Sunday, March 31, 2019

Not a Stitch Was Sewn


On our weekend in Connecticut, 
we had a nice time visiting with my sister-in-law and her husband.

I brought two hand projects and a book
but did not put in a stitch or read a page.

On the way home, there was a short stop today at


where I bought these four half yards of Alison Glass fabrics.

It is a beautiful shop full of wonderful bright fabrics.

I am feeling sew inspired to start my quilty week tomorrow.

I hope you and yours had a nice weekend.

:-) 

Saturday, March 30, 2019

Not Sew Scrappy Saturday


Week 11 block
 for 
52 Blocks 52 Weeks @ Canadian Quilters

I am away from my sewing machine until tomorrow.

Many more lovely green blocks in the links
@
Scrap Happy Saturday @ So Scrappy

May you have a Happy Scrappy Saturday! 


Friday, March 29, 2019

Two Quilts ~ One Stash Sew Along Friday Update


This is the backing and binding fabric I have picked out for my Ventana Quilt. 

Only two Ventana Blocks to show  this week.



Block 11


Block 12

I love this bird fabric.


I think the cute bunnies from the  the Michael Miller Front Yard line
will only appear on the backing, though. 

Here are my trinket blocks for the week:


Shapes 1


Shapes 2


Shapes 3 & 4
only one block each so far.

I am making 3 per design so I need to make more
and I need to get today's challenge block done.

It has been a busy week other than sewing 
and my machine was in for service.

Excuses, excuses.

I should have gotten more done.

Hope to get today's Shapes 5 and another Ventana block before sleep.

Will be away from my sewing machine a few days this weekend.

Hope to have progress on my hand sewing to show on Sunday night.

Have a happy quilty weekend!


Thursday, March 28, 2019

I Like Thursday ~ Post #5



My kitties are in charge here today.



Katniss is my head quilty kitty.


Going to get my big beautiful Janome
back from her day at the spa.

I like my sewing machine.

I need my Sewing Machine.


Visit all my Thursday friends 
@
 I Like Thursday @ Not Afraid of Color 


Afternoon Update:


<3 My Nomi is Home <3

from her spa day with the

Sewing Machine Servicing @ The Quilted Crow


I am sew happy ... :-) 

Baby is humming along smooth as silk.
as quiet as a quilty kitty whis-purrrrrr.

As good as new.

Maybe better than new.

I have had this machine for seven years
and Nomi and I are sewing partners for life.

A few of my online quilty friends know I had
a nightmare of an experience five years ago
when I brought my Janome in for it's last warranty service
to the place where I purchased it
But I never really blogged about it.
The damage was actually much worse that I ever told my friends about.
Back then, it took me hours to get my machine adjusted to even stitch again.
Since then I had been doing my best to take care of her on my own
and keep her home with me.

After all these years of constant use,
she needed internal cleaning and adjustments that were beyond my ability
so I had to find somewhere to bring her for the care she needed.

I am happy to say I know now where to bring my sewing machine for service.

I will be bringing my Featherweight there soon for a spa day.

Thank you Anthony and 



The Quilted Crow

Finding a good and trustworthy sewing machine service 
is something to crow about.

I am one happy quilter today.


Wednesday, March 27, 2019

It's a Novelty


Fireflies light up my stash.

From time to time they blink

I see

 and I think 

I must sew.


is hosting this hop in May.

Time for my fireflies to fly out of my stash. 

I like fireflies.

For all you want to know about Fireflies
and why you do not see as many on warm, summer nights


Do you have a "Nifty Novelty" fabric or two in your stash?


Update:  This blog hop is being re-scheduled to August.

 Hope to see you then. 

Tuesday, March 26, 2019

Heart Strings Attached ~ My All About Strings Blog Hop Post

These Strings
have a long thread trail back in time
and to the heart they bind. 

The string blocks for this quilt and pillow were make a long time ago.

I only have the top to show for now because my beautiful older workhorse of a machine
needs some care and repair. Trying to quilt this quilt and finish this pillow proved too much of a task for my Janome at the moment.


  The String Leads Back to Here in 2010

I participated in a block swap run by Betty at the
long gone Forum @ Block Central
where I learned many things and made many quilts and many friends.

A few of the blocks are signed on the back and this adds to their treasure.
I did not sign my own blocks back then.
Wish I had been so thoughtful and showed more pride in my work.
Need to maybe make resolution for the future.

The pattern is Rectangle Strings by Mary Quilts

These are the blocks I received ...


These blocks have Heartstrings. 


At first, I could not understand why these blocks were still a UFO.



I have had them out a few times, as in
2014 ~ Story Here

Then I counted the blocks again and realized why.
There are a Baker's Dozen.
For a 3 rows of 4 blocks quilt, I would have one block left over.

As I did not want to leave one of my friends out of the front of the quilt,
I kept planning to make three more of the large muslin backed rectangle blocks
and I kept putting this project aside.


Rather than put this back into my closet,
I decided to pick one block and make a pillow
and sew twelve blocks into a quilt.
 I randomly chose a block that was not signed.

When I was quilting it, I realized who made this block.
I remember commenting on the "wishing stones" fabric
on the forum where the post is lost.
This is my friend Meg's block.


So many years ago, I asked my friends to use green fabrics for the center strips
that form the diamond in the large four unit blocks.

I have never made a St. Patrick's Day quilt larger than a mug rug so
I decided to make this my "Sewing of the Green" Spring Quilt
for the 


This lovely spring string fling is hosted by the lovely

When I saw the announcement foe this hop,
I thought at first is said "All About Spring"
so I had tot make a Spring String Project. 

I had two other plans for this blog hop.
Both are still in the sewing stage.

WIP #1 


Jelly Roll Strings!


This is the process:

Sort strings.

The strings only need to be about 3" long. 

Piece together into sections.

Once I get a strip about 24" long, I press 
and then I use my long ruler to square them up into
2 and 1/2" by 24 inch sections.


The I sew into String Jelly Roll strips
and dress up my tall Binding Baby.

I have a pattern and project picked out 
and hope to have this ready to show you soon.

After that I plan to keep making more of these strips 
as leaders and enders for the rest of the year 
and see how long my jelly roll becomes.

I am really excited about this string jelly roll idea.

WIP # 2 


Strings in the Corner Blocks
This is a prototype block.
It needs some tweaking. 


I am using my 30's Repro String Scraps for this project.
Plan is to make a while quilt with pastel centers
to make a fine spring quilt.


The pastel block is a foundation and the strings are sewn on each corner
as for a Square in a Square block.


The center of my test block is a little larger than I want in a quilt,
but it is perfect for adding embroidery 
and making a pillow.


This one is slowly coming along.


Here is what I have done so far.
I had thought to make a small toss pillow
but I am liking it so much, it may become a framed wall decoration
for my sewing room. 

It also shows a trick I learned from a friend in the swap strip blocks.

String Block Tip: 
When making string blocks ...
after trimming them to size,
it is a good idea to run a line of stitches 1/8" in
around the outer edges.
This will secure all those tiny strips from crinkling up on the edge 
and make sewing them together easier.


For more string fun,
please follow the strings trail to visit all of my friends today ...


Tuesday, March 26th

Life in the Scrapatch (you are here)



hosted by



Maestro Quilty Kitty and I are working on getting this one quilted
and on our other string things. 

The muslin foundation adds a lot of weight and bulk. 
Finishing the pillow proved too tough for My Nomi
and she has to go into the spa today to rest and recover.
I am hoping her cleaning and adjustments
will have her back to her usual "sew through anything" 
strength again.

I am also considering other quilting options,
such as maybe tying this quilt.

I have never tied a quilt before and would have to learn how 
and I am wondering if it might be very hard on my hands. 

Have any of you quilted this type of quilt?

Have you tied a muslin backed foundation block quilt?

Ideas and suggestions would be most helpful. 

Thank you for visiting today. 

Sunday, March 24, 2019

Sunday Sewing


No hand stitching for me this Sunday
although my  machine sewing is rather slow,
even for these quick sew 
Triangles on a Roll.

Now what could this be for?

Reveal comes later in the week.

Time to dig my back-up machine out of the box in the closet and see if she sews.

Wish me luck. 

May you have a happy night.


Saturday, March 23, 2019

Scraps and Cats Saturday



I am all caught up on my scrappy blocks for



I really liked Block 9  with its twists and turns.


Block 10 was an easy cross block.

The kitties love Saturdays because both of their favorite humans are home.


Katniss spent most of the morning enjoying her bath in the sunny south facing window.
Too windy and cool to open the window so the little sisters left her in peace and quiet.
Tomorrow we may get to 60 F degrees. 
Little sisters will be crowding her favorite napping spot.


Maestro just curled up near me on my pressing board by my machine
and napped there.


Nutmeg, who only sits still when she is sleeping,
helped me arrange this weeks


My machine is still grumbling and making me take her apart
to remove a speck of dust every few stitches.
Tomorrow I am going to have to put her in her box for the trip to the spa.

It will be a slow stitching day tomorrow
for sure.

Hope I can get my challenge blocks done.

Time will tell.

Linking up with all the lovely green inspiration at the

grab button for SoScrappy

Rainbow Scrap Challenge @ So Scrappy

Happy Sewing of the Green Month ... :-) 


Friday, March 22, 2019

Sew Far ~ Sew Good



Ventana ~ Day 10 ~ Lines #10




Two weeks in and I am up to date

I am making three blocks for each trinket design
so I will have 120 Trinket blocks when I am done. 


One Stash ~ Two Quilts

I have doubled the personal challenge by sewing both
the larger Ventana Blocks and the daily Trinket Blocks



Day 9

I have really been enjoying this sew along. 

There is a fun and supportive


Lots of inspiring quilts n the making!


Ventana Block 8

I had a bit of a setback early in this week when my sewing machine 
started having major stitch issue while I was trying to quilt a quilt.


Lines 8 Blocks

Although I am going to have to take it in for cleaning and adjustments next week,
I am able to do basic stitching (no quilting) and have a back-up, no frills machine.
So I have been able to make adjustments and keep up with each day's 
Trinket block challenge. 



Day 7 Blocks

By Wednesday I had caught up with my blocks 


Tuesday was  a bit rough as most of the day and Monday was spent 
tinkering with my machine and reorganizing my plans.

I did get the one block done I needed to meet the challenge.


Day 6 ~ Lines 6 Trinkets

Monday I had the blocks all ready
as I sewed on Friday.


I am loving the way the 10.5" Ventana blocks showcase larger print fabrics. 

I am ready for the weekend break to catch up with other things
and get my back-up machine out of the box in the closet
and up and running for next week.

May you have a happy quilty weekend!