Roses in October

 I love it when people bring in their finished quilts from a class they took....this one is no exception! You might remember the blocks Jane was making during the Funky Rock Stars class a little over a week ago...she was using up lots of batik scraps. Isn't it gorgeous? I love how she used all blues in the background and a large variety of color in the stars.

 Tuesday night was Sampler #15 night....we worked on the Patchwork Rose block. I love this block, and might have to make something else using it. I don't know if it's the play on size, with the outer half square triangles being larger than the inner blocks or what, but I think it's really pretty.

 You can see the students are using a variety of fabrics and backgrounds. We had a couple of people out sick the other night....hate that the cold/flu season is here along with cooler weather.

I missed getting a pic of Rose's block...will try to get pics of all of their finished sets of blocks next month as they are progressing nicely.

We are gearing up at school for our big move back to our remodeled building. I am not really looking forward to packing all those books again, but am really ready to just do it, instead of talk about it!

Funky Rock Stars

I spent a great weekend doing all things quilty. I taught the Funky Rock Stars blocks on Saturday...had a great time watching scrap piles shrink while they made stars. Love these stars and they will make some wonderful quilts.

 I spent all day Sunday at the computer writing patterns for Laurentia Star, Sampler 16. I had written some of them awhile back, but wanted to get them finished and off my to-do list. I am happy to report that I did get them finished! ya-hoo!

Working with the ladies made me want to start making funky stars again....it's so much fun!

Funky Rock Stars quilted

 Here is the  Funky Rock Stars  quilt fresh off the quilting machine! The lighting in there isn't the greatest, so I will get a better pic when I get it bound. I just like to take a picture when I take it off so I don't forget.

 I used the same panto that I used on the Potato Chip quilt. I like this one because it quilts a nice. allover design with no empty spaces.

I love this back fabric. It is actually a sportswear cotton, so a little heavier than normal, but it quilted up just fine. I had purchased it because I loved the owls and the colors...thought I might make pillows out of it, but it fit this quilt just perfectly. It's 60" wide, so I didn't have to piece it either. I used a sportswear cotton on the Jigsaw Puzzle quilt last year because I loved the circular pattern for that quilt, so I knew it would quilt up just fine. It makes the quilt a little heavier, but should wash up just fine. 

I am heading up to load another one soon. My stitching group meets tonight, we are all bringing our Round Robin quilts...can't wait to see what everyone did to finish them up. I will take pictures!

Potato Chip quilt finished!

 I got the Potato Chip quilt bound yesterday so it is officially finished!

I then put this teal border on the Windmill quilt. I hung this on the design wall, but I should've had friends hold it up too, as it is not up there very straight. I think it's finished. I made the binding out of an orangey-peachy colored fabric yesterday, so it'll be ready when I get it quilted. Since the blocks were made by friends, I will keep this one, so I don't want it to get too big as I will probably use as a throw. Even so, I keep thinking of adding another border. Maybe I am just so used to borders, that it looks unfinished without one. It's about 57" x 70.5" now. I think I will try to get people to sign one of their blocks. Or make a label with siggys. What do you think?

I also worked on the traditional Cathedral Windows blocks a bit yesterday. No pix yet.

Today's plan includes starting the quilting on the  Funky Rock Stars  quilt that I loaded on Monday. I should make some good progress on it since it is a throw. Are you sewing today?

Border added and some potholders too

 I decided on the teal for the narrow border around the funky stars, mainly because I liked it the best with the piano key border. I thought there needed to be a definite divider. Thanks for all of your help in deciding. I got the back ready and made the binding, so now to get it on the machine and quilt it.

I usually like to quilt in the morning, especially in the summer. But with my husband's schedule now, he is sleeping, so I have to wait. I could load it and I might when I get back...have an errand to run first.

I started these potholders last Dec. I was making them for Christmas gifts. I had them all sewn together, with right sides together, when I realized that I had pinned them all wrong. The insulbrite and batting were on the outside when I turned them, not the inside. Note to self: Sew one and turn right side out and check before you sew the rest. So I just put them away, as I was pretty disgusted with it. Didn't want to take the time to unsew all the seams. I got them out yesterday and just cut the old seams off and redid them the right way. They are a little smaller than I originally wanted them, but they will work  just fine. So now I guess I'm ready early for Christmas giving!

More funky stars

 I spent most of Monday sewing funky stars. I am using up lighter backgrounds and leftover strips from other projects. I love finding ways to use up bits and pieces. I have noticed that some of my collections are pretty much made up of bits and pieces now, most notably my batiks. Time to start collecting them again, as I never get tired of using them.

This lavender might have overpowered the stars a bit, but think it will be ok when I am finished.

 I love this blue as a background and love how the stars look on it. This is the blue I used for my great-nephew Matthew's quilt.

I have about 7 more partially finished with a green background. Hope to get them finished today. It might be an interesting quilt to layout, as I won't have the same amount of each background color. That just makes it more fun!

Yesterday I sewed with the ladies all day. I finished the Potato Chip Quilt, and pieced the back for it, so it is ready to load onto the quilting machine. I meant to get a picture of it, but forgot. I will when it is quilted and share. 

Family and the Good Wishes quilt

 We all gathered at my sister Sharon's house on Saturday night. Nancy is still here from Canada and Kathy and her husband came from Missouri, so my brother and sisters were all there. We see both of them when they are back, but they don't always get to see much of each other as their visits don't always coincide. My other 2 sisters and brother live in my hometown, and I live about 50 miles away. It was a good chance to give Mom her Good Wishes quilt.

 She loved it. I filled the pockets with the wishes I had, and the rest of the family will add them as they get them.

 It was a great night and I took lots of pictures. Here I am with my 4 sisters, brother and parents.  My sister has a great deck and gardens out in back of her house, and the weather was perfect to sit outside and visit.

Kathy went back yesterday and Nancy is leaving tomorrow to go back home. We have all enjoyed her visit a lot and I know it has helped Mom and Dad to have her here.

I worked on some more  Funky Rock Stars yesterday. I finished 8 more and have another 7 partially finished. They are so much fun to make! I will post some pix tomorrow.

I'm going to sew with the ladies today, then I have a class tonight. Should be a great day! I love sewing with others! Usually I am teaching and so am watching the sewing, not participating!

More blocks and a model kitty

I made a couple more funky star blocks last night. They are fun, easy sewing. I used the same center strips as the others with white background, just didn't tilt them. I like this off-set four patch center too. I have used all of my white background squares, so what color next?

  I think maybe Conrad would make a great model....he just appears out of nowhere when I lay blocks down for picture taking!

Maybe I need to start my own network....Quilting with Conrad!

Wonky, crooked? funky?

 I had fun going to the auction Sunday. Truth is, I was a little afraid to bid on anything because they go so fast and are hard to understand. You can tell I am a newbie at auctions! It was fun going, and I really didn't need anything there!

 I came home and worked on some more wonky stars, using white for the background.

 These are fun and easy to make. I haven't decided where this is going, but I want to teach a workshop or two on free-piecing, so will use these for a model. I made the crooked centers all the same on these four.

 I have lots of strips cut for other projects, and just scraps of fun prints, so it isn't hard to find fabrics to use. I like how the stripes turned out. They were actually diagonal on the fabric.

Guess who wouldn't let me take a picture of them on the floor.....are you tired of pictures of Conrad yet? 

 He finally lost interest and wandered off.

 Here they are with the ones I made last week. It's always interesting how they look on point, isn't it?

What color background next? I have some baby blue left from the baby quilt...

Wonky is as wonky does...

I wanted to finish those wonky stars, so played around a bit with a few fabrics for the centers. I finally settled on these 2, as I decided to make all four blocks have the same center. The two strips that I chose weren't the same width, but I figured it didn't matter as the blocks were wonky, the centers might as well be too.

So I squared up the centers so they were "off". I love them!

Here is one ready to sew!

Another one, aren't they cute?

This one seems a little crazier than the rest, but I like it anyway.

Here are the four that I finished. I don't have any more yellow squares to use up, so will have to cut some more fabric to make more. Not sure if I should buy more yellow, or go with another color. It might be fun to have scrappy backgrounds too.

Conrad is turning into quite a quilt model! As I was trying to take pix, he insisted on being in them! 

I moved a block to the floor, since he didn't want to get off of them, and you can see what happened. 

I think he will make a great quilter!

Funky Rock Stars

I  felt like making some funky stars the other night, so I got out some yellow squares that one of my students gave me. They were cut the wrong size, she didn't need them, and she didn't want to throw them away. So I took them, but wasn't sure what I would use them for either! (Thanks Laura! you know I can't throw usable stuff away!)

They were perfect for this. I used some leftover strips I had from another project and make wonky points.

I love these rose fabrics.

This blue actually looks way better for real, but the color's not great on this picture.

I'm not sure what I will use for the centers, as I don't have a wide enough strip of  matching fabric to cut squares. Back to the drawing board.
Thanks Laura!