Rhododendron Trail Mystery Part 1

I decided to join Bonnie Hunter's mystery quilt this year. I've done it before but it's been a few years. This year she is inspired by a trail that she walks. The colors were pinks, garnets, yellows and neutrals as well as one fabric for aqua. The clue this week was to make 31 of 4 matching half square triangles using pinks and neutrals. This week didn't take me too long. I'm sure some weeks will be tougher. (Not looking forward to those!)

 

Since I'm only making 4 half square triangles, I opted to use the 2-at-a-time method. I cut out 3" squares of both the neutral and the pink. I drew a line diagonally across the back of the neutral and sewed 1/4" from the marked line.

After cutting on that line and a quick ironing, I used my Bloc-Loc ruler to cut it down to the proper size. This ruler is the best! The diagonal lip fits right over the seam line. It makes my cutting so much more accurate.

Part 1 is done! Part 2 will be released on Friday. I hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving!

Mustang Quilt

I just finished this quilt for my friend, Jean. The quilt measures approximately 42" X 60". She bought Mustang fabric for her grandson who loves the car! I used King Tut blue variegated thread and the pantograph is Hedge.

This pantograph was a little more difficult than I thought it would be. There are weird curves and it's not really symmetrical. I practiced it without the longarm being on. I just followed the pattern with the laser until I could see I was staying on track.

Here's a closeup of the quilting. I love the look of curves against straight lines of squares and rectangles. It makes for a nice contrast. I hope Jean and her grandson like it!

 

I Like Thursday #117

It's time for I Like Thursday once again! A bunch of us bloggers post positive and uplifting posts that are linked over at LeeAnna's blog, Not Afraid of Color. My mother had a birthday this past week so my cousin and I took her out to eat. We had a great meal and then we all sang "Happy Birthday" to her. She chose baklava as her dessert. I guess it still worked since the waitress put her candle in one of the pieces! She had a glass of wine and thought this was one of the best birthdays she'd ever had!

I tutored at the library this morning. I always look at this doll house and thought it would be fun to share with all of you. The detail is just amazing. I know I would have loved this as a little girl. To be honest, I think I love is just as much as an adult! There are rugs, pictures and mirrors hung with great care. It's a lovely piece for everyone to enjoy.

This is the latest quilt I've been quilting for my friend, Jean. The quilt pattern is called Hedge. It didn't look too difficult but when I started to practice it I decided it looked easier than it was. There are curves in weird positions. I practice the paper pantograph without the machine being engaged. I can tell how close I am to the actual pattern. It took a couple of days before that muscle memory got it. But I did get it and it's coming out great! She bought that Mustang fabric from Etsy for a grandson who's obsessed with that car. She always finds the best fabric!

This is the BOM for The Quilt Show for 2022. I think it's just beautiful. I would love to make it but there's so much applique! I do my applique by hand which is so time consuming. I'm not sure I'll be able to keep up. I'm hemming and hawing about whether I should join up. I have plenty of scraps so I would probably only need the background. I'm still not sure. For the record, I wasn't sure I could complete Color My World and it turned out great. We'll see!!

These are my likes for this week! It's almost 70 out so I'm going outside and getting some fresh air. Have a wonderful weekend!

 

Color My World is Done!!

I finished Color My World this past weekend. I was thrilled when I sewed the outer layer to that inner road. I'm not used to sewing in circles and was so afraid it wouldn't lay flat. But it did!! I pinned every 2 inches or so. I was nervous about puckers. I did rip out and sew a small section because I wasn't happy with how it came out. But, it's done and I added the borders as well.  It measures about 69.5" square. I really love this one!

This is how the outer circle looked before I sewed everything together. It looked pretty flat to me but I was quite nervous that it wouldn't be quite so flat when everything was sewn together. The directions were great and we had Barbara Black helping us every step of the way. This turned out to be such a great project as well as a great learning experience!

Thank you, Dawn!

I wanted to thank Dawn for a fun package! She sent me a Tula Pink fat quarter that is simply gorgeous! I also received a kitty notepad as well as a mug rug with a hot chocolate! Quilt friends are the best! Please go visit Dawn at Relaxing Robin. She's always got a bunch of great projects going on. She's simply amazing! Thanks again, Dawn!!

I Like Thursday #116

Welcome to I Like Thursday where a few of us bloggers write happy and uplifting posts. You can visit LeeAnna at Not Afraid of Color to read more of these fun posts. Today is Veteran's Day and I'd like to thank all of the veterans for all they do for us. My dad was in the Korean War. It was his pathway to citizenship and he willingly served. I know he kept in touch with his Army buddies but little by little, he didn't hear from anyone. The Korean War was such a long time ago. Anyways, thank you, veterans, past and present, for keeping us safe!

That hour time change is still something to get used to. This was the sunset this past Sunday. So pretty but way too early!

I have finally finished my booties! I started on baby socks. I just love this yarn. It's so soft. I still have to thread the ribbon in the booties.

I'm still working on the binding on this quilt. I thought it was funny that Molly thought it was just fine for her to sleep on. I guess a quilt doesn't have to be finished to be used!

That's it for this week! Have a great weekend!

 

Skyscrapers Color My World BOM

I finished my skyscrapers over the weekend. It's so nice to have my weekends off again so I can sew! The first skyscraper is Big Ben which was one of the November skyscrapers. One World is next which is also from November. 

This is the Eiffel Tower of course! This worked up so much faster than I expected. I finished it in a matter of hours during Saturday. The hard part was placing all that bias tapes in the right place. Once ironed, it had to be sewn down on either side of the tape. It makes for a rather thick block. 

The last skyscraper is Centrepoint Tower that is found in Australia. It reminds me of the Space Needle in Seattle, Washington. This was another quick block. There's minimal piecing and not a whole lot of bias tape. Quick and easy!

These are the two December blocks. I feel the hardest block was One World. It took forever to piece together and it was difficult to sew the sections together properly. I had to rip out and sew quite a few times until it was correct.

I have to sew the skyscrapers into a circle with the larger houses I've been making. That circle has to be attached to the smaller circle of houses. Ugh! I hope I don't have to rip out too much!! I'll let you know how it goes!

 

I Like Thursday #115

I'm so late writing this post. I took my mother to the doctor for her annual checkup this morning. It took forever! I had a few chores to finish up when I got home and I'm finally able to sit down. It's Thursday so this is my usual positive post. You can visit LeeAnna over at Not Afraid of Color to read more posts. Well, this past Sunday was Halloween. We had trick or treaters out from 5-7PM. We usually go through 10 bags of candy. This year, we only gave out 6 bags. We thought we'd get a ton of kids since everything was cancelled last year due to Covid. Now, that candy is calling my name and I'm trying not to eat it!!

I finished my booties from last week. I still have to give them to my friend for her granddaughter. They really came out so cute. I love that there's no seam to sew when finished. It's very similar to making socks. They're knit in the round. I love knitting on double pointed needles. Not sure why.

I just started this one Tuesday. They knit up pretty fast. These are for another friend!

I just finished this book this morning. I really enjoyed it although it was quite sad. The atrocities from WWII always surprise me even though I've been reading about them for years. 

That's my quick Thursday post for this week! Retirement is good and I'm so glad I can stay home now that the weather has become so cold. I certainly have more time to quilt!

 

Color My World Big Ben is Done!

 I just had to post the pictures of my Big Ben for the Color My World Block of the Month. I just finished it! It was quicker than I had expected. I used the freezer paper method that we've used throughout the project. It was just like making the previous houses, just bigger!

I didn't have any fabric with clocks on it. I found some fabric with these flowers that reminded me of a clock face. I also used freezer paper method for applique and sewed it on by hand. The directions were to fussy cut any fabric you like. I think this one did the trick! On to the next skyscraper!

Color My World BOM Big Ben

I can't believe it but it's November 1st! That means the remainder of the Color My World BOM have been released. There are 4 skyscrapers to make, one for each corner. Now that I'm home, I got to start right away! It doesn't look it, but this is the bottom of Big Ben. I used a marbled brown to add a little interest. I looked at pictures of Big Ben and it actually looked gold if the sun was shining. The sample looks like the background should be cranberry. I liked this brown better. Plus I didn't have much cranberry in my stash!!

I got to finish all the windows today. I have the clock and dome to make for the top. It actually went together much faster than I expected. There are just a few colors to work with for most of the skyscrapers so that part is faster. The skyscrapers are just so big compared to some of the previous houses. I'm hoping I finish it tomorrow! More pictures to follow!!