PHXMQG My Show and Tell

 I was able to borrow pictures of myself at the Phoenix Modern Quilt Show from Nedra (thanks!) so you can see my Picnic yet again.  I am tickled as punch with this quilt and I am keeping it!

I am working all day today but reading my quilting blogs on breaks!

Mug Rugs All Around

I spent the majority of my day in the quilting studio on Skype with Barb.  I also watched Bonnie on QuiltCam.  I did lots of little things like organizing my batting leftovers, cut batting for Suli's baby quilt and for my Skillbuilder BOM blocks, I think I made a fourth mug rug (or was that last night? lol), wound all my bobbins, and I made binding and attached it to all four of my mug rugs.  This was the first victim.  Not too bad from a galloping horse as they say, but I wasn't happy with it in more ways than one---I decided to rip it all out and attach it by machine on the front and hand bind the backs of all of them.  So here is the first one..

 and redone...much improved.

 I did do my biking, and then continued hand sewing along while watching Once Upon a Time and Downton Abbey.  This one is my favorite (below) and I am keeping it!

 Here is number three.

 And number four.

 Here they all are together.  One will be for my daughter, one for me, one for the PHXMQG swap and one for a personal swap with new quilting friend.

I hope they like them half as much as I do!  So very glad I FINALLY made some mug rugs.  It has been on my list for a very long time :)

Sunday Sewing--Christmas Through the Year 2013 Begins!

 One more Scrappy Trip Block made last night :)

Last night I went through all of my kid fabric that was hanging out in a big plastic bag.  I had already cut Eye Spy in different sizes, shapes from that fabric and most of it was just bits and pieces.  I put together a stack of odds and ends to give to Megan and found three different chunks for pillowcases, and a few other chunks for charity drawstring bags for PHXMQG February Charity Sew In.  Now my bag is about a third full and I am happy!
So today I have been cutting and sewing pillowcases for Christmas Through the Year!  I participated in it last year and really had a good stock of gifts for giving come December.  So four Christmas gifts made already in January!

This was fabric we got at a fabric thrift sale and I am happy to have put it to good use.  I used Weeks Ringle's pattern (free at her blog) though I used the same fabric on both sides of the strip, and I like how they came out.  Oh and I am enjoying Bonnie Hunter on QuiltCam!

Skillbuilder BOM and More

Magnum from Skillbuilder BOM is done.  It was a little improv, really the first I have ever done.  Not too shabby!

Here is Sound Wave and Magnum, before and after borders.  Next up is spray basting them because soon Alyssa will be showing us how to quilt them!  Check out www.pileofabric.com/  if you want to join in...these are the first blocks.  I am mainly trying to do them so that I can practice free motion quilting...Alyssa has not been doing it for that long, but I have seen a few of her quilts up close and she knows what she is doing!

 I also quilted three mug rugs and pieced another one.  I really love the one I am keeping and think the other two are okay...I may be making more of these, they are fun, but I sure need to work on my quilting skills!  They still need bindings, of course.

 Here is the 100 blocks mug I won resting on my mug rug even though it isn't done.  :)

 Last night I finally caught the strippy trip around the world bug...

I also trimmed up Old Tobacco Road and Kathy cut all the flying geese border parts out!

Potpourri of Quilting!

Last night while talking on Skype to Barb and Fran they commented on my little flag quilt on the design wall. That led to a conversation about buying it with a kit and this "Jelly Stars" Bread and Butter pattern that I had given up on when I discovered we made a cutting error.  I decided to just piece the bits together so I could get it done and five stars later the little top is together  It still makes me smile.

 Tonight Kathy and I sewed our Kaleidoscope of Kolor center blocks for the 35th Ave. BOM.  Here she is with hers.

Prior to that Kathy and I finished putting together Old Tobacco Road--I can now say I have made ALL of Bonnie's mystery quilts (and more!).  Still need to trim it and make and add borders, but not bad!

Here I am with my K of Kolor block too!

I also did my Pile O' Fabric "Sound Waves" block....this is Alyssa's mock up above and mine below.  I was inspired by the colors in our Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild button which some of us copied into our name tags.  

 Here is my K of Kolor block again.

It was really nice being done with work by 2 pm today so I could get in a whole afternoon/evening of sewing!  Tomorrow I work all day but will be back at it tomorrow night and/or Saturday!

Snuck in a Little Sewing Time...

I wasn't really feeling ambitious tonight but since I was on Skype with Barb and Fran I did a few spools...this led to them noticing the flag on my design wall so I showed them the partially done kit that came with it..which led to me piecing a few of the stars and putting together the first row of that quilt.  I started this a LONG time ago and discovered I had miscut the corners...tonight I just pieced them from the leftover bits and called it fine from a galloping horse.  I think it will be a girl's baby blanket anyways so I will finish it soon.  Gotta work tomorrow, but done early.  Kathy has promised me a sushi lunch and then we will come home and work on our 35th Ave. BOM!  

Working on Mug Rugs :)

I spent some time last night looking over mug rug tutorials and pictures for inspiration on what to do for the Phoenix Modern Quilt Guild's Mug Rug Swap for February.  I decided on a rather simple one, but a block I had never made and I used my Denyse Schmidt fabric so hopefully someone else will love hers as much as I do.  I am making three..one for my swap partner, one for me and one for Jennifer who wanted to swap but didn't want to worry about a binded border.  So when it is all said and done, I will have three different mug rugs!

 
 

So the tops are done and the backings are made and I will leave the quilting and binding for another day.  These granny squares just make me smile.  I could almost do an entire quilt like this!

Here is Kathy holding up Old Tobacco Road.  She has about half of it together now.  This has truly been a tag team quilt and fun to do!

I hate to see my long weekend come to an end...back to work tomorrow.  I did pretty good getting  back on my be active and eat right train.  I rode my bike all but two nights this week (groin isn't ready for everyday!) and tonight I did some hand weights too.  I am writing my food down on myfitnesspal and am once again trying hard to make a life change that really needs to happen.  Life is good here too!

Whirlwind Weekend!

 Yesterday Kathy and I met up with BJ and Ros and Jacki and went to 35th Ave for the first BOM meeting.  This is our first time doing this!  The bad picture above is what the quilt will look like after one year.  We paid 10 bucks to join and as long as we finish each block before the time of the next month's meeting we get the supplies for it free.  We did upgrade to the larger size and to using black as the background so we had to buy NINE yards (each) of black fabric, but we had a 50 percent off coupon and so we got our Kona black cheap!  This was our first bolt purchase ever!

 Here is what it looked like in white, I didn't get the picture before she folded it back up.

 This is block number one..it goes in the center.  This is the sample block, lol, I haven't done mine yet!  HA!

After that we went to the PHXMQG meeting and heard what our new chairs have planned for the year.  Lots of awesome ideas and it was hard to pick what to join and what to pass on!  I signed up for a mug rug swap and for the Pile of Fabric Skillbuilder BOM (but I seriously don't think I will make all of those and I don't plan to make the quilt anyways..I may do some of them and turn it into other smaller projects, not sure yet).  More on the meeting later.  

Then after I got home, Barb came over and I finished up piecing my Streak of Sunshine quilt and then made another one that is very similar.  Barb worked on knitting up a hat that DJ had left on the peg thing since I didn't really know how to do it.  She also wound bobbins and we gabbed the night away.  It was fun!

 I am pretty sure the one with the cat will be for Sam and Tif's baby.  Though I had dinner with Tif and she told me they are thinking of decorating the nursery with monkeys...lol that is okay I can make and gift them two!

 The one with the yellow will find its way to another little boy, not sure who yet. 

 Oh and I finally picked out the Schnibbles Summer Day quilt for my cousin Jamie's baby girl who is due soon.  Will get this in the mail this week.

 So today Kathy and I got up early and drove north to sew with BJ and Jacki.  Here is BJ with her first project of the day.  She also worked on her NYE Mystery and on Easy Street too, I think.  We turned Bonnie on QuiltCam and listened it too!

Kathy worked on putting together our Old Tobacco Road.  It is a bit of a bear because it goes together in rows not in blocks and she wasn't used to that, but with a little help from me and BJ here and there she got a good chunk of it done.

 Jacki was working on a game case for her grandson that was labor intensive and when she finished that she kept on with her Easy Street.  It is looking great!  She didn't get enough contrast in her four patches, but we decided it looks GREAT anyways...it is almost like she tweaked the design a bit and hers is more unique!

 I cut and pieced my second braid in a day quilt...so I will have a semi matching pair or couch quilts.  These protect the seats from dog hair--ie I wash them often and change them out just seconds before people come to my house :)  I didn't pay any attention to which direction the braids were going in this one as I did the first one (center one is different in the first one, this one the one on the right is) but it gives them personality I guess.

So after an all day sewing session, we went to my Mom and Dad's where we celebrated their 35th wedding anniversary with a pot of Boiled Dinner.   My sister and brother didn't come, but my brother's fiance and Kathy and I did and it was a nice night!

Tomorrow I am off work and I will be in my sewing room--but I am sleeping in first!  I plan to piece a back for the Gnome Braid in a Day above, Easy Street and Cheddar Bow Ties.  Also need to choose a pattern for my cousin Kai who just got married!

Kathy's Easy Street is a Flimsy!

Blogger didn't want me to upload any pictures today but I switched over to html and outsmarted it so I could get some pictures in my post!  So without further ado (is that spelled right, lol) here is Kathy's EASY STREET!  As I have mentioned on here before, this is for her sister Kelly and hubby Bob.  It will match their bedroom.  This is Kathy's first Bonnie Hunter quilt that she has done ENTIRELY by herself!  I did take out and flip around one little tiny backwards block (set in seams she wasn't ready for!) but other than that she managed it all on her own and splendidly!  Love the colors--nice job hon!

And here is my Braid in a Day Gnome Style out in the sun.  This quilt is really CUTE close up but in pictures it just doesn't look too good.  Maybe it will look better after it is quilted. 

I have 45 minutes left to go at work, but Kathy sent me these pictures so I could blog on break (using my time wisely, lol!)  Here is Picnic all bound and ready to show off at PHXMQG tomorrow!  I can't wait to see what the chairs will be offering for activities this year...and we are meeting up with BJ, Ros and Jacki tomorrow for black bag day at 35th Ave too...then sewing on Sunday!  I am already ready for my three day weekend.

Last night I found out my brother and his fiance will be getting a baby boy to adopt!  Baby is due the end of March so I started working on a Streak of Sunshine baby boy cowboy quilt.  Of course I cut two while I was at it, one is almost done--the top anyways.  Will get those done this weekend.  Next up I really need to pick a quilt to make for my cousin Kai who just got married!  

Bucket List CHECK--Met Bonnie K. Hunter!

So guess who was in Arizona to do some teaching and get in a visit to her family this past week or so?  Bonnie Hunter!  I really wanted to get up to see her in either Cottonwood or Prescott, but I was so incredibly sick I had to stay home and I couldn't go on the first day of teaching at my college gig.  So I had pretty much decided that it would not be this year, or this time that I would be meeting Bonnie.  I have had it on my bucket list for awhile (and Bonnie told me she added meeting me to hers too, what a sweetheart!) and I knew it would happen but....

then on Monday I got a message from Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville that she would like to meet up with me for breakfast Wednesday ...now most of you know I am NOT a morning person, but for Bonnie I didn't mind the early hour at all!  We met up at Village Inn and Bonnie and I and Kathy got to gab for about an hour before I had to head to work.  It was so sweet of her to meet her number one fan!  I am an even bigger fan now..she is even more amazing in person...so while I crossed meeting her off of my list, I have now added taking a class from her and getting to one of her lectures to my bucket list!  Today has been the most over the moon day--there is truly no other famous person I would have liked to sit down with and have breakfast.  WHOOT WHOOT!  Thanks again Bonnie!

Easy Street, Picnic and Gnome Braid in a Day!

 Here is my God-Daughter Kelsey's Easy Street Quilt!  Her favorite color is purple, so I mixed up Bonnie's border colors, and I went scrappy so I could use up the fabrics I had leftover but here it is!

 I went to Barb's today and sewed for awhile (and then we all went and saw Life of Pi) and I picked up Picnic!  Barb sewed modern looking shapes (it is called lattice work) on it that sort of look like airplanes but aren't.  I need to take pictures when I get the binding on and of the back (there is a Denyse Schmidt cheater on the back) but I am in love with this one!  I am keeping it!

 Barb and I decided to whip up an Eleanor Burns "Braid in a Day" so Barb shared her pattern with me--and ruler.  It didn't take long at all to make this lap sized gnome quilt.  I didn't put the final border on it because it is large enough for my couch seat without it.  I need to replace my two couch quilts--my other two have seen better days!  The dogs are constantly on the couches and these quilts catch the dog hair and are easily cleaned and make me smile.  I may have to make another to match..I have enough fabric left for a semi matching pair.

 Here is Barb's in progress.  No gnomes for her.  She took a break from Easy Street to do something different with me...too fun!

 I will get a  better picture but here is Braid in a Day--Gnome Style!

Kathy is finished with her Easy Street--well Sans Borders!