Lighthouse Inspiration

Donna had asked about the Lighthouse pattern for my place mats.  Truth be told...there is no pattern.

I *knew* that I wanted to depict the Milwaukee Pierhead Lighthouse.  Photo credit here.  (oops~this is the Racine lighthouse but in the pictures it looks just like the Milwaukee lighthouse.)

I took this picture of the lighthouse in Manitowoc, Wisconsin this summer.  This gave me roughly the layout for my place mats.  I  *knew* that I wanted my place mats to finish at about 14 x 17 and I wanted the *sky* to be a bit bigger than the *water*  So I pieced the background using  8.5 x 17.5 in for the sky and 6.5 x 17.5 for the water.

For the shape of the lighthouse~I found this wood cut-out at either JoAnn's or Michael's for $1.00.  I fused two way fusible onto the back of red and black fabric and then traced the shaped onto the paper size of the fusible.  I wasn't too sure what to use as land so I remembered my brown plaid in the stash.  I fused a 3 in (by wof) then free cut the *pier*.

Here is my Milwaukee Pierhead Lighthouse before quilting.

WIP Wednesday

Monday and Tuesday, I worked on my L'il Twister tester.  Some of the FAB's (Cher, Linda, Norma and Pam) are meeting online for a sewing day and some of us~will be working on Twister projects.

I wanted to try out my ruler since I just picked it up last Friday. 

I followed the direction included with the L'il Twister ruler and made my patchwork.

I then cut it up and sewed the pinwheels together.

One complaint I read about was that there is waste with this method.  True but I am not too worried as I will put the snippets in the scrap boxes and they will return as parts of crumb blocks.

The finished L'il Twister quilt on the family room wall.  Be kind~I was having an off day quilting.  :(

This twister quilt was inspired by the September Color Palette challenge that is being hosted by JudyL at Patchwork Times and Vicki at Field Trips in Fiber.

Try It On Tuesday: Painting

I volunteered to help a friend paint for a Milwaukee Admirals Booster Club Crew Fundraiser.

My friend, Mara is a true artist!  I merely seemed to glob the paint on and with her steady hand~she fixed what I painted!  :)

Mara had primed the bowling pins and painted a few of the heads.

She showed me the trick of tracing the logo's onto the *jersey* then I painted the hats, eyes and nose.  Mara did the fine detailed work!

I also painted some of the lines on the *jersey* fronts and Mara worked her magic there also.

I did have the idea of painting the bottom of the pin black to represent the players' breezers.





Today I am going to link up with Jo at Jo's Country Junction for her Try it On Tuesday.

The First Lighthouse Place Mat

There was no sewing over the weekend as I was helping DD with her 8th grade diorama.  She was given the task to make a *teepee* and a scene depicting the lifestyle using *your structure*.  First she gathered twigs then about 5 hours later~we had the first smaller teepee.  It was a struggle but thank goodness for my stash of osnaburg cloth!  Her second teepee went together much faster.  We also made a couple trips across town to the Michael's.  I think the one salesgirl now *knows* us...

She was worried about the dead bison scene as being too violent for *school content* but I told her that killing animals was a way of life for the Indians and they needed the dead animals to survive.   oh, and hide it behind one of the teepees! Pretty cool red nail polish, right?!

So I am a little late today as I just sewed together one background and then fused the lighthouse parts. I'm liking this, too.  Now to have a little lunch and fuse the remaining lighthouses.  :)

Fall 2012 *To Sew* Wish List

Time for my Fall 2012 *To Sew* Wish List

Personal

1. my bed quilt
2. place mats:  August

3. DD's bed quilt

4. Lake Country Challenge due December 2012

5. assorted Christmas gifts

UFO's

1. blue ridge beauty

2. quilt #1
3. virginia bound
4. quilt #3
5. blue wicked easy
7. quilt #5

Donations

1. sew 3 more  Quilts of Valor to a flimsy

2. quilt the 6 of 12 I will have.

Stash Update September 23, 2012

Okay~I've lost track of the week number this year!  :)

fabric added this week:        0  yards
fabric used this year:  +194.5  yards

fabric used this week:        -2  yards
fabric used this year:     -216   yards

net fabric for the year:   -21.5 yards

What I accomplished this week:

finished my July place mats
completed a new Admirals' back pack
made 8 blocks to send to Margaret's Hope Chest

Goals for next week:

work on August place mats
work on my quilt

Happy Autumnal Solstice!

September 22, 2012 is the Autumnal Solstice.

image found here.

 

 

Time to review my Summer 2012 *To Sew* Wish List

Personal

1. bed quilt: A PLAN HAS BEEN DEVELOPED!
2. place mats: July: DONE!

                       August:  not done

UFO's

1. quilt expo kit 2011: DONE!
2. quilt #1: DONE!
3. blue ridge beauty: not done
4. quilt #3 : not done
5. virginia bound : not done
6. quilt #5 : not done
7. blue wicked easy : not done
8. quilt #7 :not done

Donations

1. quilt for Margaret's Hope Chest~need quilts for Prison Ministry July 2012

    Eight quilts sent to MHC!
2. start on 12 in 12 Quilts of Valor~just a little behind here. :)

    Three flimsies at the ready to quilt stage

 

 

 

Beef Barley Soup

Karen at Sew Many Ways is having a link up party for soup recipes.

Once the weather gets colder, out comes the crockpot for yummy soups to enjoy.  I don't know about you, but summertime isn't a time to enjoy soup but fall and winter are my soup time!

My son was talking about Beef Barley soup last year about this time and I found this recipe at Food.com.  I crock this overnight and in the morning my daughter takes a serving in her thermos for lunch that day.

The ingredients.  I make the beef stock out of the bullion cubes instead of buying a can.

Assembly of the soup in the crock.

Simmered for 10 hours but not stirred.

Stirred~yummy!

Stored.

Lunchtime!

Whoop!Whoop! Friday, September 21, 2012

I finished my July place mats.

I free motioned quilted stars and loops in the stars and more waves in the stripes.

pattern inspiration here.

Today I am going to link up with:

Sarah at Confefssions of a Fabric Addict.

WIP Wednesday

Late yesterday afternoon, I pieced together my July place mats~USA flags.  Either I am late for this season or way early for next season!

pattern inspiration here.

My New Backpack/Purse

I like to be hands free so about 2 years ago, I made my first backpack/purse.

This is my newest one~ready for the Milwaukee Admirals' Season Opener at home on October 19th!  Even though the NHL is in a lockout and will not play, the AHL will play!  The AHL-ers are on a different contract agreement.

DD thinks it looks too summery and perhaps, I should make another for the winter season! 

okay, sweetie! 

On the Design Wall~September 17, 2012

My donation blocks for Margaret's Hope Chest *Fun in the Middle*.

The deadline to mail these blocks is November 15, 2012 so~I have plenty of time to make more and mail them off!  :)  I was raiding my 6.5 inch novelty stash squares looking for centers that would be considered more girlie.  I think I have found a few more to use...

Stash Update Week #38

I finished up one quilt but I had a major stash enhancement!  Not only did DD and I go shopping for her new quilt but my web ordered arrived on Saturday.

fabric added this week:     +32 yards
fabric added this year:  +194.5 yards

fabric used this week:       -5 yards
fabric used this year:  -214.0 yards

net fabric for the year:  -19.5 yards (used)

What I accomplished this week:

finished donation quilt
pieced Snake Charmer to a flimsy

Goals for next week:

work on personal projects
work on donation project

Did you want to see the fabric acquisition?

of course!

For Better, For Worse...

12:15 pm Friday

...Snake Charmer is a flimsy.

The border material I was planning on using~didn't make the cut so I improvised with the snake body leftovers.  Okay, but...I wished I would have planned it better.  :) 

Next time, right?

Famous last words! : )

Snake Charmer pattern inspiration found here.

ps. gotta love the sunlight coming into the sewing room.  The colors are actually true-er in last night's post.

Thursday's Sewing

I decided to start on a smaller project today.  The fabrics I pulled were suppose to be for the August Color Palette Challenge~just a tad behind, right?

I sewed the blocks together today.

I wasn't sure that the lightest blocks in the middle played well with everyone else so I swapped it out for a darker brown.

Next I will need to decide which blocks I like better than work on sewing it into a flimsy.

Pattern inspiration:  Snake Charmer, found here.

At the day guild, we received our FQ Challenge fabric.  I think I see *January* place mats in my future.  :)

WIP Wednesday

My friend, Norma once told me that if there is a lot of excess fabric in a quilt top then try not to backtrack when quilting will help to minimize the puckers that might be sewn into the top.  Thanks, Norma for this tip!

So~I did free hand wavy lines.  I was aiming for 2 finger widths apart on the waves but I wasn't too successful.  Your eyes do not deceive you...this quilt will never lay flat and I hope it will never have to!  It should be a *drag around* for some wonderful child here in Wisconsin.  I was hoping to wash it before giving it to the Charity Quilt coordinator but I have a whole passel of my family laundry to do.  :(  

All in all, done is done and iiwii.  :)

ps...I just realized that I took the picture sideways!  oh no...my quilt holder is at school getting an edumacation!

The Donation Flimsy

Well, I finished the cornerstone border on this donation quilt. I searched for more of the focus fabric~to make my life easier but alas, after visiting two JAF's I wasn't able to find more.  :(

So I added an inner blue border and tried to be creative with the leftover fabric.

I have it loaded up and ready to quilt but I am a little scared as it doesn't lie flat.  Wish me luck!  thank you....

Stash Update

Well, it's been awhile since I did a stash update!  Last update was on July 29, 2012...  So I thought I would summarize the past 6 weeks...k?

Fabric added since July....I estimate at 26 yards.  sounds good? good.

What I have done with stash since July...

*Froggy Rails                                6.5    yards
*Barnyard                                      3.5    yards
*Olivia                                           6.0    yards
*Race Track                                   5.0   yards
  (back, inner border and binding)
*Country Lanes-Golfers                9.5   yards
*donated backs                              5.0   yards

total                                              36.5   yards


Here we go:

fabric added since last report:       +26.0   yards
fabric added this year:                +162.5   yards

fabric used since last report:        - 36.5   yards
fabric used this year:                  - 209.0  yards

net fabric for the year:               -  46.5   yards

Goals for next week:

*finish last donation quilt
*start on personal projects!

What To Do?

I inherited this donation quilt to finish.

Your eyes do not deceive you...it doesn't lay flat.  :( 

Any way I slice it...I think I need more of the focus fabric.

Quilt Expo 2012

I spent most of the day at Quilt Expo 2012.  Sorry :(   no pictures!

But I did manage to buy a few items.  Roxannes's Applique basting glue, 5 yard bundle from Bolines and a Cozy Quilt Strip Tube ruler.  Big Fun.  I walked a little over 2 miles at the Expo today...

I also stopped by the Hobby Lobby on my way home and picked up this sale panel.  DD likes Mator.  :)

Whoop! Whoop!

I finished the quilting and the binding on this donation quilt.  Not sure who pieced it...

The only finish I have as I have been busy quilting for the guild.

Linking up with:

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

WIP Wednesday

Over Labor Day weekend, DD and DH painted her room.

It is now lavender and green!  Needless to say, the blue and cream Cheese and Crackers quilt no longer matches.  :(  Mom?! can you make me another Cheese and Crackers in purples and green? and make it full/double so it fits my new bed?!  How can I say, "No" to a quilt request?  Armed with her paint chip, I have been looking for the green as the background.









So I have been searching the sewing room for the pattern. I obviously HAVE the pattern but where is it?!  Answer:   In the last place I look!  lol.

In the meantime, the pro bono quilts keep on multiplying.  At least they are on the smallish size.  :) 

The Ebb and Flow panto. 
One source here.

The Birthday Quilt

Our neighbor celebrated his 60th birthday yesterday.  They had a big party including a pig roast so I made him a quilt with golfers as his gift!  This is also the last quilt I needed to bind so the binding-polooza has come to an end...

Mike's golfing quilt.  The golfers are wearing knickers.  :)

The Happy Times panto. One source here.


pattern credit:  Country Lanes from Eleanor Burns' book:  Quilts Through the Seasons

Binding-polooza Continues!

This quilt is a collaboration of the Oconomowoc Quilt Guild.  April assembled the circle blocks then divide up the circle blocks and racetrack fabric. I think she had enough for 5 quilts!  I took one set to assemble and quilt.  I also did the binding on this one!

A change in venue for the *glamour shot*.  DH and DD are getting ready to paint her room this weekend so~most of her belongings are now located in the spare bedroom and *usual* hallway for the picture taking...

The Contempo panto can be found here.

Just a note to myself:  I was worried about possible fold over of the raggy edge circles of the blocks when sewing from the back of the longarm...one solution is to glue down with Roxanne's Applique glue.  I also washed the quilt to remove the glue....

Olivia

Another panel quilt and more binding-polooza!


This is the Olivia panel.

Again, the Bubbles panto but I made a mistake.  :(  

Didn't line up the panto correctly so there is some open areas.  I was going to try and free motion some swirls in but DD advised against it.  and I quote, " Aren't donations quilts for learning new things and sometimes mistakes are made?  Just learn from your mistakes."  Tell me? How did she get so wise and soothing at 13?!  My Bubbles found here.

pattern inspiration:  Sidellights by Mountain Peek Creations

EDIT:  on 9-11-12 this quilt was sent to Margaret's Hope Chest.  I am going to link up with Katie at Swim, Bike, Quilt for her 100 Quilts for Kids Quilt Drive.

Binding-polooza!

In August, I was sewing my way through the panels that I purchased.

Now, the binding begins of the panel quilts!

First up is the Barnyard panel.  None of my stash wanted to play nicely with this particular panel. One day I tossed it on a pile of fabric and guess what?!  this stripe that is now the border was on the top of the pile. Woohoo! it *sorta* plays nice but, true to form...not quite enough of the stripe.  Enter cornerstones.  :)

I am again practicing the Bubbles panto. I found mine here.


EDIT: on 9-11-12 this quilt was sent to Margaret's Hope Chest.  I am going to link up with Katie at Swim, Bike, Quilt for her 100 Quilts for Kids Quilt Drive.