My Valentine Quilts

I'm not sure where the year has gone.  It is mid February already, and January is a blur.   I'm getting ready to put my Valentine's quilts and table topper away for the year and thought I'd share them with you.

This is my Valentine String quilt.  I just made this one day while I was making string blocks out of my red and white scraps.  You can read more about this quilt and see my EQ drawing here.  

Here is the quilt after being quilted by my long arm quilter.  He quilted a heart design that I just love.

This is a smaller version of the quilt above.  This one has 3 inch string blocks.  You will read more about these in the link above.  Here is a link to my tutorial for making the heart string blocks in both the large heart quilt and the smaller one.  

If you don't enjoy making string blocks, you can achieve the same look with squares and half square triangles.  You can see my EQ drawing with this layout in my post here.  

You can see the two versions side by side.  They look pretty much the same.  

 

The next two photos are of my patterns.  The first one is Sunburst Dresden Table Topper.  I have one of these table toppers for every holiday.  It is a quilt as you go pattern and is pretty easy.  The patterns are available in my Etsy shop here.   They are also available at Back Door Quilts either in their shop or on their web site.  

This pattern is called Hexie Love.  Directions are included to either add a hanging sleeve to be hung on the wire table hanger as shown, or it can be made into a little quilt.  

This is English Paper Piecing and broderie perse.  The heart is done in EPP using quarter circles.  I'm not sure how this quilt will end up, but I loved doing the hand stitching on it so far.  

I had a wonderful Valentines.  My hubby got me a dozen roses, but I forgot to take a photo before they started to wilt.

I love each and every one of you that are taking the time to read my blog.

Happy Belated Valentine's Day to you!!!!!!

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.  

Sewing in the Polar Vortex

We are just coming out of the Polar Vortex.   Schools here were closed both Wednesday and Thursday, and at one point our temperature was -10 degrees, and the wind chill was -41 degrees.   I just trusted the weather forecasters that this was bone chilling cold, and I stayed inside.  It's a bit warmer today, and we had some snow overnight.   It's not enough to completely cover the grass.  Before spring, I would just like one huge dump of snow.  And, I would like for it to snow during the day so I can watch it pile up.  I've stayed in and worked on some projects.   

This is the time of year when I'm very thankful that I have a warm home and all of the comforts that go with it.  This house has a gas fireplace, so with a flip of a switch there is warm air filling the family room.   I know there are  many others that are not so fortunate.

I've been spending days in my sewing room.   The photo below is quilts I've made to donate to Quilters United.  All of the quilts and items we make are donated to children.   I had some of these tops made before, and some I just put together this week.  Then I machine quilted all of them.   Today I plan to finish the binding.

To be honest, this is the time of year I take a look at all of the fabric, yarn and other "stuff" I have here and wonder, "What was I thinking?"    So I'm trying to use up some of what I have here.  And, yes I've had to buy more fabric for backing and batting to finish some of these things.   I guess it's two steps forward and one step back.   

I'm backing most of my charity quilts with flannel, so in a lot of cases when I trim the quilt after it's quilted there is enough flannel and batting left for a burp cloth.   I think this is 8 1/2 inches wide before it's sewn.  I had a half yard of wide blue flannel backing left from backing a quilt, so I bought this blue bird flannel.   OK.  I bought some pretty bright yellow solid flannel and some with yellow butterflies and flowers, too.  

 We have a Quilters United sewing day once a month, and one of the girls had the Paw Patrol and heart fleece left over, so I brought it home to crochet around.   Yep, I bought more fleece to put on the backs.

Then these two pieces of fleece were in the remnants, so I bought them to make another blanket.   As I write this, I see that I just might be buying more than I'm using.   To crochet around these, I have a skip stitch blade that fits in my rotary cutter.   You just roll it around the edges of the fleece, and it makes tiny holes that are big enough to get a crochet hook into.   Oh, I am using some yarn from my stash!

I saw a post on Instagram where someone was making Soap Sacks out of cotton yarn like the Sugar and Cream that you use to make dishcloths.   I had a bag (really a huge bag) of leftovers so I started making these soap sacks.  SACK stands for Serving a Community with Kindness.  This was started as a way to give back to your community's homeless shelters, food pantries or transitional housing centers.  There is a link in the About section of their web page to find places near you to donate.  The idea is that each sack is donated with a bar of soap inside, and the sack (which is all cotton) can be used as a washcloth.  There is always a need for toiletries at shelters and food pantries.  There are links to both knit and crochet patterns on their site, or email me if you are interested.   Now I have used up a lot of my leftover yarn for these, but there were some really pretty variegated yarns out there so I bought a few...…    The pattern for these is easily memorized.   Jennifer at fiberfluxblog.com has issued a challenge to crochet or knit 100 soap sacks in a year.   I have made a start with 20 so far

I've also been spending a lot of time on some of the Farmhouse Decorating blogs and Instagram pages.   There is just something that appeals to me about the neutral décor with the buffalo check and farmhouse accessories.  A lot of the photos show solid color knit blankets with big stitches.  I think most of them are done with finger knitting, but I bought a size 19 knitting needle and have been knitting on this.   This didn't come from my stash.   I bought this yarn, and there is a box of a pretty seafoam color waiting in the wings.

I also love to make knit dishcloths.  This pattern is easily memorized, too.  

  The pattern on the needles is:

Cast on 4 stitches.  K2, yarn over, knit across.   Repeat until you have 40-44 stitches on the needle.
Then:  K1, K2 together, YO, K2 together until you have 4 stitches left on the needles.  Bind off.

Some of this yarn was what I bought for Soap Sacks.  Naturally I had to buy enough to make both dishcloths and Soap Sacks.

We also have a jigsaw puzzle in the works on one end of the table.  This was the last one finished.  I admit that I haven't put many pieces in (ok...maybe none) because I'd rather be stitching.

If you've read the entire post, I'll show you where I sew.  It's a bit of a pit right now.  The edge of the white table you can see in front of the TV is where my cutting mat is.  I've cut and just shoved the rest on the floor, but I know there is fabric in there that can be used for burp cloths.  That table is full of strips cut for binding the quilts you saw in the first photo.  There is also a couple containers of thread there to match the binding colors for top stitching.  There is really no room for a table.  There is a closet to the left with part of my stash.  On the right is my bookcase and my machine is to the right of that facing the window.  This is what should be our guest room, but I love the light that comes in that big window and the arch above it so I sew here.  At the bottom of the photo, you can see Tiki our cat.  He's not sure he wants to venture in.  I'll post another photo when I've cleaned and sorted the piles.  Right now there is more sewing to do.  I'll post another photo when it's cleaned up (much later), and I'll post a photo of my UFO tops that need to be quilted.

Until then...……….

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today. 

Still Stitching Hexagons

Hello Everyone

Whenever I stop by someone's blog and they haven't posted for awhile, I always hope that they haven't just stopped blogging altogether.   I never mean to be away for quite so long, but one thing leads to another and before I know it, a month (or two) has passed.   

For Christmas I got a Microsoft Surface Pro so I'm trying to learn to use it.   It is lighter weight than my old laptop (and a whole lot faster), and the screen snaps off and becomes a tablet.  That makes it easier to take photos and get them into my blog.  There is a pen that is held on the side by a magnet, and I know I can do something with that.  Right now I know just enough to be dangerous, so hopefully it will all get easier.

What have I been up to?   I'm still quilting and have been doing some knitting and crochet.  I've been to Shipshewana a couple of times - once for the Jane Stickle retreat and the other time was to

Here are some of the projects I've finished since I last wrote.

This is two different versions of my 1797 Revisited quilt.  This is a reproduction of an antique quilt, and there is an Instagram group working on this quilt and sharing photos.  I bought the smaller paper pieces from Yellow Creek Designs in their booth at the Shipshewana Quilt Festival.  They measure 3/8" X 7/8".   After I went to the Jane Stickle Quilt Retreat in November and saw others using paper pieces 5/8" X 1 1/2" (also from Yellow Creek Designs), I came home and ordered a package of the larger size.   The 3/8" and 5/8" is the distance on the short side of the hexagon. That 1/4" sure makes a big difference in the overall size.   I have a lot of pieces prepped for both sizes, but I am really liking that smaller size.  I will probably end up doing something with both.

This is part of the top of the Rose of Kaleigh quilt.  I did this as a sew along on Sue Daley's blog.   This is a reproduction of an antique quilt, and the original has this part you see in the photo appliqued' to an off white fabric with a swag border around the outside.  This was a big project, and it will take awhile longer to finish it.  These are all 3/4" hexagons that were English Paper Pieced.

This is the Kingfisher Quilt done as a quilt along with bloggers Stitched in Color and Tales of Cloth.  They gave us the dimensions for the background diamonds, setting diamonds, and borders.  We did our own thing with the hexagons.  These are 1" hexagons that are English Paper Pieced.

This hexagon quilt was in the June issue of American Patchwork and Quilting.  The pattern is by Sherry McConnell of A Quilting Life blog.   The photo doesn't show it, but the backgrounds are scrappy, pieced four patches.  My friend Michele and I traded each other half of a layer cake so we both would have a lot more scrappy variety in our backgrounds.  These are also 1" hexagons that are English Paper Pieced.

I have worked on these pink and brown log cabin blocks during the last several retreats that I've attended.   I had a plan and did the math.  I multiplied the numbers instead of adding them, so you may see these pink and brown log cabin blocks for years to come...……

These are all just tops so there is a lot of quilting in my future.  There are more projects, but I need daylight to take photos.  

I've made postcards for Halloween, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.  

  We had a nice Christmas.  Our son treated us to Christmas at the Zoo.  It was beautiful but really cold.   The only snow we've seen here is that made by the artificial snow machine at the zoo.

Our Christmas decorations are still up including our outside lights.  We have two neighbors that still have their outside lights lit, so we will keep ours going until at least the weekend.  We've been playing games and working puzzles and just having fun.   Do you still have your Christmas decorations up?

I wish you all the happiest of New Years with good health and lots of stitching ahead.   This is a cross stitch that I did years ago.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.  

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.

Snow Time and More

I hope everyone is enjoying the change of seasons in your part of the world.  Here in Indiana the weather has turned from scorching hot summer weather to crisp, cool fall weather.  We have been near freezing several evenings this week.  I guess it is October so it's to be expected.  I feel like we went from 80 to 50 in a matter of a few days.  I don't enjoy the cold, but I do love fall and winter and all of the holidays that come with it.  

This is my newest pattern called Snow Time.  The snowman, hat and scarf and wool, and the rest of the center is embroidered.  I'll have it up in my Etsy shop and on Craftsy soon.   

We were on vacation in the Smoky Mountains for about 10 days.  While we were there I finished my last few Kingfisher blocks.  I hand appliqued' them to the diamonds.  I'm waiting for inspiration to strike to add the setting pieces and borders.  There's a lot of color in those blocks, and it's hard to zero in on just one.  

A few weeks ago I met with a couple of ladies that have bought and made several of my patterns.  Sharon made this huge bag is full of pillows made from my Charming Hexagon Pillow Pattern.  (I can't believe that this is the only photo I have from that day.......)

Sharon M. and Linda B. met me at Back Door for show and tell, and then the 3 of us went to Portillos for lunch.   I had only known these two ladies on-line before, but I had such fun with them that it was like we'd been friends for ages.  I hope to get together with them again soon.   

I spent a few days down at Michele's in northern Kentucky a few weeks ago, and we really did sew.  It was one of those times when we ate most of our meals at the sewing machine so we could get lots done.  We finished our quilt from the June issue of American Patchwork & Quilting magazine.  You can see part of Michele's quilt on the right.  

We ordered this little quilt pattern on line and whipped it up one evening.


I had a big stack of these pink and brown log cabin blocks, and I was able to put some of them into a quilt top.



Here's the view from the cabin where we stay in Tennessee.   I think it's one of the most beautiful places on earth.   

I went over to Dayton, Ohio, on Friday to meet Michele, Barb and Meredith for lunch and to spend the afternoon at the One Stop Shop Hop.   I spotted a quilt made from one of my patterns in the Sew Happy Quilting booth.  Their shop is located over in Belpre, OH.

This is my leftovers pattern made by Sarah at Back Door Quilts.  They had it displayed in their booth.  I love how it looks in Kim Diehl fabrics.

Yesterday we put the Halloween/fall decorations out front.  My husband is a very handy guy and bored holes through these artificial pumpkins and put them on a dowel rod so they stay put and don't blow over.

The ghosts are made from tomato cages turned upside down.  I bend the wires at the top down and wind the cage with white lights.  I use binder clips to clip the white fabric onto the cages.  I've used permanent marker to draw faces on the ghosts.   

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.  

Stitching A New Pattern

I've been busy making 3/4" pentagon flowers and have written a new pattern.  I have mostly used the new fabric line by Edyta Sitar called Little Sweetheart.  The vase and stems on the center block are Kim Diehl fabrics, and the leaves are from scraps.  I've done the applique' by hand, but you could certainly applique' this quilt center by machine.  I've added some small embroidery stems and leaves and embroidered the flower centers, but you can leave those out if you don't like to embroider.

 This is what the center looks like before the embroidery has been added.

I also show you a trick that I use to applique' stems.  Whether you are doing the applique' by hand or by machine, this trick will cut your stitching time in half.  

I always wonder how people name their patterns or their quilts.  Sometimes I try to look for some deep, hidden meaning in the names.  In case you are wondering how I came by the name Four O'Clock Fancy......I just mailed a birthday card to a friend from back in grade school days.   She and I used to play outside a lot and would watch the Four O'Clocks bloom every afternoon, and we would gather the seeds.  That's where the Four O'Clock came from, but it took awhile to find something that would go along with it.  The Fancy came when I opened up our Tiki's cat food......Fancy Feast. 

Pattern is available on Craftsy here or in my Etsy shop here or at Back Door Quilts here. 

I'm linking up with my friend Judy at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday.  

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.  

Quilter's Meet and Greet

Welcome to new readers who are here visiting from Victoriana Quilt Designs blog as well as those of you that have been here before.  Please feel free to browse and look around my blog.  Underneath my header photo, I have links to different pages.  There are also tutorials there as well as along my side bar over to the right.

I'm taking part in a blogger's Meet and Greet to welcome Benita to the blog world.  She has set up this meet and greet to help those of us that blog to get acquainted and visit each other's blogs.  Benita is starting a new blog, so I'd like you to hop on over to her blog and take a look around.  There will be prizes, too, so be sure to take a look at her blog and enter.

I'll tell you a bit about myself.  I've been quilting for over 20 years and have tried many different kinds of quilts.  Take a look on the quilts tab underneath my header photo.

Benita asked us to send her a photo of our favorite quilt.  The Dear Jane quilt holds so many good memories for me because I have met people from all over the world through connection with this quilt.  Twenty years ago, some of the quilters making this Dear Jane quilt started holding a retreat up in Shipshewana, Indiana.  I've been going to the Jane Stickle Quilt Retreat for about 18 years and have met people that I wouldn't have met otherwise.  Many of them have become close friends, and we've shared each others joys and sorrows.  We will all meet again soon at the retreat, and I can't wait.

I like all kinds of quilting, but right now I am a bit obsessed with English Paper Piecing.   Using paper pieces and a Sewline glue pen has made the basting process very easy.   I love to find a piece of fabric that I can fussy cut to add a secondary design to a hexagon or a 6 pointed star.  You can see my fussy cutting tutorial here.


Here is the link to Benita's blog.  I hope you will stop by her blog, have a look around, and say hello while you are there.
https://benitaskinner.blogspot.com/2018/09/2018-online-quilters-meet-greet.html

Of course there will be prizes.  Visit the link below or click the prize photo to be entered for a chance to win.

 https://www.victorianaquiltdesigns.com/fabric/

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit.  

Summer Sewing

Hello Everyone

I never intend to stay away from my blog as long as I do, but the summer is just whizzing by and I can't seem to slow it down no matter what I do.   I am either sewing, thinking about sewing, or shopping for things to use for sewing.   If I don't pick up a needle and thread for at least a few minutes each day, it just doesn't seem right.   I did work on my blog a bit the other day, and I think I accidentally misfired the page about my Mitered Square Blanket tutorial.  In the process I also lost a page I was going to launch with photos of a lot of the quilts I've made.  That one just vanished into thin air, so I have to start from scratch.

I am over on Instagram some, but I haven't really posted lately over there either.   You all know that there is so much out there in blog land and on Instagram to get involved in that you could spend every day just doing the sew alongs or blocks of the month.   I have tried hard not to get too much more started, but I did succumb to the Kingfisher Sew Along hosted by Stitched In Color and Tales of Cloth.   If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know how much I like anything with hexagons or English Paper Piecing.  The Kingfisher Sew Along only has 46 - 1" hexagons. 

This is not my usual color pallet, but sometimes I like to work in brights.  My friend Michele gave me a couple pieces of the Nancy Halvorsen fabric Bree.  You can see that it is just perfect for fussy cutting. 

I have managed to find almost every piece of the collection in my summer travels.   A lot of the hexagons you see in the photo below are cut from this line, but I almost never make an entire quilt from just one fabric line so there are hexagons from other lines, too.  All 46 of my hexagons are sewn.  I just need to get busy sewing them to the backgrounds.  

Here are a couple of my hexagons on the first background that I bought.   Three and a half yards later, I decided that I didn't want all of the backgrounds to be alike and look too planned.   

So I bought some that were kind of alike but have a subtle pattern.   Hopefully when I get the quilt put together, these won't all look the same.   

I finished another Lone Star quilt made using Quiltsmart.  I thought it would be interesting to put something pieced in the corners.   I like the look, and there is a lot less machine quilting to do in those big spaces.   

Here are a couple more double hexagons for that project.   These are just fun to make, and I have to stop myself from just making these and not working on other things I have in the works.   

These hexagons are a good way to use up some of the 6 hexagon rounds that you have cut.   And......they are even good for those that you can only find 5 of.   

Here is the scene from in front of my local Kroger store.  Yes, those are pumpkins and mums that you see.   Can fall be far behind?  

I'm linking up with Judy over at Small Quilts and Doll Quilts for Design Wall Monday. 

I hope you are finding some time to stitch today.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!