Long time gone......

I'm back and I missed you guys!!!!

           In my defense I haven't been slacking and I have good reasons for not posting. At the last time I posted my husband had gotten a new job and we were moving from Wisconsin (cold) to Ohio (also cold). I have been working in Minnesota (so bitterly cold) the last couple months and trying to settle into the new casa. This is our new house. Stop by we can sew something.

         
         All my sewing shwag was loaded up in totes and until recently I haven't been able to get to it. I had stashed my stash pretty well and my husband had no clue how much fabric there was until it all was toted. Needless to say I am not to buy any fabric until my husbands back heals from lugging all the totes to the sewing room. He sweetly painted one of the bedrooms for me and brought up my machine and fabric. This weekend I am off to Ikea to buy some storage units for the room. I have plans to convert old vanities into sewing tables and refinish my current cutting table. Many projects in the works. Pictures to come as the project evolves.
      Since I have been able to sew I started working on a charity quilt that I promised to make for Carin at Margaret's Hope Chest. I'm glad I volunteered to make a quilt for A Mother's Hope or I might have never gotten off my duff and unpacked my sewing stuff.
        Here is the project I started after looking at many many many quilt patterns during my sewing hiatus. It is effectively a large bento box. Here are some of the sites I drew inspiration from. #2 is my absolute favorite and I think mine is going to pay homage to that quilt.

http://filminthefridge.com/2009/06/24/quartered-squares-a-modified-bento-box-block-tutorial/

http://www.flickr.com/photos/julineb/12057740466/in/faves-jenib/

http://crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/2012/06/big-big-bento.htm

      And here are my pretties. 

Before Slashing

All chopped up and ready for reassembly

First few blocks coming together

I can't wait to get my sewing room all put together and my design wall back up. I imagine it is going to be many moons until the room is complete. I am linking up to WIP wednesday at Freshly Pieced!

Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Scraps so blue

Well it's been quite some time since I sat down and had much of a chance to post, mostly because I haven't had much of a chance to sew. So much has been going on in the last month.
Every year we try to go on a trip with my mother in October. Last year it was the Grand Canyon, this year it was Myrtle Beach. The day before we were leaving to soak up what was left of the sun we found out that my husband was offered a job in Ohio. So vacation turned to a good time to start planning a move. It was good to be able to relax and see family even if it wasn't very warm. I was able to hit up a few quilt shops and learn that my mother is an enabler. She is not going to help me buy less fabric, she is going to be picking bolts and egging me on.

 Relaxing at Huntington Beach State Park

 Enjoying the beach

 Selling my mother into hammock slavery

 Reducing the crab population

Last day before returning to reality

We came back and started house hunting. After seeing many houses we are in the process of buying this one. We both love it. The family that built it has loved in it for the past 45 years. We are excited to do some updating and put our personal touches on it. And Aaron promised to buy me a shiny new crow bar!

So after we put the offer on this house I promptly went into buy nothing spend nothing mode. I don't want to move it and I can't afford it. That lasted a good hour before I bought this quilt. I have got to stop going into antique malls. It was too beautiful to pass up. The stars are amazing and its all hand pieced and quilted. Pretty huge, it easily would cover a queen bed and its a completed antique quilt with minimal damage. Just needs a little soak in linen wash.

Last but not least I finished a couple blocks for Margaret's Hope chest. You can read Carin's post here. I hoped to be able to make many many blocks but I got 4 finished. And that is pretty much all the sewing i've done this month.

Blowing sunshine up my skirt

It's been a crazy busy couple weeks. A lot of things up in the air. I'm back in Ohio, trying my best to make that a permanent situation. I have haven't had enough time to do much sewing. Here is what I have been working on in the little bits of time I have had. I love it more with every star.

Linking it up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Finish It Up Friday - How to make friends and alienate neighbors

       So a couple weeks ago I got the bright idea to be a responsible adult. I made a commitment to get my teefs in order and go get a cleaning. We had been slack since we moved to Wisconsin. So off I went got my teeth cleaned, had some stuff fixed, got a crown, spent all my fabric money on dental work. Last Saturday I got my permanent crown. It felt pretty good when I left but  then again I was all jazzed up on Novocaine. I flew to Evansville, Indiana and spent the next three days not being able to open my mouth wide enough to get a spoon in. Apparently there were some bite issues that kicked me on my butt.They have now been fixed....

       In celebration of being able to eat solid food again and finally not writhing in pain I finished putting together this scrappy star quilt top last night. It is destined to the fine folks at My very own blanket in Columbus. I am now frantically working on 3 Christmas quilts for gifts that I have been putting off all year thinking Christmas is so far away. Holy Moses it is September! Where did the year go????/

      My husband is working night shift this week and has just stumbled awake from his day of sleep when I was on my way out to take pictures of this top. He kindly offered assistance in holding the quilt for the photo but he was not quite dressed for outside activities. I said you will scare the neighbors, he said I was going to put on pants. Sure you were.....

Linking up to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts....

I was scrappy, when scrappy wasn't cool.....

              This has been an interesting month. For several years my husband and I have taken part in the Route 127 yard sale across America or the Lincoln BuyWay sale. Both of these sales run through Ohio at some point. Some years they are the same weekend, some years they are not. This is our forth year going. We happened across the Lincoln BuyWay sale by accident when we lived in Ohio and from that we found out about the route 127 sale. In any event that is the kind of people we are, we would rather take vacation and hit the open road in an effort to shop in other peoples garages than go to some resort. Let me be clear that we in no way need anything. We have too much....way way too much. If anything we should take a car load to sell or just randomly leave at yard sales....like a junk fairy....maybe an idea for next year.
            Anyway back  to my point. For the last 4 years we have gone and yard saled our hearts out but never made it out of the state of Ohio. We always have big plans of going the whole length of the sale but since my husband is unable to pass up a yard sale we usually go at a rate of 30 miles a day. This year we were determined to make it out of Ohio. We started out of Columbus where I worked all summer and headed south making it into Kentucky before the sale started, Victory! Surprizingly there were alot of vinatge quilts that I came across during the sale this year. Traditionally the vintage quilts are not my thing. I am scared to hurt them and they are usually very fragile, often damaged, and are someones family heirloom. As a result the ones in good condition are crazy expensive and I don't blame them. If my great great grammy made a quilt and it held up all these years I would want alot of money too. This year we ran across alot of quilts. Some were only tops, some were completed quilts, most were in rough shape, some better than others, but as a general rule more than I was willing to spend. I'm out here buying dollar jeans I'm not a Rockefeller!
       

     
     Somewhere late in the first day in God knows where Kentucky I came across this beauty. It's only a top that was never finished. I have no idea what the pattern is, some hybrid of a nine patch and a cathedral window (Nine cathedral windows?) The woman wasn't sure what year it was made, only that her grandmother had made it and she died in the 70's. I would guess from the fabric that it was the 20's or 30's. Other than needing a cleaning it is in amazing condition. I'm not sure what it is about it that I love, the pattern, the story, the fabrics. Not sure but I would never think of putting the colors or fabrics together if I was making a quilt. But I happily paid the 40 dollars for the quilt top and think it was a steal. And its crazy big (82"x92") and all hand pieced.

     I guess what I love about it most is that it illustrated what quilting used to be about. Making something out of nothing. Piecing together old bits of dresses and shirts and making it into something useable and beautiful. I'd like to make an effort to embrace that mentality and do more with what I have. Maybe that's what I should call this quilt....My old Kentucky inspiration. So that was a very long winded way to get to this quilt I have been working on with the idea of making more out of less.

Love making these stars and love the scrappiness of it. Linking it up to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

Don't forget about the give away here until 8/25!

Blogger BOM Finale - Nine Of Diamonds

Today is the finally installment of Blogger BOM. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. It is finally my turn to share my block. I have been trying to decide what block I wanted to share. I went through several options. Originally I wanted to share a vintage blocked called the Polaris Star. In the end I couldn't make it work. I ended up coming up with this block which I believe is original. If it is a block I am not familiar with I would love to know what its called. I have been calling this block "Niine of Diamonds"

To start you need to cut your fabrics

In this example I used the following fabrics

(A) Pink Flower Print In 9 Patch                    (1) 2.5" x 8"       (1) 2.5" x 2.5"

(B) Multi Colored Floral Print in 9 Patch        (2) 2.5" x 8"

(C) Blue Border for 9 Patch                           (1) 1.5" x WOF

(D) Dark Pink Corner Pieces                         (2) 2.5" X 2.5"

(E) Grey and White Print Boarder                  (1) 2.0" X WOF

The fabric for this block is quick to cut and comes together easily. To start take one 8" strip of fabric (A) and (B) and sew together.

Square up the end of the joined pieces and cut off 2.5"

Set aside the 2.5" piece you cut off. Sew the second 8" strip of fabric (B) onto the remaining piece on the other side of fabric (A)

Cut two 2.5" strips from the sewn strips.

Sew the 2.5" square of fabric (A) to the 2 piece unit from step two and assemble the 9 patch block as shown below.

The finished 9 patch block

Add fabric (c) to two sides of the 9 patch block. Trim the fabric flush with the 9 patch.

Sew fabric (C) to the remaining two sides of the 9 patch and trim flush to the 9 patch. Set the 9 patch unit aside.

Sew one piece of fabric (E) to each of fabric square (D). Trim flush to the squares.

Sew a piece of fabric (E) to the remaining side of the above units. You will end up with fabric square (D) surrounded by fabric (E)

Cut these units on the diagonal to end up with 4 corner pieces.

Sew the corner pieces on using the seems on the blue surround as a guide.

Trim down the corners of the blue surround.

Add the remaining 2 corner units and trim down the block to 9.5" square.

I love how they look all together!!! I think this would make a great quilt with a common fabric for (C) to tie the quilt together.

As usual there is a prize to be won. I had to go to one of my favorite fabric stores in Columbus to buy these fabrics. I cheated on my fabric diet a wee bit.... The lucky winner will get a one yard cut of each of these prints from Moda, Central Park by Kate Spain.

To win be a follower and leave a comment as to which block from the Blogger BOM is your favorite. The winner will be picked on 8/25/13.

Here is a list of all the participants of the BOM

Date	Name	Blog
Sept 15th 2012	Carin & Carol	Margarets Hope Chest
Oct 15th 2012	Jenny	Sew Kind Of Wonderful
Nov 15th 2012	Jennifer M	Ellison Lane Quilts
Dec 15th 2012	Natalie	Craftin Mechanic
Jan 15th 2013	Stefanie	Little Lady Patchwork
Feb 1st 2013	Jennifer I	Knotted Thread
Feb 15th 2013	Sandra	Sharp Quilts
Mar 15th 2013	Nicole K	Patchwork Duck Designs
April 1st 2013	Bree	Distant Pickles
Apr 15th 2013	Tracey	Itching 2 B Stitching
May 15th 2013	Felicity	Felicity Quilts
June 15th 2013	Erin	Billy Button Design
July 15th 2013	Nicole N	Mama Love Quilts
Aug 15th 2013	Dhia	Peach Patch Quilts

Here is a button you can grab and put on your blog to make sure you don't miss a single post.

<center> <a <span class="<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">goog</span>-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">href</span></span>="http://<span class="<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">goog</span>-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">thepeachpatch</span></span>.<span class="<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">goog</span>-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">blogspot</span></span>.com/2012/08/blogger-block-of-month-blog-hop.html" target="_blank"><<span class="<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">goog</span>-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">img</span></span> alt=" Peach Patch Quilts " <span class="<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">goog</span>-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">src</span></span>="http://i1144.<span class="<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">goog</span>-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">photobucket</span></span>.com/albums/o481/barnbabe13/3ecc08b0.<span class="<span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">goog</span>-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><span class="goog-spellcheck-word" style="background-color: yellow; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">jpg</span></span>" /></a></center>

I have also started a Flickr group to show off all the pretties you make.

Blogger Block Of The Month Flickr Group

If you would like to donate any blocks you make during this blog hop please mail them to the address below.
Donated blocks will be sewn into quilts for Margaret's Hope Chest.

Peach Patch Quilts

P.O. Box 0012

Sullivan, WI 53178

Fresh Finish Friday!

This is a quilt top I have been working on for my step daughter Ellie. She is getting ready to go off to school this fall. All grown up and headed off to college. The pattern is an interpretation of Curlicue Crush by Chasing Cottons.  I wasn't sure if I wanted to go with the curves so I made some templates and started playing around with it. The cutting and piecing was slow going with this quilt. The seems hide a lot of sewing and cutting sins. I was compulsively buying purple and grey fabric for months. I wanted to use a different fabric for each swirly. I have a whole bunch of extra grey and purple fabric now. Now I just have to quilt this bad boy up. 

The backing is from Connecting Threads and its called Crystalline. They are sold out of a much of this collection which makes me sad cause there are so many prints I wish I would have bought. They still have this in an awesome Midnight Blue Color. 

I had trouble finding an area big enough to take a picture of this quilt. I need to figure out a hanging/pulley  system so I can take pictures outside by myself. In the meantime I have tried many locations inside. I made sure the dogs were outside and then blocked off the doorway to take pictures of the quilt. I forgot that I have a furry jerk living in my house.....

and his partner in crime....

Outsmarted by the cats. I accept defeat......

Linking up to Finish it up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts....

Don't forget about the $20 Connecting Threads gift certificate giveaway HERE!!!