Finish or NOT Friday 3.31.2023

 I'll have to take the 'NOT' this week.

My week started out with a bang and I finished this QOV to a flimsy.

pattern: Quilting Assistant Mock Trip Around the World

I decided to start an April Showers/May Flowers quilt for my bed. I decided to use this wonderful panel I found online and combine it with two other patterns. I'm still puzzling it all together. I need to make more rain and then figure out the 'coping' backgrounds. I think I am definitely going to need my thinking cap...LOL

pattern: Cloud and rain adapted from April Showers from Villa Rosa Designs

                Tulips are from Missouri Star Quilt Company 'Totally Tulips'

Sharing with Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday

WIP Wednesday 3.29.2023

Once all the blocks were on the design wall, it was just a matter of adding the coping strips to the eagle panel then sewing it together. Of course, there was the auditioning of border fabrics. I 'knew' I wanted a red inner border but was unsure if I wanted the darker blue or medium blue as the outer birder.

 In the end, I went with the darker blue outer border.

pattern: Quilting Assistant Mock Trip Around the World

                I assigned the smallest square as 3.5 inch cut so the blocks is 

                    9.5 inches unfinished

I'm undecided right now 'what' will happen to this 'flimsy'. My FB Quilts of Valor Stars group is having a block and/ or 'flimsy' (unfinished top) drive. You are assigned points depending on 'what you donate' to be entered into a raffle for some really great quilty prizes in April. Or I could quilt it up, donate it locally and enter it into FB QOV Stars Panel Challenge in May/June. One person from the panel challenge will receive a Lisa Sutherland quilt kit. If you never visited Lisa's site, Quiltjubliee.com, she still has a free great patterns for QOV's. If you might be in need of some quilty inspiration!

Sharing with Susan at MidWeek Makers.

Design Wall Monday (on a Tuesday!) 3.28.2023

I was debating on my next project and decided on a QOV panel quilt. I've had the fabrics pulled for some time.

My pattern of choice is the Quilting Assistant's Mock Trip Around the World. I assigned the smallest square at 3 inches finished (so cut at 3.5 inches). This makes a block that is 9 inches finished (or 9.5 inches unfinished). A 6 x 8 set yields a quilt that is approximately 54 x 72. I'll add a few borders to bring it up closer to 60 x 80. I made all the parts for the blocks.

Here are the blocks waiting to go onto the design wall.

I could hardly wait to place the blocks on the wall!

pattern: Quilting Assistant Mock Trip Around the World

Now to figure out the coping border on the eagle panel and sew it together!

Sharing with Judy at Design Wall Monday.

SoScrappy Saturday 3.25.2023

Today is the fourth Saturday of March of the color green! One of my favorite colors!

Time for my braid and wouldn't you know?! I made a cutting error. I was trying to have all darks on one side and all light on the other. Well, I cut all the fabric the same even though I thought I had the template opposite. I was just going to chuck all the extra dark green in the scrap bin but it over-floweth! So I cut lights opposite of the darks and ta-da! Two braids, just like magic. LOL

pattern: Quilting Buddy and Missouri Star Quilt Company Binding Tool Tutorial

Sharing with SoScrappy Saturday

Finish or NOT Friday 3.24.2023

I've been saving my finishes for today's post!

First: 

I finished my brown/tan crumb square in a square. I really like the 'looks' of this one but with all the bias...well, let's just say I was trying to quilt down a few c cups. LOL

pattern: Square in a Square

panto: serpentine

Second:

My regatta quilt. The seagull fabric is so much calmer than the yellow sun!

pattern: sailboat row...but I've misplaced the pattern (ugh) and bricks for the sea

panto: popcorn in the 'sky' and serpentine in the 'sea'

Third (and last one for today!):

My green Splash.

pattern: Splash by AmandaJean Nyberg in Sunday Morning Quilts

panto: vertical serpentine

Sharing with Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday and

Sarah at Whoop! Whoop!

WIP Wednesday 3.22.2023

For my next project, I decided to make Splash from Sunday Morning Quilts by AmandaJean Nyberg and  Cheryl Arkison. Here is one place that you may purchase the book from, if desired. This is the original Splash found in their book.

Since my green scrap bin is overflowing, I decided that green would be where the aqua is located. I then went round and round on what color for the orange space. Should it be orange? yellow? purple? white? black? In the end, I chose to cut apart a little chunk of the yellow sky from my sailboat quilt. I blogged about the yellow brick sky here.

This is where I started my journey.

Amanda Jean's pattern calls for the making of larger segments and then columns.

I was trying to 'stick to the spring greens' but I realized that I just didn't have the 'right' scraps for this project. So as any scrapper would do, other greenish fabrics joined into the mix. I was struggling to make the third column as stated in the directions when I had the realization...'It's my quilt and I can make it a little different'. I then started using smaller pieces of the green and sewing the smaller bits to get bigger bits. Not exactly the look but close enough for me! LOL! It's measuring in the neighborhood of 48 x 65 (I think) before quilting. 

pattern. inspiration: Splash from Sunday Morning Quilts by Amanda Jean Nyberg 

                                        and Cheryl Arkison.

Sharing today with Susan at MidWeek Makers

Design Wall Monday 3.20.2023

I pulled my sailboat UFO out of the closet. I blogged about it here. Even after 18 months, there is still 'something' that I don't really like about it.

In September 2022, my guild was collecting baby quilts. I made a few with the extra sailboat blocks and blogged about it here. I liked this design soooo much better so I took off the yellow bricks and replaced it with seagull fabric. I like it much better now! 

pattern inspiration: found here.

Did you hear?! 

Sarah has opened up registration for the Hands2Help Quilt Drive 2023! I registered today and I'm thinking this sailboat quilt will go to one of the charities. Time will tell, though...

Sharing with Judy at Design Wall Monday.

SoScrappy Saturday 3.18.2023

Today is the third Saturday of March of the color green!

This month I made 4 Northwind blocks.

pattern: Northwind block

Sharing today with SoScrappy Saturday. 

Hop on over to SoScrappy Saturday to see all sorts of green scrappiness happening around blogland!

Finish or NOT Friday 3.17.2023

I have a finish!

The multicolored crumb blocks with alternating black/grey square in a square triangles. Hummm...that's another mouthful!

 pattern: square in a square.

                crumbs are 6.5 inch cut, outside (black/grey) are cut 6 inch square then

                    sliced once on the diagonal. I did sew a black on one side and a grey 

                     on the opposite side. Here's a picture that shows the black/grey 

                     placement.

panto: serpentine

I was also able to make a few labels for the QOV's that are hanging around. Now to get the labels sewn onto the quilts and delivered for presentation.

I received happy mail today. My name was drawn as a winner for the QOV National Sew Day with the FB Quilt of Valor Stars. Now to pick a pattern...double it and send it off.

Sharing today with Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday and

Sarah at Whoop! Whoop!

WIP Wednesday 3.15.2023

 It's been a slow stitch here at Bell Creek Quilts so far this week.

Why? you may ask...on Tuesday, our power was off for about 6 hours due to the install of a generator. As long as the generator continues to function properly...I'll have power for heat/ac and the refrigerator! We ordered it last October and had to wait 6 months for the install...

I did load my black/grey square in a square crumb quilt onto the frame.

I was also able to finish the brown/tan square in a square crumb quilt to a flimsy. This will be the next one to quilt once it's sister square in a square quilt comes off the frame.

Tomorrow, I visit the doctor. Seems silly to me that I need to have an office visit then have my blood drawn to make sure my medications are working properly. I will get my blood work communication via email at a later date. I guess I was just used to my old doctor that ordered the blood work prior to the office visit so we had 'something' to discuss. Oh well, new doctor, new procedures... end of rant.

Life goes on...

Sharing today with Susan at MidWeek Makers

Design Wall Monday 3.13.2023

I pulled another set of multi colored crumb blocks from the stack. This time I am sewing the blocks into square in a square. I decided to make two color ways.

First is the dark color way...in this case a dark brown from the stash.

 Next, I worked on the lighter color way. This time, it is a beige or tan fabric from the cupboard.

pattern: no formal pattern used. 

                Crumb blocks are cut to 6.5 inches square.

                I simply cut the background at 6 inch blocks, cut once on the diagonal 

                and matched centers. I did trim the blocks so that I had 1/4 inch (or close 

                to it!) by the points. This yielded blocks trimmed (cut) to 9 inches.

Sharing with Judy at Design Wall Monday

SoScrappy Saturday 3.11.2023

Today is the second Saturday of March of the color green.

Time for my house and hut. Here is the house, complete with a pincushion in the upstairs sewing studio window...LOL

 pattern: Debby Brown's Little Pink Houses

Here is my hut. Doesn't Snoopy 'know' he is NOT suppose to play soccer in the hut?!

pattern: read about my oops here, that I liked.  😍

Sharing with SoScrappy Saturday

Finish or NOT Friday 3.10.2023

I have a sweet finish today!

This is Quilt Show Attendee Signature Blocks #11! I only have a few stray signature blocks left, not enough for a full quilt. All I have left to do is label the last few to turn in. I may check with the local QOV coordinator to see if she has a few leftovers, too. Or I may take a few blank blocks and ask my guild members to sign some.

pattern: 7.5 inch cut signature blocks alternated with patriotic fabrics

panto: serpentine

I also worked on my current crumb project. Here is the inspiration, I found it on Pinterest here.

To offset the rows, I knew I wanted 1/2 blocks on the ends of alternating rows. I used full blocks in hopes of not cutting off the points.

Well, after I trimmed the extra block units, I did end up cutting a few points close.

I chose to add a little 2.5 inch cut border. I did this so that I would have space for my binding. I sew my bindings on with a 3/8 inch seam. That would surely cut off (or hide!) more points. LOL 

This is the orientation that I constructed this quilt.

I actually prefer this orientation. Unfortunately, a few of the motifs are upside down. <sigh>

It kind of reminds me of Charlie Brown's strip shirt...

Sharing with Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday and

Sarah at Whoop! Whoop!