Cube Pinnie

I finished making the blocks for my neighbor's quilt. Phew! They're ironed and trimmed and all set to be sewn into a quilt top. As a quick diversion, I decided to make this Cube Pinnie by May Chappell. She has a great tutorial on her blog which you can find here. It's quick (took about 30 minutes) and it's so darn cute! I cut three strips as you can see above. 

I ironed the wider strip in half and lined up raw edges to one of the other strips. I sewed all the way around. I lined up raw edges of the 3rd strip to raw edges of the MIDDLE of this piece. (Forgot to take a picture, oops!)

You end up with this weird looking thing. I may have over pinned but I thought that might help me out in the end. 

After some careful sewing, this is what I ended up with! 

I used fiber filling but crushed walnut shells was recommended. It would probably stand up better with the shells. It's fine for me. It's so cute and I just love that little pocket. It's a nice feeling to make something and finish it up so quickly. Nice change of pace for me!!

Arcadia Avenue Binding Done!

Arcadia Avenue is finally complete! I just finished sewing down the binding. I'm so happy to have this one all finished. 

It's hard to see the binding in that picture so I took a few closeups.

I really love this Kaffe Fassett fabric. I wanted a little punch of color to finish off this quilt. This fabric was perfect! Love the colors.

I'll be making a nice label for it. No quilt is done until that label is attached! I'll also be making a label for Patchwork Swoon. I thought it would be easier to make both labels at the same time. 

Log Cabin Progress

I finished making the 17 remaining blocks. I started to pair them up so I could sew 2 blocks together.

Here's my little pile of 2 blocks sewed together. There are 60 pairs, 120 single blocks. My neighbor had made 151 blocks. She purchased so much fabric that she could have easily made 2 quilts. I needed the 17 blocks so I could make the quilt with an even number of rows.

I'll end up with 42 of these blocks. I'll set them as 6 blocks by 7 blocks. It should be around 90" X 105". She wanted a large queen and I think that's what she's getting! I'll be talking to her after the quilt top is finished. I would love to stipple this quilt. I think it's the fastest way and I don't think she will want to pay for custom work. She has the backing and binding all ready in the totes she gave me. There's so  much extra fabric in those totes! I'd feel bad if I didn't use up as much as I can.

Over the weekend, we went to The Walker Stalker Convention in Boston. My kids love this show and I love it too! It's one of the few things we do as a family. Here's a picture of me with my daughter and son. We had a great time. They paid for meet and greets but I just admire from a distance! The actors are very friendly and fun to meet.

One last family photo! My mother found this and sent it to me today. That's my dad with his sister. We think it's from the late 1920's. It's a wonderful photo although a bit sad. 

World Quilt New England 2017

A friend and I went to the World Quilt New England run by Mancuso Show Management. It was held in Manchester, NH which isn't too far from where we live. There were so many quilts there! Unbelievable! I think we were overloaded on quilts which I never thought could really happen to us. This is an international quilt show that travels all over the world. There was so much to see! There were also about 50 vendors. Such fun!

I took a few pictures and will share what caught my eye! This quilt above is called Andesine. It measures 63" X 75". It was made by Andrea Stracke of Germany. 

Walking by this quilt, we thought it was a great quilt that was machine quilted. We were so wrong!

It's all hand quilted! It is also hand pieced. We couldn't believe it! I thought it was micro stippled by machine. I have no idea how she could have done this all by hand. So beautiful!

This quilt is Geisha, made by Jennifer A. Wheatley of Gilbertsville, PA. It measures 78" X 58". This quilt was striking! It reminded me of a painting.

There was trim and fur sewn onto the quilt to give it some 3-D effects.

The thread painting was excellent. It all worked together so well. 

This is Good Vibrations by Ansa Breytenback of New Zealand. It measures 78" X 81". I just love the colors and vibrancy of this quilt. It's actually inspired by the old Beach Boys song of the same name. This quilt is so colorful that it sparkles!

This is That Blooming Mosaic from South Africa. It's made by more than 40 women from Village Quilter's Guild. It measures 76" X 76". 

Each image in this quilt is made from tiny little tiles that are somewhat appliqued onto a background fabric. 

I don't think each tile is traditionally appliqued. I think it may be glued down or somehow put into place so it can be quilted and secured to the background. It's amazing 40 women could do this as a group project. Phenomenal!!

This last quilt is called Carousel. It's made by Yvonne Chapman from Australia. It measures 36" X 36". The quilt maker said that when she rode the carousel as a child, she always thought the horse she was riding on was the REAL horse! This quilt is a tribute to her childhood. 

That's all I the pictures I took. There were many challenges also. There were over 100 small wall  quilts inspired by The Lion King. There was a Hoffman Challenge using one of their butterfly fabrics. So much to see! If you get the chance, don't miss it!

My Neighbor's Quilt Project

I was sitting at home minding my own business when the phone rang. It was my next door neighbor. They're moving soon so I thought they wanted to say good bye. I was completely wrong. She told me she started a quilt in 2010 and had abandoned it.. Since they're packing up their house, she found the box with all her supplies. She asked if she could bring them over for me to "see". She came right over and showed me these blocks. They measure around 15 inches square. 

She had also made 103 of these log cabin squares. They measure around 8 inches square. Of course, she asked if I could finish this quilt for her. It was intended to be a queen sized quilt for her daughter. She wants it finished and any decision is up to me. She would also like me to quilt it for her. She had a small stroke and will not be sewing at all anymore. She just wants it finished. She also brought me lots of extra fabric. The backing and binding are all cut as well.

I didn't have the heart to say no to her. After she left, I calculated that the quilt needs 17 more blocks. She had a small box with blocks partially sewn. It took me a while to figure out what to cut. Here are the 17 blocks that I'm working on right now. I'm going to finish these up and then sew them into groups of 4. 

I was so thrilled that I only had 2 projects I was working on and looking forward to starting something new. Looks like I got another project that I wasn't planning on. This one is quite the challenge. Hope I can finish it nicely for her!

Vacation - Part 2

We visited Portsmouth, NH this past week. Such a great day! Walked all over downtown and ate a great lunch. Of course, I found a quilt shop! This is the Portsmouth Fabric Company. The shop is not very large but it is just packed with Kaffe Fassett, Tula Pink  and other beautiful fabrics. 

This is what I ended up buying. It's 8 fat quarters of Tilda Harvest by Art Gallery Fabrics. I just loved the colors. It's not my usual palette so I just had to have it! I would have stayed longer in this shop but my husband was waiting for me. There really wasn't a place for him to sit. I was happy with my purchase anyways!

There are many historical sites to visit in Portsmouth. This is the home of John Paul Jones. I wish we could have gone inside but it wasn't open the day we were visiting. I love the look of this house. 

This is the plaque on the house. I guess that makes it official!

We also went to the Salisbury Beach the next day. The waves were pretty wild. I thought the water was freezing! I loved sitting on the sand and reading. So relaxing. I used sunscreen but still managed to get a sunburn. We were planning on returning to the beach but our sunburns kept us from going back. 

We went shopping at the Merrimack Outlets yesterday. I got some great deals on a few shirts. Today, we stayed home and caught up on housework. I can't believe my week is almost over! Not looking forward to going back to work!

Vacation

I'm officially on vacation this week. We love doing day trips. We always seem to make our way up to Maine. The day was a little overcast but since it didn't rain, we had a nice time walking around Ogunquit, Maine. This is the view while eating our lunch. We ate at Jackie's Too on Perkins Cove. 

 I had a tasty lobster salad. It was so good! 

I also visited Knight's Quilt Shop. This is another of my annual traditions. My husband usually sits on the porch and waits for me. I try not to take too long but sometimes I can't help staying in there awhile!

I ended up buying a book and fat quarter pack. I'm such a sucker for books! I have way too many so I figured one more wouldn't hurt! I love the pink fabrics. I bought that with a project in mind. I think my first day of vacation was a success! Wonder where I'll go next!?

More Binding

Is it really August? I feel time really does fly! Trying to finish up a few projects before I start something new. (Isn't there always another project you're dying to start??) I bought this lovely Kaffe Fassett fabric for binding Arcadia Avenue.

I wanted the binding fabric to have a little color in it. The quilt is so colorful but the borders are very dark. I thought something bright, but still dark, would work. The fabric is called Blue Ombre Stripe. I sewed the binding strips together so the colors would repeat the same all around the quilt. Hope it works! I'll let you know!!