I have the very BEST bee friends. They went up to Bedford, Pennsylvania, to take a class with Bonnie Hunter, a while back. In a local quilt shop there, they spied an antique quilt on the wall. They all fell in love with it. A very simple quilt made up of all half-square triangles, all going in the same direction. It was faded a bit - full of soft colored tiny prints and a light muslin background.
They all have a big stash of soft thirties prints... but I don't. I had just a few thirties scraps leftover from making four featherweight sewing machine covers and mats, two years ago, for bee Christmas gifts.
But these dear friends shared their thirties stash with me. We all took what thirties prints we had, and cut them into 3 1/2" squares, enough to share with all four of us. We all bought Kona snow solid for the background.
The sewing, pressing and trimming took awhile. I sewed mine at our guild retreat, then I quilted it later on my HQ 16 sit down machine.
I really love this quilt!! It's so simple, but just beautiful!! And I always think of my generous friends who shared their fabric with me!!
Our local Haymarket Quilters Unlimited guild had a mystery quilt for the second time last year.
The designer, the amazing and talented Doreen Johnson, created another wonderful design for us!!
I used a layer cake and some yardage, and I really love how it turned out!!
I worked on assembling all the parts at our spring retreat, then quilted it on my HQ 16 sit down machine when I got home. We have a new mystery quilt for this guild year, which we just started on! Doreen's designs are so wonderful, I'm sure this one will be, too!!
We've had the most rainfall ever in the last few months. Our temps aren't truly fall like yet, but we are slowly heading in the right direction! No colored leaves yet, either. But I still put away my September school related decor today and pulled out all my favorite Halloween things!! Have you decorated for fall yet??
Amy's Creative Side is once again holding her annual Bloggers Quilt Festival. Click on the links in this post to go to her site and check out all the awesome quilts being posted there!! So, these two quilts in this post are my two for the festival!
My older son, AJ and his new wife, Meredith, were married the first week of June this summer! I made this quilt for them for their wedding gift!
They like more modern designs, so I thought this pattern by Zen Chic was one they would like!
I quilted their names and the date of their wedding in the red ampersand.
Aren't they a handsome couple??
This next quilt is hanging in my powder room now. I made it earlier this summer.
The bicycle is from a Pat Sloan pattern, but then I added the tall sunflowers with button embellishments and the flag blocks and the pinwheel blocks.
My summer decor is patriotic with a touch of sunflowers! I am happy with how it turned out!
Make sure you go here to check out all the wonderful quilts posted on the Bloggers Quilt Festival site!!
So, what are you up to this week? Are you making something fallish?
Did you ever make one of Moda's Frivol quilts? They came in a cute little tin box. Moda only made them for a few years, I think!
As the churn dash block has always been my favorite block, I had to buy the Frivol that was a churn dash quilt.
I did change it up a tad...as I usually have to do 😆, lol!!
I do so love the soft prints in this collection- Strawberry Fields Revisited.
One of the things I added was the little https://www.ohsewpersnickety.com/border made of all the leftover scraps!!
Do you participate in the summer Row by Row activities of visiting quilt shops, collecting their blocks, then assembling them into a commemorative quilt?
We have a wonderful little quilt shop in downtown Haymarket, called Oh Sew Persnickety.
And I have been blessed to design their Row by Row block since they opened. The theme this summer was Sew Musical.
This is the block I designed for them, and I named it "Oh Sew Musical"! Folks seem to like it! Whew!! So fun to create!!
Here in northern VA, we are soooo relieved that Florence did not come our way directly, although we will get some remnants next week. But our thoughts and prayers are with those folks in NC and nearby, who are getting hit with rain and wind and destruction.
It is still quite warm here...sigh. Reallllly looking forward to cooler temps and colored leaves! Is it fall yet where you are?
Are you sewing something up with a jelly roll to celebrate Jelly Roll day tomorrow?
Our grandson Neal is learning his colors, so I made him a fun color book to play with.
I made the book out of regular quilting cotton fabric, with fusible fleece inside, with zizagged edges.
The colored pieces sewn onto the light background are all felt.
I tried to use things Neal saw or ate or played with every day.
Each page displays a different color and also has a removable piece that he can button on and off the page.
All the removable pieces are stored on the inside of the back cover in a little zippered pouch.
This part actually taught Neal how to zip open and closed!
Neal seems to enjoy playing with it and is doing well learning his colors!
And Neal got to meet my 96 year old Mother- his great Grandmother!
I really love that photo!! So, what are you up to lately? Are you making something awesome?
Gosh, I love my new laptop!! Doesn't take 15 minutes to boot up and connect to the internet! YAAAY!!
Anyhoo, I wanted to show some small projects I made over the last year.
First off, we had our local guild's spring retreat a while back, and I'm on the committee that puts it on!! Sooooo, I wanted to make some table favors for the attendees!
We all love using those Wonder Clips for all manor of things like holding our bindings closed, so I made little personalized pin cushions to hold pins, of course, and Wonder Clips!
I made over 30 of them!! I think the girls liked them!! A fun and functional memento!
I also finished a little wool project that one of my bee friends gave me as a kit!! Isn't it cute?
Since I retired six years ago, I traded in the giant carryall purse for smaller ones. Sometimes cross body bags that leave my hands free, and others I've added a little side clip that I can secure to the side wire of a grocery cart, so no one can grab it when my back is turned or I'm a few steps away.
I had these cool green leather handles that I wanted to use, so I made this bag first. I loved the fabrics and colors, but the handles weren't quite right for the bag size and shape. I used it for a few weeks then moved on to make this one.
The Retreat bag was all over Instagram awhile back. The pattern is a free download, but you have to buy the wire hardware for it. It opens like an old fashioned men's Dopp kit for travel. You make the bag and create a channel around the zipper to slide the wire frame into, so when it's unzipped, it stays open.
I wanted mine to be a bit taller than the pattern for the smaller size, so I added the cork fabric bottom part and self-made fabric handles.
The size is just perfect or me! I also made a little cosmetic pouch to keep inside...the pattern is from my friend, Sue, who also added cute beads for a zipper pull!!
Every year, when I was teaching, I would ceremoniously change purses the night before I had to go back to work in the fall. It was how I got my mind off summer time mode and back into work mode. So, even today, six years since I retired, I get the urge for a new purse when September rolls around... any new purse patterns out there you are loving and want to share?
Grandson Neal continues to delight us in very way!! We love being included in a shared online photo album with our kids, so we get to see new photos all the time!! And most nights, we get to talk with him and see him via FaceTime! Gotta love technology!!
So, what are you up to? Any new quilt projects or good fall recipes to share?
