Nuture Do.Good.Stitches July Block

It is my month again for the Nurture circle of Do.Good.Stitches charity quilt. Since 4th of July is right around the corner I took inspiration from this quilt, called Americana Rose.

 I switched around the colors some and removed the 4 patch blocks. 

For these blocks I would like you to select  Cherry red, White and Royal blue prints that are tone on tone or solids. You can choose one fabric of each color or raid your scrap bin. 

Cut the following from your fabrics. 

A - BLUE - 3.5" X 6.5" - (4)

B - BLUE - 4.5" X 4.5" (4)

C - BLUE - 3.5" X 3.5" (4)

D - BLUE - 1.5" X 2.5" (20)

E - BLUE - 1.5" X 1.5" (20)

F - RED - 1.5" X 1.5" (40)

G - RED - 2.5" X 2.5" (5)

H - WHITE - 3.5" X 3.5" (8)

I - WHITE - 6.5" X 6.5" (1)

Step 1: Using A and H sew together 4 flying geese blocks

Step 2: Take the  flying geese you created and lay them out with C and I blocks in the pattern below.

Step 3: Sew together each row of pieces pressing toward the solid squares

Step 4: Sew together each row with the seams nesting

The final big star will look like this - kapow!

 And will finish up at 12.5" x 12.5"

For your second block you are going to create many many flying geese (so sorry!!!!)

Step 1 - Take your D and F pieces and create 20 wee mini flying geese....

Step 2 - Take 4 of the mini geese you created in the last step and add together with 1-G square and 4-E squares and lay out in the orientation below.

Step 3: Sew together each row of pieces pressing toward the solid squares

Step 4: Sew together each row with the seams nesting

 Repeat 5 times and you will end up with blocks looking like the ones below

Step 5 - Lay out your red and blue stars you just created with 4-B blocks.

Step 6: Sew together each row and press toward the solid blocks

Step 7 - Sew each row together and next the seams.

The resulting block will look like the finished square below.

It will finish at 12.5" square

Please send them to me at the address below.

Dhia Peach

519 Smith Road

Fremont, Ohio 43420

freshly pieced

Going through withdrawl....

My machine is on the mend. It is at the shop getting fixed and tuned up. Before I broke it I was able to finish up these two tops. 

This is the top for the March Nurture Circle of do.Good.Stitches, Triple Irish Chain pattern is an old but a goody. I love how it turned out.

Here is the top again outside in the spring sunshine.

I finished up this baby quilt top for the newest little peach. I couldn't get it to lay flat. It may not be as square as I had hoped. I figure the quilting will smooth it out. 

Linking it up to Finish it up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

Growing and growing.....

I'm growing, the baby is growing and this baby quilt is growing. One of several baby quilts in process. Hopefully I will get these done before the baby gets here!

Linking it up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Arrrrggggg I found some booty....

I was cleaning up last night. Technically I was searching for fabric to go with this quilt I finished up for my step daughter Gabby. I am looking to make a coordinating pillow case. It is hard to believe that with all the fabric I have, I don't have the right fabric. Or at least I don't have a large enough chunk of blue or red to make a pillow case. I am pretty sure I can find some in my stash but maybe I am being toooooo picky. I am getting no sympathy from my husband on my fabric stash woes. 

 So I was digging in the last couple totes of fabric and crafts that I haven't yet put away and I unearthed some buried treasure, or booty if you will. Some time ago Moda came out with charm packs that were 2.5" square, they called them candy. I got the bright idea to start a swap and call it I want candy. The idea was that you would get 5 partners and you would send each 50 2.5" squares that you had cut from your stash. In the end you would end up with 250 different fabric squares to play with and enjoy. About the same time there was a quilt floating around the interwebs called a scrap vomit quilt.

http://poppymakes.blogspot.com/2012/10/drunk-quilt-scrap-vomit-and-tova.html

Although this is not my puppy dog, it is a very cute English Springer Spaniel much like my dog Turkey. So anyway the craze for candy was in, I hosted a swap, and was cutting 2.5" squares out of all my fabrics. At some point the hype died down and I put the squares in a shoe box for a rainy day when I decided what to do with them. Yesterday I stumbled upon the box in question.

Holy scrap! That is a lot of squares! The timing couldn't be better as I am currently working on a triple Irish chain quilt, which turns out to be the basis of a scrap vomit quilt.

So I will be adding these to my quilt of scrappy goodness. But in the meantime I saw something shiny online and decided to try one or two blocks. It is a great way to use up my scraps that are less than 2.5"

Paper pieced Wild & Goosey Blocks. Just like that another WIP is born.

Linking up to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and TGIFF

The creature from scrap lagoooooon

I can't decide if I love this project or hate it. I have been cutting my scraps into 2.5" squares and using them as leaders and enders on my machine. I had no business starting another project with several still needing to be finished up. There are some old favorites in these blocks and some really ugly questionable fabric choices. A find walk down fabric memory lane. I am trying to make something useful out of all the scraps I have horded over the years. Maybe I should have picked a color scheme, but maybe the lack of structure is what makes it fun. The blocks patchwork blocks are 49 2.5" squares with no duplicate fabrics in each. The white blocks have 12 2.5" squares along with the white pieces. I am going to have to find a source for the large white squares outside of my scrap bin. Finished blocks are pretty chunky at 14.5" We will see how it ends up.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

The stars at night are big and bright....

Revisiting a long time WIP that I made some headway on this week. In cleaning and sorting fabrics I found a piece to finish a star that I was short on. I could not for the life of me remember where or when I bought the fabric and I was one tiny piece short. I had about given up when I found an old orphan block that had the missing fabric. Happy as a clam!!!! I started running out of quilt Pati's pieces so I had to start joining some stars.

 On the completed front I finished up the quilt for my step daughter Michelle. I have been trying to get a decent picture of the quilt but the weather has not been cooperating. My husband and I rigged up an interior quilt hanging rod for pictures. 

This quilt goes with this pillow case. One more WIP scratched off the list!

Linking it up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Crazy Mom Quilts , Confessions of a fabric Addict and My Quilt Infatuation

Week In progress!!!

I have had the good fortune to be home this week and not traveling. Needless to say my evenings have been spent in my sewing room. Here is what I am working on this week. 

 My weekly WIP is a pastel scrappy star quilt inspired by this Spring Cleaning Quilt. I originally intended it to be a quilt for our master bedroom. But at some point I decided it was not the direction I wanted to go for our bedroom. I still don't know what direction that is. I decided to make this a baby quilt. I have enough centers for 5 stars and enough of the other pieces for 4 stars. I bit the bullet this week and put one together. I will see how I like the size of the quilt with 4 stars and may add more. 

My finish this week is for Do.Good.Stitches Nurture Circle. The directions for the block can be found here. I find that I don't have as many solids in my stash as are needed whenever a project comes up. So I used prints that were as close to tone on tone as I had in my scrap bin. I also find that wonky blocks make me a little edgy. I think it is just the fact that I am left with a lot of little scraps and I haven't figured out what to do with them yet. This will be sent off to make a lovely quilt for My Very Own Blanket. Can't wait to see how it turns out. I am the quilter next month so I need to come up with a block quick! 

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

Showing my stash who's boss.....

          When we moved back to Ohio and bought our new house I was able to snag one of the bedrooms for a craft room. Over the past year I have painted, decorated and selected furniture. I am now kicking my fabric organization into high gear. My husband said he is putting down his foot and I can't buy any more fabric until I get all my fabric unpacked and put away. The nerve!!!!

           In malicious compliance I spent most of the weekend folding fabric, adding to my scrap pile and putting it all away. My fabric addiction will not be stopped. I still have a long way to go but at least I am making progress. During my fabric folding fiesta I was taking breaks and cutting my scraps into a few specific size pieces. I've decided to fold fabric to 6.5" x 11" pieces. The only exception is large multi yard pieces that are too large to cooperate. Anything smaller than 6.5" x 11" goes to the scrap bin.

            From the scrap bin I have been cutting down 5" squares if the piece will allow, anything smaller than that I cut into 2.5" squares. So I have two growing piles of squares that will be easier to use for scrap projects. Anything that is smaller than 2.5" and larger than 1" goes into the bin I will be using for small scraps and strings. I figure this way I am more likely to produce projects if the squares are already cut.

     I am not sure what the 5" squares are going to be used for

These are headed toward a leader-ender project, eventually ending in a triple irish chain quilt. Some fabrics I love, some are so ugly I wonder how they ended up in my stash.

 The 2.5" squares get paired up and are used as leader enders

These squares will end up 7 squares by 7 squares. I am trying to use all different fabrics in each block. 

Other than sorting and cutting squares I have been working on the February block for my Do.Good.Stitches circle. This is a wonky block which is turning out pretty good. I am not so comfortable with the wonky process but I am trying to enjoy it more. The request was for solids but my stash is lacking in that area so I tried to pick prints that were tone on tone or at very least read as one color.

In the end the block should look like the picture below. The instructions for the block are here if you wish to make this block at home. 

Another project I accomplished while I sifting through my fabric this weekend was my first completed pillowcase. I am making these to package the quilts I made for my stepdaughters. I learned the technique on my last trip to My Very Own Blanket workshop. I still haven't put a pillow inside. I guess I should before I count this a success,

 Here is a detail shot of the cuff of the pillowcase. I find I have a shameful number of colors of this same fabric pattern. I love this Art Gallery fabric print!

 I am linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced and Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts

January Do.Good.Stitches Block

Well looking at the last time I posted I am the worst blogger ever!!! I have a list of excuses I can provide if you would like. I have been sewing a lot in an effort to get some projects done. Old man winter was keeping me from photographing them. I was able to get some indoor pictures of some of the projects that am kinda happy with. I am hoping to be able to post more regularly in the coming months. 

Below are the picture of the first block for do.good.stitches this year, I had the chance to go and sew at the blanket workshop in Columbus for My Very Own Blanket. They have moved into a new fantastic location. If you have projects or materials this is a great charity to donate to. 

This month we did a quilt as you go block. It was a pretty large block but a good way to use up some scraps. I have way to many scraps and am always looking for a way to squash my stash. The how to link is here if you want to follow along and make your own.

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Another one bites the dust!

Last week was our one year House-A-Versairy (made up words I know). Over the past year since we have moved I have been working on my craft room. Refinishing the floors, painting, buying and hating many sets of curtains, rugs and furniture have been purchased and assembled. So much time and money has been spent working on this room and alas I am not yet done. I am close! I just have fabric to put away and design wall and quilt hanger to hang. Once the finishing touches are in place I will post pictures. 

During this process I have come across a number of WIP's that were shoved away with the best of intentions of completion some day. I decided that enough is enough and have started wrapping them up for good.

This quilt is for one of my step daughters. I have had the stars done for some time but couldn't decide on the layout. The more I tried the more I hated it. I bought several different fabrics to use as solid blocks in between the stars but could never decide on one I liked. I decided to switch gears and start sewing in a direction I thought I would like. The final top is not the original vision or even the 5th vision but I think it works well and isn't too busy. I may add another strip of fabric to the top and bottom for length, as of now the quilt is 72" x 82". Once it is quilted I am going to lose some in both directions. Now to pick the backing fabric (I have several good choices) and quilt it up. I just have to keep reminding myself that its only fabric and no one is as critical as I am.

It did remind me how much I love my fancy new Janome that I got last year for Christmas. These blocks were made on my old Bernina. The stitching is not nearly as nice on the old girl and the piecing was starting to come apart at the edges. As a side note look at the shiny, beautiful refinished floors! We have 4 bedrooms down and one to go! Thanks to my husband for all his hard work on the house this last year. 

Linking it up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Slow and steady......

I've been plugging along on my hexie stars. It is my newest hand carry scrap quilt project. I am using quilt Pati's and haven't joined these together yet as I still have template pieces. I showed these to my mother a few weeks ago and the first thing she said was I hate the purple one. Ahhhhh I know mom, I know there isn't enough contrast between the fabrics. I decided since she said something unprovoked that it wasn't just my own brand of crazy, it was at very least a genetic defect.  

I took apart the purple star and added pink fabric and it looked much better. I also had the blue star (now with the orange fabric) originally had the fabric around it that is now surrounding the red star. It also didn't have enough contrast and was picked apart. On the plus side the templates make it easy to recycle the pieces into another star. I'm at 10 stars. By my math I can make another 10 before I have to start joining them to get some template pieces back. Unless I have lost some in my travels or decide to buy more the next time I am in Columbus. All are valid options....Happy Monday! 

Linking up to Monday Morning Star Count @ Life Under Quilts.
Linking up to WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced

This block makes me want to punch a puppy.....

This is the October block for the Nurture circle of Do.Good.Stitches. It is a Moda bakeshop pattern and you can find it here. When I first saw the pattern I thought kick ass, I really like it...and I do, but it has so many pieces. My circle was making the smallest one, so 64 2" squares. So many HST, so much trimming and much piecing. Let me be honest this is an eye crossing, swear spewing, time consuming block. Looks great when you are finished and I think if I I was making one of the bigger ones it would be much more rewarding. These are finished and going in the mail. Maybe one day I will make the big one but for now I need a break from this pattern. God speed evil blocks, may you make a beautiful quilt for a lucky foster kiddo. 

Linking up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced & Finish It Up Friday @ Crazy Mom Quilts

***No puppies were punched in the making of these blocks***

Keep on tinkering.......

I started making HST for this quilt. Originally it was intended to be all blue and low volume fabrics. I didn't have a strong reason as to why but I saw this quilt at Sew Crafty Jess and loved it.

As the stack of HST grew I started adding purple fabrics and playing with the layouts. 

I even tried the crazy no plan lay out that made my eye twitch. We started refinishing our floors last week and I lost my layout area. I have a bad habit of not planning out the number of pieces needed for a quilt and ending up with way too many. I was trying to avoid that and I had no floor space or design wall to work with so I started sewing. I also added green to the mix at some point.

I wasn't paying close enough attention and changed the layout some, so the seems in the colored areas are all running parallel instead of making squares. I think the colors it ended up with look lighter and more youthful. I'm still on the fence so to speak but I am not ripping apart these blocks!

Linking up to 

WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

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Fresh Sewing Day at Lily's Quilts