Mirror Mirror

Happy Memorial Day to Everyone!

We've had quite a bit of rain here in Kansas.  I think they someone said that whole state just this month has had over 54 inches of rain.  To tell you the truth I'm glad to finally see the sunshine yesterday and they say part of today.  Friday I spent the whole day in the basement vacuuming up water that had come in from the cracks in the floor.  Not much you can do about that with out tearing up the floor and starting over.  I'm sure not going to do that right now.  More rain is forecasted for the next 3 days!  Again all I can say is "Gloom!"  I know in July we'll wish we could have some rain.  Never happy it seems but moderation would be nice.

Anyway back to my favorite subject "Quilting."  This is a quilt I sewed called "Mirror Mirror" by Cozy Quilt Designs.  The Designer is Georgette Dell'Orco.  It is designed for a Baby, Large Throw, Twin, Queen and also a King size bed.  Either size you make it is designed to use various amounts of printed fat quarters. From each fat quarter you will cut strips of different sizes to create the blocks.  I used bulk fabric for my strips. You will also need background fabric and of course your borders, backing and binding. The pattern has different ways of putting this block together for different designs.  It was a fun quilt to sew.

I sewed this quilt for a display at "Kessler Kreations" in Hillsboro, Ks.  Stop in and see it sometime if you're in the area.

Hope you enjoyed this quilt.  Get your creative juices going and try something new!

Until the next time,
Happy Stitchin'

Connie

"Entwined"

Today I choose to talk about this quilt "Entwined."

This is a quilt that I made with 2 1/2" strips interlocking blocks that I cut from scraps that I had in my stash.  I used the colors that I picked to make 2 different blocks, but being the same colors but opposite of each other.

The designer is Marilyn Foreman, www.quiltmoments.com by Quilt Moments.

This block looks comlex but really if you take your time anyone can do it. You can create a completely different look by using different backgrounds, borders and even your own scraps.  You can use strips, fat quarters or yardage your choice.

Wanted to try something totally different with 2 1/2" strips.  Think I accomplished it!!  I'm happy.

So step out of your box and try something challenging.  You'll feel good!

Happy Stitchin,

Connie

A little Christmas spirit of giving...........................

It's been a long time but now I hope I can stay on task and post more frequently.  A lot has happened since my last post but the biggest change is I'm officially retired now.   Then I had issues with my blog and I couldn't log in to post but now I finally got that figured out.  So lets get started and try to catch up.

Every year at Christmas time I donate a quilt to a local hospital to give to a Christmas or New Years baby.  This has been so rewarding for me to know its going to a precious little one and will be wrapped in love even if I don't know who it goes to.  This was the third quilt that I've donated and hope to continue giving during this holiday. The hospital every year sends me a Thank You card and several times has even included a picture of the baby wrapped in it.  Means a lot to me.  Anyway I enjoyed making this little giraffe quilt for either a boy or girl.

Hope you like this little quilt and more to come.

Be sure to come back and visit me and in the mean time,

Keep Stitchin,

Connie

Barn Quilts

I don't seem to blog as much as I like.  One thing that is holding me back is I'm remodeling my sewing room and things are really hard to fine let alone sew.  So hopefully I'll get back to being organized and start sewing again.

Wanted to share another couple of Barn Quilts that I have completed.  This is additive!  My sister and I have set up classes to show how to paint a Barn Quilt and have had a good response.  We're hoping to have quite a few registered here in our county so it will bring tourists.  This is an up and coming thing now spread throughout the USA and we want to be part of it.  Other counties in Kansas are really big right now.  Check out your library and see if you can find books on Barn Quilts and read about them, how they got started and where some of them are.  You can also find alot of Barn Quilts on "Pinterest" if you are a follower there.  I have quite a few under a board "Barn Quilts" in my Pinterest section.  Check it out!

This one to the right I put a dark blue border around the outside to make it stand out.  I have a picture with the border but its laying down and doesn't show it off as well as this one.

I hope to get these 2 barn quilts hung this weekend and then after I get the wheelbarrow decorated for Fall time I'll show you the finished picture.

I hope you enjoyed my pictures and want to go and do some research on "Barn Quilts."  Even my sons have noticed them and tell me where to look for them.  They wouldn't even have thought anything about them if I wouldn't be painting them. They don't have to be hanging on a barn.  I have mine on my chicken/garage shed.  Some people are hanging them in a patio area, side of a front door, on a garden shed, any building.  So watch the side of the road and see if you can find any!  You'll be excited if you do find one or two along your road trip.

So either keep painting if you're painting these or keep stitchin, which I hope to be soon.

Connie

Here Puppy Where Are You.....................

Well I decided to sew something other than a quilt.  I had seen this pattern for an apron on one of my little shop hops that I did not long ago.  Thought it was so cute. So bought the pattern and made it for my 3 year old Granddaughter, Mariah.  She just loves to play in her kitchen and wear an apron.  The pattern is from Cotton Ginnys called Cute Friends.  The pattern has the puppy pattern which I made, a bumble bee and a lady.  I thought the puppy pattern was so cute and it went with Mariah and she loves her puppies.

Along with giving her the apron I had bought a Mommy and Daughter Cookbook to try there cooking skills out. She loves to help Grandma in her kitchen so why not have her own apron and cookbook. Well here's to trying something different. I really enjoyed making it and it went pretty fast. So look at patterns and see what you can make! Keep on stitchin, Connie

Chopsticks

This quilt was really a fun quilt to make.  The name of it is “Chopsticks” designed by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts.  It consists of large and small triangles weaving a festive Asian flair with this crisscross.  This could be a very scrappy quilt if you’d like to get rid of scraps.  Here I used ¾ yard of 7 different fabrics and then black and white to frame the triangles in some cases.   It is using the 12” creative grid Equilateral 60 degree triangle ruler.  The ruler number is CGRT12560 if you wish to look for it.   If you do not want to purchase the ruler there are template patterns provided in the pattern.

I apologize for the picture.  I’m doing some changing in my sewing room which doesn’t allow me to lay it flat on the floor.  Also the edging of the quilt needs to be cut so there’s only ½ a triangle and without my cutting table again it makes it hard to do this step.

Well on to the next project!  Wonder what that might be….

Until next time, keep stitchin!

Connie

Barn Quilt...........................

Took an interesting class last weekend that involved quilting.  Well maybe not quilting like with a sewing machine and material but another kind of quilting.  The latest fad in Kansas now is Barn Quilts.  Barn Quilts can be painted on the actual barn but most of them are painted on a board any size you want to paint.  If you're really interested in this go to your library and check out the book "Barn Quilts and the American Quilt Trail Movement" by Suzi Parron w/ Donna Sue Groves.  It has a few USA states with different barn quilts and pictures to go along with the stories.  It's a fun book to read and look at the pictures.

So making a Barn Quilt is simply transferring a pattern from paper to the board.   Just like if you were designing a quilt block.  Then taping off and painting the squares.  It does take a little time to do especially the taping off for painting and then waiting for your paint to dry in between coats.  Depends on your pattern if simple or complicated.  I sure enjoyed the class and want to make more of these.

I mentioned hanging them on a barn but some people don't have barns!  I'm going to hang mine on a chicken house and then I have an entry way on my house and I'm going to hang another one on the outside of it.  It seems that a few people are starting to put them somewhere on there house.  In the book, I mentioned at the beginning, it shows them hanging signs and hanging on fences.  Cool ideas.

So check into it!  It is a lot of fun and then watch when you go on trips to see if you can find any BARN QUILTS!

My barn quilt hanging outdoors!

In the mean time, keep on stitchin,

Connie