Just Let Me Quilt

Thursday, September 7, 2023

Where The Heck Does Time Fly To

I really don't understand how time flies so quickly now that I'm not a kid anymore. Where the heck does it fly to? When I was young, it seemed like a million hours until summer came and school got out. The same thing was true for how long it took to turn 18 and be free to do what I want. Yeah, the "do what I want" part never happened.

Me on my 18th birthday, ready to be a free woman! LOL

The last few months have been spent mostly traveling back and forth by car and plane to Ohio. My heart broke last year when my youngest daughter, SIL, and grandkids moved way, way, way east to Ohio. After being used to them living close by for so long, it was a shock to my system to have them leave. I'm adjusting, but I'm not happy about it.

Now my oldest daughter is moving there...nooooo! I got to spend eight days with her trying to get settled in a condo. When my youngest grandson saw the condo for the first time, he said, "It's amazing! It looks like a castle!" Yes, it does, sort of. It was built in 1928 as an apartment building, but was converted to condos. It's all very vintage.

This is what you have to use to call up to the rooms.

This is what is in the room to answer and buzz people up.

Thank goodness for these helpers in setting up the only piece of furniture in the condo. The truck with all her belongings never made it while we were there. We finally got the news that it was next week so we flew home. When we landed, we got news that the truck will arrive in "3 to 5 days" or so they say. Ugh! She'll be flying back without me.

The couch was comfy, thank goodness, because that's where we slept for five of the eight days.

Unusual figures of pigs and flowers are stamped in the plaster.

The attic is where the storage units are...way too creepy for me!

Definitely don't want to go up there at night and alone.

Now that I'm home, I have lots of sewing to catch up on.

First on the list...It's A Dog's Life Blog Hop.

It's going to be so much fun with these bloggers who met the challenge!

SEPTEMBER 18

SEPTEMBER 19

SEPTEMBER 20

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

SEPTEMBER 21

Friday, August 25, 2023

Flashback Friday And It's A Dog's Life

I love checking old posts for a flashback of some of my sewing projects. This quilt was from a post in April 2014 that shows almost all the pets I had up until that point. I'm a sucker for stray dogs, which is why my newest baby, Charlie, was a foster fail.

I'm not sure, but I think there is a secret neon sign on my house that says,

"Lost or Stray Pets Welcome Here!"

Using a pattern by Amy Bradley, I made a few modifications to the animals.

The front of the quilt has 11 dogs, 7 cats, a bunny, and an iguana, all made using Dr. Seuss fabrics,

including the Lorax fabrics. Each pet's name is hand embroidered on the appliqued collar.

Besides the dogs and cats, the quilt includes the names of our snakes, bunnies, hedgehogs and hamsters.

(Only a few hamsters made the list because there was only so much room on my quilt.)

It's a wonderful memory quilt of all our pets (minus the gazillion pet rats we had.)

The back of the quilt has a hedgehog, snake, a hamster, and my label created by my oldest grandson.

Speaking of pets...

There is still time to sign-up for "It's A Dog's Life."

Let me know if you want to play along!

Thursday, August 24, 2023

It's Okay To Call Me Crazy Blog Hop

When Joan at Moosestash Quilting told me her idea for a blog hop, I told her it was perfect for me because I'm already crazy. (It's also perfect for Joan, but don't tell her I said that.)

Actually, this blog hop isn't about my mental state (or Joan's, or yours, or anybody else for that matter), it's about the challenge Joan came up with for this blog hop.

THE CHALLENGE:

Have you ever started something that you found yourself asking,

am I "Crazy" or what?

Do you have a project or technique, that you are "Crazy" in love with?

Got a "Crazy" story about a project to share?

Over the years I've tried some new sewing techniques that definitely had me saying, "Am I crazy or what?" My plan for this blog hop challenge was to share a technique I'm crazy in love with. If you follow my blog at all, you know that applique is my favorite thing to do.

All would have been well and good if I had stuck to just a simple applique project. But, no, as I said, I'm crazy and had to pick a pieced pattern that I thought would be fun to add applique to. It drove me crazy!

This is called "Fourteen Squared" by Hunter's Design Studio

You can find it HERE.

This is my version with appliqued stars.

So why did it drive me crazy?

I don't follow pattern directions very well (ask Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks...she KNOWS!)

They have to be easy to read and understand, like for a five year old.

The directions were really good for this, so it was just me.

I went crazy trying to keep same fabrics apart. You know how it is.

Move one and suddenly you have to move five more.

I got confused by the block directions because they were all so different.

The pattern is actually quite nice, but I struggled with all those pieces.

For those of you who love quilts with a gazillion pieces, more power to you.

As for me, fewer pieces are better.

I love that fabric, though! I went shopping at Sew Yeah with Carla when she was in town and bought a fat quarter bundle of this unusually colored designs of patriotic fabrics. It is "Stars and Stripes" by Paintbrush Studios.

I'm crazy about any quilt when it's on my machine and ready to quilt.

I am crazy about those appliqued stars in that fabric.

Be sure to check out all the other crazy people/projects happening this week!

Monday August 21

Tuesday August 22

Happy Cottage Quilter

Wednesday August 23

Thursday August 24

Wednesday, August 23, 2023

Call Me Crazy Blog Hop Challenge

We all have some crazy in us, but this blog hop hosted by Joan at Moosestash Quilting is about sewing/quilting crazy.

THE CHALLENGE:

Have you ever started something that you found yourself asking,

am I "Crazy" or what?

Do you have a project or technique, that you are "Crazy" in love with?

Got a "Crazy" story about a project to share?

Go check out the crazy ladies and their answer to the challenge!

Monday August 21

Tuesday August 22

Happy Cottage Quilter

Wednesday August 23

MooseStashQuilting Guest Post

Thursday August 24

Friday, August 11, 2023

Flashback Friday Restless Raven's Room

Flashback Friday is this fun mini quilt I created for Wicked Wednesday on our Facebook Cackling Stitches group page in 2021.

Restless Raven's Room

12" x 14"

You can find Restless Raven's Room in my Etsy store HERE.

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Sun Sand And Sew With Flamingal Pals

I created a quilt design for Benartex's "Flamingal Pals" by Andi Metz.

"Flamingal Pals" is being released this month and I can't wait to to make this!

You might recognize Beach Boy Freddie in there.

He's having a good time sewing with his pal!

Sun, Sand, and Sew

Look how cute these fabrics are!

You can find "Sun, Sand, and Sew" in my Etsy store HERE.

Tuesday, August 1, 2023

Which Way To Witchville August Blocks

"Which Way to Witchville" August blocks are here!

This is the last month...I'm so sad to see it end.

But don't you worry, we're already throwing spells and potions around to get ready for 2024!

Which Way to Witchville

48" x 64"

I used Benartex "Halloween Spirit" and Benartex "Cotton Shot" in my quilt.

I love to use solids when I applique!

Check out Joan of Moosestash Quilting's version HERE and Carla of Creatin' in the Sticks HERE.

It's amazing how different it can look with other fabrics.

January block:

"Town Square" by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks can be found HERE.

February blocks:

"An Apple A Day" by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt can be found HERE.

"Witchville Bakery" by Joan at Moosestash Quilting can be found HERE.

March blocks:

"Witchville Gala Night" by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt can be found HERE.

"Flying Lessons" by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks can be found HERE.

Flying Geese by Joan at Moosestash Quilting can be found HERE.

April blocks:

"Winona Grimm" by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt can be found HERE.

"Cauldron Cafe" by Joan at Moosestash Quilting can be found HERE.

"The Magic Wand Salon" by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks can be found HERE.

May blocks:

"Beware of Witchville" by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt can be found HERE.

"Village Cobbler" by Joan at Moosestash Quilting can be found HERE.

June blocks:

"Creepy Carol's Cottage" by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt can be found HERE.

"Spell Binders " by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks can be found HERE.

"Wicked Witch" by Joan at Moosestash Quilting can be found HERE.

July Blocks

"Wanda's Wicked Broom" by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt can be found HERE.

"Scream and Stitch" by Joan at Moosestash Quilting can be found HERE.

"Rose's Ride" by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks can be found HERE.

August's Blocks

"Belinda's Beastly Broom" by Carol at Just Let Me Quilt can be found HERE.

"Carla's Pumpkin Palace" by Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks can be found HERE.

"Chester" by Joan at Moosestash Quilting can be found HERE.

How does our Which Way to Witchville BOM work?

The 2023 "Which Way to Witchville" BOM runs from January 1st through September 30th.

All block releases happen on our Cackling Stitches Facebook page HERE.

We even give you the fabric requirements early to help you conjure/gather your fabrics.

You can find it HERE.

It's not a mystery BOM. We show you each of our finished quilts!

On the first day of each month, we release a block pattern (sometimes it's more than one)

that is free for the entire calendar month. After that, those blocks go into our

ETSY shops where you can purchase them for $2 each.

New and free block(s) then appear for the new month...and so on, and so on.

So, what is "NEW" and never been done by us?

Beginning January 1st, the ENTIRE pattern is available in each of our ETSY shops for $15.

We've had so many people ask us if they can buy the whole thing at once, so we decided to go for it.

If you can't wait for each block release or you don't have a Facebook page, this is for you!

We hope you appreciate the time we put into creating this BOM and understand that we keep

the costs to a minimum for you. We ask that you respect our copyrights and do not share the

pattern with others. You're welcome to direct your friends to our Cackling Stitches Group

Facebook or any of our ETSY shops so they can get their own patterns starting January 1st.

Just Let Me Quilt Etsy Store HERE.

Moosestash Quilting Blog HERE.

Moosestash Quilting Etsy Store HERE.

Creatin' in the Sticks Blog HERE.

Creatin' in the Sticks Etsy Store HERE.

Things went haywire on my subscriber emails, so if you signed up before June 2023 to receive

emails, please resign up. I wouldn't want you to miss any info on blog hops or BOMs!