WIP Wednesday 7.30.2014

I'm making slow progress on the next panel quilt. Nancy at Wyoming Breezes also sent me this flag panel - a long time ago. It aged until I decided to use crumb blocks with it. I then had the *bright* idea to float the crumb blocks!

I have 8 out of 9 rows completed.  I may *frog* the first row/ panel and insert a sashing there.  Not sure, yet.  One thing though, I'm running out of background.

The question is: Do I buy more or use a different fabric in the border?  When I asked DD what she thought, I heard my own voice!



"It's a DESIGN OPPORTUNITY not a mistake!"

 KIDS! she actually listens to me...lol.

DS helped me to make a map so that the red/blue crumbs would be the correct orientation.

so far...so good.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it!  :)

Whoop! Whoop! 7.25.2014

Time to get your Whoop! Whoop! on...the glamour shots!

This is the front of the next Quilt of Valor. I was thinking of naming it: Liberty's Eagle but I'm not real sure. Funny, I never used to name the quilts I made until I started using the pre-printed labels for Quilts of Valor and there is a line for a name...and I feel that I need to fill in the blank. Crazy, eh?

It really is straight - I just hung it up crooked. At 60 x 80 it is out of my comfort zone for handling!


pattern inspiration: Turtle Twirl from Quiltmaker Magazine September/October 2008

Many thanks to my friend Nancy at Wyoming Breezes who sent me the panel - many moons ago!

quilting: Halcyon from Lorien Quilting











Today I am linking up with:

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

and

Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts

Thursday's Tell All

Since I missed WIP Wednesday, I thought that I would share what I have been working on.

Wednesday, I made more crumb blocks. This time blue and wouldn't you know - the blue scrap box lid still doesn't close!












This morning I washed the four quilts for Margaret's Hope Chest: here, here, here and here. Although I didn't participate in Amanda Jean's Scrap Basket Along, I still wanted to send quilts for the Children's Prison Ministry. This is very personal for me and a charity I always hope to be able to support! I have inked the labels and they are all packaged up. Tomorrow I will put them in the post to arrive in Michigan before the August 1 deadline!

Sorry...no picture of the brown box.  :)

I also worked on tacking back the binding for my next quilt. Glamour shots tomorrow with the Whoop! Whoop! for my week!  :)

Design Wall Monday

Well...the day didn't go as planned but the alternate was equally fulfilling!

I was able to dig into the red scrap box and made a few crumb blocks...also known as mile-a-minute blocks. Later in the week, I'll pull out the blue scrap box and make a few blues to go with the reds. Then I'll play around with this panel and the crumb blocks and see what happens.  :)

I'll be sure and listen to this quilt as it comes together.  :)

I received this panel from my friend Nancy at Wyoming Breezes many moons ago...

My Angel of Light Quilt...Hockey Style

For inspiration I used this quilt and this diagram for my partial hockey rink. I decided on a partial rink as the Angel Quilt is only 15 x 15.

I dug into my scraps for the red line, blue line, face off circles and goalie net.



That makes me HAPPY!  The ice is a white snowflake fabric - from the stash! I was going to make DD's coach a signature quilt but the decided against it.

The quilting was a little trickier.  DD suggested that I venture into the rink after her practice and look at the ice. I suppose the patterns in the ice are the results of the drills each day. So that there is *no right or wrong* skating pattern.

I used this tutorial for the color coordinating binding.

I also added a girl hockey player for the Angel to guide and watch over.

I was #9 on the July Goal Setting Linky Party.

Today I am linking up with

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict

and

Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts

and

Fiber of All Sorts: July Finish Linky Party

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I think I might have been the big winner at my table at the Oconomowoc Quilt Guild Strip Poker night!

Total take was  95 : 2.5 x 20 inch strips.  WooHoo! and a little bit of everything!

I already have an idea brewing...

Road Trip Wednesday

I spent Wednesday morning at the Waukesha County Fair judging 4H quilts with 4 other members of the Oconomowoc Quilt Guild. I am always amazed at the fine craftsmanship of the next generation of quilters!

We awarded the following ribbons to the 4H quilters:

Best Theme:

We liked that it's a complete set for a doll.

Best Use of Color:

Who doesn't LOVE Trip Around the World! I really liked the quilting on this. This 4H-er stitched 1/4 inch inside (!) each patch. That's quite a few starts and stops, friends...

Best Quilting:

This was long-armed but was done really nice.

Best Borders and Bindings:

We all liked the way the borders flowed and oh my, what wonderful corners and blind stitch of the border!

Judge's Choice:

This was really a WOW! Raggy edge appliqué, too.

Road Trip Tuesday

Today I went on a little road trip.  I travelled to Patched Works and Ben Franklin. I was searching for fabric to cut into 2.5 inch strips to play Strip Poker at guild on Thursday night.

Here are my fabrics that I came home with from the shops. The top fabrics are from Patched Works and the bottom fabrics are from Ben Franklin.

Here is the pile after washing and before pressing/cutting.

Here they are all rolled and ready for the betting on Thursday night!










I didn't have quite enough so I have a few more reds tumbling in the dryer. Once I press/cut them, they will be ready for rolling and adding to my *pot*!

Whoop! Whoop! 7.11.2014

Whew!

Finished the binding a little earlier today then we (DD and I) went school supply shopping! Her favorite time of the year!

I arrived home just before the rain started to snap a few glamour shots of today's finish.

The Wonky Stars quilt.

pattern source:

table runner unknown - was purchased as a guild fundraiser. 7 bucks! what a steal.

wonky stars - so many good tutorials out there. Just type in *wonky star quilt block tutorial in *google image search* and lots will show up.  Mine finish at 12 inches.

panto source:

wonky stars and stipple from Quilting Made Easy This is a stacked panto so I attempted to off set it.

backing:

Mary's off center 4 patch

Linking up today with:

Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict 

and

Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts

WIP Wednesday...7.9.2014

It's a flimsy!

I decided to sew the stars off set. Unfortunately, I made a sewing error, err - a design opportunity appeared! - so I moved the first and very wonky star to the top row. I added a spacer to the top/bottom of the stars so that I wouldn't have to match seams...a little sneaky of me, right?!

I had a limited amount of the flag fabric so I added a little bit to the top/ bottom.  The quilt measures approximately 54 x 71 before  quilting.  Too small for a Quilt of Valor but Margaret's Hope Chest is collecting quilts for their Prison Outreach Program. I read about the quilt drive on Amanda Jean's blog Crazy Mom Quilts, although I didn't sew along with Amanda Jean. I figured that rwb can be gender neutral!

Slow Progress...

...the stars are finally done! I made 4 on Friday and 4 on Saturday!

Now onto the top/bottom borders.  :)

pattern inspiration:  Wonky Stars at 12.5 inches unfinished

Wednesday WOW! 7.2.2014

I finished the binding the other day on my Novelty Trip Around the World. I was able to get outside before the stormy weather and take a few glamour shots.

Here is the front.

The backing is a piece of map fabric that I have been hoarding for a few years now.

:)

It just seem to *fit* with this quilt. I really, really like map fabric. I think I have another hunk of map fabric hidden away...

I quilted it with the Dazzle panto from Lorien Quilting.

The pattern inspiration is Candy Circle from Moda Bakeshop.






Really. Really. I used the layout to help figure the placement of the novelty squares. :)

No sewing or sewing related happening around Bell Creek Quilts. Our power went off Monday at approximately 6:00 pm and was restored Tuesday at approximately 9:00 pm. Yes, that's right - about 27 hours without power. This morning I woke up to the lift pump not working so DH called in the plumber to replace it.  The rest of the day was spent sorting through food that was okay and what needed to be trashed due to lack of refrigeration. I then went to the grocery store for the staples - milk, orange juice and the like.

Tomorrow should be a sewing day! I took the other blocks off the design wall so now there is the rwb wall hanging - looking ever so lonely.  :(

July Goal for A Lovely Year of Finishes

I am a late joiner for the Oconomowoc Quilt Guild Angel Challenge - so my July goal is to create an Angel Quilt.

The Angle was embroidered by Bev, a fellow member. I choose the Angel of Light. The finished quilt should measure 15 x 15 and can be any technique you wish.  The only other requirements are that the quilt be quilted, bound and have a hanging sleeve.

Here is the embroidered Angel, the Challenge Rules and a piece of blank newspaper print paper 15 x 15.  These quilts are for display only - no judging!





Let the creativeness begin!

Hop on over to Fiber of All Sorts  - July Goal Setting Party to see others' goals this month!

I'm #9 on the list this month.

ps. Bell Creek Quilts is without power so I am updating the blog as I sit in the lobby and wait for DD's ice time this morning.  :)