A scrappy New Year

 Good morning Everyone,

I can't believe it's already into Feb. The days are just flying by, although they are not busy days. How does that work? lol So a Happy belated New Year to you all, I hope it's a good one for you.

I've been working with my scraps a lot lately. It started at the end of last year with these little 9-patches.

These are made with my 1.5" square scraps. I had made a little lap quilt with some black scraps earlier last year, and wanted to work with them some more.

With this pattern, I wanted to see if I could use up some of my triangle scraps. I have a lot of these, and tend to just leave them in a baggie and not use them. But most of my triangle scraps were the wrong size for this design. So I used some larger squares and cut them on the diagonal, matching the colors in the 9-patch.

This is also a small lap size. With a border it would make a nice wheel chair sized quilt. I was happy to use the last of this beautiful black with flowers fabric scrap on the outside.

Then I took out these tiny triangle scraps.

These are from a quilt a few years ago that used a square put on the corner of a larger square, and made a triangle in the corner. Like when doing a snowball block. The white with swirls is from my favorite Sweetwater line, so I couldn't throw them away :) Once trimmed, they are 1.5" HST's.

I was going to make them into a mug rug. I was going to keep it for myself, something sweet to look at. But then, as I was sewing, the little pieces said they wanted to be part of something else....

I then had to add a pretty little flower and butterfly... I love adding bits of embroidery/applique to things.

then I turned it into this sweet little bag. Side 1

Side 2

And now it has some yummy sweet treats in it, and is going to be flying off to live with a dear friend instead  of staying home with me :)

I love making little gifts like this.

I also decided to make the scrappy mystery quilt from Charlotte Hawks. She is using lots of triangles. I was, again, hoping to use some of my scrappy triangles, but mostly the triangles the pattern uses are much larger then what I have saved. 

But that's ok, as I have lots of under 1/4 yard scraps that are easily cut into these triangles.

This is the first blocks. Very scrappy. The red and the dark gray are the constants, something to mellow out all the scrappiness a bit.

This is a once a month clue pattern... sigh~ I hate waiting for the next clue, but I am enjoying playing with these scraps.

Have a lovely day, thank you for dropping by,

Dorian

A mystery quilt and another scrappy quilt

Hello Everyone,

I hope your Summer (winter) is off to a good start. We've had Tstorms going thru here about once a day, but sunny and warm other wise. Its good for the garden and the water tanks, so I'm not complaining.

As I finished Big Brown Bear and don't have the right fabrics to finish some UFO's, I decided to make yet another scrappy quilt. This is another one by Deanna at Wedding Dress Blues. It's called Irish Stars. As I love Irish Chain quilts and I still have quite a bit of precut squares in my scrap bin, I decided...why not??!

Here is flying geese for the stars and the center of the stars. The white with orange dots is part of the background. I dug into my treasured Sunkissed Fabrics by Sweet Water for this quilt.

I choose to use darker/more vibrant hues in this quilt. I think these are all the colors I want to use, although when I do the chain blocks, I might have to add some other shades, as there are 25 squares in each chain block. At least it will wipe out all my 2.5" squares in the scrap bin :) 

Now really, I am not sure what made me choose this pattern, as I ALWAYS have issues with flying geese.. Sigh~ I guess the chain part won out this time. No matter what method I use, I usually end up ripping and resewing quite a few of the geese.

This time, I followed the directions of Deanna and used a 2.5"x 4.5" rectangle for the background and 2.5" squares for the 'wings'. Using the stitch and flip method to put them together. 

You put one square on the end of the rectangle and sew diagonally from corner to corner. I don't draw a line on little squares like this, I just 'eyeball' it.

Then I cut the corner off, using a 1/4" seam.

This time, I want to keep the triangle with the background triangle, so I sewed them together right away, chain stitching them, doing one color at a time (there are 7 colors).

Then you sew the other square to the other side, cut with a 1/4" seam.

Now I get to redo almost half of them. SIGH~ BUT, it used up a bunch of scrap squares, so all is good.

I also have started a new mystery quilt over on my forum, Quilting around the world. My long time readers will know how much I love a good mystery :) Here are the fabrics I am using.

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

November.... already

Hello, hello everyone,

Can you believe it's November already?! This year just flew by, once again. My youngest enjoyed his first Halloween of trick or treating. He had a blast! Wasn't scared in the least, which is a good thing.

Fall is here in earnest, the leaves are all changing, the air is cooler, and we are finally getting rain on and off, a few times a week. It sure does feel good after the hot Summer.

But I'm still not sewing very much. Maybe it's just one of those 'I have a young son so don't have time to sew' things.

Although I HAVE started testing the newest mystery by Jess. It's her Dec mystery, so all I can show you is the fabrics I've picked out. (If you want a previous mystery by Jess, just click on her name.)

Aren't they beautiful?! LOL, in going thru my fabrics, looking for those that went together, I noticed how feminine my fabric stash is. I guess having a house full of boys, this is where my 'girly' side comes out.... But that means I need to buy more boyish fabrics when I want to make one of my boys something.... Darn ;)

I'm still plodding along on my cornerstone blocks too. My machine was down for a week, while I waited for a new cord. But now that it's up and running again, I'm hoping to carve out a little more time in the sewing room this week.

Hope you all have a lovely day!

 

A Friday finish

Hello All,

I finally got a picture of my Torque quilt. This was a mystery pattern last Sept. I finally finished the top last week. It's a Jessica J.E. Smith pattern, of course :) You can find the pattern at Quiltwoman.

It's a log cabin style quilt, so if you like log cabin blocks, this one is for you.

Another great pattern Jess, thank you!

I'm linking up with finishes Friday's over at Crazy mom Quilts this week.

 

Catching up on some mysteries/ALYOF goal

Hello Everyone,

Well here it is the beginning of April, and we are FINALLY going to see some snow this weekend. LOL, I know many of you in the states have seen enough of it, but in my little corner, we haven't had any since last Nov, and that was just a sprinkling. We really need the moisture, so it will be nice :)

But in the sewing room, I'm working with these bright, beautiful Summery fabrics.

The rows just need to be sewn together, and the top will be done. It's one of Jess's mystery, you can find the pattern here, you'll have to ask Jess for her Torque pattern, as I dont' see it listed. Or you can buy it here.

Then I get to finish putting this one together. This top is going to be my April ALYOF goal over at Shanna's and Melissa's. To get this top pieced.

It's also one of Jess's mysteries, this one is called Frolic and you can find it at Jess's site or at the QuiltWoman's site.

I don't like a lot of print on black back ground fabrics, but I just love that one in the picture above. It's sooo pretty!! Can't wait to have this one pieced.

Both the mysteries are from last year. If you don't want to see what the quilt looks like before you put it together, contact Jess here and ask her for the mystery patterns from last year.  The previous links will take you to the pattern with a full disclosure of what it looks like :)

Sunny days are better days for sewing at my house, as the munchkins are all outside playing. So not sure how much I'll be getting done this weekend.

Have a great day all!

 

WIP Wednesday

Hello All!

Have you been following the blog hop over at Sew We Quilt? There is some cute Halloween/Fall projects going on over there.

Mine is all ready (I post on Oct 27th).

And so is my project for the Twas the Night blog hop happening in Nov. I can't show you that though, as it's a gift. What a fun blog hop this is going to be. The project we made is going to the person on the list below us (on the blog hop)! So you will see my project on someone's blog. I hope she likes it. And I'll post about the sweet gift I received.

Which means I can get back to my projects that I left hanging.

Starting with the Sept mystery quilt from Jess at the Quilt and Needle. I was a tester... and I'm still not done :( I just have a few more rounds to go, then I can put all these together.

I'm still working on Carson's dino quilt too.

And Rachael's quilt has taken a back burner... hope to get to it soon.

Hope you all are enjoying some quilting and creating!

Linking up with Freshly Pieced.

 all rights reserved, mtnmommy2.blogspot.com 2014

A little progress

Hello All,

Wow, Sept is really flying! I can't believe it's the end of the month already. And I haven't posted since the beginning of the month.

But not a lot of things have been going on here. I am slowly working on Jess's newest mystery quilt. And THAT'S IT! There are lots of these in the mystery quilt...lots!

I have to get my project for Black Cat Crossing done, I post on Oct 27th, so I need to get my butt in gear.

This little cutie keeps me, and his Dad, pretty busy. If he's not outside 'working', he is inside getting scrubbed with the wash cloth ;) 

 In this picture, Daddy is teaching him something about one of our generators. This kid loves mechanical things, anything with an engine.

So not much going on in my quilty world, just wanted to pop in and say HI.

My corner of bloggy land

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my blog. I am participating in the 'Around the world' blog hop that's going around bloggy land. My good friend Pat 'tagged' me.

Pat has a lovely blog. She has some beautiful kitties that help her out, some great projects and beautiful fabrics. I love her 'quilty muse', and the ideas she come up with. Thank you Ms Pat, for tagging me :)

I started quilting way back in 1993, when I was pregnant with my first baby. I had to make him a baby quilt. And oh boy, is it funny to look at now! I then started making quilts for some family members. But I really started taking off in quilting 7 yrs ago when Jess Smith starter her forum, the Quilt and Needle. I've really grown and learned a lot in the past 7 yrs quilting. I started out a hand quilter, and now I am foraging into the free motion quilting world.

On to the questions.

1. What are you working on right now?
 
I put the next three projects on hold over the weekend so I could do some mystery testing for Jess!  I haven't tested for her in awhile, and really felt the need to have some fun doing it again. These are the fabrics I'm working with.

I have been cutting and piecing on my project for the Black Cat Crossing blog hop coming up in late October. These colors are a bit out of the norm for me. But I love Maywood fabrics.

My girls quilt and my middle son's quilt are both put on the back burner till the previous two are done.

2. How does my work differ from others of it's genre?

Hmm. I consider myself having a foot in both worlds,the traditional one and the modern one. I love mostly traditional blocks, but I use modern fabrics and always put my own spin on a pattern. Rarely do I use an already made pattern.

This is one of my original patterns. It's called Train stop, I made it for my eldest son.

 I enjoy mixing and matching blocks as well as fabrics. Rarely using just one line in  a pattern. Although I love testing patterns, so most of the quilt tops I have, are tops that I tested for Jess. I just love her mystery patterns.

And I sew on vintage machines. This is my White treadle from the late 1800s.  My first sewing machine. I love it.


                                


And this is my Singer 201-2, I do all my free motion quilting with it. I love it too.

 
                   


3. Why do I write/create what I do?

Over the past 20 odd years, I've dabbled in many different creative pursuits. I have always loved photography. I enjoy writing. I enjoy drawing. And cooking/baking is one of my favorite things to do. I'm not the best at any of these, but I enjoy them all.

Quilting factors in 3 of those pursuits. It's fun to take my projects outside and find just the right spot for a picture session.

These are some of my original patterns, you can find them scrolling thru the archives.

 Pre-baby, I did a lot of tutorial writing. I love teaching a new quilter something, or writing tips to make a certain block easier.

My two most viewed posts are the one on making a Lone Star quilt, and it's companion, set in seams.

 And quilting is just 'drawing with thread', as so many quilters say. So my enjoyment of many creative endeavors are all rolled in one with quilting. And I end up with something warm and comforting to use or giveaway.

4. How does my writing/creative process work?

When I'm looking at fabric, I always buy the ones that I just love. Not only the color, but the design of the fabric too. Or if I am making something for a loved one, I pick fabrics out that I know they will enjoy. Then I start thinking of how these fabrics would look together. What kind of pattern do they want to become? I use pencil and paper, then I move on to EQ when I have an idea down.

This is my girls quilt.

I mix and match blocks, creating the settings that I want and that speak to me. Using EQ is fun, it's so much easier to change the fabrics and turn blocks around/etc.

So that's my creativeness in a nut shell. I hope you enjoyed this stop.

I haven't been able to find any bloggers to continue this blog hopping. If any of you out there wants to do an around the world blog post, please leave me a comment and I'll update this post with links to your blogs. I am supposed to tag 3 of you. You would be posting next Monday.

WIP Wednesday

Hello Everyone,

Gosh, didn't mean to be gone for so long. There hasn't been a whole lot of quilting going on though.

I have managed to start my project for the ruffles blog hop coming up next month.

Here's a sneak peek.

I can't seem to stay away from these stars. I just love making them. And I love these colors!

That dark purple is a rich, vibrant color. And the soft orchid purple just helps to set it off perfectly.

My day on the blog hop is March 7th.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I also got some batting and some backing fabric, so am hoping to start some quilting soon too. I have a hug pile of tops that need to be done. The first one I am going to do is this beauty.

It's a Jessica Smith mystery quilt. This was March of 2013. Contact Jess if you want the pattern.

I bought this sweet print for the backing.

                                                    

Bear Creek is having a great sale right now.

Thats it for me this week. Have a great day!

Joining Lee today.

A slow week in the sewing room

Hello Everyone,

It's been a gorgeous week weather wise here. Mostly in the 70s or low 80s during the day, and a bit chilly at night. We get a nice wind most nights, and I've had to shut the window a few nights in a row, as it was just a bit too chilly. That means Fall is almost upon us, yah! I love the crisp, cool Fall days and chilly nights. I'm totally ready for some heavier foods too...soups and stews, beans and roasts.... mmmm!

But about that sewing room...

My little guy has lots of ouchy gums where teeth are trying to come in. Which means sleepless nights and clingy days. I'm not complaining, just explaining ;) He's also deciding that he only needs ONE nap a day... come on Mom, why do I need two?? LOL. Geesh.

I realized that I didn't show you the finished red/black/white mystery top I was working on a few weeks ago. Here it is. The Someday Pattern by Jessica JE Smith.

Sooo, I am still working on the mystery quilt from last weekend. I had some problems with a few of the blocks. Totally MY error, not the patterns. If you are interested in seeing what the quilt top looks like, you can go to Jess's face book page here. But if you don't want to see what it looks like yet...then don't go look ;) lol

Have a great night ya'all.

Mid-month check in

Howdy Folks,

It's time to check in with Shanna and Melissa, ALYOF. I've been working steadily on my quilt top. A little bit every day, I hope I can finish by the end of the month.

This quilt is 78 x89 inches. It has 224 six inch blocks in it!! That's a lot of blocks. I blogged about my goal here.

pattern by Jessica Smith, quiltandneedle.com

I am finished piecing them all together.

Now for putting the blocks together. You have to be very careful here, or your design wont turn out right.

As you can see, the pattern calls for 2 more colors than I am using. I didn't have ANYTHING in my stash to go with these black, white and reds. And as I was testing, I didn't have time to get anything to go with them either. So I just stuck with these 4 colors.

 I think it will still be pretty striking.... not that I haven't thought about adding some yellow  for some pops of color... LOL.... too late now though, I am not redoing some of these blocks.

Mystery quilt weekend

Howdy Folks,

It's that time again. Time for another fantastic Mystery quilt weekend! March 16th and 17th, Jess is doing it again. This year, she is using jelly rolls in her Mystery!

You can purchase the pattern here. You can even purchase a package of four mystery weekends! Then you'll be ready for the next one.

Need a kit? Jess has some lovely ones...

Stonehenge....

Or some beautiful Moda Marbles...

]
She has a batik kit and a few other ones too! So go here and pick the one you want.

You can of course, cut your strips from yardage or use a few of those jelly rolls you have laying around just waiting to be sewn with.

I got me some of these beautiful Kaufman rolls.

This will be a fun quilt! I can't wait to get started :)

Have a great day all.