Clam Shell Applique Block

I just finished basting my clam shells to make this applique block for Green Tea and Sweet Beans. I've been moving the pieces around but I think I may end up with this arrangement. I'm going to live with it for a few days just to make sure!

This is how I prepare my applique pieces. I iron freezer paper to the wrong side of the fabric. I trim around the freezer paper right before I baste. I make little notches in the seam allowance so they will lay flat. 

I've got to decide what background fabric to use. I only have 2 blocks left! I can't believe I'm almost done with the quilt top. Borders are a whole other story!

Arcadia Avenue Block 7

I finished machine quilting the seventh block of Arcadia Avenue. As you can see, I made a loop flower in the middle. 

I made loops in the white fabric area. I was going to leave it this way but decided it just wasn't enough.

Here's a close up of the white fabric after quilting. I felt the black fabric should also be quilted to even off the block. So, I changed thread and ended up with this!

I think the block looks balanced now that the black and white areas are both quilted. 

Hoping to start block 8 next. Only 4 blocks left!!

Flower Blocks

I finished up the Flower Blocks for Green Tea and Sweet Beans. I made them my own way and I think it worked out just fine. 

I appliqued my flower onto the background. The directions were to add pieces to the flower to square it up. I thought this method was so much easier! And more accurate too.

I didn't applique the stem. I sewed it between to pieces of the bottom fabric. I used freezer paper to make the correct shape to be sewn to the flower pieces. 

I just sewed the two pieces together and then trimmed to finished size. Done!!

I have 3 blocks left to make to finish the body of this quilt. The border is a whole other story. It's full of applique. This top won't be done for awhile but I'm really enjoying it and that's what counts!

Quilt Guild Mystery Quilt

I've been working on my quilt guild's Mystery Quilt since September. Unfortunately, when I bought the fabric I didn't know that I was supposed to buy fabric with a small pattern. I had a few Kaffe Fassett fabrics in my stash and I bought 2 more to make the quilt. I decided to use what I had bought anyways. We'll have to see how the quilt looks when finished!

I figured you can't really go wrong with any of Kaffe Fassett's fabrics. I just love the rich colors. This fabric does all the work!

I have other "clues" all cut but nothing as large as these blocks. I'm still not sure how this quilt is going to look when complete. It's a fun way to learn new techniques and make a quilt a little bit at a time!

Happy Valentine's Day!!

Hoping you all have a Happy Valentine's Day! I'm home today but have a quilt guild meeting tonight. My husband and I won't celebrate the holiday until next weekend. It's difficult for us to do much during the week. Work and jobs ruin everything!

I couldn't resist these vintage cards. Aren't they adorable?!

It's also my son's birthday! My baby is 25 years old! How can that be? Happy Birthday, Ben!!

Scrap Vortex Progress

This is a picture of my Scrap Vortex quilt pieces, so far! I've had 3 sessions working out of my scrap bag. It doesn't look too good right now but I'm hoping it will improve as I make more progress.

This is a picture of my scraps after 2 sessions of playing with my scrap bag. I still have a lot of scraps to wade through. I'm sure once I continue, many of these larger pieces will be cut down or sewn together with other pieces to make a block.

The directions for week one are to put together pieces of like sized scraps. I think I'll be stuck on that first week for a little while. I would love to get rid of that scrap bag!  It's also fun to see what your scraps will look like when they're all thrown in together! Fun process so far!

Arcadia Avenue Blocks

I finished machine quilting two more blocks in Arcadia Avenue.This was an easy block to quilt. Those nice straight seams were very easy to stitch in the ditch.

I quilted loops in the white areas. I echoed a little hexagon in the center area. 

This block took more time. I made wishbone loops in the white areas. 

I also quilted loops in the center as well as the triangles along the edges.

I'm halfway done quilting the blocks and have quilted all the black diamonds between the hexagons. Slowly but surely, this quilt is getting done!

Quilts for Kids

The quilting is complete! I just finished this up yesterday. I really love how this came out. I tried a few different techniques I had never attempted on the longarm. I feel so much more comfortable using this machine. It certainly has a learning curve but I'm finally on it!

I love the back! You can really see the quilting. This fabric is a very small white polka dot. Love this color!

This is just a close up of the front to see the quilting. I can't wait to quilt more on the longarm! So fun! I hope whoever receives this quilt from Quilts for Kids enjoys it as much as I did!