Hexies On The Horizon...

I brought these along on our trip...two sets of Little Moda™ "Mini Charms", and a 

package of Hexies™ dissolvable papers. I figured they'd make a perfect portable project.

I haven't tried these papers before, but another blogger raved about them, and I'm

so impressionable! They don't have to be torn out of your hexagons after you join

them. Just toss the finished quilt in the wash and they dissolve into the batting. 

I've tried the other method, and now I want to try to do them like this.

I've taken a close-up of the packaging so you can see all the information if you

want to try them for yourself. The measurement is for each side of the hexagon.

  I'm smitten with this Moda™ fabric line. I'd seen "Plum Sweet" made into a quilt on Anne Sutton's "Bunny Hill" blog and knew I'd find something fun to do with my little charms. If you'd like to see her finished quilt, just click here. It's just so soft and cozy-looking. So, I'm going to make little hexagons with my 2.5" mini charms sets. After that, I'll let my muse carry me. I'll have 84 finished hexies to play with. I'll do all the pressing today and then stitch until they're ready to join.
Can you believe it's already Friday? We originally planned to leave Meadville on Sunday, but we're going to make a side trip to Ohio before we head to Wis- consin. That means we'll stay here until Tuesday; Ohio Tuesday night; have a little work done on Wednesday (I'll tell you about that later); and then on to Wisconsin to arrive on July 3rd or 4th. I'm glad I have things to keep me busy.
I'll be back tomorrow, as always. Happy thoughts from the road.

Scrappy Progress...

I had this project sitting off to the side when we took off in the Flying Cloud in May, but yesterday I decided it was time to get back to it. (I don't like having UFOs. They take up too much space!)

All the scrappy Dresden plates were appliqued' and it was time to add the sashing so I could assemble the top.  Rather than putting the blocks together in a straight square layout, I chose to place all the blocks on-point. It will make the finished quilt slightly larger and the Saturday coffee group gals thought it would make for a more interesting layout, too. Works for me!

I chose my favorite paisley fabric from the Martinique line to use for the sashing and added pretty green/blue blocks at the corners. (All these fabrics are from Moda's Martinique line.) By the end of yesterday, I'd put everything together except the corner triangles.

Today I'll add the two borders and it will be ready to go to the long-arm. I'm going to have this one quilted in the traditional patterns for a Dresden quilt instead of an all-over quilting pattern. I'm anxious to finish it now so that I can add another "finish" to my stack.

Thanks to everyone who left such supportive comments for me yesterday, too. I'm just waiting for a few supplies to get here so we can put the rest of the kits together. For now, we've gone as far as we can until the package arrives.

I just wanted you to know that I'm going to print out all of your notes and put them on an affirmation board. That way I can go back and read them for moral support if when I feel a little overwhelmed with the guild project. Thanks again.

Pretty Plates...

My Dresden plates remind me of color wheels. The spokes are comprised of all the colors and patterns of the Moda fabrics I chose from the Martinique line. They really make me happy!

I finished all twelve, and after rechecking the original pattern, I've decided that twelve will be enough for my quilt. I'm going to make the centers from the fabric I've laid behind this plate. Soft enough so that it won't take away from the differences on each one or bring attention to the centers themselves.

I am also going to throw in a little modification. I've decided to lay out all my blocks on point, rather than lay them out square to the design. That will automatically make my quilt a little wider, and because I'll need to fill in the squares between the squares, it will also be longer. Once I've done that, I'll decide whether or not I'll change the measurements for the sashing and the borders.

Remember that this quiltalong is supposed to run about six months, so I've finished my work for this month. Now to wait until Anne posts the next step. Can I? I don't know. I'm so in love with this fabric, that I might have to forge ahead of the group. But not this week.

These are all the fabrics that will be used to complete my queen size quilt. Now, to start thinking about what I'm going to name it! What do you think? Do you love it, too?

Tomorrow, I'm going to write about the Farmer's Wife Quiltalong I'm hosting here at Brynwood. We're beginning February 1st, so I want to make sure that everyone who wants to join is included in the list.

If you're one of those who will be participating (or if you're just curious), please click on the Farmer's Wife link at the top of my blog. Make sure your name appears there, and if you have a blog, that the link is correct (you'll have to click on your name).

If you've signed up, and for some reason your name isn't on the list, please let me know asap (and accept my apology for not getting your name up by now). If you haven't signed up yet, but would like to participate, please send me an email with "FARMER'S WIFE QAL" in the subject line. Remember, I'll need your name, email address, url for your blog (if you have one) - city, state (if you don't have one).

More on the Farmer's Wife tomorrow. It's really going to be hard for me to leave those plates alone today!

It's Coming Together...

I love making plates...Dresden plates, that is! I've been a busy seamstress, to be sure. I've already made eight of the twelve plates needed for the quilt pattern.

I have a regular assembly line going. All the pieces were cut and sorted for color value and then I started sewing.

There is a certain amount of joy involved in choosing where to place each pattern and color along each wheel. Stitch across all the ends in a continuous line so they stay in order. Then, cut one spoke off the line, turn the point, press and join it to the piece ahead of it. Slowly, each plate came together.

By the end of my sewing day yesterday, I had a beautiful array of plates on my work table. I'll finish the last four today...or decide that I want to make more for a larger finished quilt. Either way, I'll be making more of those lovely Dresden plates.

I'm so glad that I decided to join Anne's Scrappy Plate Club. I've never made the Dresden Plate before, and I can honestly say that I'm looking forward to watching my finished quilt emerge. Thanks to everyone for the feedback you've given me. More soon.

Gettin' Scrappy...

I have a button in my left sidebar "declaring" that I'm participating in Bunny Hill's Scrappy Plates Quiltalong. I went into my cabinets to choose which fabrics I wanted to use to make mine. I know the point is to make a quilt from fabric scraps, but I usually share my scraps with one of the gals from the quilt guild...and I have a huge sick copious frightening little fabric stash from which to choose.

I looked at my fat quarter sets and decided on Moda's Martinique line. I also have some yardage of a couple of these fabrics, so I'll be able to use that for sashing, borders and backing. Perfect!

I love these colors, and the patterns include sea coral, geraniums (my favorite!), polka dots and paisleys. You can see that I separated each of these stacks by color values so I was ready to get started. I did move two of the fabrics out of one pile into another. (See that red in the right column of "mediums"? That's one of them).

According to Anne's instructions, I'll need twenty to thirty different fabrics, cut into 4" x 12" strips. (I have over thirty in this fat quarter pack, so I'm good to go.) I started by cutting the strips I needed from all the medium value fabrics. I only need 4" x 12" from each fat quarter, so the remainder of each piece of fabric went back into stash for another project.

After that step was finished, I took out my Easy Dresden ruler and cut stacks of strips into the pieces that will be the start of my spokes in the Dresden Plate blocks. I'll be cutting all of the strips from dark and light values before I start any sewing. I'm planning to spend today doing that. (I'm soooo happy to be back in the studio!)

If you're interested in joining this quiltalong hosted by Anne Sutton at Bunny Hill, just click on the button (like this one) in my sidebar.

I only got this far yesterday because Tag and I headed over to the Venice Dog Beach to meet up with friends with corgis in the afternoon. (Tag will be telling you about that tomorrow!)

I've already chosen my background fabrics for the blocks and think it's going to be a pretty quilt. Because I've taken the "Process Pledge", I'll be sharing my progress on this quilt with you. It will be fun to show you more photos as I go.

Thanks to everyone who has voted so far on my poll. I'm looking forward to seeing which fabric ends up being the sashing for those green blocks! If you haven't voted yet, the poll closes Tuesday evening. I'll let you know on Wednesday which one wins out.

Tag is really looking forward to his first post. I think you'll enjoy it. I'll be back on Wednesday.

Bunny Hill Scrappy Plate Club...

One of my favorite quilting blogs to visit is Anne Sutton's Bunny Hill Designs blog and website. She has the prettiest designs, and I own more than a couple of her patterns.

When stopping by a couple of days ago, I found that she's hosting a six-month long quiltalong (QAL) on her blog. She'll be posting tutorials on her Dresden Plate design scrappy quilt, and has already posted Part One.

Let's see...scrappy quilt, Dresden plate (I've always wanted to do that design), free tutorial, six months long. Yup. I'm on board! I figure that I'll work on the Farmer's Wife blocks one week, and then work on the Dresden Plate another week. Two quilts accomplished for sure in 2012! I'm going to add her button to my sidebar to link to her blog (and you can click here to learn more about her Scrappy Plate Club).

Don't forget to tell your friends about the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt QAL I'm hosting. I'm adding the names of participants as soon as I'm contacted. (Remember, I'll need your first name, url for your blog - if you have one - and your email address.) Click here for more information.

Also...Today is Handsome's birthday. I think I'll take the day off so that we can do some fun things together. Happy Birthday, Husband!

Two Great Ways To Make My Day...

Friday was Day One for my "Williamsburg Welcome" quilt project.
I managed to complete the center star motif and add a top and
bottom "Welcome" motif. I also did a little design wall work to
decide how I want the rest of the fabrics I'm using to relate to
the overall look. I'm really happy with my fabric placements
so I'll be back at the sewing machine later today.

This is going much faster than I expected, so I think it will
only take a few days to complete my share of the construction.
Don't be too impressed...it's not a huge quilt.
When finished, it will measure about 48" x 70".

I got a package in the mail yesterday, too.
Anne Sutton at Bunny Hill Designs had a drawing for her
newest fabric line
"Lily & Will".
I entered Anne's fabulous drawing and WON!
I'm over the moon about this collection, which isn't available
to the public until October. Anne is the designer and shared
three fat quarter and squares collections to her winners.
I chose the pink collection. It is a gorgeous series.
If you sew, I know you'll want to get these fabrics for yourself.

Thank you, Anne. I'm loving every piece and can't wait to
make something wonderful with my new fabrics.

A project progressing better than planned
and
a gift in the mail.
Made my day, I'm telling you!
Just made my day!

Generosity That Takes My Breath Away...

I can't tell you how exciting it was to read the return addresses on those boxes I found in the studio upon my return from Wisconsin. I promised to reveal more contents, so here goes.

I received more acorns!!! Thank you to Christine from iCandy blog for the beautiful Kansas acorns and added surprises! This package had small bags inside that just revealed more little gifts. Christine included a Halloween-themed gift bag with the acorns, a handstamped tag from Kansas, and a sweet and clever repurposed matchbox which contained a gold angel charm. She even stamped and scrolled my name on the outside of a little brown paper bag. I couldn't help but smile as I unwrapped all her thoughtful gifts.

Thank you so much, Christine, for your generous gifts. Be sure to stop over and visit her blog, and if you leave a comment, please tell her I sent you over!

My next package was also very cool. I WON the fat quarter giveaway over at Bunny Hill Designs from Anne!! (You can read the post here.) The fabric is Martinique from Three Sisters for Moda.

What a gorgeous stack of fabulous fabrics! I haven't counted, but there are a lot of fat quarters in this collection! I can't wait to untie them and see how many different ways I can use them. Of course, they might make one awesome quilt, too!

Anne this is the most generous of gifts from your trip to market this year. I can't tell you how much I love these fabrics! Thank you, thank you, thank you!

And, last, but certainly not least, is the most heartwarming boxful of house shoes that I received from Twyla of Two Crazy Crafters blog. She and her daughter, Lindsey, write lovely posts. I always smile when I visit, and I love the fact that a mother and daughter team share their creative space (online or off).

She read about the Books a Million Tuesday night knitting/crochet group Appalachian Project charity cause, and decided to participate. She sent me TEN pairs of house shoes to contribute to the cause.

I took them with me last night and passed them on to the very grateful organizer of this particular project. She was thrilled to receive them and agreed that they will be appreciated and well-loved by their lucky recipients. Thank you, Twyla, for the generous gift of your time and talent to a worthy cause. (I really wish my photo could adaquately portray just how great these crocheted house shoes are. They really are warm and wonderful...in an array of sizes!)

Can you even believe how very fortunate I am? I have these gracious and generous blog friends who share my passion for giving, gifting, and creating. Sometimes, it just takes my breath away.