Seaside Stitches

Tangerine Peels- step1

2012-01-27T10:32:00.000-05:00

There is a tangerine challenge on Flickr in honor of this year's Pantone color of the year, Tangerine Tango. I've been wanting to try the orange peel pattern and this seemed like the perfect opportunity! I cut out and starched one peel from each of my "tangerine" fabrics. The solid is Kona Tangerine. (I used Erin Russek's method for preparing shapes.) According to the challenge

WIP Wednesday

2012-01-25T09:27:00.001-05:00

It's so nice to be back for WIP Wednesday! It's taking me soooo long to get back into a quilting and blogging routine. You know my primary source of motivation is a looming deadline. With none on the horizon, I'll need to set some goals for myself. Wish me luck! SWAPS: The 4X5 bee blocks are turning into a nice little collection! Hive 13 was awesome! I decided to sit out the next

Random Tuesday

2012-01-24T18:24:00.000-05:00

I started sewing again! I made this string X block today to fill in a hole in my 4x5 swap blocks. Sadly, one of our bee mates needed to drop out for health reasons. Happily, she is feeling much better now. You can find the original tutorial here at Quiltville. There is a modern variation here. For my blocks to finish at 12", I used a 3" pieced strip, plus 1" strips of white, then 5"

Granny Goodness

2012-01-19T18:45:00.000-05:00

I had the privilege of working on this afghan for a friend today. It was made by her Great Aunt many years ago. We're not sure how long ago. I'm wondering if the variegated yarn could help date it. Anyway, my friend loves using it, but it is falling apart in a few (OK, more than a few) places. It seemed like all the loose stitches were in the same round. Odd, I thought. What is it

Handmade Christmas 2011

2012-01-10T09:39:00.000-05:00

I had planned to take a little blogging break for the holidays, but how have 3 weeks passed so quickly? Lemme sum up... My mother made this Christmas Lily wall hanging for my sister in the early 90s. A sneaky mouse got into her plastic storage tote and stole some comfy bits. I did a little applique repair, front and back with a bit of fresh batting and a few stitches of

Amaretti!

2011-12-20T12:46:00.001-05:00

I did it! I finally made a successful batch of Amaretti! (Same as Pignoli cookies without the pine nuts. My sister and I always picked those off anyway.) Egg Whites + Sugar + Almond Paste = Yum! Shhh. Don't tell my sister. These are for her! I've been trying to make these cookies for 20 years (on and off). I've tried different recipes, different brands of almond

Birthday Winner

2011-12-17T10:24:00.000-05:00

And the winner is... How cool is it that Sarah won on her birthday and the giveaway post was on my birthday?! I hope she gets the luggage, too. She will need it for her upcoming adventure- teaching English in Asia! Best wishes to you, Sarah! Thank you all for the birthday wishes! I had a lovely day. Bill brought home a dozen of these beautiful roses. I've been quiet

My Birthday Giveaway

2011-12-12T17:44:00.000-05:00

It's my birthday, so let's party! How nice of Sew Mama Sew to host a giveaway party on my birthday! To celebrate, I have some handmade-by-me gifts for one lucky reader. A Christmas print keychain lanyard, a cute patchwork pincushion, a crocheted felted wool flower pin, and a paper-pieced Christmas tree pin. Even though our silly Rhode Island governor is calling this a "

Christmas Runners

2011-12-03T08:20:00.001-05:00

I've been busy this week trying to boost my inventory for the next craft show. My mother informed me that I need to sell something quilted, so here are three new table runners. They were actually fun to make! I started with (24) 5" squares. To each one, I stitched 2.5" squares to two corners, similar to this tutorial from Cluck Cluck Sew. I layered them with Fusi-boo batting, so

Monday Progress

2011-11-28T14:11:00.001-05:00

I was able to start working on Bonnie Hunter's Orca Bay Mystery quilt this weekend. We have a lot of Bonnie Hunter fans in our quilt guild, so we issued a challenge to finish this mystery quilt before Bonnie's visit to Rhode Island next April! We have about 10 members interested, and I hope more will join in after show and tell at the next meeting. I will be working with blues, greens and

Crafty WIP Wednesday

2011-11-23T13:32:00.001-05:00

Happy Day Before Thanksgiving! I should be getting the turkey ready and preparing casseroles, but I'm busy crafting! I'll have a table at my church's bazaar on Saturday, and I don't have much ready to sell. I get bored easily, so I try new things every year. This sweet little bear is from a pattern I bought this morning on Etsy! She's slightly bigger than the original pattern. So

I won!

2011-11-22T07:39:00.001-05:00

I won some great stuff from Pat Sloan! Pat encourages her fans to Finish It Up! Periodically, she chooses a random photo from her Bust Your UFOs Flickr group. I won the Oct/Noc drawing with Timeless Garden! Here's the link to Pat's newsletter with a photo of my quilt. Thanks, Pat! In other news... Julia received her first two college acceptance letters! Siena

And the winner is...

2011-11-20T20:43:00.001-05:00

Anonymous! Thankfully, she left her email address. (In case you need to know, since Helen (Archie the Wonder Dog) asked to be kept out of the drawing, I didn't count her comment, making anonymous #8.) In other news... Julia and her friends went to the Homecoming dance together this weekend. A mother couldn't ask for a nicer group of friends for her daughter! It's going

WIP Wednesday and a Giveaway

2011-11-16T21:44:00.002-05:00

I'm so excited that the piecing is done on the Wedding Ring Star!Next, I'll need to start on the applique border. Woo hoo! To thank you all for being so encouraging, I have a quick little giveaway for you. Julia and I were in Michael's last weekend and she spotted this cute Fandango Organizer!We both agreed that I would never use it. (I'm not that organized!)Just leave a comment telling us

Design Floor Monday

2011-11-14T08:53:00.002-05:00

I know lots of other quilters are posting photos of their design walls today, but I use the floor! It makes for a horrible photo with the key stoning and shadows, but it's the best I can do.All the blocks for the wedding ring star are done! I started to get really excited when I laid out the filler triangles on the sides.I'm hoping to get the top put together today. I did the bottom right

Fresh Fabric Friday

2011-11-11T14:27:00.001-05:00

I wanted to show you some fresh fabric today, and it seems appropriate to start with the camouflage! Julia is planning to make pillowcases for her friends for Christmas, so the Army camo is for Fred and the dessert camo is for Pete. More novelties for her friends: bikes for Mike, running for Rosa (Josh Rosa), and I couldn't resist throwing in the cute daisy.A few solids for the next round of

Veteran's Day 2011

2011-11-11T13:20:00.007-05:00

Our schedule for Veteran's Day and Memorial Day has been the same for the past few years.7:00 am: Ceremony at the Vietnam Veteran's Memorial at the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery.Julia plays Taps with a Boy Scout friend.10:00 am: South Kingstown Parade.Grand MarshallJulia's Vietnam Vet Buddies.Here come those cute dancing drum majors, Mike & Julia!Followed by a slew of adorable Girl Scouts

WIP Wednesday Anniversary

2011-11-09T10:29:00.002-05:00

Congratulations to Lee for hosting WIP Wednesday for an entire year! My first WIP post was back in January and I have linked up 19 times. Thanks to Lee, I try to have something to post and link every week, and that keeps me moving forward on this quilting journey.I've been really focused on the wedding ring star quilt this past week and there is progress to show for it! All 31 of the main

Arc A

2011-11-08T08:59:00.000-05:00

Last batch of Arc A complete!On the agenda today: Arc B.

Making Progress

2011-11-07T09:09:00.004-05:00

I'm finally making progress on the wedding ring star. All 31 full blocks are complete. Next, I'll start on the "partial" blocks that fill in around the outside edges.I finished the last seam on 15 blocks this morning. It takes lots of pins to keep everything lined up on those curved seams!Don't you just love stacks of blocks?I'm not linking to Sew Modern Monday, since this project isn't

Furry Friday*

2011-11-04T17:43:00.003-04:00

Meet my dinner guest!This sweet little deer decided to visit the garden outside our dining room window for dinner!*Shout out to Kate Spain's Furry Friday posts!

WIP Wednesday

2011-11-02T10:05:00.003-04:00

I had a fun quilty week! How about you?Finish: I finished my mother's Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt in time for her birthday party! She really loves it and it has a place of honor at the foot of her bed. Blog reader Karen suggested the name Timeless Garden. Love it! Now I just have to make the label.Blocks: These 4 string blocks are for the new Mini Scrap Basket Swap. What fun! I

Block Party

2011-11-01T14:09:00.004-04:00

I had my own little block party!I made these 4 little (6.5") string blocks for the new Mini Scrap Basket Block Swap. I'm hoping this swap will replace the void left by the closing of the Teeny Weeny Paper Piecing Bee. The tutorial for this block is from Film in the Fridge. These blocks were a blast to make, but boy, did I make a mess of my scraps! I can't wait to dive in again.The Block Lotto

Mom's Birthday

2011-10-31T10:35:00.003-04:00

We interrupt this quilting blog for a brief family post...My mother turned 85 on Saturday and she couldn't be happier (or cuter)!Julia prepared a double batch of homemade pasta (8 eggs worth)! She's made it a few times before, and this was the best yet! Does that look like enough for 10 people? I hate to tell you there wasn't much left over.When my sister was leaving yesterday, Mom said thank

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Nonna's Garden

2011-10-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

My entry for the Festival this Fall is my favorite quilt of the year: Nonna's Garden. The whole quilt is only 12" on a side, or 24" widest point to point.The 547 English paper pieced hexagons are 1/2" per side.I was really proud of it even before it earned my first blue ribbon! A first place for Best Piecing at my local guild show, Ninigret Quilters.Thanks so much to Amy for hosting this

Friday Finish!

2011-10-28T14:48:00.004-04:00

My mother's birthday gift is done, 24 hours early! If you've been following along, you already know that she started the Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks about 20 years ago. Only the quilting angels know for sure how long those poor blocks sat untouched in her UFO pile, then mine.I'm really pleased with how it turned out! I was worried about the maroon fabric running in the wash, but the

Basting...

2011-10-27T13:54:00.000-04:00

Then quilting...

WIP Wednesday

2011-10-26T08:55:00.006-04:00

Welcome to my weekly status update, hosted by Lee at Freshly Pieced. Since I added the WIP page up top, I don't list all the "on hold" WIPs here. It was taking up too much space! We'll just look at what is really being worked on.Mom's Birthday Quilt: I haven't made as much progress as I had hoped on this one. This Grandmother's Flower Garden is her 20-year old WIP that I'm finishing as a

Fresh Fabric

2011-10-25T09:17:00.004-04:00

What is it that draws us to new fabric? In my case, I think it was PMS. I needed to see something pretty!My online retail therapy started at Fat Quarter Shop and continued at an Etsy shop called Sew Fresh Fabrics. Both orders were placed on Thursday, and both packages arrived on Monday. That's speedy service!How about some Kate Spain? Terrain charm pack from SFF and the 1/2 yard cuts of

Giveaway Winners

2011-10-24T07:16:00.007-04:00

Congratulations to our two giveaway winners!#1 is Helen, also known as Archie the Wonder Dog.Helen will receive the green fabrics and a Christmas tree paper pieced lapel pin.#28 is Erin, who blogs at Desiring Domesticity.Erin will receive the pink fabrics and a Christmas tree pin.Thank you to all of my new followers for joining me on this quilting journey. I hope I can maintain some

Quilt Show Goodies

2011-10-21T07:26:00.001-04:00

The Silent Auction of Miniature quilts at the Ninigret show was incredibly successful. The 28 minis made by our members brought in over $900 for two local charities!This is the one that came home with me! Prue Holton made this little gem from a block print that she purchased in India. She was able to watch them being printed! I think it's a fascinating little piece and I'm so happy to own it!

Thanks Kate and a Giveaway!

2011-10-20T11:30:00.006-04:00

I can't thank Kate Spain enough for posting about my wedding ring star quilt! All the comments have been so flattering and fun, and I'm trying really hard to not let it go to my head.So for all of my new visitors, I thought I should share more about this Work in Progress.(I got into more detail than I planned so you might want to skip down to the giveaway!)My nephew married his long-time

Quilt Show Favorites, Part 2

2011-10-20T07:01:00.001-04:00

Viewer's Choice went to Jane Viglionese's Double Dutch Star. Hand quilted! Jane makes just one quilt a year and they are perfection! Her fabrics are just gorgeous.I think Blooming 9-Patch might be my all-time favorite pattern. I need to try it with modern prints. (Tradition with a Twist by Blanche Young and Darlene Young-Stone) This quilt by Barbara Smith was made with all batiks (I think).

WIP Wednesday

2011-10-19T19:47:00.004-04:00

I'm focused this week on trying to finish my mother's birthday gift. Last week when I was recovering from tendonitis, I dug up the Grandmother's Flower Garden blocks that she started almost 20 years ago. Since they were a little wonky, I was hesitant to try to piece a garden path through the flowers.Inspiration struck and I realized I could machine applique them to a large piece of muslin I had

Quilt Show Favorites, Part 1

2011-10-18T09:25:00.004-04:00

The Westerly Armory is a really interesting building for a quilt show. The staff and volunteers are incredibly supportive of our show. I need to call soon to schedule the 2013 show!Here are some of my favorites from the Ninigret Quilters show last weekend.Beverly Nickerson's Bear Paw titled Ursus Arctus in Autumnal Purple won first place in Overall Craftsmanship. It is also wearing honorable

Best of Show

2011-10-15T07:02:00.000-04:00

Best of Show for the Ninigret Quilters 2011 goes to...Winterberries on a Winter's Green by Pat Bruno!(and a whole bunch of other ribbons, too!)Pat's work is magnificent. Winterberries took a little trip to Houston last year and received an Honorable Mention in the Art Quilt - Naturescapes category. Here are Pat's other be-ribboned landscapes!(and one by a student)The glorified 9-patch on yellow

My First Blue Ribbon!

2011-10-14T14:48:00.005-04:00

Woo hoo! I'm a little excited, can you tell?Nonna's Garden earned first place for Best Piecing. All those tiny English paper piecing stitches paid off!Meadowsweet Dresden won 2nd place for Best Mixed Technique! There was stiff competition in this category. The first place was also Best of Show. (I hope to show you that one tomorrow.)I brought my mother to the show today, and I had kept the

Quilt Show Set Up Day!

2011-10-13T06:34:00.004-04:00

I'm off to Westerly this morning to help set up the Ninigret Quilters show at the Westerly Armory. There will be 135 fantastic quilts in the show, 6 fabulous vendors, demonstrations, refreshments, used books and magazines, and a scrap table.No guild show would be complete without a raffle quilt! Isn't this one stunning?If you are planning to come down, please shoot me an email and I'll be sure

WIP Wednesday

2011-10-12T07:58:00.003-04:00

I wasn't able to do much this week while my wrist healed from tendonitis. I'm feeling so much better, but not quite 100%. I'm returning to quilting slowly.New/Old Project: Since I couldn't sew, I cleaned out my sewing room last weekend. I found 25 hexagon flowers that my mother started about 20 years ago. When she moved into her apartment 5+ years ago, I rescued a couple of her WIPs,

Fresh Fabric

2011-10-08T10:27:00.004-04:00

Julia and I have gone a little crazy buying fabric this past week. We HAD to buy a little at the Mod Conn meeting at Colchester Mill. And then Folk Art Quilts, our hometown quilt shop, is having their semi-annual sale this weekend, so we HAD to pick up a few more things. At 30% off! Hello? How could we not?Most of it has a project planned for it. Julia will be making pillowcases for her

Mail's Here!

2011-10-06T10:09:00.003-04:00

I have this problem with mail. I can hear the truck coming from a block away, like Radar O'Reilly on M*A*S*H. Some days, the truck is just pulling away and I'm already out the door to snatch it out of the box. Bill and Julia don't share this need to pick up the mail as soon as it hits the box, but Pete will grab it if I'm not fast enough. I came home late on Saturday afternoon and no one had

WIP Wednesday

2011-10-05T10:24:00.003-04:00

I was on a roll, getting a ton of stuff done in the past few weeks. Well, I'm paying for it now. (See below.)Finished:Mini Ninnie Hexie Star- this little piece will be donated to the Ninigret Quilters silent auction. Hope to meet some of you at the show!Blocks:October Block Lotto- Quilter's Choice in blue & cream. Sophie liked my group of blocks, so she made it the thumbnail for this month's

Mini Ninnie Hexie Star

2011-10-04T06:56:00.005-04:00

I finished a little piece this weekend! The blocks are from this Hexed Stars pattern. I pulled the Philip Jacobs Delphinium print for the border first, thinking it looked a little Fall-like, then found the batiks for the stars and background. It went together so quickly!The triangles that make up the hexies are 1.5" tall, and the overall piece is about 12" wide.I quilted it with this gorgeous

Weekend Update

2011-10-03T09:23:00.008-04:00

I had a fun quilty weekend! Saturday was judging day for our guild show and I was one of about 8 volunteers. About 45 quilts were judged in a variety of categories. It was fascinating to hear the judge's comments.On Sunday, Karen, Julia and I drove up to the Mod Conn meeting. You can see lots more pictures in Jackie's post. Here are this month's blue blocks with some apple/lime/honeydew/

October Block Lotto

2011-10-01T07:27:00.003-04:00

Here are my October blocks for the Block Lotto. It is Quilter's Choice month in blues and cream. We were allowed to choose our own patterns, but could only make as many as three blocks in each pattern, so the winners will receive a nice assortment.The first block is Duck Tracks.This one is called Waste Not.And this one is Block #1 of the Blogger's BOM.These were fun blocks to work on. Still

Ninnie Plan B

2011-09-30T12:22:00.005-04:00

Muuuuch better! I like it so much better than the first one. This will be donated to the Ninigret Quilter's silent auction.The border fabric is a Philip Jacobs' Delphinium. I pulled some batiks and Viola! The whole piece will be about 12" across (7" sides). I don't think I'll include a hanging sleeve/contraption. (How do you hang a hexagon?) It is the perfect size for a candle mat/table

Mini Zig Zag

2011-09-29T07:00:00.000-04:00

Here's the mini zig zag top that I started a couple of days ago. I had intended to donate it to my guild silent auction, but it's not right. I like it and there's nothing wrong with it, but I wanted something better for the auction. It's perfect for a doll quilt (18x24"), so I'll finish it and try to sell it at the holiday fairs.Silent auction plan B involves this pile and paper pieced

WIP Wednesday

2011-09-28T08:02:00.005-04:00

I've had a very productive week! I think it's because I've been cutting or sewing every possible moment. I worked on a lot of small stuff, but it feels great to accomplish so much.Finishes:Nonna's Garden is done, except for a label.Interlocking Windmills for Quilts of Valor - top is done and ready to pass on to a long-armer.Blocks:4x5 Modern Quilt Bee blocks are done and shipped.September Block

Blogger's BOM Block 1

2011-09-27T07:23:00.007-04:00

My friend Jackie is hosting the Blogger's BOM. I knew immediately that I wanted to play along, but what fabrics to use? I went looking through my modern bin and pulled all the blue and green Denise Schmidt prints from JoAnns. I had just picked up a few more last week. I'm partnering them with a couple of solids from Ryco. Hey, I'm cutting into fresh fabric!Sherri from A Quilting Life

Weekend Update

2011-09-25T17:21:00.004-04:00

I haven't shown you much family stuff lately, but we had a great weekend that I wanted to record. I'll have a quilty finish for you tomorrow!Our weekend started with a football game in the rain. It was Julia's first gig as a drum major, and she was so excited! That's her in the blue rain coat. Pete is playing quads in the front row. The band kept spirits high even though they were soaking

Block Lotto- September

2011-09-24T07:00:00.000-04:00

Here are my Block Lotto blocks for September.The block is called Curved Rails. It is simple and effective, especially in batiks.This is my favorite block of the bunch!

Design Floor Friday

2011-09-23T13:13:00.003-04:00

Eight more seams to go on the QOV Interlocking Windmills. I used 7 different reds and 13 different blues, all from stash!I wish I could keep sewing and attach the borders right now, but I need to clean the house for weekend guests. Poo. I hate cleaning. Sewing is way more fun!

4 X 5 Modern Swap

2011-09-23T07:00:00.000-04:00

My 4X5 Modern Quilt Bee blocks are done!Actually, they've been done for about a week, and just needed to be trimmed to size.Each member of our hive (#14) listed her fabric color choices. Then we chose a block pattern to make for each other. I chose the block Roads to Rome, because our family traveled to Italy this past summer and we all know that all roads lead to Rome! The fact that it was

Nonna's Garden

2011-09-22T11:18:00.006-04:00

Nonna's Garden is finished!All 547 bits of hexie goodness.My Italian grandmothers both had wonderful gardens and I will never forget which flowers each of them planted. Grandma Downstairs (who lived in the flat below us) tended to phlox, daisies, dahlias and an arch of red roses above a statue of the Blessed Mother. The Other Grandma had lilacs, lilies of the valley and clematis on her front

WIP Wednesday

2011-09-21T07:44:00.006-04:00

I'm seeing RED this week!Finished: For the Love of Solids Swap shipped Thursday to Michelle. Yay! She likes it! Click over to this post to see details of what I sent and received!Almost Finished: Nonna's Garden. I quilted it yesterday, buried all the threads and rinsed out the blue pen.Grrr. Several colors ran during the night. Of course the red was the worst. I laid it on a towel to dry

For the Love of Solids

2011-09-15T07:22:00.004-04:00

This may have been my favorite swap so far. It was a secret swap, so the quilter I made something for is not the quilter who made something for me. My partner said her favorite color is turquoise and she'd like a tote bag, table runner or mini quilt.Here is the table runner I'm shipping today.There was a circle of geese in her inspiration mosaic, but I wanted to mix it up a little. All I did

WIP Wednesday

2011-09-14T09:18:00.007-04:00