Awesome Block Design

I love being off from work! Just so relaxing not having any deadlines to meet or meetings to go to !! And I get to sew! All day, if I want! Life is good!! :-) Can't wait to retire!!
I finished cutting the block pieces for the "Gi Gi Girl" jelly roll quilt. I sewed up 2 blocks. A fun block to make and the design is so graphic! LOVE IT!



I even love the back of the blocks...every seam so straight and presses so flat!! Silly, huh?


My little Westie, Yogi, is glad to have me home ... he loves to snooze in his bed on my sewing table upstairs! When he's not sleeping there by the window overlooking the deck, he can watch out for those marauding squirrels who love to dig up my potted plants down there!

I will finish the blocks but can go no further on the quilt until I get my dark brown sashing fabric that was ordered online. I hope to get it by Monday!

This weekend my husband and I will be doing some yard work and mulching in the yard, so not sure how much time I'll have to sew on Saturday....but maybe on Sunday! TGIF!! :-)

Scrapology 2 !!

I took some Kaffe scraps from my stash, cut them into 5" squares and made a new laptop case for myself. I sewed them together similarly to how the big summer tote bag was done.




I fused 2 layers of fleece to the back and used my walking foot and a large curved zig zag stitch to quilt it by stitching across the sewn squares diagonally both ways and then also through the middle both ways. Very quick and easy! Here's the back so you can see the quiting.

Instead of a button or velcroed flap to close the top as it is for a laptop computer, I made flaps and sewed a separating zipper to both and inserted them into the top seam.

I made a large 6 patch pocket on one side of the lining and 2 other smaller pockets on the other side for my cell phone and cord.

When sewing the sides of the lining, I left a 5" space unsewn to turn the tote through after sewing the top seam.

Then I top-stitched around the top edge and sewed up the open lining side seam and VOILA, it's done!! On to the next project! :-)

My Za Za jelly roll arrived today in the mail. I started cutting it up for the Gi Gi Girl quilt. It will take a bit longer to cut this jelly roll quilt as the directions tell you to trim the edges of each piece down from 2 1/2" to 2 1/4".

So I started the cutting and got it half done. Here's my pile of cut off edges so far! Boy those pinked edges really make a mess of my cutting table...but better there than down inside the bobbin area of my machine! Right? The pattern designer explains that by trimming them down, you only need one jelly roll to make the quilt instead of leaving the strips at 2 1/2" you would need 2 jelly rolls! So I totally agree!! :-)

I'm off from work tomorrow, so maybe can get all the big blocks done, but must still wait for the dark brown fabric for the sashing, and the backing and binding, which I ordered but has still not arrived! I'm really loving this quirky fabric.

So, what are you working on??

Sooooo Excited!

I have always wanted to make a particular quilt from Heather Mulder Peterson of Anka's Treasures' book called "Let the Good Times Roll". She makes the most delightful jelly roll patterns ever!

I love this particular quilt because the fabrics are so modern and edgy and the design has my favorite element - swirls!

I did not recognize the fabric collection used, so I emailed her on her website and within a few hours, I got the answer! The fabric is a Moda collection by Erin Michaels called "Za Za". So I started searching the Internet and couldn't find any Za Za jelly rolls, as it's been out quite a while. But, thank goodness for eBay!! Taadaa! Found one!! YESSSSSSSSSSS! It's winging it's way to me as I write!!

I just LOOVVVEEEE the Internet!! Don't you????

Summery Big Bang Theory Tote

The March / April issue of McCall's Quilting magazine has an awesome tote bag made from charm squares called "The Big Bag Theory".




It is shown in black and white Caliphon charm squares, and I LOOOVVVEEEE black and white!! I also love swirls and curls!!



So, of course, had to go online and find some of those!! They are winging their way here!! :-) Don'tcha just love the internet???




But in the meantime, I took a set of four bright summer themed fat quarters and cut 12 five inch charm squares from each and as you need 46 to make the tote, I had more than enough! I used a bright plaid from my stash for the lining and handles.



I quilted it by sewing wavy lines diagonally across all the corners in a primary colored variegated thread. It was so quick and easy to quilt it that way versus meandering.



I also used a different closure than the one in the magazine. It sure is big... would be perfect to pack up for a trip to a beach or pool. The whole thing including the cutting took maybe 3 hours. It would be a great project for using up scraps. In baby themed fabric, would be so cute to make for a baby shower as a diaper bag and fill it with baby stuff! You could make one out of book themed fabrics and use it to tote books to and from the library. Or you could pack it with quilt class stuff. Or out of teacher fabric, it would be an awesome end of the year gift for a teacher. The possibilities are endless! I'm making another one soon!!

I Got It!! I Got It!! I Got It!!

Guess what was in my mail today? My very own mini quilt from the Spring Blooms Swap from my secret partner, Sylvia, from South Dakota! And Lordy, that box was soooooooooo full of awesome stuff in addition to the mini quilt!!



Look at all this cool stuff!! All wrapped in pumpkin orange tissue paper! Things in the box:

a gorgeous tulip mini quilt in blue, white and yellow

a Purple Thang

a spool of thread

a little wall hanger with clips

a magnetic calendar and ink pen

popcorn from South Dakota

a tiny flying geese pin to wear

3 beautiful fat quarters

Here's a close up of the quilt. Sylvia added crystal beads in the center for embellishments. It is sooooooooooo pretty and I am SOOOOOOOOOOO pleased!!

Thank you soooooooooooo much for everything, Sylvia!! Make sure you all check out her blog- http://happierdocsly.blogspot.com/ .

I have also finished my own mini quilt for the Spring Blooms Swap. I machine appliqued a blue and white columbine flower onto pink background fabric then added 2 borders. After it was finished, I added tiny yellow buttons in the flower center. I like the way it turned out... and I sure hope my secret partner will like it, too. I'm mailing it out tomorrow!!

I also finished my own little pin cushion for that Swap today.

It is a little bunny made from 2 log cabin quilt blocks with long floppy ears and front paws added along with a fluffy white tail and beads for eyes and en embroidered nose. Very fun to create!!

But I am waiting for an email from the swap leader... I have accidentally lost her email to me that told me the name and address of my partner... and I've got the box all packed with the pin cushion and other goodies. I hope I get that email real soon! Like tonight!

No Text Tuesday- Summer Dolls!

Let's hear it for summer!!

Yogi's sure ready for summer!

Summer decor in the kitchen!

My watermelon quilt and Tall Annie!

Patriotic decor for the summer!





Family room decked out for summer!





Antique ladder full of quilts!





Annie and Teddy are ready!!




Crazy Annie's on the mantle!

Andy and Annie on the settee!

Raggedy Anna May loves summer!

Big Annie and friends guard my pie safe!

Raggedy Betsy Ross works on her flag quilt!

Biggest Annie holds her friend Rags!

Kaffe's Insomnia Done!!

I finally finished my Kaffe Insomnia quilt! I like it allot! It's quite wild and crazy!! It's a nice sized lap at 62" by 70".



In the Strip Therapy book for quilting with jelly rolls, each pattern also makes a wall hanging or table runner from the leftover scraps from the jelly roll. I finished the small quilt , too.





I like it, too! It was really quick and easy and then you are using up the entire jelly roll with no leftover scraps when done!

Friday was my birthday and my husband took me out to dinner and bought me this beautiful miniature sunflower plant! I just LOVE sunflowers!



And my dearest friend from work makes ceramics and she gave me this awesome hand-made flowerpot with this plant, too.



Isn't it just gorgeous! You can see the cayenne pepper I have to sprinkle on the dirt to keep the squirrels from digging in it!! Those little devils are always digging up the dirt in my potted plants out back on the deck and on the front steps as well. They drive my dog crazy, too, as they like to stretch out and sunbathe on the railing of the deck out back. And Yogi will bark furiously through the window at them... ACK!!

Oh, there is a new givaway at www.quiltqua.com and you could win a Frosted Memories Fat Quarter Bundle by Holly Taylor for Moda Fabrics ! To enter simply "tell a friend" to spread the word about Quilt Qua. You can send an e-mail to people, post on your blog, comment on someone else's blog, put info in your guild newsletter, etc. Then send an e-mail to: quiltqua@gmail.com and let her know what you did. Random drawing for the winner will be at 10 pm July 31st.