Sew Sunshine

But I did do it!!!! :) I finished my DIY Sampler from earlier this spring. It is one of the biggest I have tried to free-motion quilt on my home machine. I even used my moms old machine with a darning foot. I did an all over mum design because of all the busy blocks and color. I won't lie, I had some teary moments when the thread would suddenly go off tension and eyelash and then I would stop and start and it would be fine again. I still have a couple spots I didn't fix. It is okay, this one is mine. Kind of hard to see the floral quilting as I used orange thread with the mostly orange back. I also used the walking foot with the guide on it to stitch the binding back. It is not my favorite looking method but it worked pretty slick. Most of my scraps went into the back plus one orphan block.  Looks like a picnic quilt to me. :)  54" x 70" All stash scraps used in this were from previous quilts or orphan blocks left over from the 2012 Craftsy bom c

  I did it! I completed the top for the DYO Sampler from SewMamaSew Summer SAL designed by Sarah from Sarah Quilts HERE . I followed quite a bit of her block size layouts because I had quite a few orphan blocks that fit those sizes.  This top is made up of some orphan blocks from the 2012 Craftsy BOM and some old blocks I learned how to make from my mom. Other blocks are just scrap pieces I put together in an improv way.  I tried to get the balance of colors to play across the quilt top. Not sure I succeeded....BUT,I did use a lot of scraps and blocks. However, like most scrap projects, I still have lots of scraps from this.   sigh.......     My goal for June was to get the top done and maybe the backing. I have a couple leftover blocks for the back that I will work into the scrappy back.  I have to wait for a bit to tackle the back because this is so much bigger than I thought it would be. It is going to be a monster for me to quilt so I might have to think on it

It's June and I am afraid that it is going to fly by.  You know that song "June is bustin' out all over" from Carousel? Well that is what it feels like around here. The garden is growing. The vegetable patch was looking pretty good but the high winds and rain flattened many of my plants last night. The little bit of hail didn't help either. The spring cleaning should be well under way...mine stalled out yesterday when I tried to get the hard water ring out of the toilet ( I did get it done but not much else on the cleaning front).  However, progress was made on my current WIP on the DYO sampler HERE  @ SewMamaSew designed by Sarah from Sarah Quilts blog. My second section is completed .   I used another Craftsy BOM (the one in the bottom left) and added in bits of the scraps from several quilts. I love using up the scraps that I kept (for this insane reason I guess) of the bits off of the backings and left over block parts.  The giant Bear Paw is a block I m

             "Weathered Wood" 60 x 75 Friday and the end of the month...all is good! I am posting my finish for the month, the "Barn Door" from the QAL over at Sarah Quilts . I am so happy with my finish. I am even more excited that it was all from my stash.  It was cold enough outside that the tape kept freezing and letting go so I had to just lay it down for pics.  I used the other hour glass block on the back and then used more stash fabrics to piece it all together. I kept with the Barn door theme and tried to quilt it up with a giant "Z" and I think the placement of some of the fabrics lend themselves to the idea of slats of wood.  It just goes to show that making yourself use what you have sometimes can be surprising. :)  I really love this one and I think it is my largest quilt yet on my home machine.  I am linking this up with  HERE my original goal post is  HERE Also linking up with Crazy mom Quilts for Finish it

Time to decide what I will complete this month. I am currently working on a quilt called the BarnDoor in a QAL hosted by Sarah at SarahQuilts.   I am using only fabrics I have had in my stash (for a long long time) and I came up with this. I love it! I have to make the two borders yet and I will have to piece the back because this is way bigger than I expected. Not sure what the quilty plan will be but I will make this my goal for the Feb. A Lovely Year of Finishes over at Fiber of All Sorts and Sew Bittersweet Designs linky party Also linking up with Sarah at Sarah Quilts for the Barndoor QAL

2013 for me, was a year of learning and experimenting. Trying, failing, succeeding and striving to do better.  Some days joyous, other days frustrating. For me it was just in the doing something creative that kept me going. I am thankful for it all.  Here are a few of my creative adventures:   I am excited to get started on a few challenges, QALs and working on my stash.  Here is a WIP that I would like to finish this month. Linking up with January A lovely year of finishes   "Giant Starburst" QAL with Megan over @  Canoe Ridge Creations Also linking up with Sarah for a Year in Review @  Sarah Quilts