A cute little girl and the Obvious O

 A few weeks ago, I saw this cute little pieced girl that Crazy Mom Quilts made. I knew I wanted to try it too, maybe even find a way to use it with my letters. Making her was sort of like making letters...a little bit of dress, a little bit of skin...til you have her finished. I like her a lot.

The O was obviously easy and fun to make. Can't believe we are on letter 15 already. Over half way finished with the alphabet.

I won't be posting for a few days while I am at my retreat....there should be plenty to show and tell when I get back.

Nifty N, Tuesday Sew-In and Quilt Retreat...

The N was fun to make...this alphabet is going fast! I am ogling my O right now....just finished making it while my pix loaded for this post.

 Lots of quilting went on yesterday. These Tuesday sew-ins have been great for all of us....lots of sewing accomplished! You might remember this quilt when she worked on the top a few weeks ago.

 Diana made a pillowcase dress for a friend's daughter.

 Dianne finished this top she started quite awhile ago.  Her daughter will be happy as she was making it for her!

 Diana brought this finished top, she worked on it here.

Jane's quilt is the same sampler as the one above, just in pastel batiks.

 Eileen got this sampler top finished.

Here are the final blocks for the quilt she was working on here. Look for the quilt with the missing pieces...these fit in. Now it is just a matter of putting it all together!  Dianne and Laura also worked on their Windmill/Pinwheel swap blocks, but I didn't get any pictures of those.

I started working on the new sampler yesterday. Spending time working on the fabric needs and patterns Monday paid off as I got one set of blocks finished and another one started. This sampler is a little different as I am using all solids and a black background for an amish look. If you knew me, you would know that I never use solids. It's not that I don't like them,  there are just so many pretty prints to choose from! The only solids I have used in the past few years are black and white. No pics yet, but I hope to get a lot done on it in the next few days.

Tomorrow we leave to go on our quilt retreat. We are going back to the Harrisdale Homestead near Atlantic, Ia. (this pic was taken at the retreat last Feb.) We have the whole house to ourselves and plan on sewing all day and night long. This is the 3rd retreat the 7 of us have gone on, so it is becoming a biannual event. We all take our own projects to work on and take breaks every so often to eat and gamble with fat quarters playing the LCR dice game. It is great fun and a great group of ladies. I will have pix when we come back.

Marvelous M, Sew-In Tuesday and some more leftovers....

 I spent the day yesterday working on a design for a new sampler quilt and running copies for a class that starts tonight.  Eventually I got around to the Marvelous M...it wasn't as hard as I thought it would be. Or maybe it is just Lynne's good instructions! Can't wait to get these finished so I can start putting the ABC Sampler together.

I had lots of leftover strips after I made the Hexagon Spin a few months ago. I have a tub for leftover strings, but there were too many to put in the tub. I thought I should do something with them.  So they have been sitting here, just waiting for me to get around to it. The other night, I started sewing them together in groups of 2s. I doubled the pairs twice to end up with sets of 8. They are basically about 20"  or so long and I have 7 of them.There are some more strips, but I want to save some of them to make alphabet letters with. I made an L and M, but I can't get the picture to load correctly...it keeps loading sideways. Maybe it will behave tomorrow.

I'm going to sew all day with friends, and have a class tonight. A very quilty day!

Weekend fun and my daughter's surprise...

I finished my daughter's asian Circle and Spin quilt in time for her birthday party Saturday night. She loved it!

This is a pic of the back...she loves these colors and it is a large print so worked well on the back. She also loved the quilting.

 I made some pillows to go with the quilt.

She picked this fabric out one time when we were shopping, but I didn't want to cut it up for the quilt. So I just made a large pillow case for a bed pillow.

I got some cleaning done this morning, so now on to blog checking to see how hard the Letter M is going to be to make, among other things.

Lovely L and some Sew-in finishes

I quilted a few rows on my daughter's quilt this morning. As I unrolled it to drape til next time I could see the end about 24" away! I planned on having it done by now, but the terrible heat has kept me out of that room. Maybe in the morning I can get up there early and get it finished. 

Lucky for me, Letter L was much easier to accomplish than K...I like my L...very likable, lovable, linkable L. Today is Lynne's birthday, so pop over there, using the nice linkable link, and wish her a Happy Birthday!

 I forgot to mention the reason I put my J and K together yesterday was because they are my initials. By the time I got it downloaded, I had forgotten what I wanted to say. Can't wait to see how we make M tomorrow.

 Dianne worked on her Kaleidoscope quilt on Tuesday. It is so bright and pretty.

Betty was quilting her Twisterweave Mystery quilt last week, and brought it completed to show us on Tuesday. Another pretty mystery quilt finished. Everyone is excited to be getting so much finished on these Tuesday sew-in days.

Tuesday Sew-in and the Kooky Letter K..

I worked on these swap blocks yesterday during the Tuesday Sew-In. Had a great time and finished the blocks I had started for a total of 10. I cut out a few more before I had to leave. 

Today after some cleaning and grocery shopping, I worked on the letter K. I am not too happy with my Ks. The first one turned out too big. The second one was better, but I decided I should straighten it up and in the process, cut off the bottom of the right leg. So it looks like it might tip over. Note to self: lay the ruler down  on it or place a fabric strip over it at the place you think you want to cut and then check it before cutting. I made it like Lynne, but you will see that she didn't straighten hers up vertically. I could've added a piece of background to that side and then straightened it up. Then my K wouldn't have to limp. 

 Here it is with the Jaunty J!

I think L will be much easier.

The Jaunty J and a block swap

 Since J is my first initial, I am doing it a different color, one that will POP with the rest. This mottled batik has orange, gold and reds.

I really like the light floral, but not sure it will show up well.

 I really like this floral, but decided against it for now.

 I love stripes, but the swirls are nice too.

 Here is the pink.....hmmmm, which one, which one?

 I ended up making one out of the striped fabric...

 and a topless J out of this mottled batik. Now, which one should I use? There are 2 other people doing blues as well, so I am curious to see what they use for their POP color.

I spent a good part of yesterday working on these Double Windmill blocks for a swap I'm doing. I got some more partially finished. We are using brights, any solid or prints can be used. Today I am getting together with friends for our Tuesday Sew-in so will work on them then. I might take a binding project along too. Really need to get another one done.

Another hot day and a binding

The temps are going to be hot and humid the next few days, so I will probably hole up in the house and sew. Our AC is having trouble keeping up so it hasn't been so pleasant around here the last few days.

Yesterday I got the Twisterweave Mystery quilt bound, so that is #2 in the pile of finishes. I also went to see Larry Crowne. I like both Julia Roberts and Tom Hanks, so enjoyed the movie.

I am excited to make my Letter J later....it will be the letter that POPS so watch out!

Mini Diamond quilt bordered...Happy H and Dotty I

I got the border on the Mini Diamond quilt. It is throw size, about 54" square. Now to get it quilted. I am going to make the binding later so it is ready. I think I will do scrappy.

 I made some progress on quilting Rachel's asian Circle and Spin this morning. I really like the design  I am using. I will try to get some good pix when I am finished.

 Such a Happy little H and a dotty I.

 I ended up making an extra set of H and I out of the dotty fabric. I wanted to make a lower case I as well...they are so cute! Monday will be an exciting day, the very jaunty letter J!

If you want to check out Lynne's great tutorials and letters, she is at Patchwork Menagerie.

MIni diamonds and quilting

This mini diamond quilt has been fun to make. I am going to put 2 small borders on it and it is finished! It is about 45" square right now, actually bigger than I thought it would be. Hard to imagine when you just have a pile of leftover diamonds.

 I spent a lot of the day quilting the asian Circle and Spin so haven't made my letter H yet. I am getting together with friends tonight, so it will probably have to wait til tomorrow.

Tuesday Sewing and The Gorgeous Letter G

 The usual group got together and sewed yesterday. Seems like everyone is getting lots of UFOs finished. While we were there, I got a couple of them to hold up my St Marks quilt to get a good pic of it. I got the back sewn together for this quilt, as well as the asian Circle and Spin. 

I also worked on sewing together my strips of diamonds. It is just very scrappy, so no pattern. I just hated to waste all those diamonds. I still have a few left. Here they are, hung crookedly on the design wall.

 Jane had gotten a lot finished since we met last. This is her Twisterweave Mystery Quilt. She made the twin size. See her kitties?

 She put a piano key border on her Circle and Spin.

 Hope this quilt doesn't walk away!

 Betty brought her Sampler #9. She quilted it herself. She was working on quilting her Twisterweave mystery quilt yesterday, and she was almost finished with the binding. She promised to bring it back next week so I can take a pic of it finished.

 Laura worked on more of her Sampler #13 blocks. She is still caught up.

 Eileen finished her Twisterweave Mystery quilt yesterday. So pretty!

 Dianne finished her Sampler #12.

Diana worked on setting her Sampler #11 blocks with setting triangles.

 Ahhhh, the Glorious, Gratifying, Gorgeous Letter G!!! ain't it purty?

7 down, 19 to go....