Turkey Lurkey

We had a turkey spend about 30 minutes in our yard this summer.  He's sure hiding now! I was thinking about that bird pecking around in the woods when I created this block for the Calendar of Houses Bee that I belong to.

The turkey was a labor of love, I'll just say.  The only pattern for a turkey that I could find in my books was for a  pieced turkey lurkey that was supposed to end up a 14 inch block or something.

But, the little diagram accompanying the pattern was the just the size I was needing so I measured the little pieces in the picture and made up a mini bird.  It took a while.  But, he's kinda cute, don't you think. (You better say "yes"!)

Inside the house, Mom and the little girl are busy getting the feast ready...just like I should be doing.  Oh, I guess I better go buy a turkey tomorrow since I don't think Tom is coming back to my yard anytime soon!

Outside the house, the wind is blowing and....wait!  Is that snow I see blowing in? I sure hope not! I'm not ready for winter weather quite yet. Are you? 

Border Wars

Are you like me and sometimes have a war going on in your head about whether to add a border to a quilt, and if you do, what should it be? Sometimes, no border is better but other times....  Do you feel a temptation to go the easy route and either ditch a border or just slap on any old thing and call it good, even when you know the quilt needs "something more"to make it fabulous? Surely, I am not alone here! 

My Hope Valley Hexagon Quilt is screaming at me for a border.  So, I spent some time over the weekend coming up with something fun and funky to fit both the fabric and quilt pattern. I'm pretty excited about it, actually, so thought I'd share my progress with you and maybe even some pictures of how I made it......

 Here's a section of one of the borders before I attached it.  You can see that it is made with random angles of the Hope Valley prints on a light grey background. There's no rhyme or reason to the spacing of the triangles
.

I'm getting ready to sew on the borders and add another little surprise.......  I think I'm gonna like it and am glad that the quilt won the war!


Here's how I made the funky border for anyone interested in trying it.

 First, I cut my Kona ash fabric 6 inches wide and then chopped it up into random lengths. Using scraps from the center of the quilt, I cut triangles in various angles by "eyeball". Some sections have only one triangle and others have a triangle added to each side.

Next, I pinned the triangles RST onto the background, folding the fabric back before I sewed it to be sure that it would completely cover the grey underneath. (Don't skip this part. Guess, how I know that!)

After sewing on the triangle and pressing, I turned the section so the background side was up and using my ruler and cutter, trimmed off the printed fabric even with the background.

The last step is to fold back the triangle onto the front and cut off the background underneath to make a nice quarter inch seam allowance and eliminate bulk.

Here's my finished section.

I continued to add small sections until my border was the length I need. That's it!  So fun to make!  Better run.... I hear my machine calling!

Addictive and Contagious!

I'm not sure, but I might have been infected...........The warning is right there on the package.  How silly to think that I'm immune.  I should have been more careful.

I even put down my fabric and went in the kitchen to clear my head. Wait!  Are those hexagons on the paper towels? Help!! It's just too much. What's a girl to do when her quilty brain keeps telling her that her idea for adding some little hexies to a border for her quilt would be soooooooo great? Would aspirin help? No.  Maybe chocolate.  I'll let you know......

                                            Be careful, though............I'm just sayin!

Thank You, Veterans

My brother and sister, who have researched it, tell me that members of my family fought in the Revolutionary War.  

Throughout the generations, many more have served our great nation to protect our freedom. Some lost their lives doing so.

 Thank you to all of the veterans everywhere for the sacrifices you have made. 

                                                                   We owe you a lot!

Home Alone

Circumstances kept me home alone all day for a few days, so.......
when the cat's away, the mice will play!!!

 I started piecing together the blocks for Jennifer's Quilt-Along.  I had the cutting already done so it was quick work to put all the white strips around the 42 charm squares.

I even got a good start on the second round of strips for this square-in-a-square design.  I have a certain person in mind for this quilt and am excited at how it is working up.

Another quilt on my radar screen is the Serendipity Quilt using Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush fabrics. After sewing up the blocks, I began the fun challenge of laying it all out in a pleasing combination.  I tried matching up colors at first, but liked it better when I scattered the colors across the top in a miss-match design.  I even got several rows of squares set together. Oh, how I am loving this so far!  This may be my new Fall Wall Quilt for the living room rod that hangs above my stairway.  I like to change out the quilt there and am wanting some new ones. I wonder if I could finish it by Thanksgiving? Did I say that out loud?
  

 We rented a movie on Saturday night. I like to keep my hands busy when I'm sitting on the couch in front of the boob tube, so the hexies came out to play.  Since I have all 20 strips together, I began sewing the strips together. Oh man, this will take a while...wonder how long. I sure am glad that I chose to do a smallish table cover and not a large quilt!

I settled on a small running stitch and grey quilting weight thread to sew my hexagons together.  I tried using the silk thread that was recommended at guild meeting a few months ago, but it kept shredding on me, so I gave that up. It did make a fine invisible stitch though. Hopefully, all those paper hexagons will come out without much trouble. I'm counting on it!
Did you get to sew over the weekend?

Holiday Exchange

Modern Quilt Guild night is always fun.  Last night was no exception, especially because I was accompanied by a great, invisible, blogging friend who is no longer invisible because I've met her in flesh so I know she's real. Oh, you know what I mean! Linda was in town. We met up for supper and drove to the meeting together. At least, I think we drove.  I was talking so much, that I don't actually remember that part.....and I was the one behind the wheel! Well, we made it there and back in one piece. (I think Linda did have to tell me once that the light was green and I could go now, but other than that......)
Linda had never been to a MQG meeting before...none in DesMoines, she says. Yet, anyway! Read about her experience here.

Guild members got a jump on gift giving with a holiday exchange last night.  Here's what was in the gift I brought....... (The fabric leaves were a hint to the contents.)

I've been sewing with Anna Maria Horner's Innocent Crush fabrics the last few days. They seemed perfect for a fall gift and since mug rugs are so popular right now I decided to try my hand at making one.  

 On the back, I used a scrap of Deb Strain's fall tree fabric. Short strips of Innocent Crush make up the narrow binding.

 The mug rug measures 7"x 9" and is just the right size to hold a cuppa and a snack! Now I want one for myself! It's a fast and easy project. 


The worst part of the gift  exchange was that we drew gifts by having to reveal our ages.  The oldest went first...the youngest last.  Well, I was almost the oldest...I drew second! The gift I chose was made by the youngest in my little exchange group. And it was a goody!! I'm so happy! Lauren, who is a actively marketing her own fun fabric designs on etsy and is hoping to  get picked up by a manufacturer, made this lovely bag . The striped fabric on the chair, used to wrap my gift, is a strike off that she picked up last weekend at the Quilt Market in Houston.  

I'll be using this bag for all kinds of things.  The Heather Bailey and Amy Butler fabrics are perfect for me....even if I was almost the oldest!

Cut, Cut, Cut, Sew

My rotary cutter is smokin'!  
I might need some ice to cool it down even!! Whew!!
                                                                    
                                                                          This.......

                                                              Turned to this.....         

                                                                  And this........

                                                               Got chopped into this....

                                                My scissors were jealous so...............

You see that I finally succumbed to one of those darling Oliver + S patterns.  Soooo cute!! I'll let you know how it goes with sewing it up....It looks very well written.


Well, then the sewing machine started whining about needing some attention.....so I made  blocks for the 3 x 6 Mini Sampler Bee. I decided on the faux circle block that I'm so ga-ga over right now.  (I may have to make myself a whole quilt of these, I love them so much!)

 For Jenifer in Colorado, Julie in California, Melinda in Wisconsin, Marlynn in Utah, Solidia in Indiana, and Leslie in West Virginia.  It's always so much fun to see how the same pattern can look so different in all the various color combinations. 


 Now, where is that Halloween candy that my grandsons shared with me?  I need some chocolate!! What are you up to?