Jo Morton class

I took Jo Morton's Peppermint Twist class today - what a fun teacher and I left there so full of inspiration. Her piecing is so precise and her use of fabrics and colors, just marvelous. Her new book is just stunning. She let us take pictures of the quilts she brought, but I forgot to ask if it was okay to post them on my blog, so I will do that before posting (I'm also a member of her Yahoo "fan club").

I didn't get far on my quilt in class, but it is a stunning pattern and I'm going to (gulp) try my hand at applique for the center motif. I may just pull my hair out, but it sure is pretty!

The shop where I took my class was 75 miles round trip from my house. I took a wrong turn and ended up ON THE FREEWAY on my way there. Anyone who knows me, knows this is a huge deal because I do not drive on the freeway. It was a white-knuckle, sweaty-palms ride, for sure, but I made it and lived to tell about it! I guess I can do anything with the proper motivation!!!

Dream Job!!!

My volunteer stint at Keepsake Cottage during their shop hop last week led me into a discussion with the owner about possibly working there one or two days a week.  Julie called me yesterday and I START WORK ON SUNDAY!  I am beyond excited.  I'm sure my dh thinks I'm totally insane to actually want a second job, but OMG, can you imagine?  One of my favorite shops and I'm going to be working there?!?!   CAN'T WAIT!!

Another sampler extra

My version of the sampler that Nicole and I are both working on has 4 extra blocks, and I'm having so much fun with our 'every other week' challenge blocks, that I went ahead and started some of my extras. Here are the first 2 "extra" blocks.

I also may or may not have already made 1 or 2 more.... I just want to keep ahead of the game and oh yeah, I'm just a tad bit obsessed with this project. ;-)

Sampler Challenge, Block 2

Here's the second block in our Sampler Challenge.  I really liked Kim's comment on my last post that suggested switching the lights and darks around in the blocks.  Though all the blocks in the pattern book are pictured on a light background, I love how this one turned out using the red as the "background."  Thanks for the idea, Kim!

Pop on over to Nicole's blog to check out her second block, too.

Chez Moi geese

I was able to finish the mini quilt using my Chez Moi leftovers. I'm piecing more of the leftovers for the backing (stash busting!!) and will attempt to quilt this myself using a combination of machine and hand quilting. I also finished the Granny Squares sashing, but will wait until the borders are on before sharing a picture. The border fabrics were ordered more than two weeks ago, but seem to be lost in the postal system somewhere. I must have ticked off the Postal Gods, because this is the third time this year I've had a problem with a package. So that leaves me at a kind crossroads - I'm ready to start another project, but also not quite wanting to, because I know I will start a new project Saturday when I take Jo Morton's Peppermint Twist class (can't wait!). So maybe I'll just take care of some chores - do some bindings and things like that. Or I could always make the 4 extra blocks for my Cinnamon Stars sampler....

Still plugging away

on my Granny Squares quilt.  I think I have the sashing back on track.  Just 3 more rows to sash, and then I must wait for my border fabrics to arrive so I can finish.

I finished all the Chez Moi flying geese for my mini quilt, so those are ready to sew together.  It only took a few hours - a very quick and satisfying project!

I'm sending off my Buttercream and Figs quilt to a fabulous longarm quilter in Idaho today.  My sis-in-law and her coworkers at the quilt store have sent a number of quilts to her and she does fabulous custom work.  Although I adore my local longarm quilter, she doesn't do custom work and this quilt really screams out for something special.  I can't wait to see what Cindy will do with it!

Tomorrow I'm taking off early from my real job to work at the quilt store during their shop hop.  They have put together block kits for the 4,000 visitors they expect during this 5-day event.  I usually try and avoid shops during the hop, but it will be fun to be on the other end of things, handing out blocks and stamping passports.

When the going gets tough,

make some geese! I hit a major snag with my Granny Squares quilt. I *knew* it was going together too easily. My mistake will involve ripping out several rows of sashing. I use a very small, tight stitch on my sewing machine, so that is not a pleasant task.

I decided to set it aside and make some flying geese from my Chez Moi scraps. I want to make some mini quilts to decorate the walls of my sewing room. Here's my start on the quilt with some 1-1/2x3" flying geese. It will be as big as I can make it with 54 geese, and probably some black sashing between the vertical rows.

Aw, nuts!

Look at these 2 cute squirrels that I bought from Teresa at Sewing Stars.  The detail is fantastic, down to the real acorn tops she used on her stuffed acorns.  While my little cuties must have a story to tell from their fantastical journey from Rhode Island to Washington state, then back to Rhode Island again and then finally back to me, they are not saying a word.  Thanks, Teresa for your efforts to finally get these to me after a postal mishap.  At least they had each other in the box so they weren't lonely!

Half Sashed

I'm sure you're probably tired of me posting the same project over and over, so I promise that this will be the last photo until I get the top together and final borders on. This is just over half the quilt - three more rows of blocks still need to be attached. The black sashing really frames the blocks nicely, but it's slow going since I haven't had much time at my machine this week. Hopefully this weekend I'll get in some quality sewing time.

Sampler Extra

I made another block because my sampler quilt layout will have 16 rather than 12 blocks. I'm not sure this one's a keeper, though. It might be too fussy or not the right scale to match with the rest of the blocks.  Here's both together - what do you think?

Sampler Challenge, Block 1

Here is the first block of the Sampler Challenge that I'm doing with Nicole of Sister's Choice Quilts.  I love the Cinnamon Stars fabrics, but there are so many colors, I hope I can use them all to their advantage and be able to show them all off! It's hard for me to work on more than one piecing project at a time, so this sampler will be a challenge in that sense for me too!

Let the sashing begin!

I finished making all my Granny Square blocks, and this is my probable layout. Now I'm adding the black sashing around each block. I already goofed by sewing on my first horizontal sashing strip according to what I calculated to be the final width measurement. The smarter thing would have been to actually measure my finished row and then cut and sew on my strip. After fighting and stretching that strip as I sewed it on, I unsewed it, then measured and - yep - it was a good 5/8" too short. So I wasted a lot of time, but I'm back on the right track!

Mass Production

The Granny Squares quilt is whizzing right along. These blocks are so easy and fun to make - they are like eating potato chips - I just can't seem to stop! I've decided to make the quilt 6x7 blocks - that will give it a nice hefty size of around 72 x 84 once I add a 6 inch border. So the blocks are now about 70% completed. Talk to you later - I'm back to the sewing machine!

Sampler Challenge

A couple of weeks ago, I went on a little private shop hop with my SIL, and one of the things I bought was this sampler book.  When I shared my haul with my friend Nicole, she immediately initiated a challenge for the two of us to do this sampler together, and the scheming began in earnest.

Nicole had purchased a kit and already planned to make this quilt using Moda's Chocolat fabrics.  I know she's been wanting to start this sampler since February, right Nicole?  But what a great little incentive for both of us to get started on it!

I needed to decide which fabrics I wanted to use for my sampler.  I definitely wanted to use something from my stash, and so I decided to use these Moda Cinnamon Stars fabrics.  Our plan is to complete the same block every other week, and then post the finished block to our blogs so you can see how they look using our different fabric choices.

We aim to have all of our blocks completed by the end of November and the quilt tops assembled by December 31.  We're both going to use different setting options as well, so it will be fun to see how different our quilts end up looking.

Please check back next Monday, June 11 to see our first blocks!