Guild Fun

 It has been kind of a random week of stitching, jumping from one project to another. As I was thinking about what to blog about today, I realized there was a theme to some of the projects: Guilds. 

Narragansett Bay Quilters Association is having a show in April, which means a fabric challenge was issued. Members were able to purchase some of the challenge fabric- Kaffe Fassett's Millefiore dated 2012. I've had that piece of fabric for several months, waiting for inspiration to strike. Early this week, I scoured my Pinterest boards and found this lovely little piece by Bryan House Quilts. Rebecca's wildflowers measure about 7", so my whole piece will be about 22".

I fussy cut the Millefiore and selected some coordinating prints from my stash. Everything is cut and ready for nighttime EPP TV stitching. In three days, I was able to finish three blocks. I'm planning to make nine blocks, and I hope to be quilting this piece next week.

Rhode Island Modern Quilt Guild is on the second round of postcard swapping. Recognize that heart fabric? My swap partner is also a member of NBQA, so I hope she gets a kick out of the guild crossover.

 

 

I recently received a couple of postcards from RIMQG. Leslie sent me the sweet orange lollipop flowers because one of my Christmas postcards got lost in the mail. Thank you, swap angel!

Lisa sent me these cool seaside stitches! Yes, fabric postcards go through the mail, but it seems like they pick up ink/dirt from the postal machines in the same spot. Bummer.

 

 Ninigret Quilters is having a three-month swap of lifesaver blocks. Here's my haul from January. 

I'm going to try to finish something today. Stay tuned!

Quilty Catch Up

I'm so sorry that I've been away from the blog for almost two months! November and December do seem to be the busiest months of the year, what with all the holidays and partying. Here's what I've been up to on the quilting front.

 

Two of my quilts were accepted for exhibition at A Quilters' Gathering in New Hampshire at the beginning of November. Engineer's Wife was awarded a codirector's ribbon from Kate Sussman. She liked the Morse Code anniversary quilt, too.  

  

During the same weekend,  the Rhode Island Modern Quilt Guild presented an exhibit during the Fine Furnishings Show in Pawtucket. Three of my quilts were included: Diamond Party, Sugar Wave and Picture Perfect.

 I had an opportunity to meet Mary Fons! 

  I quilted up an old WIP/UFO before to fill out my craft show booth. It was made from a really cute collection of Debbie Mumm lighthouse prints and coordinates. I think I pieced it in 2008. It can be a baby quilt of small lap quilt, perfect for a beach house.

Finished size: 48" X 54" 

 Another pre-craft show finish was the scrappy pyramid quilt. I really like this fun collection of modern scraps. The green binding works because green goes with everything!

Finished size: 48" X 64"

Started 2/22/15

Completed 12/2/15

While I was in a free motion quilting mood, I quilted up a guild quilt for a Habitat home dedication.

 The RIMQG hosted a postcard swap in November and there were the 2 fabric postcards I sent out. I bust out a paper pieced New York Beauty whenever possible!

On December 23rd, I decided I wanted to make a Christmas quilt for our cuddling up on the couch on Christmas Eve. Well, I got the top done that day and haven't taken another stitch since. I hope to quilt it this coming week. I used two charm packs of Flurry by Kate Spain and two yards of solid white Kona. Yummy!

And there you have it!

Rain, Rain, Go Away!

We've had one thunderstorm cell after another this morning, with no end in sight. Julia is taking a training course at Girl Scout day camp this week. There are plenty of buildings at our camp to keep the girls safe, so I'm not worried. And she was well-prepared. She reviewed our favorite website for camp songs before she left this morning, so I'm sure she's helping to entertain the little ones with songs and games.


We were lucky enough to have two nice days in a row. When we're not at the beach, you can find us at "The Pond." It's a small, fresh water lake with a private beach club that caters to families with young kids. My big kids still love going there. (I love having big kids!) They can swim out to the dock, swim laps, play ball in the water and just hang out in the shade, all things you can't do at the state beaches.


Here's the apron Julia picked up at the consignment shop. Aren't they adorable? She was born in the wrong decade. She loves all things vintage, including music.


My postcards are ready to be mailed to my group in the Carol Doak postcard exchange. This is one of Carol's blocks that I stretched out to fit the rectangle.


I've received two already (I'm late sending mine out) and it's amazing how well they travel. For the back, I printed the text that I needed using Powerpoint to be sure everything would fit. Then I traced the text onto white fabric using pigma pens. That's how I make all my quilt labels, too. I can use a fun font and the lines stay straight.


Hope your day is not as soggy as ours.
Tina

Happy Birthday, Janet!

It's Janet's birthday! I hope she's having a great day. It means so much to me to have a friend like her, which I can tell all of blogland, but can't tell her in person or we'd both be standing in puddles of tear. We have a lot in common- Girl Scout leaders, happily married mothers of 2, love to craft, attend the same church, etc. I gave her a birthday postcard last night at the last middle school concert of the year.

My incredibly talented son played in all three groups: Jazz Band (his favorite), Symphony Orchestra (with only one rehearsal!) and Stage Band.

And Janet's lovely and talented daughter, Lea on bass. Pete described her this way: "She's- like- awesome."

I finished 3 of the 4 Linus quilts for our guild meeting on Wednesday. The baseball one on the left is a cheaper by the dozen quilt. The small quilt in the middle used left-over twisted happy blocks. And the big one on the right was started at the guild last year with donated 6" squares.


I tried machine stitching the binding thanks to the encouragement and tips from Judy. I'm really pleased with how they came out and I was able to bind all three in one day! Thanks, Judy!


My heart was broken by a dear this week. This is what my lily plants look like now. Big, fat, juicy buds, completely gone.


I'm ready to dig out all my lilies! I don't think I can take the disappointment another year. When I spray diligently, I am greatly rewarded. I'm not usually that diligent. The last time I saw flowers on this plant was 2 years ago. Oh, well. I guess it wasn't meant to be.


I'm off to work on crafts for a Girl Scout fundraiser. Maybe a certain Girl Scout will finish them when she gets home from school. Will this school year ever end?!
Tina

A Great Mail Day and a Trip to the Beach

First off, the mail. I ordered more Boy Scout fabric from Alderwood Quilts and had to buy a couple of goodies for myself, too. Sue is super speedy with shipping... I just ordered these on Wednesday! The cute purple with shimmering polka dots was a free fat quarter. Thanks, Sue!


I got my second postcard from the Carol Doak postcard swap.
Thank you, Ruth! I'm loving all the orange today!


To the beach!
The sand between our toes,
the soothing sound of the waves,
the beach roses on the dunes ready to burst into bloom
can only mean one thing.
Summer is coming!


Stay tuned for a guest blogger and giveaway coming very soon!
Tina

Monday, Monday

I made 8 more nine-patches this morning for the Three by Three swap. I wasn't crazy about the other ones I made, so I dug out some more Mark Lipinski fabric. I like these better, so I'll get them in the mail today.


The other swap I'm participating in is a postcard exchange through Carol Doak's Yahoo group. Here's the first postcard I received from Sharon. It came through the mail beautifully! I'd better get moving on the 3 I need to make! So do you want to know what a small quilting world this is? I've driven past Sharon's street several times on my way to my cousin's church in rural NY state. We'll be going there in June for Anna's baptism, so I might just deliver Sharon's postcard!


A couple of my quilts came home this week, which was odd. First, the Washington raffle quilt was returned because they canceled the raffle. I have no idea what to do with it now. The label is pieced into the back!


Then, I got a call from the wellness center I attended several years ago. From 2001 to 2003, I lost 51.5 pounds with their help, so I made them a quilt called Healthy Hearts. There are 51 and a half (I thought the half was clever) paper-pieced hearts made with 52 different purple fabrics. The center is remodeling and going with a new color scheme, so they called to ask if I wanted the quilt back. I have a miniature version that I had kept for myself, but I was happy that they offered me the big one. It's a little faded, but not in bad shape. It took me 6 years, but I was able to find all 51 pounds! It would be good to be healthy again. I need a new plan.

I noticed in my last post that I included pictures of Josh and Rob, but none of my own kids. Here's what they did last weekend.


Julia played trumpet in a jazz concert at the Elks Lodge. It was a lovely evening and I'm so proud of her for sticking with the jazz band. They played my favorite song, Fly Me to the Moon. We decided she needs a box to stand on so she can wear flats and be as tall as the other trumpters.


Pete went camping in Connecticut with his Boy Scout troop. This is his Stewie Griffin impression from Family Guy. What can I say- he's a goof. They had a bonfire competition with the Girl Scouts in the camp site across the street. Not surprisingly, the boys won. We'd kick their butts in campfire cooking! They topped off their structure with a Yankee cap they found in the woods. They like fire. (One of the girls called Pete last night. hee, hee)


Have a wonderful week,
Tina

Green Day

When I loaded the photos for today's post, I noticed how much glorious green they contain.

I decided that I needed a new paper piecing project. Linda at Paper Panache posted a new mystery block this week. I haven't done one in a while, so I printed it out. I have a confession to make. I'm a cheater! I color them in and figure out the design before I cut into any fabric. The blues in the current piece appealed to me, but the finished block wasn't something I wanted to work on this week. It could make a nice gift for a certain family member, so I'll add it to the list. Since it's a mystery, I can't tell you what it is.


On to my next source for paper piecing inspiration: Carol Doak. I signed up for the postcard exchange on her Yahoo group and started looking for a fun block. I played with some different blocks and layouts and liked this one the best. It's a free pattern on her website: Introduction to Paper Piecing. The little blocks are about 1.75" square. I was in a hurry to finish before Pete's track meet, and I messed up the color placement I had planned. The magenta and red are reversed. It should have a color wheel effect. I guess I'll keep this one.

On to the track meet. Pete's discus-throwing technique is improving. His goal is to qualify for the state meet in discus, shot put and turbo jav (it's like a Nerf javelin). He likes throwing stuff!


While I waited for him to take his turn, I worked on a prayer shawl. Gotta love all that green!


My TV watching project last night was the March basket block. The prep work was done so I could just sit and start sewing. Four hours later (Red Sox game, American Idol, The Mentalist and Without a Trace) my block was done.


What color will today be?
Tina