Sew Alongs

It may be hard to believe but 

I have NEVER done a sew 

along in all my 20 years of quilting!

Now that I have a little

extra time at home, Why Not?!

I have participated in guild 

lottery blocks and 

guild challenges but 

never worked with a group 

on the same project before.  

It is SEW FUN!!

There is a small group of us

that are making projects 

from the book, 

CIVIL WAR LEGACIES II 

by Carol Hopkins.

A design is chosen, we

each get to choose our

own fabrics, and then

we sew together virtually 

since some of us don't 

live near the others anyway.

I went poking around my

room looking for something

and found this charm pack

from MODA, Renewal

by Brannock and Patek.

It was a bit more challenging

to cut charm squares vs. yardage

for my piecing but I managed

and started these sweet little stars.

Just because I was feeling 

crazy, lol, I decided to see if

I could get an extra HST from

each rectangle unit I was making.

I could and I did and Ta-Da!

Here are the lovely 3-1/2" stars!

and I absolutely love them!!

I can't finish just yet because

this design calls for alternate blocks

that we decided would be 

signature blocks for our first 

quilt together.

Another 'First' for me!

I do have a couple of signature 

quilts, one as a guild thank you

to me and one as a result of 

winning the guild lottery blocks once;

but, I have never participated in a 

signature quilt in this method before 

so a first for me.

Because we live off from one another,

it will take some time to get blocks

signed and mailed.  Here is 

roughly what my signature blocks

will look like once framed.

Stay tuned for the finish:)

In the meantime as I wait, I pulled

some fabrics for our next quilt.

On my FB page, the middle

fabric overwhelmingly won

when asked about which one 

for a border fabric.

They were voting blind not 

knowing how big the border 

would be or what 

size/type the blocks 

would be.  

I knew these would all work

for the scale I needed but 

was just not feeling decisive that day!

Thank you to everyone who 

took the time to give me their opinion:)

Once that decision was made for me, 

I was able to start pulling other

fabrics to go with that border print.

I am excited to start the next quilt

even though I haven't finished the

other quilt...what is that called?

Insanity!

I have a room full of that and 

I love that room and all that

lies within and how I feel

when I am in there.

I wish you could all

come join me there 

but since you can't, 

stay safe &

 Keep Stitching~

2019 Houston Festival Part 2

I truly was honored to be a part of

 the 2019 Houston Festival Faculty!

 Here is my fancy badge and pin:)

 The next 3 pics are of the Sweetest Surprise!!  

There is a gift bag for faculty members where

Quilt industry sponsors 

donate small gifts ....WOW!!

THANK YOU to 

Quilters Select for the Appli-web and thread, 

Fairfield for the batting sample, 

Steady Betty for a fun tool I have never tried, 

RNK for a great tote bag and scissors, 

IQF for the great bag and everything else you did for us, 

Mountain Mist for the baby wool press mat, 

Moda for the perfect charm pack of Jo Morton fabric, 

Cherrywood (who has great fabric), &

Karen Kay Buckley,

Your scissors are phenomenal!

Then we get to my Swimming Seahorse class...

Thank you to, Shirley, my Teacher's Pet for the day

for taking all these fab photos.

I always forget;)

 Working hard...

 I love to hammer things!

My rating when I was in the military

had a joke about being able to fix

anything with a hammer:)

 HAPPY students finishing projects!

Seeing how everyone's turns out 

differently and people learning new 

things makes it more fun for me as 

the teacher, I think, 

than the students.

A huge

THANK YOU to the 

students who signed up for

my class and made a it 

a Wonderful day!!

If your guild hasn't had me visit yet, 

send your chair HERE to see

what we can book for a play day!

Keep Stitching~R

Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com for more blogs to follow.

NoveDecember...A new month (?) plus A POOKA

This has been the longest and shortest month and a half ever!!  I am going as fast as I can but not feeling like I am gaining ground. Do you ever feel that?

Top that off with living in Florida where the temperature and surroundings make it a bit difficult for me to get into the Christmas spirit.  All of a sudden it is 11 days 'til Christmas but the thermometer hasn't changed and it feels like a practical joke.....

I don't have all the days filled in yet but it is just a matter of time!
11 Days 'til Christmas
10 Movies choices
9   Dinners to plan
8
7
6   More gifts to wrap
5   Rooms to clean
4   Packages to mail
3   Quilts to hang
2
And a Pooka in the artificial tree.......

Here is POOKA. She is the other reason my world is a blur right now.  Most of you know that my Juni went to live with my older daughter this summer when she moved to a pet friendly apartment.
We were going to travel, etc. and we did take a wonderful trip this fall.  Mostly though, we are home bodies and I work at home so I missed someone to talk to.  Enter Miss Thing.  Jim says he has "always wanted one"....one what?  She is a soft-coated Wheaton Terrier and that face just melts you.

 PLEEEEEEEZE- just one ice cube!!!

Jim wanted to name her Crumpet but I wasn't in love with that.  I wanted Buttons (for my quilting) but he didn't love that.  This breed originates from Ireland and we looked for a Gaelic name.  Pooka in Gaelic means 'Mischievious Sprite'...Boy is that dead on!!  When our daughter met her, she told me we should have named her Fizzgig and I completely agreed but we couldn't talk Jim into it!!

Those familiar with this movie will completely agree too:)

Here she just looks like a teddy bear! We are completely hooked and in love even though our lives have been turned upside down.

So the tree may or may not go up this year.....

Remember the Steelers pillows I said I made for my daughter...here they are.  I thought I had shown a picture previously but didn't find it.  They turned out great.  For the Steelers lovers in your life, the cathedral window works perfectly!!

The pictures above and below are small 14" table mats that I made for the guild Christmas party as door prizes.  I used the Poinsettia from my Coastal Christmas to center onto an 8-1/2" center square and added a small border.  Then a friend had made me some embroidery blocks using Loralie Designs.  I was able to trim the extra, squeak in a sliver of red, and add the extra black back on for a cute little mat.

Lastly, I shrunk down my Jingle Penguin so that he was an adorable little mini that fit into a 4x6 frame opening.  Too cute!  I may have to make a few more of him!

This is a fat quarter bundle I treated myself to....Basic Grey's Jovial for MODA.  Not my usual Christmas color pallette but it just looked so yummy.  Now to decide what to make myself!! 

In case I don't get back here for awhile,
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND A HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!
Thank you for following my journey!
Robin

PS:  Don't forget to visit all the other creatives over on Nina's OFF THE WALL Friday