What I Whipped Up Wednesday

Wow,  it has been quite awhile since I posted to my Blog. 

We've turned the calendar to September & now we are getting ready for Fall. 

I must admit Summer is my favorite season but I don't miss the

Hazy, Hot & Humid Mid-Atlantic weather.

 

I've been playing around with some banner ideas.  This leaf stamped burlap is available at my favorite Big Box sewing store. It makes for super easy projects.  I cut a piece regular 8 1/2 x 11 notebook paper to make my pattern piece.  Cutting from top corners to middle of bottom edge. Using a rotary cutter makes for quick work, but it does eat up a blade quickly.  To attach to twine,  I turned over the top edge of burlap and zigzag stitched it with about an inch between them.  By leaving about 20 inches on each end, there is plenty to attach the banner to just about anything.

 

 

Using a beige linen  fabric, I stenciled letters with Delta Cream Coat paint.

It took two coats to cover thoroughly.  I made two separate banners and just hung them together across the mantel for this look. 

 

Some smaller banners, which measured just 5 inches across the top were cut to use up some scraps.  Always a good thing!

These were sewn with edges touching to have another look. 

 

 

Just alittle touch of Fall here in the middle of September. 

Not quite ready for pumpkins & scarecrows just yet. 

 

I'm linking up with Kimme @  http://www.sugaranddots.com/

 

 What I Whipped Up Wednesday

 

Hop over to see all the great ideas! 

 

 

Take Care, thanks for stopping by!

 

 

 



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Work in Progress . . .

Today I have my Stack n Whack quilt top together and ready to add batting & backing.
I decided to use a coordinating brown 2" strip between the blocks to set them off better. 

 

The quilt top is square measuring 52".  I need to add the two side strips to complete the top.

This was a fun block to make. No two blocks are alike and I didn't have to be real careful with what two blocks were put side by side.    

I'm sure I'll make another  quilt with this technique.  It would make a great flannel quilt to cuddle up with or one with your favorite team/school colors to take to the game.
It goes together very quickly. 

 

 

Here is a picture of another quilt  I completed this past week.  It's with a firefighter theme kinda a 9 patch with  a 5" block. Very easy and nice for a childs room.

 

 

 

I have several (4 or 5) quilt tops ready for quilting.  That's what I have trouble deciding on.  I usually just 'stitch in the ditch' or do diagonal stitching and these two tops certainly lend themselves to that style but I'd just like to try something new without totally messing up my tops.  I have done meandering on several smaller projects but haven't attempted a top this size.    These are most likely going to family or friends so they don't have to be perfect - it's just taking that leap of faith to try something different.    Any suggestions? 

 

In reference to the post last week waiting for snow -  we received zero.  The weathermen missed it big time in this area (which isn't really a bad thing).  I'm sure the grocery stores were thrilled.  I'm glad we missed the 12-18 inches they were callin for.  

 

 

Have a great week -  Think Spring! 

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A Beautiful Sunny Tuesday

Today is a beautiful sunny day in the Mid-Atlantic.  It is about 45 with no wind.
This spring has been quite a mix bag of weather & this week will be no different.
Tomorrow we are expecting 8-12 inches of snow...   I am really over the snow & cold weather. Come on spring!

This is a picture of a Helleborus Lenten Rose... in my little flower bed.  They are just starting to peek through.  They are  the first plant to bloom in my shady garden. And are very hardy and provide nice green foliage throughout the summer.  When the weather gets nicer I will trim back the dead growth from last year and glossy new leaves will fill in the area.  

 

 

                                

    Another picture of a hellebore bloom.  Many people like to clip the flowers and float in a shallow dish.  http://www.hellebores.org/hellebores.html   

 

Here is another picture of my flower bed on this nice sunny day.  We will check back in with Garden Elf tomorrow and see if he survived the pending snow.

 

I have several things on my sewing To Do list for tomorrow.  It will be a good day to sit inside and watch the snow from my sewing room.   

 

Take Care...

 

 

 

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Stack & Whack Wednesday

My Work In Progress this week is a Stack & Whack block quilt made from the Celia Benartex fabric line.   I purchased a set of 12 fat quarters some time ago and  decided it was time to pull it off the shelf and make something fun.   
 

I must say this fabric and pattern is a little "out of my box" so to speak.   But I am enjoying working with it.  I had enough fabric to have four stacks of fabric measuring 8 1/2 inches square. I then used my rotary cutter and cut each stack into nine blocks. Nothing was even or measured, so each of the four stacks will be completely different.  That's what makes it fun.

 

My pattern is a variation of the nine patch stack & whack found at http://www.ohfransson.com/.

Then  I rotated the fabric patches in each stack to the back.

i.e: 1st stack the top fabric went to the back, 2nd stack the top two fabrics went to the back etc....   So no 2 blocks should be the same, and each block should have one of each of the nine fabrics.

I was able to  lay the patches out and string sew them together. Keeping organized was the key & not stopping to switch the wash or answer the phone.  It worked pretty well.  

 

So I now have all four stacks of fabric sewed together in blocks and will try to finish up the top this weekend.  I have to decide if I want narrow strips between the blocks or let them butt together.
Decisions Decisions. 
 
More to come on this WIP.  
 

 
Everyone  Think Spring!!    

WIP Wednesday

It's Wednesday already!  It has been a busy week - the Groundhog has predicted an early spring, the Ravens won the Superbowl and we celebrated my hubby's birthday yesterday with a trip to the Japanese steak house (which is always a fun time).     Today I've gotten back to work on some little Valentine gifts I need to finish up before the weekend.

 

I made a couple Heart Applique Towels a couple weeks ago and today I'm putting together some Felt Heart Pillows.   

 

Here is a cute one I saw on Pinterest and gave me some ideas.. 

Pretty love woven heart pillow by annakrycz via Etsy

 

 

I had some red wool felt in my stash so I searched around the house to find a good heart shape.  Turns out these heart napkins I've had forever worked perfectly.  So I traced them on the felt & cut out.

 

 

Last week when I visited http://needles-n-pins.com/ (my fav local quilt shop) I found this gray linen fabric.  Now since I have it home under the light it looks alittle more brown, but it will be  fine.   I decided on a small 8" x 10" pillow size. Perfect for bedtop or on a nice chair. 

 

 

So, I have cut my hearts out & used a fusible to adhere to the linen. Then machine blanket stitched around the heart.  I pinned the front & back together & stitched around (yes all the way around) and then realized I hadn't put the stuffing in the pillow.  good grief.

So I pulled out a little on the bottom & stuffed the pillow & re-stitched.

I unraveled the edges a bit to give it a different look. 

 

 

Here is a picture of the finished project.   I have to make 3 more for the weekend but they will go smoother than the first. 

I guess that makes it a Finish It Up Wednesday too! 

 

I've linked with http://www.freshlypieced.com/.  Always so much fun to see what others are working on.  Such great ideas out there.

 

Wow I can certainly see I need to use my 'real' camera from now on instead of my Android.  Certainly makes a difference.   And just a word from a Newbie Blogger - be sure to Save your work before you walk away to answer the phone.  I think I did the beginning of this post 2 or 3 times.   Lessons learned.   

 

Any other good tips for a Newbie? 

 

 

 

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Superbowl Champs

 

 

What an exciting Superbowl game! Ups & downs all night long. 

Being Marylanders, born and raised- it has been quite an exciting

couple weeks of football.  Always the underdog but they kept fighting.

Joe Flacco pulled them through with all the naysayers at his back.

Felt so good to cheer for the home team in the big game.

This year the commercials definitely took a backseat to the game.

 

Just had to show my team spirit today.

It will be a new season in September so we have to enjoy it while we can.

Maybe the other birds in Baltimore will pick up the ball and give us another

great season of baseball! Go Orioles!  Spring training is just days away. 

 

 

Getting back on track with Work in Progress Wednesday at http://www.freshlypieced.com/

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WIP Wednesday

Works in Progress - well we all have a few of those piled in our sewing rooms I'm sure.  I seem to work on one type of project for awhile and then jump to another.  I like to keep mixing things up so I don't get bored. (like that would ever happen).. 
I just finished up a couple small quilts with a FireFighter theme.  Our family is quite involved in the volunteer fire service in our town.  Would you believe we have Blue firetrucks!   So when I saw these panels at a quilt shops going out of business sale I scooped them up.  I combined the main panel with some other fabric in my stash and I think they turned out pretty cute.   I can't say they are perfect for a little boy - because my daughter is the first one out the door when that siren goes off.  So they are a great childs quilt.  

 

 

  



Today is a warm blustery day in the mid-atlantic.  Tomorrow ol'man winter will be back with a vengance! They always say if you don't like the weather here - wait til tomorrow it will change. And that is so true.   Hope everyone stays safe with the storms moving east.

Linked with Lee at   http://www.freshlypieced.com/ 

 

 

http://www.etsy.com/shop/MainStreetStitching