Tackling Some WIP...

We were awoken at the crack of dawn with a truck delivery of wood for our patio extension.

As you can imagine, our little guy was quick to jump out of bed 

to watch  all the trucks and trackers in our driveway!

We spent the rest of this rainy morning hanging out together in the studio. 

He busy playing Paw Patrol near by.

Me happily sewing and getting caught up on my Scrap Dance Mystery:

After squaring up all those Half Squared Triangles, I now have a wonderful bowlful of scraps to refill my thread bird feeder...just in time to welcome Spring and the birds back to the yard.

But, now it's time to take a break for some painting as I hear a little someone 

pitter patter up the stairs exclaiming: "Please meme, can we do this now?"

I mean seriously, who am I to resist such charm!

Aiming to start quilting another WIP this afternoon once you know who takes a nap unless of course, Meme ends up taking a nap too. (Which is most likely!) 

Some Quilting and Sewing...

 So I've spent a large portion of my long weekend off from teaching right here: 

 I've been quilting.

I used this "Square Dance" pantograph to...

 ...quilt this top for Nancy who commissioned me to do this for her. She blogs at PugMom Quilts. 

This one is for her nephew and I absolutely love how it's turning out!

 I've been sewing. 

 I finally started my Feb. One Monthly Goal. About now I'm thinking it was a little over optimistic of to think I could sew a queen size quilt top together in one month...as, seriously,  I should know better! I mean I ALWAYS have more than one project going on at the same time...what was I thinking! I do love all these prints though and find the fat quarter friendly pattern I'm using quick and fun! I'm  spending the rest of the afternoon sewing a few of these rows together and will look forward to sharing a little bit more of this project with you later this week. (Who knows...maybe I'll even make my goal!)

And speaking of multiple projects...I also have my second step of Carole's Scrap Dance Two Step QAL all ready to sew together tomorrow after school. (LOL! Can you say squirrel!)

Anyhoo, we're hoping for a break in the weather, as an afternoon walk outside sure would be nice.  

Until then, that hum you may hear in the distance, is me just sewing along here as I use my sewing to beat the Wintertime Blues with a cozy sew day at home with my buddy Jackson.

Thanks for stopping by.

I'd love to quilt for you too.

Click HERE to read the details.

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!)

My New Year Sew-Along Plans (updated)

Always near-by, I catch Jackson staring at me more often than not lately. 

He probably misses being pictured with a quilt but, he's also probably wondering what I'm doing.

Admittably, I have been doing more creative thinking than sewing lately.  

So along with setting personal goals of health and well being, I've been scowered the internet and all your blogs for a sew along(s) to join in 2016. This morning I found the perfect ones for me: 

First, starting January 18th, is Lori Holt's Bloom Sew Along.  So I ordered these:

And as much as I would love to order a big bundle of Lori's fabrics, I'm going to use this Sew Along to bust through this tote of 30's fabrics I collected early on when I started quilting:

And our blogging friend Carole is having a Scrap Dance 2 QAL 

that I'm already cutting 2 1/2"x 3" squares for. 

Andddd... my scrap bins are overflowing so I'm looking forward to participating in the RSC:

I realized as time went on since this post, that I don't sew everyday. 

I already have have two on-going hand projects. And this one has been neglected already!

So as enticed as I am by the Quilty 365, I can't commit.

Click here to get a peek at December's head starters.

Whew! THAT felt good to admit. I so wish I didn't have to sleep. LOL!! 

Just so much I want to do in a day.

But I'm learning...to say no and not over commit...

as when I do, it really puts a crutch in  my creative energy.

Tuesday Archives #90: Yo-Yo Fun!

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 "Yo-Yo" Fun:

Noooo....not this kind of Yo-Yo...though this is about how good I was at the darn thing!

but THIS kind of Yo-Yo:

Before I even started blogging, Sew Take A Hike was one of the blogs I followed regularly. 

I started to "yo-yo" along with Penny, but never even made it to 100. Penny's goal is 1008 for a coverlet, and upon my latest visit to her blog, her progress bar says she is at 892.

You can find her tutorial for making Yo-Yo's right here.

You can find her tutorial for sewing the Yo-Yo's together (by machine) right here.

I found mine!

Little Letters QAL: H, I

My alphabet is growing and has made it's way to the design wall:

H and I were quick to make this morning and I'm loving the solid letters with 30's fabric! I'm off to treat myself to a pumpkin latte' then it's back to working on my grandson's birthday quilt. Hope ya get in a little sewing yourself today.

With smiles,

Val:)

Little Letters QAL: E,F & G

E is for Elephants, F is for Farm and G is for Garden:

When I starting quilting a few years ago, 30's prints were the very first fabric I started collecting. I  have an entire tub of precut 2 1/4" strips that I use for my hexagons.
I plan to continue my stash busting of these...

...and also use them to "frame" my little letters:

I'm not sure if I'm going to sash my blocks together with a cream or just sew them together scrappy style?? I think once I get A, B, C and D, framed up this week and on the design wall, they'll start to "talk" to me. (I hope!) Anyhoo, I'll be spending my Sunday afternoon right here quilting these two tops:

I hope your day finds ya getting in a little sewing as well.
Sharing at:

With Smiles,

Val:)

Little Letters QAL: D,E

Keeping up with my little letters QAL today:

I'm also following the input of some fellow bloggers and adding a 5" border and
some rik-rak to this baby quilt WIP: 

Happily sewing and puttering around the house today, with a 3 mile walk on the horizon. Nope! drove into the city to pick up a table for our studio remodel instead of walking!! 

With Smiles,

V

Little Letters QAL: A,B,C

I'm joining Tanya who blogs at Tanya Quilts in CO  for this ABC Little Letters Quilt Along over at Temecula Quilt Co.'s blog.  A little letter will be posted each Sunday and Wednesday and the pattern's are totally free!! The finished quilt will measure 34x39 inches with 4 inch finished blocks. Perfect Baby Crib Quilt size don't ya think!

I'll be making mine from my stash of 30's repro prints:

Let me know if ya join us...it will be fun to "sew" our ABC's together.
I'm also going to link up here each week for fun and motivation:

With smiles,
Val:)

ALYofF April Triangle QAL Finish

As I stated here, for my April  ALYofF goals I actually had two goals. First, I wanted to complete my first QAL. I enjoyed creating this finish as I successfully turning these:

 
into this, my My Whimsical Flower Garden Quilt: (read more about this quilt here)


Secondly, I also wanted to begin an animal/nature quilt with my Second Graders. Please stop by here and check out the fun we had. You'll also find a  tutorial  there that I created for any of you interested in creating a quilt like this with kids.

I'd like to thank:

Shanna of Fiber of All Sorts

and

Melissa of Sew BitterSweet Designs

I find myself really motivated by the  ALYofF challenge this year. I can't believe we are at the April and May begins this week....is anyone else feeling like that??  Stop by & check out everyone's April finishes & thanks a bunch for stopping by to see mine. Oh! And tomorrow's Tuesday Archives themes are: Boys and BOM (WIP and/or finishes). I'm looking forward to to seeing what posts you find in your archives this week. 

 With smiles!
Val:)