Design Wall Monday 11-24-2014

One more Cute Patootie on the design wall .  I've been running around like a chicken(turkey) with it's head cut off trying to get everything ready for sudden shift in plans for Thanksgiving.   I wasn't planning on 12 dinner guests, well really I wasn't planning on any.  It'll be the first time in 3 years that all my kids will be together!  Yeah!

My studio that's just off the tiny kitchen and dining room will become the buffet room.  So many things to do!  But before I go I wanted to share with our nontraditional plans.   As you all know my momma is waiting for a surgery and is in a lot of pain.  Wearing tight fitting clothing causes her more pain.  She really wants to see everyone so she decided she would come for a brief visit.  We offered come by to bring her dinner and visit, but she didn't like that idea, and she's the boss so.....since she can only wear sweat pants and Pajama pants, and that embarrasses her.  My son and I decided that we should have a 

Pajama Party Thanksgiving. 

Everyone is loving the idea!  No one will need to unbutton for a second plateful!  It wouldn't bother me one bit to make this a yearly tradition. 

Well I need to get busy rearranging my entire house. 

 Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!  

~ Lea Anne ~

Cuteness overload!

Another block done for the "Cutie Patootie's" Quilt.  The name is not set in stone, but for now it works.  The pattern for this quilt is called Nostalgic Christmas by Lynn Wilder.   The center panels are images found on Pinterest and then printed.  You can read more about my printing process here. 

The only problem I've had with printing the images is finding the cutie patooties in different colors.  I guess little girls don't look nice in purple and orange dresses.   So some of the center panels won't match the rest of the block.  Now that's scrappy, right?

Only 7 more blocks to go!  You can read more about my blocks here and here.  

~  Lea Anne ~

Design Wall Monday 11-17-04

After weeks, possibly months of this being on my design wall it had to come down.  The little dresden's still need to be stitched down...maybe.  

The new design wall is still in the playing stage.  Thank goodness for design walls because this isn't tickling my funny bone.  Maybe grouping like colors would be more appealing.  

~  Lea Anne ~

Sew Sweet Simplicity Block 1

Watch out quilty world I'm busting out of that tightly stitched quilty style!  That's right I'm stepping outside of the box with the Sew Sweet Simplicity BOM blocks.    For those of you that know me and my style, you know I almost always use white for the background fabric.  Well it's time to step out of that rut, join the solids movement and use up some of solids stash accumulated over the years. 

 I'M LOVING IT!  

Why hadn't I made this move before?  Oh I'm not saying the white love affair is over, it'll always be my go-to for the clean crisp traditional look, but I can't wait to make the rest of the blocks...SQUEEEEEAL!...Doing my white girls can't dance move, which isn't as pretty as my block.

So what's the BOM? 

 It's a freebie, of course, you know me... love the freebie's! 

Jacquelynne Steves has put together the sweetest little BOM that doesn't take a year.  That's was a winner in my book.  

And she's giving a few options for the quilt.  You can choose from embroidered centers....   

...appliqued 

...or nothing in the center of the block.  For now I'm going with the blank centers, leaving them open for custom quilting.  I could change my mind later...I'll see how it grabs me after seeing a few of the blocks together.  And if I decide to call it done after 4 blocks she's given the pattern for that also.  I'm telling you this gal has thought of everything!

There's still time to join in if you're interested, block two still hasn't been posted.  The only thing you need to do is hop over and sign up and she'll mail you the free patterns when they're ready.  It's that simple! 

 CLICK HERE FOR THE DETAILS ON HER BLOG.

I'm looking forward to seeing the creativity with this pattern from all the other quilters.  There's already a few quilters posting pictures on Pinterest, click here to see the sweetness!

~ Lea Anne ~

Nifty Nines

Maybe I should have titled this Naughty Nines.  There's (141) 4.5" nine patches in this quilt.   So much for a quickie quilt.  Oh well, the finished product will be worth the effort.   And that's the great thing about nine patches, they can be as simple or complicated as you want to make them.

The pattern I'll be making is pretty simple but the quantity complicates it.   When finished it's destined for my Shabby Blue spare bedroom.    A couple of the displayed quilts in that room are more complex, so I thought keeping this one simple would add a nice mix to things.  I was hoping for a WOW factor with applique, but (141) 4.5" nine patches is WOW enough for me.

In my looking for nine patch ideas I ran across a few nine patch quilts worth sharing.  The nine patch is super simple pattern that many beginners like to master before moving on to more complicated designs.   They're a great way to learn that very important 1/4 seam.  Just because it's simple doesn't mean the WOW factor is gone.  Here's the one(below) that tickle my fancy the most.

Normally I like to give credit where credit is due.  But the links to this quilt were bad.  If someone knows the owner of this stunning little nine patch quilt please let me know.  Love, love, love how that simple applique border makes this quilt shine, well....and the quilting!

EDITED POST

Ask and you shall receive!  I was contacted by a follower and she have me the details for this quilt.  The Designer is Connie Lancaster, and the name is Baby Nines.  After doing a quick Google search I couldn't find a blog or a copy of the pattern for sale.  

Below is the exact same quilt in all red, simply beautiful!  This quilt picture also had a bad link.

The scrappy quilt below was found at Quilt Story blog.  So comfy and cozy.  Can you see the two different size nine patches?  Let's hope Mr. Podunk isn't reading my blog today because I know he would love one of these for his very own.

The eye catcher below was found at the CactusNeedle Blog.   Love those bright nine patches surrounded with the black HST's.  

If you think all nine patch quilts are easy, take at look at this Blooming Nine Patch found over at Quilt Inspiration.  Surely this is easier than it looks.  From what I can tell it's just nine patches with alternating solid blocks set on point.  

While doing the nine patch search several free patterns and tutorials popped up so why not share a couple of those also!   

Here's nice tutorial found on Michelle's Romantic Tangle.  I've made the this snowball quilt pattern and whips together super fast and is great for a quick gift.

And a great stash busting nine patch tutorial found at Why Not Sew.  It's called Honey Bee.  And seeing how Mr. Podunk is a Beekeeper and I've a large stash of yellows, grays, and blacks in my stash..

 I see one of these in my future. 

Do you have a favorite nine patch pattern?  Care to share?!

~ Lea Anne ~

Moving right along

The simply sew mode has taken over.  I'm on to the next easy quilt top.  Grabbing the bundle of miscuts and started planning.  

These were leftover from a hair brained idea I had after helping a friend make this quilt a few years ago.

So let the planning begin!  Quick and easy is the first rule.  I could just sew the squares together with low volume prints, but I don't have enough low volume in my stash.  The last quickie was made with HST's so those are out.  How about a simple nine patch?!  The quickest and easiest way to get ideas is Google.  So here's what tickled my fancy.  Googling "Nine patch with applique" brought up this lovely from Loose Threads.   It's simple and those borders...gorgeous, but not quick.

The nine patch below is a free tutorial found over at Generations Quilt Patterns.  

I like this one, it's the pattern I'll use but re-sizing the pattern is necessary to make the best use of my fabric.  Now I need to find the WOW factor.  Of course for me that means a little applique or interesting border.  

Well I stumble upon this over at Q is for Quilter.  Love the border but it's too much work.  So let's Google holding hands quilt border and see what pops up.

How darling is this border!?  It too is just more work than I care to do at this point.  You can find it over at Creative Ribbons.

The one below looks more doable.  If I decide to use it the girls would be all blue and I'd leave off the scallop on the bottom, maybe use ric-rac for the arms? and buttons for the heads?  I found this picture on Pinterest and tried to go to the link provided with no luck.  So here's the link to the Pinterest Board where it was found.

Now that I've an idea, I can start cutting.  That doesn't mean I'll stick with the entire plan, but I know I'm doing the nine patches.  The quilting could always be the WOW, and you know sometimes simple is best.  Only time will tell how this one will turn out.

~  Lea Anne ~

It's "All wrapped up"

Introducing "All Wrapped Up" quilt top.

This quilt is way out of my normal colorway but I love it anyway.  Adding the the bows to each corner added just a little touch of wow without going over the top.  By appliqueing bias strips over the straight border seams the illusion of curved piecing also gives it a cute little kick.  

 Invisible machine applique with clear thread is the way to go for a quickie project.  It melts right in and can only be seen if you really look for it....so don't look!  The red and green automatically make one think its a Christmas quilt but I think it can pass for an everyday quilt too.

 I've had so much fun making this quickie I think there's some more miscuts that are screaming for stitches.  It's nice to be able to just sew with little thought or planning.

Since my quilts are usually inspired by others I like to share where I get my ideas.   The quilt below is by Jillily Studio and it was the main inspiration for my quilt.  At first I thought I would recreate this at a larger scale.  Oh boy look at all that applique, simplifying the quilt was a must.

The other inspiration was a quilt I designed a few years ago called 

"Spinning Through the Garden"  The blocks are the same but without the sashing.  I had planned to make a similar border on the new quilt and then it hit me again....way to much applique work.   So that's how the ribbon border was born.  Sometimes it's hard for me to turn off the "Create" button in my brain.  So the constant reminding that I was working on a quickie was necessary.

The rest of this post is non quilty related so if you don't want to read a bunch of whining now would be a good time to stop reading.  

Okay I let you in on a little secret about me.  I love to create quilts, and working out of the comfort zone.  But when I'm doing quickies it means something is wrong in my life and I just want to sew without thinking about sewing.  It frees up my brain for the life issuses. 

Well the issue is momma.  It all started over a month ago with lower abdominal pain and trip to the doctor.  Quite possibly the dumbest doctor I've ever met.  He first told mom he couldn't give her anything for the pain until he found out why she had pain(dumb) so he ordered a scan of her belly and blood work, it took a week to get back the results.  After he gets back the results he tells her she has high blood sugar, WHAT?!  We already know that.   Momma asks about the abdominal scan, and the nurse asks "What scan?"  and then says she'll look for them and call back with the doctors findings.  She never called back, so a week later momma calls the office again and the nurse still has no idea where the scan results have been placed and the doctor is on vacation for two weeks. Again she states she'll look into and call back.  She didn't.   So momma calls again only to get a recording telling her the office will be closed for the next two weeks.  No doctor on call?(dumb)  By this time momma feels like she's dying and goes to another hospital and with in 10 minutes they tell her she has a huge mass in her abdomen.  Of course momma automatically thinks the big "C" word and starts worrying.  But at least they give her something for the pain, send her to another doctor, and that doctor sends her for a biopsy.  We found out yesterday that it's NOT the big "C" and she needs to see another doctor for surgery later in the month.  

Now I know you all are thinking I was worried about my momma all this time but really I wasn't.  Worry never solves a thing.   My mind was on the dumb doctor!   And giving him a piece of my mind(since he has very little of his own).  And I've also been thinking about menu's.  You see if mom has surgery she can't cook and dad will starve if I don't cook.  He can't even make toast.  Seriously...he buttered the bread before putting it in the toaster.   This might be a good time to teach dad a thing or two.

~  Lea Anne ~

Corner Applique

After taking in all the wonderful ideas and thinking it over I decided to go simple on the corner applique.   My thinking is this quilt can be used year around in my neutral colored living room if I stay away from "Christmasy" applique.  I love being able to change the look of the living room just by changing the accent colors.  In just a matter of minutes I can change the pillows, throws and few whatnot's and the room has a new look.  

I was trying to get this top done by today because I knew that after today my schedule was very busy for awhile.

 I've had some things on my mind lately that I'll share at a later date.  But I wanted to show you what happens when my mind gets cluttered with non-quilty thoughts.  Several of these scorched spots now decorate my pressing table.  Of course I just removed and cleaned this cover last week.   It's made from my favorite fabric and has been washed several times due to scorching.  I found some great tips on how to get rid scorching on fabric.  You can read them here.

~  Lea Anne ~

One more thing, Did you know Lori Holt is having a quilt along on her Instagram?  Oh it's a cutie and free!  Of course you'll need her Quilty Fun book for some of the blocks, but not all of them.  She's stitched up some new blocks patterns for free ----> Hop on over here for the fun!

The orphan HST's quilt

The quicky quilt top from orphan blocks has taken on a life of it's own.   I finally managed to get the borders on yesterday.   My original plan was one white border and one green, quickly done and complete.  It just seemed so plain.  So I started thinking....that always gets me in trouble!

Now I need to decide what to do with the corners.  There's a half baked plan, but that means nothing around here.  

~ Lea Anne ~

Cleaning up after the storm

Good Monday morning quilty friends!  What a weekend, huh?  Here in central Indiana we had a small burst of winter on Halloween evening with a monster sized snow flurry.  The snowflakes where the size of on Oreo!  It only lasted about 10 minutes and did't accumulate, thank goodness, I'm not ready for all that nonsense.  That wasn't the only storm in Podunk.  Somehow a hurricane blew threw the studio leaving a huge mess of projects.  What can a gal do but start cleaning up the path of destruction.  While digging my way out of the debris I ran across some miscalculated HST's scraps.  Oh what the heck lets make a quick quilt top from them just to get them out of the way.  Here's a sneak peek of the block I made by sewing them together in pairs. 

I'll be back in a day or two to show the finished top.  

~ Lea Anne ~

Freebie alert! New for 2014

From Jacquelynne Steves@The Art of Home Blog