Snowflakes and Peppermint

Happy Monday morning sweet friends!  Is everyone ready for Christmas?  Or are you like me pushing things out till the last minute?   Things are looking pretty festive in Podunk.  Luckily I've a couple extra days to get things ready before everyone arrives on Saturday.   We've decided to keep the holiday simple and easy for everyone by postponing it and serving pizza instead of the traditional Christmas meal.  The only cooking planned for the week ahead is a few cookies.  The sweet little quilt below is inspiring me to make some chocolate peppermint cookies....YUM!  

Now to come up with a name for my latest creation.  What about 

Peppermint Posies?

The quilt below was loaded to the frame with no border quilting plans.   It didn't take long for inspiration to strike...TADA...lots of ruler work and a little free motion on the snowflakes.   See you in a few days with a finish!   I can  do this...I know I can!  Wish me luck!

~  Lea Anne ~

Quickly Quilting the handwork

It's been a test of patience all week long in Podunk.  I won't get into the personal issues except for I came home after a long day of baby sitting momma to a flooded laundry room....the water heater dumping most of its contents on the floor.   Well that same little Gremlin made his way into the studio yesterday morning and decided to stay for the entire day.  He twirled his sticky little fingers around my thread causing major tension issues on the last border of my Chocolate Covered Cherries quilt below.  I'll never understand how almost a entire quilt can be quilted with no issues and then BAM out thin air a major issue.  It took 3 hours to quilt a 12 inch section of the border.    I'm pretty sure that this Gremlin came from Barbara's Blog!   So be careful he's on the loose, I ran him out of the studio around 8 pm last night.  

The quilt below is the last of the Quickly Quilting Quilts.  The last two quilt tops had minimal quilting except for the borders.  This one will have a little bit more detail and custom work.  All the applique on this quilt is done by hand so I thought it needed a little more WOW.

 The fussy cut borders are giving me quilting design issues.  Since I went to all the trouble to fussy cut them I feel the quilting should also make them stand out.  At this point I'm open for suggestion!  It's going onto the frame with no border plan...just flying by the seat of my pants with hopes of inspiration.

~ Lea Anne ~

Let's play dressup

 Just popping in to share progress on the scraplique quilt.  The creative juices started flowing last night.   It just seemed so boring with all the blocks pretty much the same.  Time to dress this girl up a bit and put some SASS in that Sashing!  Nothing dresses things up quite like applique.   

Applique is the Stiletto heels of quilting.

I had a few basic ideas....  The original below would have tons of open space for custom quilting.

 But a girl always needs a few other backup plans.

 Blah blah blah .....BLAND

The candy striped fabric just might add the YUMMY to a otherwise boring quilt.

Before making my decision on the candy stripe I auditioned other options.

More scraplique was my first choice

then lace, which made it look too 70's for me

and some ribbon...it too was BORING to the eye.

Changing the border fabric also helped.  The floral fabric behind the graph paper(below) was the original idea.  The large polka dots I purchased last week at 44th Street Fabrics(in first picture above) added more visual interest.

Well it's back to work!  I might be able to have this small quilt finished in time for Christmas.

~ Lea Anne ~

Scraplique Play

Quilting on the frame is so boring.  I'll quilt for a few minutes and then I'm off doing something else.  And there's been so many great Christmas quilting projects on social media .....It's driving me nuts!  There's to many UFO's laying around to start anything new. So....

A little play time is just what was needed to get my mind off of starting a new project.  These petals were made a couple of years ago from scraps.  Since they're a UFO it's okay to play with them!  If you look closely you can see that they are tiny pieces of fabric that were sewn together until I had a piece big enough for the petal template.

 Somehow I even managed to find the quilt pattern I designed two years ago.  Must be my great organizing skills!  NOT!  It just the inability to throw away anything quilt related, with the hopes that someday I'll make all the patterns my scrappy brain can imagine.

Here's one of the quilts made from this fabric.  Another one of my designs that was drafted after seeing so many Christmas bulb quilts around the internet.  I also wanted to have an "ELF" feel to it.  Who doesn't love the Christmas movie "ELF"?  

The quilt below is the first quilt made from the "Joy" fabric bundle.  I've pulled it out to quilt it.  We'll see.....

  Potholders would make a quick finish for the two orphaned blocks made from some of the scraps.  

So what are you working on this weekend?  Anything Christmasy?

~ Lea Anne ~

Sugar and Spice

Just wanted to pop in today and share a the Sugar N Spice kit I purchased at the LQS.  So sweet.  What can I say....I'm a sucker for dresdens and bright colors.  

 How could anyone walk away from this, it was like a little puppy staring at me, giving me the eye as I browsed the shop.  Admitting that I picked it up and put it down several times before actually making my decision.  I was hoping someone would see me put it down and run to get it since it was the last kit.  No such luck.  Oh but luck was on my side.  Our shop gives a $25 discount after you buy a certain amount of yardage.  This kit put me over the top with some to spare and they gave me the $25 on this purchase!  It was meant to be.  

Storing this one away for someday.  

I found a couple of pictures of this quilt via pinterest.  However the links take me to a photo and not a website.  So once again I can't give credit to the owners of the quilts.  I can tell you that this picture was found at Red Geranium Cottage.  After searching this lovely blog the location of the picture is still a mystery.

It's also super cute in blue. (no location for pic)  

Finding a copy of the pattern for sale was almost as tricking as tracking down the source of the pictures above.  Finally finding the pattern  at Black Cat Creations for sale.  Who would have thought to look there!?  Never said I was bright gal.

  found here http://www.buzzinbumble.com/2014/06/i-love-lucy.html

~ Lea Anne ~

44th Street Fabric Sale!

Look what came in the mail!  44th Street Fabrics on Etsy is having a 50% off sale on fabric!  and 30% off patterns. You can read more about it at

44th Street Fabric Blog. 

 Look how nicely these are packaged.   I love that Beverly took the time to protect my lovelies.  Now let's rip these babies open!

 Oh so pretty!

 This Millie's Closet by Lori Holt panel is my favorite piece. 

Not only is Beverly having a fabric sale but she is also selling a few quilt tops.  And let me tell you she makes the most adorable bright and happy quilts.  Look at this cutie below!  You can read more about it HERE.   Will power overload!  It has all my favorite colors and the gingham border...sigh...silly budget.  

Hey Santa Claus...I've been really good this year! (most of the time)

~ Lea Anne ~

Quickly Quilting Part 2

One down and 2 more to go...maybe more.  Even though the quilting isn't coming along as quickly as planned, I'm still pretty pleased with the progress.  The binding is attached and ready to be hand sewn to the back.  I'm going to wait and do all the binding handwork in one huge hand stitching marathon.

Prepping for the next quilt top was a little more involved than the first one.  But necessary in order to make things a quick as possible.   Feathers are a really quick way to fill a border.  However I didn't want every quilt to have the same feathers.   So on this one I decided to make a curvier spline on the feathers.  A first for me.  Drafting them first on paper was a must.  This gives me practice on feather placement.  To keep things quick I chose a circle template that proportionally looked good to me.  Then whatever happens...happens.  Well what happened is the template will not evenly fit in the border.  So the feathers will start in the corners and end in the middle of the quilt sides instead of being one long continuous feather all the way around the quilt.

On the short border side the feathers end up at the center mark pointing in towards the center of the quilt. 

 ( Pardon the bad pictures, I'm quickly doing everything)

 And then on the long sides they will point out in the center.  It's not ideal but it's QUICK and I'm learning a new feather all at the same time.

 Now for a few quick markings in the blocks an this one should be loaded on the frame before noon.   

Linking up today with 

Design Wall Monday @ Patchworktimes

and

Anything goes Monday @ Stitch by Stitch

~ Lea Anne ~

Quickly Quilting

Finally!  I'm back in the studio quilting my little ole heart out.  I've pulled three quilt tops from the large pile in hopes of getting them quilted in record time.  They will be displayed in the newly painted living room.  I got a wild hair the day after Thanksgiving, painting, steam cleaning the floor...spring cleaning a few months late!  Look at the backing fabric...LOVE LOVE LOVE IT!  It's one of my afraid to cut it pieces.  The plan was to someday use it for a quilt border but plans change.  

Hope to see you all in a few days with at least one finish.   Momma's having surgery so that will slow things down a little.

~ Lea Anne ~ 

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 ~