Dogwood Stars

Welcome Dogwood Stars

featuring Connecting Threads' 

fabric line.......

Now out of print!

During testing I made my

own version using these

fabrics because the 

color way spoke to me 

but wasn't available yet.

I am a sucker for pretty

much any fabric with 

script on it!!

This design has simple

piecing along with 

fusible applique'.

The diamonds in the border 

sections are all applique'

vs. piecing so cut and stick:)

These little tweezers make

placement of small pieces

so much easier.  

I also use a teflon applique' pressing

sheet so that these bits

are all applied making 

completed flowers BEFORE

fusing to borders/blocks.

When you have a small space

to work in, the pressing sheet

is a real time saver!

When you are ready to

make one of your own,

find my sweet, 

DOGWOOD STARS,

pattern HERE.

THANK YOU,

Connecting Threads! 

Sweet Persimmons

I have never had a persimmon 

and maybe I should try 

one now that I have named 

a quilt after them:)

New in the November

issue of AQ Magazine

meet Sweet Persimmons.

This sweet design started 

out in a 30s rendition.

Once I started thinking in Autumn

colors, I came up with this palette.

Still really like it and may have

to put this grouping to work

in another project!

Looks great, right?

Sometimes I can't see past my 

own vision but I also had 

this Sandy Gervais print sitting

around that I had been wanting 

to use in something....

Voila'! 

Pull some colors right out of 

the print and it is the perfect

assembly of color for this project!

When I started this, I was preparing

to help my daughter after the birth

of our first grand child so travel

hand work was appropriate.

The pic above shows alignment

for needle turn curves.

The pic below shows turning under

my edges to assemble the berries

before applying to the background. 

Here I stitch on a leaf.

Wow, my lighting was 

all over the place.

IF you own a rotating mat, 

it is the perfect way to trim

4 half-square triangles blocks

at one time by cutting 2 sides, 

rotate, cut 2 sides, etc. 

until finished.

Time to quilt.

I free motion quilted this 

sample myself...WHAT??!!

I used my freezer paper leaf

templates to create more

leaves that I could add 

swirls into the center

(bottom of pic).

When done quilting, 

you need a label:) 

I really like using a square 

of fabric folded in half 

and sewn into a bottom 

corner seam allowance.

The size of the square

depends on how much

you want to write.

This was 2 scraps of fabric

sewn together for an 

approximate 4-1/2" square. 

Thank You again, AQ for an

amazing layout!

It is Awesome!

Wayward Sisters 3

I'M A COVER GIRL!!

Annie's new book is now out!

When I first saw it, I was so

intrigued by the cat steps quilt

by Charisma Horton, that I 

completely missed that I 

am on the cover too!

I have had these little 

witches in my files for years.

They are so much fun to play 

with. If you aren't a fan of 

paper piecing at this moment, 

you soon will be:)

The three witches, Weyward Sisters,  

are characters in Shakespeare's play,

Macbeth that resemble the 

3 Fates of classical mythology.

This was the first Shakespeare

I ever read and it fascinated me!

YES, I know I spelled them wrong

but wayward has that added meaning

that quilters tend to associate

with paper piecing.

It gets a bad rap, it really does:)

Now for a peek behind the curtain....

First we need some fabrics!

I kept it to 'read as solids'

since it is a smaller piece.

The witches have faces done in

 embroidery and I am a fan of

stabilizing my background

when possible.

This is Pellon's P44F, light-weight

iron on stabilizer.

I wanted the block done first 

so I removed that one section

to use as a template for my 

cutting the stabilizer.

Once fused in place and 

the face traced onto the front,

I did a basting stitch

along 2 sides of the block

to hold remaining paper

in place until I was 

ready to remove it.

Removing it is super easy

since I used a long stitch.

Clip every 5th stitch and pull.

Time for quilting designs!

I am not good at this step and so 

many times I have printed 

multiple blocks to draw on.

This time it went relatively quickly

once I knew I didn't like the 

wavy one above and preferred

the spiky one below, it was

time to get quilting!

I decided to keep mostly 

straight line fills vs. going 

for curved lines to 

offset / compliment the

sharp lines of the blocks.

I was very happy 

with my decisions.

All quilted on my domestic

machine because it was 

little and doable.

And don't forget that 

easy little flange for 

just the right 

pop of color!

Until next time~

HOME

The Autumn issue of Quilter's World

will have my new quilt design

that I started this past January! YAY!

It is so bothersome that I 

have to keep so much secret 

from all my quilting friends

when I am working.

Once the design is planned, 

it is time to go fabric hunting!

As you can see, I wanted a muted

selection of neutrals in 

gray and taupe.

Look at the perfect and gorgeous

Barbara Brackman fabrics 

I found along the way!

Giddiness!

Have you ever tried to pay attention

to what you are doing at a retreat?

~LOL~

I was super fortunate to get to 

attend the annual retreat with my

friends from Illinois since I 

don't always get to go.

As 2020 has turned out, 

I am SO Happy I made

sure I did this year!!

We are missing a couple in 

this photo but we had a 

great time and it made my

"work" go much quicker!

Here is the other thing that made 

my work time happier!!

These FAB fingerless gloves 

from my mother:)

Pretty and functional!

So there was pinning and stitching

for the HSTs...

Lots of mindless chain piecing

for the log cabin blocks....

Once home, hours of 

NCIS reruns got me through:)

Auditioning of which red

fabric to use for the star....

and Voila'....

HOME!

Thank you (AGAIN) to 

Toddy and Ray Sumsky

for a FAB job quilting this

for me in my weirdo, designer

timeline! 

HOME is now out in the 

latest issue of Quilter's World.

I hope you will enjoy making

it as much as I enjoyed designing

it for you to snuggle under

during a chilly winter eve!

And, don't forget your label!!

~Enjoy~

WHERE LOVE GROWS

Thank you SIMPLY MODERNE for publishing this fun 

combination of paper piecing and applique'.

 Meet WHERE LOVE GROWS!

I did pretty well matching my colors

to make it cheerful.
Paper piecing trick: 
I collect notions and such and one of 
the items are the old heavy metal irons.
They are great weights for pressing
a pile of paper pieced blocks FLAT!!

There is an addition of some bias strips 

to the simple paper pieced blocks 

 to create the larger branches. 

I also stitched in some 

little skinny ones for texture.

Then my favorite part...the APPLIQUE'!!!

This is raw edge applique' where wavy lines

were added to the vines for texture .

Lastly, my label.

Here is my lazy label trick...

Fold a square in half to create a triangle, place the 

raw edges of the triangle within the binding 

seam allowance and stitch in place with 

a 1/8" seam just to hold until the binding is added.

THEN, use a sharpie or micron pen to write on it.

Of course the more I look at this photo, pretty sure

I skipped the triangle and wrote directly on that back.

Take that for lazy:)

 Here is the cover of Issue #20 of 

Simply Moderne (On Stands Now)

where you will find

WHERE LOVE GROWS.

Isn't that cover quilt gorgeous too?!!

Quilt Guild Rewards!

Do you belong to a quilt guild?

I know there are many complaints 

about guilds (cliques, not enough volunteers, etc),

but what about the positives??

I work from home and my only other

real human to talk to is my husband.

I adore my husband and he listens to all

my quilting whoas but not with the

same empathy and sympathy

that a fellow quilter hears them!

I can't expect him to:)

My biggest positive for being 

a member is all the HUGS!!

If you aren't a hugger, I am sorry!

You are missing out on a quintessential 

human experience that I revel in.

There is an endorphin rush that we

humans need for survival and I get mine

from hugging whenever appropriate.

This month I was recovering from a cold

so no hugging-WHAAAAA!

Where else can you go and share a story

about a stupid thing you think only you did

and have a room full of people giggle and

acknowledge most of them have done it too?

That feeling of inclusiveness and not 

being alone is also necessary for our 

mental survival.

How about joining a guild in your 40s and 

being at least 20 years younger than everyone?

Time to be amazed by these women IF you 

take the time to listen and get to know them.

Being in your 70s is so different 

than a few generations ago and 

their vibrancy is very inspiring!

I have been the leader of my guild off and on for 

4 years now. It has truly been an honor getting

to know them, laugh/cry with them, teach/learn

from them, share moments with them.

There is a community there that is crucial

to my well being and I do hope they have 

received some of the same from me.

The picture at the top of the post shows my spoils 

from the lovely 'Thank You' gift card 

they gave me for being in charge this year.

They have no idea how much fun I have being up

in front and making them laugh!

I look forward to being their dancing monkey

again in the future:)

THANK YOU HIDDEN STITCHES!!

Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com 

for more blogs to follow.

Reason #3 not to blog....

GOOFING OFF!

Even with my deadlines, I have to throw 

the husband a bone now and again.

He starts to feel trapped being home

all the time when I am working.

I can just hibernate here in the house

for weeks (if the schedule allows)

and never leave because I am in my

own little quilty world!

The new movie, KNIVES OUT, is

one we both agreed to see so part of my

Saturday will be at the movies and 

out to eat... YAY!

I love dates with my man:)

What will you be doing this weekend?

Whatever it is, tell someone you love them!

~R

Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com for

 more blogs to follow.

The INSTANT QUILT

Disclaimer: May have a "Soapbox" feel as they are MY opinions:)

Instant Pots are all the rage and I feel like 

quilters expect the same thing from quilting.

I totally understand time restraints, 

ailing health issues that don't allow

someone to do everything they once did 

and I sympathize with those frustrations but.....

I do get confused when they say they are "Passionate" about quilting but want to rush through every stage by getting all the fabrics pre cut or pre laser cut/fused, assemble the top and then send it out to be quilted.  Where was the joy in selecting your own fabrics?

I am not against working smarter not harder (Thank you rotary cutter inventor!!), but I wonder how much enjoyment is being lost in the process when the urge to rush through it is there.
Every process in life has parts that are less enjoyable than others and I admit being at the machine is the least enjoyable for me.

When we live in such a rush rush world, I feel quilters are cheating themselves of the JOY of quilting, the meditative process that can come with slow stitching.  Physical limitations are starting to affect how much I can do but I am not ready to throw in the towel and rush the process when I have so many lovelies in my stash to play with.

I want Everyone to quilt and I hope that we can find a way to slow down and enjoy choosing the colors/prints, the feel of the fabric as we prepare it for stitching, and the sense of accomplishment at every stage of the process! 

Back to work and keep stitching~R

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

CHALLENGE ACCEPTED

HELLO DECEMBER! 

Now let's be clear that just because I have 

accepted the challenge again this year, doesn't 

mean I will accomplish it but without trying we 

never know what we can do! So, here we go again:)

Cheryl Sleboda of Muppin.com challenges 

us every year to get our blogs back in order.

If we can do it when we are the busiest 

then we have no excuse the rest of the year-HA.

That should be my series of posts this month....

reason #1 not to blog....reason #2 not to blog, etc.

Wonder if I can come up with 30 reasons??

I am very glad you came over to see what I 

am up to and hope to have you pop in 

regularly this month!

Back to work and see ya tomorrow~R