Just Let Me Quilt: September 2014

Tuesday, September 30, 2014

What A Rush It Has Been!

I'm still in awe at the amazing projects that appeared during the Rush Hour Blog Hop.

Wowzers!

I had such a blast cheering this hop...really, it was so much fun!

Thank you to all the participants who did their best to show off the Rush Hour fabric

by Studio E and to those who went all out with red, white, and black fabric...you are all amazing!

Thank you to all of you who left sweet and uplifting comments on each of the posts.

Your kind words give us the encouragement to keep on sewing!

Oh, and...

I have a winner of the Soft and Stable giveaway.

#16

Vickie from Commanche

(I've sent her an email)

Congratulations to Vickie!

But, wait! There's more!

I'll be here on Friday, October 3rd, with my Riley Blake flannel project.

I hope you come back to visit!

And in a few weeks...

You all just make me smile...thanks for visiting!

Monday, September 22, 2014

Look Out! Rush Hour Ahead!

Oh, Madame Samm, you really know how to make cool buttons for these blog hops.

That lady looks like how I felt when I saw Studio E's Rush Hour fabric...

I was instantly crazy in love with it and wanted to rush off to sew something!

I knew as soon as I saw that sweet bundle of Rush Hour fabric that I was going to use a pattern by

Daniela Stout called "Touchstone." It was perfect to show off these gorgeous fabrics and the design

totally made me think it looked like city blocks and a place to get caught in rush hour traffic.

It's Rush Hour!

This quilt is about 89" x 101" and was quilted by Quilted Works.

The back of the quilt is a black cotton sateen that is SO luxurious!

Remember these?

If you don't know what it is, you are just a baby and have only used computers to type things.

This little beauty was helpful in writing all those essays and doing homework when I was in school.

Sorry, hahaha, hysterically laughing here...I wasn't a big fan of school or homework, so maybe this was

mostly used for writing letters to my grandmother or the Monkees (I was a huge fan in the olden days.)

Look, it still has a ribbon in it!

I love the patterns By Annie and found one that was meant for an iPad or reader and enlarged it a bit.

That typewriter is way too big for this handy case, but my laptop fits perfectly inside and

Annie's Soft and Stable gives it some added protection in my suitcase when I travel.

It looks so good in the Rush Hour fabric!

Laptop-To-Go

The zippered pocket on the back stores my mouse and cords.

The Rush Hour Blog Hop wasn't just limited to Studio E's Rush Hour fabric, so I also made a little

girl quilt using red, black, and white. My Accuquilt came in handy to cut some small tumblers using

Riley Blake black and white gingham. I also used the gingham on the binding with some red piping.

I did some hand embroidery on it using "Balloon Girl" from Down Grapevine Lane

and sent extra balloons flying up, up and away.

My friend, Barbara, did the quilting...it turned out just beautiful!

A giveaway?

Of course, there's a giveaway! ---It's over!

By Annie recently had the best kind of sale...buy one, get one free of her Soft and Stable, so I get one

and one of YOU get to have the other one! If you haven't used it for making bags, you will LOVE it!

~~The Rules~~

~~Leave a short and sweet comment.~~

~~One comment per person.~~

~~The giveaway can be mailed anywhere...yes, even to the other side of the world.~~

~~You don't have to be a follower to play along, but of course that makes me smile if you do.~~

~~Giveaway ends at 5 p.m. PST on September 30th. Entries after 5 p.m. PST on September 30th will not be included in the giveaway.~~

THIS IS VERY IMPORTANT: If you aren't sure whether or not you are a no reply blogger, LEAVE ME AN EMAIL ADDRESS...pretty please! You can't win if I can't contact you! If you don't get a reply from me to your comment, you are a no reply blogger.

Look who else is in the middle of Rush Hour:

Tuesday, September 23

Just Let Me Quilt

I piece 2-Mary

Marjorie’s Busy Corner

Wednesday, September 24

Stitchin’ By The Lake

Buzzing and Bumbling

Lixie Makes It

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Living With Purpose

Madly Mid Mod

Coral Canyon Quilting

Thursday, September 25

Friday, September 26

The Quilting Queen Online

Quilting Quietly

Vicky Myers Creations

Grammie Q’s

From This to That

Quilted Delights

Coeur d’Alene (moved to 29th)

Sew at Home Mummy

Monday, September 29

Grandmama’s Stories

Kris Loves Fabric

Jane’s Quilting

Life, Quilts, and Cats, too

Thimblemouse and Spouse

Creatin’ in the sticks

Coeur d'Alene (moved from the 26th)

Tuesday, September 30

Friday, September 19, 2014

A Little Doctor Who Paper Piecing

My daughter loves Doctor Who, but until about a month ago I had no idea who this "Who" was.

Then along came Kris from Kris Loves Fabric and her Doctor Who blocks.

Thanks to Kris and Netflix, I'm now a fan of the strange Doctor Who...he's kind of grown on me.

This is the Tardis, a traveling machine for The Doctor.

I enlarged the pattern so it is 24" x 24"...the rest of the blocks (should I accept the assignment

to sew more) will not be this big. Kris made them all. Such a show off!

This what it says on the door to the Tardis

I love paper piecing...USUALLY.

My seam ripper was used more on this paper pieced block than I've used it all year.

It went this way when it should have gone that way...rip, rip, rip.

Whoops, wrong fabric in the wrong spot...rip, rip, rip.

Crooked pieces...whatever!

I'd love to change a few things, but that's not going to happen.

You can see all the blocks Kris made HERE (I really like HER Tardis) and she'll be doing

the Around the World Blog Hop on Monday. She's worth checking out!

If you're brave enough to do some Doctor Who paper piecing you can find the patterns here:

Whims and Fancies

Trillium Design

Fandom in Stitches

Quiet Play

Only a few more days until...

I'm totally loving the Rush Hour fabrics by Studio E!

These bloggers are busy getting ready for their big day!

I wonder what That Other Lady is creating with her Rush Hour fabric???

I'm sure it is spectacular!

Tuesday, September 23

Just Let Me Quilt

I piece 2-Mary

Marjorie’s Busy Corner

Wednesday, September 24

Stitchin’ By The Lake

Buzzing and Bumbling

Lixie Makes It

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Living With Purpose

Madly Mid Mod

Coral Canyon Quilting

Thursday, September 25

Friday, September 26

The Quilting Queen Online

Quilting Quietly

Vicky Myers Creations

Monday, September 29

Grandmama’s Stories

Kris Loves Fabric

Jane’s Quilting

Life, Quilts, and Cats, too

Thimblemouse and Spouse

Creatin’ in the sticks

Bquiltin Studio

Tuesday, September 30

And this is still going on to showcase their fabulous flannel:

9/5 Riley Blake Designs - Flannel Play Dress

9/9 Quiltscapes - Pajama Pants & Pillow

9/12 Fishsticks Designs - Reversible Button Bibs

9/19 The Stitching Scientist

9/23 Sassy Quilter

9/26 Simple Simon & Co.

9/30 Fabric Mutt

10/3 Just Let Me Quilt

10/7 Jedi Craft Girl

10/10 Rose and Odin

10/14 Sew We Quilt

10/17 Haberdashery Fun

10/21 Leigh Laurel Studios

10/24 The Cottage Mama

10/28 Flannel Queen

10/31 Lucy Blaire

11/4 Riley Blake Designs Final Post + Giveaway

Thursday, September 18, 2014

A Sanctuary And Friendship Quilt

About a month ago a friend of mine asked me if I wanted to be a part of

a friendship quilt for a special friend of ours. I said, "YES" of course!

After a few emails back and forth, we came up with a design and fabric.

We wanted our friend to be able to snuggle up in this quilt and try to get her mind off

some of the yucky and troubling stuff going on with her. I had some fabric

by Moda called "Sanctuary" that was perfect both in design and its name.

(The day was a little cloudy, so the photos don't quite show how bright and cheery it is.)

It was quilted by her friend, Linda...she did an amazing job!

Linda quilted each of our names on the inside border...I love this idea!
See, there's my name...

...and Paula

...and Susan

...and Bernice

...and Vickie

We were all so excited to make this for our friend and actually had it totally put together

in less than a month...quilting included! I love all these ladies and admire their quilting skills.

Susan even made a matching pillow case to store the quilt in...what a woman!

They all got together and gave it to our friend on Wednesday (I wasn't in town, darn!)

I heard it was well loved and well deserved.

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

The Monkey Boy Creates!

A while back Monkey Boy #1 picked out some fabric for his quilt, created a design,

and drew a label for it. I finished it just in time for his birthday today.

Barbara at Coral Canyon Quilting did the stitching...sweet!

Happy Birthday to Monkey Boy #1!

The Quilt

This is the label he created which included his drawing, his signature, and the year.

I hand embroidered his design on fabric and added to the back of the quilt.

(For privacy purposes I replaced his name with "Monkey Boy")

The eye, of course, had to be red!

I think he liked it...

Tuesday, September 16, 2014

See You In September Winner

#6 - ANITA!

(An email has been sent to her)

Congratulations!

See You In September was a great hop!

Thanks for all the really nice comments everyone left...I loved them all!

Sunday, September 14, 2014

Around The World Blog Hop

Kathy at Kwilty Pleasures invited me to be a part of an
Around The World Blog Hop...sweet!

Thanks for thinking of me, Kathy! Check out her post here.

What a great opportunity to check out different blogs from all over the world...I love it!

The BIG QUESTION is...

Who am I?

Sewing has been a part of my life since I was just a kid. I've sewn wedding dresses, prom dresses, curtains, quilts, dolls, and anything else that used fabric. I'm definitely not a perfect sewer or quilter, but I have fun with the process of creating and putting it all together.

About twice a month I'm involved in blog hops with Madame Samm at Sew We Quilt. Being a part of these blog hops means there are times when I can't show the progress of what I'm working on because with my own special day to show off what I'm sewing, I don't want to spoil the surprise by posting about it before my big day. I must say that because of the blog hops, I have been challenged into making and learning things I never thought I could, such as...

Making a few of those dreaded Dresdens.

Hand embroidering on a quilt when I hadn't embroidered anything for years.

Designing a mug rug when I didn't know what a mug rug was.

Creating a pincushion or two.

What am I working on now?

I finished this for the last blog hop, See You in September.

and this

Just finished this...I love Halloween stuff!

I have a few projects for the Rush Hour Blog Hop which I can't show, yet.

I'm hosting this blog hop which starts on September 23rd...I can't wait!
All creations have to include only red, white, black, gray fabric.

This will carry something very, very important to me.

This was just plain fun to make and will be perfect for a little girl.

I'm working on a quilt for the oldest Monkey Boy. He picked out the fabric and drew his own label
for me to embroider. It should be ready in time for the Rush Hour blog hop....I hope.

There's a project in the works for the Riley Blake Flannel Exhibition Blog Tour
that involves flannel, of course. It's wonderful flannel!

My day is October 3rd and the rest of this will be on my blog.

Then, after all that, I'm off and running with Black Cat Crossing!

I'm not sure what I'll be making, but just look at this beautiful Maywood fabric!

Are you finally bored hearing about me? Sorry, but there's more!

Why do I create what I do?

Because it makes me feel good when I create something from fabric!
Plus, it is better than sitting around doing nothing.
Simple as that!

How does my creating process work?

This question made me laugh...really it did! You'd think I was a bit nuts if you saw how I sew.
I sometimes have a problem focusing on just one thing at a time.
I'm kind of like Tigger...I bounce from this to that and then off I go in a totally different direction.
I even bounce ideas off That Other Lady and she's so nice not to point out how crazy I am.
(Thank you!)
There's almost always something on my design wall and two or three (sometimes four) plastic
containers are on the floor full of the fabric I need for the next blog hop or project.
It's a very organized mess...trust me!

Then there's the dining room table that doubles as my cutting table with whatever
I'm working on, and the ironing board is usually hanging out in the kitchen.
I'm lucky my hubby tolerates all of it!

Most of what I make is all in my head and I rarely draw things out, though sometimes
I put a general idea in EQ to work from. Not all those ideas in my head work out perfectly,
but let's not talk about them...really, I'd rather not!

Quite often I see something one of YOU made and it spurs me on to make it, too.

Speaking of using something one of YOU made, the person I tagged for the Around The World Blog
Hop, Kris from Kris Loves Fabric, usually gets me all fired up to make whatever it is she's making
because she is just super duper amazing with all her creations!

Like the time she made this for a blog hop:

So I HAD to make a similar one using the same fabric line and black birds...so did Madame Samm!

This is just one of her gazillion gorgeous projects:

Then there's this beautiful yellow quilt...oh, and she has a huge garden, too!
I'm so jealous...of her quilts and garden!

Kris agreed to answer the above questions on September 22nd (next Monday) on her blog.
You'll want to see what she's working on! I've already bought the fabric to start making it, of course.

There's still hopping going on, too!