Pineapple Crazy, The Finale!

Here she is.

2016 Finish #1.

The last stitch was taken Wednesday, February 3rd.

I love her so much more now. 

My friend Mel has a fabulous dog named Gordon.

I've never met him but she posts pictures of him on Facebook.

Here's to you Gordon!

Design Wall Monday

 
I'm so thrilled that the quilting on Pineapple Crazy is complete. 2 days of intense concentration! I did nothing fancy, I just quilted a medium meander and the texture that it gives is amazing. The red binding strips are cut and today I they will be sewn on. That is, after I finish trimming it. I used wool batting and a wide back that I was in my stash. Did I say I was thrilled?!?!?  (Thanks Jo for the shoutout!)

Next up, I pulled out more blue and neutral strips for Jamestown Landing. I cut my fabrics into 7" chunks so I can do a good mix up of blue and neutral. I used up quite a few chunks that were left from other projects. 

The neutral strips mostly came from strip swaps with friends at retreats and the a lot of blues came from an online swap. Whenever I cut fabric for something else, I try to cut for my strip boxes--2 1/2", 2" and 1 1/2". 

These 2" neutrals are what I had left from Allietare. I am cutting off the half square triangle ends-they will go into the 2" HST bin and the remaining pieces will be cut up for log cabin blocks that I am getting ready to start for a swap with local friends.

I'm going to go over to Patchwork Times and go Blogland cruising this morning for a while and see what my friends are working on.  I love Monday in Blogland!

Design Wall Monday

Pineapple Crazy is a completed quilt top.

You can read that story here if you like.

I'm still pretty excited.

Remember last week when I showed you my basked to half square triangles.

My friends on Facebook turned my post into a fun little contest.

These are the start of my newest project Jamestown Landing.

Another quilt by Bonnie Hunter in the String Fling book.

I used lots of them as leader/enders while putting PC together.

Afterwards I didn't have anything close to the machine to sew on,

so I started chaining these together.

Pretty soon the basket was empty.

I pressed and trimmed 10 at a time.

Sunday evening I counted.

254! I was shocked.

My friend Mary guessed 257.

Pretty good guesser, isn't she!!

Now I have to get her prize in the mail.

She's going to like it. *wink, *wink

Plans for this week include cutting more HSTs, pin basting PC, start quilting PC.

No plans to go anywhere or do much away from home.

From where I sit on this early Monday morning, it looks like a good week ahead.

I'll start by visiting friends throughout Blogland!

Check out what's happening around town at Patchwork Times.

TaaaDahhh!

Here she is in all her glory!

Pineapple Crazy is officially a quilt top!

She still needs a good final pressing before quilting.

This has truly been a labor of love!

My friends have all contributed to my scrap baskets 

and that make this even more special.

If you've read my blog for any amount of time, 

you know Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville has had a huge influence on my quilting.

When she first posted pictures of these little 5" blocks, I was smitten.

I'm not sure if this is the first post but I believe it might be.

I knew that someday I would make this quilt.

Here is my first post about this quilt.

Yesterday was a funny Facebook day.

This showed up as one of my memories.

It was from one year ago.

How appropriate and almost scary.

But not really true because I never wanted to quit.

I never considered this to be a UFO even though I started it over 3 1/2 years ago.

It was always a work in progress.

I would pull it out and make a few blocks,

then put it away again.

All the while, saving itty bitty scraps.

Later today I am going to pull out the backing fabric.

I was going to piece a bunch of things together 

but this weighs a ton.

I think a nice one piece backing will be perfect. 

When you see her again,

She will be finished! 

Design Wall Monday

Now that Allietare is a finished top,

I am deep into Pineapple Crazy again.

I am so close to having all my blocks finished!

I only need 9 more pineapple blocks.

I have 5 triangle border blocks in progress

with the last 10 waiting.

As my granddaughter says,

I'm super duper excited!

It was fun to use the triangles from Allietare for the neutral corners.

Those are gone.

I took a sewing break yesterday to do some cutting.

My next project uses these half square triangles.

I posted this picture on Facebook with the caption of 

I wonder how many half square triangles are in this basket.

My original intent for these were as leaders/enders.

I didn't intend for it to be a contests but my silly friends turned it in to one.

I know what I'll be sewing on soon. 

Guess I'll have to cut more tumblers for leaders/enders.

It's Design Wall Monday at Patchwork Times.

I'm going to refill my coffee cup and hang out with my friends for a while.

Have a great day!

You'll find me in my sewing room later this morning.

Design Wall Monday

I cannot begin to say how much I love this quilt!

Alliatare, the Quiltville mystery

is now my new favorite quilt, 

replacing Roll, Roll, Cotton Boll on the most favorite list.

Today the setting triangles will be trimmed.

The borders will be added.

The backing fabric will be pulled.

Since I didn't want to set up my big table to trip my triangles,

I decided to make a triangle for Pineapple Crazy!

Check out other design walls at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday and...

...Mystery Monday Link Up 

Allietare Part 2

Santa hats

This is the only set I have complete.

I have 8 more sets ready to press and pin.

The other 11 are patiently waiting their turn.

This was a fun clue.

Before Clue 2 was released, I concentrated on my Pineapple Crazy.

I'm so close to the end.

I changed it up a bit and did the 4 corners and 1 border block.

What can i get done this week? 

I know, maybe I should finish my Christmas projects.

Monday in Blogland is my favorite day.

Check out all the link ups at 

Patchwork Times and Quiltville today. 

Design Wall Monday and...

 ...Allietare Link Up.

It's that time of year again.

Quiltville Mystery Time!

The first clue was released Friday morning.

I woke up at 4 and just had to check.

It was there so I went back to bed.

No need to worry about that any more. :)

I knew it wouldn't take long to cut my pieces with my GO Cutter.

I was right.

Before long, I was ready to sew.

But first I had to put the last 2 rounds on these 10 Pineapple Crazy blocks.

They are trimmed and ready to de-paper before going in to the bin.

I either have 24 more to finish or 14.

You know I'm hoping for 14!

Then I got busy on these.

Soon I was pressing and counting into piles of 10.

I have 302 HSTs.

Is it Friday yet???

Next up for me this week are the 4 cornerstone blocks for Pineapple Crazy.

They are each made up using 4 of these.

One little block done, 15 to go.

So close, yet so far.

Today I'm linking up with Judy L at Patchwork Times

and with Bonnie at Quiltville.

Mondays in Blogland are so much fun!

Design Wall Monday

I have been on a mission to get my Pineapple Crazy blocks finished. After the last 2 retreats, I had completed 23 blocks. Friday and Saturday I made 7 more and added 5 more border blocks for a total of 180 and 30.

 Last week I said I did a lot of talking at retreat. Yesterday I proved it to myself. I decided to make it a Sunday Sew Day and that is what I did. I pulled out 10 more papers and got busy! Ernie warmed up leftovers for lunch and he cooked fish for dinner. I sewed.  By the time I was done at the machine, I have 2 more rounds to go on these 10 blocks. How great would it be if I could finish these 10 and 10 more to be at 200 blocks! I feel like I am on the fast track now.  This is my long term project and I see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I'm also pretty excited about Millefiore! This is my Rosette 4, I have #5 already finished and plans and fabric pulled for #6. I am working round 2 now and having fun choosing the fabrics. I start each block with a color combination in my head, pull the fabrics in those colors and then I get to play. Each round is bringing in new fabrics. It's so much fun pulling these from my stash. Are you like me and the fabrics already in the stash are considered to be free??? Another of the silly games I play.

Did you notice the PC block on the left has the same paisley as the diamonds in Millie? That fat quarter is full of holes and is now in the PC bucket.

See what's happening in Blogland today at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

This weekend was final retreat of the year.

This is my favorite spot to take a picture.

I try to remember to do it each retreat.

I planned to only work on Pineapple Crazy. 

I finished 11 blocks.

I wanted to finish at least 15, but

I did a whole lot of talking instead. 

Part of my talking was about the new Block of the Week I've started.

It's Katja Marek's Fussy Cutting/EPP on Facebook.

This book is serving double duty, Millefiore and BOW.

This is going to be fun!!!

I hadn't started the flower hexi and cut and basted the fabrics there.

Then I showed it to my friend Sharlene and she said to change it to this setting.

She is so smart!

I stitched it last night and I love it.

We also had a strip swap and I do the swapping.

We had 6 different swaps.

We had some fabulous fabrics!

Too bad the picture is so dark.

I'm excited to add them to what I already have.

So with all the chatting, laughing and having fun,

plus the swapping, games, prizes and a bit of sewing, 

I had a pretty fabulous weekend!

See some fabulous design walls at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday...

...Retreat Report

Retreats are always so much fun.

Retreats with your daughter and 10 other close friends are even more fun.

That's what I did this past weekend.

Day 1 started with making these pillow cases for a horse loving granddaughter.

It always fun to have a TaDah moment early on.

Then I went to work on Pineapple Crazy.

Thursday and Friday resulted in 10 more blocks.

I decided Saturday would be UFO day.

I took along the blocks from 2014 BOM at The HEXIE Blog.

At our May retreat, I finished appliqueing the motifs to the background.

We won't go into the details of the sashing cut too short and

 the blocks having to be trimmed down a bit.

Now the blocks are sashed and the top is sewn together.

I can't wait to quilt it and gift it.

After the BOM top was finished I pulled out the new project.

This is called Between Friends Junior from

The Happy Hour book by Atkinson Designs.

This was a kit I had bought several years ago.

I just had to have the right person in mind before starting.

Sometimes that takes a while.

The blocks are ready to be layed out.

I'll do this Wednesday at Binding Friends group.

Deciding a layout is more fun with friends.

Sunday morning I decided to make 2 more Pineapple blocks.

It was raining and gloomy,

perfect for sewing while we waited for the storm to blow over before loading the cars.

The storm didn't blow over.

We loaded our cars in the rain.

Retreat was a blast.

I love to bring my friends over with me to the super scrappy side of quilting.

Marian showed her fabulous black and batik Pineapple Crazy quilt.

I thought she needed a new scrappy project so I introduced her to Wild & Goosey.

I showed my few blocks and hope to be seeing several other friends

 with W & G quilts one of these days.

I didn't sew any more W & G blocks but I did take 5 sections out of 4 blocks and 

turn them the correct direction.

Better to catch that now than when the quilt is finished.

Thanks Marian. 

I predict very little sewing this week due to other things.

My mind will be working overtime planning for the next retreat.

I'm headed over to Patchwork Times to see what others have on their design walls.

Design Wall Monday

Here it is Monday again. I comes around so fast! I have been busy, busy, busy!

It is now hunting season and I am a weekend hunting widow. Don't feel sorry for me! I love it. Sew all day in my pjs if I want and this weekend I wanted. Even though it was really nice outside, I spent most of my time inside. I went for a few walks but mostly I sewed and sewed and sewed. Eventually I did get showered and dressed. Just not too early in the day.

Saturday I added 12 more Pineapple Crazy blocks to my collection. I am now at 150 and really thought it was more.  I spent last night de-papering those 12 (I de-paper as I go.). Now I want to sew 12 more!

Sunday I worked on a secret project. I love a good secret project. snicker, snicker I'll spend some time today adding the finishing touches and doing the pressing. Then I might work on another bunch of pineapple blocks.

I spent Wednesday and Thursday at Crystal's house while she was whisked away for a little birthday getaway. I took along my Millefiore project to work on. The kids love to work the hexies like a puzzle. I got most of my pieces glue basted and even a few sewn together.

This week I plan to get Tumalo Trails pin basted and I have some Christmas blocks to make. Wish me luck!

See what others are working on at Patchwork Times.

National Sewing Month Recap

 National Sewing Month has come to an end. My plan was to sew every day. I have done this for several years. This year I missed only 1 day.  I thought it would be fun to recap what I did along with some random pictures that I haven't shared.

I added several Pineapple Crazy blocks to my bin. It might be time to count again.

I finished the Tumalo Trails quilt top and turned the left over border pieces into blocks for another project.

I finished rosette #2 for the Millefiore and started #3. So I have 3 finished rosettes since I jumped ahead and did #5 already. I love this project.

I made another Swoon Vivian bag and a Pearl wallet.

I made a snappy bag and added lots of tumblers to my leader/ender project.

I made oodles of string blocks--3 1/2" scrappy ones and 4 1/2" neutral blocks.

I started and completed the Country Roads mini quilt from Humble Quilts Quilt Along. 

Non sewing included finishing 2 pair of socks and starting 2 more. A new waterline was put in and I spent a couple days staying with my grandkiddos. We spent one day canning tuna with our niece and another day canning beans. One Saturday we spent the day with friends at a fish fry-that was fun and the food-OMGosh!!!

I think I might be glad September is over and I am welcoming October with open arms. I am looking forward to 2 quilt retreats coming up, one this month, one next.

Hello September!

I love September. I love the fall. I love to sew. Perfect!  It's National Sewing Month. I have a goal to sew every day and it doesn't happen every day. In September I really focus on that goal. I have a plan for some charity sewing. I have plans for Judy sewing. 

I started out the month by finishing up these 6 Pineapple Crazy blocks. They still need to be depapered and that will happen later tonight while watching tv.  My friend Marian finished her Pineapple Crazy and that has spurred me to really get cracking on mine. It's been in the works for long enough now. I want it to be a quilt but first I need to finish the last row for Tumalo Trail and get it attached to the body of the quilt. This quilt has a deadline. 

These 6 blocks each have the center booboos. And the center bottom block has a couple placement booboos. I don't care. I think it just shows my personality. My life has booboos, my quilts have booboos too. Whoopsie! I'm  not perfect. *wink, wink!! 

I hope you are celebrating National Sewing Month by doing something special.

Design Wall Monday

I've been in a Swoon bag making frenzy this month.

This is Swoon Vivian.
She belongs to granddaughter Taylor.

She gave my Designer 1 sewing machine a serious headache.

So out came the old 60s Kenny the Kenmore.

He is a beast and sewed through those thick layers like they were nothing.

Kenny lives in the living room with a few other machines in cabinets.

Saturday morning machines were shuffled around so Kenny could work his magic.

We finally got some much needed rain.

I felt it was ok to park myself in front of the sewing machine in the living room 

and watch crazy tv-The Walking Dead-while I sewed Pineapple Crazy blocks. 

Saturday night, 3 year old Estella stayed so no more crazy tv but still sewing away.

She was lots of help picking fabric and asked so many questions.

It was quite fun!

The girl loves green.

And blue and orange and....

Why?

This is Swoon Charlotte. 

My sister wanted this upholstery fabric made into shopping bags.

I couldn't do that...

not with this pattern waiting to be made.

She has a vinyl bottom and nylon webbing for the handles.

She will be a good work bag for Mary.

 Wednesday afternoon was spent with these people.

I took my Millefiore hexagons for rosette 2 along with me.

I wasn't sure how I wanted round 1 to go on.

After much spinning blocks and 

"making a puzzle"

we decided this is not the layout we want.

The black bars will circle the center block.

It's always fun to see things through young eyes.

I do have one more Vivian bag to make but she is on hold for a few days.

Today's plan is to finish up those 6 Pineapple Crazy blocks

and put Kenny away for a bit.

(I'm happy to have him out of the corner and easily accessible.)

Next up is to finish Tumalo Trails.

It's feeling a bit neglected. 

Check out what others are working on at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

Basting, basting, basting. That was on my radar most of the weekend. I am so close to the finish line on this quilt.

I'm using a poly batting for this one with flannel for the backing. I think a certain little boy is going to love it!  Most of the quilting is done, the binding is a red stripe cut on the bias and it is sitting next to the machine taunting me. It wants to be on this quilt. I think the bias stripe binding and the zig zaggety edges are just plain fun and are perfect for this I Spy quilt.

I did manage to sew 5 more Pineapple Crazy blocks while staying with the kiddos. Maybe I could have done a couple more but it was more fun snuggling on the couch watching movies.  Have you seen Home yet?  We watched it twice! It is so cute and funny...watch it with children if you can!

See what others have happening at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

This week I am working on more Pineapple Crazy blocks. It's been a little bit of time since I last worked on them.

I'm spending a few days at my daughter's house with her 4 kiddos and with Taylor while they are on vacation. I brought these and my featherweight to set up at the kitchen table so I could sew and supervise. But they are needing very little supervision from Gramma, they have their TayTay. LOL So Gramma sews on her "cute little sewing machine".

5 year old Leland was amazed that it was a real sewing machine because it isn't like his mom's. So cute and interested---for a couple minutes, then he's off again. I thought they might like to pick fabrics but no. Maybe later.

See fabulous design walls at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

Look at me recycling an old photo of my Pineapple Crazy blocks.  I'm too lazy to go take a picture of the newest blocks and I love how it looks with them layed out. It inspires me to sew like a mad woman.

Sadly these have been put on hold while I work on the elk quilt for the hunting club. Sort of on hold, I ran out of papers and coincidentally out of printer ink. So new ink has been bought and installed and as I write this post, blocks are being printed. I'm hoping to stay focused on the elk quilt and not call squirrel on itty bitty pieces of fabric.

After some household chores this morning, the tables will be set up and the basting of the elk quilt will begin.  Maybe the quilting will start today too.  What I really want to work on though are these Pineapple Crazy blocks.

I have a list of goals for my sewing this week.

• baste, quilt and bind the elk quilt 
• I think I need to buy some brown thread for the binding-I'd better check on that
• finish the wallet I'm working on
• make a few more Pineapple Crazy blocks

That's probably enough for this week.  First I am going to see what others are working on at Patchwork Times and drink another cup of coffee.

Design Wall Monday

I've been having a blast in the scrap bags this week. 

I finished the 5 blocks that were started last week and

finished 10 more!!!

And they have all been de-papered.

My totals now are 130 pineapple blocks and 25 border blocks.

They are now all put away because a new project must be started.

It's that time of year again when I make the hunting club a quilt as a raffle prize for our annual picnic.

These are the fabrics I am using this year.

I'm using the BQ4 pattern to show off this fabulous elk fabric.

My friends were at the Sew Expo in Puyallup and spotted the fabric for me at one of the vendors.

A quick phone call to me and an internet search and my focus fabric was secured!

I do have the best friends!!!

See what others are working on at Patchwork Times.

Design Wall Monday

With everything that has been happening around here,

sewing time has been at a minimum.

The weather has been awesome-sorry to anyone that is snow bound-

so lots of time has been spent outside.

I've been working on my Castle Wall blocks.

The bear block was the first one I cut out and

tried to sew, I wasn't happy with it so it didn't get finished.

Then I decided it belonged in the quilt as it is part of this story.

Now I'm happy with it.

These are blocks 13-17 of the 56 I need.

(Old photo alert!)

I also worked on Pineapple Crazy.

I finished the 5 blocks in this photo, 

finished 5 more and

started a new set of 5.

The bags of scraps don't seem to be getting any smaller!

See what others have on their design wall this week at Patchwork Times.

Time to grab a cuppa and spend time with my friends in Blogland.