Wonky Stars

I haven't shared my Saturday Sampler blocks for a while.  There are three more months left and this is what I have so far.  Can't wait to see the setting for this Christmas quilt.  There have been several techniques used including this month's Buggy Barn inspired wonky stars.  There are four 4 1/2 inch star blocks and four 3 1/2 inch star blocks.  I love this method. 

A couple of years ago I made this Buggy Barn Quilt, "It Takes a Village."  It was a delight to see which new dress and apron would appear.  It was pretty fun to watch each star appear, too.  To read more about this quilt go  here.

Autumn is now right outside the window

A little over a week ago, we were having daily thunder storms outside my kitchen window.

Today it looks like this, blue skies, beautiful color, and the temperature is 72 degrees.  Yes, today is pretty much my perfect kind of day.

A few days back. . .

and today.  Can you hear my heart singing?  I love this great big window looking east towards the mountains.

Last night I watched a beautiful moon rise over those mountains from my window.  We bought this place over a decade ago mostly because of the mountain views through the east facing windows.

This is what I made with what looks like my last big batch of cherry tomatoes.  It was delish and so easy.  Mix your favorite basil pesto with some cream cheese, spread it on crisped baguette rounds, sprinkle with a bit of grated Parmesan cheese, put under broiler for just a bit, then add one sliced in half cherry tomato and a sprinkle of fresh basil.  A taste tester called this bruschetta on steroids!

I have been making a special occasion dress for my grand daughter.  I am using satin.  Enough said. Finally, I couldn't take it anymore and sewed together my Saturday Sampler blocks.  Peppermints anyone?  I think I am going to love this Christmas quilt.  I took a picture of them with oranges.  Oranges and Christmas just go together.  Hubby picked these up from Costco and they came from Chile.  So there you have it, eating local as in off the balcony garden and not eating local like from orange trees a continent away.  We live in a pretty amazing world.

What I've been sewing

I've completed Set 8 of the Modern Farmer's Wife Revival Craftsy class by Karen Walker.  There were eleven blocks in this set.  I now have 81 blocks completed.  I bought some additional fabric to go with the Chloe's Picket Fence line from Moda that I purchased years ago.  I felt like I needed some more neutral and smaller prints so bought some cream with dots, pink with small dots, and added the small green gingham print that I had in my stash.  I haven't got a clue as to what I will use for sashing.  There are 31 blocks to go.

I love working on a seasonal project during the season.  I am making an autumn project to hang in the fireplace opening.  This is a free pattern, Penny Village, from Corn Wagon Quilts which I received during a Quilt Shop Hop over a year ago.

I have been working on the four side borders.  I traced the above pattern on freezer paper, cut out the shapes, and lightly ironed freezer paper pattern to the wool pieces, then cut the pieces out.  The freezer pieces were good for several pressings so I cut all the wool pieces for each panel out and put the pieces in four zip loc bags.

One panel also has most of the embroidery work finished.  I have started the second panel. The fabric in the background will be a border as well as the binding.

Those are the fabrics I will use for a patchwork middle.  I love this project and was lucky enough to hit the wool scrap basket on a good day at the quilt shop.

I finished the applique poinsettia for Saturday Sampler 2014/2015.  This will be a lovely Christmas quilt.  So there you have it, three very diverse but fun projects.

All 60 leaves appliqued

I now have a finished Saturday Sampler 2014/15 top.  The last of 60 leaves was appliqued on the vine border last night.  All of the applique is done with the back basted method.

One reason I enjoyed participating is that each month I would get a packet of fabric pieces to use for that month's assignment.

In this quilt there are a large number of different white on white fabrics as well as all the different greens, reds, oranges, blues, and aqua blues.  How many fat eights or fat quarters would I have had to purchase to get the variety shown in this quilt?  It's a bit wrinkly from all that leaf stitching.

 

Now my forever dilemma.  Can I do this top justice by quilting it on my machine or do I need to take it to a long arm quilter?

I've started the new Saturday Sampler for 2014/15.  It will be a Christmas quilt so my next applique project will be a back basted poinsettia.

End of July projects

In June I picked up my final Saturday Sampler kit and finishing kit for last year's Saturday Sampler sponsored by American Quilting in Orem, Utah.  I came home and put it away stating that I would work on it after all the company and trips.  Well, that time finally came and I have had so much fun sewing all the parts together .

But before I could start sewing all the blocks together I had to do the applique on the big house block.

Pretty cute!

Now all the corner blocks and borders are on.

I am in the process of appliqueing a vine with leaves and the flower centers in that middle white border around the whole quilt.  It will take some time.

This year's Saturday Sampler began on July 12th.  It will be a Christmas quilt and these are the simple beginnings.  I'm sure they went easy on us so we can finish last year's quilt.

I also finished Set 6 of my Modern Farmer's Wife Revival Quilt sew along with patterns provided by Karen Walker on Craftsy.  Set 7 has been downloaded and I've pulled the fabric.  Those blocks will be an August project.  Hubby's on a business trip so I'm cleaning including carpets the rest of the week.