Puppy Pouch and Cutting Diamonds

    My older granddaughter is getting ready to start the school year and requested a puppy sew on to her bookbag.  When I was searching through my appliqué designs for a cute puppy, I came across a McCalls pattern for a cute puppy cell phone case.  I adapted it and made this zippered pouch.  I hope she will enjoy attaching it to her bookbag.  She may still want a puppy appliqued. 

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    Friends in my church quilting group are planning to each make a simple Lone Star quilt.  A couple of months ago when the Pizza Girls from Quilters Gallery did a show for Greater Columbia Quilters  ( http://gcquilters.blogspot.com/2013/03/quilters-gallery-show-and-tell.html ), I purchased the “fussy cutter ruler set” that includes a giant diamond template for a very large Lemoyne star which I believe finishes at 24”.  The Lemoyne star is similar in piecing to a simplified Lone Star using the y seam technique. I was looking for something to play with yesterday and pulled out the template.  I have had a stack of bandana seconds for several years and decided I would use them for a stack n’ whack star.  If you have never made a stack n’ whack quilt, you first have to do the stacking and tedious pinning to match the number of layers needed.   I needed 8 to use my giant diamond template.

I managed to cut one stacked set for the largest diamond and then cut as many smaller other ones as I could fit.  

I will show more after I sew some together.

Working on Scrap Blocks

    While my kitchen is being worked on, I am trying to do a little sewing while the workers go in and out.  Today I pieced about scrap 12 blocks.  I started with 3 orphan blocks.  I partially deconstructed 2 and added to the color scheme.  I used greens, purples and yellows and have 20 blocks.

I am thinking of adding sashing and a border to increase the size.

  My new kitchen has a new floor and cabinets.  It will be a couple of weeks before they counter tops but I am excited by the progress.

Quilting 101 Class

    This evening I taught the first quilting class for JoAnn Fabrics. The ladies were new to using a rotary cutter so we took time for accuracy and safety.  They did a great job piecing their first quilt block, the Hole in the Barn Door.  Here they are working.

It took a little over the scheduled time but everyone finished one block.

Ginger

Cil

Debbie

Thanks, ladies, for taking the class.  I look forward to seeing more of your piecing until you have enough for your first quilt.

A Few "Hole in the Barn Door" Blocks

    My kitchen remodel is progressing, but it is very difficult to sew much or work on big projects while all the work in going on.  I have managed to work on a few "Hole in the Barn Door" blocks for the Basic 101 quilting class for JoAnn Fabrics.  I may even have 12 finished to piece a small quilt top before the class on July 22nd.  Here are the last 4 finished.

Little of This and That

    My kitchen is being remodeled

so while the work is going on most rooms of my home are not as usual.  Kitchen things are being stored all over the house so it is not easy for me to work on normal quilt/sewing projects.  Today I did manage to pull out a few orphan blocks and scraps and added 5 more blocks in the same color family.

   Yesterday I pulled out some HST units adopted a few years ago and I pieced several blocks using them.

I don't really have a plan for either of these except that they will become comfort quilts for my church quilting group.  I just wanted to piece something without thinking much while the men worked on my kitchen.

Quilts and Quilt Shops of Colorado

     No sewing or quilting was getting done last week because I was traveling through scenic Colorado. I am home and thought I would share some.   I found time to visit 4 quilt shops along the way; and even though I did not need any fabric, I added 9 ¼ yds to my stash.

The shops in Salida and Canon City were small and quaint but nice while the ones in Castle Rock and Wheat Ridge (suburb of Denver) were much larger.  Here are the goodies I bought.

 Canon City was having a quilt show so of course I checked it out.  The show was not judged but visitors got to vote for their favorite.  This large quilt was mine.   

 In the very small town of La Veta we visited a museum of local history and there were a few quilts in a glass display case.  I liked the scrap quilt with the feather stitch outlining the diamond shapes.

 Most of the log cabin quilt strips appear to finish less than 1/2” wide and the quilt was made about 1896.

 This very large tapestry was hanging in the state capital building.  It was worked on by about 90 women