The Gals

Finally the gals are ready to become blocks.  These cuties printed out on muslin still need the color run and set test.  Which is a simple test of soaking in vinegar.  I'm not a big fan of muslin but the higher quality fabric and my printer don't get along.  And the ready made printable fabric sheets are just too expensive.  The freezer paper method of printing on fabric has always worked for me.  You can read more about this method on a earlier post here.  

 The pattern I'll be using is called Nostalgic Christmas by Lynn Wilder.  She has several example and ideas for this pattern on her blog Sewn in Wild Oaks.  Just do a search on her blog for Nostalgic Christmas, the search box is on the left at the top of her blog.   A few of my favorites.

 

You can see my first quilt using this pattern here.  Making it in the brighter colors has been the plan since I first saw the pattern.  I made a couple of changes to my block below.  I had to cut my images smaller than the pattern stated.  So making an adjustment to the fist surrounding border was needed.  

 The pattern calls for a large outer border.  I plan to do something a little different.  Maybe no border...we'll just need to wait and see what happens!

~ Lea Anne ~

Today's freebie from modabakeshop

Click here for pattern

DWM Disaster

Happy Hot Monday!  The temperature is rising outside along with the humidity and my frustration.  Just take a look at this Design Wall from yesterday.  As you can see there's 3 stems numbered.  Look closely, see my blunders?  

 1. Is Perfect, YEAH

2. My first messed up block that I decided I could live with until....

3. All I can say is sometimes daises wilt with the hot weather.

After so many issues I decided to switch gears and finish printing the 9 cute little ladies on the left.  After printing one the printer ran out of ink.   GRRRRR... 

Sometimes you're better off just to walk away and call it a day.

The only thing that could make this day better is chocolate and shopping.  Sounds like a plan to me!

Linking up my mess over at PatchworkTimes Design Wall Monday.  

~ Lea Anne ~

 

Another Cherry on top please!

Nothing tickles me more than to receive pictures of quilts made from one of my patterns.  I just couldn't wait to share this because there's so many things about it that I love.  Made by Jane B. for her cousin who loves red.  Isn't it adorable!

Check out this backing, MORE CHERRIES!  Oh yes I need some of this fabric.

Can you see that HAND quilting!  I'm so envious of hand quilters patience. 

And a special cherry label, I blurred out part of the signature.  You can see more pictures here.  Thanks so much Jane for sharing your quilt with me, you made my day!

The pattern for this quilt can be found here, here, and here, it's a freebie.

~ Lea Anne ~

Pocketful of Starlight

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket never let it fade away...

Catch a falling star and put it in your pocket save it for a rainy day...

I know my older followers can finish the lyrics.  It's a great old Perry Como song that my dad would sing when I was a child.  It's also one of the many song's that would pop into my head while piecing this quilt.  So it seamed fitting to name this quilt "Pocketful of Starlight".  

 The block (free pattern here) has several names.  After doing a little online searching I found that Hummingbird or Periwinkle are the most common.  Oriental Star, Star of Orient have also been used.  

 Someone told me that it was also called Job's Tears, but after doing some research Job's Tears is a little bit different.

picture and history from Patterns from history

No matter what it's true name may be, it reminds me of a twinkling star in the nights sky.  

The plan for this quilt was originally much bigger.  However I soon became overwhelmed with so many blocks and reduced the plan.  Now I'm wondering if maybe I should add some applique to the borders or just leave them for quilting.  Hmm...we'll just let it set on the shelf for a few days and see what happens.

~ Lea Anne ~

Today's Freebie from Carter Quilter

click here for pdf pattern

Skittles Explosion

182 blocks on the wall, 182 blocks 

take one down, stitch it down

181 blocks on the wall

Good Morning Quilty Friends!  Welcome to my messy Studio.  It looks like a truckload of Skittles exploded here in Podunk.  I've been working on two different projects over the weekend, the Hummingbird quilt and the Lori Holt tulip quilt.  For those of you that are new to my blog, Lori Holt designed the single tulip block for her Quilty Fun book.  I took that single tulip block and designed a 4 crossing tulips block and the rest of the quilt.  

 I've been bouncing back and forth between the two quilts.  The Hummingbird is coming together really fast, just chaining along...and singing.

But remember when I started quilting the Tulip quilt months ago.  Well I ran into a issue.  The blocks on this quilt are larger than the space I can quilt on my frame.   I've done this several times without premarking and had no issues.  Long story short the quilt had to be taken off the frame and premarked.  Which meant I lost interest and moved on to less frustrating projects.  Well I'm back in the groove and hope to have it back on the frame by bedtime today.  Wish me luck, I'm really excited to have this one back on the project list, it's such a fun and colorful quilt.

So what are you working on that excites you this morning?  Anything that you'd care to share at Judy's Design Wall Monday?  Hop on over and link it up!

Let's add another linky party  WIP Wednesday@freshlypieced

~ Lea Anne ~

Today's freebie from Magnolia Bay Quilts

Click here for tutorial

Here Kitty Kitty

As you all know I'll make a quilt from anything.  Upcycling is a great way to expand the stash with out spending a lot of money.  Joann Fabric's and Walmart fabric isn't out of the question either.  But every once in a while a gal just needs some designer fabric to pull it all together.   So last week the decision was made to finally make a big purchase of  Pam Kitty fabric.  I love Pam Kitty!  There's a   new line available in November,  but I wanted bundled prints from the older lines and I want it now.  It took some searching but I found them. 

  Quite by accident I stumbled upon a search engine that will search several shops for specific fabrics.  Quiltropolis will do the leg work for you.  All I did was type Pam Kitty in the search box and BAM!   A long list of the shops and pictures of what they had.   By the way none of these stores came up in the Google search for Pam Kitty Fabric bundles.

 Who would have thought that I could find so many older prints all in one place!

 Grandmas Attic Quilting had 4 bundles that I quickly purchased.  Since these were older lines I called to make sure that they were in stock.  It would have been a real bummer to get a box with the dreaded "OUT OF STOCK" on the receipt.  

 Grandmas Attic Quilting is a brick and mortar business and online store, it tickled me even more to know I was supporting a small business owner.  And since the bundles were cut to order they were upfront with the fact that some of the prints may no longer be available and asked if they could replace them with other Pam Kitty fabrics....Well of course they could!   Not only was I happy with my order and the free shipping(not sure of the limit in order to get free shipping) they also sent a few little treats shown below.  A Blueberry tea sample, 10 charm squares, a free pattern, bookmark, a catalog and several other flyers about store clubs and news.  The online store also has a monthly give away, just click here for details.

Now I'm on a mission to find just the right pattern for some of the new fabric.  Donna @ Donna's Lavender Nest  has a super easy basket block tutorial that she designed for Missy @ Missy's Homemaking Adventures.  Love the handle! This would be super sweet with some appliqued Posies.  

Oh the possibilities are endless...I think the afternoon will be spent playing with my new fabric.  

~ Lea Anne~

Today's freebie from Pam Kitty Morning

Click here for PDF

Friday Finish

After hours of taking pictures I gave up, deciding that they will do.  This is the last photo taken with the famous watering can, of course tons of editing to give it a vintage look.  I've also made the pictures a tad bit bigger in this post for those quilters that want to see details.

Experimenting started from the very beginning of this quilt.  So I might as well be consistent throughout.   The scrappy basket block is an old pattern that I reworked.  The original block is completely appliqued with no flowers or leaves.  In my version the basket is pieced and I've added a few more appliques shapes.  A block tutorial with free printable templates can be found here on my blog.

 The white backgrounds always say "Quilt me to death", so I did.  But I really love the feel of a quilt that has minimal quilting.  The decision was made to do minimal quilting outside the blocks.

 The background fill quilting is my favorite fill.  I've no idea what you would call it other than random.  A little of this and that with a touch of McTavishing.

 The backing is just some old yukky fabric.  It's become sorta my trademark to have a totally odd piece of yukky fabric on the back.  Sometimes more than one.  Use what you have, and like many quilters I've tons of fabric bought years ago that doesn't appeal to me anymore.  

I'm linking up with Sarah over at Confessions of a Fabric Addict.  Hop on over to see other Finishes this week!

~ Lea Anne ~

Today's freebie from CluckCluckSew

Click here for pattern

Thrifty Threads

In the last couple of weeks there's been some additions to my thrifty fabric stash while hanging out with mom.  Every few days she has a doctors appointment followed by thrift shopping.   You never know what you'll find if you have the patience to dig through mountains of junk for one great find.  This was the deal of the week, 50 cents for both pieces.  (2) 8.5 ft. x 13 in.  table runners.  I love it when they leave in the selvages!   Of course I don't want table runners I want to cut them into pieces!

The pink(rosy) gingham below is Pottery Barn Kids curtains, $1.  It feels really nice not at all flimsy.  Passing up gingham or pink is just not allowed when thrift shopping.  And it coordinates well with the fabric above.  I think both will be set aside for my yearly breast cancer awareness quilt.

 The blue fabric is a twin sheet, 50 cents.  The dust ruffle in my spare bedroom is the exact same fabric that I purchased at Bed Bath and Beyond.  However I purchased both of these pieces at the Salvation Army thrift store with my moms senior citizens discount.    

All the fabric below was purchased at Joann's.  They had a great sale this week 30% and 50% off.  The pink and teal fabric is super quality, comparable to LQS.  The others are of lesser quality and much cheaper in price. The total spent $15.61.

Now here's my tip if you choose to buy build a stash in this way.  You must wash all fabric, no if, and or buts about it!  All fabric shrinks differently.  Not washing and drying could cause some tears later on down the road.   Hand washing(or soaking) is my preferred method for the smaller cuts of fabric.  

If more of the LQS would carry my palette of choice I'd buy more so called "Name Brand" fabrics.  But around here Civil War and 30's prints seem to dominate the market.  You know it's nice to fondle the fabric before buying.   There's modern shops an hour or more from Podunk.  But the fabric selections don't appeal to me.      Later in the week, when it arrives, I'll share my online fabric splurge.  So much for my quilt fabric diet.  Every diet is allowed a cheat, right?  Is that called justifying a weakness?  

~ Lea Anne ~

Today's Freebie From Joscouuntryjunction

Click here for pattern

DWM, Time flies

My goodness, it's Monday already.  It's hard to believe a week has passed by with so little quilty work done.  The tomatoes are ripening in the garden faster than they can be preserved.  So that's taking up all the quilting time.  And then there was the bright idea to make homemade pizza sauce instead of the usual easy canned tomatoes.  After about 10 hours of simmering tomatoes and herbs, 2 quarts of sauce!   Pardon me for being a little cynical but the bragging rights aren't worth the effort.  Oh my almost vegetarian son and his vegetarian girlfriend were impressed  Saturday night when I made homemade vegetarian pizza with cauliflower crust.  Of course I sent them home with a grocery bag full of fresh tomatoes( Less for me to preserve) and gave them a jar of sauce.   

Well here's what been accomplished in the studio this week.  Not much!  These Periwinkle/Hummingbird blocks finally put on the design wall.  Maybe by next Monday they'll be a completed top.

182 blocks = 65 x 70 quilt.  Sometimes I wonder what was I thinking! 

The Scrappy Baskets quilt is almost done. (block tutorial here) 4 more blocks to quilt, I'm hoping for a Friday finish.  Do you think Red gingham binding would be too much?  Can you have to much gingham?  Not in my world!   While  quilting this I thought about how this basket block would look so cute with strawberries instead of flowers...a little hand embroidery for the strawberry vines....I may need to make a wall hanging from this pattern.  

Linking up with Judy@patchworktimes for design wall Monday.  

~ Lea Anne ~

Today's Freebie from Scapbook Etc.

Click here for pattern

Little Bitty Plan

Here it is a Happy Monday morning again!  Hope everyone had a great weekend and lovely weather.   Here in Podunk it's been picture perfect all summer.  Inspiring me to keep working with happy spring fabrics.  The little bitty 4 patches below are going to finish at 1 inch!

 Now there just needs to be a little bitty plan on what to make with them.  I'm playing around with a couple of different ideas.  Wondering if maybe some cherry or strawberry applique might be needed.  I'd like for it to finish big enough for a table topper or small baby quilt.  In order to do that I'll need to get creative.  

While we're on the subject of being creative hop on over to

 Judy's @ Patchworktimes for DWM and Connie's FreeMotionbytheRiver for Linky Tuesday

 for a whole lot of creativity! 

Well there's tomatoes and pickles waiting to be canned, so I better turn on the radio and get busy!

I've been humming this song while piecing these little bitty pieces, so I thought I'd share it with you.   Enjoy!

 "Little Bitty"  by Alan Jackson.  

~ Lea Anne ~

Free mini quilt pattern from Piece by Number

Click here for pattern