Quilting, Losing and Tea: 2013

Thursday, November 7, 2013

For The Boys - NOT! :(

Sorry if u are here for the blog hop. My laptop crashed and I was so busy with my project that I did not think of the fact it meant no way to post pictures or do longer post.

Please visit the other participants today and see their creations. Sorry I can not post list using my sons ipod!

Karen

Friday, November 1, 2013

Baby Boy Clover

This month's Schnibble has the most pieces yet I believe. And I had to choose to make it larger so it was a baby quilt size! I didn't make it all the way. I am one row short of being halfway done with the rows. This amount took me at least 10 hours, and I had strips made up of the 'granny square' parts already!

This one shows the colors a little bit better:

I used charm packs by Deb Strain and her daughters for this "Grow With Me".

I bought 4 charm packs on clearance a while ago, and split them into BOY and GIRL groups.

I am glad I chose to start with the boy group - if you come back and visit me on November 8,

the completed quilt will be part of the "For the Boys" blog hop!

Make sure you go visit the parades of other Clover Schnibbles created by the ever wonderful

Carrie Nelson. They are shown at Sherri at A Quilting Life and Sinta at Pink Pincushion.

Blessed Quilting,

Karen

Monday, September 23, 2013

Mercy Me - Ahead of the Game and First Bee Blocks

Update:
This is my official post for the September Schnibbles.
I had hoped to have a new one with my borders completed, but didn't get the fabric in tme.
I hope you will visit Sherri and Sinta tomorrow to see the parade of Schnibbles.
The name is Mercerie, thus the addition to the title of my post.
I have seen a big variety in those I have looked at on blogs so far.

For once I have been steadily working on my monthly Schnibble a little bit at a time.

And the top is mostly complete!

I might not be able to finish it beyond this since I need to order some fabric.

My local quilt shop doesn't carry French General.

I hadn't intended to use similar fabric to the cover sample for the pattern, but I had this leftover from when I made my Dime Store Schnibble (see below) and I couldn't resist since it goes so well with my loveseat.

I also completed my first bee blocks. I am a part of Bee {Purposeful},

sponsored by Corey Yoder of Little Miss Shabby fame.

I ended up not having any blocks in the first quilt. I was really late due to how insane August was, and then my blocks were not the right size. :(. So Corey kindly made a couple for me to prevent further delays.

Here are my September blocks. The 6" will be sewn together soon.

I am confirming how that should be done first. The instructions have a strip, but the examples are a square.

I 'had to' go buy the navy and tangerine fabric. These were very fun to make.

I have now been unemployed for 3 weeks. I have enjoyed a little bit of time, especially at my

favorite time of year. But I am more than ready to be working again!

I pray that something comes through soon - even a short-term temporary position would be great.

I am amazed at how slowly the process moves at some companies - even for contract work.

Blessed Sewing,

Karen

Monday, September 2, 2013

Baskets of Flowers - - August Schnibble

As soon as I saw the Schnibbles pattern of the month - Canasta,

I knew exactly which charm packs I would use.

Baskets of Flowers by Mary Engelbreit.

I wasn't sure what I would use for the thin strips, but when I was going through my fabric stash,

I found this wonderful fabric I had picked up at S.R. Harris for 1/2 price - just because I loved it.

I am very happy with how this one turned out.

These little baskets are so cute, but boy did this one take a long time!

I am really hoping next month's pattern isn't quite so 'fiddly'.

My son starts school tomorrow, and daughter on Wednesday.

7th and 10th grade - where do the years go?

And where does the time go?

How can it be September already?

I am linking up to the Schnibbles parades put on so fabulously each month by

Sherri - A Quilting Life and Sinta - Pink Pincushion.

I hope you will go check out the other wonderful basket quilts for this month.

Blessed Sewing,

Karen

P.S. I only made it into the parade because of the holiday weekend.

I felt pretty lucky when they decided to delay it until Tuesday September 3. :)

Thursday, August 1, 2013

Defeated by Time and Lincoln

Quick post about my July Schnibbles.

Many hours at work, starting a job search, and trying to make a large version of Lincoln nearly did me in.

I have spent many hours doing all 3 over the past 2 weeks.

My house is neglected.

My yard is overgrown.

(Hopefully my kids are ok - they are so self sufficient these days!)

BUT, working on this quilt top helped with all of the stress.

I am so sorry for the really bad pictures. After a late night last night, I was too tired to take a picture.

So I had to do it this morning on my East facing deck.

Yeah, I have to admit the rows are not sewn together. I ran out of time but hopefully you can get a sense of what it is going to look like. And now that I am looking at it, I see the center row got out of order and will have to redo it. I wonder if working on this at midnight affected that? ;)
I made the large version, so will also be adding a border.

Many thanks to Carrie Nelson of Miss Rosie's Pattern Company for the wonderful pattern,

and to Sherri - A Quilting Life and Sinta - Pink Pincushion for this monthly challenge.

I wouldn't touch my machine many months if it weren't for this incentive.

Enjoy the parade!!

Blessed Sewing, Karen

Tuesday, July 23, 2013

W.I.P. Wednesday - First Time Linking Up!

My friend Izzy faithfully posts every Wednesday with her Works in Progress.

I thought since I have fallen off the Blogging bandwagon,

that maybe I could use this link-up to get me started again. W.I.P. Wednesday's is at

Lee's place - Freshly Pieced. The post is not up yet of course so I will link up tomorrow!

(actually, I thought it was Wednesday, hee hee).

My regular followers know my usual project is a little Schnibbles for the Monthly Schnibble

parades at A Quilting Life and Pink Pincushion. This month's Vintage Schnibble is "Lincoln".

When I first discovered quilting blogs 2 years ago, I fell in love with precuts and the Schnibbles

patterns were perfect for me to learn different quilting techniquest and use the lovely fabric lines out there. So I bought 2 books - Schnibbles Times Two and Another Bite of Schnibbles.

These books have some of Carrie's older patterns in 2 sizes - using 10 inch squares or 5 inch squares.

For the first time since I bought these books, the pattern of the month is in there.

I chose to make the larger version, which has a nice border added.

I am using a lot of the Fat 1/8 bundle of Reunion I won in the very first Schnibble parade I entered.

It was a wonderful gift from Miss Carrie herself.

I added some Lucy's Crab Shack I picked up to add the orange in rather than the gray in Reunion.

Here is a sample of the blocks made with 3 strips:

And here are the squares for the stars, all ready to go. I just have to get the background cut out!

The adorable clothesline fabric will be the center of the stars.

In other news, I am contemplating being a copy-cat and joining the Quilt-Along over at

Happy Quilting that Izzy is doing with Melissa.

A wonderful friend gave me these FQ's for my birthday when I first

started quilting and I have been waiting for the perfect project:

Aren't they a wonderful mix? Thank you again, Susan!

I collected some more FQ's to go with these. I bought this adorable bundle quite a while ago:

And the one on the bottom in this group is from SR Harris. The other 2 are from a giveaway.

What do you think? Too much of the same colors? I just love all of these together.

The one with pink might not make the cut, and I may add more black.

We will have to see where this leads. I may or may not join.

Life is crazy now that I am job hunting again, but I feel better when I am creating.

I pray all is well in your world, and for those in the U.S., that you are enjoying your summer!

Sunday, June 30, 2013

Tilting at Windmills

Dulcinea is a wonderful Schnibbles pattern. It is a simple, well known block that looks like a windmill.

I made my Dulcinea using Terrain by Kate Spain.

I love the Schnibbles Parades at Sherri's - A Quilting Life blog and Sinta's - Pink Pincushion blog.

There will be many more Dulcinea quilts tomorrow afternoon.

The original setting was 4 x 4 and used a lot of charms in the border. I knew I had a yard of

my favorite print from the collection for the border, so I made another 9 blocks.

Yes, I 'fussy cut' the border so it is mostly symmetrical.

I am also linking up at Blossom Heart Quilts. Alyce has been featuring Kate Spain all month for the

I had already chosen my fabric before I saw this hop and the end of month link for

new projects made in June with primarily Kate Spain fabrics.

So it worked out perfectly for me to be able to join in.

Life is still a bit of a roller coaster at this time. For those of you who remember,

I have been having problems with my riding lawnmower since last year

(actually since I bought it used 4 years ago).

I had a major blessing and the small engine mechanic replaced the carburetor without

charging me more since his first repair didn't work. He brought it to my house yesterday and it works wonderfully. Better than it ever has! Live will be a lot easier with much faster mowing.

Blessed Sewing,

Karen

P.S. I almost forgot - JoAnne from The Patriotic Quilter posted this a little while ago.

It fits our Schnibble perfectly!

Wednesday, June 19, 2013

Travel and New Etsy Listings

To add to my general sense of life being out of control, I went on a short business trip to Raleigh, NC last week. There were several of us from my company and several from the company who designed the system we use to house our seed data and for reporting. It was a great learning experience and a great time for us to 'bond' and get to know each other. It was very beautiful there with a lot of trees. It almost looked like home until I noticed some trees with big white Magnolia blossoms and pretty green leaves. Our winter hardy magnolias have smaller blossoms and bloom before the leaves come out.

Yesterday I 'travelled' to the southern part of our metro area for our National Sales Meeting.

It seemed like a long trip since it took 1.5 hours due to traffic and construction.

It made me very thankful for my easy 20 minute commute! The meeting was a chance to learn more about my company, their success, vision, and passion to support Agriculture with data driven insights to help 'feed the world'. I also met a few people in person that I have talked to through the past few months.

Not much in the way of quilting going on here. I do have the June Schnibble all cut out.

I hope to get started on the piecing Friday night!

I have listed a few finds in my Etsy shop along with the following Baby Quilt:

Most of my other new listings are for novelty/children's prints. Here is a sampling:

I really miss my blogging friends!

I hope that life will calm down soon so I can spend a little more time reading your blogs,

and doing some piecing/quilting!

Blessed Sewing,

Karen

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

We Have a Winner!

I have a winner for the Traveling Stash. SpartanBabe from AnnieOak Designs! She has another Traveling Stash to give away right now and the deadline is tonight - so hurry on over!

Work, mow, work, mow. That feels like my life right now! I work for an Agriculture company and this is our very busiest season for seed data. And it keep raining here, so I have to do some mowing 3 times a week to keep up with my .75 acres. The good news is the repairman says there is hope for my riding lawnmower (long story) and I should have it back by Saturday!

Sorry to be so brief, I hope to be back soon with pictures of my May Schnibble - which I did not finish in time. I was so sad - it is the first time that has happened since I started making them January 2012.

Blessed Sewing,

Karen

Monday, May 27, 2013

Another Traveling Stash!

I was fortunate enough to 'win' another traveling stash box. This time it was sent to me from one of

my 'oldest' blogging friends - CeLynn from CeLynn's Sunflower Patch. Hi CeLynn!

If you would like to check on the origin and status of all of the Traveling Stash boxes,

click the suitcase above! Thank you to Katie for keeping track of them for us.

The box arrived promptly on Saturday afternoon, and I had a great time diving into the treasures.

Here are pics of what was in the box when I received it. (I apologize for the pictures. My camera

hasn't been working very well so all my pictures are a little bit blurry)

Various Trims, Notions and thread

Patterns

Pretty fabric - smaller pieces. A coin purse frame, some trim and 'chopsticks'.

Larger cuts of fabric, a mug rug, and zip bag.

Mostly fat quarters

More Fat Quarters!

A Kate Spain 'Serenade' Own apron panel

Here is what I am keeping. A few Lori Holt charms, some FQ's, that pretty stack of fabric to

the right (they are a little bit bigger than a charm), and a charm pack of batiks.

2 Patterns, the coin purse frame (I have been wanting to try to make one!), the trim and buttons.

Here is what I am adding to the box to replace what I took:

10 FQ's and a cute bag pattern. The pink dotted fabric on the left is Moda Marbles and the

cute striped one is Michael Miller Atomic Kitchen. On the right is Going Coastal, a pale pink with

dots from Sunny Happy Skies, and 3 Lori Holt Daisy Cottage FQ's. I will also be adding a mostly

complete charm pack - picture will be added tomorrow. There may be some other goodies that

make their way into the box before it is sent off! It needs to be stuffed full, you know!

Would you like to be the next recipient of this box? If so, please read the rules below and

if you agree with them, leave a comment telling me which is your favorite item in the box.

You can leave a second comment if you are a follower. As I write this post, I have 197 followers -

when I reach 200 I am going to have a giveaway.

Deadline for comments is Thursday May 30 at 7:00 p.m. CDST. If I get the winners address by Friday morning I will get it mailed off that day since I have a vacation

day on Friday. If not, it will go out the following Monday - I am heading to northern Minnesota

Friday for a Single Mom's retreat!! FYI for those of you who may have heard her on

Christian Radio, the worship leader is going to be Sara Groves!!!!

Blessed Sewing,

Karen

Rules and Guidelines

Be an active blogger -- post about receiving the box and the giveaway in a timely manner
Update the travel log in the box to let others know where the box has been.
There is a list of rules and guidelines in the box -- be sure to follow these to keep the box full of quality items and the experience positive for everyone.
You may take any items from the box just be sure that you are replacing them with quality and comparable items. (Guidelines for fabric below)
Ship box to the next person timely -- and communicate tracking information with recipient.
Shipping is within the US only

Fabric and other item Guidelines

Fabric should be quilt shop quality and in new condition. Do not include items smaller than a fat quarter unless it falls into one of the other categories and these should be packaged together.

Jelly Roll -- 2.5 inch strips (typically 40 strips per set)
Honey Buns -- 1.5 inch strips (typically 40 strips per set)
Desert Roll -- 10 strips 5 inches wide cut the length of the fabric
Turnovers -- 80 (6 inch) triangles
Candy Squares -- 2.5 inch squares (typically 45 squares per set)
Charms -- 5 inch squares (typically 40 squares per set)
Layer Cake -- 10 inch squares (typically 40 squares per set)

Patterns / Books should be in new or nearly new condition and should be kept to a minimum as this adds bulk and weight.
Other items should be new or gently used condition and should be packaged as necessary to ensure that all parts remain together.

Important Things to Remember

Please ensure that items in the box are quality. If items in the box are poor quality they should be removed. Items that are being removed can be offered for optional inclusion to the next recipient. Poor quality items can be discarded but this should be done with digression.
Only include items that you would be proud to own -- this is not a dumping ground for outdated or worn items
Items should be free of smoke, odors and pet hair
You must replace all items that you take with items of equal value and replacing with more than you take is welcome :)

Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Tweet Tweet! It's All For the Birds!

As soon as I saw the post go up about a blog hop called "For the Birds",

I knew I wanted to participate. I had some fabric featuring Australian birds that I won from Carol at Blessed Mum over a year ago and I have wanted to make something special with it.

THANK YOU Madam Samm and our Cheerleader for this hop - Mary from I Piece 2 Mary.
Such a great idea, and I so appreciate your time.

Before I show off my (mostly) finished project, I would like to share the other 'bird' quilt I made. This was probably about my 4th or 5th quilt, and it was my first attempt at designing something myself. I made it as the challenge quilt for my former guild's quilt show a year ago. I think my skills have come a long way since then, but I still love it! I named it Spring Tweet.

Now to show off my new wallhanging. I had this idea of a vine with the birds showcased in my mind for several weeks. Overall I like how it turned out. The background is cream, the leaves are from a Denyse Schmidt fabric, and the border is from "Fly a Kite". I have more quilting to do and I need to add the border.