A New Summer Quilt!

I can remember a time I use to make a quilt every month...

...now here I'm posting one I made last summer that I finally got quilted and 

the binding sewn just in time to enjoy it for the summer!!

The pattern is called: Friendship Scrap Block from www.quilterscache.com.

The very best part...it was made from left over fabric from this Lori Holt Kit: 

(Which by the way, makes me smile everyday as it brightens my little laundry room.)

What else makes me smile is the fact that I loved this fabric so much, I now have an oversized 

lap quilt to enjoy and ALL my extra fabric was used!!! YEAH!!!!!!!!

I hoping more sewing is in my future, as I find myself at another cross road. Yep! Last week I hung up my school lanyard and recess whistle after 33 years of teaching.

But! I'm NOT retired! 

I have actually been transitioning into a new District job as our very first Talented and Gifted Coordinator. This has proven to be the most empowering transition I have made personally in quite a long time and one that is worthy of one of my "Life and Learning" post. Hopefully some words of wisdom and inspiration will come to me, but for now, I'm simply relishing the process of change and personal growth I'm experiencing. 

I just turned 57 and got to happily celebrate with these two:

I feel blessed in so many ways and am looking forward to having one more chapter in my career.

I hope this post finds you, my old blogging friends, doing well.

With Smiles, Val:)

A New Applique Project...

Inspired from the book: Applique with Attitude from Piece O'Cake Designs, I put together this fun little applique wall hanging today. I've been missing applique sewing and even though my wool project is allllmmmmoooossst finished and I really should focus on that,  I just don't feel like sewing with wool when it's summer. This one is light and cool to sew and provides the perfect hand sewing I've been craving during my morning coffee on the patio.

 Once bordered it will finish into a fun 30"x 36" wall hanging. I'm also going to make this a project that allows me to play with some of my free motion quilting ideas and hopefully begin to build my confidence in that area of quilting too. So, that's what I've been up to as I begin to enjoy my summer break. Stay tuned for more soon....

Also...LOTS going on here at the ol' blog.

Click HERE to participate in my Tuesday Archives Give-Away.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Eye Spy Swap.

Piggy Bank Savers...mark your calendars for July 6th...as that's when we empty and count our quilty savings for the year. I think I'm going to beat hubby this year!

June OMG: Bee Happy Progress

I set out to continue to be intentional about using projects in my stash this year, so I tackled my  Lori Holt's Bee Happy! applique blocks this month as my June OMG. I wanted to make some obvious progress in getting more of these blocks done.

I went from this: 

...to this: (Obvious progress right!)

I think I did good! I will continue to work on this one in-between other projects with the motivation to have it done and quilted by the end of my summer break. I also crossed an eye-spy quilt off my list this month and got another quilt's binding done. I appreciate Patty's OMG as it rejuvenated this project which provides the perfect summer sewing for me .

Also...LOTS going on here at the ol' blog.

Click HERE to participate in my Tuesday Archives Give-Away.

Thanks to everyone who participated in our Eye Spy Swap.

Piggy Bank Savers...mark your calendars for July 6th...as that's when we empty and count our quilty savings for the year. I think I'm going to beat hubby this year!

June OMG: Bee Happy!

HELLLLOOO SUMMER!!!!!!!

I want to continue to be intentional about using projects in my stash this year, so I'm tackling my  Lori Holt's Bee Happy! applique blocks this month as my OMG. I want to make some obvious progress in getting more of these blocks done.

I had purchased the kit with my last year's Piggy Bank Savings so I'd like to get it done before this year's Piggy Bank Challenge comes around again NEXT month already! 

(Savers mark your calendars for our linky coming July 6th.)

 I'm using the fuse applique method and machine stitching these with a blanket stitch, so they are fun and fast to finish. I only have 12 more blocks to make and think they'll be easy to get done during an afternoon movie on a hot summer afternoon.

 I have a whole list of projects I want to play with now that I'm on Summer break, including:

1. Make a summer tablecloth for our patio table.

2. Finish a family size Eye-Spy quilt that will be gifted in August.

3. I have two quilts that need the binding sewn.

4. I'd also like to get my Anni Downs BOM finished...I'm sooo close!

June will be fun filled month as I have Grammy Camp scheduled with my little buddy. I'm teaching an eight day Photo Journalism Discovery Camp to Middle Schoolers. This is going to be so fun as I'm going to introduce them to the world of blogging!! (Stay tuned) Annnndddd hubby and I have two weekend golf get-aways planned! (Yes! I accidentally became a golfer and LOVE it!!!! Really! My husband started so he could go golf with our son-in-law. One afternoon I said I'd go along and drive the cart as he got in a practice round. Well, before he was even done with the first hole I found myself out of the cart giving it a try! And guess what! I'm pretty good at it!! LOL!! )

With all that said, it looks like I'll have many fun posts to share this month. So stay tuned!

OUR SWAP IS CLOSED! 

Hey Guys! What better way to collect 200/400 different Eye-Spy fabrics than by swapping with fellow blogger friends. Click HERE to read about our Eye Spy Swap and perhaps think about joining us.

Moving it Forward....

The scrappy flowers that I started last month took a turn for the brighter side...

...and will provide some fun stitching this week. I seriously can't wait to show you how I'm going to use them to change the center on my Rainbow Girl quilt later this week.

Until then, I hope your week is off to a great start!!

PS: Like my "new" blog header! ARG! No more free PicMonkey. Need to figure out "now what".

WI specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Best of 2017 Linky

I like participating in Cheryl's "Best of" Linky Party as it creates the opportunity and motivation for me to look back and see how my year of blogging has been. 

 My "word" for 2017 was JOY. I started out the year with an ambitious list of goals, but quickly realized I'd take a more joyful, laid back approach to my quilting. Our Winter was overwhelming and Fall was filled with family transitions, which as you know, included welcoming our new grand guy. Wierd how much can happen in a year huh. In review, I did finish six quilts and have been thinking about new ways to be creative in my studio and here on the blog. (Stay tuned) It truly has been a joyful blogging year with each of you as my "virtual quilting community". I am grateful for our friendships. Soooo, with that said, here is my best of 2017: 

First up, My MOST VIEWED post coming in with 696 views was my Classroom Quilt Finish.  Wow! Thank you for your continuous support of me as a second grade teacher.

Next, JACKSON'S MOST POPULAR POST with 717 views was when I asked reader's to take a quiz to determine What Dog Breed are You? I enjoyed finding out how many of you have a dog companion and what breed fit your lifestyle.

Next, is our LARGEST TUESDAY ARCHIVES PARTY. It was dated back in September and had 26 links. It was surprisingly our BAG themed party. Thank you for your continued participation in our weekly Tuesday Archives linky. 

We've had 178 linky parties so far...and many still ahead!

1. Each Tuesday I've posted a quilt theme.

2. I appreciate the time and effort you take to search through your quilting archives for old posts to link under the theme.

3. Thank you for visiting eachother.

 And remember you can find all our past themes in our Tuesday Archives: DIRECTORY Plus, I know Tuesday Archives is not your traditional linky party. As I prepared this post, I noticed that our weekly links have decreased by 50% compared to a year ago. I'm not sure if this is due to the rise in instagram and pinterest usage, but if you have any input to offer about our themes...please  email me with your ideas. And if you are new to my blog,  I'll hope you'll stop by on Tuesdays and join us!

And finally, I'll conclude with My Two FAVORITE QUILT Finishes of the year:

The first one is my Bloom QAL, made entirely from my stash!

The second, is my queen size Raw Edged Flowers and Nine PatchQuilt. 

It's always nice to finish a quilt that has been over a year in the creating isn't it. 

So there you have it: The 5 Best of 2017 here at Val's Quilting Studio. I want to thank all of you who have become my blogging friends over the past years.  I also want to welcome you if you are new to my ol' spot here in blogland. Please take a look around, and if ya are even a little bit inspired by what ya see, I hope you'll follow too. In the meantime, happy holidays to you all and thank you Cheryl for hosting this party. Click on the picture below to check out everyone participating and celebrating:

I specialize in edge to edge pantographs with over 100 designs to choose from.

Check out my Long-Arm Quilting page for details.

I offer FREE Return Shipping on all quilts in the U.S.A.

Jan. OMG: Winter Wallhanging Finish

My January OMG was to get these finished into a wallhanging that would be completed and

hanging in our home by the end of the month. 

Ta Da! With two days to spare, I got 'er done. 

Knowing this was my "One Monthly Goal" motivated me to get this one done. I used a variety of random quilting on this one as I didn't want the quilting to be too dense and well, quite honestly, I wasn't in the mood to quilt this weekend. So I  kept things simple as I echoed around the mittens and the hearts and quilted small snowflakes on the two snowman blocks.

I didn't want to use a pantograph, yet wanted the effect that it was snowing.

So, I randomly quilted nine larger snowflakes throughout the quilt. 

I know there's a ton of different ways I could have really enhanced this quilt if I had taken the time to quilt it, but honestly, sometimes it's just nice to get it done. So, if you ever find yourself in "the neighborhood" know you'll find yourself cozy right here were it now hangs in our guest room:

Grateful for the motivation our monthly linky gave me this month.

Click HERE to see what everyone else finished this month. 

Note: This week's Tuesday Archives theme is, ironically: SNOWMEN.

Tuesday Archives #144: Needle Books

Welcome to the linky party that rejuvenates your old quilting/sewing posts! 

Please click here to read more about this linky party.  

This week's theme is: NEEDLE BOOKS

If you are anything like me, you have a variety of needle cases too.

I even have one I "hope to find time to make" as I can love Sue Spargo's kits.

And that little red case below is perfect for traveling as it's magnetic! Love that!!

Brrr it's cold out!

We awoke to -16 degrees outside and school cancelled once again.

I guess we didn't have to work so hard yesterday digging ourselves out.

I feel sooo sorry for the postal workers. I hope this path helps a little:

We also keep a path on this sidewalk in the back cleared for the dogs. 

As you can imagine, Jackson runs like a race dog along it and is quickly ready to be back inside.

 Jackson doesn't veer far from it as the snow's too deep and usually always at my side,

I panicked for a moment when I could't see him. Once I called his name, he "popped" up on his hind legs from the sidewalk as if to say: "I'm over here mom!" I couldn't believe I caught him on film!

I read today we've had a record breaking 26" of snow since December 1st. Isn't that crazy! 

 Anyhoo, one would think with another "surprise" day off  and no where to go, I'd get a lot done.

NOPE!

Oh I have a ton I "could" do but I guess today wasn't that day. Instead, we kept each other warm and watched movies as I stitched the snowmen for my Winter Wallhanging. Yes, I was lazy. LOL!

Good thing though...this is my last applique block so I'm looking forward to putting the wallhanging together with the goal to have it on the quilting frame by the end of the weekend. YEAH!

Happily stitching and keeping warm.

Thanks again for stopping by.

Next week's Tuesday Archives theme is: Needle Books.