Hampton Ridge BOM - Month 9

I just picked up this month's blocks for Hampton Ridge.  They were wonderful to sew together because they have "cheddar" in all four of the blocks.  I took several Civil War classes at my local quilt shop adapted from Barbara Brackman's historical writings several years ago.  The highlights for me were trying to incorporate the "cheddar" in every Civil War quilt.

Block 34

Block 35

Block 36

Block 37

Finished the Patriotic Stars Quilt from January, 2014

I finally decided to try to finish the Patriotic Stars Quilt from January of this year.  I finished the middle section quickly because the stars were large and easy to sew.  The outer border was easy as well but they were small and I had to  make 52 of them.  I think I made 35 of them and became so bored that I put it away and decided to come back to them when I was feeling that I could finally finish the remaining stars.  Well, I decided that I could do it last Sunday and finished them this morning,  I sewed them on and now here is the result.

 

 

I enjoyed sewing this quilt.  It has a dramatic look to it with just the three colors:  red, white and blue.

New BOM - Daydreams by Michael Miller Clubhouse and Swirly Girls

My local fabric store in Sacramento, Fabric Garden started a new Block of the Month a couple of weeks ago.  I usually join because it is fun, the quilts are beautiful and I like to support my local store.  The new BOM is called Daydreams by Michael Miller Clubhouse 2014.  The fabric is designed by Swirly Girls Design.  Fabric Garden participated in the Clubhouse BOM 2012.  I did make that quilt and loved it.  The store did not participate in the 2013 Clubhouse BOM.

I neglected to take a picture of the entire quilt in the shop but I will take one the next time I am there.  I just searched for the website and found it:  http://www.michaelmillerclubhouse.com/index.php?content=Quilts
It looks like there are three color ways:  Jewel, Spa Brown and Spa Cream.  I am not sure which color way we are making but it looks like either Spa Brown or Spa Cream.

Spa Brown

Spa Cream

Both quilts are equally 

beautiful.

Block 1

Block 2

I am looking forward to making the future blocks.  They are more muted than I am used to but the two blocks have been easy to do especially since the blocks are 12" finished.  I love those large blocks!

Blogger Girls BOM II - Alternate Blocks and Erin's Graduation

On my last post, I stated that I wanted to try to finish all of my alternate blocks, 12 total.  I didn't even get close to achieving that goal.  I only finished one!  Here are some of the photographs that I took of my progress.

 

This is one of my favorite pieces of blue and white fabrics.  

It is called Hungarian Blue and designed by Sue Zipkin for Clothworks.

I don't know why I just purchased a yard of it.  Duh, I loved it so much I should have purchased a lot more.

I cut all of the fabrics that I needed to make the blocks.

This is the lone alternate block that I was able to complete.

1 down and 11 to go!

Erin's Graduation

I have three children:  Erin (29 y.o.), Tommy (26 y.o.) and Caroline (20 y.o.). 

Yesterday, my oldest, Erin, graduated from UC Davis with her Ph.D. in Electrical and Computer Engineering.  We are so proud of her because this is such a difficult undergraduate major and receiving a graduate degree is much more difficult.  

I am proud to say that Erin is a quilter too.  She is sweet, smart, athletic and loves to sew.  This is the reason why I have not finished all twelve of my alternate blocks.

 

 

Here are the obligatory immediate family photos with my husband, myself and Tommy.  Tommy flew in from Phoenix to attend the graduation.  He will be graduating next year with his degree in Pharmacy.

 

 On the left is Katie.  She is one of Erin's dearest friends.  They played on UC Davis' Intercollegiate soccer team from 2003-2006.




 

My husband's mother (seated), aunt (left) and sister joined us at the graduation.

We had a great time celebrating Erin's graduation at a wonderful restaurant in Davis.

Above is Erin's fiance, August.  He is wonderful and very supportive of Erin in every way.  We will be celebrating their wedding next year in May.

Caroline (on the right) is pictured with her friend Nattie.

Caroline is a sophomore at UC San Diego and this is finals week.  She had one final Monday, two finals last Tuesday and her last final today.  She was unable to attend Erin's graduation because she couldn't miss this final! 

Blogger Girls Block of the Month II - Last Two Blocks

The last two blocks of this BOM by Monique Dillard was posted June 1st.  I was finally able to make the last two blocks just yesterday.  It took me all day not because they were difficult but I had to clean my house.  My son is arriving tonight from Phoenix to attend my oldest daughter's graduation ceremony tomorrow afternoon.

Blocks 12 and 13

The quilt is on point and there is a block in between the pieced blocks.  I will be using the following fabric for the alternate blocks.

I am going to try to finish all twelve alternate blocks today but I have more cleaning to do so I may not be able to accomplish this goal today.  So far, I am enjoying this BOM.  It isn't too late to start.  You can download the instruction and save them until you have the time to make this fun quilt.

This is the link to information and instructions to make the BOM

http://www.opengatequilts.com/bloggergirlsbomii.html

Finshed Top - Jelly Roll Jam

I finished the top from the last blog that I posted.  There was so much blue, white and beige in the jelly roll that I wanted to add some "sparkle."  I decided not to add red in the middle of the quilt so I added a 2 1/2" border of red.

This quilt was made from two Snowbird jelly rolls.  It is 75" x 75."  My husband was holding it up for me to photograph so it is not straight but you can see most of it.

Graduation Party - Saturday - June 5

My nephew, Nick had a graduation party this weekend in San Jose.  We traveled 2 1/2 hours to San Jose to celebrate.  It was so fun to see all of my relatives and meet friends of my brother and sister-in-law.
 

My oldest daughter, Erin is graduating from UC Davis with her graduate degree this coming Thursday.  I will share some photographs but best of all, she is engaged to be married so I will have to make her a quilt or two.  Of course, I will publish them!  By the way, she is a quilter too!

Happy Sewing Everyone!

Fat Quarter Shop - Jelly Roll Jam

A couple of weeks ago, I received the Fat Quarter Shop's blog, the Jolly Jabber.  In this blog were suggestions on how to make larger quilts with additional Jelly Rolls.  I decided to make a larger one with two rolls of Laundry Basket Quilts' Snowbird.  I loved the blue, white and beige colors.  You can make two 48" square quilts from one jelly roll.

This is made from 18 strips of the jelly roll.  The Jelly Roll Jam is a free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop.  It is simple to make and assemble.  As I stated above, I used two jelly rolls and that will make a 72" square quilt.  I made three more of the above quilt.  The jelly roll is beautiful but it seemed "dull" when I laid them on the table.  I decided to add a 2 1/2" strip of red between all four of the pieces and add a red border around the quilt just to add a bit of sparkle/shimmer.  I will work on it this weekend and photograph it for you.

This is the link to the original Jelly Roll Jam: http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/2013/09/jelly-roll-jam-free-quilt-pattern.html

Here is the link to the making of the larger Jelly Roll Jam:  http://fatquartershop.blogspot.com/2014/04/how-to-make-jelly-roll-jam-bigger.html

San Francisco Visit

This weekend my husband and I visited San Francisco for our 30th wedding anniversary.  We had a blast and ate every meal at a Yelp recommended restaurant!  All of them were delicious....needless to say!

We took about six selfies in our hotel room.  Dermet and I have never taken selfies before so this was our best one.  We took others at Baker Beach with the Golden Gate Bridge behind us.  They were not as good either.  Baker Beach is on the Presidio on the other side of the Golden Gate.  We were curious about it but had never been before.  It was so cold and windy that we could not stay very long.

One of the highlights for me was to finally make it to Britex Fabrics.  It is a 4-story building near Union Square full of fabrics and notions.  It was so fun to go through each floor.  We started at the top floor.  There were remnants, leather, faux fur and many other items.  The 3rd floor had notions, ribbons, tulle, and just everything.

 
The wall of buttons was incredible.  Just about every button imaginable was there.

I did take pictures of some ribbons but not any of the huge array of ribbons.

What I loved was looking at the amount of zippers that were on display!  Every color that you can imagine was available and hanging.





The 2nd floor had cottons.  I loved them but I was so overwhelmed that I just purchased two yards of batiks.  There were not as many batiks so I was able to actually choose two bolts to buy from.  The 1st floor had brocades, wools and crepes.  All-in-all it was a beautiful experience.