Wonderful Wednesday - Holiday Sew-In Edition

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  When I posted Week 46, I alluded to the coming of this post.  Details of the Holiday Sew-In are included here. Apparently, I missed Wednesday, so I'm posting now.  On Thursday.  I'm hoping YOU can forgive me.  I'm going to blame it on my sinus infection.  :o((

Anyway, The Holiday Sew-In.  D hosted the event.  She also gave us the fabric requirements and brief instructions for the quick projects.  Quick, of course, is a relative term!!  :P

Napkin production shown below (left) and table runner production on the right.  Preparing to flip the tube:

Here I am, lining up for a final press before the magic happens:

Fold and stitch:

Pure sewing magic:

Topstitching for the finish:

Ta da!!!  The 10-Minute Table Runner: 

D spent the afternoon binding off her donation blanket, Garter Swish by Stephen West, for Wool-Aid:

B trimmed up the fronts of her napkins:

She then topstitched the perimeter:

Look closely and you will see the napkin magic:

You can see that I am topstitching, too:

Here I am with my ONE completed napkin of the day:

 It didn't take long (another day!) to finish the set at home:

 Thank you, Dee, for helping me create a festive table:

Care to make some table decorations of your own??

HERE are the pattern links (in case you missed them last week) to do just that:

Table runner:

http://www.overallquilter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/10-min-table-runner.pdf

Napkins:  

http://bemused.typepad.com/bemused/2012/08/ready-set-napkins.html

Shared at Finish It Up Friday over on Crazy Mom Quilts.

Until next time...
Ho! Ho! Sew!!!

Tidy Up Tuesday - Gray Scrap Basket Edition

Welcome to the next edition of Tidy Up Tuesday!!  I have a few random stacks of fabric along the edge of my cutting table.

You know the ones?!

You cut for a project, but there's no good place to stash the scraps.  One day you knock the pile off onto the floor ONE TIME TOO MANY and decide that SOMETHING must be done!!

Today was that day.

It was either throw the pile of scraps in the trash (NOT!!!) or sew them up into a lovely little stack of blocks for future use.

Well, I did just that!!

I started off making a stack of Slab Blocks:

There was some dark and light gray in the mix and I just slapped them all together.  You know, for future use, right???

Well...

The future is NOW!!!

Once the piecing was done, I cut a batting  and got a little happy with my stack of gray scrappy blocks... Those blocks for future use?  THIS is what happened...

I made a nice 17" x 14" placemat and quilted it right up:

I did a bunch of random straight lines and I'm not quite sure what was underneath when I shot the photo.  Sorry!

Well, who needs just ONE placemat?  Don't those ALWAYS come in sets of four?  Besides that, we don't USE placemats on our table!

SEW...

A super awesome Scrap Basket was the end result of my stitching (after sewing a few more seams!!)

Would YOU like to see how it turned out???

Here it is... Mostly empty:

Suddenly, it was filled:

With just a bit room to spare:

Basket directions can be found at Bubz Rugz blog.  Thanks again, Fiona!!  These are SEW much fun to make!

It's a scrap basket.  Made of scraps.  To hold MORE scraps!!  :o))

Shown here it is in its new home:

The black and gray dots make me smile every time I walk in.

I'll be linking up with Cynthia for Oh Scrap!

Until next time...

Go make!!!

Mystery Monday Link-Up! On Ringo Lake! Part 1!!

Welcome to Part ONE of the On Ringo Lake Mystery!!

This mystery is brought to us by Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville's Quips & Snips blog.  She has hosted this reader appreciation QAL for a number of years now. This is my FORTH year of participation.  Thank you, Bonnie, for sharing your time and talent with quilters around the globe week!!

Bonnie will post ALL CLUES for On Ringo Lake HERE.  Click over to see any active clues. SAVE THEM to your computer if you want to wait until a later date to do your sewing!!!  Sometime after the reveal, Bonnie will remove the instructions from the blog and release the complete pattern in some other format.  This could be in a book or a stand-alone pattern offered in her online shop.  You've been warned!!

In case YOU missed the preview, these are the fabrics that I've chosen to work with... even though I prefer to use my own colors, my stash decided that it wanted to use Bonnie's colors:

Unless I change my mind... 

  The only thing missing is the chocolate and we all know that EVERYTHING is better with chocolate!!!

You see, I already KNOW that these fabrics will make a successful quilt, as evidenced below:

The quilt shown above won a Golden Needle Award at the North Carolina State Fair:

Sorry about the shadowing and the weird angle of the shot... the longarm is located approximately 2 ft. away from my bulletin board and that's not quite enough space to get a good shot.

My indecision is because using the flamingo fabric means giving up the dream of EVER having window valances to match the bed quilt shown above.  Although, as Angie over at Quilting on the Crescent pointed out, if they haven't been made in this many years, they probably weren't ever going to be made anyway!!  Using the flamingos just seals the deal.

This week's clue was easy-peasy, as Bonnie is known to do.  She starts us off with a false sense of security (lulling us from our turkey induced coma.)  We'll be in for it next week!!  LOL

Where was I?  Oh, yes, the first clue...

We were instructed to make 9-Patch blocks with our aqua, brown, and neutral fabrics.  The only thing that remains unused is our sunset splendor peachy-coral-orange color:

I only cut a few strips, in order to preserve the fabrics for later clues.  Even so, it was nice to do a bit of strip piecing.

Would you like to see my blocks??

HERE are a small selection of them:

You will have to refer to the photo at the top of the page for a better idea of the colors used.  Speaking of colors... follow THIS LINK to see what other colors quilters from around the globe are using.  I try harder to actually link up ON MONDAY next week!!  :o))

Until next time...
Be Mysterious!!!

Mail Call Monday - Belated Birthday Edition

Welcome to another edition of Mail Call Monday!!  Today's post is about a tale of two knitters and a package that arrived in my mailbox two weeks ago.  For the sake of clarity, the knitters will be called She and Me.

Me:  I went to SAFF and saw these great bags! Had spent all my money, so didn't get one.  :o((

She:  I missed Me's birthday.  I feel like a schmuck. I still have NO IDEA what to get for her and I'm a month late!

Me:  I posted about my SAFF trip and included photos of the glorious bags.

Three weeks after SAFF, what should arrive??  A mysterious package from Etsy.  OMG!!  What did I order now?!?!

Well, as you may well know from the title of this post...

I didn't order anything.  SHE did!!!  (Thank you, thank you!!!)

THIS is what I got:

HERE is a close-up:

The enclosed card is frame-worthy:

Mystery solved:

The moral of the story is this...

Be careful what you wish for because sometimes, you may actually get that wonderful project bag that you've been pining for!!  :o))

But, the plot thickens...

It seems there is QUITE a story behind the gift.

Text One:  "Seriously, Sue?! You are TOO sweet!!!  Thank you for such a beautiful birthday gift.

Text Two:  You should have seen me trying to figure out what I ordered!!!  LOL!!!

Two seconds later, my phone starts ringing.

She is laughing her head off because I know nothing of the links she went to in order for me to receive this beautiful gift...

Some friends are quite persistent when it comes to acquiring the PERFECT gift.  Lucky me, she's THAT kind of friend!

Until next time...
Color me SHOCKED!!!

ScrapHappy Saturday - RSC17 - Week 47

Welcome to Week 47 of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge!!  It's a holiday week here in the US and with this one come turkey and stuffing.  YUM!!  Read on to see what else transpired...

SUNDAY - I tackled Mt. Washmore, caught up on some of my favorite blogs, and visited with a friend who stopped by briefly.

Oh!  I also completed the set of 4 holiday napkins that I started on Friday.  They look very festive:

Diann at Little Penguin Quilts asked if I had a pattern link.  Oops!! I meant to include that in my post (and one for the table runner that I shared last week.)  Diann, your wish is my command:

Table runner:

http://www.overallquilter.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/12/10-min-table-runner.pdf

Napkins:  

http://bemused.typepad.com/bemused/2012/08/ready-set-napkins.html

MONDAY - It may be a holiday week, but Knit Group still met this morning.  I worked on my sweater project:

Yes.  I realize that it doesn't look much bigger than the last time you saw it, but it really is.  Two whole pattern repeats bigger!!  Better yet, my Thanksgiving project bag is made of BROWN fabric and the turkeys have BLACK top hats so they tie into November's RSC Color(s) of the Month.  :o))

The evening was spent learning a little about North Carolina quilt history at the Durham Orange Quilt Guild meeting.  It reinforced my theory that there is nothing much that is NEW in the quilt world.  Even the "Jelly Roll Race" style of quiltmaking (using burial ribbons as strips) was done back in the early 1900's:

I remembered my name tag this month!!!

Wonder of wonders, I won a Door Prize:

Between the two events, I even found time to complete the second set of 4 napkins, giving me a total of 8:

TUESDAY - It's a happy day!!  I spent the day stitching away at Needleb's house.  Would YOU like to see what I accomplished?  It's not much, but...

... I built a quilt back for my Grand Illusion Mystery Quilt.  It's been a UFO since January of 2015.  I need to add a border to it for ease of quilting on the longarm and plan to use some leftover yellow yardage from this year's commission quilt finish.

WEDNESDAY - Sweater Class and lunch with friends:

... and a quick visit to the area's newest needlework shop:

Once home, you can just call me "The Joyful Baker"!!  The pumpkin pies (and muffins, too) are cooling on the rack.  Bring on the turkey!!  Well, I guess I better wait for tomorrow for that task.

In the meantime, let's see how those new wheels work:

AWESOME!!!

Here is a better look at the quilting:

THURSDAY - Happy Thanksgiving!!  As soon as the turkey comes out of the oven, we'll be on our way to Grandma's house.

FRIDAY - 'Twas the day after Thanksgiving and all through the house Joyful could be heard yelling, "Let's GO!!  I've got to get home to start my On Ringo Lake Mystery Quilt from Bonnie Hunter!!!"  These are the fabrics that I plan to use:

SATURDAY - With the passing of another quick week, we have arrived at LINK PARTY day over on the So Scrappy blog.  I'm headed over to see who is working on their DARK blocks and who has posted a rainbow finish. Come along, you won't believe your eyes... and your project list will never be the same!  LOL!!

Until next time...
Get Scrappy!!!

Wonderful Wedneday - 4th Qtr. APQS Edition

Welcome to another edition of Wonderful Wednesday!!  The week's report is about last week's APQS Owners Meeting.  Thank you to our host and local APQS rep, Angela at Thread Waggle Quilting.

If you saw last week's ScrapHappy Saturday post, you probably saw my Show and Tell:



The gifts that Angela gave all of the attendees...



Along with the gifts that Mack and Carolyn brought for their fellow longarm quilters:



You probably even saw that I visited Cary Quilting Company:



What you didn't see was the quilts...

I didn't have the best vantage point and I don't have the proper credit to share, but I thought you would like to see the quilts.

Until next time...
Quilt BIG... on a longarm!!!