Monday, April 29, 2019

Favorite Pictures From April


It is that time of the month when I look through my photos I have taken throughout the month and share my favorites with you.  As usual for this time of the year, the theme tends to be springtime. I like how the lilac blooms look against the dandelion background.


It has been raining a lot so it is always a special treat when the sky is blue, and the wonderful puff clouds add so much interest for me.





This evening was really strange, there was a clear space around the moon, but everywhere else was clouds.


I like the pink against the brick.


And the shades of white. These trees are all blooming and they all look magnificent even though they make so many of us sneeze.


I like the pink against the gray too.


A closeup of the white blossoms against the puffy clouds in the sky. 

15 Minutes to Stitch: Week 17


I didn't make any progress last week, but this week, I made two diamond mini quilts that I showed you in my last post and also sewed some more rail fence blocks. 


15 Minute sessions of stitching this week: 7 out of 14
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year: 100 out of 118 sessions

Success Rate: 85%


Thursday, April 25, 2019

My Diamonds for the Be a Diamond Blog Hop

It's my day to present my rendition of a diamond for the Be A Diamond Blog Hop.
I have to say I am really nervous. Normally when I am expecting company, I thoroughly clean the house, hide all the incriminating evidence, and make the best, labor intensive dishes so you will think of me as a fine, upstanding person who is worthy of being in your community.


However, today, that's not how I am presenting myself. I am sitting in my sweatpants, letting it all hang out, and letting you see the inner workings of my mind. If you are all dressed up in your fancy jewelry for this diamond blog hop, maybe you had better to visit one of the other presenters for the hop.


The rules were:
Make a project with a diamond block on it.
It can be a mug rug, pot holder, mini quilt, baby quilt, bag, etc.

Here's the list of diamond makers:
April 22
April 23
April 24
Today - April 25
April 26

You can find all the projects on the Be A Diamond Pinterest page HERE

My Diamonds 


After I was done having a discussion with myself for volunteering to join a hop during peak season at work, we came to a compromise.  I would make one small simple diamond quilt. No multiple diamonds, no big project. Just a small thing to hang on the bulletin board.  And with only one diamond, there aren't a lot of options so I was very literal.  I made a diamond quilt. The goal was to make something quick and easy without doing a lot of agonizing over choices. I even used fabric that is reserved for another quilt I am making. The challenge was to do it in the fifteen minutes I had available to quilt. This quilt took more than one session because of some mistakes I made in drawing.


My list of quilts to make includes a quilt that isn't square or rectangular, so this quilt does help with that. It isn't as nice as I would like, but I think it serves as a good prototype for future ideas.



After I finished that one, I decided to try again with the leftover triangles I had from the first quilt.   I really like this lacy fabric I got from Nann, so I made another literal diamond quilt. I just placed the triangles raw edge on the quilt sandwich. I used some of the embroidery stitches from my machine. The lacy fabric has some lacy embroidery stitches and the white has straight stitches. There is a diamond stitch around the quilt to secure the raw edges.

Monday, April 22, 2019

Be a Diamond Blog Hop

It's the first day of the Be A Diamond Blog Hop.
 
I am working up until the last minute to make my diamond quilt, mostly because of a late start and some incorrect drawings. Please be sure to come back on Thursday, the 25th to see what I came up with. 
 
I am looking forward to the ways different quilters interpret this challenge, and I am sure that this blog hop will be very inspiring.  While you are waiting for me, look over there!
The rules were:
Make a project with a diamond block on it.
It can be a mug rug, pot holder, mini quilt, baby quilt, bag, etc.

Here's the list of diamond makers:
Today - April 22
April 23
April 24
April 25
April 26
You can find all the projects on the Be A Diamond Pinterest page HERE

Sunday, April 21, 2019

Quilt Reveal: Bunny Parade


I finished this quilt in March, but since I expected to have a poor showing for April, I decided to wait for the quilt reveal in April. It is a simple modern quilt, but you know me, I can't leave genealogy mysteries alone, so I added faces to each of the bunnies. They have rose beads for eyes.


This is a free pattern from Moda Bakeshop called Bunny Quartet. The designer of the pattern also provided a tutorial for a carrot on her blog, which I used as you can tell from the photos.  So my bunnies are a trio and not a quartet. She changed the name to Easter Parade, but since I have Elephant Parade quilt in the works, I am going to call it Bunny Parade.


I had some laces out so I decided to have fun with a little photo shoot.


It was fun to make this little quick quilt.


The zig zag quilting in the border is supposed to mimic grass and the spiral quilting in the sashing is supposed to look like springs to represent the bunnies hopping up and down, like Tigger.


I even added hanging corners!

Sunday, April 14, 2019

My Quilting Week


This is just to report my progress in my attempt to quilt 15 minutes every day, or the equivalent in a week.  Unfortunately, I did not have time to make progress on any of my projects this week.  But I did three things, for which I am going to take credit, to make myself feel better.

1. I got three magazines in the mail.  Oops, I didn't realize I had subscribed to three magazines!  Primitive Quilts, American Patchwork and Quilting, and Today's Quilter.  I did enjoy looking through them and am going to give myself credit for quilty time, even if all it did was increase the list of quilts I want to make.

2. We have several quilt guilds in the area, but they usually meet in the evenings at a location far from my house. I am usually too tired by then, don't like driving at night, and sometimes I work second shift, so I am usually unable to join them. Yesterday, they met during the day at a library close to my house.  I didn't have time to do any sewing, but I did stop by to say hello and see what they were doing. I didn't count the exact time I talked to them - it was more than fifteen minutes but I'm not sure how much more, so I will just count it as fifteen minutes.

3.  I made a decision about my quilting.  I had been working on quilting the drunkard's path, but that takes building of courage, and maneuvering a big quilt, and every time I thought about working on it, I decided not to.  So now I have decided to take it easy on myself and switch quilts and work on something less thought-intensive - like the rail fence or the ATC holder.  Both of these are just mindless feeding pieces into the machine, which hopefully will help me make actual progress on quilts. I folded and put away the drunkard's path quilt, and I am going to take credit for that too.


15 Minutes to Stitch: Week 15


This week, without making any progress on anything, I am taking credit for looking at quilt magazines, talking to quilters about their projects and making a decision that will hopefully move quilts forward for the next few months.


15 Minute sessions of stitching this week: 3 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year: 93 out of 104 sessions
Success Rate: 89%

 My 2018 end of the year average was 85% and I hope to beat that this year, so I am still on course for this year.

Sunday, April 7, 2019

Apple Blocks



Nann from With Strings Attached as offering some orphan blocks for adoption, and I volunteered to adopt some apple blocks. There was some competition, and I won these beautiful apple blocks from a block swap.


I was surprised to see a box sitting on my front porch as I wasn't expecting a big package. Nann sent me the apple blocks, sure, but she also sent loads of fabric.


But that's not all, she also sent me a bunch of books and a pattern.

Thank you so much, Nann for this wonderful large haul!

15 Minutes to Stitch: Week 14


This week, I was not able to quilt during the week and was hoping to make it up during the weekend, but I wound up getting sick with a cold and needing rest more than quilting. That, and the household chores, meant that I was not able to quilt.

I did enjoy looking at the books and fabric I got from Nann.


15 Minute sessions of stitching this week: 0 out of 7
15 Minute sessions of stitching this year: 90 out of 97 sessions
Success Rate: 93%

The success rate is rounded up, but it is still a big disappointing drop from the 100% I've had throughout the year so far. My 2018 end of the year average was 85% and I hope to beat that this year, so I am still on course for this year.

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