Hampton Ridge BOM - Month 10 and a new Civil War BOM coming in October

I picked up the last four blocks of Hampton Ridge yesterday from Fabric Garden.  I finished them this morning.  They were fun but I feel a bit sad that these are the last four blocks of this quilt.  On the other hand, I do feel elated that the quilt will be done in the next two months!

Block 38

Block 39

Block 40

Block 41

As I stated above, these are the last four blocks for Hampton Ridge.  I assume that we will have two-three months of fabric and patterns for the setting, border and backing.

New Civil War Block of the Month starting October, 2014

At the Beatle Bag class earlier this week, Jill, one of the owners of Fabric Garden, showed us posters of the new Block of the Month program beginning in October.  The quilt looks brighter and the blocks look like they will be fun to sew each month. 

The top photograph is the entire quilt.  The quilt and fabric is designed by Julie Hendrickson for  Windham Fabrics.  Jill had the first month of blocks completed.  The backgrounds are varied and consist of Civil War shirting prints which I love because these prints read as white from a distance.  I love using white in my quilts. 


I apologize for the quality of the two photographs of the Threads of Time.  I could not take a great picture because of the lighting in the classroom was so harsh.  The next time I am there, I will try to take better photographs.

This shows the schedule of blocks that we will be making. For example, each month, we will make four of the same blocks but in different colors.

If you are interested in joining our group that will make this quilt and you don't live in Sacramento, please call Jill at Fabric Garden, 916-483-2955.  She can give you the details and the cost of making this quilt.  Jill will mail the monthly pattern and fabrics to you.  

The website for the shop in Sacramento is www.fabricgardenquiltshop.com.

Beatle Bag Class

The Beatle Bag class was held yesterday.  This was the second class that Jill from Fabric Garden (Sacramento) held so there were only six of us.  We were able to spread out and have a great time completing our bags. 

Linda used a colorful fabric with lovely gold accents.

Paula used fabric sewing motifs.  I love blue.

Kathy used her favorite fabric, batiks.

This fabric also had sewing motifs.

This fabric reminded me of the fall with orange and brown.

I used a grapevine fabric.

As you can tell by the photographs above, we were all over the map with our fabric selection.  I loved each of the fabrics used and enjoyed getting to know everyone again and those who I have not met previously.  Several times during our class someone would come in from the store and marvel at our concentration with the silence coming from the classroom. We really wanted to finish these bags!

Our class started at 10 am and was scheduled to end at 4 pm with a short lunch break at 12:30 pm.  Most of us stayed until 5 pm so that we could try to finish as much as we could before we left for home.  It was a blast for me.

I was able to finish my Beatle Bag this morning.  I sewed binding around the bag, sewed the handle and stuffed the pin cushion.  Over all, I love the bag and can't wait to fill all of the compartments with my sewing and quilting tools.

Beatle Bag Class at Fabric Garden

Next week, I will take a class at Fabric Garden.  The class is the sewing/making of the Beatle Bag.  This is a picture of the pattern.  It is a bag with a pin cushion and plastic holders for your sewing and/or quilting tools.  It can also be used to carry make-up.

Jill at Fabric Garden suggested that I start some of the sewing at home and she was going to ask others in the class to do the same.  Just one step and that is the crosshatching of the outside and inside fabrics to the Soft and Stable (foam stabilizer).  She suggested that it be done at home because the last class that she taught, everyone did not finish it in the allotted time because they spent too much time making this part of the bag.

I started with cutting all of the fabrics, Soft and Stable and Velcro in the instructions.  I hate falling behind so I cut everything on page 1 of the pattern.  In the past, I have made mistakes and cut the fabric incorrectly so this time I scanned the page the checked off the cuts that I made as I cut them.  I started doing this a couple of years ago and it really helps.  

You can see the check marks that I made as I cut each piece of fabric.

I don't know why I haven't done it before but it really helps.  I also marked each of the cut pieces with its dimensions and labeled where each of the pieces belong.

I am easily frustrated when I am not organized.

These are the two bag body pieces of the outside and inside fabrics that I finished.

I hope it turns out.  I will take pictures of my progress and the people around me as we make our Beatle Bags.

Finished Northern Lights Mini and Book Review

I finished binding the Northern Lights Mini Quilt.  I learned to use the Mini Hex N More ruler and it was so fun.  I love quilts that are small because they are a manageable size and of course, the almost immediate satisfaction is great.

Front - Before Binding

Back - Before Binding

I quilted on the right side of every seam only.  Julie quilted on each side of each seam.  I think this is fine.

I included a picture of the back.  

I like to see the pattern that was created by the quilting.

I used a double miter binding.  It is a technique taught at Fabric Garden.  There is no joining of the binding but mitering at the corners.  It is difficult to explain but essentially the joining is done at the corners.

Book Review:   "Color Continuum - No. 01 Momochromatic" by Emily Cier

This book was suggested to me by an email from Amazon.  I purchase many books from Amazon because I get them right away, within two days and many of the books that Amazon suggests I can't find locally.  I loved the cover and the description:  "Five Modern Monochromatic Quilt Projects."  I love history and love the history of the Civil War so I have a HUGE stash of Civil War reproduction fabrics but in the last two years, I have started to notice that I love the more modern quilts.  The modern quilts seem to be lighter and brighter but the modern quilts that I have made seem to be monochromatic.  Needless to say, I purchased the book and have been enthralled since it arrived.  It has less than 50 pages but it is jam packed with graphics that look very similar to Tula Pink's instructions in her books and patterns.  Not all authors can write clear instructions but a good graphic can speak volumes.  

The photographs are gorgeous.  Emily used the Seattle shoreline (her hometown) as a backdrop for the quilts.  Emily has a website where you can purchase this book and see her many patterns, quilts and fabrics:  www.carolinapatchworks.com

A photo of the five quilts in two colorways.

 

Been Busy...Posting finally TODAY!

I volunteered to help with the fireworks booth at the high school my children graduated from.  I did the financial side of the booth and worked a couple of hours here and there to help out.  This booth gives its proceeds from the booth to our Athletic Boosters.  We made quite a bit of money so it was worth all of the time that we all devoted to help athletics at our school. Fortunately, the booth was up for only a week, from June 28th to July 4th.

While the booth was up and running, I started a quilt that is for my oldest daughter.  She will be married next year in May and I decided to make her two quilts.  I am a third of the way finished with the piecing of the first top but I want the quilt to be a surprise, so I won't post any photographs yet.

I did, however, go to my local quilt store in Sacramento, Fabric Garden and look for some fabrics but I couldn't find exactly what I wanted but I picked up this instead:  Mini Northern Lights by Julie Herman.

The wonderful ladies at Fabric Garden put together a kit for this pattern.  I did not have to look for any fabric.  They did all of the work and all I had to do was to sew it together.

This was the second step, sewing all of the pieces together.  I took pictures of the strips of cloth before I cut it up but they did not appear on my downloaded photographs.  I don't know what happened.

This is the third step, sewing all 16 rows together.

I cut the "tails" off as instructed on the pattern.  It did not take me very long to sew all of the rows together.  I started sewing the rows during yesterday's soccer game, Netherlands vs. Brazil.  I love sewing while I am watching TV.  I finished it today while watching Germany vs. Argentina.  It was a good game and I knew that Germany would win but I was still rooting for Argentina.



My youngest daughter, Caroline (below) was able to travel to Argentina during the last World Cup.  She traveled to Argentina with her high school's band and was able to stay a short time with a family in Buenos Aires.  She loved the culture and of course, the Argentina team.

Now all I have to do to complete this quilt is to find a small piece of batting, put the three layers together, quilt it and bind it.  By the way, the backing and binding came in the kit.  The quilt it is 13 inches by 16 1/2 inches. 

Day Dreams BOM Month 2 and Layer Cake Lemonade Quilt Pattern

Layer Cake Lemonade Quilt Pattern

I have purchased for years many, many pre-cuts.  I have been going through my stash to see which of these pre-cuts I can sew into quilts quickly.  I found a Barbara Brackman Layer Cake called "Lately Arrived from London."  I decided to use the Fat Quarter Shop's free pattern, "Layer Cake Lemonade Quilt Pattern." 

This quilt  is 48" x 61".  It is so easy to sew together.  I didn't like all of the fabrics included so I added the two green squares that matched the colors of the the entire line of fabrics.  There were not many dark fabrics but there were many lights and mediums so the green seemed like a good addition.  It isn't the best quilt but it is utilitarian and I will either keep it or give it away to someone who likes the somber Civil War colors.



Days Dreams BOM - Month 2

I just picked up the Day Dreams BOM yesterday morning.  I started on it right away.  I really enjoy the calming blue colors.  I finished them last night because they are 12" blocks (finished) and easier to sew together when there are larger pieces.

In this month's packet, there is a picture of the quilt that we will be making, the Spa version.  I so enjoy piecing the larger blocks!