Weekend Update

I wanted to work on a few more of those UFO's and I got one more top finished! 

 I participated in the Fat Quarter Shop's Christmas Sampler BOM a few years ago. 

 They actually gave me enough fabric to make 2 of each block. 

 I decided to make one top for my friend Liz and the other one for me.  

I managed to get Liz's  quilt top finished. 

 I cut the borders out for this one and mine at the retreat.

I love the top left basket and the house, probably my 2 favorite blocks.

I love the white stars in the outer borders. 

 The directions for making the taller points was not a way I had ever done it before.

The red sashing is a loop type print with white dots, but I don't have enough to use that for my quilt.

I do have enough of the red swirly print that is in the basket but 

I worry about it sitting on the same fabric in the sashing.

I am going to make stars where the cornerstones are for my quilt.  

I have given this some thought and I bought some whipstitch piping some time ago

 not certain what I was going to do with it.  

I may have found the perfect answer for separating the blocks from the sashing. 

 If I do I will have to stop it before each sashing  star.  

It could work, I just might need to play with it. 

 Do you know whipstitch piping? 

 It looks like this.

I have the aqua and lime green and will need to use both.  

Hopefully this works out.

 Would you do something like this or would you just sew it and let it blend? 

~XOP~

A2MQG Retreat Continued

I said I would show you more from the retreat weekend.  

We stayed in the barn.  

When you walked in this was what you would see.

There is one room before this one and the stairs to the upstairs is on the left of where I was standing. 

My seat is the one with the blue case sitting there.

The TV was a straight shot from my seat!

I was happy I brought an extra light though as

 I didn't happen to have one of the overhead lights over my seat.

I also had a great view of Emily's design wall and 

Also Emily and her beautiful quilt top!

We are lucky that for some of the time it was raining, so we felt pretty great staying in to sew!

It was a happening place!

Marilyn was making some sampler blocks using Backard baby and were they ever cute!

Brenda and Ginia came up with a block design that uses color in a unique way. 

 Watch for a pattern for the whole quilt.

I think that completes the rest of the retreat info that I have to share.

I had a super productive weekend and will share more about that tomorrow.

I hope you all had a great weekend too.

~XOP~

A2MQG Retreat

I can't believe a whole week has gone by and I have not blogged or written about the wonderful retreat I went to with the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild.  

The retreat was held at the Hankard Inn and the facility was fabulous. 

 As a bonus we had our breakfast and dinners provided so no cooking!

I went with WAYYYY more than I thought I would be able to finish, but did not want to run out either. 

 I had some specific tops that I had to get done.

  I managed to get three of those tops completed!!  

First up was the wedding quilt that I have to gift in a few weeks.  

The back is also finished and both are at my quilter to finish.

Next up is the paper doll quilt.  

I can only say that this one has a special destination but will say more once it is gifted. 

 I love how it came out. 

 Not sure you can see but the border was done using a lot of I-Spy type of blocks.  

I managed to get the back sewn up for this one too.

Last but not least was a real oldie. 

 I bought a traveling design wall and went over to a friend's house to lay

 this One Block Wonder out using the wall. 

 I pinned all the blocks on the wall at that time.

  I managed to get a few rows sewn when I had to pick it up. 

 It had been folded up in a drawer for a few years now. 

 So long in fact that the plastic bag was disintegrating! 

 I really miss that wall so this one was up next so I could reclaim my wall.  

When I took it out of the bag it looked like this.

I had to press EVERY block before I could assemble them.  

Many were not the right size so I had to trim over half of them before I put them together too. 

 This is what it was beginning to look like as I moved forward.

I had gotten up at 7am and worked all day.

  The Doll quilt was finished by lunchtime and after lunch I started this one.  

This is what it looked like around 1am! 

 All finished.  

Don't look too closely, there are 2 that don't have the correct pair. 

 Pretty good all things considered. 

 I am not in love with it, but happy that it is now finished. 

 I will be donating it to Margaret's Hope Chest, where I hope someone will love it!(mistake and all). 

 I just can't bring myself to make the correction now that the whole top is complete.  

What would you do?

I do have some more pictures of the rooms we were sewing in and other people and 

theie works but will have to save that for another post.

I also managed to get the borders and sashings cut for 2 additional quilts so hope to get both of those tops done in the near future too. 

 Trying to bust some UFO's!

I had some minor surgery on Monday and am still a little uncomfortable.  

I had a couple of dermatofibroma's removed.

  One on my arm and one on my leg, so I have some new holes and stitches, ew. 

 Both were benign which is good.  

I hope you all had a nice 4th of July.

  I will write more later about the rest of the retreat!

~XOP~

Welcome to My Newest Sponsor Rustic Rooster Quilt Shop and A Giveaway

I would like to take a moment to welcome my latest sponsor, the Rustic Rooster Quilt shop!  

Trina has lots of wonderful fabric at a reasonable price and I am thrilled to have her on board.  

The customer service is amazing and she has very speedy shipping!  

She is a relatively new shop with plans to expand.
New product is arriving daily!

 Currently you will find some Moda and Riley Blake products available, also

 patterns, thread, books, kits and gifts for your shopping pleasure.

Take a minute and stop over to the Rustic Rooster and check it out.  

She is having a 25% off sale from July 1 - July 6 with the code MS13 

in the coupon box at check out

GIVEAWAY IS NOW CLOSED

Now for the giveaway.  

For the chance to win...

14 Fat Quarters and Two 2.5" square packs of
Happy Go Lucky by Bonnie and Cammile for Moda

You need to go over to the Rustic Rooster and come back and tell me 

                                    1-one thing from the shop you would like to purchase 

                                    2-one thing you would like to see her carry.  

Leave that in one comment here on my blog. 

Please be sure I can contact you by leaving an email address in your comment.

I will do the drawing on July 8th.

~ Giveaway is open to US residents only ~

The Rustic Rooster will contact the winner for shipping details.

I hope you will all take a minute and welcome Trina and her shop.

~XOP~

Progress is Being Made...Slowly

I just have a few minutes but wanted to share the Blue/Green quilt top's progression. 

 I think I am about half way done with the center part of the quilt and 

will need to figure out what I want to do about borders soon too.

I am pretty happy with how it is coming out so far.  

I hope my nephew and his new wife will love it too!

I will be welcoming a new sponsor on July 1st.  

You can already see her logo on my side bar.  

There will be a post telling you all about her and I will be hosting a generous giveaway sponsored by The Rustic Rooster beginning July 1, 

so be sure and check back here for the details!

I am going to get right home and pack for my retreat tomorrow.  

It goes all weekend.  

The Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild is the group that I am going with. 

 I can't wait!  

The meals are even provided!!  

Can't beat that.

What are your weekend plans?

~XOP~

Kitty Toes and Sewing Woes

I was working on my second wedding quilt on Sunday.  

I had all the squares made and it was time to put the top together.  

I had a pattern.  

Easy right? 

 WRONG!  

First I had so much help I couldn't see and sew at the same time.

 Just look at how close those adorable toes were to the needle!

 She finally settled down and I was able to put some of the top together. 

Have you ever started sewing assuming you knew how to put something together?  

I was doing this and could NOT figure out why my top was not coming out like the pattern!!  

Then I looked closer and realized what I was doing wrong. 

 I ended up having to rip out 3 rows and re-sew some ends and rows and ACK, 

it was NOT a great sewing night! 

 I don't happen to have a photo of the top so far but will take one soon.  

You can see the blocks here. 

A 4 patch sashed in white, and a 16 patch using blues and greens.  

The blocks alternate and are set on point.  

I am not sure I am going to do the borders as in the pattern but

 I am hoping to get the center part of the top finished before I leave for my quilting retreat on Friday.  

I am going with some of the others from the Ann Arbor Modern Quilt Guild 

for a quilt retreat this weekend. 

 I will be there from Fri-Sun, meals provided.  

Sounds like a great weekend which should also be very productive!  

I will be back later to share more.

~XOP~

More Destashing

I have a few more things to destash.  

You should know the drill by now!  

Send me an email with your address so I can tell you how much shipping will be.  

My email is mamaspark@gmail.com which is also my Pay Pal address.  

If you need an invoice just let me know that too.

Before we get started, I want tell you to stop back on July 1st.

I am picking up a new sponsor and there will be a giveaway!!

 Now here we go:

Fresh Cotton's FQ Bundle  $98 plus shipping

 2 yards Fresh Cottons yardage $18 plus shipping

 Fresh Cottons yardage 1 yard cuts $9.00 each yard plus shipping

 Fresh Cottons yardage half yard cuts $4.50 each plus shipping

 12 Days of Christmas kit, Includes panel, yardage, pattern and bag $30 plus shipping

 Denyse Schmidt Greenfield Hill one yard cuts $8 each plus shipping 

(The black rose print is sold)

 12 Days of Christmas Panel by Kate Spain $10 plus shipping

This weekend I went to see my dad and sister and it was a particularly LONG day.  

We left their house around 5 and drove for another hour to visit with my in-laws.  

We went to dinner with them and had a very nice time.  

We spent the night there and drove to Shipshewana in the morning on Saturday.  

It was nice to get away from all the every day stuff for a short bit of time 

and have some fun with hubby.  

I only bought a little fabric, like 2 yards and it is for a project I am working on. 

Thank you to everyone that keeps asking he is doing well.  

He told me that he feels like his eyesight is almost back to normal already! 

I did manage to get a little sewing done and will share more later.

How was your weekend?

~XOP~

New Destash

I have a few more things to destash so as before if you are interested, please email me at mamaspark@gmail.com

I will list the cost and will let you know how much shipping will be when you email me. 

 You can pay via Pay Pal to that same email address.  

Let's begin!

Fresh Cottons Layer cake by Moda $32

Dream On Layer cake by Moda $32 SOLD

12 Days of Christmas, Kate Spain, by Moda

Jelly Roll $32 SOLD

Charm Packs $8.00 each SOLD

Westminster Design Roll, It doesn't say but I think it may be Amy Butler.  

If you know this fabric let me know who the designer is.  $25.00

Woodland Bloom by Moda Charm Pack $8 SOLD

Hideaway Charm Packs $8 each SOLD

 Hampton Blues charm pack by Timeless Treasures $8 SOLD

Rendezvous charm pack by Exclusively Quilters $4

I will be visiting my dad and sister tomorrow then 

off to visit my MIL and FIL where we will spend the night.  

Sat am we will be going to Shipshewana.  

I am taking Captain one eye out and about, as I know how bored he is.  

He walked to the grocery store yesterday and 

we made Lobster and bacon macaroni and cheese for dinner last night.  

OMG this was the BEST mac and cheese I have ever eaten!  T

his photo does NOT do it justice.

YUM

I hope there is some left over for my dinner tonight!

More to share later!!

~XOP~