sew red she said now go to bed

The reds were already cut for me.  All I had to do was cut some white fabric and I was ready to start sewing.  6 blocks done and 10 left to go.  Not bad for a late evening’s work.

Until I lost my senses and did this!

Instead of this.

This little square is not like the others…

I trimmed it before realizing my mistake so it can’t be saved. And it was the only piece of fabric I had like that.  Sheesh!

That’s when you know it’s time to stop and go get ready for bed.

red all over

Look at this gorgeous variety of red and white fabric squares. 

I just got my package from Karen’s red/white swap and they are awesome!  All 125 of them!

That meant Karen sorted 15,625 five inch squares of fabric for the swappers!  She’s amazing!!  Thank you so much Karen, it was fun. 

And thanks to all the other swappers.  Great fabric choices.

Don’t you think the squares will be just perfect for something like this?

Puppies for baby

We have a new grandson on the way…due in September.  So I’ve been working on a quilt just for him.

For some time, I’ve had my eye on the adorable, Baby’s Bow Wow Blankie by Bonnie Sullivan, and finally decided it would be just perfect for this occasion.

UFO Sightings!

I started this quilt top 2 years ago and I finally finished it last week thanks to a wonderful gift of fabric from Thelma.

 

While I was on a roll, I used the leftovers to whip up this little lady from Kim’s book, Scrap Basket Surprises.

And last but not least…I started working on this (Lori Smith’s The Road Less Traveled) a year ago January.  The plan was a row a month, which I was pretty good at for 5 months.  For some strange reason, the last two rows took about a year!!  But now she’s together at last.

It feels awesome to finish up a few UFO’s.  Now I am rolling and have another one out of the drawer and in progress again.  It only needed 5 more blocks is all. This fabric was a gift from Mr. Sunshine several Christmas’s ago…it’s been so long I can’t even remember which one!  Oh my!

busy .. busy .. busy

swapped my needle for a hook

This week I traded my needle for a hook and made a little summer purse.  The pattern for the bag is from Alice at Future Girl.  I used cotton yarn and then added a flower for fun. 

Crochet is so relaxing.

Then I swapped back to a needle to sew a lining inside.  We are having strange Spring weather here…so this fabric helps with feeling Spring.

And speaking of swaps…

My squares for Karen’s Red and White Swap are ready for the mailman. 

 

I notice both of my daughter’s baby pictures were playing peek-a-boo with me while taking photos of the bag.  So fun and such a day brightener!

Hope your day is bright and happy too!

R & R

Mr. Sunshine and I have been out of town getting some rest and relaxation and spending time with family.

While I was there, (in Idaho) I picked up some beautiful red fabric for Karen’s 5” red/white fabric swap.  I’m really excited to be able to participate.

 

I also found a fabric outlet store and came away with lots of other wonderful fabrics as well.  Average price….$3.60 a yard!!  And all quilt quality…the kind of fabric you like to sit and caress…it just feels so heavenly and looks so pretty.

 

My mother-in-law, sister-in-law, Rhonda and I spent an afternoon sewing some tiny book covers.  I had my camera with me but didn’t think to take a single picture of us working together at the kitchen table.  I don’t know why, other than we were just too involved in what we were doing.

 

My sweet little Featherweight came with me and she sewed like a dream.  I just love her.

We shopped and ate and played games and visited and had a great time.

 

I also got in some nap time and finished two good books.

I highly recommend them both.

It was wonderful to get away for awhile.  Now we are both refreshed and ready to dive back into our normal routines. 

a tisket, a tasket, a little doll’s basket

I found this little basket for $1 at a thrift sale and snatched it up thinking it would be fun for our granddaughters’ baby dolls.

Then I read Stina’s post and her basket of quilts caught my eye. 

  

So I borrowed her idea.  I decided to keep the basket for myself to display little quilts in. 

Of course I don’t mind if the grandkids want to play with them too, these quilts are for using and enjoying.

I needed to do some ironing this morning but first had to move a lot of stuff out of the way.  My sewing room is a very busy place these days…so many things going on at once.

A First

 

168 little apple cores all stitched together.  No two alike.  It’s going to make a cute little doll quilt… about 24” x 28”.

It’s even kind of fun looking at them from the reverse side. 

But I’ll never see that again..

…because I’m getting it ready for the quilting part. 

I am going to hand quilt it.  Then because it was hand pieced, I will also hand stitch the binding on so I can say that it was 100% hand made.  That is a first for me.

Notebook Fun

 

Buy a mini composition book for your purse and make it fun with a fabric cover…

 

Like it so much that you whip up a few more to share…

 

Then play with fabrics and before you know it, you’ve sewn even more.

 

I found this cute idea over at Obsessively Stitching.  I think I caught her “obsession”  because I know I’m not done making them yet.

more on the little quilts

  

I finished Cheddar Cheese and Crackers.  This was one fun journey!  And because of that, I think it will always be a favorite of mine.  I wish I had enough stamina to make a large sized one  …maybe someday.

 

Thank you again Lori.  It fits beautifully in my doll cradle.

 

There are a few more apple core nine patches on my wall.  Whenever I sit down for even a minute, I feel the need to stitch two apple cores together…and sometimes that leads to a few more.