Block Swap

Block Swap on Facebook

I joined a group on FB and we're swapping
heart blocks. This is my very first swap!

Here's what I received so far:

Aren't they pretty!

Here's my block that I'm sending out.
Well, one of them anyway.
They are hand applique and I don't think that
I'll make the dead line - 12 of them by January 10th!
All 12 blocks don't have to be the same but they
must have a heart or heart fabric in them - pink or
red fabric is being used.


so

This will be my alternate block.
The center is hand applique and
I went around it with decorative stitches.
I like the way it came out.

So far I have 7 of them completed
Almost there!

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Insights from SewCalGal is having a Free Motion
Challenge on Facebook! You will have to have a
Facebook account to join in on the fun. To learn
more - click below

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Finished Folk Art Quilt

To tell you the truth; I was not a big
fan of Folk Art until I tried Dawn's
BOM - "Folk Art Tribute". I hesitated
at first then thought that I should try
something different. And I'm so happy
that I did.

This took me about one year to finish.
All hand applique and pieced and quilted - whew!

Dawn encouraged us to use only what we had
in our stash. Yes! I could do that - I can't wait
to use what I have so that I can buy more (-:

I wanted to use some printed background fabric
just like Dawn did but I didn't have anything that
would blend well. So I took my white fabric and tea-
dyed it.

I also did this as a quilt-as-you-go - I echo quilted
around the images twice and then hand sewed the
blocks together.


When all of the blocks were sewn together - I then
crossed hatched using Big Stitch stitches. I love this
method and it's not as hard as I thought it would be.
I used crochet cotton yarn and an embroidery needle.


The applique is needle turned and I used two
techniques; back stitching and freezer paper
for the smaller parts, such as the leaves. My
preferred method is the back stitching technique -
I feel like I'm sculpturing the fabric as I go along.
I did however, machine sew the binding - no way
was I going to hand stitch that but the back of the
binding is hand stitched. I enjoyed this project and
the photo of the quilt doesn't do it justice!

Thank you Dawn!

Vicksburg was another BOM that Dawn designed:


I love this quilt! It's waiting patiently to be quilted.

Not only is Dawn a great Quilt Designer but she
is designing a new fabric line for Henry Glass
Fabrics! Good luck Dawn! Please visit her web site
at Linen Closet Quilts


Something I borrowed from one of my Facebook
Friends.



Happy Quilting!

Wordless Wednesday

(Wantagh, Long Island)

Wordless Wednesday

Quilts > what else?

I found this great pattern tutorial over at
Oh Fransson

I fell in love with the pattern and just had

to make one.

This quilt is for sale at my Etsy SHOP(click here)
I hope that you will visit.

Crazy nine patch

Because the name is "Crazy" - I thought that

I would use the left over scraps to make a

"Crazy" border.

It was quilted by a member of my Guild - The

Red Rose Quilters Guild - Kim Loar (long armer)

I just love the clam shell pattern and love the way

that the quilt came together.

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My Wild and Crazy Amish Quilts

One day while going through a

book about Amish Quilts; the thought

came to me "What if" I made traditional

Amish Patterns but used Wild and Crazy -

Bold fabrics???

So, I went through my stash looking for

the Wildest pattern I could find.

Once I found the fabrics; I had to decide

which Amish pattern to use. This is what

I choose:

Wild and Crazy Amish #1

Amish Bars - my version

I love black and white with red! And I really like the

way it came out - even though it may make your eyes cross.

I mitered the corners so that the pattern just flowed.

Wild and Crazy Amish #2

This is the Square in a Square Amish Pattern.

For the center square I used the The Stack and

Whack 4 patch technique.

I think that the colorful printed fabric is

Robert Kaufman's? and also the border?

But the light pink border is Lonni Rossi's -

I just love her fabric!

Again, I mitered the borders so that the pattern

just flowed. I really like the way this one came out!

These are just tops and have not been quilted yet.

Rest assured that I will probably do a Wild and Crazy

kind of quilt design for them.

I am planning to make a series of these.

I just love doing them and they're

so much fun!

Busy as a bee.....

I've been as busy as a bee------




Just took a little vacation time from blogging.

I have been------

Dyeing and over dyeing

Making a quilt for my son-in-law's niece

and

Making slow progress on Dawn's BOM
Folk Art Tribute.
I echo quilted around the applique -
now I think I'm going to do crosshatch
on the rest of it. s-l-ow- but I love it!

By the way, Dawn has a new BOM!

And

of course, I've been riding through this
beautiful countryside taking photos!




Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday

L'Chaim!

L'Chaim is Hebrew - used to toast a person
or to a couples health - or just something in general.


The literal meaning "To Life"!

Today was one of those days where I felt..
... I really don't know what word to use..
maybe "spiritual" or "in sync" with the
universe? Wow that sounds so 60's!
Or how about "oneness" or "in perfect
harmony" .. whatever. Ever feel that way?

While shopping in a store - did you ever
make eye contact with someone and then
at the same exact moment you both smile
and say "hello" to each other. And you don't
even know them and have never seen them before!

I asked a friend about this once and she said
that it happens to her. Her explanation was
that your inner spirits recognize one another..?
Kindred spirits maybe.
All I know that when it happens it makes
me very happy ... don't know why that is but
it does.
And this is how my day progressed.

There's a robin red-breast that has taken
residence in a small tree by my front door.
Every time I come out or go in she goes
crazy twittering away. Kind of like yelling
at me. So when I came home from shopping;
she wasn't there. I suspected that she was
guarding her nest and sure enough I found
a nest with 4 little baby birds! I took advantage
of her absence and grabbed for my camera before
her return. I gently pushed aside the branches
(I didn't want to scare the little ones to death!)
and I proceeded to take several shots.

Here's the nest.
I have to come in a little closer without
scaring them.

Oh wow! I was never this close to
a bird's nest before this!

I guess they're waiting for some
juicy worms.

I had my camera set on Macro.
You can see the little hairs... future
feathers on his head! Aren't they
adorable!

L'Chaim

Onward to the Garden!

"Almost there"
Iris

Such glorious colors!

Doesn't it seem like everything turned
green so fast!

And finally

Folk Art Tribute

Dawn just published the last block.
The basket block on the bottom.
The pieces are cut out and backed with
freezer paper, the binding is pressed.
Now I just need to applique everything
down.
The middle block is hand quilted.
This will probably take me all summer
to hand quilt! I love it!
Thank you Dawn!

Psalm 92
For thou, LORD, hast made me glad through thy work:
I will triumph in the works of thy hands.

L'Chaim!

Wordless Wednesday

April 24

Hope that everyone had a very Blessed
Easter.

I am all caught up with Dawn's BOM - Folk Art Tribute



This is the first time that I have ever attempted
anything folk artsy. So I was a little out of my
comfort zone here. I was unsure what fabrics
would go well with Dawn's folk art designs. I was
frantically digging around in my stash to hopefully
make it work.

Here is the middle block which I'm hand
quilting.


I'm using the quilt-as-you-go technique and also
hand quilting them. Here I'm echoing around the
applique piece - this is new to me also as I've never
done this before.

There is one more block for Dawn to publish.

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I also just finished the binding on another
quilt that guild member Kim Loar quilted
for me. Yeah!


Swirling flowers in variegated thread.

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I went to Long Island to visit my daughter and son-in-law
for a week in their new home!
I haven't been there in 4 years because of my husband's
illness. It felt so good to be back!

The first place that we went to was Iavarone Bros.
They have the best Italian food!

Sausage bread

Stromboli to die for!
(is it any surprise that I've gained
5 lbs. !)

My daughter wanted to buy some plants for
her garden and so we went to Hicks Nursery.
I haven't been there in years.

And being a native Long Islander - I just had
to see the docks at Freeport.



My father's family has lived in Hempstead since
1644, being one of the original settlers here.

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Look who I found while I was sitting in
the backyard.

Looks to me like she's getting ready
to build a nest somewhere!

Red breasted Robin
I haven't been able to get a photo
of them in my yard.

One of the biggest thrills for me was that
I found a quilt shop!
Gone Sewing
When I lived here there was not one quilt shop
in Nassau county! So when I visit my daughter again;
I'll have a quilt shop to hang out in!

I have managed to finish yet another
quilt! My closet is gradually emptying
out and that makes me feel like I'm
actually accomplishing the task that
I set out to do.

This quilt top below; I've blogged about
sometime last year. I had this fabric
for a couple of years (I think).




I had bought two packs of fat quarters and
forgot who the manufactured the fabric.
I know I bought it at The Old Country Store
in Intercourse; so I brought some scraps in
to see if they had more of it. The woman there
told me "oh that's old".
The reason that I wanted more of this fabric
is because I decided that I did want borders
on it. Previously, I didn't.

To me the colors in this quilt top
reminded me of Amy Butler colors.
So, now I'm thinking and thinking of what
to do and decided to go to The Sassy Tassel
in Lititz - they have bolts of her fabric.
I found one that "almost" matched and went
with that.


I took whatever scraps that I had left and
made a small border around. Then took
the Amy Butler fabric and made another
larger border. I wasn't happy with the way
it looked so I thought about making squares
of Amy's fabric and adding it to the center of
the bento-like boxes. Then adding more
scraps around the border. I liked the way
it worked and machine appliqued the squares
on.

Now that it was finished; I gave it to Kim
to longarm.

Can you see the humming bird that she quilted on it!

There are also leaves and flowers but the
humming bird is my favorite!

Kim also quilted my Carpenter Wheel quilt top,
from Mimi and Norma's class.

I'm donating this one to Quilts of Valor.

Look at the stars and swirls that Kim quilted on
this top. Love this pattern and great for QOV!

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Don't know which end is up?


Have a great week!

Wordless Wednesday