More Bee Blocks

I had to work on my Bee blocks for May before I leave for Raleigh tomorrow. 

 In Ima Bee I made these two Alaska Homestead blocks

Then in the Bee Vintage  group I got my first set of June blocks done!! 

 Butterflies.

The other May blocks for the Ima Bee were from the Supernova blocks by Lee at Freshly Pieced..

I put off making these as I thought they would be difficult but they were NOT. 

 I would really like to make a whole quilt of these.  

The one thing I noticed about these blocks is that I did not like too much "pattern" in the fabrics used

 as I thought it took away from the color progression in the blocks. 

 She asked for jewel tones.

I am probably not going to be able to post very often over the next week

 since I will be in Raleigh visiting my DD2. 

 I can't wait! 

 I stopped at Biggby coffee today and got some coffee for her as they don't have Biggby in North Carolina.  I hope to do a few posts. 

 I am meeting up with Mrs Goodneedle and also with Sara of Growing Stitches while I'm in town. 

 Stay tuned for the adventures!

~XOP~

I Think I'm In LOVE!!

I told you all about a quilt I was making with 2 co-workers right? 

 We are using the Paper Dolls pattern from Pineapple press.  

My friend Cori has it in her shop right here.  

You may need to go and pick yourself up a copy RIGHT NOW! 

 I'll wait.  

As I said before I thought to use it as a leader/ender project.  

I didn't think it would work for that but now, after making a few I realize it will work great for that!  We were supposed to make 11 each but just like Lays chips, I can't make just one (or 11).  

I made a signature block for myself and for one of the other women.  

Can you guess her name?  

Or which one is representing me? 

 (Hint, her name rhymes with "bobbin")

I have also used some of the Lizzy House Pearl Bracelet fabrics (because I am totally obsessed).

Here are the Pearl Girls!

I may need to do a whole quilt of these, especially with all the new PB's coming out.

I think my friend's 2 favorite blocks are the DS Quilts plaid girls.

You may notice that we have used different skin tones too.  

We went from very pale flesh to a fairly dark brown and every shade in between that we could find!  

Here is a photo of my 18 blocks all laid out together.

These are mine and Robin's all put together.

We are still working on how to lay them out for the finished quilt.  

I want some white space between some of the girls and want some holding hands. 

 Robin is a graphic artist so she will work on the design layout 

until we are all happy with how it looks.  

We certainly have a good start on this one and all of us plan on making another one to keep.  

I think mine will be for a friend's daughter, but don't tell.  

I am sure I will make a lot of these little girls as they are so addicting to make!

Pearl Bracelets, polka dots, plaid, vintage sheets.  

Oh the possibilities!!!

I have some more bee blocks to share but that will have to wait until tomorrow. 

 I have tomorrow off so I can get ready for my trip to Raleigh.  

I took my son out for dinner last night and my debit card was declined.  

I went home and called the bank only to find out that someone in London England 

tried to charge over $500 worth of electronics on my card!!!  

The bank declined the charge and blocked the card, thank goodness. 

Hope you are all having a good day.  

I think you need to go to Cori's and pick up this pattern.  

If you do, the one we used is the smallest one, the one they used to make the pillow.

~XOP~

Another First For Me

I have a baby shower to go to this week before I head out to Raleigh on Friday 

so decided to make a chenille blanket for the gift. 

 I have been toying with learning how to sew the binding down by machine for some time now.  

I love the look of binding sewn by hand but

 it hurts my hand so much and the pain extends all the way into my shoulder by the time I am finished.  Sometimes my sweet friend offers to sew the binding down for me 

and I am always so thrilled as she does such beautiful work!  

Also with a project like a chenille blanket I figure it will be sturdier if sewn down using the machine.

First let me say it was not as hard as I thought it would be and

 second I certainly can use some additional practice! 

 I sewed the binding to the chenille side and turned it to the plain fabric side. 

 My hope was that the fluffiness of the chenille side would hide my less than perfect machine stitching,

 and I am happy to report that this was exactly the case!

Here is the less than perfect side, perfectly camoflauged

 Here is the back and the stitching looks great!

I decided to try black and white for the chenille, like the checkered flag and used red flannel for the base.

I have to say I am pretty pleased with the outcome.

Here are a few views of the finished blanket.

If you would like to make one too you can find the tutorial under the tutorial link on my blog

 or on the Moda Bake Shop too.

(silly Fatty McFatty photo)

On a side note, anyone out there live in the Raleigh area? 

 I will be there on Friday to visit my daughter for the week.  

I am already meeting up with 2 of my blogging buddies but would be happy to meet you as well.

Send me an email if so and we will see what we can arrange.  

mamaspark@gmail.com

On this Memorial Day here in the US I would like to thank all the military personnel 

for keeping me and my family safe. 

 I can't thank you all enough.

~XOP~

Voting For The Blogger's Quilt Festival Has Begun!

I just have a quick minute to post. 

 I have entered Charmalade in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  

Voting opens today right here.

My quilt is number 42, so if you like it I certainly would appreciate your vote.  

Here is what it looks like just in case you forgot.

Have a wonderful Memorial Day weekend everyone in the states!!

~XOP~

Towel Making Tutorial

I know I have been MIA a lot lately but I promise you I have been productive! 

 Some of you asked for a tutorial on how I made the towels that I gave for the wedding shower 

so I thought I would share that with you. 

 It could NOT be simpler. 

 It seriously took me longer to find a towel I could use than to make them! 

 I used terry cloth towels for this one but you can just as easily use the linen type too. 

 I have made these using both kinds of towels, it just matters what I can put my hands on the quickest!  Ready?

First purchase a couple of towels (I like to make them in pairs).

I try to get them to match the strip of fabric I intend to use.  

Measure the width of the towel so you know how big to make your strip. 

 Be sure to add a turn under amount. 

 I would suggest 1/4"-1/2" on both ends. 

 So for instance my towel was 17" so I cut my strip length to 18" 

so I had a half inch on each side to turn under

I had this in my stash so decided to use it for these towels. 

 I cut the bee hive part off and decided to use the cats.  

Again be careful to leave at least a 1/4" edge to press under.

You can use a border strip like I did or regular fabric cut to the desired width.

So with this strip fabric I had a wide strip and a narrow one.  

You could use either or both.

Companion towels if you will.

Now take your cut strip to the ironing board and press the top and bottom edge under. 

 Then turn the side edges and press them under too. 

I found this easier, even thought I measured, to have to towel close by

 to make sure I turned under the correct amount so that the side edges were even with the sides of the towel. 

I also looked at my design and decided where I wanted the side to end up.  

I didn't want to cut my cat in half! 

Once you have the fabric all pressed such that you have no raw edges exposed pin it in place on the towel.

Once you have it pinned in place choose a color thread that will blend and

 carefully topstitch all the way around the edges of the fabric on all 4 sides.

And voila!  Easy peasy, 2 brand new snazzy kitchen towels!  

Want to try your hand at making one too?

  Leave me a comment telling me favorite new fabric line over at the Fat Quarter Shop for a chance

 to win the last 2 strips of the fabric I used to make my towels!

More of what I have been doing to follow soon!

~XOP~

Blogger's Quilt Festival 2013 Throw Quilt Entry

This is my entry into the throw quilt for the Blogger's Quilt Festival.
Stop over and vote for me if you like this quilt.
It is in the throw category, or you could vote for it for Viewer's Choice.
Voting runs May 24-30th.

I have a quilt that I made for the Moda Bake Shop that was near and dear to my heart. 

 It was my first submission to the MBS and I was beyond thrilled that they accepted my quilt!
You can find the tutorial right here. 

 I was working on it like mad to finish the binding while I was away on vacation

 hoping to get the perfect cover shot. 

 I managed to find the perfect place and got a great shot with only the second photo.

I used my friend's long arm to lay in the beautiful feathers in every triangle, 

then used my Bernina to do all the straight lines on the inside and in the border.  

The circles in the inner border were done on the long arm also.

 It took me about 14 hours to do all the quilting!

This quilt is even more special to me because it is the last completed quilt I have with photos of 

my best friend, Jack.  

My Jack was in kidney failure and I he is now waiting for me on the Rainbow Bridge.

I miss  him every single day!

Jack NEVER left my side when I was home.  

He slept curled up in the crook of my neck or side every night.

He purred us both to sleep. 

This quilt will always remind me of him.

This is my favorite photo of Jack.  

I love you my Boo Boo Kitty and I miss you so much!

~XOP~

Tula Pink Fabric Swap

I forgot to mention that I have also been playing swap mama for 

7 rounds of Tula Pink fabric swapping! 

 The last round (4/5) we received 56 different fabrics!  

All the fabrics in rounds 1-5 and NO repeated fabrics!! 

 We are currently on rounds 6/7 and will receive 36 fabrics 

with none being repeated from the previous rounds.  

How fun is that?

 We are even getting some of the more HTF fabrics too.  

Some people have been asking about this pattern.  

She is a designer from Michigan.  

Here is the pattern.  

You can find it on the Pineapple Press site here, 

if you would like to join me in making some paper dolls!

It is a beautiful, sunny, warm day here today.  

I hope you are enjoying your day too!

~XOP~

Paper Dolls and Small Things

I know it has been a LONG time between posts hasn't it? 

 Someone pointed that out to me today. 

 I'm sorry but sometimes there just isn't anything good to write about. 

 I began training for a 5K with a group of ladies at my gym, 

so the amount of time I spend at the gym has increased a LOT. 

 We are doing the Couch Potato to 5K program so I have to run 3 times a week.  

That's in addition to the 3 Zumba classes and the cardiolates and body pump classes. 

 With working full time, and taking care of my dad and sisters, it doesn't leave a lot of extra time to sew. 

 I have been working on the back of the Swoon wedding quilt and

 can't share that as the bride to be reads this = ) 

 I will do a tutorial on how to do the dish towels soon, I promise!  

Have you ever had sewing you *had* to do but got TOTALLY distracted by something else?  

That's what happened to me! 

 I am always looking for a project to use for leader/enders while I sew. 

 Do you guys use leader/enders when you sew? 

 I had bought a really sweet pattern called Paper Dolls and 

thought that would work but wanted to make up one block and see how it would be to use. 

 I have been wanting to do this for soooooo long and I finally made one up.

This is unpressed but how freaking adorable is this??  

Can you totally see a whole quilt made up with these??

I think I am going to put white on either side and then maybe surround it with squares. 

 I'm not sure yet. 

 I want to alternate these with a plain block and maybe an improv cat block or 2. 

 I have NO business taking the time to make this, but it is so much FUN!!! 

 I could not resist making several!  

The largest piece is the HST part of the dress and it is 2 7/8", so VERY scrap friendly! 

 I am planning on using several "skin" tones for the girls. 

 I have several more cut out and think that it will be a good L/E project.

Fatty McFatty has been helping me a lot lately too.

She sure loves laying on anything I have been making!

One of my oldest and dearest friends celebrated her 50th birthday today! 

 I cut some lilacs for her (her favorite) and make caramel brownies also her favorite!  

One of our lab mates got her this cake and it was amazing.

So happy birthday to the one person on this earth that completely understands me, every facet of me!  

I love you man! 

 LOL

~XOP~

Happy Mother's Day

I just wanted to take a minute and wish everyone out there a happy Mother's Day! 

 I hope your families take a few minuter today to let you know how much they appreciate you 

and all you do for them! 

 I hope you do the same for all the special women in your life!

I was at a bridal shower out of town yesterday and these beauties were waiting for me when I got home.

They are from my lovely DD2. 

 Thank you so much!

(She is the one in the smaller photo)

Today my son brought me these. 

 Thanks to both of you guys!!

I am supposed to go to dinner and a movie with my DD1 today too.

All in all a great day.  I am hoping to get to my sewinroom sometime today also.

Just before the shower I was making some dish towels and a garter for the bride.  

Thought you might like to see how they turned out.

 It took me awhile to find the perfect dish towel but finally found some that would work. 

 Anyone interested in seeing how to make them?  

SUPER easy.

Isn't she beautiful?

haha my little niece thought it was a headband!!

Why does the Spartan always end up making projects with Michigan fabric??

Welcome to the family Juli!

~XOP~