Stitch Tease

You might have noticed this blog button on my side bar

I am so excited for this quilt bee that I have organized between me and 7 of my best blogging buddies. I've had this idea for about 6 months and it is finally all going to happen. Yeah!

It begins in March with each of us making the beginning of our own quilt, either a strip or a large block. Then we will send it off to the next person in the sequence and that person will make a block or strip for the quilt. It will continue in a round robin format until everyone has made something for each person's quilt. At the end, we will each be assembling all the blocks or strips of one member's quilt top and sending it back to it's rightful owner. All this is done without revealing what we have made. We will only be showing little teaser photos on our blogs and in the Flickr group so that the final quilt is truly a surprise.

We have each bought a yard of fabric to use a small portion in each person's quilt, so there will be a little of the same fabric in everyone's quilt.

I have asked for quilts with words and blocks to go with the words. You can see my inspiration photo here. I like houses, trees, triangles, stars and lots of color.

This is an international bee and our starter blocks will do quite a bit of traveling.

My quilt will be flying this route to Annabella Life's Rich Pattern in Marrakech, Morocco

then on to Katy The Littlest ThistleCraft Shop, Glasgow, Scotland, 

Hadley Flying Blind on a Rocket Cycle West Sussex, England.

Dianne (with 2 "n's") Quiltova, Valtice, Czech Republic

Helen Run Quilt Knit Write in Forch, Switzerland

Helen is the best sock knitter around, so if she wants to add a pair of socks to my quilt, I'll take 'em, Ha!

Then back to the USA, to Danny Mommy For Reals  in Gilbert, Arizona

and finally Susan Canadian Abroad  in Northamptonshire, England will add to the quilt and assemble all the blocks that have been made for me.

We are going to keep this pretty relaxed and allow at least 6 weeks between due dates and take extra time off in the summer and at the end of the year.

Now, I have to put my thinking cap on and get busy designing my starter blocks.

Thanks for stopping by,

"di"

Bloglovin'

With Google Friend connect due to end this week I have added a Bloglovin' button on the right side bar.
I'm going to leave it at the top for a while until this change over gets settled.
I switched all the blogs I follow (and there are a lot of them) over to Bloglovin' and it was pretty easy.
Let's hope this keeps us all connected, I don't want to miss anything anyone wants to share.
If you are not a Blogger blog and want to continue to follow my blog you can click on that button and follow the prompts. I think this only affects non-Blogger blogs.
There is a good mini tutorial on this blog to help you change all the blogs you want to follow through Bloglovin"
Thanks for stopping by,

"di"

2012 Week 8

I could not let this week go by without saying thank you

 to my sister for all her help in giving my blog a new look.

She designed the buttons on the header

and made my new tabs to the right.

I don't know about you, 

but today I am glued to the television 

to watch the Academy Awards.

I love all the glitz and glam 

and of course the gowns.

And just because I am not telling you about anything I have been working on

doesn't mean I have not had a productive week.

I'll have more to share later in the week.

It's the season for Cadbury mini eggs,

so I bought a few bags to have on hand

for those weak moments when I need a sweet treat.

The show is about to start...

Thanks for stopping by,

"di"

Mouthy stitches Swap

So, how do you like my new header?

My sister designed the buttons for me.

 I created the rest in Photoshop Elements 9.

I still want to tweak it a little more, 

so you might notice a few other changes as I give this space a facelift.

I've finished my zip pouch for my Mouthy Stitches partner.

I hope she is happy with it.

I made it large enough to throw in a few necessities,

added some credit card slots

and she'll be ready for a quick run to the market.

I added a few charms to the zipper pull.

We were to include some fabric scraps. 

I'll keep those a surprise, just incase my partner reads my blog.

I also included some sweet treats, a postcard from our city and some really cute twine.

I'm forgetting that this is a swap

so that means I get a zippy pouch and some fabric scraps, too.

I guess I'll be stalking the mailman until my swap gift arrives.

Thanks for stopping by,

         "di"

Working on a Few Changes Here

I'm working on a few changes in the layout
 and on my blog header so if things look a little funky around here, you'll know why.

Thanks for stopping by,

"di"

Looking Back

The quilt chronicles continues with Corbin's Quilt.

For those new to this space, 

I have been showing my evolution as a quilter.

I make a quilt for each of my grandchildren 

for their second birthday.

This was a panel that I cut apart and then added simple squares
to make a larger than lap sized quilt.

 Corbin was such a cutie on his birthday, in 2008.

He's already grown up so much from that little 2 year old.

He'll be 6 years old in a few weeks.

Time really does fly.

He is such a sweet boy and gives the best hugs.

I like to look back at these quilts and see how my style
and technique has changed,
I'm hoping it is for the better.
I worked on this project today
that I started yesterday.
I love the fabric,
not just the design but it feels so good
and has a wonderful texture.

I'm putting the finishing touches on my Mouthy Stitches project
and will be mailing it out tomorrow.

Thanks for stopping by,

"di"

Work in Progress Wednesday

I can't believe it's Wednesday, again.

Ash Wednesday, where is this year going?

But that means there is less than 2 weeks to finish my FTLOS swap projects.

I am happy to report that I put the finishing touches on the larger gift this week

I made my partner a sewing machine cover.

I am going to have a hard time parting with this one.

This is the second sewing machine cover I have made

but my machines are still without a handmade cover.

 I decided to make it reversible 

so my partner can switch it up when the mood suits her.

 Because the other side is improv pieced, 

it looks different from each side of the machine.

 I am very pleased with the quilting. 

Just straight lines, but I used Aurifil 12 wt. cotton on this side

and Aurifil 50 wt. in the bobbin for the improv side.

Now I just need to make a small item 

and I will be ready for the March 5 ship date.

I finished my February bee block for the New Bee on the Block bee.

 

I finally started the Made in Cherry  quilt.

I am using Echo.

This might be one of my favorite fabrics, ever.

It took forever to starch and cut all the squares. 

I don't usually cut out an entire quilt in one session,

and I guess you could say I really still have not 

because I haven't decided on the background fabric.

Any thoughts as to what color I should use?

White, or should I try to match one of the other colors with a solid?

Help.

This quilt will be for my friend's April birthday.

I finished Swoon block #7.

Only 2 more to go then this baby will be ready for sashing and quilting.

poor lighting on this one, sorry

I almost finished my second Rose Star.

No Progress:

Sew Out Loud QAL

Granny Square QAL

+ and x blocks

Thanks for stopping by,

"di"

Readying the Garden

It is hard to believe that it will soon be time to plant our garden. 

This last weekend we cleaned up a bit of last year's mess.

There are even a few plants and herbs still producing from last year.
Parsley is still plentiful

 the Bell Peppers are still growing, although they are small.

 There are even a few hot peppers still ready to use in a chicken marinade.

 Paul picked a whole bucket of citrus, mostly lemons and grapefruit.

For 4 weeks we have been giving the seed potatoes a start at sprouting

and this weekend we planted our potatoes for the season. 

Three types, purple, Red La Soda and Yukon Gold.

I hope we have better luck than last year, when we didn't get a single potato.

My Valentine's Day tulips are still looking so pretty. I love tulips as they bend and grow to the light.

It's time to get out the seed catalogs and place my order for the spring planting.

Thanks for stopping by,

"di"

2012 Week 7

This week found me making progress on my project in the For The Love Of Solids swap.

I was so inspired by all the beautiful creations in Jennifer's Ellison Lane Quilts Modern Mini Quilt Challenge blog hop.

Two that really stuck in my mind were Angela's Cut To Pieces mini, 

inspired by Sarah Jane fabrics and made for a swap.

Can you imagine receiving this beauty as your swap gift?

http://www.flickr.com/photos/tweedledeedesigns/6894576799/

I love Annabella's Life's Rich Pattern improv piece, inspired by the quilts of Gees Bend.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/58545519@N05/6890568447/

I was so encouraged by Annabella's creation that I had to try some improv, too.

I decided this will be the backside of my FTLOS project, which is a sewing machine cover. 

Two very different styles, so my partner will actually get two gifts in one.

I did get it quilted yesterday and will be posting it later this week.

I'm contemplating two more QAL. 

I love the Granny Square QAL that Dana Old Red Barn Co has organized on Flickr.

I haven't picked fabrics for this one yet.

Lee's Freshly Pieced New York Beauty QAL has me excited to do more paper piecing.

I know I am going to make the NY Beauty in all solids using Oakshott shot cottons.

I'll be adding a few more pinks and blues to this Sunset selection.

I'm hoping to make progress on the Swoon quilt and finish my swap gifts this week.

Yesterday, Mr. R and I decided to look at my grandmother's antique sewing machine. I haven't looked at it for about 20 years. It has been under a pile of boxes in the garage. I'm going to use it as an art piece in my sewing room, once I get the room organized and begin the decorating process.

Does anyone know anything about this old machine? It's a treadle machine.

My guess is it's at least 100 years old.

We finished the weekend with a fun party with dear friends, dancing the night away.

Well, not the whole night, we were all tired and were home by 11pm.

I'm linking with Megan Canoe Ridge Creations.

and Sew Happy Geek

Thanks for stopping by,

"di"