Boutique Sew-In

Today we had an all day sew-in to make projects for the boutique at our quilt show.

I forgot to take pictures of the projects we made but I did get pictures of us eating lunch.

Laura made quiche, salad and cake. Elaine made soup.

We sure do eat good when we get together. By the way we get a lot of sewing and socializing done too.

Stash Report, Week 13, 2011

Looks like I blew it again this week. There was a fantastic sale at JoAnn's. Fabric was 40% off and I had a coupon for 25% off of my entire purchase. I got some basic stuff for my stash. Seems like I am doing more stash building than stash busting

Used this Week: 4 1/2 yards

Used year to Date: 48 yards

Added this Week: 7 1/2 yards

Added Year to Date: 60 1/2 yards

Net Used for 2011: (12 1/2 yards)

March UFO is Finished

I have my UFO for March finished with a few days to spare.

It was a Block of the Month from The Quilt Show for 2008.

"Bouquets for a New Day" by Sue Garman

I think I finished the top in 2009 or early 2010.

There are 12 blocks, but after I had 11 done I decided I only wanted to put 9 in the quilt. I thought the size and being square would be more versatile.

All I had to do to get it finished was to quilt and bind it.

I bound it last night and today washed it and took it outside for a photo shoot.

I love the colors in it, but to be honest, if I was starting it today I would probably use a brighter whiter background.

I am doing the UFO Challenge with Judy at Patchwork Times. 

I can't wait to see what number is drawn for April.

March UFO

Yesterday I was quilting my UFO for March. I hope to finish the quilting today, then all I need to do is get it bound before the end of the month.

This was the 2008 Block of the Month from The Quilt Show.

I just love applique but have not done a lot of it because of the time it takes. Therefore this is fused and machine appliqued. That is the only way for me to get it done.

Quilting

I got some quilting done today.

This quilt belongs to Lucille.

This one belongs to Barbara. 

Can you tell her and Lucille are friends?

Quilt Show Boutique Items

In May the Bayside Quilters are having their first Quilt Show. We will have a small boutique set up at the show. Next week we are having an all day sew-in to make items for the boutique. Here are a few small items I worked on yesterday that I thought might be good to have in the boutique. Above are covers for spiral notebooks.

 checkbook covers

small zippered bags (change purse)

Stash Report, Week 12, 2011

I started on my Blooming 9-Patch. I got the strips sets cut and sewn together. I only counted the fabric that I have cut so far.

Used this Week: 3 3/4 yards

Used year to Date: 43 1/2 yards

Added this Week: 0 yards

Added Year to Date: 53 yards

Net Used for 2011: (9 1/2 yards)

Still Blooming

1.

I spent a couple hours again today trying to choose fabric for my Blooming 9-Patch. Choosing fabric for a quilt is just about the best part of quilting, but it is also the most stressful.

2.

I have definitely decided against the first five layouts here. I just can not cut into the third fabric from the left for a Blooming 9-Patch. I absolutely love it and I do not want to cut it up into tiny little pieces.

3.

It is a Kaffe Fassett fabric and I will use it someday, just not on one of these. Have you ever bought fabric that you find difficult to cut into?

4.

After my post the other day about the Blooming 9-Patch I got an email from Michele. (Someone I never met who commented on my post.) Michele has made numerous Blooming 9-Patches and she had great insight on choosing fabrics.

5.

She also sent me a link to view some of the Blooming 9-Patches that she has made. They are fabulous. After this I knew without a doubt that I needed to reconsider my fabric choice.

6.

I really want to cut the strips and sew them together tonight so I need to make a decision. 

7.

I think I have decided on two different layouts so I guess I will eventually make two Blooming 9-Patches.

8.

As you can see after the other day I decided to throw some orange into the mix. I just can't seem to stay away from orange.

9.

The two layouts I decided on are numbers 7 and 10.

10.

I think I will start with number 10 because it has some fabrics in it that I have had trouble using or I do not really like any more.

 As it stands now (unless I change my mind again) I will be cutting into one of these stacks a little later.

Blooming 9-Patch

Last evening I had the pleasure of rummaging through my stash. I am going to be taking a class from a fellow guild member in April. The pattern is "Blooming 9-Patch." Last Wednesday after our guild meeting we had a preliminary class to discuss choosing our fabric. I decided that I am not going to buy any fabric, so everything has to come from my stash. I need 6 different fabrics that the colors will blend well with the one it will be adjacent to. Most of the pieces require at least a yard of fabric with the greatest needing 1 3/4 yards. Therefore this will limit my choice of fabrics from my stash. The first fabrics that I pulled all had orange in them. When I realized this I thought to myself that maybe I should try to do something without orange. I did not have my camera when I had the initial fabrics out. 

1.

When I excluded orange this is what I came up with.

2.

Most of these are basically the same with a few minor changes along the way.

3.

I did not make any final decisions last night because my daughter called me in the watch Glee with her.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

One of these has a very strong possibility of being my fabric layout. All evening I was favoring the fabrics toward the top. I am not sure if I have the right fabrics to complete this bottom layout. But, this morning when I woke up I was thinking maybe I should just use some of my fabrics with orange in them. I can not wait too long to make my decision because I need to have the strip sets sewn together before the class. When I decide I will let you know.

9.

I just decided to go back and number them. What layout do you think I should use? Or do you think I should throw some orange stuff in to the mix?

Design Bee

Bayside Quilters met on Wednesday. The program for this month was from the Design Bee. The Design Bee was created to go through the lessons in this book. 

They did one lesson in the book per month.

The participants said the book stretched them and it was a bonding experience for all of them. 

A few months into the book when I heard them talking about it I wished I had gotten in on it. 

After seeing the results I am extremely sorry I did not get in on it.

Here are a few pictures of some of their work.

If the opportunity comes along again to do a book like this with a group you better believe I will be in on it.

This week has been very busy for me even though I have not been quilting. 

I chaired the annual banquet for our local Young Life. Boy, I am ever glad that is over. 

I spent time this weekend getting tax stuff together and I hope to finish that up tomorrow. 

Then I should be back to quilting.