April UFO--done!

I was so ecstatic that I was able to finish quilting Word To Live By before I left for quilt camp. It's a huge quilt--well, bigger than what I usually have on my HQ16 frame.  

It finally dawned on me that our guild quilt show will be happening in about six weeks and two of the five quilts I have registered aren't finished--time to put the pedal to metal!

I have to confess that my quilting plan was insprired by Linda Hrcka of the Quilted Pineapple. Obviously, my quilting is much more simplistic as I don't have a tenth of Linda's skill set. 

I used a bamboo batting--50% bamboo fiber/50 % organic cotton that I had purchased at Joann's several years ago. It seems to have a nice drape to it, but as I was quilting, long silky fibers seemed to cling to the quilting thread and collect on the top. I probably won't use it again,--at least not on a quilt with a lot of black areas!  
I used all 50 wt. cotton Aurifil threads:
Black #2692, Dark Red #1103 and Tan # 2325

And this is the only time I will let anyone see the back of the quilt--backtracking is not my forte--yikes!
By the way, the original Words to Live By, designed by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings and quilted by Linda Hrcka just won second place in Paducah for longarm bed quilt--well deserved!
Linking with A Lovely Year of Finishes and WIP's on Wednesday 
and Needle and Thread Thursday

Coming Up for Air!

I have been furiously trying to finish quilting my Words to Live By top, which I had appointed as my UFO finish for the month of April. Since I will be gone most of next week, it's now or never!

I had to take a quick break though,  to make something for the treat table at quilt camp.
Deb W. brought some of this to a class I taught and Denise commented that it was hard to leave alone--like crack (not that she would know!), hence it has become known as Quilter's Crack! 
For someone who suffers from the occasional bout of diverticulitis, it's a good alternative to caramel popcorn--none of those pesky hulls!

This came in the mail today--another half yard bundle:
French General Bon Voyage.
That pre-order option at the Fat Quarter Shop has been very dangerous for me!
So much for my "no new fabric" rule I made for myself....

I think the fabrics will work very nicely with the Petite Prints I purchased from Craftsy a while back.

This came earlier---
I won it from Norma at Timeless Traditions--I love everything she designs!

Back to the quilting machine!!

Sunday Sewing

It's pretty gloomy today--perfect for some hand stitching!

Now that my wool hexagons are all stitched, I need to get back to Sophie's Garden. I will be able to put together the first three rows soon.
 The first meeting for my Stitch Therapy group is tomorrow and this is the project we will be working on. It's going to be so fun to see lots of different versions of Sophie's Garden!

 I will be stitching on block 12 tonight while watching Mr. Selfridge.
 I get so annoyed with Loxley--am I the only one that would like to give him a rap on the nose with his walking stick?

You're hard man to like,  Lord Loxley!

On a happier note:
Finally! My half yard cuts of Union Blues I pre-ordered months ago arrived yesterday--love them--definitely worth the wait!

linking with Slow Sunday Stitching HERE

Still A Mystery

I'm not sure where this week went!

 I've been super busy getting things ready for retreat: deciding what I will work on and doing some cutting in advance. 

My exchange four patches came in the mail last week. It's been so much fun going through them--so many fabrics that I wish I had more of! I already had a few ideas as to what I would make from them and I've spent a few evenings trimming them up as needed.
 This is one of my projects all cut and ready to pack up. 

I finished part 8 of the ThimbleCreek Mystery

Here are all the clues of the mystery so far--I have no idea where this could be going--do you??
A row quilt? A medallion?? Hmmmm....

And here is my very last wool hexagon --yay!!
I may not have time until I get back from retreat to put them up on my design wall and figure out how many side triangles I will need to cut, but I'm excited t get to it!!

Linking with Needle and Thread Thursday HERE

and Scraptastic Tuesday HERE
and WIPs Be Gone HERE

Mission Accomplished--not quite!

I thought I was going to celebrate a red letter day--my Stitching Society 180 wool hexagons were all finished! 

Hallelujah!!

The Bell

Pine Branch

 I don't think I've shown these yet--

Dresden Plate

Endless Chain

Winding Ways

 When I got to these last two pattern pages, I was feeling pretty lazy and was so ready to be finished with my hexagons.

The last two designs #179 and #180I just couldn't face doing all those tiny bike parts or musical notes--I am stitched out!

 So, being super lazy, I came up with two very simple designs of my own:

Stork Embroidery Scissor
I laid my scissor on the wool and traced it--one piece of wool.

Sad Iron
I just kind of eyeballed this from a Google image--that's why it looks weird!
But only 4 pieces--yay!!
180 designs DONE!!
Wrong.
I counted and recounted and could only come up with 179 wool hexagons---whaaaaat????

It took a while--a long while--for me to figure out where I went wrong.
 I had never duplicated the hexagon I used in this pillow--rats!
 So, you know what my Slow Sunday Stitching will be--the last hexagon!!!

Linking up with Kathy at Slow Sunday Stitching HERE and WIP's Be Gone HERE

Update

I thought I would do a quick update since I am going to gone all day Friday quilting with Sue Patten (and a trunk show in the evening).

 Saturday I have an all day gardening expo to attend. I have to admit I'm really feeling the Spring Fever now that the lake opened up !

Part 7 of the Thimble Creek Mystery

I gave up on the traditional piecing for my square in a square units.
 I'm half way through paper piecing them for my Devil's Claw quilt.
A painful decision, but totally necessary!

 And I'm a few more wool hexies closer to the end:

Holly and Swirl

Wreath

Christmas Tree

Mistletoe

Poinsettia

Have a great weekend!!

Procrastination

Nope--nothing new here....

But,I was so taken with the Devil's Claw quilt on the cover of my new Country Threads book, I had to do some fabric cutting!

I thought my stash of Kim Diehl fabrics would be perfect for Devil's Claw.
I am making mine a bit larger than the pattern in the book, so I needed 21 dark prints and 21 light prints. 

I was a little short on Kim Diehl lights, but it was easy (and super fast) to order a bundle of her Butter Churn Basics (all lights!) from the Fat Quarter Shop! 

I made a few test blocks. They are very labor intensive--lots of waste triangles!
I think I am "square in a square" challenged. but I love how the blocks are looking. I'm also a bit worried about setting the blocks together--there will be some challenging matching involved!I know it seems like I am avoiding quilting Words to Live By, and in a way I am. On Friday I will be taking a couple classes from Sue Patten. She will be in the US teaching very close to my home--so exciting! I'm hoping some of her magic will rub off onto me and I will be doing some fabulous quilting next week!

Linking with Sew Cute Tuesday HERE

and Linky Tuesday HERE

More Wool Hexies

I'm getting very close to the end now!

Ring of Stars

Sailboat

Bunting

Star & Stripes

Crossed Flags

Flag Heart

 I realized a couple weeks ago that I hadn't re-stitched the seven designs I used to make my mantle cloth--sigh.....

 I took a bit of time yesterday and prepped them.
I was SO close to the end!
These will keep me occupied for some Slow Sunday Stitching at least one week more!