Bee Blocks and Flooding in Grand Rapids

I finished the last of the April blocks for Bee Vintage.  

She asked for these woven blocks.

The pattern is on the Moda Bake Shop called Simply Woven.  

You can find the pattern here.  

It was not a difficult pattern to make but to only make 2 blocks it was difficult to figure out how much of each strip to cut. 

 I also had the first block made and did the second cut only to realize that I made it in the wrong place!  

Oh well, I just made another one. 

 LOL 

I guess that will teach me to pay attention. 

 You have to pay attention to what you are doing or it would be really easy to cut wrong.

I told you I would share about the flooding in Grand Rapids too so here are some of the pictures I took while I was there recently.

The Grand River

This barn was in trouble!

This was just past the barn, at a park.

If you look closely in the center of the photo is a street sign, Like "children at play". 

 It is almost completely submerged. 

 I am guessing it is a 6-8 foot sign!!! 

 It was CRAZY!

We saw many houses along the river that were flooded too. 

 It reminds me of the rain song from Winnie the Pooh

"and the rain rain rain

came down down down

in rushing rising rivlets

till the river crept right out of it's bed

and crept right into Piglets!"

I hope those folks were ok!

I hope you are having a good weekend.

I help hubby do some cleaning in the garage, until he became Mr Grumpy Pants.

Then I cam inside to clean and do laundry!

I am hoping to get into my sewing room today.

I emptied yet another bin. 

(How many is that now anyway?)

I need to put all that fabric away and get another one.  

I will take a picture before I put it away just to show you.

~XOP~

A Funny Thing Happened

I worked a LONG day on Wednesday.  

Met my daughter for dinner in Ann Arbor because 

I was going to stay for the AA Modern Quilt Guild meeting.  

The meeting was great!  

Brenda, of Pink Castle, had moved into her shop and was having the meeting there. 

 At the end of the meeting we did a stash swap.  

Everyone brought fabrics and we put them all on one big sheet. 

 Then on "GO!" we all leapt into the fray for fabric.  

You know we don't have enough at home right?  

This is the stash I went home with.

Can you SEE all those Tula Pink strips?  

Two Neptune squares some Hope Valley and some AMH.  

Not to mention the adorable foxes and some Kaffe.  

I was so happy! 

 It was such a fun thing to do. 

 I got rid of 2 grocery bags of my fabric and only brought a wee bit home.

So by the time I got to my home it was after 9pm and I was exhausted! 

 I picked up the mail, put some chicken in the oven to make chicken salad for my lunch on Thursday and sat down to watch the latest episode of Supernatural (Love me some Sam and Dean!!)  

I realized I had not opened the mail so went back to where I had dropped the mail 

to find an envelope. 

 I was thinking it was some of the Swap packages I have been waiting for 

to close up round 4/5 in the Tula Pink swap.  

I looked at the return address and it said it was from United Notions. 

 What on Earth would they be sending me?

Inside was a magazine.  

OK, nice but a magazine?  

There was a post-it note inside (I put it on the outside for you to see)

I opened the magazine up to the inside front cover (the post-it was on the right side)

 and this is what I saw...

A photo of ME in the Moda Bake Shop advertisement!!!

I am in some pretty awesome company too I might add!

I had no idea they were going to do this and it was so exciting!!  

How fun to be part of the Moda Bake Shop!!  

Thank you for including me in the ad, you made my week!!!

I hope you are having a good week too.

Weekend plans? 

  I may be working on a super special QAL with my daughter and some quilting friends 

so there's that.  

~XOP~

Swaps and Stash

Just a quick little post to show you my latest swap.  

She even sent more of the swimming sisters then we had agreed on, so sweet!  

And did you notice the card above it?  

Yep, it's a card!

  

Clever girl, she had it made at Shutterfly. 

 I know what I will be doing in the future!!  

I love learning about new things like this!!!

 If you have been reading my blog for any length of time you know about my obsession with the Mendo line above and the Sweet and Swell line from Moda. 

 I saw this destash on IG and could NOT help myself. 

 IG sure can be tough on the pocketbook 

(thanks Mary!)

I do have some photos to share with you that show the flooding in Grand Rapids from when I was there last Friday.  

It was quite something to see. 

 I will try to post those later today or tomorrow.

Off to go and finish my genotyping.  

Busy day here in the lab!

~XOP~

Spinning Stars Bee Blocks

For my Ima Bee block commitment for April we were asked to make 

Anna Mara Horner's Spinning Stars blocks.  

You can find the pattern here if you want to make some too.

  It is a beautiful block.  

A little fussy to make but beautiful when all finished. 

 This would be great using Munki Munki fabric. 

 I really don't like using paper templates

. I would like it if there were a plastic set of templates I could have just cut around! 

 It took way more time to cut out then to make.
Also since the block uses templates it would have been nice to know the size,
so you would know if your templates printed out the right size.
If you want to make one just email me and I will tell you those measurements.
There were a few little tricks to putting the block together too.

 I really love my blocks though, so pretty!

This was the first block I made and I like it a lot.  Notice the NYC subway print?  

I did experience a little bit of user error while making these, LOL. 

 I did not read the template for the C part very carefully and ended up re-cutting some of those.  

A beautiful block to file away for future use for sure! 

 They are HUGE blocks too. 

 18", but relatively east to put together and to get to match up too. 

 LMK if you give these a try, I would like to see your version.

~XOP~

A Little Trip

My hubby and I had to go up to Grand Rapids again on Friday to do some more cleaning. 

 We stopped at Kean's in Mason and I found some more fabric to go with my rooster tea towel. 

 I picked up a few more golds and that snappy magenta with the mustard dots! 

 I am thinking that it would make a splendid inner border around the tea towel

 before making the rest of the quilt.

Don't they look so yummy all stacked up here and ready to be desiigned with? 

 Oh well, it will have to wait until the wedding quilts are finished.

I also picked up this adorable mustached fabric too. 

 I think it is so cute!  

Not sure what I will do with it but something fun.

Have a wonderful Monday!

~XOP~

Destashing Some More Fabrics and Patterns

I am destashing some fabrics again. 

 If you are interested please send me and email and include where you live

 so I can figure out the shipping costs too.  

mamaspark@gmail,com

Here we go!

42 various pieces of Batiks. $15 plus shipping.
SOLD

The Joys of Christmas. Robert Kaufman. 3 yards available for destash $15 plus shipping.

I think there is a little over 4 yards here, so $20 plus shipping.

 Love Letters charm pack $7 plus shipping

Desert roll Quilt Blocks by Moda. 

 These are 5" strips but not sure how many are in the pack $5 plus shipping.

SOLD

I have all these vintage patterns also, $1 each plus shipping.

I did hear about a 5" I-Spy swap over here if you are interested in joining in. 

 It only takes 1 yard of quilt shop quality fabric and you get 56 different I-Spy blocks in return. 

 I signed up for a spot.  Maybe you should too?  

More to share later!!

~XOP~

Stash Enhancement and Thrifting

Yes I have been shopping. 

I hit the local thrift shop twice this week and scored both times!   

I don't have a photo of the first one but here is the latest score.

Two very nice vintage sheet Pillowcases, a Pyrex dish and that adorable swan made in Japan.  

I am going to turn the swan into a pin cushion!  

Stay tuned for that in the near future.

I have been watching all the tea towel quilts that are popping up online.  

Two of my favorite are from Dianne's and Sophie's. 

 I have been scouring the internet looking for the perfect tea towel. 

 Apparently so are others! 

 Every time I see one I want I get outbid. 

 I finally did win one and it is signed by Tammis Keefe.  

There is a small hole near the signature but 

I am going to put a little interfacing behind it with some fray check and use it anyway.  

I love the colors and had to do a wee bit of shopping to get the perfect match!  

I think I did quite well. 

 Notice the 2 fox prints in there? 

I could not resist using the fox in the hen house!  

LOL

I am beginning to warm up to the aqua/teal and mustard combination.  

Do you like those together?

I bought a couple other prints too. 

 Not sure if I will use the 2 blue prints or not. 

 I need better light to evaluate it by.  

The text print was just because I love it so much!

It was dark this morning so the colors are not very true in these blue prints. 

I have my Swoon top all done and now am piecing a couple of blocks for the back.

  If it ever stops raining long enough for the ground to dry up I will take it outside for a picture.  

With all that white in the quilt I sure don't want to chance dirt getting on it!  

I decided I will not share the back of the quilt until it is finished and gifted 

b/c I am doing something super special for the bridal couple.  

Guess you will have to check back in August for that one! 

Any suggestions for a good mustard gold or aqua/teal or 

that weird dark, slate/almost navy blue in the rooster fabric for me?? 

 Maybe I can find something at the Fat Quarter Shop?  

Open to your suggestions!!

~XOP~

Welcoming the Fat Quarter Shop As My Very First Sponsor

I have added the Fat Quarter Shop as a sponsor! 

 Notice the button on my side bar that will take you directly to their shop of wonderfulness. 

 If you have not heard of them you are in for a TREAT!!  

They have everything!

They have introduced their very own You Tube channel which you can access right here.

It is an introduction to the awesome videos that are available on their You tube channel. 

 I am so excited to take a minute or an hour, and watch all the videos!!!

There is a fantastic video available showing you how to do fusible machine applique. 

 You can watch the video tutorial right here.  

They are using Heat and Bond light which is 20% off at the Fat Quarter Shop right now.

  It is the featured product of the Month.

 I love finding new resources don't you? 

 Thank you Fat Quarter Shop for being my very first sponsor! 

 I can't wait to see what they have in store for us.

~XOP~

Sorting and Swapping. Tula Pink Round 3

I have had the pleasure of being the swap mama for not one but three rounds of swapping

 Tula Pink 10" squares. 

 I have finally received all the fabric for round 3 and needed to do the sorting. 

 There were 28 participants so as you can imagine I needed a long table to do the sorting. 

 So I booked a conference room at work and enlisted the help of 2 of my friends. 

 I thought you might get a kick out of seeing the process. 

Such good friends to help me!

A lovely pile of Tula goodness!

Ooooo Nest

All the packages sorted and ready for the next step. 

 I have to get the list and see who I need to Paypal and who wants round 3 to ship with their round 4/5. 

 Yes that's right I said round 4/5. 

 We are already on to a combined round 4 and 5. 

 And guess what? 

 Those crazy folks are getting ready and claiming their fabrics for rounds 6 and 7. 

LOL.  

We have this great woman in the group that has listed all the fabrics by line and 

put each claimed fabric on the list.  

We have not repeated a single fabric in 5 rounds!  

This has been fun but doing 2 rounds at one time and 

overlapping with the previous round has been a little hairy.  

I am hoping to have some time this week to get it all together and sent out. 

 I hope my peeps have confidence in me and will be patient!

What craziness are you up to?  

~XOP~

Do You Swap?

I have found that swapping and trading on the internet is so much fun! 

 I had a few recent swaps that turned out well and 

also had a friend pick up some HTF OOP fabric she saw for me too.

Here are some of the things I received recently.

Some Tula Pink goodies, with a smattering of Urban Chicks just for fun!

Some more Urban Chicks and some original FMF with a little Tula on the side.

I don't know if you ever fall for a fabric line but I have been anxiously awaiting one I found online. 

 It was in Hawthorne Threads "coming soon" section for quite some time and now it is here!! 

 Let me introduce you to Full Moon Lagoon.

When I first saw this line the purples reminded me of Heather Ross's Mendocino line. 

 I can't wait to figure out what I want to make with it but in the mean time I am happy just to have some. 

 It's available at Hawthorne Threads right now. 

 This line is even more beautiful in person and has a great hand.

I thought you might like to peek at how the cubbies are filling up in my sewing room. 

 I have been working away on emptying some bins, although not this weekend.  

You can see round 3 swap packages for the Tula Pink swap falling out of one of the bottom cubbies! 

 I think my favorite color is blue, by the looks of things.

Off to get ready to go to a bridal shower. 

 Have a wonderful Sunday!

~XOP~

Thirft Shop Finds

First things first.

Thank you to everyone that has stopped over at the Moda Bake Shop 

and left me such nice comments!

I hope you have enjoyed the blanket tutorial.

I am so grateful for such wonderful followers.

Now let me take a minute and share some of my week so far.

 

I stopped at the thrift shop by my house and found the BEST things on Tuesday.

Some vintage Pyrex bowls, 2 Fostoria glasses and a Napco figurine!!!

SCORE!!!

I thought I would share how my cubbies are filling up.  

I have no idea how I will stuff the other 15 bins worth of fabric into them!!  

YIKES!!!!!!!

 

Aiden thinks I am just not looking at things in the right orientation! 

Maybe I should employ her cat logic.  

What do you think??

More to share later.  

Got to run right now.

~XOP~