Spooky time

Recently I was asked when my first sale is-not far away at all.  It starts Oct 5th and goes for one week.  I am excited for it but also nervous thinking about all I want/need to get done yet.

Little by little I am trying to get some panels ready for the fall craft sales.  The panel is the center plus the orange border with the circles.  All the borders from there out is what I added from my stash of fabrics.  

Last weekend, as we were taking a little drive, we ran across a pumpkin wagon so we stopped and bought these three.  My hubby thought I was crazy wanting that big with gourd looking one.  I think it adds character to my display.  No, the scarecrow is not going to keep holding the wall hanging.  I just thought it was cute for the photo shoot;)

 You can see some of the quilting here.  I like using e's and l's in one inch checkerboard borders.  First I quilted everything and then decided the orange border with the circles needed something.  TaDa-just quilt around the circles while ditching, it worked perfectly!


















The panel center received swirls.

Now you get to see more of the cute scarecrow my friend made for me.  I love decorating for fall.





















Sunday I cut out parts for five purses and sewed part of them together and they were ready for quilting this morning... I was almost done when a storm rolled through and I needed to shut down my longarm fast!





















These three Gobble it Up! runners are ready for quilting-perhaps tomorrow.





Linking with Freemotion by the River

Tilting Trees Runner

I have been wanting to get more of these guys made up. This is one of my patterns in my Craftsy shop.  This 16" x 40" table runner is very quick to make up.  The quilting is done and then you shape the rounded corners and applique the snowmen and trees on.  Add some snowflake buttons and round black buttons for his eyes and you are ready to bind and enjoy this winter!

 

 I love the striped gray/black/white binding which I had to cut on the bias to go around the curve.





















Since I was quilting yardage it was just as easy to whip up 2 of them at the same time.

Linking with Connie, Susan and Michelle

She came, she saw, we talked!

Yesterday was such a fun day.  Blog friend, Wendy who blogs at Pieceful Thoughts, came over to sew/chat/laugh today.  There might have been some chocolate involved too! We have been trying to get together for a couple months now, it was good to finally be able to do that.   

Wendy worked on her projects, while I put binding on 5 runners.  First I finished up more of the pumpkin table runners.   I thought I had the perfect lighting outside when I took these, but I didn't check them on the computer until it was dark out and found out it washed them out a bit.  The backgrounds are a black/grey mixture and looks darker in person than here.  

 If you are a regular follower you have seen me make these before, so this is just to show you I have been busy making more;)

The next to get binding were these snowmen.  They look like one quilt here.

But they are really three table runners.

This is one of my patterns, Through the Window, that you can find in my Craftsy shop.

I chose 3 different border designs to quilt.

Linking with Myra, Sarah and Brooke

Winner of Island Batik Rayon is...

During the Island Batik Great Outdoors blog hop I offered up this Rayon as a give away.  We have a winner of this gorgeous rose colored Island Batik Rayon! 

I put the names into a hat and had DH draw and he pulled Kathy E's name.   Kathy, I have sent you an email.  Please respond by Sept 11th or I will have to redraw. 

Working on a UFO

Is it really a UFO if it is just fabric sitting there waiting to be used?  Well it was cut-a precut to be truthful!  OK maybe I am stretching the meaning of UFO a bit. 

I bought this Hoffman 'Sandpiper' Bali Cracker for a while now-yeppers I forgot just how long but I will venture a guess of 5 years!!  I have been wanting to use it, but I could never just set my mind on a pattern.  Last fall I bought brown Kona yardage to go with it-progress right? 

Missouri Star has a lot of wonderful tutorials and I had pinned one in particular that used a layer cake.  I thought I was going to use it for some modern fabrics, but hadn't bought the yardage for that one yet.    A week ago I needed a diversion from making table runners.   Sat down with Pinterest and came across this tutorial again and thought why not just do it!!  SQUIRREL!  The tutorial is Diamond Dash.

There wasn't much cutting involved so I was sewing along happily Friday afternoon.  Before dinner I had the blocks all sewn together, and arranged like you see above.  Saturday I started sewing them into rows.  Sunday I didn't even set foot in the sewing room.  Monday morning I finished piecing the top.  It is a quick one, I love it and can see it in so many colorways.  

I did add a wider top and bottom border to make it more rectangular.  And since I am using an older fabric I didn't add the outer border like in the tutorial.  These were some lighter weight batiks than I am used to using, but I loved the coloring.  What can I say I am spoiled using Island Batiks!!

The diversion worked as Monday afternoon I got right back to work at making table runners.  Several were pieced this week, and 3 were quilted.  Maybe I will sneak in and bind them over the long weekend. 

 This little guy has been keeping us company right outside our computer room window!!  A couple Sundays ago the grandsons were over and we could here him croaking up a storm, but we couldn't spot him.  They were disappointed.  That very night DH went out on the porch and there he was, perched on the siding.  He has been hanging around every since.  DH had to have his hand in there for perspective of how big the little guy is. 

Linking with Tish's UFO Busting.

Have a fabulous weekend!

Meet Missy

Welcome to my stop on the Island Batik Ambassador blog hop-The Great Outdoors.   Meet 'Missy' !

You can get all the details about the hop on the Island Batik blog.  There are a whole lot of Ambassadors this year so a lot of inspiration for you follow along with.  Being an ambassador means that Island Batik gives us 2 boxes of fabric a year and then gives us challenges each month to use that fabric in.  Sometimes these challenges are just perfect for what we like to do and then sometimes it takes us out of our box-that is what a challenge is all about!

Along with the hop, which has been going on for 4 weeks,  there is lots of inspiration and giveaways, so hang in to the bottom of the post and I will tell you the info you need to know.

Missy started out as this...  When I received this Island Batik collection, called Jungle Cruise,  I just knew it had to become a giraffe wall hanging for me, I mean see the giraffe prints:0  I love giraffes!  I love the rich tones and the feel of Island Batiks.  This was one of several collections released at Spring Market.  It should be in stores right now.  If yours doesn't carry it ask them to!

The pattern, called My Favorite Earrings by Hissy Fitz Designs, had two giraffes but I chose to do only one as I only had a half yard of the green I wanted to use for the background.  And that size quilt is perfect for the wall I wanted it on at the top of my stairs.   Every piece of Missy is appliqued on.  I use Elmer's Glue to glue the edges of the applique down,  since it is Batik's I don't use fusible.  I will applique her after the quilting is done.  

TaDa, all done!   I changed up the borders as I wanted to be able to use all the prints in this collection.

 I decided to freehand squiggle quilt over the seam of the piano key border.  The background around Missy received some freehand hook swirl.  The quilting was all done on my Nolting Funquilter longarm with Hobbs batting.  Thank you to Hobbs, Aurifil and Island Batiks for providing everything for this quilt.

Now you can see some of the straight stitching of the raw edge applique.  All the applique was done after quilting and all done while still on the longarm.

Look at her eyelashes!!  I changed that up a bit and fringed a piece of Batik and stuck the edge under neath the eyelid before stitching it down.  I love the dimension! 

So if you hop over to the Island Batik Blog there is a Rafflecopter for you to sign up for the giveaway from Island Batik and it is a strip pack of this very line-Jungle Cruise!!!!!!!!

And my own personal giveaway is this 2 yard piece of Island Batik's Rayon.  If you would like a chance to win it leave me a comment, because of the cost of postage I have to limit this to U.S. residents only.   Make sure I have your email addy if you are a no reply blogger or I won't be able to contact you if you win.  I made a top with their Rayon last spring, I love it!   You don't have to make a garment, you could make lots of scarves and use as Christmas presents!  Being a red head this deep mauve color just isn't in my wardrobe color, but it sure is pretty.

I will pick a winner on September 5th.   This give away is now closed-a winner has been picked and notified. 

Here is a list of all the ambassadors:  And several of them are also having their own personal give aways, so check them out and leave them some comment love;)

Monday, August 6 - All A Flutter - Yellow Cat Quilt Designs, Creative Blonde

Tuesday, August 7 - Birds N’ Bees - Ark Angel Creations, Patterns By Jen

Wednesday, August 8 - Canterbury Manor - Sally Manke, Powered By Quilting

Thursday, August 9 - Eclectic Garden - Desert Bloom Quilting, Sew Karen-ly Created

Friday, August 10 - Vintage Morris - MooseStash Quilting, Devoted Quilter

Monday, August 13 - Safari - Sew Incredibly Crazy, SweetGrass Designs

Tuesday, August 14 - Spring Blossoms - Mary Mack Made Mine, If These Threads Could Talk

Wednesday, August 15 - Victoria and Albert - Bejeweled Quilts, Clever Chameleon

Thursday, August 16 - Wild Things - Freemotion By The River, Kauffman Designs

Friday, August 17 - Petting Zoo - Den Syende Himmel, Sarah Goer Quilts

Monday, August 20 - Ocean Odyssey - Gateway Quilts, The Quilt Rambler

Tuesday, August 21 - British Rose - Busy Hands Quilts, Mania for Quilts

Wednesday, August 22 - Dear William - The Inquiring Quilter, MMM Quilts, Living Water Quilter

Thursday, August 23 - Dragonfly Dreams - Inchworm Fabrics, BeaQuilter

Friday, August 24 - Fur-ocious Friends - Quilting Affection Designs, Dizzy Quilter

Monday, August 27 - Globetrotter - Pamela Quilts, Curliecue Creations

Tuesday, August 28 - Jungle Cruise - Vicki's Crafts and Quilting, Little Bunny Quilts

Wednesday, August 29 - Lavendula - Carole Lyles Shaw, Masterpiece Quilting

Thursday, August 30 - London Calling - Quilt in a Not-Shell, Lizard Creek Quilting

Friday, August 31 - Spirit Rhythm - Steph Jacobson, Whispers of Yore

Monday, September 3 - Sweet Tweets - Kathleen McMusing, Adventurous Applique and Quilting

Tuesday, September 4 - Whatnot - heARTS Creations, Slice of Pi Quilts

Linking with Linky Tuesday, Moving it Forward, Monday Making, Midweek Makers

Pineapple snowman

Pineapples are so sweet and delicious right?  But I think this cutie is pretty sweet too!


Remember when I made THIS pineapple snowman wall hanging using a pattern from The Cottage Rose?  These snowmen are made using the mini pineapple ruler from Creative Grids(not affliated with them).  Ever since then, I thought about how it would look to make a larger snowman for each end of a runner using the large pineapple ruler. 


Tuesday a friend came over and she dug in my neutral scrap bin and pressed and cut for me while I sewed these 8 snowman blocks.  So awesome to have a wonderful friend that wants to come play with my scraps while we have a good time catching up on chit chat.   Ok I confess I only had 8 bodies sewn when she left mid afternoon, but I carried on and by nightfall I had them all this far.

Wednesday morning I got right to work on making them into 4 table runners.  By noon I had them all pieced!!   After refueling with a quick lunch I quilted and bound them.  After dinner I scurried right back into the quilting room and sewed on the buttons for eyes and snowflakes.  The scarf ties are appliqued on as well as the felt noses.  Oh I had so much fun making these and so happy with the results!  And to think I used some scraps(snowmen)!!

I am only going to show you the one runner as they are all identical.  As I was quilting the border on the first one, I told myself you are not going to do all the borders the same, it seemed like a lot of work.  BUT, it looked so cool I turned right around and did the second one the same, LOL.  It went so much faster since I knew exactly what to do and where to place the rulers etc.

Here it is as I was working with it on my Nolting Funquilter.  The tools I used were a couple of curved ones I just bought from Deloa Jones, the nested circles from Quilters rule, and my school chalk for making tick marks in the center of each border.  I centered the first arc in the middle of the border and then went out to the side with two more arcs.  Next came centering a larger arc on the end of the runner and then filling in with the partial circle one in the corner.  And repeat for all the borders.  BTW, the yellow chalk holder I have had for a long time, but I think, I got it at either Staples or Walmart. 

This runner is now in my Etsy shop.

Linking with Sarah, Myra, Brooke, Alycia and Cynthia

More leaf runners and a winning!

After Wendy made up my Falling For You leaf table runner pattern in cotton prints I was curious to make more too!  So last week I looked in my stash and found a leaf print for the borders and pulled scraps for the leaves and got right to work.

Since I was using regular quilting cottons this time I used fusible on the back of the leaves and satin stitched them down. And as usual for me, I appliqued the leaves after quilting. 

I loved how it turned out, so right back to the stash I went and grabbed another leaf print and some scraps.  This time in more subdued coloring.  Gotta have that variety for the customers!  You can find the finished runners in my Etsy shop or the pattern to make your own in my Craftsy shop.  Links on the right side bar.

Last month when Jamie  particapated in Sarah's 12 Days of Christmas blog hop, Jamie had a tutorial and giveaway for her barn quilt...and I was the lucky winner!!!!!!!!!!!    OMG it was like it was made just for me as it fits my wall where I always change out seasonal quilts that hang above my treadle machine.  

  And Jamie quilted it with the hook swirl which is my favorite design to quilt:0   Thank you Jamie, I will treasure it.

Here is to hoping we all have a productive week at reducing our stash!!  I am hoping to be working on more pineapple snowman blocks on Tuesday when a friend comes over to help me.  

Linking with:

Monday Making

Design Wall Monday

Fireworks and Quilting

All of last week was spent camping in Iowa so we could attend PGI.  PGI is Pyrotechnic Guild International-think huge fireworks displays and classes to make fireworks. Every August there is a big convention.  We love seeing the nightly displays, three nights are open to the public for viewing pleasure.  Hubby signed us up to be members so that he could attend classes. While he was enjoying himself learning to make some, I was able to stay at the camper and be happily sewing away.  But at night we both went to see the big firework shows.

Here is some of what I worked on, piecing of snowman runners, it was so hot and humid but my AC was keeping me cool.  These six are now ready for their quilting and the finishing applique after.

 After getting all the snowman runners pieced that I brought along, I started a new quilt!  Some improvising was done as I needed a design wall.  Looking around the camper, I decided that the big window in the back of the camper was the right size and I could pin right into the cornice of it.

With all the modern technology with phones now it was funny to see this old phone booth right outside the camper!  It was not useable since the phone wasn't there anymore.  But the pole beside it was like our own personal WiFi tower!  It was the best connection in a campground we have ever had.  

At the PGI displays they set off these big fireballs-wow did it ever get hot!   For this one we were about 300 feet away. 

During the big shows at night there were mulitple shells being shot off at once.  You were looking up, down, left, right, round and round!  So glorious.  It was like gold dripping from the sky, along with diamonds, ruby, sapphire, and emeralds

Just one of the prettiest blue shells that went off.   It is just hard to capture good firework pictures so I took very few, instead I just wanted to live in the moment;)  Usually the conference is over our Anniversary but this year it was a week early.  Today is our 36th Wedding Anniversary!

I just want to let you know that the big Island Batik blog hop is going on right now.  You can get the links to the Ambassador blogs on the Island Batik blog.  There are some wonderful giveaways too!!  I will be sharing my project on Aug. 28th.  Here is a sneak peek of the fabrics I am working with.  Remember that these are the fabrics released at Spring Market a few months ago.  Ask for them in your quilt shop!!

Linking with Connie and Susan

Pattern Release-Falling For You

Falling For You is my newest pattern release on Craftsy.  I loved how this design worked up and blog friend Wendy offered to test it for me should I decide to write it up.  Decision made:)  I wrote it up last week, she tested it over the weekend.  And it is now in my Craftsy shop.

Here are my 2 versions, both in Batiks.  But you could use any fabrics of course.  I really want to make one with regular cotton quilting fabric soon.

So many of us like the fall season for various reasons, cooler weather, kids are going back to school. Or we love the sight of leaves falling to the ground in gorgeous oranges, golds and browns.  These can be made in so many color schemes, in batiks or not.   This is a quick easy pattern to whip up if you need something ready for fall which is only a month away!!  It measures 16" x 43".

Use up some scraps for your leaves!  My leaves are raw edge appliqued on after all the quilting is done. However you decide to applique it you will enjoy having this on your table for the entire fall season!

And here is Wendy's version-thanks,Wendy, for testing.  It came out fabulous!!  Love that main fabric choice.

Linking with: 

Finished Or Not Friday

Can I Get a Whoop Whoop

TGIFF(Friday Foto Fun)

Silly Mama Finishes

NTT

Oh Scrap

MCM

Monday Making

Linky Tuesday