Laundry?

Laundry?....really?......yes, Quilters do laundry.....and mop and sweep and cook!!....so, I thought I would share a link to a Laundry Soap Recipe....for real.....The Beehive Cottage

Fresh Vintage Patchwork

So there!!  :)
I also found the quilts I want to do for our oldest Grandgals that are graduating in May and June.  They were born in the same year, to the same parents! One in January and the second one in December! Yep!  So, these two quilts from my new book With Fabric and Thread by Fig Tree Company is just so perfect!  I will put their photos of growing up in the blocks..and maybe a couple tiny ones in the houses.  I went to Joannes today and bought the start of my photo fabric to use, now to pick the photos!!....hard decisions....but God will lead me to the very best ones!!
I decided to make my Liz's Gift into a Queen size......fell in love with it, so it is going on our bed!!....so, I have to sew up 7 more blocks after our visit with our son and his wife and two sweet to the moon and back gals!!....
Oh, and getting a good styled up hair cut with highlights, never hurts a quilter.....it is all in a days.....worth!!
Quilted Blessings!! Karen

LOVE IT!

I knew I would love the Liz's Gift in these two fabrics.  I love the feathered blue from the 1850 period of Reproduction fabric and the background is also 1800's.

Do you like the background fabric? I love that too, and think it  would work up into  a wonderful tote that I found at Fig Tree Quilts in the book  Fabric & Threads.
 I also want my Liz's Gift a bit bigger than the pattern that I am following; so, I have 2 more units of 8 blocks to sew up tonight.
 I HOPE to post the top together sometime tomorrow.  Can you say YUMMO with fabrics?  I also got the go ahead to offer Jodi's Barrows technique in my shop!
 It has been a good day!!

Well, girlfriends,  I just had to share this block, even if it was taken with my phone and by my mess!! Enjoy!!  Quilted Blessings!! Karen
Oh, by the way have you looked for the Comet?

Just Imagine!

Come Ride With Me!

Scottie Basket

Quilt Retreat Barn

I am so excited! I got my Doll Quilt done for our Monthly swap.  I did both sides with a design, we had chosen Spring as the theme.  My partner runs a Quilt Shop and even does retreats as I have on my to do  Basket List!  It was a fun change with embroidery work on both sides. Clover & Violet I am still working on my Liz's Gift Quilt and think I will had two more colors to make it a little larger than the one in the instructions...just want it to be big enough to cover a bed....Anyways, enjoy the pictures; heading to the Post Office to send it out.  Spring Blessings! as you Quilt.....Karen

A Little Peak

Liz's Gift

I really like the way these blocks are going together....there will be 5 colors with 4 blocks of each in the quilt..I decided to use some 1800 Reproduction fabs from my shop....like my hub says, I am a lady with ALOT of fabric!  Chat Later.....Piecing blessings!! Karen

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