My Valentine

Watcha doon Mum?

How can one little, well, not so little dog take over my life? Not sure, but she is so darn cute she has us wrapped around her curly little paw.

 What I was doing was making a few little Valentines. Using my Accuquilt Heart Die, I fused some fabric with Steam-a-Seam II, light.  I was able to cut 6 layers at a time. One thing I know for sure, cutting free-hand hearts is not easy. They always end up crooked. Thus, this die was essential.

I picked up several packages of this on sale at Joann's several years ago. It is repositionable but some of the sticky on that side is a bit weak. I will use it all up by Spring I think. 

There are three size hearts on the board.

I picked up these little tote bags at an online retailer, via Amazon, some time ago. Their original purpose was to be Christmas gift bags for the Ladies. Well.....that didn't happen. Enter Valentines Day and the Tuesday Quilting Group, Ladies of the Cloth, are getting them now. When they arrived I was surprised at how thin the fabric was so anything more than a little project would likely overwhelm the bag.
I have been using my sample for holding a collection of stretchy bands for making potholders on my little loom. I keep little portable projects here and there, Lola gets into everything so I need to be able to store the project rather than let it sit about.  
  

• I did not stitch down the little hearts. The fabric on the bags was too thin to support much stitching. I did try, outcome, disappointing. The Steam-a-Seam says the fuse is permanent, we will see.
• I will be bringing these each week Ladies, so if I missed you last week, we will catch up. 
• Happy St. Valentine's Day!

Foot Prints and Quilts

FootPrints
Footprints lead home... Home to my heritage and hearth... Home to the warmth of the fire and a hearty meal...
Footprints take me past the playground of my youth... Past the whispering wind in the pines and the spruce... Past the stone barn filled with horses and hay...

Foot prints take me home... To love... To laughter, some sorrow, and even tears... Yet these Foot Prints have never failed me no matter the years...
Footprints take us to where the heart lives... The heart of the home... The heart of the soul...
I am thankful when I see these Foot Prints... For I know where they go...

For us, a cozy quilt defines home. This one was gifted by Rose to the Guild for a service project.

Rose donated this one.   9/9/14

Mary Jane is finishing the binding on this one.She donated this one for the same project.

 311 quilts were donated by the Guild group in 2014 to three different service organizations. When one doesn't have a home or for one reason or another cannot be in their home a cozy quilt can help create the sense of security and caring.   

From the Archives of Sewtopia, Flannel Quilts

When moving things around on the blog I realized that I had 2946 prior posts! Can you imagine? How did that happen? 10 years, that's how it happened.

10 years ago I was charmed by cozy flannel quilts I saw at a Quilters Guild show. The first one I saw was a baby-quilt sized piece, in pinks, blues, yellows. I still have it. It was my experiment, the practice piece.

On April 5, 2011, This post was the topic.
Another quilt show find this bundle is a heavyweight, velvet-textured flannel. Yes, flannel. The hand is divine, the colors are saturated and the prints are beautiful. I plan another rag-edge quilt for this.   The display in the vendor's booth featured essentially the same pattern as the one I made before. 

selvage information

the assortment

cutters, rag edge

Just look at these stunning prints. Each one is special on its own, but as a group, they really compliment each other. I saw another rag-edge quilt made with 5-inch squares that were stitched through each square with an X. I have to think on this a bit. I really am learning to the rectangle-shaped block arranged in the offset pattern. Then again, I could alternate the rectangles and squares like a Flemish bond bricklayers pattern.

After joining the blocks all those little seams have to be cut to form the fringe. I totally ruined a pair of scissors doing that on the first one so I bit the bullet and bought a pair of these heavy-duty cutters, one would think I am going to prune fruit trees! I was assured by the seller that these will do the job.  So, in between 29 other on-going projects, I will fit this one in. Stay tuned:)

first rag-edge quilt

• The quilt I made from those beautiful flannel squares was a gift, I never took a photo! The recipient was very grateful and used the quilt over and over. 
• I have another stash of flannel, in blues and yellow's I think. Mmmm, I need to find that!
• So many things in the archives, I think I will share some of these again!

Buttons, Buttons, Who's Got the Button? A Facebook Friday Post

 

Did you ever play that game? I remember sitting on my Grandmother's stairway to the second floor of a large house, a cousin on each step, passing the button. Of course, the person on the highest step always won, they could see the passing. Silly game but we had fun!



Pat Sloan, quilt designer extraordinaire, has a Facebook page where Sewists share ideas. One lady saw this button challenge on another site and shared it here. She attached one button per day. After a short time, she looked forward to the daily stitch because she was dealing with many life stresses and found it calmed her spirit.  Her name is Brenda Marie from Quilt along with Pat Sloan group on Facebook. 

I have hoops, I have buttons, I have needles and thread.....mmmmm.







Just look at this eye candy! Of course I don't need another machine, but this is a beauty. Very little use I think.


This lady is making two at a time! Her name is Sian Jennings.



One more thing....do you need a quick light box? Check this out!


This isn't mine but it is a great idea. *let me be honest here, the scratches on that table would drive me up the wall!* Using your acrylic table extension place a little light or two to get the contrast you need to make the copies. I have a few of these lights from Harbor Freight.

Tea Time Tuesday this Week

Simple tea tray for this week, my very first Polish Tea Pot, two little bubble-cups, tray and trivet.

Afternoon tea is standard fare in Sewtopia. It is usually a simple affair, tea, maybe a little 2 bite sandwich, a cookie sometimes. It is that little respite, midday, to shore up the Sewist before the evening activities. Prepping for dinner, answering phone calls, planning ahead for tomorrow. I make lists, study the mail, relax.

One of my favorites, The Fortnum & Mason Afternoon Blend. I think this is my second tin since last Summer.

I had this little trivet for several years, can't remember from where.

Isn't she cute?

• I have changed my tea routine, just a bit. I have many teapots and cups.  Mostly they sit about, used rarely and some...never. I plan to make a new tray each week, some varied and interesting combinations are in store. 
• I like to wrap up the afternoon's sewing with a cup of tea. So far, this new routine for the New Year is working fairly well.
•  I rarely bake sweets anymore, if requested, I will give it a go but if they are here, they are just too tempting.

   

WELCOME SEWTOPIA FOLLOWERS

Welcome to the Sew and Sew Newsletter. Situations beyond my control has forced this move. I will set this space up much like the old one. I really don't want to change platforms but this is pretty much the last effort.

You might enjoy scanning through these older posts, I did!

Monday, Monday-Jelly Roll Town Square! (Last post on Sewtopia)

 

In the early days of pre-cuts I went a bit wild. Drawers full just waiting for a purpose.  

I saw this picture on Facebook I think and my ideas started swarming. I am pleased with this dusty-floral fabric. The contrast with the black background florals makes it pop. 

 The floral and dot fabric reminds me of one I already made, it is my favorite.

• Jelly rolls are a nice quick project, particularly for service quilts.
• Some people suffer the shifting of the strips or the occasional irregular cut.
• My solutions: I steam iron my strips. It permits a bit of shrinkage, if necessary, and gives me the opportunity to check the consistency of the cut.
• I always use a single needle throat plate. This way the feed dogs are narrow and do not move the fabric as you stitch. The single hole keeps it all tidy.  
• If you mark your scant 1/4 inch width by the markings on the plate, by the measurements on the foot or by a guide on the plate your stitching will be more accurate. 
• Watch your speed and use your hand to apply a bit of tension to keep the row straight as you put the pedal to the metal....so to speak.

Drawers of jelly rolls are going to find use this year. That is my plan. 
***if the blog disappears for a day or two or a week or so please know that I have been watching statistics and sources of viewers. If something seems "off" I shut it down. Most recently I discovered that a defunct blog, of about 5 years, was bouncing viewers to my blog. Why? Who knows but history has proven that watchfulness pays off.
 

Monday, Monday, have a good one!

String Quilts, thank you Rose!

Hey all, great picnic today! Thanks to everyone for the great food and wonderful company, Jenny's painting process is so amazing to me, thanks for doing that and having beautiful background music by Linda Sue was the perfect backdrop.

Rose wanted to forward a great blog site that features String Quilts. Just click on the link, lots of good ideas!
A few examples! 
Reminders: Tenative date for our Fall Field Trip, October 1, to Mt. Pleasant and Becca's Quilt shop.
Check your calendars for ou r Happy Hellman's Harvest Tea. I will bring the cookbook back next week. Should be fun.