Farm Girl Vintage Quilt Along

I'm participating in the Farm Girl Vintage quilt along with Lori Holt.

I'm behind, but I thought you might like to see what I have done so far.

I don't have a farm, but I am a farm girl at heart.  I always dreamed of owning a farm with cows, chickens, pigs, and a barn with a quilt block painted on it, but this is a close as it will ever get:  

seeing the cows at Terry's (my best friend and quilting buddy) and 

this birdhouse that my husband built and our daughter painted quilt blocks on three sides. 

They made it for me for Mother's Day and it is "planted" in one of my flower beds.   I love it! 

When I was choosing fabrics to make my blocks for the Farm Girl Vintage Quilt Along I chose my huge stash of 1930's fabrics.  I sorted them into colors and placed each basket on a shelf in my sewing room.  

"Apron Strings" was the first block. 

Lori had instructions on how to make a pincushion from a 6 1/2" block, so of course I had to make one! 

And I made another one and turned it into a mug rug for my coffee cup. 

I love that Lori has 2 different sizes for each block and she gives us other ideas on how to use the blocks.  Each Friday she posts ideas on 2 different blocks. 

Here is Autumn Star: 

(My Hoosier cabinet is the perfect backdrop for my blocks, especially with my first cookbook when I was a little girl.) 

Whew!  I'm happy to see that I didn't lose my piecing skills after not sewing for a few months.  

Here is Baby Chick. 

I love her little heart. 

Here is Milking Day: 

This is such a sweet looking block.  

Here  is Baking Day. 

I love the stack of bowls and the wooden spoon.  This gets me in the mood to bake chocolate chip cookies!  

I guess that's as far as I have gotten.  I think I have made more, but I  didn't shoot their picture, yet. 

I decided that since I had scraps from cutting my 1930's stash that I would organize them by size so that when I need them they are ready!  I went to Dollar General and bought these stackable organizers. 

I labeled each one with stickers.  Before I cut from my stash for a new block, I check to see if I already have a size cut.   Anything I can do to help me stay organized also helps me save time.  

Are you doing the Farm Girl Vintage quilt along?  If so, leave me a comment. I would love to see your blocks. 

Happy Quilting! 

Amanda 

Hello!

Hi there, friends!  

I know...long time, no see.   A lot has happened since the last time I posted.  I had surgery on my right leg, so that kept me from sewing.  I went from a wheel chair, to a walker, to a cane.  After 6 months of physical therapy, 

 

I still can't run, but I will get there!  I loved my hot pink cane! 

I'm glad those days are over!!  

I have been sewing and teaching.  Yesterday I went to a friend's house to teach her how to paper piece. 

She had signed up to take this class at our quilt guild's workshop, but she had to work.  I offered to teach her during our Monday Morning Coffee Quilters get together.   She is always the hostess, and, as it turned out, 

we were the only two there!  It was probably a good thing because paper piecing takes a lot of concentration especially if you have never paper pieced  before.  She was able to get the top of her tree completed.  

This is the Tall Trim the Tree by Cindi Edgerton.  

So, I thought long and hard as to whether or not to start writing on my blog after being away for so long, and I decided to start back because I love to write and share my love of quilting and all the things that keep me busy.  

I'm glad to be back.  😊

Amanda

     

It's a Grand Illusion Mystery!

It's time for Bonnie Hunter's annual winter mystery quilt.  This year's quilt is called Grand Illusion.  

Tomorrow (Friday, November 28) she will start revealing clues, and I can't wait! 

Last month she gave us color ideas so that we could start selecting fabrics from our stash.  She told us which Valspar paint cards to get from Lowe's.  Shortly afterwards, my Quilt Guild took a bus trip to several quilt shops in Western Kentucky.  

Here are my friends and I, with our paint cards in hand, choosing fabrics.  Both of them fell in love with the yellow I chose, so they were waiting to have some cut for themselves, too!

You, too, can join in on the mystery quilt.  It's free, and anybody and join in on the fun.  You can find more about the mystery here.  

Happy Quilting!  

Amanda 

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!  

I am baking Pumpkin Gobs (click on Recipes and you will find the recipe there), and Corn Pudding to take to Terry's house to celebrate Thanksgiving with her and her family.  

Afterwards I will come home and start decorating for Christmas. That means I will be taking down all of my fall themed quilts including this one. 

This is Feels like Fall designed by Joined at the Hip.  Terry machine quilted it for me.  

I have many things to be thankful for including my family, friends, and my ability to sew and be creative ( and share my love of quilting by teaching and giving).  

Have a blessed day! 

Amanda 

Sewjo Saturday: Getting Ready for a Quilt Show

 It's another Sewjo Saturday at Kim's, and I have been sewing the last minute details for the quilts that I am entering in my Quilt Guild's Quilt Show coming up in a couple of weeks.  I will do another post about it when I have more time.

Every quilt entered in our show has to be quilted (not tied), bound, a sleeve for hanging, and a label.  My best friend, Terry, is a long-arm quilter. She has three of my quilts getting ready to be quilted.  She said it will be the last minute before I get my quilts, so she offered to sew the binding, the sleeves, and the labels on my quilts so that I will have time to hand stitch the things that I need to hand stitch.  What a great friend!

Today I sewed bindings for the three quilts.  I forgot to figure up how many yards of binding I made, but it's a lot.  I didn't want to just throw my binding into a bag and say "here ya go" especially after I took the time to press them.  I was trying to find a neater way to give them to her, and I came up with an idea that I thought I would share with you.

At first I was using my fingers, and it seemed to take forever, and the roll did not look circular.    I looked around (I don't remember having any empty toilet paper rolls around the house), so I found this:

 a small roller with masking tape for gathering threads from projects.   I decided that it needed something to wrap around the tape so the first part of my binding wouldn't stick and be hard to remove.  So I found a strip of fabric and I rolled it on to the roller over the tape like this:

I then took my piece of binding and started rolling. 

I rolled, and rolled, and rolled some more (this was for a queen size quilt 98x98).  Finally it looked like this:  

I gently pulled it off the roller (the piece of fabric really helped keep the binding from sticking to the roller.

Cute, huh?  You can pin the end so it doesn't unravel.

These would be so cute sitting in a jar on a shelf in my studio while waiting to return from Terry instead of waiting until the last minute to cut and sew them together.

I also made labels.

Terry can place the raw edges of the label along the raw edges of the quilt.  As she is sewing on the binding, it will cover the edges of the label and the quilt.  I can whip stitch the folded edge while I'm watching TV.   I first saw this technique here at Bonnie Hunter's website (scroll to the bottom of the page.)  Pat Sloan also has a technique, too, that you can find here.

Sewing bindings and labels is part of the quilting process.  It's the little things (and probably the most time consuming)  that help us finish our quilts.

This post is linked to Kim @My Go-Go Life

Have a great weekend!

Amanda

Sewjo Saturday

Kim is hosting another Sewjo Saturday, which is always fun.  You can go and look at the other people who have joined in and shared projects, as well.    Although it is Sunday, I wanted to share with you what I have been working on this weekend.

People who have been following my blog know that I have been busy working on the Celtic Solstice Mystery that Bonnie Hunter designed.   If you are interested in making Celtic Solstice Bonnie will be taking down the link to the PDF instructions on May 31, just so you know.

I am still working on my Birds in the Air units that I shared with you from other Sewjo Saturdays here and here.  I didn't realize I had been working on them for so long!

 I sew a little, square up a little, and sew a little, again.  Eventually I will get them all finished.  I did square up a few yesterday in between yard work and cleaning my house.

I'm getting a little tired of doing these, so I gathered up fabrics from my stash  to create the June small quilt from Count on It, a book from Art to Heart.  I love to make seasonal quilts.

It is all fused (with Heat and Bond lite) and ready to applique.  

I posted another Sewjo Saturday, but Kim was busy getting ready for quilt market.  You can see my post here, just in case you missed. it.  I made cute camping bags for my daughter.  

Do you do fun little projects in between more time consuming projects?  

Have a great weekend!  

Amanda 

Sewjo Saturday

It's another Sewjo Saturday at Kim's , I think.  She's busy getting ready for quilt market, but I'm posting anyway, just in case.

Last Saturday was my first time to participate in Sewjo Saturday and I met so many "new to me" quilting bloggers.  Participating in Sew alongs and linky parties is a great way to meet people in blogland.

One of the bloggers I met last weekend was Rebecca  at Our Busy Little Bunch.  I was looking through her tutorials, and while I was there, I saw this Camping-Shower Bag Tutorial.  Our youngest daughter, Julia, is traveling to Alabama to a music festival.  She is staying in a tent at a camp ground.

I don't think Julia has ever "roughed it" before.   Well, come to think of it, I never "roughed" it either because my parents had an Air Stream Travel Trailer back in the 60's and 70's.

The only "rough" part was cleaning it after we came home from traveling in Arkansas or to the lake every weekend.  Seeing that travel trailer brings back a lot of fun memories!  

There are showers at the camp ground.  When Rebecca mentioned the issues with carrying toiletries from the tent to the bathroom, I thought these bags would be cute for Julia and her friend that is going with her.  

Everything looks prettier hanging on my white picket fence with the Iris' blooming.  

There is a little pocket on the outside to carry a razor, toothbrush, and a small tube of toothpaste.  

The inside is large enough to hold shampoo, conditioner, and whatever else she needs to keep close by when she is in the shower.  She can use the straps to hang it if there is a hook close by.  

Rebecca suggested  using Polyurethane Laminated Fabric for the inside lining.  

The  stores around here (Hancock's and Jo Ann's)  had no idea what it was.  I used a Rip Stop water  resistant fabric that is  used to make flags.  

These bags were a perfect "rest" between making Celtic Solstice block parts.  Making something quick, easy, and cute is what I need every once in a while.

•••••••••••••

The other day I was adjusting my blog (cleaning house, so to speak), and I clicked on my Bloglovin' button.  It took me to my blog address that I lost.  I have about 157 followers on Bloglovin, so I contacted Bloglovin'  to ask how I can transfer my followers to my busylittlequilter.blogspot.com address.  Linda at Bloglovin' e-mailed me back.  She had  created a new account for me and she transferred all of my followers.  That's great customer service!  

So, if you would like to follow my blog using Bloglovin'  please click on the Bloglovin' button underneath my profile picture, or click on the Bloglovin' link in the comment box (I just discovered it!)

  If you don't use Bloglovin' you can sign up for my posts to be delivered in your e-mail account.  And you can follow me through Google Friend Connect.  Whatever you decide to do, I appreciate you stopping by.

Happy Quilting

Amanda 

Birds In the Air Continued

Happy Sunday!

I'm still working on my Bird's in the Air blocks for my Celtic Solstice quilt that is a Bonnie Hunter mystery.  (You can click on the Celtic Solstice button on my sidebar to find the instructions.  They are free now until June 2014.) Although it's more fun to sit at the sewing machine and sew, I spent time on Saturday getting the little parts ready for chain piecing. 

I can leave these by my sewing machine and, as I'm going about my day, I can sit for a few minutes and sew.  My little seedlings that I started from seeds are calling my name to be replanted to something larger. 

Today I will sew a little, plant a little, (clean house a little).  This is my first time to have a greenhouse.  I bought it at Big Lots on sale at the end of the season last year.  There are tomatoes, sunflowers, zinnias, zucchini, and eggplants.  They are looking great! 

Happy Quilting! 

Amanda