Following Dr. Orders

I'm really liking my Dr these days. And right now he is not frustrated with me. Last time I went to visit him the nurse threatened to right rebel in BIG RED LETTERS on my chart. My platelet counts had fallen to dangerous levels and they wanted me to do a treatment in the chemo lab. Me not so much. I'm not entirely convinced the treatment works and therefore don't want to spend my time and money to go there so I can feel yucky afterwards. So I said let's wait and see if they go up on there own. Then I came home and started making these. Do you remember these? I put them together at the quilt retreat.

And somehow this mindless scrappy sewing has brought my counts up. In fact they are not only in the safe zone they are almost normal. Which when I went to get doughnuts at the bakery. (What I do to bribe DD to get ready and off to school since I have to leave before her.) Uncle David said "Just like you." Isn't he funny. Anyway the Dr. asked what I had been doing and I told him mindless sewing. He told me to keep it up. So this time I'm listening. And yesterday I made these to go with Kelly's block.

And these that I'm not quite sure what I will do with yet. But I'm sure there scrap happy goodness will find a home somewhere.

No I'm off for more mindless scrappy sewing and if my family complains I'm telling them it's Dr. orders.

My First Bee

I've joined my first on line bee. I have wanted to do this for a long time. All the wonderful blocks Audrey and Jacquie have made for theirs have inspired me and made me envious. But I just didn't know how to go about joining one. Then I read about a bee starting up on Anne's blog. I knew I had to join. I wanted to be part of all the fun that comes from a bee. To rub shoulders and get to know some very talented ladies. To get to make something for them and receive wonderful blocks from them.

Kelly (sorry no blog) is the first bee we get to make a block for. She wanted fun blocks for a beach quilt. She sent a funny comic with lots of bright happy fabric and said anything goes. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. Anne was so on the ball you really need to check out her great block, she set a pretty high standard to follow. I thought about circles. Kind of like a beach ball but decided against it. I love all the wonky houses I see on peoples blogs and every year we spend time at a beach house in Oregon so it hit me. I needed to make a beach house.

So I went about cutting and sewing and cutting and sewing. Making ocean and sand, a wonky beach house and towels blowing in the breeze. I hope the lovely Miss Kelly enjoys her block. I sure had fun making it. I look forward to making one for each of my fellow bees.

Sew and Tell with a Bonus

I'm celebrating! Not only is it Amy's Sew and Tell and I have something to show. It is also my 300th post. So to celebrate I've been saving the simple pattern to give to you.

Consider it a thank you from me. Thanks for taking time out of your busy life to come visit, to read and comment on my silly life and quilting posts. I have so enjoyed getting to know you. And I appreciate your visits so much. It is the same pattern as this quilt I made for some mindless sewing only smaller and I didn't put any stars on it. You will need two charm packs and a 3/4 yard of fabric for borders. I used these.

Next cut 5 of your charms in half.

Then sew one of these to eight of your charms to make a row. Make nine rows.

For some reason this pic is turned and I can't get it to turn back. Anyway, start your first row with a half charm square. With the next row end with a half charm square. Continue alternating rows for remaining seven rows. Then sew your rows together.

For borders cut 5-5" strips the width of the fabric. Measure your sides. They should be 42 1/2". Cut two of your strips to fit and sew them on the sides. Now measure your top and bottom. It should measure 48 1/2". Sew the remaining three strips together and cut two strips to fit. Sew these on the top and bottom. Now pat yourself on the back you have just created a lovely flimsy.

Thanks again for coming to visit. I hope you enjoy your quilt.

Circling Liberation

Trying something new can be so many things. Sometimes it is scary. Sometimes exciting. Often it is a combination of both. That is how I felt when I saw that these circles where the new block for Cancer is Sew Done. They looked so great, fresh and new. But they were circles and I worried that I would be able to make a true circle and have my block lay flat. But the tutorial was simple to follow, and I love how my blocks turned out. Two for the Lotus group

And two for Alex's Lemonade Stand group. I think I see many more of these in my future.

Also in my future are ideas gleaned from this AWESOME book. I've had this on my wish list for my birthday coming up in just over a month. But when I saw it at JoAnn's and I had a 50% off coupon I could not resist.

There is such beautiful eye candy in here. So many exciting ideas. I wish I had more hours in the day to sew. There is just so many fun things I want to try. Weeee let the fun begin.

Monday Muse

Next month I will be teaching wonky stars at my quilt guild. I made a bunch of wonky mavrick stars here. At the retreat I decided to make some wonky friendship stars. I don't know if it was lack of sleep or being distracted by all the wonderful creations being made at the retreat but these were harder for me.

I had read the tutorial I found here before going on the retreat and wrote some notes to jog my memory when I got there. But I was forever getting the direction of the points wrong. Hence some of my stars go one way and some go another. But I'm leaving it that way and just letting it add to the wonky of the quilt.

This last time at quilt guild we had the wonderfully talented Amy from Park City Girl. I found Amy's blog when I first started blogging. I have enjoyed getting to know her through our blogs and emails. I knew the moment I became president of the guild I needed to have Amy come share her gifts and ablities. It was such a treat to get to meet her in person. She was such a trooper. We had arranged this back in December while she was working on her book. We set the date for after she would have her part of the book done. She had her hubby take off work so she could come then he got called to jury duty. Rather than bail on me she brought her four kids, who quietly made braclets from licrice ropes and fruit loops, while she gave a beautiful presentation. THANK YOU! THANK YOU, AMY!

(And if I only had a brain I would share pictures. But since I became president some how remebering to bring a camera to guild meeting has become beyond my abilities.)

Sew and Tell- PhD

Well I did it. I finally finished this scrappy challenge I started three years ago for Jacquie's project improv. It was my first wonky outside the box project. I have done others since but this is what started it. I needed some mindless sewing and Jacquie had started her challenge so I dumped my scraps into a laundry basket and started sewing. I love what became of these little scraps. And if feels so good to have another of my PhD's done for Myra's challenge. And something to show for Amy's sew and tell.

It felt so good I put this PhD on the design wall. I was going to do a simple border on this until Shari suggested a pieced border. It took me a while to figure out what I wanted to do. I finally decided on Majestic Mountains. A kind of tribute to my ancestors who came from Holland and settled along the Wasatch Front. Hopefully some time soon I can count this as a finish too.

Quilt Retreat Show and tell

We had so much fun stitching away over the weekend. Here are some of the lovely creations this fun retreat brought about.

Jenny and her lovely Dresden plate. Jenny has a quilt shop in Vernal and had brought some wonderful quilty things from it. I got some wonderful fat quarters from her. If you are ever in Vernal, Utah you should check out her shop, Fabric Friendzy.

Peggy, the fabulous lady in charge of this great retreat, and her gorgeous court house steps.

Jody's fun Western quilt.

Sue's amazing mini.

Mindy and her lovely layer cake quilt.

Lori and her awesome barn quilt. She has 12 mini quilts to go above the barn doors that she can exchange each month.

Our lovely Joan. Now she was a busy bee. She completed nine projects. This is her lovely poinsettia quilt.

Tanya and her sweet Valentine table topper.

Oh what a productive time we had. Can't wait until next year!

Quilt Retreat

The quilt retreat was sew much fun. Here are me and my friends that I went up with. From left to right: The lovely Joan, Michelle, Lori, Tanya, Sue and me.

Some new friends I made; Ruth and Carma.

More new friends busy at their sewing machines: Mindy, Bonne, and Jackie.

Toni, Jody and Michelle busy cutting and pressing.

It was a wonderful time. I sewed like mad, ate far to much and got very little sleep. I came home to this.

Letting me know I was loved and missed. What a great weekend. I'll share more later. Right now I might sneak in a nap while everyone is gone. Heaven knows I could use a little sleep.

Sew and Tell- Shooting Star

A little sew and tell for Amy's sew and tell Friday. Just a simple quilt made from charm squares in Riley Blake's All Star line. Then I added shooting stars in the top corner. Thought that was appropriate considering the fabric I used. I also quilted shooting stars around the border. They were fun to do. I used this method.

Here is a pic from another angle. I love the peaceful color combo of blue and brown. It is calming to me.

Which I have needed. I am leaving for my first ever quilting retreat. The first time I have ever left my family for a just me thing. I've gone to girls camp, taken Alex on a special trip for graduating, and been gone for various medical reasons but never just for me to have funnnnn. I AM SOOOO EXCITED!!!!! I was very thankful to Jackie for the tips she gave me. I had been wondering what to take and how much. Jackie's advice was so helpful.

Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend! I know I will!

A Little Help Please

This is my little creation for Lyn's challenge. It is not one bit like what I first invisioned when I saw these sweet grandmother's garden blocks on her blog. I was thinking flowers blooming from a pot. But I could not stay within the peramiters of the challenge and do that. So these little blocks sat on the design wall for quite a while. Then while trying to figure out blocks for Jane's woven quilt this idea came to me.

I call it Grandpa's wrench in Grandma's garden. Now there is a story with this. A few years ago at Thanksgiving time my dad (aka grandpa) thought it would be fun to go jeepin' before Thanksgiving dinner. My mom (aka grandma) told him no, that something was bound to happen and Thanksgiving dinner would be ruined. Grandpa assured her that he would be careful, that nothing was going to happen and left for a 'short' jeep ride. On Grandpa's short jeep ride he rolled his jeep. Now he wasn't hurt fortunately but was not back when Grandma's Thanksgiving dinner was ready. This threw quite a wrench in Grandma's Thanksgiving dinner that was getting cold. And she was none to happy.

Now I know that Grandpa's are not the only ones that throw wrenches in the works of life. But I had Grandmother's garden blocks so this seemed approprate. Now for the help I requested. Should I put flowers in the baskets? I'm thinking maybe little yo yos or buttons. And what kind of border do you suggest? I welcome and appreciate any and all suggestions.

Monday Muse

What do 2 1/2"scrappy squares plus an ice cream bucket of odd shaped scraps equal? (yes we eat ice cream by the bucket here, none of those little carton things would ever do besides its a good place to put a bunch of scraps for a project.) Well if you mix these two ingredients and follow Quiltville's tutorial. You get these scrumptious little wonky maverick stars.

As you can see they are quite addictive. I've made a ton. But must admit the ice cream bucket is still quite full. How does that happen? I couldn't decided which picture I liked best so you get both.

Winds of Change- Sew and Tell

It's March and the Snowman I had hanging on my wall is probably not appropriate anymore. Although today it could be since it is snowing. But wanting to be an optimist and ready for when the snow does stop, I made this little wall hanging. I finished binding it last night just in time for Amy's sew and tell.

I had so much fun making these little people and their kites. I used raw edge applique, a method I find very enjoyable. I like the effect, it reminds me of children's drawings. Amy also did a raw edge applique project for her sew and tell. It's very cute. I really like her flowers.

The quilt below is my only other springy wall hanging. It is the first quilt I designed myself. I made it over 10 years ago and I was so proud of it at the time. Now it makes me laugh. There are so many mistakes and things I would do different. It was an attempt to try new methods and put a dent in my scrap bag. I love this quilt and the beginning it represents for me on my quilting journey.

Scrappy Binding

Do you love a scrappy binding. I do for lots of reasons. I like that while I'm sewing it on it changes color. For some reason that makes binding the quilt go faster for me. And I love how it looks. It just add so much to a quilt. Now I know that a scrappy binding does not work for every quilt, but for those times that is does, this is how I do it.

First I cut strips. I like to vary my strips. These strips vary in width from 4 1/2" to 6 1/2". They are about 22" long. This will give you enough binding for a twin size quilt. Then I arrange them in a pleasing manner and sew them together.

Then I use my ruler to cut my strips at a 45 degree angle.

Then I take the bottom piece of my 45^ cut bring it over the top of my top piece until the two long edges line up and make a continuation of my strips of fabric. Sew these together. It will form a trapezoid. Is that clear as mud?

Then I line up the bias side on my mat along one of the inch lines, this makes sure I keep things straight. Then I start cutting my strips. I like to make mine 2 1/4"

Continue cutting your strips across your trapezoid. Moving the fabric as needed making sure you keep it straight. I just stack my strips on top of each other so I can sew them back together in the same order I cut them. Take these strips to your sewing machine.

Place the bottom of your top strip on the top of your next strip with right sides together. Off set the points by 1/4" as shown. And sew. (did you notice I had to pice my orange strip) Continue this process through your pile of strips. Press seams.
Next fold in half and iron the length of your strip.Then fold your bias binding accordion style and secure with rubber band. Folding it this way verses rolling it keeps it from twisting when you are applying it to your quilt.

For instructions on applying binding and having your beginning and ending match up perfect check out this tutorial.