October Mission Accomplished

My October UFO finished:
This is the ThimbleCreek Mystery Sew Along from earlier this year. 

It measures 77" x 77".

Curly quilting, bias stripe binding and the perfect backing found on sale--whew! 

 

I am in recovery mode after getting home from the retreat--I think I slept nine hours last night. And there was some damage control to take care of this morning--sometimes leaving your spouse on his own can be a dangerous thing--haha! 
This afternoon I plan to sew Step Three of Pam Buda's Pocket Patchwork Sew Along: Tucker This is my Part Two (thanks to Janet @ Rogue Quilter, I caught my boo-boo before I did any sewing!).

I promised to pick a winner today for the Pam Buda pattern.
I used the random number generator HERE and it came up with Number Nine: Christine Barnsley! Christine has a wonderful blog Patchwork Allsorts and does lovely embroidery--check it out! And what she is doing with the Bunny Hill Snowmen is beyond adorable! 

Linking with A Lovely Year of Finishes HERE and
Binding Blitz HERE

Too Much??

Am I the only one afraid of running out of projects at retreat? 

Even though I have many projects packed (my Spools, Lozenges, a very old jelly roll project, my Devil's Claw blocks, and two more new jelly roll projects) I thought I should get a couple more things ready to take along....just in case.... 

Naturally Nautical has been on my bucket list for a while.
 It's always a good idea to make a test block so you are sure to pack the tools you will need for your project. I also cut the borders and binding (and labeled them!) so I don't use the fabrics for something else--it happens!

Fractured has been on the list for ages too.
 My version won't be as cool as the original since I don't have as many fun fabrics in my stash.
 It's all about using up the stash!!

I made test blocks of Block A and Block B.
I was a bit confused about the cutting instructions at first, but I think I have it figured out now. This will be a fun one to sew--I may have to leave it at the top of the pile--lol! 

Once I have my packing finished (I'm leaving in the morning) I will be able to relax and start assembling my Stars in the Garden--all the components are done--yipee!!

 Linking up with Slow Sunday Stitching HERE

Lucky Duck Giveaway

I was the very lucky recipient of a big box of patterns from Pam Buda.

 If you haven't seen the tour of her lovely home in the latest American Patchwork and Quilting magazine, you can see some of it HERE.

In the box were zillions dozens of Pam Buda patterns-including packets of Journey's One through Five Prairie Women's Sewing Circle  patterns! I don't think I need to worry about finding something to sew this winter. 
Okay, I wasn't really worried, but I have a lot more options--ha-ha! 

I know this will be my first project--the little blue houses from Journey Four--can't resist those!
Pam is also having a little Pocket Patchwork Sew Along called Tucker.
You can read about it HERE.
I've decided to sew along since the only thing I needed to cut were the 8 rectangles-- I can't resist using up some of the stash!

I had already purchased the Tokens of the Past pattern a while back, It features small quilts using her Marcus fabric line Gathering in Red (I had planned to make them blues from my stash--naturally! I'm a blue girl!). In a small attempt to "pay it forward", I will pass this lovely pattern on. Comment on this post--I'll choose a name late next week when I'm back from retreat and send it off to the next lucky duck! 

I finished up my Buttermilk Basin block for October last night, so I am anxiously awaiting what comes in November.

Another Fine Mess....

I almost began by saying that there wasn't much happening on Moose Bay--the truth is that there is way too much happening and I am feeling a bit overwhelmed!

Earlier this month, Craftsy had a brief opportunity to purchase an all access pass for the month of October. The pass allows me to download and watch as many classes as I want, but they will not be accessible after the 31st unless I buy them. Needless to say, I have been doing some binge watching. And a little sewing. These strip sets are for Edyta Sitar's Scrappy Quilting class--I only need to make 16 more of them--yeesh...

Friday I picked up this cute book "Little Gatherings"--chock full of adorable small quilts by Lisa Bongean of Primitive Gatherings. 

It's a small book and nicely bound to lay flat--love that!
It sounds like Colorz Quilt Shop is going to use this book for a club next year--should be lots of fun.

I am still plugging away on my Stars in the Garden--these are the last hexagons to be basted and sewn together, so I am very close to assembling everything to complete the little quilt.
I'll be working on these during the mysterious Indian Summers on PBS tonight-after the wartime drama Home Fires.
Linking with Slow Sunday Stitching HERE

Scrappy Spool Plan?

I've decided to sew my spools into sets of four to make 6.5" blocks.
I will be able to make 68 blocks using the spools I have already made.
Since these were a leaders and enders project, I was a little sloppy with my "flippy corners".
That means I'll have a lot of squaring up--ack!

I'm hoping to get them put together to a size appropriate for a QOV.
 I'm not sure if I will set the blocks in rows with a border..... 

or set them with sashing to add some width and length.
My box of spools will be going with me to a retreat later this month, so I have a long way to go before making that decision!

Linking with Scraptastic Tuesday HERE

Slowly but Surely!

Well, it's not even half way through the month and my October UFO is off the frame and ready to bind..amazing, right???
 I plan to work on getting the quilt bound later today, but I have a feeling it will also be coming with me to a sew-in on Monday. We are supposed to have an unusually warm day today, and I have lots of work to do in the gardens before winter, so outside I will be! 

I know I'm not the only one out there with unfinished Bonnie Hunter projects!
This is my box of spools that were a leader and ender project a couple years ago. I think this time of year, as it gets closer to Bonnie Hunter mystery time, it seems like a good idea to get at least one of those unfinished projects completed before starting something new. I'm going to do a little research and if I find a setting I like, the spools may be my "project to finish".

Happy Thanksgiving to all my Canadian friends!

Linking with Kathy's Quilts for Slow Sunday Stitching HERE
and WIP's Be Gone HERE

Still Here!

I thought I should do a quick post to prove I'm still around. I've been back from quilt camp for a few days, but have been busy with things like washing windows, getting my flu shot, etc., etc., etc.....

you know...those things that we hate to do, but they just have to be done!

The first things I wanted to get done at quilt camp were my ThimbleCreek mystery blocks.
These are clue 8.

And the clue 9 blocks.

After I finished the mystery blocks, I got my Hunter's Star blocks put together--these have been coming with me to a couple of retreats, so it was nice to finally get them sewn up into a top. 

Then I made my Temecula Summer Sampler blocks into a top--nice to have that finished too!
I also started sewing some blocks together that I have brought to more retreats than I can count. Maybe I will be able to finish them at a retreat I am going to later this month--that would be amazing! 

We also did our block swap--lots of fun blocks and all different!
Now to come up with an idea for them---hmmmmm....
I will need to ponder that for a while....

I thought I would use up my meager Edyta Sitar stash and make a few more blocks to mix in---keeping with the swap rules, of course: Laundry Basket batiks for the background and LB prints for the stars. Most of these fabrics were scraps left over from the basket quilt I made using Edyta's Snow Bird fabrics.

Hopefully next week I will remember to post some project photos from the other campers--they are wonderful!

October UFO goal.....

I really want to get my ThimbleCreek Mystery (sewn earlier this year) done before the current Halloween mystery is finished--wish me luck! 

It's already loaded on the machine--that's a step in the right direction!

It's a very busy quilt and my advisers agreed that an edge to edge quilting design would be just fine. I decided to use this pantograph called Flirtatious. I've used it before, and I noticed that the open areas in the quilting design on the previous quilt puffed out in a distracting fashion. So...I have drawn curls at various places on a vinyl overlay with a dry erase marker. Hopefully that will prevent the puffs--if I remember to stitch in the curls!

I found a little time to stitch in between packing--I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Quilt Camp and will be back late in the week. Have a great weekend!!

Linking with A Lovely Year of Finishes HERE