Merry Christmas

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas. I hope you have a wonderful day tomorrow.

I got a few little things made this year. And am hoping to be back next year with a lot more sewing time and things to share.

Thank you all for sticking around while I've been so quiet. Here's hoping next year will be a better one.

A bit of progress

Hello Everyone,

My poor sewing machine is going unloved these days. I just haven't had the energy to sew very much lately. Medical issues are keeping me down.

But, I have done a few minutes here and there and have 4 more completed bear paw blocks done (for the Mod bear paw QAL)

Thanks to everyone who helped me out with the backing ground fabric. I have decided to stick with the dark brown.  As my good friend Pat says, the color will imply 'trees', and so that fits in perfectly.

Here is the background color on the far left and the colors I will be using for the bear. I think they are light enough for him to stand out enough.

Hope you are all enjoying the change of weather. I love this time of year, going from a hot summer to some cool rain. It's been lovely.

Have a great day everyone!

WIP Wednesday

Good morning All,

I think Fall is here to stay. Things have cooled off and we got our first rain of the season, feels SO good!

I haven't been doing much in the sewing room though. Working on my bear paw blocks, but very slowly, have only been getting 2 a week done.

My good friend Pat suggested brown for sashing, to imply trees. I thought that was just perfect, but the only brown I have is this one, and I think it's too dark.

What do you all think? Should it be a bit lighter? My bear is going to be shades of brown too. Hmmm...

I hope you've all been getting more sewing done than me. LOL

Have a great day.

Linking up with Lorna.

WIP Wednesday

Hello All,

I've gotten a bit of progress on my Bear Paw QAL, hosted by Lorna.

I have a hard time with my hands, so tend to do some cutting, then a bit of sewing, then back to cutting again. It's easier on me.

So, I've gotten the Bear Paw blocks mostly cut out. And now I am piecing them. Don't those Fusions Bloom fabrics look awesome against the dark green background?! (Of course, they look more awesome in real life, pictures dont do it justice.)

I wont iron and trim till I'm done with more blocks. But that gets put into the loop too... cut, sew, iron, trim, repeat..

Linking up with Lorna.

Bear Paw QAL

Hello All,

Lorna over at SewFreshQuilts is hosting a Bear Paw QAL. She makes the cutest animal designs.And I decided to play along :)

Here's the fabrics I am going to use. The dark green on the left is going to be the background and I think I'm going to use the cream/flowers for the sashing in between the blocks with the green as cornerstones. We'll see once I get a few blocks made.

most of these are Fusions blooms fabrics by Robert Kaufman

The cutting directions have been posted, so this is what I'll be working on this week.

Thanks Lorna!

I'm back!

Hello Everyone!

I didn't mean to be gone so long. But as this is a quilting blog and not much quilting has been going on...well, there wasn't much to say. I've been down in the pits of  no-quilting-motivation, but now, I think, I am back out.

I have done a few little things. Made both my oldest son and daughter wallets. Made my dd a small, across the chest purse. She doesn't wear make up or jewelry and doesn't really need a big purse, so this one does the trick nicely.

I've been buying some fabric here and there, hoping to find that quilting mojo. This is a FQ bundle of Boundless solids, by Craftsy.com.

Here's a lovely bundle of Robert Kaufman's Fusion Blooms, a 10" stacker.

The gray on the left of the next picture, I bought at a quilt show. The other three lovelies were a birthday gift from my friend Carol

These lovelies were a birthday gift from my big Sis, who is also a quilter :) These photos are not the best for sure. These are so rich and vibrant in real life.

And here's some I bought when Quilt Fabric Closeout was having a sale. The butterflies and roses are 1/2 yrd pieces for the stash, the butterflies on the right I am going to use in a backing for one of my quilt tops. Theres a few yrds there, so good for a pieced back.

And now that I have some pretty new fabric, I think I'm going to join Lorna in her Bear paw quilt along. I just love Lorna's animal quilts, they are so cute! And I've always had a thing for bears, so this just sang out to me.

                               

I'm making  a crib sized, but going to add a border of the paw prints, cause they are too cute to leave out. I'll be using some of the Fabric fusions for the bear paw blocks and the bear, but haven't decided yet on the background and sashing.

So, here's hoping I can get some quilting going on and keep my mojo up :) Would love to hear from you all, what have you been up to?

Opposites attract blog hop

Hello All,

Today is my day on another fun blog hop by Marian! Opposites attract, we can only use three colors.  The Fat Quarter shop is giving away $25 gift certificate, every day! AND  DJ Inkers is giving away a CD (go to Marian's site for that one) every day!

I've been seeing these purples and greens (and a bit of white, see it on the flowers) all around my Ridge for the past few months.

And I thought how beautiful there are together like that, so I put them together in a project.

This is my FQ bag. (This is my third bag, I just love this pattern. I do have it as a PDF, but haven't put it up for sale anywhere... yet... maybe one day...) I've revised it a bit, using some interfacing to make all the pieces slightly stiff. Added a wider strap. This purse hangs very comfortably right on top of my hip.

 And this time I did some patchwork and fmqing on the outer pockets. Using some lovely Kona solids (Wow, that bit of matching colors on the side seam was not intentional. lol)

 My bit of white is the zipper, keeps my wallet in place, and anything else I want secure in a zip pocket.

And a tiny bit here on the pocket and under side of strap. Perfect for phone, pad and pencil, whatever.

One more picture.

And now for the giveaway, a $25 gift certificate to the Fat Quarter shop! WOOHOO! Please enter the rafflecopter to have a chance at winning.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Thanks so much for stopping by. Make sure you go and visit everyone else today. There is a full list of participants over at Marian's site.

DesertSky Quilting
RidgeTop Quilts
Words & Stitches
VROOMANS QUILTS

Thanks again Marian for a great blog hop and a fun giveaway! 

Making some progress

Good morning All,

I haven't had much time in the sewing room, but I have managed a bit here and there.

I'm working on my project for the Opposites attract blog hop starting next month.

My FMQing is rusty, but I had fun making these quick flowers. I love these greens and purples!

I got my inspiration from nature. Spring time on the Ridge means lots of greens and purples. Everything from pinky-purple.....

To dark purple...

And so many shades in between.

It always amazes me how many purple wildflowers there are here :)

I've also done a bit of work on my 9patch quilt.

I still have a long way to go, and many blocks to make before it's time to iron and trim.

These are 4.5", aren't they cute! This is a great scrap buster, I can't wait to see if finished.

Linking up with Lorna and Lea Anne today, thank you Ladies!

SPRING! and a fun new blog hop

Good morning All,

I hope that Spring has sprung where you are (unless of course it's supposed to be winter at your place ;) LOL). My talented daughter has been capturing the beauty on the Ridge.

apple blossoms

gorgeous butterfly!

my son loves picking these wildflowers

lilacs! such a lovely smell

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And a fun new blog hop is coming in June.

                                      

As soon as I read about it over at Marian's blog, I had to sign up. I had an image pop into my head, so I know what I am making already :)

Head over to Marian's blog to read all about it.


Have a great day!

Quilt Qwazy Queen blog hop... my day

Hello All,

Welcome to the Ridge. So glad you could pop in. This blog hop by Marian is in celebration of quilting, as March 19th was National Quilt day and all of March is National Craft month. Thanks for putting it together Marian! And thanks to all our sponsers, there's some great prizes being given away every day!

I have a prize to give away! ONE  beautiful FQ bundle (sorry, you don't get to choose) from Timeless Treasures AND Marian has a giveaway on her blog also, so don't forget to drop by her site. I'll pick and annouce the winner of my prize Wednesday at 9pm (so you have 24hrs to enter). Please make sure I have a way of contacting you!

                                               

This hop is all about our 'quilt qwaziness'... lol.. or why we enjoy quilting so much, our journey, etc. Well, I am crazy about fabrics. I love making things... bags, table runners, small quilts, large quilts, sewing machine covers... lots of things!  I have 4 old machines that I use. My two favorites are my late 1800s White Treadle, and my early 1900s Singer 210. I do all my quilting on this Singer.

I started out being a hand quilter. Then about halfway thru my quilting  'career' I turned to machine quilting. Which I still don't do a lot of quilting, as my HUGE stack of quilt tops convey :) I guess I am a piecer at heart ;) So I guess you can say I am crazy about piecing!

I taught myself how to piece and how to quilt (although my Grandma and Great-Grandma both quilted, I wasn't able to learn from either of them). When I was a newlywed and had lots of time on my hands (23 yrs ago), before the kiddo's started arriving, I would go to the library and check out stacks of quilting books (there was no internet back then). I look back at those first quilts and just have to laugh. Points are cut off, seams don't match, there are puckers and so forth. But those are treasured quilts for my kids, that I still have.

 Ten years ago (or thereabouts) I joined a group of online quilters at a forum. That forum is gone now, but a few years after I joined that group, a group of us broke off and started our own forum. LOL, well, really, Jess started the forum and runs it today. But I think of it as 'ours' as I was there from the very beginning and have helped Jess out along the way. My long time readers know how much I love making mystery quilts, and that is Jess's line of business. Thats why I have so very many quilt tops packed away, waiting for them to become quilts. I tested most of Jess's patternes over the years, and for a few years, I tested some of Jess's Mom's patterns too. I've learned so much from these Ladies on the forum.

I eventually made it to making my own patterns. Bags and quilts, table mats and more. You can find my tutorials at the top of the screen under the 'tutorials' button. I have some tutorials over at Samm's site too (you can find a list of them on the right side bar). But many of my patterns are just first drafts, tucked away in a three ring binder. Who knows, maybe one day they'll come out and see the light of day. I always thought it would be fun to sell them.

This one I made for my oldest son a few years ago.

And here's the one I made for my dd last year.

I designed both of these quilts for my kids, it's one of my favorite parts of quilting. I love to design and pick out colors, I guess you could say I was crazy about it ;)

I have helped make many donation quilts over the years too. That is always fun, making quilts with friends who love to make quilts :) 


This year, I've been working on my Cornerstone blocks quilt. And it's finally a pieced top! Yah. This is my own creation. Very simply two blocks put together to make something a bit different.

I love the corners.

Although, there are a few blocks I would turn around.... if I wanted to undo the quilt... which I don't LOL.

It just fits my queen sized bed.

And here's how far I've got on my Round of 9s reinvented. 
Lots of chain stitching going on, to make all these little 4.5" 9 patches.

 Here are my piles of segments I'm using.

Part of my love of quilting is helping others learn my craft. So you'll find lots of little tips and tricks through out my blog. I hope you stick around and browse my posts. Have a great day! Don't forget to go over to Marian's for another giveaway. I'll be using a random number generator to pick my winner. So be sure to leave me a comment!

 The winner will have to provide me with a valid email address which I will share with

Marian @ Seams to be Sew

who will email you the information to redeem your prize.

 As a gift to everyone, the Fat Quarter Shop is offering  a 10% discount during the hop.

 This is not good for gift certificates however. Use this code at checkout to receive 10% off your purchase:

seamstobe316


Please visit these ladies today:

March 23
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Ridge Top Quilts
Quilt Art
Patchwork Breeze
Kwilt Krazy  Is rescheduled for tomorrow    

THE CONTEST IS OVER. THE WINNER OF A TIMELESS TREASURE FQ PACKET IS TINA JEO! CONGRATS TINA, I'LL GET YOUR NAME TO MARIAN AND EMAIL YOU.

  

Quilt Qwasy Queens blog hop starts tomorrow!

Helllo Everyone,

Just wanted to remind you that the triple Q blog hop starts tomorrow. In celebration of National Quilting day :)

This blog hop is all about WHY you love to quilt or piece, WHY you are crazy about the process and the fabrics and all the neat notions that go along with this hobby. So lots of fun, fascinating reading will be going on, and plenty of eye candy I'm sure!

Here is the schedule full schedule :

March 18
Life In The Scrapatch
Sew Incredibly Crazy
In The Boon Docks
Quilting Affection
Words In Stitches

March 21
QuiltShop Gal
TeaTime Creations
Ravelly
Meadowbrook
Bumbleberry Cottage

March 22
Feather Your Nest

Grandmama’s Stories

Pamela Quilts

Vroomans Quilts

My Quilty Musings

March 23
Elizabeth Coughlin Designs
Ridge Top Quilts
Quilt Art
Patchwork Breeze
Kwilt Krazy

March 24
Marjorie’s Busy Corner
Just Because Quilts
Moose Stash
Batts In The Attic
All Things Sewn

                                                                          March 25 

 Just Let Me Quilt
Sew Many Yarns
Quilting Queen Online
Jane’s Quilting

As you can see, my day is next Wednesday. Here is a little sneak peak of what I am going to show you, my Cornerstone quilt!

And remember, there are some fabulous gifts to be given away each day of the hop too! Some of the Gals are having their own give away, plus the sponsered one, so be sure and stop by all the blogs and entered the giveaways.

Have a great day! 

 

A new project

Hello All,

While I'm waiting for fabric for my cornerstones quilts, I've been playing with some more scraps. I like to use strips when piecing, so tend to have a lot of various sized strip pieces left over. I save them and got them sorted awhile back.

Last year, I saw this post and knew I had to make one of these quilts, one day. Well, that one day is here... at least I'm getting a start on it.

I'm making the 9 patches, I'll need some this way..

And some this way...

I cut out my background fabric, some of these are left over strips from other projects, but much of it is just cut from yardage. Various Sunkissed pieces in gray.

I've gathered my colorful 1.5" strips, and started sewing them to the background pieces. One set is a row of colored pieces/gray/colored pieces and one set is gray/colored pieces/gray. It doesn't matter that my colored pieces are various lengths.

Then I trim the end and start cutting 1.5" strips from these sets.

When I come to the end of one piece, I just cut it out and continue on my way.

When the sets are all sewn together, I press them with the seams opposite each other. One set towards the middle strip, one set towards the outside strips, so that when I sew them together, they nestle nicely.

I have a lot of pressing and cutting to do...

The weather is gorgeous here this week :) So the kids are outside playing a lot.. which gives me time to head to the sewing room.

Have a great day all.

 Linking up with LeAnn.

A new year already.. and the first month is gone..

Well hello All,

It's been awhile. I am really hoping to get back into the swing of things this year. I've missed blogging and I still have a huge pile of quilt tops that need quilting, maybe this will be the year :)

I did finish my dd's quilt in Dec.

 I just did some simple, straight line quilting on it.

All of my Cornerstone blocks (made with disappearing 9 patches and flying geese) are done, I need to order some sashing fabric for it, before I can get it all pieced together.

All the ones above are vice/verse blocks, two of each.

And these 5 are just single ones, as I needed a few more to make my design.

Lately I've been working on  Pat and my '+' blocks that we exchanged in 2013. I have the blocks sewn together, now I will be adding a 2" solid border, then a scrappy border...maybe a piano key border? we'll see.

a VERY busy quilt top... but I will enjoy looking at all the pretty fabrics in it :)... which needs to be ironed, of course ;)

I think I am going to be doing this BOM/blog hop this year. I am not much of an appliquer, so I probably will only do the pieced blocks, but it looks like fun :)

 Thank you Amy and all the contributers, one of which is  Ms. Pat :)

I've never done a BOM before, so we'll see how it goes. I'm hoping it will help me get my sewing mojo back.

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Here on the Ridge, we've been getting a lot of rain. We really need it, so it's a good thing. It's too warm this time of year here in upper California to get snow, unless you are up above 4 or 5,000 ft.... except for occassionaly we'll get a little bit, just enough to look pretty then it melts.

Have a great day.

Linking up with Lorna. Thanks Lorna!