Jan. OMG: My "FABULOUS" Finish

Whew...I got  my FABULOUS mini finished with a few hours left in the month!

What ya think? The word Fabulous itself, well, just didn't look very fabulous to me.

I let myself play and had fun just letting my creative energy guide this little project.

(Think: "mathmatical" less than "< " sign.)

It  measures 22"x23" inches and has found it's place among our stairway of word quilts:

2016 is definitely off to a FABULOUS start that has happily included lots of sewing.

Sharing with everyone at these two linky parties:

 and 

And of course, I close unable to resist wishing you a FABULOUS day.

Why do you quilt? Consensus

It's evident through everyone's comments we quilters are happier than a bird 

with a french fry when we get to sew and make quilts! 

There was a consensus through-out our comments to the question I posted earlier this week (Why do you quilt?)  that none of us are really motivated by having an intended outcome or recipient, but rather enjoy the creative process of our quilting. Quilting makes us happy! 

 Kindred spirits are we!

Plus, as some of you commented, it's a great stress reliever and way cheaper than therapy! LOL!

 I just had to drop in today and let everyone know how much I enjoyed this bloggy conversation.

Tuesday Archives #99: The Alphabet!

Hello! Hello! and Happy Tuesday Archives! 

The linky party that let's you rejuvinate OLD blogging posts.

. If you are new to our linky, click over the here to read the details about this fun, weekly linky party.

(You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

This week's theme is: The ALPHABET! 

Now how long has it been since you guys sang your ABC's??

This week we'll be singing them here at Tuesday Archives!

Today we get to skim through our archives and rejuvinate  any of  our projects (whether they be embroidery, wool, or even sewn) that showcase the alphabet. (No matter what language)

And, a quick thank you to everyone who has already joined in on the conversation at my:

Why do you quilt? post yesterday. I'm so inspired reading everyone's comments and grateful to know I'm in such good company when it comes to this hobby of ours. If ya haven't had a chance, stop by and share why you quilt by clicking right here.

Why do you quilt?

Sooooo....for some reason I find myself with many projects going on right now, moving a lot forward each week!!My husband asked: "What are you going to do with all these quilts when they are done?"

Hmmmm.....that question never occured to me.

I just love making quilts right now.

I love the variety.

I love the creativity.

I love the experimenting.

I love the learning.

I love the process.

I love the friendships.

Okay, I even love the shopping!

I'm having fun...making all kinds of quilts at the same time. See:

So that got me wondering. Do you always start a quilt with an intended purpose/recipient?

I mean for me, every family member has more than their share of quilts now. As you can tell, I'm having great fun just being free and exploratory with my quilting right now. 

What do ya think? I'm curious, why do you quilt?

Tomorrow we'll be sharing our alphabet projects.

I'm sharing here:

Sunday Sewing....

I spent the morning turning my snowmen into a flimsy and okay...I may be pushing Spring. But! The sun was out today and the temperatures rose to 46 degrees. (So crazy to think a week ago is was snowing like crazy here) Anyhoo...we grabbed a slice of sun. Even if it was for a wee 20 minutes. I sat, I stitched, I sipped, I soaked up some vitamin D. I dreamed of Spring...until I got too cold. LOL!

(Thinking of all of you back east.)

How did I NOT know about this tool?!

Seriously!!! 

I have been doing applique for years and never knew what a 1/4" Clover Bias Maker tool was, let alone that I could use it to create stems for my applique projects...in seconds!!

So easy peasy....I made a whole spool full! I'm hooked!

A Sew Along full of new learning already!

What do you enjoy most about a sew along?
I'm participating in Lori Holt's Bloom Sew Along and have already learned so much. First, okay, there's that amazing little tool mentioned above that is going to save me a ton of time in the future. (I'm definitely getting all the other sizes!)

Secondly, I'm also learning a new way to applique using Pellon interfacing in a lightweight non-fusible.(Click HERE to read Lori's tutorial.) I'm finding this method to be quick and easy with a neatly finished edge. I plan to machine applique my blocks using a blanket stitch for this sew along. 

 I prepared the applique pieces the evening before and was able to have my block sewn together in a half hour after work.  Bam! NOw that's what I'm talking about! Here's my first block:

Our finished blocks measure 12 1/2" x 12 1/2".

Guess what! I'm even stash busting my 30's tub of fabric for this one!

Don't ya love that feeling?!?!

(I know, I know, a lot of exclamation points in this post...the littlest things really do make me happy!)

Tuesday Archives #98: Anniversaries

Hello! Hello! and Happy Tuesday Archives! 

The linky party that let's you rejuvinate OLD blogging posts.

. If you are new to our linky, click over the here to read the details about this fun, weekly linky party.

(You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

This week's theme is: ANNIVERSARIES 

Whether it's a blogging anniversary you want to rejuvinate or perhaps a quilt like my story quilt pictured below, this week finds us rejuvinating those anniversary milestones! 

This sure was a fun quilt to make as we celebrated our 25th wedding anniversay two years ago, 

It continues to hang in our bedroom and reminds us of our fun beginning to marriage.

Feel welcome to click here to read the stories captured in this quilt.

The Snowmen are Made!

Inspired by a student bulletin board...

I created these this weekend:

 I just couldn't resist following through on this inspiration.

I machine appliqued the snowman and will hand stitch the scarves, noses and eyes this week as we watch TV in the evenings. Then I'll add the arms and sash them together.
Each block is 9"x12".

Any ideas for the sashing??
This one is going to be fun to quilt...I can't wait!

On the quilt frame today...

More bubble quilting on another Project Linus quilt.

I think this was the perfect panotgraph for that cute fishy fabric don't ya think?!

Jackson and I also took advantage of our weather finally warming up to 36 degrees and
enjoyed a  refreshing four mile walk outside.

And guess what! I stopped by school on my way home and "borrowed" those snowmen from the bulliten board. I plan to play with those for the rest of the afternoon.

Stay tuned!

Click on the picture to read more about Project Linus:

Jan. Saturday Sampler

I've been looking forward to sharing with you the monthly Saturday Sampler I"m doing with my quilty friend. This year we chose to play with our Quick Curve Rulers  as we create the

 Curve it Up sampler quilt by the girls at Sew Kind of Wonderful.

I'm happy to report this is also stash busting project as I'm using my "Stitchy" fabric line by Aneela Hoey that I bought as a kit on clearance about a year and half ago. 

Here's my first three blocks. They each measure 16 1/2" x 16 1/2".

Block 1: Churn Dash

Block 2: Sawtooth Star
Hmmm I think I need to practice cutting that green curve.

Block 3: Rail Fence
This one came out pretty good.

Curious if you ever make a sampler quilt? I think the thing I like best about samplers...is exactly that. 

They allow ya to sampler new techniques, patterns, even color combinations.

It's also fun to do one with a friend so you can see those different color combinations.

We did have to postpone our get together until next week due to the dumping of snow we are getting right now. But ya know what that means...aside from having to shovel the driveway later, I'll be sewing. Annndd after reading all your comments on my snowman post, I'm kinda tempted to play with making a few of those...I mean, what's another WIP right!?? LOL!

Hope your weekend finds you with some sewing time too.

Inspired to make a Snowman Quilt

Every day I walk by this bulletin board here at school and think:

"Those snowmen would make the cutest winter quilt".

I remember our Fourth Graders being a creative bunch ,so I'm not surprised by their unique collection of  happy snowmen. I know they make me smile every day.

I'm inspired to do something similar with my second graders in February but with a Valentines theme. Curious, where do you find your quilty inspiration??

Tuesday Archives #97: Art Quilts

Hello! Hello! and Happy Tuesday Archives! 

The linky party that let's you rejuvinate OLD blogging posts.

. If you are new to our linky, click over the here to read the details about this fun, weekly linky party.

(You can also check out all our past Tuesday Archives themes by clicking right here.)

This week's theme is: ART QUILTS

I knew immediately who to highlight for our Art Quilt theme this week!

Meet Quilting Artist Debra Harry.

Debra created this 14"x14" beauty in 2004 using commercial fabric, batik lame, silk embroidery, ribbons, glass beads, hand dyed ribbon, fibers, specialty rayon and metallic threads. I fell in love with it the very first time I saw it in 2014 when Debra entered it in the Blogger's Quilt Festival. Another fun "detail"...this Goddess of the Deep was an original design for the Quilting Arts Magazine 2005 calendar contest. She's the June "covergirl"! (I'm so inspired just writing this post.)

Sunday Sewing

We continue to be under an inversion of freezing fog...

which makes for perfect Sunday Sewing in my little spot in the world.

Yep! I've unearthed my 2014 RSC girls/houses and have a few creative surprises for ya! My neighborhood has been uninspiring. The black and white backgrounds have been sitting in stalemate.

So as they sat on the wall and I found myself without inspiration, I busied myself creating some  fabric-made tumblers. Yet, even when combined with a fun background, these too just just felt okay. And you know me, "Miss sewing without a plan", I was truly beginning to question myself: 

"What in the heck am I doing?" "Why am I creating more projects and finishing nothing?"

Until! I decided to divide my girls and houses, their stalemate ended. 

 THEN! For the fun of it, I combined the fabric-made tumblers as a border with the dolls...

Oh My! I seriously started to hear the Hark Angels sing out from that inversion of freezing fog!

BAM! Now THIS is what I'm talking about!

(I'm even thinking of using those turquoise dots on black above for a border...we'll see.)

It's so fun!

So now you know where I'll be today especially as this freezing fog continues to be the view outside my studio window: (Yes, I was too big of a wimp to go outside for a picture this morning.) 

And later, as the day begins to wind down, I have my February Wool banner all cut and pinned for some slow stiching during the Golden Globes tonight. Do you watch? We are always so behind, that we find ourselves with a pen and paper in hand making our Redbox/Netflix "what to watch" list.

Happy Sunday Sewing/Stitching everyone!

And before I get back to sewing myself, I'm off to see what everyone else is up to today at:

This week's upcoming theme: Art Quilts