Design Wall Monday

I spent time this week assembling all the parts for Monkey Business.

My sewing sessions seem to come in small sections of time.

But it paid off!

It's amazing what can be accomplished a few minutes at a time.

I really wanted to lay it all out and start sewing it together but

I have a goal list for the month so I chose a project off there to work on next.

MB is a still on the list,

just farther down.

The real next project on my list was to quilt this String Quilt from October 2009.

9 1/2 years is long enough to marinate. 

I'm happy to report this is done! 

I call it Lucky #7 because it's 7th on my list of 20 Finishes Before 2020.

You can read about it here.

Check out all the great design walls at 

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts Design Wall Monday

Lucky #7

Finish #7 for 20 Finishes Before 2010!!

It was fun to revisit these fabrics.

Lots of my favorites are in here.

If you make spirals and they go array, 

you name them wonky. 😉😃

I took this picture after putting the walking foot on for the binding.

This one is a small size couch quilt.

I just searched the blog and found out that this has been marinating since 

October 2009. 

Oh My! It didn't seem like it was that old.

I used scraps from a few backings for this one.

It's quilted with wonky spirals.

Hooray for Lucky #7!!

Design Wall Monday

What a fun, full week I've had! 

My plan was to quilt and quilt I did.

Tuesday was a good day to channel my friend Julie and get some basting done.

I set up my basting tables and basted 4 quilts,

2 baby quilts, 1 twin and 1 queen.

I had one already basted and on the machine with the quilting started.

When Ernie is away hunting for the day,

I take advantage of no interruptions.

This is the Calendar Wall Hanging that was 1st up.

I can't show it to you until I share it with the gals at Christmas Club.

I'm so happy to have it finished finally and can't wait to hang it.

Next up is baby quilt 1.

I don't know who designed this block. 

I've searched and searched but have no idea.

It was fun to sit down at EQ7 and figure it out.

Baby quilt #2

These will both go to a local charity.

I loved digging in my strip bins and using up strips from our swaps.

It was also fun deciding on backs for these.

I wanted fun and bright (and fabric out of my stash!).

My next retreat is next weekend.

I had already planned to work on Virginia Bound from

Bonnie Hunter's book Scraps & Shirttales.

My string bins are overflowing and I've wanted to make this one for a very long time.

Friday I decided to cook up my last Blue Moon pumpkin

and get the puree in the freezer.

My friend Pam gave me 3 of these,

I gave 1 to Crystal.

I saved the seeds from my 2 to share.

She saved her seeds too.

We are going to have plenty of pumpkins next year.

Isn't it pretty.

I don't think mine is going to last very long.

Hubs has decided he really really likes pumpkin bars.

We celebrated this weekend with Leland.

He's in the blonde in the middle.

Happy 9th birthday Big Guy! 💗

My plan for this week is to take a short break from quilting.

I'm going to make some doll clothes for some special girls

 and a couple sweaters for myself.

Then it's back to quilting.

This is the next quilt to be quilted.

Have you watched Angela Walters' on You Tube?

She has a series on Dot To Dot quilting.

That's what I'm going to do on this one. 

Or we can say that's my plan. 😉

Check out other design walls around Blogland at

Small Quilts and Doll Quilts Design Wall Monday.

2017 Finish #1

Yeah me! 

The Quilt As You Go String Quilt is finished!

It's fun to turn on a good book and just sew. 

The string bin doesn't feel any lighter. 

I know it is.

I love using up scraps of batting and

deep stash fabrics that I'm not in love with any more.

I also love the randomness of the backing.

There is no pressure when you just pick a block and 

join it to the previous block.

It is now in the washer almost ready for the dryer.

My favorite part of quilting is pulling the warm quilt from the dryer the first time 

and having a good, toasty snuggle.

Design Wall Monday

Happy 2017 Design Wall Monday Readers.

I have 3 things happening this first week of the new year.

Under my needle right now is row 6 of 8 rows for a charity string quilt.

This is a Quilt As You Go that I was going full speed ahead on until...

that dreaded cold/flu slapped me to the floor.

(I think I am over it finally.)

So between Quiltville mystery clues,

 I have been joining the blocks into rows 

and then joining each row to the last.until the last 3 rows.

I just had to change things up a bit!

I have the last 2 rows sewn together so I am going to keep going until it's finished.

Everything is done by machine, including the binding which is ready to use.

Today, maybe??

afternoon edit:  Yeah it's finished!

Last Friday we got the clue for part 6 of En Provence.

I was working on the string quilt so I haven't started those yet.

Then yesterday Bonnie gives us the final clue!

As much as I want to jump right in and get this going,

I'm going to finish my string quilt first.

You can bet that some of these blocks will happen this week!

I've seen some fabulous blocks coming together on the Facebook group.

This is a photo of UFO #3 from Patchwork Times UFO Challenge.

I belong to an internet quilting group and we used to do monthly block exchanges.

I'm embarrassed to admit these blocks are from 2005!

But in February 2015, I quilted them and posted my plan.

Well, that plan was a bust!

I'm making a bit of a change to that plan 

and these blocks will become a fabulous quilt soon.

So it's time to get busy and make it happen now.

We welcomed in 2017 with a blanket of beauty.

I love early morning light photos.

We spent the day with a group of friends,

had a wonderful time and 

now I'm ready to hunker down into my winter hibernation,

See fabulous design walls at 

Patchwork Times Design Wall Monday.

The Sting Quilt Story

2016 Finish #7

Thursday I finished my string quilt.

The one I've been working on as part of the Scrap Problem challenge from 

Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

I brought it out and layed in over the recliner and

before I picked up my phone to take a quick picture,

Miss Polly jumped up and made herself comfy!

I love that cat!

I posted this picture on Facebook because cats on quilts are adorable.

I knew I would get great comments from my friends and family.

It always makes me feel good to know they like what I do.

I did not expect Cousin Julie to want to buy my quilt.

She did.

This is the first time I've sold a quilt.

I love that she loves it and wants it.

Today it will get de-threaded and take a spin through the washer and dryer.

Then I'll lovingly box it up and get it ready to ship.

One of the funnest things for me is after 2  blocks or rows are sewn together,

I look at the back. I never worry about if 2 of the same fabrics are next to each other.

I call it blind artistic expression.

It is a great way to use up my not favorite fabrics.

It's also amazing how much I really like some of these after they have been used in a quilt.

Weird, I know!

Thanks Julie for loving what I do so much that you want it to be part of your life. 

Now I need to decided what to focus on for my next Scrap Problem challenge.

Design Wall Monday

OhMyGoodness, how did Monday get here so fast!

I'm continuing to sew every day.

Whether it's string blocks or hand piecing.

This is the center hexi for Rosette 9 of Millefiore.

Her name is Judy.

I call her the Center of Attention.

I'm still thinking of replacing the center with an orange hexi.

snicker, snicker

This is round 1. 

With six different fabrics, 

it took me a bit of time to figure out which layout I liked best.

I think I changed it 9 different times.

And I haven't started sewing it together yet,

so I could change my mind 9 more times.

I bought a Moda Scrap Bag from somewhere.

It was perfect for this rosette.

I spent quite a bit of sewing time this week joining my rosettes.

I cannot begin to say how excited I am with this.

Once I add rosette 9 and join rosettes 5 and 2,

I'll have a better idea for color balance in the bottom of the quilt.

This has been such a fun, fun project.

Sometimes I have to earn Good Wife points.

Mending is at the bottom of the fun list but

some things have to be done. 

To replace this rain-wear is expensive.

The elastic suspenders have stretched out beyond their usefulness.

The last time he wore them, 

I had to pin the elastic up.

So I bought a pair of suspenders for the good elastic

and replaced them.

I should get extra Good Wife points for this.

The suspenders were wider than the elastic on the pants

and I needed to use the buckle.

So I fought with it and won.

Function or fashion.

See what others are working on this week at Patchwork Times.

Scrap Addict Wednesday

.

I do have a scrap problem!

And a phone book problem!

Not really.

I don't see these as problems.

I see them as projects.

I've lost my paper that had my 3" block count on it.

I turned it into a block and didn't realize it until I took the paper off.

I decided to stop counting.

I'm well over my goal of 155 for the month.

I'm pretty much sticking to my sew every day.

Yesterday was the first day I didn't sew strings.

I sat on the couch nursing my sore hip and hand stitched.

(Tripped over the dog, had to catch myself, tweaked my hip instead of falling.)

(This morning I'm fine.)

Miss Shirley also needed quite a bit of attention.

Today's post at Confessions of a Scrap Addict is full of scrappy inspiration.

Oh boy, I think I see a squirrel!

Danger, danger, danger.

I will stay focused on my strings. 

I will stay focused on my strings.

I will stay focused on my strings.

SQUIRREL........

Design Wall Monday

 I've had a fun week in my sewing room. I got my new ruler foot for my machine on Wednesday and had to play. After some fun practice pieces, I found this block that screamed out for some straight line quilting . I'm sure it came in a scrap bag from one of my generous friends. So I played and now have a bright, cheery little table mat.  I am counting this as finish #6 for the year. After all, it is a finished quilt.

Since the backing fabric I ordered arrived, I'm pretty excited to start making a batting (sewing together the big hunks) so I can get busy quilting the next quilt. Oh boy do I have a plan cooking up in my head.

Speaking of batting, I added to my stack of quilt as you go blocks. This helps empty out one bag of small batting scraps and lots of strings from the bin. I have 30 blocks done, 18 to go.

Sunday found me making a stack of 31 little string blocks. Sometimes I get started on these and forget to stop. I settled in for some TV watching and some de-papering. 

I also spent some time cutting the last 2 rosettes for block 7 of Millefiore. I'm using scraps from Allietare. Next for this quilt will be to join the rosettes I have complete so I can figure out which colors to use on the remaining rosettes.

See what other quilters are working on at Patchwork Times.

Scrap Addict Wednesday on Thursday

Wednesday is my day to spend in town, first with my Binding Friends sewing group, then errands and maybe groceries.  But my whole day was messed up. No big deal....

I continue to work on at least 5 string blocks a day.  Today while working on them all I could think of was what a mess!  But I soldiered on and made my blocks, trimmed and de-papered them and cleaned up my mess.

My little box is getting full. I think I am at 120 now. Should I start making a plan for them? No, I know one day the light bulb will come on and I will be ready to get working!  Later today, I plan to make a few more of the larger quilt as you go blocks. It's been a couple days since I did any more of those. Good news is, my string box looks like it might be a bit emptier. Yesterday it looked like it exploded.

Sarah at Confessions of a Scrap Addict wrote a great blog post yesterday with several scrap cutting options. Of course you know I am a Bonnie junkie so I try to follow her scrap users system.

Will I ever have my system perfected? Probably not but I'm working on it. One scrap at a time.

Scrap Addict Wednesday

When our Granddaughter Taylor was little, her favorite movie to watch with Poppy was Monsters, Inc. They had a ritual, get ready, hide under the quilt, get ready, wait for it, SCREAM!!! 

Mike Wazowski, the one eyed green guy, said I've got my eye on you.  Since then, that has been our saying. And because I can't wink, everyone does the Gramma wink (cover one eye) and says I've got my eye on you! So when I found this string in the box, I had a giggle fest! Oh the things we remember at the funnest times!

I've been having a blast with my string blocks. It's so easy to make more than the 5 a day I had planned to to. Since I have no other projects ready to work on, I'm just making strings blocks right now. My goal for 155 blocks for the month is quite reachable.

Eight days into the month, (7 days making string blocks) I have 65 blocks sewn, trimmed and de-papered! Go me!!!

Since 3" blocks use up so little fabric, I also have 9" quilt as you go blocks stacking up. I finished #10 yesterday.  Less not my favorite fabrics and fewer batting scraps. It will take more than one string quilt to tame those batting scraps!

While working in the string bin, I am finding larger than strings. I have 3 chunks that will be turned into backing squares and several pieces to run through the Go cutter for tumblers. Today I am babysitting so it will be a good day to run the Go cutter with a 4 year old as my helper. She loves fabric so it will hold her attention for a few minutes.

I am still hoping to have my string bin empty by the end of the month. Am I a dreamer? Probably but that is my plan. It was fun to read Sarah's post this morning. I love being inspired by other quilters. I also love that I am not alone in my scrap addiction. It's still hard to toss out those itty bitty pieces but I don't see myself ever making another quilt with such tiny bits. I keep telling myself it's good to let go.

Design Wall Monday

What a week!

There seems to be a lot going on in my world. 

Nothing serious, just busy, busy.

After reading about Sarah's Scrap Problem, 

I am making time to sew.

I want to sew every day this month.

I'm making 5 (or so) string block a day to try to decrease the amount of strings in my bin.

I wrote about my scrap problem here

.

Thursday morning, I had an epiphany,

Only making 3" string blocks will take forever to reduce the strings in the bin.

And then I had a huge brain storm! 

I will make larger quilt as you go blocks in addition to the 3" blocks.

10" squares of no longer my favorite fabric were cut for backing.

The batting scrap box came out and scraps of batting were layed out on a backing square.

Starting with black center strips,

9" blocks are being made.

Look at all the stuff that is being used up!

It's a stormy, rainy day here today,

hubby will work out in his shop

(he is newly retired, sort of)

and I will sew!!! 

It's a great day for string blocks.

 

After  much searching on my blog, 

I didn't find the picture of my last finished quilt as you go string quilt.

July 2014

I'm glad a had a picture of it on my computer!

This quilt lives in hubby's pickup.

The new one will live in my car.

You never know when you will need a quilt!

See what others are working on at Patchwork Times. 

Design Wall Monday

I started a new project.

I am spending a couple days with the grands so I took it with me to work on.

This is what we did this morning.

It's more fun than a puzzle.

I haven't just been hexing.

I marked this UFO off my list.

I got it out last November to work on it and promptly ignored the poor thing.

One good hot afternoon last week,

 8 more blocks were made instead of 6 like I had planned.

A couple more afternoons, it was finished!

See other design walls at Patchwork Times.

Oh and the latest kitty update. 

They have all found their forever homes.

Design Wall Monday

Last Monday I showed 2 small UFOs that I was quilting and trying to finish. The New York Beauty is done and is now being used as a table topper. Next on Mt. UFO is this Quilt As You Go string quilt that I started in February 2011. Whoa! Time to get it done. It will be nice to kick this one out of the UFO Parade!

I have to write notes to myself with my intentions-quite often I forget the note and the intentions! I see that I am not the only one that writes herself notes.  See Kathy's post here.

In the bag with the blocks are the center strings and more backing and binding fabric. I have boxes of batting scraps and bins of strings so I am set to finish. I followed this tutorial at Sew Many Quilts. There is a finishing tutorial here. I'm sure there are lots of tutorials out there, this is the one I prefer.

Ohhh, there's some great things happening over at Patchwork Times on the DWM links.......I'm headed there now. I love Monday in Blogland!