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May 31, 2014

Friday Finish!!

I had taken a blogging hiatus so I have a few finishes to share.  I'll slowly pull them out and get some pics to catch everyone up on what I've been doing.

First up is this cute little baby quilt...


The pattern is Little Buckaroos by Red Hen Designs.  I hate to admit this, but this was a 10-year old UFO!!  I started this for my brother's first child and he is now way too old for it.  BUT....my other brother's wife is getting ready to have a baby boy next month so I'm finishing it up for him.  I started this little thing way back when I had first started quilting and when I pulled it out, I saw all the little sewing mistakes....and I left them in.  I decided this quilt told a story of the quilter I was 10-years ago.  And I love it!!  Its all made of flannels, the spurs are three-dimensional, and it is too cute for words!!!

Tonight I came home after a rough day at work and just wanted to work with fabrics that I love.  Thus, I made another block for the Union Jack quilt (from McCalls Quilting January/February 2014 issue)...


These are the Chances of Flowers fabrics that I picked up last weekend.  This quilt is gonna be one of my favorites, I can just tell!

So what are y'all working on??

Cathy

Linking up with Michelle's Romantic Tangle and Crazy Mom Quilts and My Quilt Infatuation.

May 28, 2014

WIP Wednesday

This week has been all about trying to get my quilt alongs caught up or a little ahead so I'm ready for the new ones that start on the 1st.  :)  How's that for overloading myself???

Over the weekend, I caught up the Jane Austen quilt along and the last few days has been trying to get my blocks ready for the Supernova Friendship Block Swap.  I just finished up the first two blocks tonight:


I'll be honest here.  These fabrics are WAY out of my comfort zone.  I'm not too sure how I feel about the blocks to be honest.  I send one to my partner and keep the other.  My son, who was with me when I was shopping for the fabric, claimed this one.  I sent him a pic of the first block and he was thrilled.  I guess that's all that matters, right?

I'm doing this same block swap with my aunt and for that one we're doing browns and turquoise/teals with a cream background.  Closer to my style.  We'll see how those come out in the next few days.

If there is anyone else following this swap, the original directions give you cutting instructions for the color fabrics as a per block thing but the background is all cut at once.  If you're like me, and only needing to cut on a per block basis, you'll need (8) 3" squares and (8) 3 x 5-1/2" rectangles PER BLOCK.  So to do two, you'll need 16 each.

So that brings us up to date.  What are y'all working on?

Cathy

Linking up with Freshly Pieced and Fort Worth Fabric.

May 26, 2014

Design Wall Monday

Hi everyone!!  I had a pretty busy week last week so all of my sewing was done on Sunday.  So here's what I've been up to:

I caught up on my Jane Austen quilt along...



And I made a test block for a Union Jack quilt.  I used my new Chance of Flowers fabric and I love it!!!


My daughter has already claimed that one.

So what are y'all working on?

Cathy

Linking up with Patchwork Times.

May 24, 2014

Sunday Stash!!

Boy did I have fun Saturday!!  I needed some fabric for a block swap and my son wanted to take me fabric shopping for a late Mother's Day gift!!  I know!  What a great kid!!  So without further ado, let me share my fun fabric finds for this week!


I'm doing a block swap called the Friendship Supernova Block Swap being hosted over at Late Night Quilter.  My swap partner and I settled on Kona Steel for the background and True Colors by Anna Maria Horner for the main blocks.


For those of you that don't know, Fat Quarter Shop has Kona on sale for $5.59/yard.  I picked up 3 yards of the steel and 3 yards of snow.  I got these True Color fat quarters at one of my favorite local quilt shop, Valli & Kim.  If you ever find yourself in Central Texas, you really must stop by.  You'll love it!  Trust me!

While there, I got a few other goodies!!  I finished off the bolt on this fabric from Garden Party Tango by Wyndham Fabrics...


a few fat quarters for another block swap, this one in turquoises and browns....


and these goodies!  My mom was with me.  She loves to buy fabric but she hates to sew!  Which totally works for me.  She builds my stash!!!  She grabbed two yards of each of these...


The green swirls are from Nite Owls by Judy Hansen for Paintbrush Studios, and the lighter green is from Krystal by Michael Miller.  I tried to tell her we bought the Nite Owls in April at the shop hop but she decided we must not have bought enough!!!  She also got two yards of this one...


It is from Mixmasters Fizz by Robert Kaufman.  Love this red!!

We also went to two other local quilt shops:  Memories by the Yard and Sew Special Quilts.  This is where my Mother's Day gift came in!!!


I am so excited about these!!  They are 1/2-yard cuts of Moda's Chance of Flowers.  I saw them on shop hop and had been waiting to go back and get them.  Most of them were from Memories, but then I picked up 4 of them at Sew Special.

I also got this little fun piece...


There is a fun little shop hop starting on July 1.  It's called the Row by Row Experience 2014.  The shops are each getting these little license plates and will have them for sale.  I think it's too cute!!  I'm really looking forward to collecting more!

So, I really raked it in this week!!!  What do you have to share this week??

Cathy

Linking up to Quirky Hannah for Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash.

Molli Sparkles

May 23, 2014

Friday Finish!!!

I rarely have anything I feel I can share on Friday Finish days.  I get a lot of tops done but to get them to the longarmer for quilting is something all together different.  But today I get to show you my Friends and Flowers Quilt!!!


I love this one!  It was a mystery quilt I did at the end of last year and managed to get quilted rather quickly.




We are giving it to my daughter's best friend for her graduation gift this weekend.


They are both sure to burst into tears when she gives it to her!!  We love you Mary Kate!!!

Linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts and Quilt Story and Val's Quilting Studio.

Do y'all have something to share this week?

Cathy

May 20, 2014

Tuesday Archives!

Val picked two of my favorite things to link up today:  Christmas and Chevrons.  I saw that and immediately went through my pics to hunt these down.  First my chevron quilt:

I love this little quilt.  Several years ago, for my birthday, we went to visit my favorite quilt shop, Creations in Kerrville, Texas.  I walked that store for an hour, petting and ogling fabric before going back around and grabbing these beauties.  I knew exactly what I wanted to make with them.  I came home and started cutting.  At that time, I was using Thangles and it took a lot to get these together.  But I'm so happy with how it turned out.  This lap quilt lives on my sofa and I get to cuddle with it every day.

Next up is my Nutcracker quilt.


I collect nutcrackers.  And years ago, this fabulous nutcracker fabric was put out by Northcott.  I was just starting to quilt at the time but I hunted down every little piece of that fabric line I could.  And I waited.  Then I joined a "happy block" swap and pulled these little guys out.  Everyone sent out 5 squares of fabric to everyone in the swap.  They sewed on a 2" border and then sent them back.


I found this Christmas sheet music fabric at Hobby Lobby and put it all together.  I couldn't find a  picture of it finished but I absolutely love it.  The day after Thanksgiving it comes out of hiding and goes on my bed and stays there until the Christmas decorations come down.

Thanks Val for such a fun link up over at Val's Quilting Studio!!

What do y'all have to share?

Cathy

Catching up!

Hi everyone!  I took the weekend and just sewed.  I didn't blog.  I didn't go out of the house more than I had to.  I just sewed.  And it was so relaxing!  I really needed a recharge and I got it.

This is what I was working on.  First the large Patchwork Star Blocks for my "Oh My Stars" quilt along.


And the second large block:


Then we have the 6-inch blocks:

And then the 4-inch blocks:

I'm finally making progress!  Each block pattern is being made in 1-2 large blocks, 2-3 medium blocks, and 6 small blocks.  I've completed the first six block patterns (out of 15).  My poor design wall needs an expansion.  Once I do that, I'll take another pic of it all laid out.  It's looking amazing!!

What have y'all been working on???

Cathy

May 16, 2014

May Prepping Challenge Day 5

Today I almost caved.  I'm telling you....it was a close call.  Work was fine.  I took leftover taco meat and shells to work and made up some tacos for lunch.  Yum.  Gotta love Mexican food days.  But see, after work, I knew would be tough.

I had to go to the bank and make my car payment, then drive over to my mom's/aunt's house to meet with my aunt about the Supernova Friendship Swap.  I'd already finished my huge mug of tea during the work day and I was driving right past a McD's and they have great sweet tea.  But I told myself I could just get a drink at mom's and kept on going.  That was the easiest of my temptations today.

I got to mom's and my aunt was laying out a quilt on her design wall.  It has a Declaration of Independence as the center panel and 7-8 Americana themed panel blocks around it.  The quilt shop she works for asked her to make up a shop sample and to write up the design as she went along.  Of course, I threw in my two-cents and then pulled up the info for the swap on her laptop so we could go over everything, choose colors and background fabrics, make a plan.

As we were talking, my aunt and mom asked me to give them an update on "that crazy chicken lady."  I had to laugh.  See, when we were on our shop hop last month, I was reading aloud the stories about the chickens and the eggs from Judy's blog.  As they both grew up on a farm, they thought her stories were hilarious and are always asking me for updates on her chicken/egg progress.  I told them about the prepping challenge and that I was gonna have to break it because there is NO WAY I can make it through the weekend without my sweet tea and I am flat out of sugar.

My aunt jumped on that right away.  She offered to give me 3 cups of sugar if I helped her come up with a design for her quilt.  DONE!!  I helped her figure out her layout, got my sugar, and avoided a trip to the grocery store.

You'd think that would be all.  But no.  I left there around 7 and was leaving their neighborhood and trying to figure out dinner.  My tummy was growling and I was ready for dinner.  I thought to myself, I just saved myself from having to go to the grocery store.  So since I was ready to break the challenge today anyway, maybe I can just pull into Burger King and grab a burger.  It's just me again tonight, so it wouldn't hurt my budget any.  Then I told myself, no!!  You're doing so well this week, there is plenty of food at home.  It was a good 5 minute internal argument (some of it actually rather vocal :) ).  But the challenge won out and I made it past temptation.

So dinner tonight was another piece of fried chicken.

I have learned that now that middle child moved out, little one and I DO NOT need 7 drumsticks for dinner.  I need to repackage those things.  Four will be plenty.  Dinner and leftovers.

I also need to figure out when I can actually go to the grocery store and not screw up the challenge.  There are some good sales this week that I want to take advantage of before the sale ends on Tuesday.

How are y'all doing with the challenge???

Linking up with Patchwork Times.

Cathy

May 15, 2014

Really Random Needle & Thread Thursday!!

Hi everyone!!!  What.  A.  Day.  It was just sooooo busy!  Work was crazy.  I just kept telling myself, "Just a few more hours and you can go sew."  Followed not so closely by, "Just one more hour..."  Then after work I had to run up to my daughters school to pick up cookie dough that she sold as a fundraiser for drill team.  And let me tell you, sixteen boxes of cookie dough is HEAVY!!!  But I finally got it and got home and I was able to work on my blocks for a while.

Today I was sewing on the small Diamond Hearted Star blocks for my Oh My Stars quilt along.




That's a picture of the medium sized ones.  I'll share the small when they are done.  Probably within an hour of getting to my machine tomorrow.  Hopefully.



The block sizes on this quilt are 12" for the large, 6" for the medium, and 4" for the small.  And I am loving every minute of making this quilt.  There are 15 different stars and I'm almost done with the first five so about 1/3 of the way done!!

I had another successful day with the May Prepping Challenge from Patchwork Times.  It was just me tonight so leftovers for lunch and dinner.  Easy peasy!!!

For the really random part of today's post, I have a few things I want to share with you...

Have y'all heard about the Supernova Friendship Block Swap that is being hosted over at latenightquilter?  Supernova is a quilt that was designed by Lee over at Freshly Pieced.  Here's a picture of her quilt:


Isn't it gorgeous?  Well Lee is letting latenightquilter do a quilt along with her pattern.  And everyone is pairing up with a quilter they don't know well and doing a block swap.  They are going to pose "get to know you" questions each month and you answer them to your partner.  At the end of the swap, you have a gorgeous quilt and a new quilting friend!!!!  Sounds like so much fun!

Now this next one I just couldn't resist!!  It's called.....Deep In The Heart of Texas Roadtrip Quilt Along!!!!  I know!  Perfect, right?!?  It's being hosted over at My Fabric Relish and I am so excited about it.  They are combining a blog hop with the quilt along and in the end you'll have a great Texas themed quilt.


Have y'all heard about the Bobbins Bargains sale going on over at pickledish.com???  Every Thursday they choose a new book and put it on a 75% off sale!  Isn't that fantastic??   This week’s Bobbins’ Bargain is Happy Birthday Kansas! A Sampler Quilt Celebrating 150 Years on the Prairie, by Linda Frost.


And the last bit of randomness for today is the following:



Mine would definitely be milk.  Most definitely!!  Have a great night everyone!!  Tomorrow is Friday!!!!

Cathy

May 14, 2014

WIP Wednesday and May Prepping Challenge Day 3

Hello Everyone!!  Has your week been good?  Productive?  I feel like this week has been sooooo long!  You know what I mean.  Those weeks where you wake up on Tuesday thinking it's Wednesday?  And then waking up Wednesday and thinking it's Thursday?  Yep, I'm having one of those weeks.  But I've been pushing through and have accomplished quite a bit!

First up, I finished up the medium Diamond Hearted Stars for the "Oh My Stars" quilt along.




They are so pretty.  My daughter keeps looking at this quilt and saying, "This is for me, right?"  As if she's really asking.  She's laying down her claim early.  Here it is as of Sunday evening:



My daughter says that's the best part of having a mom that quilts is that she gets first choice on anything coming off my sewing machine.  Arguing the point with her is a waste of breath.  She is convinced.

I also caught up on my Jane Austen quilt along, finishing up this week's block last night.

As far as the May prepping challenge goes, my day 3 was another success.  I had leftover fried chicken and mashed potatoes for lunch and then tonight was an easy night of fried bologna sandwiches (yes, I'm southern as if my sweet tea rant the other day didn't clue you in!).  Wednesdays are just to exhausting for me to want to cook in the evening.

Are you joining in the prepping challenge?  How has your week gone?

Linking up with Freshly Pieced and Patchwork Times.

May 13, 2014

Tuesday Archives and Fabric Tuesday!

Now that we're done with the prepping post, let's get on to sharing what I've been up to, both now and in the past.

First up, I finished this week's block for the Jane Austen Quilt Along.  It's called "Empire Star" and is honoring Napoleon.



Isn't it pretty????  As you can see, I'm focusing on using my 1930's stash for this quilt.  I had problems with the center strip being a bit too small, but, from the people I've spoken to, it seems to be a universal problem and I think that it is off in such a small amount that I can still make it work in the quilt.

I'm really enjoying this quilt along.  Every week, a new block is featured (it is scheduled to run for 36 weeks, plus setting instructions) and Barbara Brackman includes a lot of interesting history regarding the Austen family and situations going on in the world during Jane's lifetime.  We are only 6 blocks in so there is plenty of time to join in on the fun.

Next, Val over at Val's Quilting Studio has started another fun weekly linky party to revive some of your old projects/blog posts.  This week is highlighting charm packs and chickens.  Well, I don't have any quilt that deals with chickens(!) but I definitely have had fun with charm packs.

First up is a very simple, straight-forward charm quilt.  I love the simplicity and beauty of this little one.



I hate to say it, but this top may still be in my stack of tops "to be quilted!"  I know, I know, I really need to finish it.  It is way too sweet to just be sitting here!

Next up is my Noteworthy quilt.



It was made using both charm packs (for the stars) and a layer cake.



This one was finished up and then delivered up to Ft. Worth for my sweet little niece (love you Charity!!).

The pattern is called "Starry-Eyed" and came from Moda's Bake Shop.

That's it for today!  Can't wait to see what everyone is sharing!!

Linking up with Val's Quilting Studio and Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday.

Prepping Challenge

Judy over at Patchwork Times came up with an interesting idea.  She has issued a prepping challenge.  Now, I'm no prepper.  I don't have a stockpile of food and water that fills an entire room in my house and I don't have a secret bunker to hide out in if there is some major disaster.  I've never had any desire to have anything of the sort.  That being said, for a long time I've worried about what I WOULD do if something happened.

I suppose for me, it started back on 9/11.  You all remember that day.  Well I live in San Antonio, TX, and we are a MAJOR military city.  When everything happened that day, nobody wanted to go out.  We all retreated into our homes.  Baseball practice was cancelled, nobody was at the stores.  It's almost like everyone realized what a massive target our city could be.  That's when I started worrying about being prepared in case something DID happen.

My life being what it's been, financial and personal experiences provided wonderful "excuses" for not preparing myself, and my kids, for anything that could occur.  In my area of Texas, we don't normally have issues with natural disasters, although tornadoes HAVE hit and hurricanes HAVE made it this far inland, but not often.  We don't have earthquakes or snowstorms.  I don't worry overly about natural disasters.  But I do worry about our city being a target and not having power, or food, or water, for an extended period of time.

This is why Judy's challenge appealed to me.  It is helping me to stop making excuses and start taking certain steps to resolving the issue.

This week's challenge should be simple!  Eat at home and use only what we have at home to prepare our meals.  No trips to the grocery store.  Luckily, I went to H.E.B. on Friday and bought enough groceries to last the week, so, theoretically, I should be able to achieve this.

Sunday I put chicken in to marinate over night so when I got home from work Monday, it was a simple process to fry up some chicken.  I also made twice the amount of mashed potatoes I would need on Sunday night so we had that leftover on Monday, along with corn and green beans.  It was delicious and relatively easy.

But, I did realize Monday that I made a mistake at the grocery store.  I thought that I had sugar at home and needed flour.  When I got home, I realized I now had two bags of flour and no sugar.  And as I made my gallons of sweet tea on Monday evening (yes, I'm a southern girl through and through) I found that there is no way I have enough sugar for another batch of tea.  I will HAVE to go back to H.E.B. at some point this week.

But for Monday, I met the challenge.

Today as well.  I had leftovers from last night for my lunch at work.  And I wanted something simple for dinner so I made tacos, spanish rice and refried beans.  Delicious, economical, and made with stuff I already had in the apartment.

I'm not a prepper.  But I will become better prepared for what life throws my way.  Won't you join me?

Linking up with Patchwork Times.

May 12, 2014

Design Wall Monday 5/12/14

Hello my blog friends!! I’m sure everyone thought I disappeared forever! I’m so sorry. The last few months have been very difficult on me and my family. We had several deaths in the family and many trying situations to contend with but I finally feel like we’re past the difficulties and I’m ready to get back to my blogging world.

That being said let me show you a bit of what I've been working on lately.

Here are the recent block completions on my “Oh My Stars” quilt along. This one is called Diamond-Hearted Star.


And these are the small Frosted Tip Stars.


And here are the blocks I've finished so far, arranged in the layout on my quilt wall.


Next up, these are the blocks I've finished so far on my Jane Austen Quilt Along.


And last but not least, here is my most recent block in my Quilt Doodle Designs 2014 BOM. I've only finished January and February so far but I am really hoping to get it caught up soon.


So what are y’all working on?? Linking up to Patchwork Times.