Finish or NOT Friday 2.16.2023

 Hello, Friends!

I have a few finishes to share today!

First, in the spirit of Valentine's Day, my woven heart for the Melon Heads presentation next week.

pattern: Hug Me, found here.

panto: curly hearts

My second finish is Signature QOV Echo.

pattern: a simple alternating block of patriotic fabric with 2.5 inch (cut) inner

                    and 4.5 inch (cut) outer border

panto: Happy Times

My third finish is the Quilt Of Valor National Sew Day quilt. I chose a pattern that my friend Rhesa shared with me in November 2023. I was sewing virtually with my QOV FB Working Stars group and guess what? One of the sewing ladies, Lisa Sutherland said, 'Yes, indeed this is my pattern but it is NOT published nor does it have a name.' She had shared it at a QOV retreat. A retreat member shared it with his mom, who in turned shared with Rhesa, who in turn shared with me and I shared it back to Lisa! Such a small world, after all!!!

pattern: Lisa Sutherland author

panto: happy times

My fourth (almost) finish is that I finished piecing the quilt 'If my birthday was in <insert month>' series. This month I happen to be working on March's quilt. I saw this design 'somewhere' on the internet. It's not on my Pinterest nor is there a random screenshot. If you know who this pattern belongs to...please let me know in the comments!

Since I sew my bindings at 3/8 of an inch onto my quilts, I knew I wanted a border so I had a chance at saving a point or two. As I was auditioning tans, creams and golds, I place a plaid on the wall to think about binding. Yup, you guess it!

pattern: unknown...please help me find the author!

Sharing today with Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday

Design Wall Monday 2.12.2024

One more QOV Signature pieced and ready to quilt. This one needs a backing made then into the quilting queue it goes! This time I used a fun flower fill red wagon as the alternate print.

I also pulled fabric for my March themed quilt. I have shamrocks and 'kiss me-I'm Irish' fabric hanging around the sewing room...forever...that I am going to pair with some Irish looking dogs. The 'kiss me - I'm Irish' fabric is a cut off from a backing so it's a little narrow but about 96 inches long. We'll see how this pairing goes...

Sharing with Judy at Design Wall Monday.

SoScrappy Saturday 2.10.2024

Today is the second Saturday of February of the color red!

Time for my Hollow Nines block.

 Sharing with SoScrappy Saturday,

Finish or NOT Friday 2.9.2024

I didn't 'do' any quilting this week. My low key idea was to piece as many signature QOV's with backings as possible. I was going to take my Baby Brother in for servicing and while she was at the spa...I would quilt and quilt and quilt.

I did piece one more signature QOV and the back is made, this week.

I'm going to have to buy more backing! I'm all set for batting as Lynn...our state of Michigan leader...gave me batting back in November 2023 to quilt this series.

Sharing today with Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday and

Sarah at Whoop! Whoop!

WIP Wednesday 2.8.2024

Yes, today is actually Thursday and I am a day late. I spent quite a bit of time away from Bell Creek Quilts yesterday and tonight is my Casual Quilters meeting. I seem to be 'doing' a lot of 'people-ly' events in the last few days...LOL

In any event, I worked on my woven heart blocks. I decided to make it into a table topper or even a quilt for the NICU. At first I saw hearts and then I saw a flower through the window. I must be hoping for an early spring even though it has been a 'mild' winter by Michigan standards of my youth...

pattern: Hug Me, found here

I also started on the QOV Signature Quilts I volunteered to make in November 2023. Only three months since I made this commitment. Yikes...where does the time go?!

Sharing today with Susan at MidWeek Makers.

SAHRR (Stay at Home Round Robin) 2.6.2023

This week Emily at The Darling Dogwood announced the third round for the SAHRR (Stay at Home Round Robin) : Triangles! 

I decided on flying geese as my third round in the red/white I used in round 2 and dark blue. My medallion is measuring 40.5 inches square after this round.

Sharing today with Emily at The Darling Dogwood.

Design Wall Monday 2.5.2024

Somehow, I found myself on the program committee for the Howell Melon Patchers. I affectionately refer to the group as 'Melon Heads'. I think I got commandeered into joining as I have been showing lots of quilts from my closet according to the program theme. There is a committee chair that decides on the theme and then the rest of the committee makes quilts for a show and tell. February's theme is hearts. Now I have about 5 or 6 hearts quilts that I offered to bring but then I also said I would make a woven heart quilt. Here is my fabric draw along with the pattern I am going to use. It's a free one! Since this groups shares patterns and I do not want to violate copyright laws...I'll be searching for free patterns!

pattern: Hug Me, found here.

Sharing today with Judy at Design Wall Monday.

A few of the other 'Melon Heads' theme programs are applique, pineapple quilts (the block not the fruit!) and animals. You'll be seeing a few of these quilts pop up in the next few months.

Quilt of Valor Sew Day 2024

I had a full day of sewing on Saturday 2.3.2024 as I participated in the National Quilt of Valor Sew Day.

 I sewed virtually with my FB QOV Working Stars group and our block theme this year is Friendship Stars. So I prepped 12 the day before. Ready to sew...

I chose a pattern that my friend Rhesa had shared with me in November 2023.  

This is Rhesa's quilt for inspiration.

Before lunch, I had my 12 Friendship Stars made.

After lunch, I dug into my extra 2.5 inch strip bin to make the remainder of the rows.

Oh no! I should have read the pattern a little closer. It calls for 3.5 inch strips and NOT 2.5 inch strips! Time to pivot and adjust the pattern...a design opportunity!

After a little un-sewing, re-sewing and math. Here is my result. It measures about 64 x 80 before quilting.

pattern: Lisa Sutherland...she is searching for this pattern to share.

Note to self: You can use 3.5 inch or 2.5 inch strips just make sure every set is

                         equal to a star that you are replacing. For example:

                            4 x 3.5 inch strips = 12.5 inches or

                            6 x 2.5 inches = 12.5 inches

All in all, I feel I had a successful sewing day!

Sharing with Cynthia at Oh, Scrap!

SoScrappy Saturday 2.3.2024

Today is the first Saturday of February of the color red!

I found my 4.5 inch novelties and added a few 2.5 inch frames for Happy Blocks.

pattern: Mary's Happy Blocks

Sharing with SoScrappy Saturday.

Today is also Quilts Of Valor National Sew Day!

 I'll be joining the FB QOV Working Stars virtually through Zoom and regular check-in's on the FB page. This year's block for this online group is Friendship Stars, so I prepped 12 blocks yesterday. I make my hst's using the tube method.

I also cut the squares to complete the blocks. I'm going to be making the pattern on the left. My friend, Rhesa shared it with me in November 2023 and I've been wanting to try it. I believe Rhesa said it was an Andrew Lee design. You might know him as the Combat Quilter. Rhesa is friends with Andrew's Mom.

Finish or NOT Friday 2.2.2024

My finish for this week are the quilting and binding of the QOV's that were hanging around the sewing room.

This first quilt was given to me by Lynn...the Michigan co-ordinator for Quilts of Valor in November 2023! Yikes! It's been waiting a long time to be quilted. I have no information about this quilt. :(

pattern: none given but there are friendship stars and a pinwheel type star

panto: serpentine

The second QOV is my entry into the FB QOV Working Stars Lisa Sutherland challenge. I finished it on January 31st and the deadline was February 1st. Talk about cutting it close! LOL

pattern: Lisa Sutherland D9P set #5 from Quilt Jubliee

panto: serpentine

Sharing today with Alycia at Finish or NOT Friday and 

 Sarah at Whoop! Whoop!