June Wrap-up!

My June OMG (One Monthly Goal) was to finish the ThimbleCreek Summer Sampler AKA Civil War Jubilation (the title on the finishing instructions). I had the top loaded on my HQ16 back in late May, but didn't get it quilted until last Friday. Procrastination is my middle name.
I used Kim Diehl fabrics for the blocks and pinwheels with Zen Chic backgrounds.  

I picked up the backing fabric on sale. Even though it's a wide back, it was a remnant, so I had to do a little creative addition to make it large enough for the quilt. 

Somewhere along the line, Joe decided to change the name of the quilt. I will continue to use Summer Sampler title since the quilt has pine trees, cabins, beach balls, and berry baskets--looks like summer to me (and I didn't use any Civil War repros fabrics).

Mousseau Bay is another project on my 2nd quarter list for 2017 Finish A Long.  

Our guild had an "Up North" challenge to go along with the theme of our show last week.
My entry has a lot of critters. I ran out of room for the squirrel, skunk and woodpecker that I had cut out. I used the official spelling of Moose Bay that is sometimes used on maps. It's all wool applique, so it went together very quickly. 

All of the fabrics came from my stash, including the scrap pieces of binding. 

I'm not totally in love with this project and kind of rushed to get it finished, so I slacked on the label and just inked directly onto the backing--my bad!

Linking with One Monthly Goal HERE
Check out more Finish A Long entries HERE

Quilt Show!

I have to do a little advertising today. 

If you are in the Minnesota Brainerd Lakes area Friday or Saturday, please stop in at the Pinetree Patchworker's Quilt Show!!!

You can find all the information HERE

Monday was Stitch Therapy Day.
This is my crazy mat with an "Up North" theme (also the theme of our quilt show this year BTW!). My next step is to add a lot of crazy stitching between the motifs. We had a full house and it was so fun to see everyone's mats--too bad I completely blanked on taking photos--doh! 

I had some time to chain piece the rest of my Pumpkin Peel arches. 

 Guide lines are drawn on the paper foundation just to make sure the scraps are sewn onto the paper following the curve. It's kind of improvisational, as you don't sew on the lines or have particular widths of fabrics (although my scraps were cut about the same width). I think mine turned out a little too uniform. These arches have already been trimmed up along the outside lines. 

Once the paper is removed, there are a few tick marks to line up the inner arch and outer arch. Once those are pinned.....

......it gets set upright on end and filled in with lots of pins. I was surprised at how easy these fit together by doing this! 

After sewing the two arches together, the seam is happy to be pressed toward the smaller arch. The outer edges are stay stitched. 

Sew two units together to make a Pumpkin Peel! 

I have to admit that the hardest part of this quilt is getting the placement of the peels onto the background. I'm still not sure I've got it right. Yes, I ended up using my original choice of backgrounds--the Jo Morton dots. This will work in my home decor which is mostly blue and white--go figure! Only three more peels to stitch down! 

 I hope you get a chance to visit the show. I'll be working admissions on Saturday morning--if you make it, be sure to say hi!!

Linking with Let's Bee Social HERE

It's a Scraptastic day....

Yesterday was Scraptastic Tuesday, but since I was in bed all day, today is my scrappy day.
This is the design wall today. 

This Pumpkin Peel unit is a new addition to the wall.
 I was offered a chance to take a class with Mary Elizabeth Kinch at the MN Quilter's show in Duluth on Saturday (thanks again, Susan!),  I used leftover scraps from the 365 Challenge quilt and chose a Jo Morton dot as my background. I need three more of these units for a table topper. 

Mary Elizabeth suggested using and unexpected background--maybe a cheddar? I could use red for a patriotic look, I suppose. The units are appliqued to the background, so until I get three more completed, I have plenty of time to ponder--lol!

My mystery hour glass units have been sewn together just to get them out of the way--I'm not sure what will happen with this next. 

Even though I had vowed that I would not participate in any sew along's this year--here I am sewing along. My excuse is that I had the book and the scraps!

FYI:
I asked Denise at Colorz to order a Magic Pressing Mat for me--I don't know why I waited so long to get one of these. The theory is that the thick felted wool holds the heat. It's a bit pricey, but I love it!

Back to the scrap pile!
Linking with Nicky and Scraptastic Tuesday HERE

June UFO

How is it possible that we are already into June? This will be a busy month, and even though I've know for weeks which quilt I wanted to finish in June, I'm not sure it's going to happen. 

At quilt camp last April, one of my high priorities was to get the alternate blocks for this ThimbleCreek mystery completed. 

Mission accomplished.
When I set all the blocks together on my design wall (above) I was overwhelmed by how busy it looked. It's kind of grown on me now that everything is sewn together. I chose a "calming" border that I think has helped also. Now, if I can get it quilted this month, I will be a Happy Camper!
This project is not only my June One Monthly Goal, but it's also on my 2017 Finish-A-Long list, so it will be double win if I get it done. 

Friday was Slow Sewing day at Colorz. 
I thought it would be fun to bring along my Stars in the Garden top (lower part of photo) to compare with Paula's (little star at the top of the photo above). Mine was done with half inch papers and Paula is using quarter inch papers.
 Isn't her little star the sweetest? And amazing!?!

My slow sewing has been getting my Texas Stars hand stitched together. I hand pieced the stars years ago while we were doing some remodeling and I didn't have a space for machine sewing. The hand piecing is going surprisingly fast. I started on Tuesday and already have four rows together. A little incentive may be that I can't open my sewing room windows for fear that the stars will be blown off the design wall. It took forever to arrange them so three different backgrounds would come together in the negative space hexagon shapes.
It's getting a little warm in here--back to my Slow Sewing--maybe on the porch!
Linking with Kathy's Quilts HERE and One Monthly Goal HERE