HAPPY THANKSGIVING

From our home to yours, we wish you a very Happy Thanksgiving with good food, family and friends. 

We will be spending a quiet day at home today.  Things will be picking up around here in a day or so and there will be plenty to chase after and accomplish. 

Enjoy this special day!!

SIMPLE SEWING

It always amazes me how much progress I can make on a quilt by sewing a half an hour each day. 

Somehow I managed to make 80 Illusion blocks in what seemed like no time.  Now that all the blocks are made I have begun sewing them into rows and sewing the rows to each other.  Here's what I have so far ~~~

This is Row 1 and 2 sewn together.  Can you see the 'floating' effect?  The gray strip on the left of each block is supposed to be the shadow of the colored rectangles.  The effect would be stronger if I had used a darker shade of gray but I like mine this way.  The colored fabric is Grunge by Basicgrey.  I really love this fabric and the colors.  Up close it has the look of raw silk.  Such an unfortunate name for such a lovely fabric line.

 

 

 

 

Rows 3 and 4 are pressed and ready to be sewn together.  Thereare eight rows all together, so I will sew four sets of two rows and then join them together.

 

Here are a few more stacks of blocks waiting to be sewn into rows.  I number the first block of each row with a sticky label.  I pin the label onto the block to prevent them falling off during pressing or moving them around.  I pick up a row of blocks in the order they are to be sewn and I clip the blocks with a clothespin.  This way if I happen to get interrupted it's simple for me to go back and figure out what I was doing.  Is it just me, or do you get interruptions all the time?  Note:  If you use sticky labels, pin them in an area where they won't be pressed. 

It will be fun to see how long it takes this quilt to go together.  I have a huge box of Christmas 'gifties' to finish and get ready to mail. 

Before long I will announce my Holiday Giveaway.  Don't miss out.

Until next time I wish you days of Peace & Plenty.   Barb

SNOWY DAY

We got about 2 inches of snow yesterday.  Our older scottie, Dottie, sat for over an hour at the window watching it fall from the sky.  She eventually got curious enough to go outdoors and put her nose in the snow and plow through it.  Being born and mostly raised in California, Dottie & Olive had never seen snow until last winter.  Sweet Olive wants nothing to do with that white stuff.

Today is a great day to stay indoors and bake, cook and sew.  Well....maybe not in that order!  Shall we say sew, sew, sew and miscellaneous. 

Welcome to the new followers of my blog.  Just like sewing, I blog a little and then blog a lot.  We are dealing with some medical issues and other matters and it's been especially busy around here for quite some time. 

I would love to hear your comments.  Comments from followers really give me the incentive to keep blogging.

Wishing you a cozy day wherever you are.

PLUS SIGN QUILT

This is our first real snow of the year.  Dottie sat watching it fall for about an hour before she wanted to go out and play in it.  She is suspicious of things that drop from the sky, especially rain.  The snow seems to intrigue her.

Yesterday I picked up my small Plus Sign quilt from my long-armer and friend, Reggie.  I was surprised she was able to get this done before Christmas by the look of the stacks of things to quilt. 

The fabrics for this quilt are a few Riley Blake charm packs with no name on them plus some fabric from my stash.  I thought I was making this for our truck, but it's rather sweet looking and may end up being a lap quilt in the TV room.  The backing is French script.  The Plus Sign is a super easy pattern to execute, especially if you use precut squares.  Don't be afraid to try this one.  Laying out the blocks is the most difficult part of the whole thing!  I didn't think it needed a border, so that made it even quicker.

Wishing all of you a wonderful Sunday. 

ILLUSION QUILT BLOCKS

Halloween has come and gone for another year.  Our weather has taken a definite turn toward Winter and it's time to pull out our warm winter clothes and quilts.

While on our trip to Missouri Star in Hamilton, Missouri I bought a layer cake of Grunge fabric by Basicgrey.  I'm in love with this fabric line because it reminds me of raw silk.  For the past week I've been making blocks for an Illusion quilt from the Grunge and a light grey print called Marblehead from Paintbrush Studio for the shadow edge.

The illusion is that the shadow strip on the left of the colored rectangles make them appear to be floating.  There is a great tutorial on how to make this easy block at Missouri Star Quilt Company or YouTube. 

I'm heading for the kitchen to bake a batch of cinnamon rolls for my hungry Hubby.

Wishing you all a wonderful day with family and friends.