June Rainbow Scrap Challenge.....

This months 'color' is Lt Blue (with a touch of greenish if wanted).  Well I did have a few scraps that would fit this month so I've finished these two blocks.

I'll be linking to So Scrappy and 

Oh Scrap.

I've done a bit of sewing on the Yellow/Black blocks and changed my mind about the layout.  Even after I've sewn several blocks into rows I'm still second guessing my layout.  Sheesh!!  Be still mind!!
And I've spent a little time trying to clean up my sewing space and move around a small shelving unit so it will hold my newest toy.   I've had my eye on this machine for a couple of years now & finally decided to just go for it!  So it's now out of the box and set up.  Now to study the book and do something with it.  I want to make my quilt labels with it for starters.  And lots of ideas are floating around in my head.

 

But for now..... I'm wishing you a great day. And stitch happy!

Rainbow Scraps....

I've managed to catch up on these last two months of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  Last month's color was Purple.

    

And this month the color is Green (dark).  

   

I've also been sewing a bit on my black & yellow.  But just a very little bit.  I'll have an update sometime this week since this is going to be the first week in a very long time that I don't have a gazillion places to go for millions of reasons.  Seriously!!  

LOL 

Linking to:  So Scrappy    and   Oh Scrap    &  Judy's Design Wall.  

And for now..... Have a great day.
 And stitch happy!

Monday Morning Report....

After making a little miscalculation I have now figured it out and resewn the blocks I goofed up on.  So far .... So good.
I'm a little concerned that I won't have enough strips to make this quilt as large as I'd like.  I'm shooting for a Full size if I can squeeze it out.  I may have to resort to slap'in a border on it to get to that size.
 This is what I have so far.  And this is all that I can put on my design wall and if I can make it full size I'll have to lay out the last column somewhere else.  And of course, I'll do a bit of shifting blocks around after I have them all made.

I'll be linking to Judy's Design Wall Monday post so let's go check out what some of the other quilters have been working on.  

..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

New quilt in the works....

I've finally chosen my  next project.  I had two pkg's of  'Taxi Cab Chic Collection' from Keepsake Quilting with twenty 2½" strips in each package.  LOVE the yellow & black combo!

I wasn't sure what I wanted to make but I knew I Didn't want anything too complicated .... just easy peasy and quick.   Somewhere along the blogosphere I kinda remembered seeing a simple box & rail quilt but didn't know where or by who .... so I went to EQ and did my thing and I'm pretty happy with what I came up with.    

Now to get the sewing finished.

And for now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

Sunshine & Spring.....

What a better day than today to finish this months YELLOW block.  It really was pretty much finished.  I just had to sew the rows together and iron it.    Linking to Angela's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

But for now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

So it's Monday.....

And I do have one little something on my Design Wall.  The Rainbow Scrap Challenge for March is YELLOW! So this weekend I worked part time on my yellow scraps and did manage to finish my Basketweave Braid Star.   The more I make of these the more I love them.

  

For now though I'll just link to Judy's Design Wall .... ScrapHappy Saturday .... And also linking to Cynthia's Oh Scrap.

 ..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

Slow Stitching....

Even though I haven't posted lately I have been working on some of my Hexies.   When I finally decided what I wanted to do for the background on my 2014 Hexie BOM I went right to work getting some of the fabric cut and basted.  

And since I've run out of this particular fabric I'll have to make a run to our LQS.  I'm planning on an assortment of different black on blacks.   And my plan is to scatter all the different black fabrics throughout the quilt.

Here's just a couple of the blocks that I've outlined.  More to come later after I have more fabric.  

In the meantime I got out my other project and started working up some more of the blocks.  

This is as far as I've gotten on the quilt when I last put it aside.  I do have more blocks made just not sewn to the quilt.

Since I've started hexie(ing) I can't sit and watch TV now without them in my hands.  Love working on them. 

I think I'll spend a little time at the machine today but then settle back in my reclyner and enjoy my hexis today/tonight.  

Linking over to Kathys Slow Sunday Stitching    

Sew for now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

Empty Design Wall...

....Because I finished my Easy Street top.
I think I'm going to call it good with this border and get it ironed and ready to take to my quilting gals.  I do love the colors I chose for this mystery.

Linking to Judy's Design Wall.

I've got some house cleaning to get done today before I start on a couple of bindings.  Soooooo for now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

Back In Time....

Around December 10th, 2012 .... I finished sewing the blocks together for my Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt called Easy Street.   I have no idea why I didn't go ahead and finish it then ..... but I set it aside along with all the scraps and bits and bolts of fabric.

These last couple of weeks I've slowly been trying to tackle my loose scraps and get them cut into usable pieces and when I came across this quilt I figured it's as good a time as any to get it finished.  

Apparently this pattern didn't have directions for the finishing borders (or I've just not saved them).  I do remember how I wanted to finish it though so I've been cutting and sewing 4-patches these last couple of days.  (pictures to follow later this week)

For now I'll link to Judy's Design Wall Monday   and get back to piecing the last two borders.  

So for now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

Baby Jax quilt.....

I have the baby quilt top finished.  The mother of this baby is my oldest granddaughter.
Do you see those bits of red and gold?  I used those black/gold fabrics to make their Wedding quilt.  The two red pinwheels signifies the mom & dad and the one little red square represents baby Jax.     Those are the "something special' I posted about.  Here's a closeup.  

 and I'm now pondering what I want to do for the backing.

Perhaps I'll pull some assorted fabrics and choose the color I like.  I'm leaning toward a gray maybe.  .....   OR maybe I'll make a pieced backing so the quilt will be reversible.
 haha  who am I kidding?  Of course I'll make a pieced back!!
Ok stay tuned.
But for now..... I'll be linking to Judy's Design Wall Monday 
 Have a great day. And stitch happy!

Pretty Pink.....

Didn't take me long at all to get my two projects sewn up for this months Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

Basketweave Braid Star

Hip To Be Square Challenge

For now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

What I'm working on.....

Our family has a new addition coming soon.  Baby Jax Conrad will enter this world sometime in July and we are all so excited.  He will be our fourth Great so I decided I need to make him a quilt for those baby eyes.
From what I've read I guess high contrast is a preference ......  Sooooo Black & White it is!
Something simple and yet something special.
Here is the simple..... Pinwheels & 16-patch.

 I'll show you the "something special" later when I get it put together.
This is this weeks Work In Progress.

So for now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

Snow & Super Bowl

..... A perfect combination for Slow Stitching on a Sunday.
I've been concentrating on basting LOTS of hexies to get ready to add some more 'blocks' and work on the borders.
I don't think I can squeeze any more into this container.  lol

I did get one more 'block' made and pressed.  And I have about 10 more groups sorted to be ready to just grab and sew whenever I have a minute.

Did I tell you that I love hexies?  

I'm heading to link up with Judy's Design Wall Monday  -- and -- Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.

Let's go see what other quilters have been up too.   

But for now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

Monday, Monday....

I did get around to making the other four  three sections of the Basketweave Braid Star block.  Love how this is looking with all the same colors.  The two top sections have been mixed up a bit but since I ran out of two of the 'colors' I decided I'd do the strips in the same fabrics as it progresses.   I do like the looks of them the best so I'll probably make all the rest of them this way.
Unless I change my mind.     

Scrappy is Great!..... as long as I can control it.  LOL

Heading over to Judy's Design Wall Monday to link up.
 ..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

January Blues....

The color: Blue.  
For the last several years I have admired all the rainbow quilts that have been made by quilters that took part in soscrappy's Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  So this year I've decided I want to join it.   
I needed to come up with a block that I would like to make each month and not get tired of.  
Of course I spent way to much time pondering as usual.  I did finally come up with the one I want to use.   It's a paper-piecing pattern.... of course!  My favorite way to sew.

This is called Basketweave Braid Star.
The complete 12" block used 4 of these sections.
I plan to mix up the colors in each block as we get farther along in the year with more colors to choose from.

And Pat Sloan is having a scrap busting "Hip To Be Square Challenge".  The first block she came up with is an 8x8 setting using 2½" blocks in any color you want.  I went straight to my 'blue' drawer and started pulling, cutting and sewing and in no time at all I had this sewn together.   

 LOVE IT!!  I don't know what her next challenge will be but I'm definitely thinking I'll be making one of these each month in the same color as the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.

But for now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

Backing finished.....

I don't usually 'design' backings for the quilts I make.  I finish the top and then take it to my LQS to have it quilted.  I'll pick out the backing fabric, batting and thread while I'm there and the girls will put it all together and call me when it's finished so I can bind it.  Love quilting by check!  lol

But since this snuggle has been made with specialty fabrics I had a LOT of leftover pieces after I had finished the top.  I really didn't want to put all of those pieces into my scrappy stash ..... Sooooo my only solution was to piece the pieces and come up with some semblance of a designed backing.
 (Two quilts in one kinda thing).
This is what I came up with.....

Just checking to make sure it will be wide enough to cover the quilt completely.

TA DA!!  One backing finished
and ready to take to my quilting gals so they can do their magic.  

Now I'm off to link up to Judy's Design Wall Monday.  And have another cuppa while I ponder what I'll start working on next.  Something simple I think.  That I don't have to use math or my brain too much.
    But for now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

One top finished....

I finally got back to my sewing machine and it really didn't take long to finish up the borders on this quilt.  Top is done and now I'll start working on the backing then get it off to my quilter.
This has taken waayyy too long!!!

Let's go check out what other quilters have been working on over at Judy's Design Wall Monday.
And for now..... Have a great day. And stitch happy!

It's Sunday and I'm stitching slow....

Over a month ago I posted how far along I had gotten on my Hexie Quilt here.  Since then I've been working on it quite a bit and it's now reached this size.  Since I only have one more of the 'blocks' that I had pre-made ..... I need to start working up some more of them.

It takes a LOT of paper hexagons to baste and sew together so while I was sewing along I started thinking about how I 'reuse' my papers when I remove them as they get sewn together.   

When I first started I did buy several pkgs of paper hexagons from my LQS.  Then I found Geta Grama's site and she has a downloadable template so you can print and cut your own papers.   

So I bought me a ream of 110wt cardstock and started printing.  [[Make sure your printer is printing to scale]]  You don't want to do all that work and then not be able to use the paper hexies because they printed the wrong size.  Yep!  I did that!! 

So after printing and cutting I started basting ..... and sewing ..... and as I sewed I used to fold the adjoining hexie so I could get a good straight seam.  That made the papers weaken at those folds.  I found if I ironed them they would toughen up a bit and they were good for another baste.  

This is a picture of how distorted they can get after folding.  

After I had a pile of papers removed I would take a big handful and use a hot dry iron and just press.  (do not iron back and forth)  Just press & lift and press until all papers are flat.  Works like a charm and I've been able to reuse these papers over and over.  Now when I find one that is too flimsy I just toss it and look forward to printing some more.  Thanks Geta!  

I'm heading over to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching to link up.  And from there I'll be linking on Karen's Sew Darn Crafty Linky Party.  Come and join us to see what others are working on.   

But for now..... Have a great weekend.  And stitch happy! 

Hexie BOM ....

I have finally finished the last of the 2014 Hexie BOM and now have to make a decision on how I want to finish them.  I keep thinking I want to tie them all together with a single background color of hexies ..... but I keep hesitating for some reason.  Oh Well!  More pondering I guess.

Here is the Dec "block".   It was fun and fast.

Sadly I just found out that two of the sites that I enjoyed linking too are no longer posting their linkups.  Soooo Looks like I'll be checking the web to see if I can find any others.

But for now..... Have a great weekend.  And stitch happy!