It's all about the fabrics!

I am still working on my postage stamp blocks, I like making a few at a time so they don't wind up looking all the same.  I am always cutting squares and putting them in a bin to use in this quilt.

I really want the blocks to have lots of variety.  This quilt will probably take me another year to complete.  I made another block yesterday. 

recognize any fabrics?

you must see a few of your favorites!

31 blocks down , 3,100 squares my goal is 100 blocks, 10,000 squares!

 I was the very lucky winner this month of Cheri's (quiltsbycheri) little quilt .  Each month she has shared a free pattern for a little quilt and then gave that quilt away this year.  I feel so lucky to have won this one...nine patches, just so me!  and then there are a few surprises in the quilt when you look at the quilt....look she used a light instead of a dark in that center nine patch!  just makes me smile.

 look a little harder and see the 4 patch on the left instead of a nine patch, just makes me smile!

Here is the start of the pattern thats free on Cheri's blog, the directions are in a few blog posts.
go back and read her blog and you will find many other little quilts and free patterns.
I have been a huge fan of Cheri's work and own many of those manila envelope patterns  Its such an honor to own one of her quilts.  Thank you Cheri.

 Here is the quilt on my design wall.  yes that means my design wall is empty!  the toile quilt is a top and ready to go Lorre's to get machine quilted.

Now doesn't this look like a great pile of scraps????  Ok wouldn't you love to have this arrive in a box to your door?  who wouldn't!  Cyndi from Busy Thimble Quilt Shop in Maine  (my go to quilt shop when I need a reproduction  fabric I ran out of or I need help with selecting another fabric to use to reproduce an antique quilt I send her pictures she sends me fabric that always works in my projects)
Well she packed a box full of scraps , these aren't really scraps these are big pieces!  and is having a giveaway, go enter now!  and of course if you win,  as a finders fee,  will  you send me 1 1/2" squares of all of them for my postage stamp quilt????

Making progress, a busy weekend so not as much sewing going on.
The goal this week is for this to be a top and at the machine quilters to be quilted ASAP so I can use it during the month of December this year.
Since this quilt is for me I really did think about hand quilting it.  The pattern is so busy I doubt the hand quilting will really show anyway and this way it can be used this year (can you tell I am trying to reason with myself not to hand quilt it.)

The blocks are 9" finished, 3" nine patch blocks.  The quilt will be 81" square unless I decide to add borders.  then it would just be the toile probably 6" each side, making the quilt 93" square, then a nice feather quilting on the border would be amazing!

so would you hand quilt it or send it out to be quilted?

Did you see this quilt on Lynn's blog?  I can't stop thinking about it.  I fell in love with the day I saw it.
She shared the pattern for the quilt, its officially on my list of quilts to make.

http://kleinmeisjequilts.blogspot.com
LYNN DYKSTRA Quilt Design

Then on Jan's blog a few posts ago she posted the best pile of fall colors I have seen in a while.
I loved this pile of fabrics and then she starts making baskets, oh you know how much I love baskets
I think I need to start collecting a pile of fabrics like this....

I know I have some of them :)  thanks Jan for the inspiration....

Then Tim shows he is hand quilting a beautiful antique tablecloth for Christmas, ok now why didn't I think of that???? I love this idea and I have a table cloth is a store I have been looking at, ok its not antique but after Christmas when it goes on sale I am going to have to buy it if I don't find one on ebay sooner!

Then Kate last week showed a quilt I have wanted to make for a long time
I even started one last year , made my own template cut out quite a few and actually appliquéd  a few down!  Then moved onto something else....

Then there is Janet's blog where I am always in AWE of her work and her ability to make these amazing heirloom  quilts and stick with the plan!  She finishes the quilts and hand quilts them!
Her Stars and Sprigs quilt, her red and green applique quilt and then theres trailing vines quilt
all on my list, some started....

This blue and white , Indigo Revival quilt by Polly and Laurie, you know I am waiting on this fabric line to hit the market, I need to make this quilt!

Then I see Kaaren's post and her house looks so inviting for Christmas makes me want to make more Christmas style quilts....
this is just a few of the blogs, you know I could go on and on and on....

I am starting to understand why my list of quilts I have wanted to make never gets done, way too much inspiration in blogland  but I would not change it one bit!  Its fun to be inspired and fun to see what others are making .  FINALLY though I am learning I don't need to make all these quilts.  I can  enjoy what I see and  continue working on the quilt I am working on and finish it.
Less UFO"s is in my future!
How many times have I stopped a project cause I saw a quilt I just had to make too!
maybe this should be my 2013 resolution...stick with the plan!  Be inspired by color, by fabric of others quilts but stick to the plan!  Finish some of those long term projects I have going and make a new quilt once in a while....can you relate????

I was lucky enough to win one of Linda Collins from Quilts in the Barn blog first patterns.

Infinite Variety Revisited.

She has an incredible collection of Antique quilts that she will be making patterns from as well, I am so looking forward to many of those patterns!

I decided mine was going to be made with this red print from the Collection From a Cause line by Moda and I will use the Moda Bella 60 as my background. 

Of course I was really tempted to make the quilt as soon as the pattern arrived but I refrained, I am trying to finish up a couple of ufo's first....see the sneak peak in the upper right hand corner!

Isn't it a beautiful quilt?  click to see Linda's! 

You know I am always on the lookout for great background fabrics!  the fabrics are a tad darker then in this picture, look at the next picture

Toasted by Jo Morton a line that has be reprinted I have a few pieces of a few of these but very happy to have them back in my collection.  I ordered a fat quarter bundle but think I may need to buy another 1/2 yard bundle to go under the Christmas tree, don't you think thats a good idea?

I am so happy to find a shop, Homestead Hearth,  that makes fat quarter bundles and 1/2 yard bundles of Reproduction fabrics again

 

 OMG these prints on the end I just LOVE.  the darker one may just have to be a future border or sashing fabric, I love the bold print and the color well I keep thinking of caramels, isn't that a good thing!

Sunday Best by Jo Morton, yes I kept pushing buy buttons during Hurricane Sandy and now they are arriving!  Its fun to get fabric in the mail!  Love that leaf print in the front, may need a few yards of that one!

 I figured you wanted to see the sneak peak of my red and white ufo in the top picture
Here is whats on my cutting board this morning.  They are just waiting to become little nine patches...

 this quilt is for ME, even though someone said yesterday oh I hope your making that quilt for me....
NOPE Its for ME!

 I am a huge fan of this bird toile, just LOVE it....  doesn't this quilt look so old fashioned????

I did not fussy cut at all , I just kept cutting strips and sewing them together not even making sure the birds are facing up!  just keep sewing....sometimes you just need to keep sewing and not worry about placement, I know it will all work out in the end.

Hope you find some time to sew/quilt this weekend....

 Here is another fun little quilt I made to use as a gift this holiday season    I started out using the
pattern Mite from Little Bites by Miss Rosie's Quilt co.  Full intentions of making the little quilt on the bottom right hand side.

I know, I know mine does not look exactly like hers!   Once I started making the blocks and laying them up on the design wall my mind started going in a different direction , I loved the way it looked with just this many bows and thought oh I could easily turn this into a Christmas gift! Once that decision was made I used the green as the setting triangles , then I tried to decide do I put an additional border on it of the red?

NOTE: I added an additional round of green strips on it just to have the blocks really float.

I think I will just bind it with the red and call it a little quilt table topper!
Wouldn't this look great with a poinsettia on top of it or a candle jar with that wonderful balsam fir aroma?

I love these Little Bites patterns, Carrie has a wonderful way of writing patterns , her cutting instructions are the best, no thinking involved just cut and sew what could be better?

so have you made any little quilts to use as Holiday gifts this year?

Make sure you follow Laura again this year for the next 25 days she posts pictures of antique quilts 
she has done this for the past few years, I always look forward to it. I was thrilled to see she is doing it again this year at Pine Ridge Quilter blog  Thanks Laura!!!

HO HO HO!!!  I started playing Christmas music on Wed, doesn't that always make you happy?
and decided it was time to make a quilt I saw on Barb's blog a few years ago.  It was made for her by Diane and friends .  I emailed both Barb and Diane to make sure they didn't mind.
Here are my versions...of course I had to do a red and white one!

These fabrics are from an old Laurene Sinema line, it was before I knew to collect these fabrics and hoard them!  they are just so beautiful  I am so lucky to have a friend send me all of hers as she didn't think she would ever use them and knew I would.  Ok so how lucky am I????  the picture isn't the best of the fabrics trust me they are incredible ( I need a new digital camera)

 This was the first one I made wasn't too happy with the contrast or lack of between the red and green but now I really love it, subtle is good sometimes

Here are the 3 together I tried to make 4 in 2 days it just didn't happen!  So do you have a favorite?
I am still trying to decide which one I like best.

My new favorite mug!  I just happen to love snowmen and red well...you know I love red!  

I am not done with HO HO HO quilts, today I am off to a quilt shop and hope they carry Christmas fabric .....39 days to Christmas  could that be right?
Thanks Diane for sharing the pattern with me and Barb for the inspiration
of course now I have to find some fun backing fabric for it!
Take the time to look thru Diane's blog Persnickety quilts....oh my so much inspiration there.


close up of the laurene sinema fabrics  recognize them???  still not the best picture so sorry

This is one of those books your going to be glad you bought for a long time.
I have picked up this book every day since I got and have been inspired over and over again by the quilts and with the concept to push myself AND to just take 15 minutes and have fun with my scraps.  It truly is amazing what you can do with scraps as this book just keeps showing us page after page of wonderful quilts made from scraps!
15 Minutes of Play Improvisational Quilts by Victoria Findlay Wolfe of Bumble Beans blog
Its not a pattern book per se, its a book to really get your mind thinking about just having fun with quilt making, thinking outside the box, use up those scraps and producing amazing quilts.  There are block
patterns in the book for you to use or just inspiration to design your own.  This truly is a book that needs to be in your library if scrap baskets are anything like mine or your looking for inspiration to make quilts using what you have.
The surprising thing about this book is that so many of the quilts are traditional quilts!  She has just chosen to work in brighter colors and most of the time making her own "fabric" by just piecing together scraps.  And we all have scraps right!  Or pieces that we could cut up and make our own scraps just to sew them back together to make fun pieced fabrics!

 Ok so your probably thinking thats not my style...well I have been inspired/intrigued by this type of work for a while.  Every once in a while I just have to have fun and give it a go. Look at the tumbler quilt in the middle, look familiar?  YUP I made that!!!!!  ( page 67) its from Victorias scraps she gave away a few years ago on her blog  You know I love tumblers so I decided to piece the scraps together then I cut out tumblers shapes.  (funny this is when the go cutter just hit the market and this quilt was the talk of go cutter yahoo group! look you could piece scraps together and then cut out the tumbler, I did it the old fashion way!)  Victoria was in awe and she recognized  fabrics from her DD's clothes in my blocks, how could I keep the quilt?  so I put it in a box and mailed it to her as a surprise!  Well to my surprise look what she turned the quilt into!  Just wonderful  love that blue border fabric really set off the tumbler quilt!  who would imagine a few years later she would write a book about this type of piecing and include my quilt I made a few years ago in her book.....

 Here is my favorite quilt in the book, the star was made by Tonya Ricucci, you know her from Lazy Gal Quilting blog . Victoria made the background fabrics and finished the quilt.  I have followed Tonya's blog for years and years and years!  Again not a quilter you would think I would be inspired by but I am.   Just look at this quilt , very traditional quilt pattern.  I need to make one of these. Just look at how scrappy that quilt is.  just so me!  mine would probably have a cheddar fabric as the background though not pieced but hey thats what quilt making is about options!  Yes, I have learned to never say never anymore....maybe mine will be pieces cheddars so I can use many of my favorite cheddars :)
Thanks Victoria for a very inspirational book and yes I agree with you on your acknowledgement pages  thanks to Tonya and Gwen Marston for pushing me out of my comfort zone sometimes and just have fun and play with the fabrics.

and here is a sneak peak on what I am working on now check back tomorrow :)

LEFTOVERS

Spent the day in the sewing room yesterday , what a treat for me!

I am working on a project with this beautiful red print I talked about here on this post.

Some of the left over pieces from the blocks are under the rotary cutter and oh I have a lot of them!

Just had to whip up the little quilt, I was really curious how this fabric would be on a border.  Isn't it wonderful!  This will be for our entryway table for the holidays.

First I just cut the pieces that were left over into 1.5" strips  decided to just use the red print and the
moda bella solid #60( probably my all time favorite muslin/background solid fabric just looks great with reproduction fabrics in mho)next I sewed them together  then cut into 1.5" and made 4 patches.
Laid out the quilt to the size I wanted and cut the borders 3.5"  quilt is approx 17" x 21"
before I knew it I had a little quilt made from leftovers!   Aren't those just the best quilts?

Have to admit I will be looking at big bold prints like this with a new eye now...love how this fabric cut up and oh love it as a border too.....


I always love sharing when I find a great new blog well here is
a new blog  Every Stitch....be prepared to be awed.  She does amazing work.

 Our power went on last night around 5 pm, it was so wonderful to wake up and have hot coffee in my favorite coffee mug this am...ah those small things in life we treasure without evening realizing.
no internet and no tv yet but hey my sewing machine works now!  I have heat and lights, what could be better?????   It will be a few days before those return they are saying.

 from one of the shopping on line orders I made Orchard  House by Windham  during the storm!
I bought the fat quarter bundle but you can bet I am going to order a few more of some of them.
Look at these grey prints wow, love them almost as much as the same prints as the browns!

 isn't this a great print, a great inner border but oh look at this....

 oh my gosh wouldn't this make a great binding on the bias...wow.
I know how much grey has become a neutral and so popular right now. they did a great job with these 3 prints in mho...
This is a big reason I love buying fat quarter bundles you find  fabrics you might not buy other wise and plus just the right size for so many of my projects I can cut them up for.  Great variety of colors in this line, the reds and browns are great too.  I am so glad I found out that Homestead Hearth makes fat quarter and half yard bundles from many different fabric companies.

OH isn't it nice to be reading about fabric and quilting again...
trust me though life is not back to normal here in NJ and NY  it is still incredible how many people are still without power and how many lost everything.  Our thoughts and prayers are with them.
Again thank you to all of you that sent me emails and comments on my blog .
We could not cook our stove is electric, we did have hot water  and no we do not have a working fireplace.  Two things we decided is to convert our fireplace to gas and we already ordered a full house generator thru the gas company will take 6 to 8 weeks to get delivered.  4 weeks without power in a little over a year is just too much to not have a generator like this.
Have a good weekend , I will be back when our internet is back and look forward to visiting blogs again and getting my life back to my normal schedule...

 Whats on my design wall???  
Figured I would share a few pictures rather then just ranting it didn't get me anywhere!

 25 patches can't wait to make more , this is what I was working on before Sandy came to visit

4 patches  I made at the same time and they are  all made from 1.5" cut squares.

update
still no power to our home but at least I can report there is hope....there are power trucks in our town FINALLY.
hopefully by Sunday my sewing machine will be humming away if not sooner and I will be adding a lot more of these blocks to a quilt I have in mind.

Be thankful for your power and your nice warm home., its amazing what we all take for granted or don't even think about until something like this happens.
Looking forward to catching up with what you all have been doing soon.  Thanks for all the comments and emails I really appreciate each and every one of them.

Just an update....
still no power, no signs of power trucks, big trees down still with wires in the roads making getting around town very hard....gas lines are still long
school closed still,   wondering where all that help Obama sent is???  did he send enough help obviously not.
come on Gov Christie send out an SOS and get us more help....

we are still very thankful that we still have a house to live in and cars to drive so many people had so much property damage  our thoughts and prayers are with them.  Their lives have been turned upside down.  ours have been just inconvenienced compared to so many others I guess you can say....but still affected.

I can't wait to start making quilts to donate to the relief effort especially with winter coming here they will be very much appreciated I am sure.
Equilter  check out what you can do to help if you would like to make a quilt to donate.
so many asked what they can do to help  that is one way
another is to donate to the American Red Cross (make sure it is going to the Sandy relief fund)  or to the

Hurricane Sandy New Jersey Relief Fund 

thanks....

will let you know when our power is back and my sewing  machine is humming along ....

again Thanks for so many emails  I truly appreciate it , my computer time is limited

over 100 year old tree down across the driveway stranding us for 2 days in our home without power.
not that we could go anywhere , our town was hit hard, actually the county was hit hard in NJ
more than 90 % of the county was without power when Sandy hit.  OUr town was 100 percent without power as well as 10 other towns in our county.  ANd we are in North Jersey where your not even seeing on the evening news reports everything is about South Jersey.  Things are BAD  When you see them after 2 days evacuating an assisted living care facility with school buses and ambulances its sad.
The hospital was still running on a generator after 2 days, wheres the priorities????
ok so I will vent a little here....stop reading if your don't want to hear it.  I usually keep my blog upbeat and happy and all about quilting but this time I just have to speak :)  First let me say we are fine , very thankful for that, and yes life will go on but.....
We are still without power and the town is starting to no longer look like a war zone with the amount of trees down but still no power in 90% of the town, they are hoping in the next week we will all have power.

This is crazy that they can't get the power on faster then this in mho.  How they chose to return power to customers is just not understandable.  this is the 3rd time in just over a year we have been without power for over a week.

There are no hotels available in the area , most of them are without power too.
Gas station lines are miles long, people running out of gas before they even get to the pump
The stories about this storm are true , the damage is incredible, so hard to explain in words..
we were so lucky the tree didn't hit my car less then 4 ft from where it fell
or the house   we consider ourselves so lucky to have faired another storm without any damage that can't be replaced but I still think in this day and age and the US Gov't could be helping more by sending in more troops to help in the clean up of trees  and more equipment from all over the country and power crews to help turn the power back on sooner .  this is truly a national disaster in NJ.
I feel so bad for so many families that have lost their homes and businesses that are lost or damaged
the workers with no job now too....
I know once my power is back on I would love to make a few quilts to donate to those families that lost everything, hopefully a few quilt guilds in the area will have set up some programs for us to donate thru...anyone here of a guild doing this yet????
hopefully will be back in a few days with quilting news soon....
THANK YOU  for all the emails asking if we are ok...
I truly appreciate it.