More than my goal!

At the beginning of the month I set a goal for a Lovely Year of Finishes to cut and sew the blocks together for this quilt. Well, I am stoked, as my boys would say that I finished the whole quilt. Cutting, sewing, pin basting, quilting, and binding all done this month. The quilt measures 42" x 54".

 I did echo quilting in the center rectangles and a swirly quilt design around the inner rectangles. You can see the quilting on the back much better. I washed and dried the quilt this morning. I decided to take a picture on the snow.

 I got this echo quilting foot with my new sewing machine. It is a little tricky to use. I think I might use a dab of nail polish to put a dot on the inner circles that are used  for the echo quilting. Those lines are hard to see.

So this is the pattern I used. It is by Stephanie of Loft Creations. You can get the pattern on her Craftsy page, here.

I am linking up my finish on Melissa's blog for this month's Lovely Finish 

and I am also linking up to Elizabeth's blog, Such a Sew and Sew.

 Remember my post about the Twister quilts I finished this month? My friend, Judy, who lives in Illinois let me borrow the templates. Well, she has a loom and she weaves rugs. I finally got her some measurements for some rugs I would like to put in my house. She made me three and they all look like this. Isn't it great? Now I am going to see if she will make one for my sewing room.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Hexies

I have been working on some hexies from some tutorials that Karen H. has on her blog. They will make some interesting patterns when I get them put together. Check out her blog, Faeries and Fibres if you want to give them a try.

I used my Sewline fabric pen to glue the fabric around the paper. I had to put a replacement in it. See the white thing? It was the container the glue stick came in. It has a lid too. After I put the glue in the holder I thought how could I use the white thing instead of throwing it away. Well, I think it would make a great needle/pin holder. 

 Yesterday we got our first snow. It snowed the tiniest snowflakes I ever remember seeing. It reminded me of a rainy drizzle. We got about an inch where we live.

 It won't last long. Tomorrow the temps will be above freezing. I am enjoying the white stuff!

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Soupcon block

 Just finished the second step of my Soupcon block. Karen H. shared this pdf with these cool designs we could use for the second step. I couldn't just pick one so I used the two that I outlined in black. I used a Valdani variegated thread. I think using the two designs almost makes the block look like it could spin. Karen is sharing some different ways to make some really interesting hexagons. She has shared two designs so far which I am dying to make. Hopefully this week I can find some time.

While doing some machine sewing of binding I caught Mr. Cardinal on the feeder. Seeing him makes me smile.

Check out the door stop blog hop tomorrow. It might make you smile too.

  January 28th                                                                 
threads on my socks
 
How ART you?
 
Den syende himmel
 
Moosestash Quilting
 
life, quilts and a cat too


January 30th

Just Let Me Quilt
 
Quilted Delights
 
Meadowbrook
 
Hill Valley Quilter
 
Pampered Pettit
 
Life in the Scrapatch
 
Seams To Be Sew



With Passion,
Carrie P.

three and four finish

Talk about fun! I have been wanting to make one of these twister quilts for a long time. I have seen many around on blogs. Each one is so neat. Now the heart shape ones are being shown. One here and here. I want to make one of them and also a wreath shape. So when I visited my friend Judy this past October she let me borrow her two different templates. She doesn't have a blog but you can see some of her quilts here.

I had a bunch of  5 inch squares from an exchange I did last year, I think. Isn't it cute done in polka dots?

 I also had a charm pack of Rouenneries by French General that I used in this quilt.

 The polka dot quilt is done in a stipple design. I wanted to try something different so I did a search on the internet for some ideas on how to quilt Twister quilts. I found this idea from Piece N Quilt.

 I really liked doing these feathers much better than the stippling on the other little quilt.  I got these two quilting feet with my new machine. I used the top spring loaded one for the polka dot quilt. It seemed to bounce to much over the seams which messed up my quilting a little. The foot  below would not go over the seams but it worked beautifully for the feathers. If anyone has any tips on using these two different feet I would appreciate it. They are both different than what I am used to using with my old machine.

 Here is the front of top before you start cutting out the squares. It is so neat how something so simple can become something so complex looking when put together.

 Here is the back. I used all the leftover fabrics.

I am linking up these finishes to Elizabeth's blog, Such a Sew and Sew.

 I wanted to share this weeks memory verse from Jenny of Elefantz.

Starting tomorrow are two blog hops you might like to check out. I am part of the "Don't let the door stop you." My day is February 7.

 She Who Sews Blog Hop Schedule   January 27th  

Joy Studio

Marjorie's Busy Corner

Tea Time Creations

 Just Sew Quilter

I like to Quilt Blog

Shepody Mountain Crafter

Creatin' in the Sticks

Don't Let the DOOR STOP You
Blog Hop 
Schedule

January 28th
 
threads on my socks
 
How ART you?
 
Den syende himmel
 
Moosestash Quilting
 
life, quilts and a cat too


With Passion,

Carrie P.

Second Finish

My second finish is a simple finish. Our guild makes preemie quilts for our local hospital. The members have been challenged to make four this fiscal year. This is my first one. I found some die cut 5" flannel squares at our local Joanns with matching yardage. It will be a nice cuddly quilt for a little baby.
As you can see from the outside photo we did not get any snow. And in my excitement of anticipating snow I forgot to give credit to the "Snow Day" embroidery on the previous post. It is a design by Kathy Schmitz.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

One finish

First finish from that stack of binding in the previous post. Our weatherman has said we might get a dusting of snow tonight. We shall see. My son who lives in the DC area just sent photos of 2-3 inches of snow with more on the way for his area. I know a lot of you are tired of the white stuff but I am anxiously awaiting some this year.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Sewing Up a Storm

Since I am finally having lots of time to sew with my new Babylock sewing machine I have been sewing up a storm as you can see from the stack binding made. Stay tuned for some finishes!

My old machine had a quarter inch foot but my new machine has this one with a guide on it. I am finding that my quarter inch seams are so much more accurate.

Jenny of Elefantz is sharing a scripture the beginning of the week that is she memorizing. She gave permission to share them. I have decided to do the same this year--hide God's word in my heart. I have saved the photo on my computer desktop so it is the first thing I see each time I get on my computer. If you are a believer feel free to join us. It is a great way to start each day.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Modern Quilt Therapy

Another year of Modern Quilt Therapy has started at The Little General. We did a mug rug exchange in the group. Here is the mug rug I made. I cut out the tea pot from some fabric I had won last year and adhered it to the hot pink fabric. Then I machine quilted it with black thread.

 Here is the mug rug I received. Love those fabrics which I have some in my stash.

 So this year our facilitator, Karen Gray, choice this log cabin quilt for us to work on through the year. We are to make three blocks a month.

 The pattern is in this issue of Quilty magazine.

 I bought this yardage several years ago. It is called Sophie by Chez Moi. The pink is not such a hot pink color but I couldn't get the light right. I bought this fabric because it looks vintage to me.

 So this was my starting point to picking out the "logs" for my quilt. I don't know if I will actually use this fabric in the quilt. I might add a border but I am not sure but it helped me to figure out what colors I want to use for my quilt. Now to start cutting.

 During "therapy" there were door prizes given out and I won this bundle of fabrics given away by Lisa.

I just got the newest Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine in the mail yesterday. Missie, whose blog I love and read, has a pattern in the magazine. Congratulations Missie! Go by her blog to see her quilt and enter her giveaway!

 

With Passion,
Carrie P.

BOM

It has been  several years since I have joined the now $10 BOM at a one of our local quilt shops.. Used to be $5.  I decided to join one this year. We will be doing the blocks in Eleanor Burn's Quilts from El's Kitchen. There are eighteen blocks instead of the standard twelve.

 The first block is an apron. The shop had two fabric choices. I picked the fabric designed by Lily Ashbury called High Street. A friend gifted me with the orange rick rack which was the perfect size for the apron. I then added a bit of the tiny vintage rick rack to the pocket. I found it in an antique store several years ago.

The book has instructions for 12" and 6" blocks. I am doing mine in the 6" size even though we are getting enough fabric for the 12". I saw this book recently at my local Joann's just in case you might want to make the quilt.

With Passion,

Carrie P.

Sew Along

You know visiting blogs can get you into trouble. I visited Angie's the other day and she mentioned a mystery sew along. I went by Karen's blog to see what it was all about. Well I decided to join in. The first step was to make this EPP star. Karen showed on one of her posts how to look at fabric in a new way so that you can fussy cut the pieces. Her blog is new to me but I highly recommended checking it out. She has some great ideas on it for those that like to do English Paper Piecing. The finished quilt is going to be about 33" square which will include applique, embroidery, patchwork piecing and EPP.

 I decided to use this fabric to fussy cut my pieces. I have also decided to make this quilt a two color quilt. Blue and beige. I haven't ever made a two color quilt so this should be interesting. I haven't picked out the background fabric yet because I want to wait for the next step.

 Since we are still enduring very cold weather here in North Carolina I decided to make some leek and potato soup. One of my favorite soups to make in the winter time.

With Passion,
Carrie P.

Oven Mitts

My first block is done of the Sew Kitschy blocks designed by Kristy. The fabrics were fun to pick out. I mentioned in my last post that I have done very little paper piecing. It showed too. I cut some of the fabric that shouldn't have been cut. I also had one piece too small so I had to take that out and start over. This was the easiest block according to Kristy so hopefully by the time I get to the hardest one I will be a pro!

With Passion,
Carrie P.

New Stuff for the Year

I know many of you have thought about the quilts you would like to make this year. I know there are several quilts I want to make. Ever since Stephanie came out with this pattern I have been wanting to make this quilt. 

My plan for this month is to cut out the pieces and sew the blocks together. Melissa and Shanna are hosting A Lovely Year of Finishes again this year. I am joining in again. I am linking up this goal.

Lynne is doing something new which you might want to check out. You can read more on this post.

I am linking up this BOM to Lynne's blog, Sew Kitschy.  This will be "something new." I have done a tiny bit of paper piecing since I have been quilting but to make a nice size quilt will be new to me. You can read more and see the blocks that we will be working on this year at Quiet Play.

I have my first finish of the year to show you. I signed up for Bertie's Year BOM by Bonnie Sullivan from Shabby Fabrics.

I couldn't pass it up when I saw there is going to be a cute little bird in each wall hanging. What really got me excited about this BOM was the fusible die cut pieces. All I have to do is iron them on to the background fabric and I am ready to stitch.

Here is my first kit all finished. It is hanging in my sewing room.

During December I won two giveaways. This stuff was packed tight in a priority box. It was so much fun to go through it. I won this from Sauder's Fabrics.

I won these two patterns and charm pack from Beyond The Reef.

I just had to show you this cute tea towel I got for Christmas from my #! son and DIL. I just love unique tea towels.

So here is the progress on our bathroom. We got the bathroom painted and...

Mr. P. got the new lights up and some of the cabinets installed. That white spot in the left of the photo is where some more cabinets will go after we get the counter top. The guys are coming to measure tomorrow and it might be installed in a week. The photo doesn't show the true color of the paint but it is a sage green.

One more thing to show you! Mr. P. bought me a new sewing machine for Christmas. It is a Baby Lock Symphony. I actually got it before Christmas but with all the painting and busyness of Christmas I really didn't have much time to read how to use the machine. My other machine is 17 years old and very basic. This new machine is so amazing!

Since I finally had some time to sew I got caught up on sewing the borders for these last two BOM. I am now embroidering the "snow" one.

Stay safe and Warm. I know many of you are in for some more frigid weather. We are supposed to get some of the coldest temps we have had in decades. No snow though. I know many of you wish you weren't getting snow either. But look at the bright side... good reason to stay in and sew!

With Passion,
Carrie P.