Moving

Well, I am joining my friends over at wordpress. I am going to try to do a better job of blogging and hope to see you there.

please visit me at nonniescedarchest.wordpress.com

Tumbled Stars

What fun I had testing a pattern for my friend, Cathi called Tumbled Stars. The fabrics are very "spring".

The pattern was designed using Linda Franz' Inklingo method which made it very quick to put together. On this project, I hand pieced the skinny star points and machine pieced the rest. I am a beginner when it comes to machine quilting but this will suffice. If you haven't done so yet, please visit Linda's website www.lindafranz.com She offers many collections for sale and some free projects to try.

Passacaglia Give-Away

Passacaglia Give-A-Way!

Linda Franz and Tilde have collaborated on a Give Away. The prize is fabulous fabric - enough to make a table runner using the Tilde's Passacaglia Table Runner.

Prize Fabric "Stained Glass"

The link to Tilde's free table runner pattern can be found at

http://lindafranz.com/product.php?productId=55

If you are new to Inklingo, please go to Lindafranz.com or use the links at the right to learn more. There are many resources and information for your convenience. Also visit the Inklingo blog and Inklingoprojects to view the many projects being made by quilters of all skill levels who are utilizing this unique, time-saving, and versatile method of piecing. I guarantee you will be inspired!

Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a Blessed Christmas Season.

It has been a very long time since I blogged. My father had a very serious surgery in November and our family has been with him providing constant care and support. We are very thankful that he is now in rehab and doing well. We hope to have him home in 7-10 days.

Needless to say, Thanksgiving and most of Christmas has passed us by along with many other things. While Dad was in ICU I smocked two dresses for each of my granddaughters. It gave my hands and mind something to do while sitting and waiting, and waiting, and waiting. I will have to find the picture of the green corduroy dresses. (hint, hint, Stacy!)

I look forward to 2010 and starting to work on the quilts for the built in bunk beds we are having made in our new home. I will be sharing my sewing room with the grandchildren so they are required to sleep under handmade quilts.

Have a healthy and happy 2010.

Quilts for New Sewing Room

We are building a new home and my extra large sewing room is also going to house four built in bunk beds for when the grandchildren come to visit. They will each have a built in reading lamp and cubby hole I decided to trim out the bunk beds in a wonderful chocolate brown. I will have a quilt on each of the beds. Pink and Brown; Red and Brown; Yellow/Gold and Brown, and Blue and Brown.

This pink and brown quilt is from a Buggy Barn.

This is the back of the pink and brown quilt. The backing is light pink and white stripe.

This is a close up the two main blocks, sashing and border.

These are some of the brown and yellow fabrics I will be using in the yellow and brown quilt. The yellows are not quite as bright as they appear in the photo. One of the quilts I am thinking of doing a basket quilt and maybe a mariners compass for the other. Still deciding. I have one grandson and two granddaughters, so one of the quilts will need to be a little less feminine. This is my plan for now. It could change tomorrow. I think it would be nice to give the grandchildren the quilt that was on their bunk bed when they start families of their own some day. (or go off to college!)

Biscornu Gift

I received a beautiful Biscornu from a wonderful friend today. I was so surprised and shocked when I opened the package. It is so pretty and the cross stitch work is impeccable. This is a side view.

This is a view from the top. I am in awe of the Biscornu as I have always admired them. I never did one myself because the construction intimidated me.

There were also some wonderful fabrics in yellow and red in the package along with some stripes that will be great for the POTC quilt top.

New Swags for Inklingo GMFG/Renegade takes a Swim

After much contemplation and a little advice from my friend, I am removing the red scallop part of the swag and replacing it with a smooth edge. It looks much nicer and makes the workmanship easier and neater. I should have all of the pieces ready to sew this evening. Ripping out is not my favorite thing to do but in the long run, I think I will be happier with the results of the new version.

I took my labrador retriever swimming today at a friend's pool. He dove right in and it took me a while to get him out of the water. You can see his joy! He commandeered a little baby floating toy and swam the entire time with it in his mouth. You would have thought I had given him a T-bone steak. It wore him out so he is now sleeping......actually he is snoring!

Swags

I have been back to work on my Starry GMFG. I added the swags on one of the short ends of the quilt. The other short end swags are prepped and ready to go. I still have to figure out the corner swags and add the flower buds on the tips of the swags. Wow! There is light at the end of this flower garden. There was no pattern for this quilt, so there was a lot of trial and error. The hexagons were at least made easier by Inklingo. I just wish there had been Inklingo for the swags. Usually by the time I get to this point in a quilt, I lose interest. I still love this quilt and can't wait to see it quilted.

Butterflies and Stars

Thank you to Cathi Godwin for letting me use her Inklingo hexagon and diamond pattern idea for a baby quilt for my granddaughter, Ella Ruth. I finally finished machine quilting it - a major feat in itself as that is truly not my forte. I know Ella will love the texture of the chenille and minky border.

Construction - Foundation Prep

The preparation for the foundation continues. I think this stage will last several weeks. At least the ground is changing.

Construction begins on my Birthday!

We have finally started on the construction of our home. It was an awesome birthday surprise to get the permits issued by the city and start the very next day. Our contractor has it "all together!" The picture is me with two of my grandchildren, Kelsey and Brendan. They came for the day with my daughter and baby granddaughter to celebrate my birthday. My grandson really wanted to drive the contractor - he didn't say so, but you could tell by the look in his eyes. It was a very fun day.

Cowboy Baby Quilt

I have been working on UFOs this week. One of which is a baby quilt for a friend who adopted a little boy. It is a pinwheel cowboy quilt. The quilting is hard to see and is one of my first machine quilting projects. I truly prefer to have the experts do the quilting but out of necessity I attempted this one. I used coloring book pictures for the quilting patterns on each of the blocks. The design was a free Moda design that I downloaded a while back. The pinwheel pattern is also an Inklingo shape.

Vacant Lot, POTC

There is a possibility that we will turn the first shovel of dirt on the construction of our new home either later this week or early next week. (This is starting to sound like a broken record!) Hopefully the permits will be issued today. Here is a picture of Jeff and me at the lot. We met a couple of our neighbors and they seem very nice and welcomed us to the neighborhood. I am going to have to practice patience if I am going to survive the building process. The most important room - my sewing room - is fully designed and in my head it is already finished. I just want to be there sewing!

The Patchwork of the Crosses block today is Row 2, Block 1. I would never have put these fabrics together in another style block because they would have fought with each other but in the POTC they play off each other to add dimension, movement, and interest. If you haven't been there yet, please visit Linda Franz' website....www.lindafranz.com There you will find so much information on Inklingo, links to projects and her blog is full of information as well as tutorials. You will want to spend the day there.

Making House Decisions and POTC Block

Today was busy looking at ideas for the new home. Hopefully the first shovel of dirt will be turned next week and construction will begin. It was too hot in Texas to spend much time outside so I pieced another POTC block. The lighting for the picture is not that great as the colors are more vivid than portrayed in the picture.

This is my interpretation of of block 2 on Row 1.

I am hoping to piece at least one block a day. Piecing goes much faster than deciding on the fabric and printing but the whole process is fun and rewarding.

Renegade knows how to stay cool. Unfortunately his tub is in storage so we are doing the hose routine. His tub was a little small for him any way.

I was determined to stitch today, so here is my interpretation of the first block in row one of Lucy Boston's Patchwork of the Crosses. Much to my surprise the very center has a tiny blue circle - unplanned. Also unplanned was the stripe around the block that give the block a square look. I can only imagine that perhaps Lucy held the same level of excitement at the completion of each block. She had to be a "master" quilter.

Patchwork of the Crosses/Organizing

POTC has been both challenging and rewarding thus far. The blocks in the original quilt by Lucy Boston are so very interesting. It is amazing how she used fabric and only two shapes to create a quilt that is so extraordinary. My quilt will not be a duplication of Lucy Boston but rather an interpretation of the "feel" of the block. In some blocks, stripes speak to me and in others it is the fussy cut in the center that creates another dimension.

Since my stash of fabric is packed and in storage, I have been trying to acquire, very judiciously, pieces for POTC.

My POTC is a portable hand piecing project. I put the pieces for each block in a Floss-A-Way baggy used for embroidery floss. There is a hole in the top corner of the baggy so I put them on a metal ring. This is a picture of 14 blocks prepped and ready to sew.

Baby Quilts

Here are the pictures of the baby quilt tops I finished yesterday.  The first is for a friend's baby boy.  The pinwheel's are cowboy fabrics.  I wanted to do something "Texas-y" for him since I am in Texas and he is in Florida.  I added the prairie points to give it dimension and something his little hands can fiddle with.

The second quilt is for my granddaughter Ella.  I used Cathi Godwin's pattern with embroidered butterflies and Inklingo stars.  I will add Ella's name and birthdate to the blank hexagon block in the lower left corner.

I am off to the fabric store today to see if I can find stripes, paisleys, plaids and prints for the POTC blocks.  I think "ugly" fabrics would look best with those blocks.  It will be a fun challenge to make "ugly" fabrics interesting and pretty in creating the POTC blocks.

Sewing Day

I did some sewing today as I am trying to catch up on some projects that sat idle during the move and travels.  I finished two tops for baby quilts - one for my granddaughter and one for a friend who adopted a little boy.  Both are very cute.  I will post pictures tomorrow.  Now I have to get them quilted or find time to quilt them myself.  
I used chenille and minky in one of the quilts and it was a mess.  Lint everywhere.

Renegade is adjusting to his new home very well.  He doesn't have a large space to run but he makes the best of it.  I love this picture of him with his "baby".  We adopted him when he was a year old and are pretty certain he was abused.  He finds comfort in his stuffed animals.  It is funny to see an 85 pound lab dragging around a stuffed toy!