Week ending October 18

Had a very productive week with very little I can show for it.   I am keeping up with the alphabet.

M should arrive around noon today. That will be the half way mark.

And these are my Charm Stars.

I am really pleased with them. I'm going to do some sashing in Black with gray dots and with yellowy gold cornerstones this week and then determine what kind of border I want to do.

I have also been working on items for 2 upcoming blog hops that I can't post about yet and I started to cut fabric for another Christmas quilt for a gift for a very dear friend. A very productive week.

This weeks Finishes

I finally finished the baby quilt for my assistants first grandchild.  It's going to be a girl.

I so fell in love with it and really didn't want to give it up.

That doesn't usually happen to me.  I make quilts for the sense of accomplishment rarely for me to keep.

But I really, really had a had time handing it over.

And the back is hot pink with white polka dots.

Again with the twisted picture. ....The bag with the circles in the background is mine from the Nancy Drew Hop from a while back.  My friend a relatively new quilter wanted to make one with a little help from me and my leftovers.  We have been talking about this for what seems like forever.  Well yesterday was her birthday and I just had to get this done on my own.  She was so thrilled.  I am not sure  if she was happier that she had the bag in her possession or if she was thrilled to just get an item off her to do list.

I had some scraps left over from the lining so I whipped up a gift card holder.

I also included a couple of REAL Nancy Drew books and a Dunkin Donuts card.

 

All in all she was pretty happy with her gifts.

Fall Postcard Swap

These are the wonderful postcards I was lucky enough to receive in the FALL POSTCARD SWAP  coordinated by Sheila over at http://sheilasquiltworld.blogspot.com/

The first card I received was the one with the trees.  The tree tops are made from cormo and alpaca wool. The card came from Judy in Idaho, USA.

The pumpkins made their way to NJ from Saskatchewan, the Canadian Prairie.  I hope you can make out the sparkly stars that Dawn put in the night sky.  Very cool.

It is always such fun to take part in these postcard swaps.  The imagination found in the designs from around the world is amazing.  

This is the card I made to send to Judy and Dawn in case you missed it in my last posting.  I want to thank both Dawn and Judy for swapping with me and special thanks to Sheila for coordinating yet another wonderful event.

Progress

Last week I posted for the Rush Hour Blog Hop but I was  busy working on other projects. These pumpkins are what I swapped in the Fall Post Card Swap coordinated by Sheila at http://sheilasquiltworld.blogspot.com/

I have received my beautiful post cards this week and I will post about them mid week.  I think they are so cool that they deserve to have a post to themselves and not get  caught up in this photo heavy posting.

I really don't know why some pictures turn to the right, it is so irritating.

I am keeping current  on the Alphabet QAL being done by Temecula Quilt Company.

Last Christmas I made Bowl Buddies for a couple of the gals I work with.  One of them approached me last week regarding making a couple of sets for her to give as gifts this year.  It is so nice when you get confirmation that a gift you made was really appreciated by someone enough that they want to give it as a gift too.

She said she wanted to give them as gifts for the holidays.  I asked which holiday Thanksgiving  or Christmas.  Her response....both.  So I made 2 sets of the pine cones and 2 sets of the fallen leaves.

She loved them but remembered that I also made her hot pads for the table to match.  This week I will be making hot pads.

I also worked on getting the pink and green baby quilt quilted and managed to finish that today.  Hopefully I will get it bound and photographed by next weekend.

Rush Hour

I live in the North East USA.  One of several locations in the US with hideous Rush Hour issues.  I live at exit 8A of the NJ turnpike.  Anyone in the area listening to the evening traffic reports is very familiar with that location.  I literally live and breathe Rush Hour. Pretty much nightly it’s backed up and in the summer it stops completely. Well the time is coming very quickly when I will be leaving this ever so congested area and retiring to  Florida.

Before I go on with this saga I want to take the time to thank both Mdm. Samm and her ever so creative mind for master mining yet another creative adventure and Carol from http://www.justletmequilt.com/  for being the event coordinator and chief cheerleader. There is so much behind the scenes work going on and those of us who participate truly appreciate your  efforts.

I now also need to apologize for not sticking 100 % to the guidelines of this hop.    I designed this piece all by myself which was a relatively new adventure for me. I actually heard about this hop and a Brilliant idea formed in my head and then onto the fabric.  I told my mind that this was a red, white, black and gray hop but my mind insisted that I had to have some green thrown in for the proper effect.  I hope you will excuse me.

On with my story… We are retiring to The Villages, Florida sometime next year.  The Villages is something like the 7^th largest city in the state.  It is an adult community of over 100,000 residents.  It is also a community of over 70,000 golf carts.  Yes, you read that correctly.  Get the Picture : )

Our new home actually came with a 2 car and 1 golf cart garage.  There is still a rush hour but it’s very, very different.

They rush for Tee times,  for exercise  classes, for pretty much anything you can think of.  They just do most of their rushing in Golf Carts.  The carts are a year round mode of transportation if you want.  They come with various enclosures.  Ours has roll down sides and back that zip shut.  We were there last winter and discovered that even in Florida there is a chill in the air and on the legs.  MJ asked for a quilt for the cart and Mdm Samm and Carol asked for something  for Rush Hour.  Timing is everything. 

So here is my new view of Rush Hour.

We were at the house in late August. I had to have the quilt finished so I could get the photos taken with the proper backdrop.  Left the quilt there and came home to NJ with my pictures.  While looking  them over and choosing several for this post I realized with a chuckle that my golf carts must be state of the art since they are riding down the road without the benefit of a driver (OK there are probably "drivers" mixed in with the clubs, but seriously)

So I hope you can see the need for the green.  I tried to do the roadway without it and it was just a striped quilt with carts.  

Now speaking of a quilt with cars.. Can’t you see this quilt without the golf carts but with a couple of stuffed cars for a great baby quilt gift.    I think I need to find me a pattern for a stuffed car (suggestions are welcome).

Thanks for stopping by and joining the Rush Hour Fun.  Not too often you can put those 3 words together in a sentence.  Please stop by and visit the other participants today as well as yesterday and the days to come. Such talent is not to be missed.  Here are the links to all of the other presenters for this hop:

                                               Tuesday, September 23

Just Let Me Quilt

I piece 2-Mary

Marjorie’s Busy Corner

Quilt in a not-Shell

The Slow Quilter

The Blended Blog

Quilting Bias

Wednesday, September 24

Stitchin’ By The Lake

Buzzing and Bumbling

Lixie Makes It

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Living With Purpose

Madly Mid Mod

Coral Canyon Quilting

Thursday, September 25

Sew Incredibly Crazy

Kwilty Pleasures

Selina Quilts

A Stitch in Time

It Seams To Be Sew

Pig Tales and Quilts

Lakeshore Stiches

Tea Time Creations

Friday, September 26

The Quilting Queen Online

Quilting Quietly

Vicky Myers Creations

Grammie Q’s

From This to That

Quilted Delights

Coeur d’Alene

Sew at Home Mummy

Monday, September 29

Grandmama’s Stories

Kris Loves Fabric

Jane’s Quilting

Life, Quilts, and Cats, too

Thimblemouse and Spouse

Creatin’ in the sticks

Bquiltin Studio

Tuesday, September 30

Lily Patch

MooseStash Quilting

Words & Stitches

Karma Willow Designs

Kwilt Krazy

How arT you?

Sew We Quilt

Weekend Finishes

MJ has been away so I have had a little more me time then normal.  I have been watching the Roosevelt Series on PBS while knitting and stitching.

This is the latest Chemo Cap.

I also finished the baby quilt top.  I hope to have it quilted by next weekend.

A local senior group has an annual fund raiser craft sale in November so I have made a few more knitted dish clothes that I will wrap up with wooden kitchen utensils.

And then I made the letter E twice.

http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/2014/09/little-letters-getting-started-and.html

In the in between time I also made the front for 3 Fall Postcards for a Postcard swap I'm participating in.  Can't post pictures of them until they get where they are going and I need to finish them before mailing :)  

So what next? Charming Stars, Sandwiching a quilt, finishing the postcards or knitting?

Stop back on Thursday, my day for the Rush Hour Blog Hop.

Have a great week.

New This Week

I have signed up for 2 Sew Alongs. One with Temecula Quilt Co where we are making 4 1/2 in alphabet blocks at the rate of 2 per week and one with Terry at Terry's Treasures where we are doing Charming Star Blocks at no rate at all just a suggested maybe 4 per month.  No pressure.

These are my first 4 Charming Star blocks.  I am using Christmas fabrics.  Last night I pulled 16 fabrics and made my own Charm pack.  The blocks are a great size, they finish at 14 inches.  The only problem I see is that I now have all the fabric cut and begging to be sewn.  This project may go a lot quicker than I originally intended.

Now these sweet little letters are just quick fun.  My plan is to make them the day they are released. I purchased the fabric kit ( the one with the dots on the background ) and since they are so quick to put together I figured I'd make 2 quilts at the same time. Today was D day.

It hasn't taken half an hour to whip up 2 blocks yet.  Even this one that I had to rip because I put the top and bottoms on backward.  Ripping 4 1/2 inches is really not a big job.

I also find I'm kind of addicted to knitting dish clothes. These are clothes 5 and 6 made in the last 2 weeks.

Combined with some wooden kitchen utensils they make a quick and easy gift.

I used this one to hold a gift card.  Happy Birthday JB.  It's in the mail. You should have it by your big day.

Around the World Blog Hop

I have been asked to participate in this amazing journey around the world by Joan of http://moosestashquilting.blogspot.com/  I had always thought of the world as big and remote. That was until I started to blog.  I now communicate on a regular basis with people all over this wonderful globe.  I have been exposed to new levels of generosity by basic strangers.  Strangers I now consider friends.  I have regular contact with people in many of these United States and Countries North, South, East and West. Here is an example of how small my world has become. I live in the NE US and we will be retiring to Florida next year.  I met a quilter while blog hopping who lives within walking distance of our new home.  Since meeting on line we have met in person for lunch and a guild meeting and a sew in . 

As a participant in this Blog Hop I have been requested to answer the following questions.

What am I working On

I am always working on several projects at a time.  My attention span is rather limited and I have a high need to accomplish things.  I love to draw the line through a completed project.

I think I took such a liking to quilting because there are so many steps in the process I can generally move on to the next step as I lose interest in the previous steps.   

Here are some photos of my current projects.

This is the center  of a baby quilt for a coworkers first granddaughter.   I picked up the pattern from a U TUBE video from Missouri Star Quilts

These are the first 3,  4 1/2 inch block letters

 from the latest sew a long from  http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/  New blocks are posted  on Sunday and Wednesday.

When I need a quick project or a to go project I generally switch to knitting.

I started making these wash clothes a little more than a week ago after seeing them on Beth's Blog   lovelaughquilt.blogspot.com

A Great Fall Gift for a friend

The thing all of these projects have in common is that I only know about them because I blog.

How does my work differ from others of this genre

Well I’m not very precise and I don’t care.  Mostly my corners match because I sew a lot but I don’t quilt for shows or judging.  I quilt to make things.  Early on in my quilting life I was asked to work on Charity quilts in my guild.  I shied away because I couldn’t match corners or sew with accurate ¼ inch seams.  The gal in charge of the program explained that a warm hug didn’t need accurate corners but it did need to be put together with love.  I guess I mostly sew that way, with love.

Why do I create

Cause I can. I’m lucky enough to have a stash to sew from and I do.  I see an idea and I run with it.  I know my quilts will find a home. I have no problem giving my quilts away if I think they are wanted and or needed or just liked a lot.  I have sold a few, generally to people who haven’t a clue and are gifting them.   I enjoy the challenge of some patterns but have no problem kicking a project to the curb if I’m not enjoying it.  Mostly its a great way for me to relax.

How does my creative process work.

Not very well most of the time.  The creative process needs time and I don’t give it the time it takes.  That being said…Next week I am participating in the Rush Hour blog hop and the piece I am presenting is a piece I actually designed and executed myself.   While I am extremely proud of it I don’t have any desire whatsoever to repeat the process.  Mostly I see and I copy in another color.  My big creative contribution is generally changing out the size of the parts. I would be so lost without the enlarge button on the copier.

Thanks  for stopping by and visiting  from all those various locations around the globe, please come again, anytime.