Red Bird and Berries

I have busy with many things, some of which were gifts so I haven't been able to share a lot.  We visited my parents in High Point, NC last weekend and I gave them their gift.

I saw this quilt on Pinterest several years ago and immediately was smitten.  Sometime after that I started following Karen Miller on IG.  She lives on Keuka Lake which caught my attention as I'm from Rochester, NY and had a good friend that had a cottage on Keuka Lake and used to go there in High School.  Anyway, it turn out she created this pattern for Moda Bake shop.  So here it is.  

I used McTavishing for the background and hand appliquéd the bird, stems and berries.  Such a fun project.  There's also a second project in the works, I'll share soon.

Here's the second one, love the gray stems!  

Hope everyone is trying to enjoy these last few days before Christmas morning.

Karen 

Fifth Step is Done

I have been working on my Midnight at the Oasis quilt in between other projects.  All of can say about this quilt is that it is wild and wonderful.  Maybe that's the way things are in Australia and Jen Kingwell has done a great job of portraying that feeling. 

I have finished all 44 blocks in the outside border.   Yay!!  There was a little trick to making these blocks that I didn't discover until about three quarters of the way thru.  But I'm not going back to fix them.  I figure no one may notice except me.

And I have started work on the 9 patch border. Jen does not do anything fast, so her method is to individually cut 276 bright 11/2" squares  and 276 gray squares - and that's exactly what I've done.

When these are done all that will be left is the appliqué border and then putting it together.  I'm not making any deadlines for myself, but I can feel the end is in sight (sort of).  I still am not wild about the stripe border but to date I can't find anything else.  I am still looking though.

Hope you've found some stitching time today,

Karen 

Pink and Brown Update

I just realized I never posted the final results of my Tumbler leader/ender project.  It ended up being the main thing and not a L/E project - he,he.

It almost completely fills my design wall and I love it.  AND, I didn't buy a single piece of fabric to make this.  It's all stash, that feels so good.  I also have backing and binding already, so this hopefully will be 100% free!!

After I finished that, I quilted something that has been a flimsy for about 5 years.  So sad.  It's a Christmas quilt that my sister put together. It's done in the "One of a Kind" technique. 

It's done now and has the binding on.  When she finishes that I'll get it back for a complete picture. This feels so good and it's only October!!

We've had the remnants of Patrica so it's been raining here for three days.  Hope you're warm and dry where ever you are.

Happy stitching. 

Karen

Pink and Brown - Still Growing

I know this is a L/E project which means you're supposed to work on this in between another project. But sometimes things just take over.  I think this is a quilt that's been waiting a long time to be born and now is the time.

I moved the pieces to the design wall when it became evident this project was moving full speed ahead. 

And I found some more "perfect " fabrics and how fun is it when they are dated??  I know the RP from Moda is also from the late 90's.  I also like what's happening with the green in with the pink and brown.

This is going to be one of those comfort quilts.  You know, the one where you snuggle down in a chair with a good book.  I know there are lots of quilts out there that are happy and loud, but I think there will always be a place for these calm and beautiful quilts too.  At least there will be in my house.😊

Happy stitching today,

Karen 

Pink and Brown is Like Potato Chips

You might wonder how these two are similar, well you can't stop at one - especially if pink and brown are one of your all-time favorite combinations.  I have started cutting tumblers for Bonnie Hunter's Leader Ender project for this year.  

I found a jelly roll that I bought at one of our quilt shows probably almost 10 years ago.  I figured I'd be safe to start cutting it up LOL!!  So while there was green, brown and neutral strips, I have decided to add pink and brownish reds.

I've been raiding my Civil War stash and can I just say these fabrics make me happy.

I'm not sure what it will end up looking like or how big it will be.  For now, I will just have fun sewing a dark to a light and building a stack of little tumblers.

It's been a while since I've done a L/E project. After the angst of my art quilt and my modern quilt, this feels like home.

Happy stitching.

Karen 

The Fourth Step - Still Working on It

I am down to 6 left.  That's good news as I need 52 to complete this border.  While I've gotten used to the little pieces (these blocks finish at 3"), it takes me more time to pick the fabric and cut the pieces than it does to construct the block.

I wanted to get this border done before I start work one the vine and flower border as I still haven't totally committed to the background fabrics.  I'm thinking at this point I will use several different fabrics and not stick to just one like Jen did.  As you can see, I've cut the black dot and will probably use that for the vine border.  I'm still debating in the stripe.

These really are turning out so cute.

They are kind of fussy, so extra trimming takes time too.  But this was one of my favorite elements of Jen's original quilt so I'm excited to almost be finished with this step.  I still haven't figured out how to embed a link, so be sure to go to Lining Up My Stitches blog and check the progress of the others on this quiltalong.

I'm off to work today, but hope you have time for some stitching today.

Karen 

From Student to Teacher

Last Saturday I had the privilege to spend the day with some of the members of the Covington County Quilters Guild up in Andalusia, AL.  We spent the day in a workshop learning the pickle dish block.

And I'm sad to say I do not have a single picture from our day to share!! (These are from my workshop a few months ago.)

My students got to choose between making either Organic Pink Pickles or Purple Pickles.  There was a lot of purple, cheddar, pink, brown, batiks and B&W going on.  They all finished at least one block and I hope I made some PP pickle dish fanatics. 

 Today I'm putting what I preached into practice.  This is actually a hand drawn pattern.  It seems to be adequate since I'm only doing one arc.

I'm making this arc for a current project.

This is my second try.  The one on top just completely disappeared into the background.  After finishing it and appliquing it to the background I could tell it was not working.  So I decided to use the actual background fabrics instead of the yellow. I think I'll be much happier.  It's a good thing these don't take long. 

And speaking of being the student, my project from Jane Sassaman's class is still living on my design wall.  Jane said the yellow didn't go, so I took it out and now I'm stuck here.  I'll be making a few more rays and putting them in the upper corner.  This may take me a while.

I will share some student work when I get pictures ☺️. 

Happy stitching today,

Karen 

The Third Step

Well after a slight detour, I am ready to start the orange peel row.  I should have known better and checked my measurements but I didn't. So with 68 out of 80 petals already prepped and pinned I realized the template was too big and didn't fit on the squares. Grrrrrrr!!  So I undid all the basting, re-pressed, trimmed and basted again.  

But now that they are all redone I'm ready to go.  I'm still trying to decide on the center (as you can tell) but I'm happy with the petals.

Here's a darker blue in the center. I just feel like it needs color and so far nothing is speaking to me.

Just for grins I did one in B&W.  Some of these are pretty low contrast but I think that's what the pattern is going for.  Now it's time for some appliqué 😍.

Happy stitching,

Karen 

So Much to Learn

Thanks for all the encouragement about taking Jane's class.  Let me just say she is amazing and I am a very newbie Art Quilter.  Pretty much the whole day I struggled and felt very out of it.  While I do like to work organically and let my quilts grow as they speak to me, making an art quilt is something else entirely.

This is my class project.  This is a work in progress. I can guarantee you that it will look different and hopefully better than this when its done.  I'm really counting on that as it looks sort of pitiful to me at this point. I didn't bring enough fabrics to play with these colors so it's definitely lacking something LOL!!

Jane's work is is inspiring.

Even the backs are beautiful.

She is a wonderful teacher and I had a great day.  A lot of my class projects never get done, but I promise to finish this one.  

Happy stitching.

Karen

Preparing for a Workshop

Next week I will be taking a workshop with Jane Sassaman!!  I'm really excited but I never know what to take.  I think it's the hardest part of taking a workshop. 

This is the one I'm taking called Suns and Moons.  I'm hoping to have fun, learn a lot and get better at circles.  

I found this piece of her dot fabric on vacation last summer at the quilt shop in Waynesville, NC.  The bundle of RK solids is part of what I won as grand prize winner for Organic Pink Pickles.  Obviously I haven't known what to do with it as it's still intact.  I think it's time to cut some up ☺️

The directions say to bring dots, batiks and solids.  This is about as much as I can gather.  I need a few more supplies to round up and then I think I'm ready. 

Hoping for a great time and getting to know Jane.  I'll let you know how it turns out. 

Happy Saturday stitching,

Karen 

The Second Step

Well it seems the second step is not any easier.  I can't even begin to describe how out of my comfort zone I feel. I keep telling myself this is a good thing. I seem to be struggling making choices with each step.  I haven't decided in a background fabric but I did buy 1/2 yard of the dot that Jen used.  I'm trying not to buy too much fabric.  So, ask me how that's going LOL!!

I do think the dark fabric helps set off the fabrics.  I'm not totally crazy about the stripe but I already had it.  Now I'm working on the petals so there won't be much progress for a while.n at least I'll enjoy the appliqué 😊.

Happy stitching,

Karen 

The First Step

I think the hardest part of quiltmaking is starting. Especially when the quilt is outside your comfort zone. 

I have decided to just jump in and start somewhere. These may not all work but with a super scrappy quilt like this one you have to have something to build on. 

Having fun,

Karen

Almost Ready to Start

After my crazy but wonderful summer, I am ready to start this!!  After meeting Jen Kingwell in June and seeing her quilts in person, I was smitten with Midnight at the Oasis.  Imagine my joy when I found a Quiltalong for Jen's quilts that is just starting.  Juliann over at "Lining Up My Stitches" is heading the QAL.  (I'm using Blogger and I can't figure out how to add a link.  Anybody know how to do that?). 

Jen is so delightful and I am excited to start this quilt.

I have not decided on my background fabric yet, but I'm gathering my other fabric.  I actually made some petals for one of the borders.

This quilt is going to be way outside my normal fabrics, but I'm excited to be stretching myself.

This is one of the pictures I took of Jen's quilt.  I can't wait!!

Happy stitching.

Karen 

My Mug Rug Gifts

It has been so long since I blogged I'm not sure where to start. Tonight we had a birthday party up in North Carolina for my parents 85th birthdays. They were born 6 days apart.  We cooked dinner for 45 people!!  That is quite outside my wheelhouse of abilities.  But we made it.  The color theme for the party was yellow and gray.  

I decided to make mug rugs for each guest to take home. 

They were all made different but from the same group of fabrics.

I used the same fabric on the back and alternated between gray and yellow bindings.

I wrote and dated the back on each of them.  I think they were a hit.  My sister and sister-in-law also made gifts to send home with each person.  It was a wonderful night. 

This is the picture I saved as a teaser on Instagram .  I hope every guest will enjoy this reminder of my wonderful parents and the fun night we had. 

Karen

Tumbler Flags almost Done

Just one more binding to finish and these little flags are done. These were so much fun, I'll definitely do this project again. 

 Have a great Saturday,

 Karen 

A Finished Flag

I have finished the first of several little flag quilts.  These really are so easy and so much fun to make.  I drafted my own tumbler template so you could make these any size you want. 

  

I hope you have some stitchy time today. 

Karen 

Student Work- a finished quilt

I got this picture the other day from Bonnie, one of the students in my class from Flying Needles Quilt Guild last February. This is a great interpretation of the pattern.  And she added a border to make it bed sized.  Great job Bonnie!

Have a happy stitching day.

Karen 

A New Mug Rug

 

Today my lunchtime project is finishing this mug rug for my favorite UCONN Husky. 

Hope you're having a good lunch. 

Karen