It's All About the Engineer

A few days ago, I was cutting out the Winter Turkcy Tracks quilt...I did mention it frayed terribly on a previous blog, bare with me, ..I put up with it,  and thought it was the fabric...not the engineer, me.... i.e. you know when your sweeper won't turn on and you find the cord been pulled out of the wall socket type thing.....well! "lightbulb moment"....I am cutting out the Liz's Gift quilt from Jodi BarrowsMailly Women Pattern Book
And the fabric I am working with was  also fraying......ok, so, the engineer thought, " let's just change the rotary blade or sharpen it."  I do have that nice blade sharpener in my shop also.....save alot of money on blade, for sure...  Anyways, I had 2 blades in my rotary cutter!!!  it was FULL of threads and a mess!!.....wha la!! ANSWER!! jokes on me!!.....wow! does it cut the strips I need for the LIz's Gift quilt so nicely now!!  wooohooo! A happy Quilter here!!!

tulip basket

Up Close

I worked last night on paper piecing....I have used that with my Dear Jane Quilt blocks also but, honestly, I put away my Jane in November to start my American Girl Sewing Christmas Bonanza, I kept busy at for weeks for my sweet youngest Grand gals.....Anyways, I found a couple free patterns online for paper piecing last night....I did do a tulip in a basket and somehow I thought a Farmhouse would be so" easy".....well, the tulip is fine but I have to tweak my farm house......When you paper piece do you leave the papers on the back if you are putting many rows of pieces together? Or do you take the paper off and do the 1/4 seam allowed? I left the paper on my farmhouse pieces and found it bulky; and think that is what did my porch roof "in"... My hub asked me if I used a level?...funny, carpenter Hub!!
  I am so new at this but want to conquer things so I can teach it in my shop soon.  I have to 'FIX' my farmhouse....the roof is not quite right and my porch rail ends up not under the porch roof! I think it was kind of a hard one to start out with....think I will do a kitty in a basket next....keep it simple.
Back to my Liz's Gift.....can't wait to see it come together.  This has been on my to do "Basket List"  for a couple years now.  If I can ever help you out, just let me know!! Quilted Blessings!  Karen

Paper Piecing

I am entering a new world of quilting to me today, plus I found the idea of using freezer paper designs with your longarm or free motion sewing machine quilting.  Any help is always welcome huh?!! Sometimes, it seems it just comes knocking at your cabin door!!!

 

Source: flickr.com via Kenny on Pinterest

After seeing this on Pinterst, I figured doing some paper piecing with my picture Grad Quilt would really work well. Recently, I was able to connect to a great paper piecing Queen online and on Alex Anderson, & Caorl Doaks  
I will see how my experiment goes with my ideas and give you a peak in a day or so.  Quilted Blessings!  Karen

It's Working

Winter Turkey Tracks

94x94

I did work last night and got the Winter Turkey Tracks together! This took me 2 days to cut out and sew together. Not bad. :)  I thought it was appropriate that I was working on it,  since we had our "last" big snow this Winter during it's completion

.  My hub got his truck loaded with extra weight from rock salt bags and was able to get out !! So, the many Blue Spruce we are blessed with on our country property are scalloped in snow...it isn't going to last though, it will be 50 degrees in a few days....but it is Winter!!  Spring is just 2 weeks away though and I think the groundhog did NOT see his shadow this year, so that could mean an early Spring.  I can't wait to see our tulips and daffodils we buried in the ground last fall.  It is always a great surprise to see where you planted them.....Seasons that God gives us without fail are just amazing; each has it's own importance and beauty.  Enjoy the work, my pics are NOT that great...I have a stack of 6 quilt tops now to longarm but want to do a paper pieced top for my shop before I jump into the 2 Graduation Picture Quilts I need to start!  God Bless, keep warm, and as always Quilted Blessings, Karen

PomPom Challenge

Meow!!

I just HAD to share this PomPom Idea my daughter in law sent to me this morning.....the challenge is on!!!  The Pompoms in the sky is your only limit!!!  So Funny!!  Blessings!!! Karen

Pixel Quilts

Contrasts?

Usually when I see picture quilts as an idea I think of the traditional ones, use a photo, scan it and then print it on photo fabric. That is great! and that is what I am going to do for my first two Grandgals that are graduating from High School this year (how did THAT happen?)......and it will be a great gift.  I really do have to get busy on that.  But, the back fabric, what do I do?  I want them to use the quilt, so I thought just a whole cloth on the back, but I found something better, I think, and wanted to share it.  It is a free Craft class for using photos with alot of contrasts to pixel and do into an art Quilt......really, now how cool would that be on the back.... Now, I have to search my old Printed from 35mm film (remember those) photos to find a really cute one of each of them to enlarge and pixel and then do the back out of it.....it could be just their precious baby eye, or hand, or their little feet in tennis shoes.....or SOMETHING!!....my creative juices are flowing and my right side of my brain is doing the dance of joy!!  so, if you are in for a snowstorm like we are here in northern Indiana, go to crafty and join the free class!!Photo Art Class at Crafty 
Spend your snow filled day making pixel snowmen? maybe, why not!! 
Get the picture?.....Hey, maybe this would be a way to get younger gals interested in Quilting....the more modern approach, outside the box or inside the pixel frame? I'm just sayin".....and maybe if its not on this snowy day, then a rainy one?  I hope those are coming soon! and our tulips and daffodils.......Love Spring!! 
Just wanted to share this FREE class; I do love Crafty.com!  Quilted Blessings!!  Karen

Coming To The Aid

Lets' Roll !!

You know there are such great people in this world....in America!!....today I was struggling to figure out why I am a non-reply blogger....I am new to this and last week was my first Blog Hop....and I wanted to join one in April and when I did say I would join I also asked our "cheerleader" how I could fix my status.....she was wonderful..Pig Tales And Quilts..she had me call her and from there we went into the google plus and change a couple things and whala!! I am now on basic also and when I do join a Hop they will go to a simple page where my email is "up front and fancy free!".....

Winter Turkey Tracks

Yesterday I spent some time doing Jodi Barrow technique to make a quilt for my Cabin wall....shew! the dark blue fabric frayed ALOT!!.....but we got through that and also finished up the white.....then to put the strips on the squares and cut out the flying geese and there you are!!....I was able to get one block of the quilt top done.  Not bad for a day and a half.  I wasn't working on it constantly but her technique is easy to get use to and you can come and go with it too.  I like to get all my things cut out and then stacked in a basket or a small TV tray stand.... which I plan to cover and make into a small ironing stand too.  I feel pretty good about today.....figured out a computer issue and got a block finished too.  There is a snow storm in the horizon I hear.  That is not difficult for an addicted quilter like me.....no Quilting Regrets live here!.....Have a safe day and may it be blessed also......Quilted Dreams!!  Karen

An Apple A Day....

WOW! just had to share this great wallhaning....remember our challenge a couple days ago with Doing something in Chenille? Looking closer, I think it is ruffles of fabric!! fooled me; I think it would be cool in Chenille though....  Well, this Rocks My World ! :):)

I am still working on my Winter Turkey Tracks......Love it so far!! will share my progress tomorrow, for now, enjoy the Apples

Source: trueup.net via Cyndi on Pinterest