DAY ONE! | VIRTUAL QUILT FEST 2023! 🧵❤

Sew Expo: Day 1 Introduction & Deals

OOH! AHH!

I haven't been in sewing room in three weeks!  I moved everything out four weeks ago, SO wanted to fix some drywall. The second week we went away on vacation. When we returned I decided to go ahead and repaint my room a lighter color while everything was out of it, which lead to painting all the baseboards too.  I started moving things back in last week and reorganizing.  I am almost done.  yea me!

This past Saturday a friend and I did the Quilters' Quest Shop Hop -Maryland and Northern Virginia.  We were supposed to start last Saturday but I got in late Friday night from my trip.  So we decided to just hit as many as we could this past Saturday.  we started out at 815 am

So at each shop you had to find a certain item and then you were given a prize, it was a magnet.  you can see them in all the pics.  each shop had their own pattern that you also received.

First stop  Bear's Paw Fabrics, this is what I bought.

then off to Patches Quilting and Sewing

then Capital Quilts, I purchased a button that says "starched into submission"  there were ladies there from the local guild selling raffles, of course I bought tickets.  This shop had a lot of Aboriginal material and quilts on display.  BEAUTIFUL  I didn't think to ask if I could take pics.

So now it's about 2 o'clock we are making good time,  we thought we would only get in these three, but mapping on google we could stop at the one I really wanted to go to.

Jinny Beyer  yes!

love her border fabric, I contained myself and just bought a little, I could have gone overboard in here.

so much eye candy.  and we were greeted by her.  I am such a @#$#ass I didn't think to get a pic with her either!  that's ok  I'll go back.

So we stopped for a quick lunch and off to yet another shop.

Cottonseed Crabby Quilter

I was still thinking about that Aboriginal fabric, they had a small sampling. so I picked up a fat quarter  (the one on right) it has crabs on it.  we ran into the bus group at this store, and they must of cleaned up.

This was a fun adventure and will do it again next year.  In total we spent about 10 hours driving and shopping.

Thanks for stopping by,  anna

P's school silent auction

so I spent the last to days with Adele, Eleanor, and Kona

this has to be done by next week, granddaughters school silent auction fundraiser.  OH BOY

was asked about a week ago, had to wait for Adele to join the party.

I saw the STARBURST quilt on Confessions of a fabric addict blog and loved it.

So here is what I did

I think i need to move some of the lights around??  anyway this is where I am on this.

thanks for looking,  anna

PINK please

So this is the last of the three to be gifted to the nieces, just need to wash and iron on label.(tomorrow)

Pink for the backing

and used the print on the fabric to quilt it, not great but still practice

will enter this as 2nd finish over on amyscreativeside.com for the bloggers quilt festival.  

Thanks for stopping by,  anna

Matchsticks Lakeshore

I posted the start of this quilt back in May. 
Now DONE, with Label and washed so now I can enter it into the Blogger's Quilt Festival hosted by Amy Ellis @amyscreativeside.com  yeah me

I finished it a bit ago but just put the label on.  I have one more to complete, and I just finished quilting it tonight.  tomorrow i will finish binding and I already have the label for that one done.   I have waited to gift these because there are three that will go to nieces who are sisters, I want them to receive them all at the same time.  It feels good to be getting the last one done.

Today I spent the day at a quilt gathering had a good time and  Pat Delaney was the speaker. YEAH

There were quilts on display and it was amazing the talent from the ladies here in Delaware.  I should have taken a picture of one that just floored me.  An all hand sewn YO-YO quilt that was about a twin size, I can't even imagine doing that.  It was awesome.

Thanks for reading, anna

Summer is over

     Well,  1)  Summer is over,  2) no more 11 hr days at work.  I only got down to the beach twice this year.  Hardly had anytime to sew.  I mostly bought fabric and downloaded patterns and watched a lot of tutorials.  Oh and I bought (treated myself) to a new machine and table.  So now I am prepared for the fall and winter months ahead.  I have finished this quilt for our State Employees Charitable Campaign.

this one i want to try applique on the borders, question is do I add the applique to border first so that I can do it at work on a smaller piece or add borders and drag the whole thing to work?  This is a Fat Quarter Shop Free Pattern.   CHARM PACK CHERRY only I made mine bigger and it is turned on its side.

made this bag about a week ago.  The Sew Together Bag  will be making more for Christmas gifts.

trying EPP again I gave up the last time I did it. I am a lot further this time. I am getting better with each round.  something to do at work I also bought some embroidery floss to try my hand at that again too

So with summer over I have been very busy. Last weekend a co-worker and I went to Philly to fabric row didn't even know of it.  She mostly did apparel but now into quilting.  this is what I came home with.

and finally getting around to quilting this one.  I started this before the long hrs started at work but didnt have time or energy to work on it.  easy pattern and I am sorry I will have to look for the name and give credit later, i put it away and don't remember where.  I know I saw it on another blog.  

I hope everyone had a great summer and I am glad to be back in the mix.

as always, thanks for stopping by  Anna

Time to get serious

I have sooo.. many tops unfinished, I have told myself it's time to get serious about finishing them.
I did get this one finished.  (about a month and a half ago) just need to label and wash it. What am i waiting for??

Started this one on Monday.  I should've started it a lot sooner. YIKES the bridal shower is tomorrow.  I ordered something else from her registry so I will get it done before the wedding. She is having a beach venue and the colors say beach to me.  I like the pattern, but decided to change it.

I first did this layout, it was okay.

then did this layout

I like the random layout of this, so I will go with this one.  Both were kits from Craftsy.  I had bought them last December.  These are for my other half's niece's.  It was his suggestion that it would be nice if I made them quilts.  It was already on my mind, they both had just bought houses.

These two really need to be finished and get out the door.

Then I will work on quilting the string quilt from over a year ago, so that I can offer it up as a raffle item at our annual State Employees Charitable Campaign, which will be starting soon.

I had planned to go to Lancaster tomorrow, but looking at the weather now  I may have to wait till next weekend.

Hope everyone has a great Mother's Day.

anna

sewing for charity

I started this post on April 17, and just now getting around to finishing it.

I finished these up today,( well that was on April 17 )

these are for Safelight Project 2018  https://frommycarolinahome.com/    I have five to send.

Next I will get some blocks together for Covered in Love.  and get them out the door http://katandcatquilts.blogspot.com/2018/02/new-covered-in-love-block-drive.html

OOPS I was in a hurry to get these to the post office I forgot to snap pics of the blocks,  here is the fabric I used. 

both packages are on there way now.💖

thanks for stopping by,  anna

my new granddaughter's quilt

yesterday I posted the fabric that I had picked out for a pattern I had seen on  Pieced Brain's blog,  It is the English Garden pattern in the publication Quilter's World.  What drew me to this was that it is quilts to make in a day.  I procrastinated too long in making a quilt for the granddaughter who will be arriving on March 22.  So I started it late yesterday afternoon.

I could have had it all sewn together if I had begun earlier in the day.  The only issue (my issue) is that I could spend a week deciding how to arrange the smaller half-square triangles. LOL

Thanks again, Denise for the inspiration, this really went together fast.

I look forward to seeing what everyone else is doing this week.  have a great day, anna

What I have been up to

Well, first about three weeks ago my neighbor came over with a box, hum  and said you sew.  (me) thinking to myself not really, but asked anyway what do you have. He showed me what he wanted done, he had ribbon, some bar pins, and some O rings.   oh and could I get them done by March. At first he only had a few, so I made a couple examples for him. He said great, I'll order more supplies.  last Tuesday the O rings finally came in. I made about 55 of them for his Charity Event.

Next,  My niece purchased her first home, so I asked what was her color scheme, I was told French County Chic.  Cream, gray and beige  so I was looking through Craftsy and found this kit.

Carpenter's Star in High Society fabric

just have the inner border and corner stones to go.  there is enough fabric left over maybe some pillows too.

third, just making some bright blocks to take away the winter blues.

and finally, picked out the fabric for the new granddaughter, who will be here March 22, I saw a pattern on Pieced Brain's blog that she uploaded to Crazy mom quilts, Finish it up Fridays link.  It is in the publication Quilter's World, I will be making the English Garden pattern. It was quilts to make in a day.

Thanks Denise. So that is the plan for today.

as always thanks for stopping by,  anna

Flock of Geese part 2

so this is where I am at,  decision time about the borders.  I thought that I would go with the big blocks of color , Nope didn't like it.

I am gonna add at least a 1 1/2 inch white 1st border then what should I do about the 2nd one?

long blocks of color, medium or small  with/ or with out the added alternating white?
This is a queen size so these blocks will fall to the side of the bed.  any thoughts leave me a comment on which one you like.

A Flock of Geese

well the name actually is Stars and Pinwheels by Missouri Star Quilt Co. but there is a lot of geese flying around in this quilt.  this will be a queen size with some more pinwheels in the first border then a six inch to finish it off.  Three more rows of blocks to be sewn up.  maybe I can get them sewn up before I go to work tonight.😁

as always  thanks for taking a peek, anna

MY GREEN GAL

So last week i showed a picture of the quilt i am making for a lady at work and that i had gotten a ruler foot and template.  Well my machines didn't like the ruler foot, i could not get the bobbin thread to stay tethered and i didn't have time to mess around with settings.  So i went to my green gal got her set up to see how she would handle this.  beautifully she did  now i didn't use the ruler foot but didn't need to she eased into the curve gently.  i am still an amateur with the knee pedal as you can hear in the video.  all my squares with this motif are done just going to echo around the colored squares.

i picked her up about a year an half ago  20.00  i almost didn't go, but when i saw how much room it has on the bed and how high i knew i wouldn't have to struggle pulling a big quilt through her.  this one is definitely a keeper.

as always thanks for stopping by,  anna

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas

Ok so everything  is back to normal, time to get caught up.  I have been working on this quilt for a lady at work.  It needs to be done for Christmas.  I have received all the supplies needed to finish it up and a few extras for myself.  All black Friday sales. Yay
I bought myself a ruler foot and template hope to practice and learn the curve so I can use it on this quilt.

Attended a free class today, at the LQS.  Serger projects  I purchased one about two months ago and I haven't done anything with it until yesterday.  I used it to keep the flannel backing from fraying in the wash.  It will be used in the above quilt. It came out of the wash/dryer wonderfully. So today at the shop it was baby mittens, baby hats, receiving blanket , a zippered pouch a drawstring pouch and then a scarf. HMM  she made it out of fleece, I walked around and saw what I wanted to make with the lessons learned today.  Minky scarves for my three nieces.  took me about an hour an a half because one of my threads got loose  OKAY don't panic I tell myself get the manual out and figure it out from the pictures, this was my fear with sergers as with most, the dreaded threading,  took me 10 minutes to get that thread back in that tiny hole! ugh  everything back in order now to finish the last one.  I will play with the serger some more, maybe lounge pants.  the minky is cute fabric geo shape, elephants, and goofy characters





Hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving Holiday here in the states.
Thanks for stopping by,  anna

LeMoyne Magic

I have started a new quilt.  I like watching Cozy Quilt Designs on you tube. I can figure out how the pattern goes just by watching.  I don't use the special ruler either.  This one is called Lemoyne Magic. and it will be a queen size. I did start the second block but did not like the color I chose. so I just continued making the star blocks. I need a total of 30 stars. I have half completed already.

Really testing my Half Square Triangles skills.

Thanks for stopping by, anna

The Tidepool

Well, it's been awhile.  Been too busy but not busy ENOUGH in the sewing room these past months.
This is what I have managed to put together recently,

This is for my grandson, it is his Big Boy Quilt since he will be 5 this December.  I do have another in the making for his two and a half year old sister, only need to put on the sashing, quilt and bind that one.  Oh I almost forgot I went shopping in Lancaster Pa two weeks ago its only about an hour away traveling all back country roads, I just needed a change of scenery and what better time of year then the fall.  The 14 year old granddaughter came along for the ride too.


Thanks for taking a look,
anna

Microwave Bowl Coozies

I have gotten some sewing done this summer.  I couple of weeks ago  I followed the 12 days of Christmas blogs at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Amy at Swimming in a Sea of Estrogen posted about these Microwave Bowl Coozies.  I have made a few so far 10 have already gone out the door and I have these to go.  Eight more done.   I have made them in both sizes.

I couple more to go to give out at Christmas.  

anna

no finishes

I am not getting to much done these days.  I loaded the string quilt up on the frame to get to quilting, but had some real issues with the Juki, I finally just took it to the shop.  They say it is showing signs of wear, still skipping stitches.  While I was there I played with the Babylock Coronet, nice machine 16 inch throat, stitch regulator, sits on a smaller frame.  Then I asked how much $$ about 6000 which isn't bad just can't do it right now.  Been looking around on the internet to find another midarm machine can't decide if that is really what I want need.

if I get another mid arm I would upgrade the carriage another 150.00, stitch regulator 499.00 and then the cost of a machine so around 2000.00.  I will wait on making this decision for the moment.

In the meantime I started two new projects, the first one is this

I had purchased grunge 2 1/2 mini pack added some dark navy blue, and thought about the stars.  I think I like the gray wonky stars better than the white/black ones.

This is the other one.

this month at the LQS they had a clear out sale and on the table were a bunch of scraps you filled a  quart size bag for 6 dollars, i scooped up all the Batiks I could find, this only represents about 1/4 of  the bag.  I separated by value and choose the Curvy Log Cabin for these brights.  I am lucky if I get ten minutes a day in the sewing room during the summer.

I have seen lots of amazing quilts over the past couple of weeks on the Linky Parties. 

ALL of you keep inspiring ME!  Thanks

String Quilt

An update to yesterday's post.  I got the sashing done, but I think I will go around the outside too,

then pick a solid color for final border.
 I also have gotten seven blocks done for Cynthia at Quilting is more fun than housework.
She is helping with the Covered in Love block drive May/June.

As always,

Thanks for stopping by,  anna