Summer Blooms

We’ve been in this new house for ten months now.  It’s really hard to believe we’ve been here that long!!

So, I’m finally getting to my list of quilts and other home decor projects needed to fill in the blank wall spaces I laid clam to… like this one!!

So, I just finished this small wall quilt for my blank wall on the second floor landing !!

I used only stash fabrics, which makes me really happy!!

Hydrangeas are one of my favorite flowers.

The petals, stems, leaves and bugs were attached with a fusible, then I sewed around the edges and created veins and flower centers by machine.

My process is to piece the background, add the borders, fuse the appliqué pieces onto the pieced background creating the top, layer the sandwich with batting in middle and backing on the bottom, and top facing up on top.

Then I stitch the edges of the appliquéd pieces, and the leaf veins through all the layers

and then fill in the background and borders with quilting designs of my choice.

So the sewing on the fused appliqué pieces and the quilting is done at the same time!! Yay!

I’m doing the Nested Churn Dash Quilt-Along, so my next task is to pull the fabrics for it!!

So, whatcha doing this weekend???

Pushing Up Daisies!!

No, not speaking of what that means to some folks… LOL!!

I loved that phrase for the name of my new wall quilt!!

I bought it as a kit that I found in the clearance bin of a local quilt shop!!

I did switch out the two border fabrics for ones in my stash that went better with our decor.

I also made it 2” wider and about  8” longer to better fit the space!!

I bought the wall hanger back when we were in the apartment waiting for our home to be finished.  It was very primitive in colors- the wood was weathered and plain and the wrought iron was a rusty brown.

So, I painted the wood with the inside wood trim white paint and spray painted the iron a mat black!

I really love how it all came together and fits perfectly in the space there!!!

This will hang until fall…will make new ones for the different seasons and maybe even some big holidays!!

I’m working now on a wall quilt for another blank wall space upstairs on the landing above my quilt chest!! 

Will be thread painting today in the sewing room, with my assistant!! 

Soooo, what are you creating this week???

Need a Sewing Tote?

I had lots of scraps after making my last Moda project, so I decided to make a big tote bag to use for bee!

I took my leftovers and cut a bunch of 3” squares, and sewed them together and added a fabric piece all the way across the top,

but I just used all  3” squares for the back side of the tote.

I pressed fusible fleece on the wrong side of both the pieced front and the back.  Then I quilted them all over in a simple meander.

I sketched out the letters spelling “sew” in reverse, onto the paper side of fusible and pressed it onto a contrasting fabric.

I cut them out, removed the paper backing and fused them onto the front side.

I used the blanket stitch on my sewing machine all around the edges!

I added a double pocket with an elastic casing on at the top the front and embellished it with rickrack.

I also added rickrack across the bottom edge of the green strip on the front.  I used the finished front as a pattern to  cut two pieces of fabric for the lining. 

With right sides together, I sewed down one side across the bottom and up the other side on both the outer and lining of the tote.  Turn the outer bag right sides out and push the lining down into the outer bag, lining up the top edges, then baste them together.

I also added another row of rick rack around the top edge!

I bound the top edge just like a quilt by sewing the binding onto the front side by machine, then flipping it to the inside and sewing it down by hand.

I made some handles from another fabric

and sewed them onto the front and back sides at the top.

My tote ended up to be the perfect size to bring my sewing notions and project materials to bee!

I also just took it to our local quilt show this past weekend and got soooo many nice compliments on it!!

 

Our local annual quilt show was this weekend and I was so VERY pleasantly surprised to see my dear friend Susan there!!  And guess who we met and went to her trunk show at the quilt show???

Jenny Doan from the Missouri Star Quilt Co, with her awesome Daily Deals and tutorials!!

We got to see some of the quilts from her tuts

and hear her life story and meet her adorable hubby who was her assistant there!!

Two bee friends and I went to the trunk show together and then hit the vendors and the quilts!!

Sue bought an awesome black quilt ladder to lean against the wall in her family room for her quilts!!

Sooo, what are you working on this weekend??