Happy Monday!

I had such a busy weekend and don't feel like I have anything to show for it.  But I did get two of my five quilt shops done for the Quilter's Garden Swap.  Here's my first block that I named Creations after a wonderful quilt shop in the Texas Hill Country.

 

Everything for these blocks came out of my scrap box.  Do you see the little cats in the door?  Next up is Valli and Kim, after my favorite quilt shop in Dripping Springs, Texas...

 

I love the colors in these blocks.  The quilts in the windows are mini-sized Dear Jane blocks as they finish at 3".  I have the third quilt shop cut and ready to sew together tonight.

We still have a week to finish up the first block for our Not So Last Minute Christmas Quilt Along!  I'll be hosting a linky party for the first block on the 31st and post a link to the second block on the first.  There's still plenty of time to join in!!

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Today I'll be linking up with Patchwork Times, A Quilting Life, and Live a Colorful Life.

Also linking up with WhataHootsQuilts for BOM's Away.

 

Quilters Garden - Quilt Shops

So this month, in the Quilter's Garden Swap, we are making quilt shops.I got so excited because each shop pattern has a place for a tiny quilt to hang. I knew immediately that I wanted to play with my Dear Jane software and miniaturize some blocks to be the quilts in my blocks. Yesterday I printed up my patterns and last night I put together this little guy. This is D-10, Battlefield.

 

After I made it, I realized that I had made it to finish at 3-1/2" when it is supposed to finish at 3".  I trimmed it to 3-1/2" which is what you see above.  It looks like when I use it to make my quilt shop that the outside coral plaid will disappear.  Most likely this one will end up on a shop I keep because of that error.  I did reprint my other patterns this morning so they'll be the right size.  Don't you just love it???  I'm so excited about this.  Can't wait to get home tonight and start the next block.

Linking up today with Freshly Pieced for WIP Wednesday.

And if you haven't seen it yet, we have a new quilt along here at A Quilting Chick, the Not So Last Minute Christmas Quilt Along.  Come join in!!

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Goodbye 2014, Hello 2015!

2014 is going out tonight, and I must say, after this last 4-6 weeks, I'm not sorry to see it go!  There's been a lot going on at work and I've been pulling 10-12 hour days since Thanksgiving.  I'm officially off until next Monday and I plan on filling it with a lot of rest, family, sewing, and relaxation.

But one of my things on my "to-do" list was to share with y'all the projects that I KNOW I'll be working on during 2015.  Some of it are things to finish, others are new projects, but all promise to be fun!  I'm hoping some of you will decide to join in.

1.  Quilt the Union Jack quilt.  Cassidy graduates in June and this is her graduation quilt.  It needs to get done.  At least the top is done, and thankfully, mom has pulled all the paper off the back for me. (Thanks Mom!)

2.  Finish the Zodiac Star quilt.  My niece was supposed to graduate in June too but she decided to graduate early in November! (brat!)  I told her I was on a different time frame so she'd have to wait for her quilt.  :)  

3.  I want to work on one of my Dear Jane quilts.  You read that right, one of them.  I'm embarassed to say how many different versions I've started!  I was discussing this with Deana of Dreamworthy Quilts and am thinking that maybe a weekly linky party so we can urge each other on with this long term project?  I'll share details as I get them finalized.

4.  Finish my Austen Family Album block of the week quilt.  I've really made great progress on this one lately.  Only 12 blocks to go.  

5.  Finish up the Quilter's Garden Swap.  This one is being hosted by Deana over at Dreamworthy Quilts and I absolutely love it!  

6.  Now the things I KNOW I'm going to start.  First up is the Snapshots QAL from the Fat Quarter Shop.  I can't see how this one can be resisted by anyone.  I love it!!!

7.  On the 20th, Fort Worth Fabric Studios will be hosting a new quilt along that was designed by Deana at Dreamworthy Quilts.  I'm super excited about it.  I love everything Deana makes and have been wanting to make one of her medallion quilts for a long time.

8.  I stumbled across a relatively new quilt along being hosted by Calico Gals.  It's called Old Friends.  You have to subscribe to their newsletter to get the info  on the blocks release, but the quilt is gorgeous.  I can't wait to get started on it.

9.  I really want to make the Super Mario quilt that Cora's is sharing for my nephew, Ryan.  It is perfect for him!

10.  So Scrappy hosts a rainbow scrap challenge every year.  This year I'm catching it right at the beginning so I'm super excited about joining in and working through my scraps.

I'm sure there is a lot I'm forgetting but for now, there's my list!  I really hope you join in and play along with me!!

Grand Illusion Mystery Part 1

I can only hope that y'all had as wonderful of a Thanksgiving weekend as I had.  Plenty of food, family, and wonderful times.  And I managed a ton of sewing!!!  Friday morning the first clue for Bonnie Hunter's Grand Illusion Mystery quilt was released.  I spent all day Friday and Saturday sewing.  And I finished the first clue.  Here are four of the units laid out together just for fun...

 

I just love the fabrics I pulled together for this one so I can't wait to see how it turns out.  It was so much fun!  But a ton of HST's, and I'm a bit of a nut about them so I have to square them up.  But they are awesome.  Can't wait for Friday!!!  

Also, my sister who hasn't worked on quilting in YEARS asked me to reteach her DEAR JANE!  Wow.  I kept trying to convince her that she should start with something easier to get back into the swing of things but that girl never does anything easy.  So I pulled mine out and did two blocks (forgot the picture for A-8) but I did A-9 as well....

 

 

The picture makes it look black and white but it is actually a deep navy blue.  I also managed to get my stocking done for the #haveyourselfaquiltylittlechristmas sew along that Lori Holt is hosting on instagram.

 

She finally revealed the layout of the quilt so my last blocks are taking longer because I'm making 6 of them to enlarge the layout.  I'm trimming up units right now so hopefully that'll be done tonight. 

And finally, here's a look at my design wall this morning....

 

 

Can't wait to see what everyone is working on!  I'm linking up with Bonnie over at Quiltville and Judy at Patchwork Times and Freshly Pieced.