Jen Kingwell Day (And NEW BEDFORD Pattern Link!)

I finished the latest I'm A Farmer's Daughter block - this makes 13 out of 25. I still think I have a few of these blocks buried in storage somewhere - hopefully they'll turn up this summer.

Then I decided to lay the blocks out on a bed to see how they look - that orange one stands out like a sore thumb, doesn't it? I think I need to make another bright one (or two) and scatter them throughout for balance. What do you think?

Then I moved on to the next Bring Me Flowers block. I used template plastic to make templates for this one.

I set out to cut fabric for two more Farmer's Daughter blocks and two more Bring Me Flowers blocks. For the next FD blocks I grabbed scraps from the dresden plate quilt...

...and scraps from the New Bedford quilt.

Next I cut out the next BMF blocks.

Four baggies. Four block kits. This took me about 3 HOURS! Luckily I enjoy this tedious hand cutting. AND now I have plenty of hand piecing at the ready for my evenings. And that's a good thing!

Okay, on to the New Bedford pattern. I don't know why I couldn't find in on the Internet, but my reader, Betty, DID! (THANKS, Betty!) Here's the LINK. For someone who really doesn't enjoy piecing (like me...) this is a wonderful quilt - the pieces are big and it looks like you did more work than you actually did. I plan to make this pattern again...maybe in Christmas colors.

Have a sweet day!

New Bedford - Only Two More Borders Left

I fixed the block that was turned sideways first thing yesterday. Then I went on to finish sewing the blocks together. Boom! And then I added the first border. Boom! Two more borders to go...I'll save them for another day.

I have no problem almost finishing something and then stepping away. Crazy, right? I'll be reading a good book...get almost to the end...and put it down to save for later. I'm the same with grocery shopping. I'll come home and put almost everything way...then stop. I might wait hours to put the final few things away.

Maybe I know that when I finish this top it will be added to the list of quilts waiting to be quilted...if I put it off a few days maybe I can finish binding Autumn Garden.  Who knows what's going on my crazy brain? All I know is New Bedford is almost done, but not quite!

I've had a few people ask me about this pattern. It came with the kit I purchased in Houston last Fall. As far as I can tell it's a free pattern, but I can't find any sign of it now. Let me do a bit more research on this. If it is a free pattern, I would be glad to send those interested a copy of the downloaded pattern. I'll keep you posted on this.

Enjoy your day!

Purpose and Direction

Purpose and Direction. That's a mantra in our family - these words were often spoken by my late father-in-law. And even though I'm retired and can do anything I choose on any given day, I like to be productive...even in my quilting hobby. With so many projects in progress at one time, I really needed to revamp my personal schedule so I can move my quilting projects forward.

Here's my new schedule:

Monday-Machine Quilting

Tuesday- Machine Piecing Day - New Bedford/Marmalade/UFO

Wednesday-Jen Kingwell: Farmer’s Daughter, Bring Me Flowers

Thursday- Hexies

Friday-Hand Work – Bird Dance, Rowdy Flat Library Quilt

Weekend – Machine Quilting/ my choice

As before, Mondays will be for machine quilting - I began yesterday by basting 6 blocks of my Gardenvale dresden quilt - you may remember I'm machine quilting this one block at a time. I'm using different black and white prints for the backing.

Tuesdays will be for machine piecing. I have two piecing projects underway, New Bedford and Marmalade. As I finish these, I'll work on UFO's or other piecing projects on this day.

Wednesdays will be for my two Jen Kingwell projects.

Thursdays will be HEXIE DAY! I'm anxious to get back on track on The Bee's Knees.

Fridays will be my handwork day on Bird Dance and/or RFLQ.

If you noticed...Wednesday, Thursday, AND Friday are all hand work days. I do love hand work...

I work so much better with a schedule and PURPOSE AND DIRECTION. As always, I'll take days off as I choose. But this will give me a starting point each day.

Lest you think I sew all day long...this schedule is for my mornings only - haha!

So that means today I'll be machine piecing! I need to pull out the seam ripper and fix that New Bedford block that is turned the wrong way. And then I'll sew more of these blocks together.

It's such a small thing - having a schedule. But I can't tell you how much better it makes me feels! Without it I would 'forget' some projects (The Bee's Knees) - not happening now!

Have a great day!

The Next Quilt...

So this is the next quilt I started..Jen Kingwell's Bring Me Flowers. I'm really on a Jen Kingwell kick right now. I just LOVE her designs. (I'm a Farmer's Daughter is also a Jen Kingwell design.)

Here's what the quilt will look like - each block has a flower pot with three stems, but the flowers are different in each.

I have this jellyroll of Alison Glass fabrics that I'm using- I got it for less than $17.00 - bargain! Most of the pieces for the quilt are really small so a jellyroll is working well. The flower pots are a bit too big to cut from these strips so I'm using my stash for those. 

The first thing I did was grab a green fat quarter and make my bias strips for stems. I needed 3/8" finished strips. I ended up using this pin technique - have you done this before? I put the pin into my ironing surface (yes, it needs to be recovered!) so that there is a 3/8" opening to slide the strip under. I cut the end of the strip into a point and poked it under, ironing as the strip came through folded perfectly. 

By the way, I starched the fabric WELL before cutting into strips. I'd never done this technique before, but it worked very well.

And here is my first finished block, Double Pinwheels. The vase is a Kaffe Fassett print. The background is from my stash of white neutrals. Each of these blocks is four small blocks - one for the vase/stems and 3 for the flowers. I hand pieced each of the four blocks - but then I sewing the four together by machine. I have to tell you, I really HATED to appliqué the circle in the center of each flower... because all those points came together PERFECTLY! I didn't want to cover them up, but I did.

I need to decide on two fabrics for those alternate blocks and the borders (looks like a black and a white print in the photo above).

And there you go - my new project.

So what am I going to work on today? I have no clue! I really need to finalize my new schedule so I can wake up with a plan each day. I do know I'm headed to the library this morning to return some books. The rain coming in later this morning - so I'll be ready to hunker down later.

Have a nice day! 

Binding...ON!

I spent about 2.5 hours machine stitching yesterday morning - and I got SO much done. I lucked out on binding for Autumn Garden...I found some binding leftover from a previous project that would work just fine - so I didn't have to make new binding. I made quick work of machine stitching it in place. Now on to the hand stitching on this!

Then I set out to attack the last five blocks of New Bedford. DONE!

Next I decided to start sewing the New Bedford blocks together. It looks good, doesn't it? Or does it????? Big oops. Can you find the problem? I have one block turned the wrong way...looks like my seam ripper will come out to play today.

Last night while we watched TV... I started a new quilt. I know, right? I haven't even officially put Autumn Garden in the FINISHED list. I should have been hand stitching its binding. But, no. I couldn't resist. Stay tuned...by tomorrow I'll have the first block (hand pieced) finished. And it's a cutie!

Hope you have a wonderful day!

Good Intentions

Yesterday just got away from me. Do you have days like that? You have plans and somehow other things happen and those plans never happen? And that's okay - so glad I have no deadlines in my life so it really doesn't matter anyway what I do get done or what I don't get done.

Eye doctor - CHECK
Physical - CHECK
Dermatologist - CHECK
Dentist - CHECK
Mammogram - CHECK!

Boom! I'm officially done with checkups and appointments! Happy girl, here!

After my appointment one of my neighbor friends asked me to come over for a few minutes. And then I made another Jalapeño Squash Casserole and a broccoli salad so we'll have some good vegetables to eat over the weekend. The only stitching I did was to work on my current Farmer's Daughter block last night. So my machine stitching never happened, but it will today.

Hubby's headed to the golf course this morning - and while he's gone my plan is to get the binding on Autumn Garden. AND I'd love to finally get back to work on New Bedford. One of my Facebook friends mentioned she hadn't seen my birds (Bird Dance) come out to play in a bit - she's right. I need to pull that project out again.

So that's the plan. Rain is coming in later today, but now the sun is shining, giving me wonderful light in my sewing room. Joy!

Have a great one!

A Finish! Almost...

I got right to business yesterday. I just kept at it until I finished machine quilting Autumn Garden! My machine stitched beautifully. Just the binding left - hope to get to that over the weekend. I really love this quilt! I especially like the two different fabrics for the sashing - it simply makes it more interesting. A few more days and I can add it to the FINISHED list.

This morning is the day - yup...MAMMOGRAM! That word. We are always glad to get it over with, aren't we? And in just a couple of hours mine will be over for another year. Are you overdue for yours? Then please do me a favor and pick up the phone and schedule it today!

And next on the list --- I think I'll finish up those blocks for New Bedford. That will be a nice thing to do on a Friday, don't you think?

TGIF! Have a great one!