. It is a 12" finished.
Each star is four inches from point to point.

So I sent this block off last week to wing its way to Bonnie in North Carolina. Upon opening it she sent me an email saying that she just sent the Storytime Stars quilt off to her brother and SIL, who happen to live where I do--not just the same state, but the same valley! Who knew? I told her to warn her brother that if I ever see a couple with a baby wrapped in that quilt I will be wanting a closer look--at the quilt and the baby!

If you follow Marj over at Eclectic Quilter blog, you may recall that she had a giveaway a few months ago when she was cleaning some things out. I spoke up for the Ramblin' Rose Meets Jamestown pattern, and was lucky enough to receive it. I'm not usually a flowery fabric person (but I do love Floribunda), but over the past two or three years I have been drawn to some rose prints in tan, green and red shades. I have picked them up in scrap baskets, remnants and yardage. That large piece on the right was four yards of a Moda fabric at a thrift store for $4. I have one small table topper I have made from them and figured it was time to do something more. I thought this pattern might be the thing. If I work on one of these blocks each month, hopefully this quilt can grow while staying in the background. I think I might use some other block besides log cabin as the setting squares. I love log cabin blocks, just not sure I want them in these fabrics.

And finally, SOTMD (aka Orca Bay) is progressing slowly. I still love it, though I'm still not sure why. So not my usual style. My mother saw it on my design wall last night and said she wouldn't be able to sleep under such a quilt. I know she said it with love. : )
If I can get more of the cream and white triangles cut (everything else is cut) I will hopefully have more to show when Bonnie does her final Orca Bay Linkup in February.
That does it for now. Until next time, keep stitchin'!
Janet O.

Just Small Stuff

2012-01-13T21:02:00.000-07:00

I had hoped to have made amazing progress on Sunset over the Men's Department (Orca Bay) this week, but I didn't. I got more cut out, but very little more sewn. Maybe next week
What did happen was all small stuff, but that doesn't mean it isn't important stuff.
First, I put the borders on my version of the Temecula 12 Days of Christmas quilt (sorry, you'll have to scroll back a little to find it--you can't link on their blog to an individual post). It has been fun to see what so many others have done with this pattern. Carolyn did a nice one in red and white--great for Valentine's Day. Vivian's, in a vintage red and green combination, truly fits the "12 Days of Christmas" name. There are so many others--wish I could link to them all. Mine was from my Civil War repro scrap basket.

Then I got the Itty Bitty Pinwheels sewn together. This finishes at a tiny 10 1/2 inches. When it is quilted I think it will be a table topper in my sewing room.

Finally, I am caught up with parts 1 and 2 of Lori's doll quilt-along at Humble Quilts. I can't believe I got them done before the next part was posted. I wish my yellow was a little lighter. I had said I was doing this entirely from stash, but I didn't really have a yellow in my repro fabrics--just gold. I finally broke down and went to a LQS to look for a yellow. This was all they had in the repros. It is a lovely Jo Morton print, but I had hoped for something not so dark.

I am in the process of trying to choose a sewing machine specifically dedicated to FMQ. I don't want bells and whistles, just something to do the job. If you have a midarm or a DSM with large harp space that you love, or if you've had experience with one you think I should avoid, I would love to know about it. I have all the info from the dealers. In fact, I think I am on information overload. Now I would like to hear from the users.
That's it for now. Until next time,
Janet O.

Dipping my toe in Orca Bay!

2012-01-06T21:59:00.000-07:00

I don't do mysteries--so why is this post about two of them? I only began following blogs about a year ago, and I was frequently running into references to Bonnie's mysteries, so I knew they were legend. But I don't do mysteries. Period. You may recall my angst last year over Bonnie's Floribunda quilt. In my "Open letter to Bonnie" I mentioned the knots I would get in my stomach when she alluded to her upcoming mystery. All of her mystery quilts have been amazing, but I DON'T DO MYSTERIES!!
As Bonnie began this mystery I was struck by the photo of Orca Bay that inspired her colors. It made me think of the purplish-orange sunsets over the Rocky Mountains that I see from my home. As she posted the different parts each week I would try to envision them in those colors. I looked at some of the links on her blog and would occasionally see these colors, but not in the shades I imagined. Once the reveal took place I knew I would buy her next book with this pattern and eventually make this quilt in my colors. Why? I don't know. Unless quilting for my grandchildren, I seldom use bright colors. I love orange and purple in my quilts, but not together, and usually in the more muted shades. But this quilt in these colors kept haunting me.
As I was reading posts of other bloggers' progress on Orca Bay over the past few weeks I saw where Kathy had chosen to use a solid piece of fabric in place of the string blocks (I also struggle with wanting to do a bazillion string blocks), and to make half the units for a smaller quilt. Smart woman, that Kathy. But I liked the movement the string blocks give to this quilt. Maybe I could do something like that--but use striped fabric in place of the strings to mimic the movement. Still, I was going to wait for the book to come out. I had plenty to do right now.
The final straw was when I walked past the men's shirts in the thrift store this week and there was a purple striped shirt and a coral-peachy plaid. I was sunk. Everything in this quilt is from men's shirts I bought that day. I was going to call the quilt "Sunset over the Rockies" but maybe "Sunset over the Men's Department" would be more appropriate. My quilt isn't really scrappy--you try and find more than one striped purple or peachy-coral shirt in a thrift store men's department. I'm just thrilled to have what I have.
Only the two blocks are made so far. I had to get the purple and orange parts completely cut to see how many blocks I would be able to make. It will probably be a twin size quilt. I'm working now to catch up on the HSTs and QSTs.

So, as Bonnie said when she learned that I had joined in, I succumbed! But it wasn't a mystery when I did, so I still don't do mysteries!!
Neither was this a mystery anymore when I finally got the Temecula 12 Days of Christmas blocks made. I started them last night after the twelfth block was shown. I am setting them a little differently than suggested, and I'm still playing with the border possibilities. This was a fun little project. If you haven't looked into this, they are leaving it up forever, so jump on it any time. Each block finishes at 3", so it doesn't take much fabric. I just pulled out my basket of CW scraps and made all of the blocks without cutting into yardage. Not so lucky on the borders.

So I still don't do mysteries. That's my story and I'm sticking to it!!

Janet O.

More little quilts in the making!

2012-01-03T01:48:00.000-07:00

There are several projects I should be working on, but I had an urge to try something different. I wanted it to be a quick project. I'd had the pattern for the "Itty Bitty Primitive Pinwheels" from Primitive Gatherings for several months, so I decided now was the time.

The fabrics look washed out to me in this photo.

Well, it isn't as "quick" as I had expected. I haven't had a lot of sewing time, but I started on this Friday evening and at this point I just have the very small blocks on the design board, waiting to be sewn together. I know many of you have made a "Twister" quilt, but if you are unfamiliar with this technique, this is how it works. There are many template sizes on the market, but this one starts with 2 1/2" squares, which you sew together in rows, making concentric squares (I chose to reverse the position of the light and darks on mine) with the colors.

Then using the template (in photo above) that comes with the pattern, and the tiny rotary cutter, you match the askew lines on the template with the seams on your flimsy and cut away. As you cut the 1 1/2" squares, you lay them together in the same order. This creates the little pinwheels in the 10x10" finished quilt. There is one of these little quilts on display at a LQS and it catches my eye every time I am in there, so I decided I'd should make one.
Another thing I am going to try for the first time is a Quilt-Along. Lori, over at Humble Quilts, has posted the first info on her Doll Quilt-Along. I always think I have a lot of CW repro fabrics, but when I went stash diving for the fabrics for this little quilt I was having a hard time finding the right colors. Still not sure if I have them, but it is a place to start. I'm determined not to go to the fabric store for more fabric for a while, so these will have to do.

I must say, I am loving what I see of everyone's Orca Bay quilts. So many stunning quilts! Nice work!

Until next time,
Janet O.

Secret quilt finally revealed!

2011-12-28T14:30:00.000-07:00

Light fixtures got in the way. This is a big quilt!
I named it "Mostly Troubles" because all but two of
the fabrics are from the KT line by Moda.

I hadn't planned on making any quilts as gifts this year. Some years I make a bunch, other years I make none. This was going to be a "none" year. But sometime in October DD#1 called to say none of their quilts fit their new bed and could I possibly make them one for Christmas. I used the Primitive Gatherings "Picnic Quilt" pattern and added several borders to make it big enough, since the pattern doesn't include any. It is a quick quilt to put together, and I think the results are quite nice.
The trick to the whole thing was whether or not my LAQ could squeeze it in to her schedule to give me enough time to get it bound, seeing that I am the WORLD'S SLOWEST BINDER! It all worked out and it felt good to be able to wrap this up a couple of days before the recipients arrived to spend Christmas with us.
It was a great, but different holiday. DH came home from work early on Friday and went to bed, sick. (He didn't surface again until Tuesday.) Saturday DD#1 and her hubby arrived to spend Christmas with us and our two 20-something sons came home for the holiday weekend. They have spent the last few days moving all of their stuff home to take over our basement. (After being empty-nesters for some time it will be interesting to have a lively household again.)
For Christmas Eve dinner we had all of our children, spouses and grandchildren for a total of 12. Oops, I forgot Mona, DD#1's new puppy, which the grandchildren love!

Christmas Day brunch included Saturday's group plus my parents and my MIL for a total of 15 (oh, and Mona).

The day after Christmas we hosted the party for DH's side of the family for a total of 23--that includes Mona. She was, after all, often the center of attention.

Needless to say, I haven't cooked for the past two days and the fridge is still full of stuff!

Correct me if I'm wrong here, but my guess is that a good share of men leave much of their shopping until the last couple of days before Christmas. Such is the case in my home, and since DH spent that time in bed, I got to finish up for him. These two books were under the tree for me. We had purchased the "Country Threads" book for me with a coupon at JoAnn's on a recent trip to town. After giving it away on my blog last month I decided I would like my own copy. The other book is one I had looked at on-line before. It isn't new, but I liked what I saw. So when I saw it on clearance at a local bookstore I thought I couldn't go wrong for under $9.

On Tuesday DD#1 and I visited some stores in town, and that included a fabric shop. Of course, I visited the remnant baskets and found 4 great CW prints.

The Christmas stuff was all on 40% off. There was a fun line called "Scandinavian Christmas". DD bought pieces of several of their prints that included little hearts and mushrooms. I cleaned off the bolt of the creamy fabric with little stars from that same line. I love finding holiday sale fabrics that aren't really limited to the holiday. I have used star fabrics found at Christmas sales for quilts made throughout the year.
I love the Christmas season. Stressful at times, sure, but it has that special magic in the air. Every carol sung, and every strand of glowing lights, every "Merry Christmas" greeting, every gift exchanged, and every look of wonder on a child's face just confirm to me that this is a time of peace and good will. We focus more on the love of our Savior and that translates into acts of kindness everywhere we turn. I am always sorry to see it end.

May the new year bring you joy!
Janet O.

Mini Quilts, and Costumes Galore!

2011-12-23T00:06:00.000-07:00

Recently mini-quilts have captured my attention. Thanks in large part to Kathie and Dawn, I have now made seven mini-tops in the past few months. I have quilted three of them so far. This most recent mini flimsy finish used some scraps gleaned from the scrap tub at a now closed LQS. Whenever I saw holiday fabrics I snatched them up. The plaid and the holly fabrics were both from the scrap tub. I hadn't planned on using them together, but when it got right down to it, I like what they do for each other. I want to quilt a holly pattern on this, but I will need more FMQ practice to get those leaves to really look like holly. It may have to stay a flimsy for a while longer.

See the yellow chalk pencil lines?

But I did finally finish the binding on this little quilt that is currently in my header. A few of you had suggested straight line quilting and I liked that idea. I'm happy with the result. I used the "double bubble" design for the outer border. I'm sure there were other designs that would have looked better, but I am very limited in my repertoire of quilting designs I am comfortable enough to use. This isn't perfect, by any means, but for my third FMQ piece, I am satisfied with it. One problem, though. I used a Fons and Porter yellow chalk pencil to mark the straight lines. I have used the white pencil on hand quilted pieces and on my last FMQ piece, and it rubbed off easily when I was finished. This yellow isn't coming off. Any suggestions? Does it just have to go through the wash? If you have any experience with this color chalk pencil and can give me some ideas, I would appreciate it.
For now this little quilt sits proudly beneath my German Pyramid Nativity. It fits the top of the cabinet perfectly!

And while I am on the subject of Nativities, I have to come clean. No, this isn't about my soap making! I have been teasing Subee about her pencil boxes and other forms of organization and OCD-ness. Well, I have skeletons in my closet of obsessions, too.

These photos were taken at our family party last Monday. This is the nativity that the little ones put on, and I have three grandchildren in the mix. The costumes are my obsession. It started years ago when we didn't have enough little ones to fill the roles and we started drafting adults in the parts. I felt like the bathrobes for shepherds and oversized men's white shirts draped with tinsel garland for angels and old brocade draperies for wise men that we had been using with the children didn't quite cut it for adults to wear. So I started making adult size costumes. For several years we put them to use. See below.

But the new adult costumes made the children's costumes look shabby, so I had to make new ones for the kids. The problem was that I never knew when to quit. Each year it seemed there was someone I needed to costume that I couldn't fit and I would make a note to get a costume made that size for the next year (even though that person would probably not be that same size the next year--chances are someone would be). I just kept sewing and sewing--grabbing fabric at thrift stores and clearance sales--I could fit anyone from a 6'5" wise man to a 1'6" angel. Then a few years ago I was in charge of the program for our church Christmas party. I decided that the children should do the Nativity scene accompanied by the songs they had been learning on the bell chimes. I didn't have costumes the right sizes for so many children that were similar heights--so I sewed some more!

Do you know anyone else who has three large Rubbermaid tubs filled with Nativity costumes? Even now I find myself fingering fabrics at the thrift store or clearance tables in JoAnn thinking, "That would make a great angel costume", or "What perfect fabric for a shepherd's robe." I still have a box of fabrics for potential costumes that I dip into now and then to make "just one more wise man this year."
So, my apologies, Subee. I have no room to tease. I may not have pencil boxes, but I have Rubbermaid tubs of costumes that are about to burst. May have to start a fourth one. : )

Have a wonderful holiday weekend, everyone!
Janet O.

Angels we have...had in our stash for a long time!

2011-12-16T00:19:00.000-07:00

I went 10 whole days without touching my sewing machine, other than to tack down a belt loop on my son's slacks. When I finally did sit down to sew it was to stitch binding to the secret Christmas gift quilt. As I have said before, I am THE WORLD'S SLOWEST BINDER, a title I wear with consternation. I spent hours yesterday doing the hand sewing and I am not even half way through binding the queen size quilt.
So tonight I rebelled! I needed to do something that called for a creative effort. I rummaged around and found some Christmas fabric that I think I bought over 15 years ago (anyone recognize the Brannock and Patek angel fabric--copyright date 1995? I still have a couple of yards of it).

The colors on this look dark, but they are pretty true. I had to take several
photos to get one that stayed this close to the actual fabric colors.

I just started playing with it, having no specific pattern in mind. Then I decided to do 9-patch and snowball blocks. When I realized the gold corners on the snowballs were creating a star effect--kind of a "Sister's Choice" look--I decided to carry the gold corners into the red border and eventually had this little table topper. That makes two table toppers that are ready for FMQ. I just need to figure out a quilting design, gather my courage and go for it.
I've made no progress on my Rocky Mountain Christmas Quilt. I've been doing too much of this...

One of two baskets filled with gift bags of my herbal soap, ready for delivery!

and this...

Holiday shortbread, plain and jam-filled, being plated up for friends. I
have six holiday shortbread pans, and with three ovens at my house, I
can bake up quite a bit in a short amount of time.

along with delivering the goodies, attending choir practices for the Christmas Cantata at church Christmas Day, shopping, decorating, and all the other things all of you are trying to keep up with, too. When I think about it, to me the biggest mystery currently in the quilting world is how any of you are keeping up with Bonnie's mystery quilt. Yet blog after blog I see the evidence of the QSTs, HSTs, and string blocks accumulating on your sewing tables--some in neat little baskets (you know who you are), some in orderly stacks, and others haphazardly piled in a semblance of organization. I commend you all and stand in awe.
Christmas may bring with it a hectic pace and a stressfully long "to do" list, but I am loving the holiday music (the old standards are my favorites) and movies (again, I lean toward the black and white classics), the lights and Nativity displays, the festive foods and atmosphere of good will. It will be over all too soon. I want to relish it while I can. I think I'll go put in another Christmas movie and pick up where I left off on that quilt binding.
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where we are hoping for a white Christmas,
Janet O.

Table Toppers and a Winner!

2011-12-04T02:52:00.000-07:00

My new header photo is something I have ready to quilt, but can't decide on a pattern.

It is going to go under my German Pyramid Nativity, which is one of my favorite Christmas decorations and I felt it was time it rested on something grander than a red and green cloth napkin. I made this little topper using the bonus HSTs that are accumulating from the Rocky Mountain Christmas Quilt in my previous post. I really like it, but as I mentioned above, I can't decide how to quilt it.

And speaking of quilting, my last two posts have shown a little table topper that I made as a Thanksgiving hostess gift. I didn't like my quilting job (it was my first), so I was making another one to swap for it. Well, here it is.

The quilting on the border of this one turned out so much better, IMHO. I think if you click to enlarge the photo you can still see the chalked grid on one side. I used it to help me space the leaves evenly, and then I used a less contrasting thread. I quilted the rest of it the same as the first--which you can see here. I think you can tell that this one makes me much happier.

Now for the part you have all been waiting for--the winner of my Bloggerversary giveaway is Carla! I have already emailed her for her snail mail address. She actually doesn't live terribly far from the valley I call home, but we have never met. We hope to change that someday.
Maybe you didn't know that I edited my last post to include a gift of my handcrafted holiday soap to another person, so Ruth, of Country Log Cabin, that person is you. I will need your snail mail as well.
Congratulations to you both!

That does it for now. Hope you are making time to enjoy the Christmas season!
Janet O.

Bloggerversary Giveaway!

2011-11-30T09:57:00.000-07:00

Before November is over (just barely before) I want to take this opportunity to say I'm glad I've become acquainted with you all. November marks 6 months for me on Blogger and though I admit I was not prepared for the time this involves, I have thoroughly enjoyed making a slew of quilting friends who don't care if I am still in my jammies or if my dishes are done. I have learned so many things I would not otherwise have known and met wonderful people from around the world. I have laughed with many over silly things and cried with some when times were hard. I am strengthened by your examples of courage and touched by your generosity and goodness. To say "thank you" I am giving away the items pictured. There is the book "Country Threads Goes to Charm School." Many of you have been to Country Threads--I have not. But I was "charmed" by this book with its patterns for little quilts (which have recently captivated me) made from charm packs. The quilts are all named with "rules" of etiquette--some are familiar, some I've never heard of before. I have included a charm pack of a fabric line that has been catching my eye in the LQS, "Together" by Brannock and Patek. (Click here to see the fabrics). To round things out I threw in a 16" remnant piece of Kona Bone for some background. (The cutting tables were busy, so I dug through the remnants for something I thought would work. I was in a hurry! Besides, you know I can't go in the LQS without a dig through the remnants.)

Look at some of these fun quilts inside.
Sorry for the less than stellar photos. I was trying to hold the book open with one hand without cracking the spine while taking the photo with the other hand. Not so good. This is just a small sampling of the 19 little quilts.

If you want in on a chance to win this please leave a comment on this post by noon Saturday MST.

Currently on my design wall is my red and green version of Bonnie's Smokey Mountain Stars. I had asked for advice earlier on whether to plan the layout or let the chips fall where they may. The latter option definitely won the vote, and I tried--I really did. I know I have this control issue and I ended up alternating the red and green star centers and I'm trying to let the star points fall where they may. Every now and then the dark green star points totally surround a red center. I tried to tell myself that it was okay for that star to be so defined, but it wasn't really, to me. I haven't had to move very many star points, though. : )

Yep, I see the square in the upper right corner that is turned wrong.
But I didn't see it before I took the photo. When I chose the khaki
tan shirts for the background I didn't realize how dark they would
make the overall appearance of the quilt, though I do think the
photo makes the whole thing look darker than it really is.. I hope
I like the final effect. I'm not changing it now!

I am calling this one Rocky Mountain Christmas. I had originally been shooting for this Christmas to have it finished, but I want to machine quilt it myself. I definitely need more practice and time, so it looks like this will be part of next year's celebration.

Then on my design board is something that should look familiar, unless you have never been here before. That's right, I am in the process of making a duplicate table topper to the one I gave my sister as a hostess gift at Thanksgiving. The center pinwheels are finished and now I just need to cut the borders to length and sew them on. I have a much different quilting design in mind for the outer border and if it goes as planned I will be swapping this for the one I gave away.

That does it for now--don't forget to leave a comment if you'd like to participate in the giveaway.
(ETA--I've decided to throw in a gift bag of my handcrafted holiday soap to a second winner. Just so you know.)
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush is frozen,
Janet O.

First FMQ Piece and ... My First Quilt (Yikes)

2011-11-26T16:17:00.000-07:00

I posted my FMQ sampler last time around. Now for the reveal on the first "pieced" item. I must say--it is a whole different ball game. The photo of this little table topper doesn't show the stippled center and curlicue border well, and they are the parts about which I feel the best. The part that really shows is the awkward leaf border that didn't turn out anything like I hoped. This was a hostess gift for my sister who hosted our family Thanksgiving celebration. I was up very late the night before finishing it and was so tempted not to even give it to her, but I swallowed my pride and gifted it. I am tempted to make another one, do a better quilting job, and trade her.

Okay, I broke down and dug out the "quilt journal" for a photo of my first quilt. I'm joining Bonnie's "share your first quilt" post, and here it is. I didn't have a digital camera when I took this and this is the best shot I could get of the quilt journal page. If you click on the photo you can probably read the story behind it. I did the quilt on the top, and my Mom pretty much did the bottom one. The next two quilts I made actually got worse so I guess I should be grateful they aren't on the same page. These two were true scrap quilts. I made most of my daughter's and my own clothing, and some of my boys' clothing. The wild, tropical prints were very popular among the girls and these quilts were made from scraps from the many outfits I had made my daughters. They were tied, not quilted, so maybe they don't count, but this was my beginning. I had hand quilted on my Mom's quilts and those of my church quilt group for years, but had not pieced a top until this. I wasn't sure I would ever do another one!

There you have it. After these photos I may never be able to show my face in blogland again. Hope all you brave souls who ventured out on Black Friday were not a part of any of the violence I saw on the evening news. I stayed home and sewed.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

FMQ Sampler Completed! (sort of)

2011-11-22T02:20:00.000-07:00

First off I want to say "thanks" to Belinda of Brown Dirt Cottage blog, for this package of "coal" she sent me. She had a contest on her blog recently to see who could guess the number of QUIPS (quilts in progress) she has. I was the first to comment and I guessed 22. I was right! Belinda had said there may even be something for the winner and after telling me I won she told me it would be a lump or two of coal. We used to have a coal burning heating system and coal was a precious commodity. I told her I'd take it for the long winter ahead. It arrived on Saturday and I have already cut some of it up for a small project I am throwing together to use in practicing my FMQ. Hopefully I will like it as much as I think I will. Anyway--thanks, Belinda, for the package of ~~coal~~ scraps. Nothing says you care like sharing your hard earned scraps with other quilters. There is something in this package for most anything I might choose to make--from an "I SPY" quilt, to a 30s projects and everything in between--including lots of my favorite "dark and dirty" fabrics!

I was all excited about the fact that I had completed the sampler for my FMQ class, but as I was posting the photo I realized I had somehow missed a row in the cross-hatching. So it is finished, almost, but I am through sewing for the night! It isn't perfect--very far from it--but it is so much better than I ever imagined I could do when I first attempted FMQ last month. I have saved all of my practice sandwiches and this evening I placed my first one, found here, next to this completed sampler. What a difference. I have had two great teachers and have learned different things from each one. I think I can actually say I am enjoying it.

I dropped in on the newest of our LQSs today. The week of your birthday you get half your age in percentage off your purchase. One time it is nice to be old! I treated myself to another CW inspired pattern and the big pieces of fabric needed for borders and sashing. Who knows when I will make it, but I love it.

Hopefully now that the soap is all made and my FMQ class is over I can get back to actually piecing something and share the progress. I also have to bind the secret quilt, but I can't share that progress.
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where we may have a white Thanksgiving,
Janet O.

Good, Clean Fun!

2011-11-18T00:46:00.000-07:00

There has been a lot going on, but not much to show of a quilty nature. I attended another session of my FMQ class and have two assignments to complete before our last session is held next week--I'm hoping to get to them this weekend.
I also got my secret quilt back from the LAQ. Now I need to find the time to get the binding on.

I've spent every available minute for several days making soap and this isn't all of it. Still have a large batch in molds and a couple batches left to make.

Had a wonderful time Thursday evening, thanks to blogging friend Mary C., from Walla Walla, Washington. She was coming to Bountiful, Utah for Jennifer Chiaverini's last stop on her book signing tour for her latest release "The Wedding Quilt". We met up, with our husbands, for dinner where we enjoyed a good visit and found we had an awful lot in common.

Our large, happy group.

We then went to the Davis South Branch library. Our husbands sat upstairs and visited while we went downstairs for the book signing. This was the 13th and last city of this tour and Jennifer told us that aside from her hometown, this was the largest and happiest group she had seen.
She told us a little bit about the book--reading a couple of sections. She told us of two books coming out next year--one for sure, the other one possibly.
She answered questions and then signed our books. Jennifer is very gracious, witty and real. I had only learned of her books earlier this year and have just read one so far, but I am interested in reading more (and now I am well stocked). Hearing about how she chooses her subjects, how thoroughly she researches historical settings and how much she doesn't care for cookie cutter book series' gives me greater respect for her work. Now I just need to find more time for reading. It was so fun to meet up with a blog friend. This was my first experience with this. Thanks, Mary, I had a great time. Hope you did, too!

Mary and me. She was quite the
celebrity, having come the
farthest for the event.

Me and Jennifer

On a final note, suspense in blogland is palpable, don't you think? The buzz about Bonnie's first clues can't be missed. Almost makes me want to join in the fun--almost! Bonnie won't allow whining, so I'm pretty sure I'd get booted out before I got my first string block made. Good luck to all of you brave, non-whining souls.
I hope to have some actual quilting to show next time. Until then, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

2011-11-10T16:59:00.000-07:00

Debbie, of Stitchin' Therapy, had committed to make 50 doll/cradle quilts for Christmas gifts for kids in need. She was encouraged by Freda to ask for help and Freda's blog is where I read about it. I managed to pull together four quick little quilts yesterday before tackling my monthly budget.

I mostly worked with 4-patch blocks, but when it came to the purple
floral, I couldn't bear to cut it up. There was no way to fussy-cut the
flowers without cutting onto the ones next to them, so I left that
fabric piece intact and just put on a simple border.

I wish I had time to do more--this was fun. I don't usually sew with bright colors, unless I'm quilting for my grandkids, so I don't have much fabric with which to work. But I am a scrap collector and I have a box into which I toss the "bright & bolds" that come my way. I sat down on the sofa to sort through this box and see what I could use. When the doorbell rang I stood up and put the box down where I had been sitting. Upon my return I looked at the sofa and thought it looked like there had been an explosion inside the box and the contents had just spewed out over the sofa.

The thing that keeps me from doing more is that it is time to lather up! Yup, it is soap making time. Since soap has to cure 3 or 4 weeks before use, if I want it ready for Christmas giving I need to get with it--it is time!! Time to break out the coconut oil, the olive oil, the essential oils, the bees wax, the Pyrex measuring cups, the instant read thermometers, the measuring spoons, the digital scale, the molds and--the lye, which, thanks to meth labs and homemade bomb-makers, is getting increasingly hard to buy.

Today my order of coconut oil and essential oils arrived by way of the friendly man in brown. Now I need to roll up my sleeves, put on my apron and goggles and go to work. When I am finished I will post the results.

In the meantime I will leave you with this photo of the rising moon in the east as the sun was setting in the west last night. Most of the photos I share of the mountains are taken looking west, from the back of my home. This photo is taken looking east, from the front deck.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,

Janet O.

Fall table quilts

2011-11-07T23:50:00.000-07:00

This little quilt was made a few years ago from the scraps leftover from the table runner that is my new header.

It is interesting how the photos make the header look so much duller in color. This quilt is more true to the actual colors of the fabric and it is made from a pattern that was in a Country Woman magazine (Sept./Oct. 2006). By making 16 blocks, each made of 4 HSTs, you could arrange them to make one of three different layouts. The layout I used is called Autumn Star. It finishes at a 22" square. I hand quilted it rather sparingly and I bring it out each fall to top a table.

The table runner in my header is from another magazine. This pattern was in the November/December 2004 Fons & Porter's Love of Quilting. This was my first and only attempt so far at fusible applique. It was also my first use of Batiks. I did the blanket stitch by hand, and I have yet to add any quilting to it. Still, it graces my dining table after the Halloween decorations get put away, and before the Christmas stuff comes out.

I finally got my secret quilt off the design wall and to my LAQ today. I can't post a photo or someone will not be surprised come Christmas, but I can email a photo to you (well, most of you) if you are interested. It is a simple Primitive Gatherings pattern with great graphic appeal.

Are they already playing Christmas music on your local radio station? Today was the first day I've heard it here. Yikes!

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

Fun Mail, and Free Motion!

2011-11-02T23:57:00.000-06:00

Halloween Day brought three large envelopes in the mail addressed to me. Love days like that! The first one I opened was totally unexpected. I recognized the name on the return address and knew it was from my good blogging friend Doniene, in Texas. It was totally unexpected and completely overwhelmed me. Look at this lovely little quilt she made. She had pinned a note to it saying she thought I could use it for family dinners--especially Thanksgiving. How sweet is that? It is beautifully hand quilted, which I couldn't seem to capture no matter how many photos I took. I love it, Doniene, and will use it and treasure it! Bless your heart!!

The next envelope was from another good blogging friend, Grace, in Maine. I knew this one was coming, but it was still great fun and I am enjoying it. Grace remembered that I don't subscribe to any quilt magazines and rarely buy any. She offered to send me some of hers that she was finished with. I hadn't seen any of these issues, in fact two of them are magazines of which I have never seen any issue.

I've been pacing myself and still have one I haven't cracked open yet. I am savoring them. Thanks for thinking of me, Grace!

The third envelope was a pattern I had ordered earlier this week. Sandra, at kwiltnkats, shared in a post some photos of the quilts she had on her walls for this time of year. The one of falling leaves particularly caught my eye. I checked the website for the magazine she said it was from and even though it was a few years ago, they actually had the pattern in stock--and on sale!! I know what fabric I will use for this. A couple of years ago DH and I took my parents with us on a trip to New England. It was peak fall color time and Mom and I collected fabrics in the Ivy Thimble quilt shop in Victor, New York that replicated the beautiful colors all around us as we drove through Ohio, New York, and Vermont. Mom's quilt is finished--even hand quilted--and hanging on a quilt rack in her computer room. I, on the other hand, have changed my mind over which pattern to use about three times already, but I think this is finally it! Sandra told me she loved how it looks like the leaves are really fluttering down, and I agree.
That is all for the fun that came in the mail. Now for the free motion stuff.

You may recall that recently I took my first class in machine quilting. I posted my attempts from the two sessions of the class and received much encouragement from many of you, for which I am grateful. It is easy to think you will never master the techniques, but I was reassured that there was hope for me.

Yesterday I had my first session of a second machine quilting class. This class is taught by the woman from whom I learned the perforated paper piecing technique on the Mariner's compass in this post and this post. She is teaching three sessions and during this first one she had us doing stippling, echoing and pebbles. We didn't do any of these in my first class, so this is new ground for me. As I tried the stipple I kept inadvertently making little loops or sharp turns. I definitely need work on smooth shapes--and everything else, for that matter. But I will admit it is becoming fun. Okay, don't snicker so loudly that I can hear, but this is the result of Tuesday's play.
I didn't use such contrasting thread this time. I also left my feed dogs up. Barbara concurred with what Leah Day says here on her website--that some machines have better tension on free motion quilting if the feed dogs are left in place. Mine seems to be one of those machines.
Finally, this quilt shop where I have taken these classes has a tradition of 30% off all of the bolt fabric on any fifth Saturdays, such as last Saturday. After a day like that you should always be sure and check out the remnant baskets--they are 40% off! Look what I found this week, following the sale. See all of those CW prints--and some fun fall Sandy Gervais prints with a matching orange? I'm not usually one to gush over designer lines of fabrics, but I must admit that when one catches my eye, it is more often than not hers. I have two charm packs of her Late Bloomers line to which I am itching to apply my rotary cutter!

Enough of my ramblings. Just want to close with something totally off the subject of quilting. This afternoon I heard Temple Grandin speak at the local university. She did two presentations--one dealing with her work with livestock, and the other dealing with living with autism. DH, my daughter and her husband and I attended the latter one. Fascinating! Now I want to see the movie of her life and read her book. If you know and love anyone diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder, I highly recommend you check out her website.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

Patriotic Stars and Christmas Stars

2011-10-28T02:21:00.000-06:00

I've sewn up six of the seven blocks I cut last week for John'aLee and her Fallen Soldier Project. They are working out nicely and I am having fun playing with my R/W/B fabrics. Only one more to go and then these will be in the mail. Still time to help out if you can. Remember, she has extended the deadline to the end of November.

I have already posted photos of 2 of these
blocks in recent posts, but 4 of them are new.

I have all of the pieces cut for my Christmas Smokey Mountain Stars quilt, based on Bonnie Hunter's pattern here.

And tonight I started sewing on corners. I'm making the quilt just a little larger than the pattern, so I hope I calculated amounts of squares correctly and I won't have to go back and cut more.

I think this one will go quickly, as does the secret Christmas gift quilt currently on my design wall. Some of you have asked about it and I have emailed pictures of it to a few of you. Thanks for all of the feedback and positive responses. It should be off the wall and to the longarm quilter by next week. Then this Christmas quilt will take its place. Then I want to make the Christmas wall hanging from the drawing I won on LuAnn's blog. We'll see if either of these actually gets quilted in time for the holiday season.

Have any of you seen this?

My blog friend, Mary C. from Washington, sent this notice to me. If you enjoy the Elm Creek books (just read my first one this summer), you might want to check out the schedule on the flip side of this ad and see if Jennifer is coming to a bookstore near you.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

What now?

2011-10-23T01:21:00.000-06:00

Well, the Tree of Life quilt in my last post had been on my design wall for so long that after taking it down and finishing the borders, the room seemed strange without it. What goes on the wall now? I wish I could show you, but it is a gift for someone who reads this, so I won't be showing it until after Christmas (and she knows who she is). I will say that it is a quick pattern and I am loving the result. I will probably make another one in the future.
I spent much of last night cutting out more blocks for John'aLee. I was going to make one a week, but like Freda, once I had the fabrics out to make one, I figured I would cut them all. Once they are cut it is hard to not just get them sewn up. Tonight I made another one.

I really like to try and make each star unique. Gets the creative juices flowing. I have five more blocks cut and hope to have them all in the mail by the end of the month.
In the meantime I am also working on a Christmas quilt for the family room. After digging up the entire strawberry bed this afternoon and separating plants and replanting, my back was really talking to me. So this evening I sat on a heating pad, deconstructing shirts, while watching the world series game. Apologies to my friends in Texas, but I have a SIL from St. Louis, so we have been cheering on the Cardinals, and what a night they had!

These are the shirts I took apart while the
Cardinals kept crossing home plate!

Anyway, back to the shirts. I am planning on making Bonnie Hunter's Smokey Mountain Stars, but I want to only use red and green plaid shirts, along with the tan background color. My dilemma is this, should I make the centers of the stars one color and the points another? Should I make some all red stars and some all green stars? Or should I let the red and green fall randomly? This is Bonnie's quilt below (which I love), but if I am just using two colors besides the background, I can't decide if I should control the placement of the color more, or just let the chips fall where they may. Do you have an opinion (you know you do)? Please share--I love brainstorming--even via blogs!

From Bonnie Hunter's free patterns. The link above
will take you right to this pattern.

This is uncharacteristically short for me, but the heating pad calls.
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

Ta-Daa!

2011-10-20T02:21:00.000-06:00

Do you remember this--my youngest son's memory quilt from his time as a missionary in Brazil? I've blogged about it plenty, here, and here. You may recall that at the last sighting I was asking opinions on border choices, and I received many helpful suggestions, all of which I tried out on the design wall. But as I sat across the room from the design wall and pondered the look of the different borders, one thing became very apparent to me. The cobblestone blocks were overpowering the quilt. I wasn't about to scrap them altogether, but somehow I had to tame down the look. I struggled with this for some time--this has been on my design wall for months, which seemed like forever. Finally I knew I had to pull out my trusty seam ripper and deconstruct those cobblestone blocks--all 17 of them. What you see above is the almost finished product. In an attempt to make a quilt that wasn't a square, I had not put the cobblestones across the top of the quilt, but I wasn't crazy about that look. Once I took apart the stones, I was able to string a single row of stones across the top. Now the quilt is just barely not a square, but I think the addition of blocks on top helps the look immensely. I also decided that all of the straight inner borders needed to be double colors and narrow. The three strips of color along the outer edge of the quilt have not been sewn on yet, so they look a little wider than they will actually be. Everything else is stitched together. I am much happier with this result, and I hope to finish sewing on those borders tomorrow.
You be the judge. Look at what I was showing you last time around with this project.

See how much bigger the cobblestone blocks are--and none of them go across
the top of the quilt. And the borders are wider and not so plentiful. I like
the new version so much better.

Tonight I got my weekly block for John'aLee's Fallen Soldier Project made. Most of my red/white/blue fabrics are remnants and scraps, with an occasional FQ. I love the challenge of pulling out all of the possible red/white/blue combinations and trying to choose the right pieces to make a star that is a little different than the last one. But that is just my idea of fun--take something easy and see how you can complicate it. Kind of warped, huh? BTW, the above link is John'aLee's original request for help with making blocks. If you can help out, remember that she has extended the deadline to the end of November.

I'll leave you with this scene from the back door. Remember those mountains in a recent post that were blanketed with snow? Well, here they are again. It has been above normal temps, the snow is gone and the leaves are changing on the mountainsides. I love this time of year. We took a drive up through the canyon this evening and the colors in the mountains were gorgeous--but I forgot my camera. : (

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where fall has arrived,

Janet O.

Winners and other stuff!

2011-10-16T03:37:00.000-06:00

First off, I want to let you know who won the Lynn Roddy Brown books. Congrats to Nancy, a no reply blogger, who won Simple Strategies for Scrap Quilts. Nancy, I need you to email your snail mail address to me so I can mail the book to you. Congrats also to Yvette, who won the Block Swap book. Thanks to all who participated! I hope the winners enjoy those books as much as I do!
I finally have another flimsy completed.I cut this out months ago using one of Lori Smith's Fit to Frame patterns.

The inner, pieced border gave me fits. I made it according to the pattern, I thought, and it didn't fit--it was way too long on every side. Luckily I had only sewn 1 1/2 sides together when I realized the problem. I have no clue what went wrong. I checked my measurements with the pattern and I had cut things right. Anyway, I ended up making 1 1/2" HSTs to create the border instead of the method the pattern used. I have coveted the sample of this they have in a LQS every time I go in, so I decided I needed to just make one. I don't think I will frame it. I want to hand quilt it and bind it and put it on a wall somewhere, but I am trying to decide if I want to add another brown border to the outer edge. This is my first real mini quilt and I have to say that all of you out there blogging about how a mini quilt gives you a quick finish should come give me lessons. This did not go together quickly for me. But I will be making more. I love the result!

Another fun thing in the "little" department (or maybe I should say "tiny") is the foundation paper pieced jewelry made by Julie at Me and My Stitches. Some of you may recall that I won her giveaway a while back, and I chose a flag pin. Well, I finally got around to ordering more. I intended to order some traditional blocks, but when I saw the pumpkin and stained glass heart I was through looking.

Aren't they fun? Julie says she is going to be putting more on her website (which you can access by clicking the header photo on her blog) soon. You can get pins, pendants, earrings, and scissor fobs. I like a seasonal pin on my jacket or coat lapel, so these are all pins.

These are the blocks I have sent already.
They don't need to be this involved.
I always complicate things

One more thing, if you are not already aware. John'aLee has moved the deadline for 8" or 12" (finished measurement) patriotic star blocks to go into 5 quilts she is making for her daughter (whose fiancee was killed in Afghanistan just before they were to be married), the soldier's mother, two brothers and best friend, who was with him when he was killed. If you were hesitant to help because of the deadline, she has extended it to the end of November to try and collect all of the blocks she needs. You can go to her blog, The Scrappy Appleyard, for more info. I've already sent my blocks, but I am going to try and join Freda at The Adventures of the Empress of the Universe in making one more each week until the last week of November, so we can each send her a few more.

I had more to share but it is late, so I'll save it for another post.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

More books to give away!!

2011-10-12T22:04:00.000-06:00

Want more scrap quilt ideas? You've come to the right place. Recently we met here for the purpose of a giveaway of Lynn Roddy Brown's latest book, Patchwork-Play Quilts. You may recall that at the end of the post I shared these photos of Lynn's previous books.

After that giveaway, Lynn generously offered to send me copies of her first two books to be given away. So Scrap Quilters, here we go again!! To be entered you don't have to be a follower or post this on your blog, just leave a comment below. The books will be given away separately, so your comment will give you two chances to win. The RNG will choose a winner for each book. If you would like to be entered twice I will add your name a second time if you do post a link to this page and let me know that you have done so. If by some rare chance the same name comes up for both books, I will give that individual their choice of which book they would like and I will redraw for the other one.

The first book, Simple Strategies for Scrap Quilts, is a great place to start if you have never made a scrap quilt, but have been wanting to try. Lynn includes chapters on "Understanding Scrap Quilts", "Collecting Fabric", "Quiltmaking Basics", "Designing with Scrap Blocks", and "Finishing the Quilt". I love this statement from Lynn in the chapter "Understanding Scrap Quilts";

"Scrap quilts look great from a distance and are full of surprises when you get up close. I hate bed making, but when there's a scrap quilt on the bed, I can find joy in all the colors, textures, and patterns as I go through the drudgery."

There are kernels of quilting wisdom and knowledge in every section of this book. I wanted to include more of it, but I'm covering two books here, so I can't get very detailed or this will take forever. All of the quilts in this book are within the "beginner to intermediate" range. Most of them are surrounded by two straight borders, a narrow one and a wide one, though now and then a quilt will break that mold. All of the quilts are visually appealing. Enough said, let's look at some pictures!!

Lynn made this quilt using a consistent light
fabric throughout the quilt.

This quilt was created from blocks received in a swap.
By reversing the value placement from one block to the next,
the eye is kept hopping over this colorful quilt.

If you like "scrappy", but with a little more controlled look,
Lynn recommends using related fabrics in a quilt, as in this
one made with 30s reproduction prints. . .

. . . or this one in CW pinks and browns.

These bow tie circles were made using highly contrasting
fabrics and repeating the same in the outer border.

That gives you a taste of the sixteen quilts within the pages of this book. All of the patterns offer clear, full color illustrations to go along with the concise instructions.

Let's move on to "Simple Strategies for Block Swap Quilts." I admit that I was hesitant to buy this, based on the title. I have never participated in a block swap and am not sure if I ever will. But once I looked inside the cover I was sold. There are so many wonderful scrap quilts here, with the patterns to make them from scratch, in case you are like me and don't have blocks from a swap.

Lynn offers this insight into why she loves swaps (she belongs to two swap groups), "The blocks I receive in trades are one step up from my fabric stash. They are a head start on a quilt, waiting there for me when and if I am inspired to use them."

Along with the sections on understanding scrap quilts and designing with blocks (which are not just lifted from the previous book, there is new stuff here), there is a section on how to organize and conduct a block swap. If you are looking for a project for a guild, or want to start a swap group, this section contains valuable helps. Lynn also discusses the "controlled" approach to scrap quilting versus the "just go for it" method. You will probably be able to define your style after reading this and trying your hand at a scrap quilt.

Many of the 15 patterns include alternative layouts for the block involved. Several patterns have tips to use if conducting a swap for that specific block.

Now let's see some of the treats in this book.

I always say I've never met a churn dash I didn't like and this is no
exception. I especially like the secondary pattern created by
the flying geese units in the sashing.

Not all scrap quilts have to have a vintage look. This is a
beauty, with the black chains making the bright colors
shine. Mary (Quilt Hollow), if you are reading this, this is
where I remembered seeing that block in your little
Schnibbles quilt! : )

Doesn't get much scrappier than this. Love it!!

This quilt was the result of a trade using blue and yellow HSTs and
four patch units. Value placement made all the difference in
creating a stunning pattern that spills into the borders.

The swap that made this quilt happen consisted of trading 4 identical
4-patch units. The "on point" setting, placement of the light squares in
the centers and corners, and creative sashing give so much visual
interest and fool the eye into thinking the black lines are slashing
through larger "Puss in the Corner" blocks.

That about covers it. I just want to add that no give away copies of books were harmed in this post. All photos were taken from my own well-marked, tabbed copies of these books. If you win you will receive a pristine, "spine never cracked", autographed copy!

So leave those comments and if you want to be in the drawing twice you can blog about this and post a link. You have until 10:00 p.m. Saturday, MDT. I will post the winner later that night and ship the books out Monday! Good Luck!!

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where it looked like the mountains were on fire last night,

Janet O.

A Plethora of Pumpkins!

2011-10-08T23:31:00.000-06:00

Pumpkins, pumpkins everywhere! Look at this pumpkin patch on my dining room table. Last year I was responsible for table decorations for a dinner at church. I already had 6 or 8 of these pumpkins. I had been gifted a few and found a couple more at local thrift stores. I thought if I could just make a few more I could incorporate those pumpkins with some resin and glass pumpkins I had in my fall decorations and I would be set. I looked online for a tutorial and settled on the one found here. I experimented and decided on some changes. Instead of yarn, I used a few strands of embroidery floss--easier to match the pumpkins, since I already have most of the DMC floss colors. Also, I found that the very long doll maker needles worked much better than the ones in the tutorial, especially when making the really big pumpkins. One of the pumpkins that had been given to me had a leaf on it. I liked that look, so I made them for most of my pumpkins. Also, one I bought at a thrift store had a curly tendril made from a wire covered with green paper. I experimented with some different forms of green wire and think I will add more tendrils to these with green florist wire.

I caution you--be careful about clicking that link. Making these became addictive. I even made another 6 not shown, that I divided between my daughters. DH would look at me surrounded by fabric, floss, fluffy stuffing, and long needles night after night and just shake his head. "I thought you were just going to make a few," he said. I replied that when I got out the resin and glass pumpkins I realized that they just didn't go with the look of these fabric pumpkins. "It would only bother you," he answered, knowingly. And he was probably right, but it would bother me enough that if I could do something about it, I would. Can you say "obsessive compulsive"?

Yesterday was day two of my machine quilting class. I admit that I hadn't practiced during the week as I should have. We were shown lots of flowers, hearts and swirly designs and then given free time to practice designs of our choosing. I figured at this time of year I would be needing pumpkins and leaves for something, so I practiced them on one of my "sandwiches". I am proud to say I am now getting the stems ON the pumpkins (most of the time) and those leaves were really leaves, not just attempts at hearts that looked more like leaves.

I'm not ready to put my skills (and I use the term loosely) to anything "official", but I am seeing improvement. I'll use the pumpkin theme of this post as an excuse for not showing you my attempts at flowers. : )

While putting out the fall decor I came across this table runner, hutch pad and table topper made with a fun pumpkin fabric I found in a thrift store and pieces from my scraps (the reds aren't really pink, as they seem in the photos). I had hurriedly hand quilted them a couple of years ago. I was new to table runners and I should have used a much thinner bat (or, as my DH's Aunt does, just flannel). They also need more quilting, but aren't the pumpkins in the fabric cute?

As I was leaving for the grocery store at dusk this evening I caught sight of the new snow on the mountains west of us and I had to grab the camera for a shot.

It seems way too recently that I was taking shots of late spring snows on these mountains. Where does the time go?

As I was taking that shot I had a visitor. I'm not sure if this is Billy or Otis, but he belongs to my BIL, and lives in the pasture right behind our house.

Until next time, may all your pumpkins be great!
Janet O.

T-Shirt Finale!

2011-10-05T11:20:00.000-06:00

My oldest son's college graduation t-shirt quilt is finally done! My long arm quilter said she wouldn't be sad if she never had to do another t-shirt quilt. So I guess I really need to practice my FMQ skills so when my youngest son graduates I can quilt his myself.

I used at least 40 t-shirts in this quilt and I still had a laundry basket full of shirts leftover. This son doesn't know the meaning of the term "over-involved". His brother seems to be following in his footsteps, so I know there is another one in my future.

Those of you who have made one of these know how much work they can be--much more than I expected. You have to stabilize the fabrics and figure out a layout using the different sizes of designs. I complicated things by piecing and bordering blocks, and then fussy cutting the sashing to keep it from adding to the busyness of the already busy quilt.

I actually bound this one myself and it is such a relief to have it finished.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where fall has finally arrived,

Janet O.

Need a giggle?

2011-10-03T20:13:00.000-06:00

Check out my lovely machine quilting on this muslin "sandwich" from my very first free motion quilting class. How pathetic is this? We did our little sample block the last 15-20 minutes of a two hour class, after learning all about the best tools to use and what settings on your machine are helpful, and where to find sources for ideas and inspiration, how to prepare the quilt and guide the fabric, etc. When we got to the actual free motion stuff we were supposed to give ourselves permission to"play" and try out some of the simple things she had demonstrated--circles, stars, hearts, pumpkins. (I think I lost my permission slip!) If you can detect a pumpkin in there you are my new best friend! I felt I did better at stars than the other things--no need for smooth, round curves on those. When I was trying the hearts, I couldn't seem to get back out of that center point well, so I pretended that I was trying to make leaves all along, not hearts.
As I looked around the class at those working near me I saw that some people really could get the stems attached to their pumpkins, and their hearts didn't look like leaves! I also began to understand all the fuss at the beginning of class about the Bernina machines with the "stitch regulator".
I haven't given up hope yet. There is still another class this week, and then there is a three-part class in November I am considering (depending on whether or not I HAVE given up hope by then). But this is obviously something that I don't take to naturally. Time will tell whether I take to it at all.

Enough of that. On a more serious note, I finally got my star blocks finished to send to John'aLee.

The block to the far right had some issues. Even on Barbara Brackman's blog there is some uncertainty
about the cutting instructions. I did lose some points in the stitching, so now I understand why there was a question about cutting measurements. I did switch out the center fabric on that block, too.
Now to get these off in the mail.

That is all for tonight.
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

May I have the envelope, please.

2011-09-27T11:18:00.000-06:00

The lucky winner of Lynn Roddy Brown's third book, "Patchwork-Play Quilts," is grendelskin! Actually, her name is Sally, but grendelskin is her blog name. Thanks to all who left comments and posted links for this giveaway. I'm glad so many of you were introduced to Lynn's books. They are a great resource for scrap quilters!

Recently several bloggers have been putting the word out about John'aLee's request for star blocks in muted reds, whites, and blues. She is making five quilts for the loved ones of her almost SIL, who was shot in Afghanistan shortly before he was to be married to her daughter. Instead of a wedding they had a funeral. So sad! Make sure the people you love know you love them. Life is tenuous.

I was motivated by Freda's post (The Adventures of the Empress of the Universe) sharing her initial efforts and decided to jump on board. I got fabric pulled Saturday evening and started cutting. I hoped to spend yesterday afternoon and evening sewing them all up, but alas, life interfered. I did get the cutting finished and thought I would just share the blocks in the "design board" stage. I will get a little done on them tonight, but the finish may have to wait now until my monthly "quilt with Mom" event this Thursday.

This is the Missouri Star block, though I did throw in a
9-patch in place of the plain center square. Every fabric
in this block is printed with some type of star.

This is Ohio Star. I used Barbara Brackman's
directions, but there are easier ways to make this block.
I think the red fabric looks like fireworks.

I punched up this Sawtooth Star pattern by adding
the 16-patch to the center of the block. There are tiny
flags in the tan fabric in the 16-patch.

This is called Barbara Frietchie in Barabara Brackman's
CW post. By different color placement you could make
this into an "easy Lemoyne Star", right Freda?

Finally we have a block named Richmond, after the
Confederacy's capital city. I may play with the
color placement on this one a little more.

These blocks were all made from my "Patriotic Scraps" drawer. I am pleased with how they are coming together. If you'd like to help make star blocks click the link here for the details.

Now I have the urge to make a patriotic quilt. I made one years ago and donated it somewhere. It would be nice to have one in the house when Independence Day rolls around. I guess that urge will just have to wait in line behind all of the other quilting urges.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,

Janet O.

New Book Giveaway!! WooHoo!!

2011-09-21T10:33:00.000-06:00

Hey, all you scrap quilters, are you familiar with Lynn Roddy Brown? If not, here is your chance to get acquainted! She is an expert scrap quilter and just published her third book on the subject through Martingale & Company, "Patchwork-Play Quilts." I own both of her other books (and love them) and had reviewed her second book on Amazon. Earlier this year I decided to see if she had a website and to learn if she had any other books. There was word on her site that she would be coming out with her third book soon. I was so excited I emailed her to let her know I was looking forward to its release.

The result of all this was that she offered to send me a copy when it came out if I would review it on Amazon as well. I suggested the possibility of another copy being offered as a giveaway on my blog. They arrived in yesterday's mail--autographed!!

As soon as I saw the package I knew what it contained.

I was in the middle of a project with a deadline and I had to leave them sitting on the counter, unopened, so that I didn't get distracted (which is easy for me to do!). When I could see that I had progressed far enough with my project to allow myself the time to open, I let myself browse for 5 whole minutes. I was so excited! But I had to get back to my project.

Finally, late at night, I was able to settle in and really give the book a good going over. This is a treat! What scrap quilter doesn't have a stash of leftover strips, HSTs, 9-patch and 4-patch blocks? In this book Lynn shares many ways to use up those bits, while breaking down some of the fabric stash as well. Take a look at some of these quilts from the book.

I love the way she uses value in this one. The different values of the 9-patch blocks create the illusion that some of them are glowing. Wonderful!

This quilt was made entirely from leftover HSTs from another quilt--hence the name. Lynn shares how studying a vintage quilt helped her mix up the values within the pinwheels to accomplish that aged look.

Look at this scrappy gem! What a variety of fabrics have come together in this great quilt. And by reversing the value placement from one block to the next there is so much more visual interest!

Can you pick out the 4-patch and 9-patch blocks that create this wonderful argyle pattern? By using the same orange fabric in the center of each 9-patch, Lynn was able to bring a unifying element to this scrappy mix.

Can you believe this mind-boggling 9-patch? Lynn gives a schedule for making the blocks that is doable to have all of the elements ready over a year's time.

This is one for which Lynn doesn't give the pattern, but she shares it as encouragement for us to use up our leftover elements. She made it using the HSTs, 4-patch and 9-patch blocks that had been piling up from exchanges and quilt leftovers. She only had to make one 6" 4-patch to create this top.

Well, that gives you a good idea of the types of the 17 patterns within the pages of this book. I realize I didn't include some of the quilts she shares that are still scrappy, but with a more controlled color palette. If that is your style there are patterns to warm your quilter's heart as well.

I love some of Lynn's homespun, scrap quilting wisdom. She talks about mental-health sewing, when she can just sew up some scrap units without a specific project in mind, saying, "Touching my fabric and hearing the hum of my sewing machine is very therapeutic for me." When sewing units this way, or for swaps, there is the added benefit of sewing without the stress of having to "agonize over fabric choices." She puts the units aside for later use and DOESN'T consider them a UFO. She says that fabric started in her stash, it is still in her stash--it has just changed form. (Love it!) According to her, "if you already own the fabric, you might as well enjoy playing with it."

Lynn also includes the story of her journey as a scrap quilter, plus a wonderful section of the role value plays in the look of scrap quilts (if you couldn't already tell from the comments on the quilts above, it is a big factor!), and a great 13 page section with full color illustrations sharing some of her favorite techniques in quilt making. Is your mouth watering yet?

How can you win your own signed, spine-never-cracked copy of this great book? Just leave a comment here saying you are interested. Also, I don't usually do this on giveaways, but I want Lynn's book to be seen by as many as possible, so if you have a blog and will post a link there to this giveaway and say you have done so, I will put your name in a second time. I will ship the book wherever you live, so don't worry if you are an international reader. I will take comments on this until midnight, Monday the 26th. I will post the winner on Tuesday, the 27th.

And just in case you are not familiar with them, here is a look at her two previous books.

They are both excellent books for scrap quilters, and as I said in my Amazon review of the "Block-Swap" book, you don't have to participate in swaps to use this book. I have never done a swap, but I have used the book to make a wonderful scrap quilt seen here.

Okay, there you have it! Leave your comment and you are in, link to this and say so and you are in twice. Good Luck!

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows--and is very high on the pollen count right now (you can tell I have allergies),
Janet O.

We have a winner!

2011-09-19T09:33:00.000-06:00

Doesn't Connie B. look happy? She should! She just won the quilt that was donated by Randy at Barrister's Block for my daughter's "Running for Ben" fundraiser . You can read about the fundraiser here (look for the Chinese Coins quilt near the end of the post), and the donated quilt here. Randy, she wanted you to know that the quilt was going to someone who understands and appreciates the work that goes into making a beautiful quilt like this.
My eight-year-old grandson was so taken with the quilt that he even entered with his own money to try and win it.
The quilt helped us raise over a thousand dollars at our booth at the Top of Utah Marathon this past weekend. Thank you, Randy. It really made a difference! It has also made me want to be more productive so that I will have quilts on hand, ready for good causes. What a great reason to make more quilts!
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

Goodies in the Mail from LuAnn at Loose Threads!

2011-09-15T23:44:00.000-06:00

If you haven't seen LuAnn's post with the instructions for this quilt check it out. This is LuAnn's own version of the Flurry pattern available here for free download at the Fat Quarter Shop.
She wanted a wall hanging so she made her packages using charm squares, rather than a layer cake. Then she had a giveaway for the fabrics to make your own and I won! The package arrived today.
This gracious woman was already going above and beyond in her give away--it included 1 1/2 yards of Kona white and 1/2 yard each of the Kona red and green, along with 2 of the Flurry charm packs.

But the package contained more. Along with everything promised, LuAnn had added 3/4 yard of this cute candy fabric for binding. She had gone to Quilts Plus to see how they had quilted their Flurry quilt and decided to get this to bind hers. She got some for me, too.

Isn't it fun? What a nice surprise to find in the mail on a busy, hectic day!
Among other things, I had just returned home from a nearby cemetery where I visited the grave of my dear friend who died after a brief illness in May. This would have been her 60th birthday today. I had driven to town first and picked up some of her favorite flowers to put on her grave. As I stood waiting for them to be wrapped I just started crying as memories of this special friend flooded my mind. I felt very conspicuous, and couldn't get out of the store fast enough. I drove to the cemetery in tears. Once there I sat on a bench by her grave in this little burial place at the base of the mountains. I looked back toward the entrance that gives a beautiful view out over the valley. I spent about 20 minutes there, all alone, listening to the birds. They were usually the only thing I could hear, and it was very calming.

I left for home feeling more at peace. When I found LuAnn's package in the mail and unwrapped this treasure, I was smiling. Thanks seems inadequate, LuAnn. You are most generous!

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

Hometown News

2011-09-13T18:20:00.000-06:00

Have you seen this everywhere today? You can't click on a news site without it popping up. (The guy from the motorcycle was trapped under the car--bystanders rescued him at their own peril.)

This is in Logan, Utah--my hometown. I'm sure people in your town would have done the same. There are good people everywhere, aren't there? Heartwarming--and not because of the burning motorcycle. : )
Janet O.

What a Beauty!

2011-09-10T01:29:00.000-06:00

I just had to share this. You may recall a few posts back that I mentioned donating a quilt for my daughter's fundraiser and how I was sorry I didn't have another quilt ready for her next one. A very generous blogger offered to send a quilt to be donated and it arrived today. With her permission, I wanted to show you what Randy has sent us. It is a beautifully scrappy double 4-patch in a controlled color palette, and mostly batiks. It is a very soothing combination of blues, purples and pinks with splashes of yellow in the narrow border. I love it. I don't think my photo does it justice. I told Randy that I sat with it over my lap for a while this evening admiring the fabrics and I think we bonded. Wonder what my chances are of winning it?

Thank you so much, Randy. I hope to be able to pay it forward someday!

A Labor Day respite

2011-09-06T23:57:00.000-06:00

DH and I are usually quite the stick-in-the-muds when it comes to 4-day weekends. We don't go anywhere or have fun plans--just hang around home and water the garden, mow lawn, do dishes--you get the idea.

This year we deviated from the norm and drove up the neighboring canyon for an hour to a beautiful little lake nestled up in the mountains (locals will recognize this as Tony Grove).

In the cool morning air we walked the loop around the lake (about 40 minutes IF you don't take pictures--DH said next time he won't remind me to bring the camera!).

The lake was glassy--sometimes it was hard to tell what was real and what was reflection. Can you pick out the far shoreline in the photo above? From the other side of the lake the morning sun made these yellow flowers glow.

The photo below is kind of fuzzy, but it has a story. As we walked in the stillness all we could usually hear was the buzz of the bees in the profuse wildflowers. Suddenly we heard a whooshing sound overhead and looked up to see this hawk swooping down on its prey. It missed its mark, circled a couple of times and flew up to this dead tree limb to scope out a new victim.

Here are some of the bees about their labors on Labor Day. Believe me when I say that this is only a fraction of the wildflower pictures I snapped. DH will confirm that.

On the road to and from the lake I worked on stitching hexagons to papers--I will conquer that project yet! At home we watched some of the U.S. Open and I pulled out the t-shirt quilt which came back from the quilter a couple of weeks ago and got the edges trimmed and ready for binding. I've only bound one other king size quilt and that was over 10 years ago. I have no idea how long this will take, but knowing my speed, don't expect a post of a finished quilt anytime soon.

Our morning jaunt was just a three hour excursion, but it was very refreshing and set the tone for a good day! How did you spend your Labor Day?

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,

Janet O.

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!

2011-09-04T02:43:00.000-06:00

Floribunda is now a flimsy. I did finally get the borders on in between rounds of freezing the corn from our garden this weekend. (DH and I agree that we should probably cut back on the amount of corn we plant next year. After all, there are just two of us at home now.)

After getting the inner yellow and the dark borders on I felt like it still needed something. I don't usually put light borders on the outer edge of my quilts, but that seemed to be what this one needed. I'll probably have to bind it in the dark floral border fabric--it is the only one of which I have enough.

As you must know by now, this was inspired by Bonnie Hunter's Floribunda pattern of the traditional Jacob's Ladder, based on a vintage quilt she found. My florals were mainly of the "dark and dirty" variety, but the splashes of red here and there give it some sparkle.

If you are interested in making one and haven't already heard of Freda's very casual QAL that will be starting soon, check it out here. I would love to make another one but I really need to finish the Tree of Life quilt. I will be hand quilting that one, so I need to hurry and get it in the frame so it will be completed before I am too old to see my stitches (I am so slow at getting things hand quilted).

Just wanted to mention something else. In my last post I told of the quilt I had donated to my daughter's fundraiser for the foundation that researches the seizure syndrome her youngest son has. I also said she was doing another one this month and that I was sorry I didn't have a quilt ready to donate to that one. Friday evening I received an email from a very generous quilter who offered to send me a quilt she was willing to donate for this month's fundraiser. I know quilters are always willing to help other people, but this was so completely unexpected. I was overwhelmed--still am. My heartfelt thanks go out to you!

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where we have a football team that almost beat Auburn Saturday,
Janet O.

A rose by any other name ...

2011-09-01T01:07:00.000-06:00

Floribunda has been my leader/ender project while I have been working on the Tree of Life quilt. I got all of the 4-patch and HSTs sewn in that manner and then I would sew together a block or two when I needed a break from the other quilt. Since I am still toying with the border options on the Tree of Life, I used my "sew time" today to finish up the blocks on Floribunda and this is what I have.

I can see that I need to rotate a couple of the corner
border blocks. I mean to have them echo the
direction of the inner corner blocks.

This is the original size of the vintage quilt that inspired Bonnie's pattern (6x8 blocks). I had planned on going bigger, but as I got to this point I realized something. If I just added one row of blocks each way (7x9), the pattern would no longer be symmetrical. That won't bother everyone, but I admit it would bother me. I didn't think my leftover floral fabrics would sustain an 8x10 block quilt (neither, I think, would my attention span), so I opted to stay with the 6x8 and just add borders. It will finish at 72x88. I need to check the LQS today and see if they have a floral I can use for the border (I know, the pieces I have up there aren't cut straight--it's all I had) on their clearance table at $4 a yard, hopefully something not quite so dark as my test pieces. There isn't enough of any floral left in my stash to make this border and I think this quilt is busy enough. I would like the border in just one print, rather than pieced. Once I get this to flimsy stage I'll probably set it aside until I have a purpose for it. It has been fun to make using fabrics I wasn't sure would ever find a home.

While on the subject of Floribunda, maybe I was so drawn to this pattern partly because of the name. The word floribunda means a plant, especially a rose, that bears dense clusters of flowers. Maybe you also grow floribunda roses--six of my seven rosebushes are of the floribunda variety. Hybrid Teas are a little less hardy and don't do as well in my location. Recently I got a couple of photos of some of those "dense clusters." Both of these roses have lovely scents, as well. I always look for that when buying rose bushes. I think it is rather disheartening to bend over to smell a beautiful rose and be met with no scent.

I hit the jackpot at a thrift store a couple of days ago. They had scrap bags and I found two that looked promising. For a total of $3.50, these fabrics are going into my stash. There is at least 1/8th yard of most of them and some are more like 1/4th yard. There are KT fabrics, Kaye England, some batiks, homespun, and several other good pieces.

What was crazy was that among the "not-for-quilts" scraps that I won't be keeping, there was a substantial piece that my mother and I recognized. When I was a girl (many decades ago) she made most of my clothes and she had made a dress for me out of that very fabric. It is a fall colored floral, but it isn't 100% cotton, or I would definitely have worked it into Floribunda.

One final note--Chinese Coins found a home. My youngest grandson has a rare and severe seizure disorder. My daughter and her husband just got the diagnosis confirmed with a genetic test a couple of months ago. As soon as it was known, my daughter was determined to raise money to help with research. She has run a local 1/2 marathon a couple of times and was prepping to run it again this year. She approached one of the organizers who happens to be a neighbor of hers to see if they would let her do a fundraiser in conjunction with the race. In just a few weeks and with the help of some very good friends, she got a logo designed, gathered prizes from sponsors, had stickers, tickets, a banner and fliers printed. She had the logo and sponsors on t-shirts for the volunteers and family, and on running shirts for her and her friends that ran the race. This quilt was sitting in a closet at my house, already quilted, but not bound. I offered it as one of the prizes and my Mom bound it, knowing that as slow as I am it probably wouldn't have been ready on race day. It was very satisfying to see it go to help a good cause and the winner was very happy to receive it. Just in case any of you have noticed that I have a new Favicon--I know it is too tiny to see, but it is the logo used for the "Running for Ben" fundraiser. Here it is in a more readable size.
Ben is about 2 1/2 years old and has been having seizures for 2 years.

He is such a sweetheart and we are lucky to know and love him.

My daughter will be doing a fundraiser again this month for the full marathon. I wish I had another quilt that would be ready to go.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the wind has been blowing all day and the pollen count is too high for comfort,
Janet O.

The Most Nagging UFO

2011-08-26T03:01:00.000-06:00

Did you see the Ask Bonnie! post yesterday where, among other things, Bonnie turned the tables and asked the question, "What is the one big UFO that you would like to work on?"
Well, this is mine.

The book doesn't come with the
templates (there are pages of
instructions), but I think it is
worth the extra cost.

Most of the "football" shapes made by the two arcs and little narrow slivers are sewn together, but the big center pieces are unattached. There are two more rows to go, and I have all of the pieces cut and the arcs all sewn. I've never had it out since I got my design wall earlier this summer, so this is the first time I have put it up here. I learned something in the process. My background print is directional--I had never noticed before. I will have to be careful when I sew it all together.

Templates come in a variety
of sizes--see package top.

Double wedding ring has been on my quilt bucket list since before I knew what a bucket list was. My husband's aunt had made a few and I was often suggesting that she teach a class in our community--she was already doing a BOM in her home. When she decided to do it she suggested we just come with the fabrics to make a table topper and learn the technique. Then we could apply what we had learned to make a larger quilt later. (I followed that suggestion, though many chose to bring fabric for a whole quilt.) She has made the Double Wedding Ring quilt using a variety of techniques and her favorite is the John Flynn template method, so that is what we used. I went through my stash and chose fabrics that would match my living room so I could use the table topper on an end table there. I only had to buy one fat quarter to complete my color palette! I was pleased.
There were about 10 of us in her home that day learning this method to make the rings. I admit, it was pretty slick, but I think that day I also realized how slow I am. The BOM I had been attending in her home was mostly frequented by relatively new quilters. I was often last to finish, but only because I took so long to decide which fabrics to use, not because of my sewing speed. When this day was over I know there was at least one woman who had completed a full-size quilt top before going home. (Eleanor Burns didn't lie, you can make a quilt in a day!) I still hadn't finished my table topper. I sat among those women thinking some of their machines sounded more like race cars revving up, than sewing machines.

This was a few years ago. So why haven't I finished it by now?
I discovered it was going to be too big for the intended table, so I decided to make it bigger and drape it across the back of the sofa. After all, I had chosen colors specifically to match the living room. But did I have enough of the fabrics? I unearthed what was left of them and it looked like I was good to go, except for the fat quarter I had purchased. Though I had just purchased it the week before, the LQS was out of it and wouldn't be getting more in. They did give me the name of the fabric line and designer. I found it online and got it ordered.
Upon its arrival I got everything cut and started sewing. When I had decided to go bigger I had also chosen to use a variety of background fabrics in the ecru/cream range. For one thing, I like scrappy, and for another, I didn't have enough of a matching background to do the whole thing and was too cheap to buy more. After getting a few "footballs" made from the arcs and background fabrics, I laid them out with the center background pieces. I didn't like it. Discouraged, I put it away. Months later, with renewed interest, I unpicked the few background pieces I had already sewn to the arcs. I broke down and bought a new background fabric. I laid it out in a sunny spot and placed the sewn arcs upon it. I didn't like it. Packed it all away again.
It took two more tries before I found a match that passed the "sunny spot" test.
By that time I had lost my steam on the whole thing and it had sunk to the bottom of the list. It just never seems to have risen to the top again. You know how that goes. You need this quilt finished for the new baby, that one for a graduation gift, and another one for Christmas giving. But when do the ones you want to make just to keep become your top priority? So far I don't have an answer for that.

If you are still with me, you are amazingly patient, but I beg your indulgence a little longer because I want your opinion. Unless this is your first visit here, you are no doubt familiar with the Tree of Life quilt I am making my youngest son. It is a memory quilt representing his two years as a missionary in Brazil. I am using the colors of the Brazilian flag, combined with more earthy tones, and each block has significance to his experiences there. As I have said before, it is not an attempt to win any design awards. But I am stumped as to the outer border(s). I don't like to make bed quilts square, so in an attempt to avoid that, I only put the "cobblestone" blocks around the sides and bottom. They are not sewn on yet, but I'm pretty sure they will stay this way. I had to do some partial blocks as filler, since the Ocean Waves are 16" blocks and the Cobblestones are 12" blocks. I wanted to finish with a few inch wide border around the whole quilt. I tried a brown, but thought it wasn't a good finish.

I know many of you have commented that when you see something on the design wall it is a totally different effect than when you see it in a photo. Not until I saw this photo did I realize how much the Ocean Waves blocks stand out from the dullness of the other colors.
Anyway, my next attempt was to add a narrow blue border between the Cobblestones and the outer brown strip.

I liked it better. But still, when I saw it in the photo I wasn't sure. Next I replaced the inner blue strip with a green.

Hmmm, not so sure about that one. Now, my boldest move was to put the yellow in its place.

Better than I expected. Maybe this is what it needs to bring some of the brightness of the center out to the duller edge. Do I need to change that dark blue middle border to a green for a less abrupt transition? What would you do? (Starting over may be what you would do, but it is not an option for me.)
Well, we are in the midst of a thunderstorm and the power has already gone out once during this process. That was probably a hint that I should have quit a long time ago. But this storm is nothing compared to what some of you are facing.
Prayers go out to those in the path of Irene. Stay safe!
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.
p.s. The soap is cured, packaged and sent. You winners should be seeing it soon!

The Lost is Found

2011-08-19T02:18:00.000-06:00

The source for the "Granny Squares" quilt from my last post was located and identified by a few of you--thanks for the help! And best of all, Charity, who was the maker of the quilt I photographed, (and is shown here again with it in my blurry photo) found the link to the pattern for us. If you have the Oct. 2010 issue of American Patchwork and Quilting, then you already have the pattern, just go find it. If not, click on "pattern" above and download it.
This link takes you to the free, downloadable Granny Squares pattern on the American Patchwork and Quilting website. If you are already a member you can go ahead and download. If you aren't, it just takes a minute to sign up and then you are good to go. They give you the pattern for a table topper in a different colorway, but you can just keep making more of the squares to create the full-size quilt as Charity made and as they featured on the cover of their Oct. 2010 issue, shown here (in the colorway Charity used).
By the way, Charity has started her own blog. She is a talented quilter and I think there will be much to like as she gets rolling. In the post linked here she is sitting with her Grandma and the quilt each of them made from this pattern. Check it out.

Speaking of patterns, there was a 25% off coupon in the latest email from the new LQS. I wasn't going to go in, but there is this pattern that has been catching my eye every time I am there. And 25% off! And I was going to be in that neighborhood anyway--and there was parking right by the door! How many more excuses do I need to give? Though who knows when I will ever attempt it. There are way too many WIP stacking up as it is and I have already told several of you I am on a "new project" diet. I brought the pattern home and put it away (after the photo to post here). See how strong I am? I know, if I was really strong I would never have purchased it.
So, until next time, from the little mountain valley where the tree frogs and crickets are currently chirping away,
Janet O.

Drum Roll, Please...

2011-08-16T02:14:00.000-06:00

The winner is ... (suspenseful pause) ... Maureen, of "Pursuit of Quilts" who is having a great give away of her own to celebrate the 50 follower benchmark. Drop on over and sign up--you have until noon a week from today! Maureen will be receiving the Lori Smith pattern and the Comfort charm pack.
And the runner-up ... (more suspense) ... Kathie of INSPIRED BY ANTIQUE QUILTS. She will also receive a charm pack. I laughed when I saw who the random number generated had selected as runner-up. It seems like poetic justice since it is through her post about this fabric line that I learned of it.
Congrats to the winners. If you will email your snail mail addresses to me I will get your winnings mailed right out! And to those who won soap in the last giveaway--don't despair. The soap will be ready and mailed before the end of the month. Thank you for your patience (I feel like a recording you hear when you have been on hold on the phone for tooooo long).
Now for a visit to the county fair. I mentioned in my last post that the sweepstakes winning quilt was a "Dear Jane". I also said it was kind of hard to get good photos because the quilts were displayed in glass cases. Here is the best I could do for Jane while she was on display. These cases line the walls of the home arts building.

Dear Jane under glass.

So as the quilters came to pick up their quilts today I pounced on a few of them and asked permission to get a photo and post it on my blog with their name. You have to understand that my "post" at the home arts building has been the sewing/knitting/crocheting table for the past few years. This is not because I do those things, but because no one else will take that position. So I am across a large room from where the quilts are and I had to rely on peripheral vision to see when someone picked up a quilt that I wanted to photograph--it didn't always work, but I'll show you what I have. First I'll explain that our county fair gives three sweepstakes ribbons in the quilt department--one for the best machine-quilted piece, one for the best hand-quilted piece and one for the best wall hanging, whether machine or hand-quilted. This doesn't necessarily mean that the hand-quilted winner will have the best hand-quilting of those entries, but that of all the hand-quilted entries, it was the best overall, etc. Got it? I'm not sure I do.
So here is Dear Jane once she was released from her encasement.

That is Sue Baddley, the maker, smiling from behind the quilt. I would
be smiling, too, if this was my quilt.

Click to get a better view.

Look at this great documentation--on the front, for all to see! I like this. You can see that she pieced this a few years ago, but she just barely got it quilted in time for the fair. Just squeaked under the wire.

And this dedication.

The maker, Sue Baddley, has made more of this pattern than just this one. She told me specifically about one that is all red, white and blue. I'd like to see that. She did her own machine quilting and it is beautiful.

The quilting in the border.

The corner quilting.

She said the quilting in each block has a story behind it--but we didn't have time to go through them. : )

The sweepstakes winner in the hand-quilting category was picked up while I wasn't looking so I only have photos of it in the case, and I didn't get the makers permission to share her name. I want to give credit to the makers, so I will save her quilt for another post after I can talk to her. You will want to see it. It is an amazing quilt of appliqued Native American images. I believe it was a BOM quilt from a shop in Southern Utah, but I will try to have more info when I post it.

This is the sweepstakes winner in the wall hanging category. The maker okayed posting it, but I only got a photo while it was in the case. Very pretty little double wedding ring by Maylyn Knoppel. As I recall, it was hand-quilted. Hard to be certain from the photo, but it looks like it.

I took these photos without flash (indoors--what was I thinking), so the pictures are a bit fuzzy. But I love this quilt. It was on a magazine cover a while back and it was one I was POSITIVE I had purchased, so I didn't bother getting the details from the maker. And do you think I can find it now? NO!

I'll have to call the maker, Charity Bates, and get the info from her. I can see the cover in my mind, but after an extensive internet search and search of my sewing stuff, I can't come up with it. I wish I had used a flash on the above photos. They would have been sharper images and not as yellow. I loved this scrappy "Many Trips Around the World" and the border is even scrappier!

This last quilt is just cute and fun, using yo-yos as cherries--and yes, we have the quilt upside down in the photo. Cherries don't grow straight up--at least not the varieties I have picked. Why didn't I notice this while taking the photo?

The smiling maker shown above is LuAnn Rickson. She said this had been a kit offered at a now closed LQS. Love the pink and brown even when they aren't in a Civil War reproduction quilt!

It was fun to make some new quilting friends and share their creations with you. I have two more to share when I can contact the quilters. Stay tuned.

Congrats, again, to the winners. Hope you'll share what you do with the charm squares--even if it takes years. : )

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the days are still hot, but the nights are starting to have that nip of fall.
Janet O.

A Giveaway, Cobblestones, and Recipes

2011-08-13T02:54:00.000-06:00

I love this little quilt. It is on display, finished and framed, at the LQS. The pattern for this is from one of the two sets I just got in the mail on Monday. I haven't had much sewing time but I have managed to get everything cut for this quilt and ready to sew. I don't plan on framing mine--just quilting and binding.

So now for the giveaway. You are maybe thinking, "What, again already?" I know that went through my head. After all, since I had missed the 50 follower giveaway opportunity, and went with 75--it wasn't so long ago. In fact, the soap for those winners is still curing. Well, when I got home from a long day at the fairgrounds and a visit to my grandchildren Tuesday night, this is what I found when I did my blog check.

Woo-Hoo! The big 100 follower mark! I needed to celebrate that somehow. I have really enjoyed the exchanges I have had with so many of you. Thanks for taking the time to read and comment on my blog. I have met so many gracious, kind, creative, inspiring, funny and giving quilters. This is how I want to say "Thanks!" Part one of the giveaway is the Lori Smith pattern set shown here. It includes the little quilt featured at the beginning of this post.
The other part of the giveaway is thanks to a link on Kathie Holland's blog "Inspired By Antique Quilts." She posted the link to a new line of fabric from the Collection For a Cause, named Comfort. I fell for it. Take a look at these fabrics!

So along with the pattern set, there goes a charm pack of this fabric collection. Show how good a "follower" you are by following these directions to have a chance to win--just leave a comment on this post by midnight Monday and on Tuesday I will post a winner and runner-up. The runner-up will also receive a charm pack (but no pattern).

Can you just feel the cobblestones underfoot? No, huh?

Though, as I said earlier, it has been a busy week and I haven't been able to do very much sewing, I have put together a few of the cobblestone blocks for the Tree of Life quilt.

I'm not sure if these will surround the whole quilt, or just the sides and bottom, or if they will end up in the corners with something else filling the spaces between. I'm still trying to figure out how to keep this quilt from being square. I did decide that there needed to be another blue border between the Ocean Waves and the Cobblestones. Who knows where it will go from here?

By the way, at the county fair my pear pie won a blue ribbon. Let me know if you'd like the recipe and I will email it to you. I received it in a class taught by the executive pastry chef at the Deer Valley ski resort near Park City, Utah. It quickly became my new favorite pie. I had another entry in the baking department--Smurtles. This is a scrumptious bar cookie developed by Christine Boren of Provo, Utah. The link takes you to the recipe on the Nestle website. This cookie has an oatmeal crust on top and bottom with a layer of caramel and a layer of chocolate in between. Easy to make and sooooo good! The Smurtles got a blue ribbon, too--and several recipe requests. Also, my Mom's quilt got a blue ribbon! I had planned on photographing some of the quilts, but they are all displayed in glass cases and I'd forgotten how hard it is to get good photos. Just know that the sweepstakes winning quilt was a beautifully made, machine quilted Dear Jane quilt in the traditional style. Very deserving.

So, don't forget to leave your comment, and until next time, from the little mountain valley where the county fair is in full swing,
Janet Olsen

A Quilty Day--With No Quilting

2011-08-09T00:32:00.000-06:00

First quilty thing--the quilt featured in my header found its home. My daughter and I joined forces to make this for her neighbor. This woman has been amazing in all of the help and support she has offered my daughter ever since my daughter's family moved in next door to her a few years ago. We are so glad the quilt has a good home.

The next quilty thing happened without being planned. I was in town for a brief stop to get pears and cream (needed to make the pear pie I want to enter in the county fair tomorrow). The first store didn't have pears that were ripe enough, so I moved on. I found what I needed in the next store, but I also found that I was within 1/2 mile of the newest quilt shop in town. You have to understand that I was under time a constraint and should have gone straight home to get ready to help take entries at the county fair home arts building. But recently my blogging friend, Mary, had reminded me that this new LQS was having a trunk show and visit from pattern and fabric designer, Lori Holt, of Bee In My Bonnet Company.

Today was the day. As much as I am in awe of her work, I hadn't planned on going. #1--didn't have time, #2--her quilts are mostly applique and I am not on that page yet, #3--her fabrics are more bright and modern than I tend to lean toward. But there I was--so close--surely I could spare 10 minutes to drop in. (Yeah, right!) When I got near the shop and saw every available parking space within a couple of blocks was taken I decided to drive on by. As I did so I saw one parking space right by the shop's back door. Could it really be? Must be reserved or something. I backed up and pulled in--no reserved sign in sight. I was good to go. I caught the tail end of her presentation, got the pattern to make this cute little bottle apron for party favors, table decorations, etc. (along with the 2 10" squares of fabric to make some), watched as 3 patterns and 6 fat quarter bundles went to other lucky people in a drawing, met Lori and took pictures of many of her quilts, buzzed past the cheesecake being served (only grabbing a glass of lemon water) and bought a few fat quarters on my way out the door.

Take a look at these quilts. She does needle-turned applique using a straw needle, which she replaces every 3 or 4 blocks. Her 11-year-old daughter embroiders the sayings, scriptures and poems on the blocks. I really did stare in wonder at her quilts. If my camera battery hadn't been dying and I hadn't been in such a hurry I would have taken some detail shots, but you can click to enlarge them and get a pretty good view. This is just a handful of the quilts lining every inch of wall space in the classroom that contained about 80 women. I realized I mostly got pictures of the warm-toned fabric quilts. There were plenty of other "bright & white" quilts--I guess I just wasn't drawn to those. : )

Lori is coming back, I believe in September, to teach and introduce a new pattern, if you are going to be in Northern Utah. : )

After seeing all the bright, fun fabrics she has designed and worked with, what went home with me? What do you think? This is just who I am.

Third quilty thing today--while helping take entries at the county fair I got to see some beautiful quilts. Didn't take any photos (even though I had my camera in my purse today thinking I might get photos of quilts at the fairgrounds) but there are many inspiring designs. It is always interesting to see what the judges decide. I don't always agree with their choices, but I wouldn't want to be in their shoes. My Mom has entered a quilt again. I'll let you know the outcome there.

Fourth quilty thing-- When I got home this evening there were two squishies in the mail. Fun times!
I have been so taken by the little quilts on Dawn and Kathie's blogs. Samples from these "Fit to Frame" patterns by Lori Smith were calling to me the last time I was in the new LQS (prior to today). They were out of stock, but I came home and ordered a couple of them online. She has so many great patterns, it was hard to decide. There is free shipping within the US--that was a nice surprise.
I'm looking forward to making some of these little gems, and to getting at least one more set of patterns.

The other package was the book I ordered from Bonnie's website. Yes, if you order it from Amazon along with anything else you can get free shipping, but I think the shipping charge is worth it to have Bonnie sign and personalize the book. There are several quilts in here that are going on my bucket list. They will make great leader/enders!

So it was quite a quilty day and I didn't even thread a needle!
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

Before, During, and After

2011-08-04T23:25:00.000-06:00

If you've been with me through the past month or so, you have seen the Tree of Life quilt. You may recall that I was not happy with the border around the center medallion.

It also didn't totally fill the gap between the Tree block and the Ocean Waves blocks. So it was dismissed.

I tried a few other things, among them, these leftover HSTs. It didn't cut it, but it stimulated some suggestions from some of you.

I couldn't find a striped fabric that matched. I tried the solid dark blue and it seemed too overpowering, but I liked blue there. So I went with two shades of blue.

Initially I put in dark blue cornerstones, but then I pulled out a few of those leftover HSTs and thought it might work. What do you think? The Ocean Waves blocks aren't stitched on yet, so if it still needs changing, now is the time!

At least the Ocean Waves blocks are finished--Yay!! There is another round of blocks that I haven't started yet. This block comes from a Fons & Porter bonus pattern, "Celtic Cobblestones."

I've mentioned that this quilt is a commemorative quilt for my youngest son's two years as a missionary in Brazil. He spent most of those two years traversing cobblestone streets. So I am taking the cobblestone block from the Fons & Porter pattern. It isn't sized to match my Ocean Waves blocks, so I'm not sure yet if I will sash them or adapt them or resize them, but somehow I am going to get those cobblestones on this quilt! Maybe I need another blue border between the Ocean Waves and Cobblestone blocks. I'm just thinking out loud here.
I picked up these batiks and textures today to make these blocks. I wanted to imply the look of stones without actually going the route of the stony print fabrics. And this will pull colors from the center of the quilt through the "waves"--I hope. Oh, when will I quit using the design-as-you-go technique?

Just in case there are thoughts running through your head like, "This isn't very pretty," or "This needs more color," remember that this is for a 22-year-old young man--his interest in pretty doesn't extend to quilts.
Until next time, from the little mountain valley where we are in the midst of a thunderstorm and the power has already gone out on me once as I tried to post this,

Janet O.

I have a hexie project, too! I just don't often admit it.

2011-08-01T11:42:00.000-06:00

Do these fabrics scream the 80s and 90s to you? The one that won't lay
flat from being rolled up in my hand, in the upper left corner,
is the one I just finished.

This project is a running joke with my friends. I will give you a little history (okay, a lot of history). I have mentioned several times that I used to volunteer at a local heritage center. They used to hold an annual festival every year at this very time that ran for 8 days. It featured artisans of heritage crafts, lots of entertainment, food and reenactors, with many different historic groups represented--pioneers, turn of the century farmers, civil war soldiers (including the buffalo soldiers), mountain men, gunfighters, and Native Americans. I participated as a reenactor on the pioneer site and with the gunfighters (very out of character for me).

All of my fabrics were cut
and bagged, ready for
sewing.

I got to know a few of the artisan crafters, including the local woman they brought in to demonstrate quilting. One year, well over ten years ago, she had a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt on her frame. I had always loved the design and she encouraged me to learn how to English Paper Piece the flowers, pointing out that we spend so much time sitting and doing nothing and this gave our hands a way to be productive. A little bag tucked into your purse could carry all you needed to be working on a block or two wherever you happened to be. She referred to it as her "lady-in-waiting" project. She gave me templates and assigned me to cut papers and fabric that night at home. The following day she taught me the technique. I picked it up quickly and from then on I could rarely be found away from my home without the makings of a flower block in my hands (never worked on this project at home). I stitched while I waited for my kids at the dentist, orthodontist, piano lessons, or even waiting for my turn at parent/teacher conferences. I had cut enough fabrics for over 60 flowers and was cutting papers as I went along. The flowers were starting to pile up. In my enthusiasm for the quilt, I had taught my mother how to make the blocks. Her pile grew faster than mine (she did work on hers at home) and in less than a year she had her entire top hand-pieced, hand-quilted, and entered in the county fair.

My oldest kids were getting their drivers licenses about this time and I soon found I wasn't spending nearly as much time "waiting". It seemed I seldom had a need to pull this project out of my purse. Over time it got buried in the depths of my bag and I didn't worked on it for years. One evening, when DH and I arrived at a high school gym several miles away to watch our youngest son play basketball, we found that the schedule our team had been given had the incorrect time listed and we were very early. What to do? There were other parents there and we started visiting. Suddenly a light went on in my head as I remembered my LIW project. I dug deep and found it, but to my surprise I discovered I could no longer see clearly enough to make those tiny stitches.

Click to see the stitches.

I was getting old!! One of the other parents loaned me some reading glasses (I didn't even own a pair) and I made a feeble attempt to work on it--still a little stunned that my eyes couldn't do this on their own anymore. Back at home I took it out of my bag and put it away. I wasn't ready to admit that I needed glasses to do handwork.

There are now two or three times a year that I need some handwork to fill long hours. I am an election judge in our area and there are usually some slow times in a day that you need a small project. I also help take entries at the home arts department for our county fair. That is a day and a half that sometimes seems much longer. When I pull out my hexie flowers at either of these places I always get ribbed about how long I have been working on this quilt. Someone asks if it is my second or third quilt, and there is always a bunch of teasing. The kicker was 4 years ago as I sat and sewed on a flower at the quilt entry table of our county fair, a young woman walked in with a finished Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt to enter. She was 18 years old at the time and a friend of my youngest son. She told me that she had seen me working on my quilt several times in years past at the orthodontist's office and had really like it. She had found a pattern, learned how to make it, completed it--right down to the hand-quilting, and was there to enter it in the fair. And there I sat not even halfway through making my flowers. Boy, talk about feeling sheepish.

But I have gathered courage from the many bloggers who have posted about long-term hexie projects and yesterday, as we drove an hour each way to visit some hospital bound relatives, I took along my hexies and finished a flower I haven't worked on since the last election! I tell myself that this will come to pass--someday!!

But there is more (sorry). After initially learning the technique of English Paper Piecing I did some research on it and put together another quilt to work on when there was nothing else to do on the pioneer site. I used repro fabrics and found sewing implements as vintage-looking as I could afford. I chose to do this in the diamond (or as the early English quilters called "lozenge") shape. I collected reproduced newspapers of the 1800s from heritage villages in Utah and Illinois--having found in my research that many such quilts were pieced onto old letters and newspapers. Old letters were harder to come by.

There was not a lot of idle time on pioneer site, so I didn't get very far with this project, either. We were usually kept busy dipping candles, cooking over the fire, quilting, talking to groups of school children in the schoolhouse tent, or on the handcart trail. But when things were calm, I would pull out my sewing box and try to look as "period correct" as I could with my handwork, because you know what they say about the evil of "idle hands."

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where we are being walloped with rain,
Janet O.

Conflict on the design wall and a thrift store find

2011-07-30T01:04:00.000-06:00

The projects on my design wall are growing. They are jockeying for priority position. Floribunda started off as leader/ender to the Tree of Life quilt, but it keeps jumping in front. Now they have both grown to the point that they are threatening each other's space on the wall. I'm interested to see which one will be the winner. I feel like the whole thing is totally out of my hands. Also, I'm still trying to decide on a border to go between the tree of life and the Ocean Waves blocks.

Yes, those are more Floribunda blocks on design boards, leaning
against the wall, and waiting to be assembled. They are currently
in the "9-patch" stage, so they finish up pretty quickly.

Before I forget--looky here! This arrived in my mail Thursday from Julie at Me and My Stitches. I was so excited when I won her giveaway! Her stuff is amazing! It is as great as it looked on the website. She has posted new stuff on her blog--go check it out! Julie's stuff will not disappoint. I will wear this proudly!

This is about 7/8" by 1 1/2" in real life

I have been busy making soap and it was fun to see what the giveaway winners chose for the scents of their soaps--some choices are ones that have been my most popular over the years. Other choices are unique scents that I don't make very often. So far I have made the scents that involve cinnamon--cinnamon patchouli, orange cinnamon, and cedar cinnamon. I've also mixed up the grapefruit/lime--a very fresh blend. There are four more to make. There was very little overlap in their choices, but I don't mind. I love them all, and I love to make a variety whenever I get all of the equipment out and start into a marathon soap making session. I don't know if you click on the photo below if you will be able to read the words on the soap dish hanging over the sink. It was a gift 5 years ago from my dear friend who died a couple of months ago. She was a big fan of my soap.

My "soap kitchen." When we were finishing our home, DH graciously
agreed to building this wall into my craft area.

Special cabinet for curing soap. Slots in the
door allow for air circulation as soap cures.

I believe I have mentioned before that I love thrift store shopping. When I have a chance I like to drop in and browse the aisles. You find some wonderful treasures some days--other days you leave empty-handed. Well, on Tuesday I was lucky. For one thing, recently Kristie at Cowgirl Quilter (my giveaway winner!) showed the baskets she uses for her strips of fabric on a current project. I thought they looked great, but wasn't sure where to find them. Of course, at the thrift store! These three were waiting for me down the plasticware aisle. I'm already using them.

Then I succumbed to another plaid shirt for my shirt stash (thank you, Bonnie)--I won't take up space to show you, but it is a beautiful red plaid. And last of all, this came home with me.

I have had a Viking for 33 years. About four years ago DH surprised me with a new Pfaff for Mother's Day, since my Viking was so old it couldn't be fitted with a walking foot (I know--technically Pfaffs have "even feed," not a walking foot), but there are some things I still do on the old Viking. This Viking isn't quite as old as my original, but almost. It runs fine and has a few stitches my other machines don't have--since I don't go for the "bells and whistles" models. I had thought about giving it to someone, but now I'm feeling selfish. We'll see. I also have my mother's 59 year-old Bernina--and it still works, too. If I set them all up in my new sewing room (my attempt to make lemonade out of the recently emptied nest) it would be pretty crowded.

I don't know how much sewing I will accomplish this weekend, with soap production taking priority right now. So the winner of the design wall war will not be decided yet. I will keep you posted.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

And the Winner is...

2011-07-27T22:57:00.000-06:00

Kristie at Cowgirl Quilter!! Woo-Hoo, I'm doing a celebration dance, Kristie. As soon as I get your address I will send the Eye Fooler pattern and Tri/Recs rulers your way.

I said I was going to choose a runner-up that would receive soap, but I couldn't limit myself to just one. Miss America has three runners-up (runner-ups, what sounds right to you? I don't like either option!), why shouldn't we?
So I had the random number generator work overtime and chose three more numbers.

First runner-up: Midge E. (no email on your profile page, "no reply" on your email to me--please email me your email address.)
Second runner-up: Mrs. Goodneedle--now you will get some of the "good, clean fun"!
Third runner-up: pcflamingo--you are on a winning streak!

Congratulations to you all!
I will be in touch with all four of you in an email with your scent options. We will talk!

Giveaway! (Delayed & Instant Gratification)

2011-07-24T01:50:00.000-06:00

This week I hit 75 followers and it is time to have fun (well, I guess we have been having fun--we are just going to have more)! I've made some good friends among you and I appreciate the time you take to visit and comment. I know that many of you first found my blog when I sent some handcrafted soap as a "thank-you" to Bonnie Hunter and she then showed it and posted a link to my blog. I mentioned then that I would give some away when I had enough followers. I had planned on doing it at 50, but I didn't get on it fast enough when that number came up. Then before I knew it there were 75 and that seemed like a good number to celebrate.

A giveaway of the Eye Fooler pattern, Tri/Recs rulers
and some handcrafted herbal soap.

The delayed gratification will be the soap. I will email the winner a list of the scent options and make the soap fresh for them. Since it takes 3-4 weeks for soap to cure, I will send it on when it is ready to use.
The instant gratification part of the giveaway is the Eye Fooler pattern. When I posted about this quilt before it generated so much interest, I decided that pattern would make a good giveaway. And since you need the Tri/Recs rulers to make it, I've thrown those in as well (if you already have the rulers you can gift them to someone else).
There you have it!

Here is what you need to do, just be sure you are a follower and leave a comment on this post before midnight (12:00 a.m.) MST on Tuesday, July 26. On Wednesday evening I will randomly draw the winner and post the results! I will even choose a "runner-up" to receive some soap.

Just to ease the minds of any who may have less than fond memories of great-grandma's not-real-pleasant-smelling homemade soap, this soap is made with pure vegetable oils (coconut, olive and cocoa butter). There are no animal fats to smell rancid, and the essential oils make it very enticing. The colorants are all herbs and spices--no artificial colors. I started making this stuff because I have sensitive skin. After trying some my BIL made 15 years ago, it made such a difference to my skin, I jumped on board and have been making it ever since.

While we're on the subject of Eye Fooler, in spite of my forsaking this quilt for another, I have made a good-sized dent in the Eye Fooler, strictly as a leader/ender. All of the HST are finished, as are the 4-patch blocks. I'm over halfway through the Tri/Recs units and then I have an excessive amount of flying geese units to make. They aren't my favorites, so I have been avoiding them. I should have just got them over with first. It is sitting on the sidelines now, waiting for me to finish Floribunda.

Progress on my Tree of Life has been slow.
This is my second Tree of Life quilt. I finished up the first one a few years ago.

I hand quilted this one--took me about 10 months to get it finished!

These are memory quilts for my sons who have served as missionaries in South America. I try to make the blocks represent something to do with the names of the areas in which they served or the experiences they had. It was easy to find blocks that were connected to names and places in California, where my oldest daughter served, but when my first son went to Argentina things got much more complicated. Even in Barbara Brackman's "Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns" (which I poured over for hours) there are no designs related to South America that I could see. I ended up using the tree of life pattern from "Biblical Blocks" by Rosemary Makhan, along with another religious themed block and a simple "sun" block (if I'd known how to make a Mariner's Compass when I did this, I would have produced a better looking sun) to represent the sun on the Argentinian flag. Put "Spanish Squares" blocks in the corners, for the language he spoke, and called it good!
The next son went to Brazil, and that is the one I am currently stumped on. I need to stop this frustrating habit of design-as-you-go quilting. It would save me a lot of grief.

So again, I thank you for following along. Don't forget to leave your comment by midnight Tuesday. Good Luck! I'm already excited for whoever wins!

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,
Janet O.

Take a Look at This Stuff!

2011-07-21T00:05:00.000-06:00

Had to tell you about the giveaway Julie is having over at Me and My Stitches. You won't believe this amazing quilt block jewelry she makes. And you could win one!! Wow--I love this stuff!!

There are pins and pendants, earrings and scissor fobs. Even if I don't win, I am saving my pennies for one or two. These are tiny little blocks. How does she do it? Well, I know she paper pieces them, I just don't know how she can do it with such tiny pieces. My fat fingers wouldn't be able to manage it.
Now, I'm not sure why I am telling you about it--even though it gives me one more chance at winning, it also decreases my chances. Does that make sense? But you are my friends, and if I can't win (I never win anything, how about you?) I would like one of you to win. Hop on over there--NOW!

Floribunda Lives!!

2011-07-19T01:35:00.000-06:00

...and I love it! Mine does not have that 50s look of many others posted, but my florals tend to be of the "dark and dirty" variety and my yellows are more golden and patterned, rather than lemony and solid.

The top six blocks are sewn up (but not together). The
four blocks on the bottom are still each nine separate
pieces waiting on design boards to go to the sewing
machine and get sewn together.

That's okay--it is the pattern and scrappiness that I love about it. I have all of the pieces cut and ready to go. The original was 6x8 blocks. I have cut mine to be 7x8 blocks. I wanted this to be totally from my stash, but today I broke down and picked up 1/4 yard of more yellow (and I grabbed a floral remnant while I was in the store--I can't resist the remnants). I use a lot of mustard and gold in my quilts, but not much yellow, so I couldn't quite make it without a tad more. Can't decide yet what I will do for borders.
Now I will set aside "Eye Fooler" as my leader/ender for a time, and let this one butt in line. It just wouldn't patiently wait its turn. In fact, it got so impatient that when I was just going to sew up one block to get a feel for it tonight, something happened and you can see the results above. I am going to put my foot down now and keep it in its place as my leader/ender project. Wonder how long that will last?
I am following Bonnie's instructions for this quilt, but I want to share with you one tip I like to use. Maybe you all are doing this already, but in case not, here goes. When I have a bunch of strips or squares to cut in a row I like to use the June Tailor Shape Cut ruler. On this quilt, when you have the two 21" strips sewn together and are putting half of one set on top of the other half (or whole ones on top of each other if you are making two blocks from the same fabric), butting the seams to prepare to slice every two inches as Bonnie shows ...

...then I like to pull out this ruler, which has cuts in it every 1/2 inch, and line it up so that one of the black lines follows the seam on the strips. Grab your rotary cutter and slice through every two inches.

After you have sliced every two inches down the length of the fabric, remove the ruler and you are ready to sew the 4-patch units, and you never had to reposition the ruler. It is so slick! Yes, the ruler can be a bit pricey, but that is what those 40 or 50% off coupons at JoAnn's are for!

Of course, no matter how many slick tricks I use, I have to include some major error along the way. Why couldn't I catch this before having it all sewn and pressed?

I wanted to say thanks to all who responded to my last post. It really seems to have struck a chord--or a nerve, or something. As we are drowning in Bonnie's creative juices I guess we can take comfort in the fact that we are not going down alone. : ) I had some good chuckles over your responses and have met some wonderful new people. I know many of you found your way here because Bonnie put a link to that post on her Facebook page, and thanks to whomever it was that mentioned that to me in an email. I'm not on Facebook, so I wouldn't have known. If you are a new follower, I hope you don't expect me to be that entertaining all the time. I'm usually pretty dry.
My mini, wonky 9-patches are finally a flimsy. I'm trying to talk myself into my first attempt at machine quilting on this, but I really don't want to ruin it with my noviceness (when there isn't a word that says what I need, I'll make one). I'll have to think about it some more. If you can recommend a good book or website about quilting on your home machine, I would appreciate the input.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the mosquitos are returning like swallows to Capistrano (I'd rather have the swallows--besides, they eat mosquitos),
Janet O.

An Open Letter to Bonnie K. Hunter

2011-07-14T21:04:00.000-06:00

(With Tongue Firmly Planted in Cheek)
Dear Bonnie,
You know I follow your blog faithfully. I love your quilts, your methods, your fun-loving spirit, your boundless energy and enthusiasm for quilting. I have learned so much from you! I now keep baskets of little "leader/ender" pieces by my sewing machine.

I have a stash of men's shirts from thrift stores that I have begun to disassemble.

I am slowly cutting up my color-separated scraps into the "scrap user system," where they will then be separated by size rather than color (all of this change takes its toll on a person). And I am determined that no fabric is too ugly to go into one of my scrap quilts--it just needs to be cut smaller!!
But I have to say this is turning into a love/hate relationship. I hate the fact that every time I turn around you are showing off some wonderful antique quilt that hits me right where my quilter's heart lives. And it isn't enough to just show the quilt--you actually figure out the pattern, start making one yourself, and invite the rest of us to sew along. How strong can a body be against such temptation?
The leader/ender method has revolutionized my quilt production and I am doing more than I ever thought I could, but there are limits to what a person can take. One can only do so much (well, I can only do so much--you seem to be able to do everything). I have downloaded several patterns from your website and carefully set them aside telling myself, "Someday." I have taken a vow not to begin a mystery project to turn out one of those fantastic mystery scrap quilts you have created in the past, should you start posting one (I got a bit sick to my stomach when you mentioned something in a recent post about a mystery). I drooled over the Floribunda quilt and even printed out the pattern and started pulling fabrics before I got a grip on myself and put them all back.(Boy, that was a close call!)
I quickly turned away from the cute little bowties that are in wonderful vintage colors! I already have a leader/ender project!!! (I REALLY do love that floribunda quilt!)
Just today I was reading another quilter's blog and she happened to mention that though she doesn't need another project (who does?) she caved and is doing those little bowties you posted. She caved! Is that a good thing? (Did I mention that I have a bunch of old florals that I need to use up somehow?--Floribunda would be just the thing!)

Before you know it they will need a 12-step program to help people overcome their Bonnie Hunter scrap quilt addiction. (And you know, I got a lovely piece of yellow on sale at a recent shop hop.)
So I am writing this letter to ~~ask~~ beg you to consider your readers. Just show us some really ugly quilts for a while--with no patterns included. (That Jacob's Ladder pattern in Floribunda has been on my bucket list for years!) Who needs another really great scrap quilt to make anyway?
Oh, forget it. I can't resist either. Where did I put all of those florals? But I will draw the line here--I will not put these two very cool colored florals in this otherwise very warm toned quilt!!

See, I really am in control after all.
Sincerely, and with genuine admiration (tongue out of cheek)
Janet O.

How long would your stash last?

2011-07-11T23:52:00.000-06:00

Main stash.

The stash can be a quilter's deepest, darkest secret. A couple of responders to my last post indicated that if they never bought fabric again, they wouldn't run out before they died. Whether it was said tongue-in-cheek or not, it got me thinking. My Mom is 81 and still quilting. If I follow her lead, I have almost 30 years yet to go. I really don't think my stash would make it that long.

Neutrals, a
few backings,
and some craft
(not quilt)
fabrics.

How about you? If you kept quilting at your current rate, never bought another piece of fabric, and lived an average lifespan, would you run out?

10 of the large bins and 6 small hold collections, scraps being
cut up, projects that are currently on hiatus, etc.

Above and below you see what I have--modest by many standards, and not very organized.

These drawers hold my holiday fabrics and a
few current projects.

Scraps sorted by color. I am just starting to get things cut to
use in the "scrap savers system."

How does it stack up to your stash? Do you have twice as much, three times... ten times? Or can you not admit in public?

My "scrap bag" 9-patches are in the flimsy stage now...

... and the irregular 9-patches are shrinking into a very small quilt top. I have to cut them down to 3" unfinished to accommodate the smallest of them, and that means that the largest of them are going to have a center that is much larger than the corner blocks. I place a section of them onto a design board,

I take the board to my sewing table where I square up the 9-patches and sew it all up.

Then I place that section back on the design wall and load a board again. See how much it shrinks?

I finally got the brown border off of the tree of life. I'm not sure what kind of a border to use (I have to use something to make the center fit with the Ocean Waves blocks), so I am playing around with possibilities. The HST below are one of many options, but I don't think it will be my final choice. Any suggestions?

Never found the matching corner fabric. I found something similar, but now I need to make the other four blocks and see if I am happy with that look--8 of the blocks have large triangles in one fabric and the last four are in a different fabric. I just am not sure if this quilt has enough of a "scrappy" look to get away with that. We'll see.

I, for one, am thoroughly enjoying the photos on other blogs of the Sisters, Oregon quilt show. Thanks to all who have shared the joy!!

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the sagebrush grows,

Janet O.

9-Patch Mania and Sidewalk Sale Bargains

2011-07-08T08:20:00.000-06:00

Yesterday I planned to work on the Tree of Life quilt on my design wall. I need to replace the border around the tree (first, because it is too narrow, and second, because I don't like it) and make 4 more Ocean Waves blocks before moving on to the next row of blocks. All of the large corner triangles on the Ocean Waves blocks are from the same fabric--though the small HST are from a scrappy mix of blues and creams. I was laying out the next block on my design board to take to the sewing machine, when I couldn't find the corner fabric. This was the one constant fabric in those blocks and I didn't feel like I could just start going scrappy on them 3/4 of the way through. A trip to the LQS to find more of the fabric (who knows how long I have had it) was fruitless. Frustrated, I switched gears.

To lift my mood, I needed closure on something. I rummaged around and found a few 9-patch blocks that I had purchased in a former LQS that used to sell scraps by the bag--as much as you could cram into a very small bag for $3.00 (I was known as "the bag lady" and I knew I could get more in a bag if I took the time to neatly fold it all). Every now and then you would find leftover bits of projects. That is how I acquired these. They were already sewn to the yellow squares--some in a row and some, just two squares together. I figured they would make a quick and easy little baby quilt. I made myself stick to the "stash only" rule.

The center is all sewn together, but I need to trim
the borders and sew them on.

The checkered end strips and the green border were from my limited 30s fabric box--not what I normally use. The outer yellow is leftover from the backing of a quilt I made for my granddaughter a few years ago. It almost looks solid in the photo, but actually has little butterfly outlines on it.

I was on a roll. I also had in my "leftovers" box some pieces that were almost 9-patches. Another quilter had been making these small 9-patch blocks for a large quilt. She had just bought a new sewing machine and was struggling to adjust to the 1/4 inch seam when there wasn't a 1/4 inch foot on the machine. So these pieces were already cut into strips and sewn together. Some of them were even sliced, but the irregular seams made them a challenge to put together. I received them a couple of years ago--knowing I would eventually find a way to use them.

I can't decide if I will set them with plain squares in between
or if I want to make HST or broken dishes. I will probably
take the easy route on this one.

I spent some time finishing off these little blocks. They look a bit skewed and are going to have to be trimmed quite a bit to bring them all to the same size. The center squares will probably end up disproportionately larger than the outer ones. But I think it will be a fun little quilt--eventually.

I said that the trip to the LQS was fruitless, but that isn't entirely true. This was the first day of the nearby town's Downtown Alliance Sidewalk Sale. It was a rainy morning, so the tables out on the sidewalk had been crowded together under some awnings. I came away with two large pieces and at $4.00 per yard--I emptied the bolts.

On the left is a Thimbleberries that will be the backing for
the Tree of Life quilt--over 8 yards. On the right is a
Windham Fabrics "Little Farmhouse" print--9 1/2 yards.

They also had many patterns at $1.00 each. I don't often buy patterns and I never stick to them faithfully, but at that price I can bring home a few for inspiration.

The sampler pattern is in colors I don't use much,
but I do love samplers, and I can use
whatever colors I want.

That is it for now, so until next time, from the little mountain valley where the rain just keeps coming,

Janet O.

O Canada!

2011-07-06T21:27:00.000-06:00

Returned yesterday from a week in the north country. Had never sung the Canadian National Anthem before but I had two opportunities last week. The first time was at our family reunion which was held on Canada Day (July 1st) and the second time was at church on the Canada Day weekend. It is a moving song. I enjoyed it.
Spent part of last evening catching up on reading what all my blog friends have been up to.
During the entire week of vacation this is all that I saw of a quilty nature...

These two quilts were on display in an information center in the little town of Waterton in the National Park of the same name. It was hard to see exactly what pattern they were because they were all folded up and draped over a narrow rack. I wanted to get a better look and I also wanted to move them out of the sun, but it wasn't my shop. : )

My MIL was born and raised in a small town in southern Alberta, but has spent most of her adult life in the States. We were taking her with us to a family reunion and we planned our trip so that we could spend a couple of days before the reunion in Waterton National Park and a couple of days after the reunion we were in Banff National Park. I live in the Rocky Mountains and they are beautiful, but nothing I see here in the States compares with the majesty of the Canadian Rockies.

Probably my favorite memory of the entire trip was an hour spent canoeing on Moraine Lake in Banff. The water is an amazing turquoise color and it is surrounded by ten incredible peaks formed by the glaciers. Just take a look. Click to enlarge them.

Look at those peaks. This doesn't show all ten of them.

The clouds were shifting and one moment we would have sun,
the next minute it would be overcast.

That is truly the color of the water. Something about the way the minerals
in the water interact with rays of light creates this shade. Gorgeous!

See the waterfall coming down through the trees?
They were everywhere in the park!

I did have one other quilt related encounter--you can't expect many while spending most of your time in national parks. On reunion day I was in a little market getting an ice cream cone of my favorite flavor which you can only get in Canada (why is that?), Tiger Tiger--an orange ice cream (not sherbet) swirled with black licorice. As I stood licking my cone I spied a rack of used books and among them this caught my eye...

I have read on several quilt blogger's profiles that they enjoy these books, so I thought I would try one. For $2, why not? But I was already reading a book on that trip that my son loaned me on neuromarketing. Fascinating stuff about brain studies into why we buy what we buy. So I haven't started the Elm Creek Quilt book yet.

After that week of quilt drought I wanted to visit the LQS today, but I spent the night very sick to my stomach and didn't dare risk it this morning. By afternoon I wasn't at the top of my game, but felt like I could handle it. In honor of the 4th, one of the shops is giving 1/4 off your entire purchase this week. The other shop is having a sidewalk sale tomorrow with 20% off most stuff and bigger discounts on some things. The nice clerk gave me the 20% discount today. This is what came home with me ...

I've never done miniature quilts, but I love these Primitive
Gatherings patterns. It is the second one I have purchased.
Now I need to make one of them. : )

I'll leave you with these views of some of the wildlife beside Lake Minnewanka. If you haven't yet seen the Canadian Rockies, I highly recommend them!

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where the mountains don't seem so large anymore,
Janet O.

My Purple & Green Phase

2011-06-27T16:41:00.000-06:00

I closed up my sewing machine on Friday. My siblings and I were responsible for a family reunion on Saturday and I had so much prep to do. I didn't want to be tempted to sit and sew. Tomorrow we leave for a family reunion on my MIL's side in Canada, so my time since then has been spent prepping for the trip. That means I really don't have anything new on my design wall. My patriotic table runner was set with the red triangles, but I haven't done anything more with it.
However, the other day as I was browsing through the electronic folder of my quilt pictures I was reminded of my purple and green phase. I felt that I needed to come clean about this part of my quilting past. It started innocently enough with a fabric purchase of a purple and green floral. Though not usually much of a floral person, I had finally allowed myself to admit that the purple and green combination in several florals available at the time had really captured my imagination. That one fabric led to others that would "look good with that purple and green floral." Pretty soon I was rolling in purple and green fabrics.

About that same time I came across this magazine ...

and was intrigued by this article by Deborah Moffat-Hall.
All of the blocks in the sampler were made using either HST alone or with simple squares added.

One page of the pattern showed many different block layouts possible using just the HST.

Another page showed other possibilities when you add some squares to the mix.

I thought it would be a great way to use the purple and green fabrics. I started working on one block each month when my Mom and I would get together for a quilting day. I also found a pattern for a large carpenter wheel block that I thought would make a good center for this quilt. It was slow coming together when I only worked on it 1/2 a day, once a month. Eventually I thought I had enough blocks for the size of quilt I wanted, but I couldn't see how to insert my large center block and have it stay consistent with the blocks around it, while maintaining the size of quilt I wanted. I played around with different frames for the center medallion until I was sick of the whole thing. I finally just sewed it up using the layout I had currently been playing with and since I didn't like it much, it has never been quilted.

There were three blocks that I had made and then decided they were the wrong shades of P&G, so I stuck them together as a table runner, which I also wasn't crazy about, so it is still a flimsy, too.

But that didn't stop the purple and green phase. I began participating in a BOM program in my community. It started at the beginner level, but I attended from the start, learning little tricks and discovering new tools and techniques along the way. And what fabric did I take with me to class? You guessed it--my beloved purples and greens! After making the first twelve blocks I felt like I needed to move on to new colors, so I used coping strips and a fun sashing to put these blocks together. I did get this quilted and gave it to my granddaughter.

Then, one day, while rummaging in the deepest recesses of my quilting corner, I found a stash of those precut, BOM kits you can buy at JoAnn stores. I don't usually buy them, but there had been a clearance sale on some leftovers several months before this. The kits were $.99 a piece--and the main colors were purple and green --with a little red, pink and white thrown in. I had found 4 designs I liked, bought four of each of them and went home feeling pretty smug about getting enough blocks for a quilt top for under $20. I decided it was time to get them sewn. As I laid everything out I decided I wanted each block to be different. So I mixed and matched pieces and found some bits in my stash that would match. I did end up buying some yardage for the sashing. I have had it quilted, but for some reason I can't find the photos of it after completion. My daughters called it the Berry Patch Quilt, because of the reds and purples surrounded by green.

I'd like to say that was all, but I realized that the flower fairy quilt I've posted about before, that I made for my granddaughter, was also purple and green.

I'd also like to say it will never happen again, but there is enough fabric in these colors still on the shelves and in boxes that history could repeat itself. Don't get me wrong--I love purple and I love green. I just think I have had enough of the two of them together to last me a good long while!!
(Has the song "Deep Purple Haze" been playing in anyone else's mind, or is it just me?)
Until next time, which will be over a week now--we will be up in the Canadian Rockies, instead of our little mountain valley,
Janet O.

Odds and Ends, and an Oddity at the End

2011-06-24T02:25:00.000-06:00

Do you make holiday table runners for the different occasions through the year? I have only made 4 table runners to use either on the dining table or the hutch. Problem is I don't have them for all the right occasions. I've made two for fall--one with leaves and the other with pumpkins--and two for spring, though one of those is still in flimsy stage. I have collected several table runner patterns I would like to make and every time Christmas or the Fourth of July rolls around I promise myself I will make something for the occasion. I even spent time this morning hunting for a pattern I know I have and want to make, but couldn't find it anywhere. I had pulled out scraps and fat quarters of my red/white/blue fabric and I didn't want to put it all away again. I needed to forge ahead, so I settled on an Ohio Star pattern, but I wanted more activity in the block. I put a 9-patch in the middle and away I went.
I like how the blocks turned out, but I couldn't decide what kind of setting to use.

I think the one with the blocks on point is getting my vote (though I might try blue setting triangles--what do you think?), and since I'm making it, my vote wins!
By the way, I know I have mentioned design boards before, but I want to say it again. These are great tools to use when making blocks with lots of pieces. I keep them by me as I cut and arrange the pieces on the board. Then I can stack the boards on top of each other and carry them to my machine. The pieces stay in place until I move them and I have a pile of blocks to work on without having to keep getting up to get more pieces and figure out how to put them together. Once the blocks are made they go on the design wall.

All of the loose pieces for the block arranged on the design board.
You can carry it from cutting table to ironing board to sewing
machine and everything stays in place!

Each of the elements within the 9 squares have been sewn.

Finished block.

The boards are so simple to make. Get foam core board at the framing department of a craft or hobby store. They will usually cut it for you with no charge. 15" squares have worked well for me. They hold up to a 12" block and are still a manageable size. Use adhesive spray on one side of the foam core squares and attach pieces of cotton batting that have been cut to fit. That's it! I have fifteen of them and sometimes I wish I had more.

The other night when I did the tutorial on the perforated paper method of piecing I cut all of the parts for another Mariner's Compass, just for demonstration purposes. I didn't think too much about it, I just grabbed some fabric from my "supply shelves" and went to work. The next evening when I was going to sew, the piles of cut fabrics were still sitting out. I was going to put all of it away, but was curious to see how well it would turn out. That is what I ended up sewing. I got it all finished except the center circle applique. When I took the class on this technique our instructor said she thought it looked good to have "movement" in that center circle. I liked what a batik did in the first one I made, so I went to my batik drawer again. I really like what I found to match--you might have to enlarge the picture all the way to really see it. I think I may finish this one before I complete my first one.

Okay, now for the odd. Have you ever seen a freshly sheared alpaca--for that matter, have you ever seen an alpaca? These guys belong to my brother-in-law and they are currently in the pasture that I can see from my kitchen window. The first glance I got after they were sheared made me laugh.

A face only a mother could love?

Their long skinny necks seem disproportionate to their bodies. DH and I agree that they look like some type of alien creature. Anyway, when I see them out my kitchen window now they bring a smile to my face.

I had to make some pretty silly noises to get
them all to look at me together.

So, until next time, from the little mountain valley where we actually were over 80 degrees today! (As we say around here, spring came just in time for summer.)

Janet O.

Perforated Paper Piecing & a BIG Finish

2011-06-21T02:27:00.000-06:00

I am so excited to have something new on my design wall! This is something I have been working on off and on for a couple of years. It has a story behind it, but I will save that for another day. I have realized, as I have worked on the ocean waves blocks, that I miscalculated the brown border around the tree of life. I am going to be unpicking that and putting on a new one. There will be more brown, green, blue, and yellow in the next row of blocks beyond the ocean waves that will help tie it all together (hopefully). This quilt is finally up on the wall because this finally isn't.

It seems like this t-shirt quilt was on my design wall forever, but I've only had my design wall for a few weeks, so I guess that can't be true. Anyway, it isn't there any more! And when I say BIG finish, I mean BIG! I couldn't get it back up on the design wall all alone, it is so heavy. So here it is in flimsy stage (though this isn't that flimsy) on the floor. I need to get a back made and get it off to the quilter. It will be nice to work with fabrics I love again, instead of t-shirts! But I am happy with the way it turned out.

Some of you have asked about the perforated paper piecing method used in the Mariner's Compass I have been working on. I looked online and it doesn't seem to be covered anywhere. If you decide to make a Compass, I heartily recommend this book by Judy Mathieson. If you have an earlier book by her, I am told this book improves upon her methods. I just know it is easier than I ever dreamed a Mariner's Compass could be! This method can also be applied to many other patterns that would normally use foundation piecing.

If you are curious about this method, stay tuned, if not--see ya later! To get started you will need to photocopy your pattern. Along with your fabrics and usual sewing supplies, you will need to have freezer paper and a marking pen. My freezer paper roll is probably about 20 years old (no kidding) and it didn't seem to adhere to the fabrics quite as well as that of others in the class with me, but it worked well enough.

The pattern piece shown in the photo is one eighth of the compass. You will cut 9 rectangles of the freezer paper large enough to cover the pattern--eight will be for the piecing and one will be used for cutting your fabric.

Stack your 9 pieces of freezer paper, shiny side up, and staple your photocopied pattern to them.

Remove the thread from your sewing machine needle and proceed to stitch along the lines of the pattern, leaving perforations along all of the sewing lines.

Check the back of the papers before removing the pattern piece to make sure you got all of the lines sewn.

Remove the pattern and set aside. It can be used again for making another compass. Cut out along the outside perforations of all nine pieces of freezer paper. Number the sections on the dull side of each piece, as they are on the pattern. Cut apart one of the pieces to use in cutting your fabrics. Leave the other eight intact.

Layer your fabrics (you will need eight of each piece) and press each of the cut apart pattern pieces onto the appropriate fabric.

Cut the fabrics around the pattern pieces, leaving a 1/2 inch margin around the edge of the pattern.

Take a piece of fabric from template #1. Place the wrong side of the fabric against the shiny side of one of the paper patterns, centering it over the area labeled #1. (Can you see the pretzel in my hand? I had the late night nibbles.)

Press the paper onto the fabric.

Fold back the paper along the perforation between sections #1 and #2.

Now take a piece of fabric from template #2. Place the right side of this fabric to the right side of fabric #1, making sure that it is positioned to cover the area of the folded back section #2 and leave room for seam allowances. I find holding it to a light source helps me line it up properly.

Make sure your machine is threaded again! Sew right against the folded perforation.

Trim the seam to 1/4 inch.

Open up the fabrics, fold section #2 back in place and press this section to the corresponding fabric.

Now fold along the perforation between #1 and #3. You will need to fold on up through section #4 to complete this seam. Follow the same procedure as on section #2.

Continue in this same way for sections 4 & 5.

When all sections have been sewn together, trim around the paper, leaving 1/4 inch margins.

This completes 1/8 of the compass. Repeat this process to make 7 more of these.

When all eight sections are complete, you sew them together, just lifting the paper on the edges, so they are not sewn into the seams. See all of the paper sections still in place in the photo below.

The circular flying geese units around the edge are made using the same technique.

Then you have a Mariner's Compass with geese circling and you didn't have to tear away any paper from your seams!

If you have stayed with this, please give me your input. Did it make sense to you? I know it is long, but I am a very visual learner, so I always think other people need as many pictures as I do.

Until next time, from the little mountain valley where it is just starting to feel like summer,
Janet O.