A Finish, Shop Hop Goodies, and a Quilt Show

I got this table topper finished. I had to sew the binding on by machine because with no batting the needle had no place to go. It worked out great. This is the first time I used bias binding. I had no troubles. A quick little tutorial on how to make it then bind on the inside curve and BAM! I had a finished project. I love it. It is now washed and being loved!!

At the end of April we had a Shop Hop in my area. These are the goodies I bought. 19 fat quarters, 15 of which are 30's fabric!! LOVE IT!! Four of black and white by Me and My Sister, two are not pictured. 1 charm pack of Ticklish by Me and My Sister, plus a yard cut from the same line. A yard of some really cute bird fabric that I though matched really well. Then one yard of black with colored spots. Last a very cute Halloween wall hanging. I love looking at this pile!!

 Today my non-quilty daughter and I went to a local quilt show. We had a great time. She loves looking at them but does not want to sew one, ha ha, I will break her!! Here are a few beauties. Some old and some new. 

TTFN

A Long Miscellaneous Post

Do you remember how I was saying that my machine was acting funny and I could not figure it out. Well I do believe I found the problem. Look at these two pictures of the placement of my needle. See how close it it to the back of the foot. I have had this problem for a long time. It makes my thread break and sometimes my needle breaks because it gets stuck on the foot as I am sewing. Boy do things explode when that happens. 

 Well I got mad today because I broke three of the last four needles I had. I opened the side of the machine and moved things around and looked things over really good. I am not a sewing machine repair person but I can get mad enough to fix things myself once in a while. I found the screw that controls where the tip of the needle is in space and cranked the puppy down until I fixed it. Not knowing if I had just fixed it or totally messed it up I moved cautiously into sewing. She purrs like a kitten now. The needle is moved away from the back. I am so happy!! I hope you can see that the needle is now a safe distance from the back of the foot.

These next four pictures are half finished Schnibbles patterns I found. I have one top finished but I messed it up so I need to go in and fix it. But it is in the bottom of a tote and I did not feel like digging it out today. Maybe Monday.There are four more Schnibble projects I did not even start.

This is a picture of a group of blocks for my area Shop Hop 2013. I have seven blocks I think. It will be a fall quilt top when finished. I will need to find a few blocks to round out to 12 then get it all worked together. 

Clear back at the beginning of May Green Fairy Quilts had a giveaway. I WON!! I won a fat quarter bundle of Posh Pumpkins by Sandy Gervais for Moda! I love it. Fall, orange, Halloween, pumpkins!! I tell you it was a match made in the pumpkin patch!!

Last year over at Making Ends Meet April had a Quilt Along that I was invited to join, Hello Sun. I love it. I have had these blocks done for a while but never took pictures of them. So in no specific order the last four blocks.

When I was done with all the blocks I took the rest of the yellow strips I had and made them into cute 3 1/2 inch squares. The idea was to use them in making the Hello Sun quilt. But now that I am doing Hello Moon, also at Making Ends Meet, I think I am going to wait. I might want to put all 24 blocks into the same quilt.

Here are the first four blocks of Hello Moon in no particular order. I have not done any of the stitching yet. 

I had some gift money that I used to buy me some goodies. I can't wait to play with them.

happy-go-lucky by Bonnie and Camille for Moda

 and Mod-Century by Jenn Sky for Moda. 

One last thing. I have been working on this little beauty for about a month now. I got the pattern from a friend and promptly went and bought fabric for it. Now that I have my sewing room I can see the kitchen table. Here are a few pictures of it's progress. I have the binding sewn on and I hope to finish it tonight or in the morning. I did not put any batting in it because I want it to be as flat as it can be.

 Sorry for the long post. Have a wonderful Sunday!!

TTFN

Shop Hop Goodies

On the 28t of last month some of the ladies from my PQA group went on the local Shop Hop. We drove over 100 miles, were gone for over 7 hours and made 9 stops. It was a long day but it was so FUN!!! Here are some of my goodies. 

Maybe this will be a new hobby for me. Making scarfs. The yarn comes in a bundle all squished together. They were teaching how to knit it but I have never knitted. I went on youtube, love that site for learning something new, and found a Spanish speaking lady teaching how to crochet them. I just turned off the sound and watched. I love this scarf!!

I saw this in one shop finished and I loved it. Looks so fun. That little roll beside it is for a thread catcher. It was a gift from one of the shops. It has a couple of jelly rolls in it to finish it. 

Here is what was in the above kit. All the strips are already cut.

Here are a few fat quarters I bought and some that were gifts from a few shops.

My DD#1 picket out 7 half yard cuts of black and white fabric for her Graduation Quilt. 

See those little hexies. They are 3/4 inch. Love them. They are for a tiny pincushion. I used some of the fabric I got to replace the fabric that was in the kit. I also bought a very tiny template. 

Here is the pincushion finished.

Blue side

 Orange side.

This is one of those twister templates. So cute. Do you see how tiny it is. 2 1/4 inches square. 

Thank you for going along with me to see my goodies. I hope that if you ever get the chance to go on a Shop Hop that you do, it is so fun!

Long Weekend!

What is happening...
It started raining again today. We had a beautiful weekend. The sun was shining and it was warmer. I spent all day Saturday on my Shop Hop with my oldest daughter and a friend from Church. We had a fabulous time. I am sure that if any of you have ever had a day that you could do what you wanted, spend what you wanted, bought what you wanted, and had no time line you would understand. We were gone for 9 hours. I bought all kinds of fun stuff. I am refreshed in mind and spirit. Not body, no not that, I am hurting. But I have great things to keep me company while I get back up on my feet.

This pattern came with ten fat quarters. I LOVE 30's fabric.

I love Seasonal or Monthly wall hangings. When I saw this I new I needed it. LOL!! NEEDED!

I am going to buy the book. Sorry for the big space for the picture. I have linked it to Amazon.com. These use the same background I will be making for the pattern I bought.

 

My daughter asked me to buy this one. She loved the way the quilt extended beyond the center. There really is no true frame. We both love it.

We both picked one of these patterns out. It looks so challenging. Hers has a deer and trees in it.

I love miniatures! I love quilting! You mix the two and I am set!!

The only pre-cut I bought. I have no plans for this but I just loved the colors.

I know there has been a lot of chatting about this pen, but I still want to try it. They only had red or orange so I got the orange one. Look at me being a rebel!

This is for my fabric basket swap partner. I hope she likes it. I love the colors.

The block I have for my PQA swap has a horse/western theme. I love these straw bales. Just right.

This is the fabric I am using for this months Le Petite projects. I wanted to go super simple! The black and yellow are 30's fabrics. Then I just picked out a sweet white on white.

 

What I am working on...

I did not get any sewing done on Friday like I wanted. I went to get something out of my sewing drawers and could not find it. So for me the next step was a gutting out of everything and re-organizing. LOL!! QADD! Oh well, I feel much better about my storage space and now can see what I have.

I plan on sewing tomorrow. I can't wait.

Sewing thought...

I know I have stated it before that fabric is like a drug for me. I know that it is for a lot of people. But have you ever thought of why? For me I guess it is two things.

1. the promise of things to come-mostly hours doing what I love, sewing. There is something about the rhythm of the machine. The complete destruction of fabric and reconstruction into something that

people will cuddle with.

2. the knowledge that at first it is all for me and no one else. I buy it because I like the colors or feel of the fabric. I am the one that gets to play with it. My husband won't borrow it, nor will any one else. (Well maybe my oldest daughter, but she is building her own stash now) Then I can give it away for some one to love as much as I do. I love that, sharing a part of myself with those I love or have never met.

Goals for the Day...

No goals other than getting to bed on time. Tomorrow is "going to the Y' day. My daughters and I get up at 4:50am to drive to the YMCA to walk in the morning before school. It is a heck of a trip.