Bright Blueberry Birthday!

I have a little Friday finish to share with you.  This blueberry themed picnic basket for two was the birthday gift we gave our wonderful daughter in law.

The picnic basket is insulated and collapses for easier storage.

I have been admiring equilateral triangle quilts so I thought I would give it a try.  Lesson learned:  cardboard templates do not hold up as well as the plastic ones.  

For the back of the quilt I made an attempt at paper piecing a gemstone emerald for the May birthstone.  Earlier this year I found this amazing quilt by {no} hats in the house and just loved the colors and the gemstones on the back.  Her pattern was easy to follow;  I am just not sure about all my color choices.  I think this looks more like a compass than a gemstone, but, oh well, I had fun practicing my paper piecing.

I quilted 1/4" on either side of all seams with the walking foot; this created a nice pattern on the back.

The picnic basket was filled with blueberry themed goodies....blueberry wine from a local vineyard, blueberry preserves and wine glasses with blueberry napkins.

I made the napkins from the remaining fabric and used this tutorial for the nice mitered corners.

Happy Birthday, Love you B!

It's Friday...linking up with Amanda Jean's Finish It Up Friday!

If Mama Said Sew...I Would Not Hesitate

I've been playing with a lovely pile of Sweetwater's Mama Said Sew.  I just love the patterns and colors in this collection.

But then again, I love just about every piece of fabric that comes home with me.  Therefore, when I finish a project I can't throw out any of the remaining scraps.  I keep a plastic bag with each project that I tuck  scraps in as I go.  After I finish the quilt top, I go to the scrap bag for piecing the back together or the binding.  Inevitably, there are still scraps remaining and they go into the scrap boxes.

I am a little surprised that the blue/purple box was the first to overflow.  I think I have filed aqua/teal scraps in this box which would certainly explain the lid explosion!  Lately I have seen some quite lovely scrappy quilts using very small and odd shaped pieces.

I have a project to share with you soon that included paper piecing which, for me anyway, uses a lot of fabric and leaves behind odd shaped scraps.   I had great fun sewing those cute little weird pieces together into these two 8.5" blocks.   Blue/purple scrap projects must be next!

Voting continues at the Bloggers Quilt Festival over at Amy's Creative Side!   Linking up with my usual Wednesday party:

Happy Birthday From One 13 Year Old to Another

Karen of Sew Many Ways has invited everyone to join in a birthday (linky) party for Annie, who turns 13 on May 25th.  Well, this is just our type of party!  Miss Kasey, our lovely 13 year old Bernese Mountain Dog really does love birthday parties!

 The day we brought her home, Mother's Day 2000.

 Kasey  loves to pose after going to the "spa" for her beauty treatments.

 The Queen of the household looking regal.

 Kasey is just a little too big to fit on my kayak, but she does love going out on a boat ride.

Even at 13 years old (very, very old for her breed...but we do not tell her that!) she continues to be just as lovely, charming and the center of the household.  As you can imagine, we have Bernese Mountain Dog influences throughout the house.  She has even made her presence known in my new found quilting hobby.

 Kasey photo bombing my quilt photography session!

 Beautiful fabric used in pillows for each of my men!

Such a good sport!

Kasey is keeping an eye on my sewing (in the sewing room before the remodel!).

Happy Birthday Annie!  Party like a teenager!  What a blessing to have these pets in our lives for so long!  (And thanks Karen for giving me an excuse to post even more pictures of my pup on my blog!)

My 2nd Blogger's Quilt Festival Entry

OK, now she's totally going over the edge....

I am entering these pictures of my modern log cabin quilt to the Photography category in Amy's Creative Side Spring Quilter's Blog Festival.

This, of course, is the quilt and the photo session that yielded the picture in my blog banner.  I designed the quilt with the family room of our house on the water in New Hampshire in mind.  This is where I do most of my kayaking and the house in the woods means so much to my whole extended family.  In this place we relax, laugh, play, eat and drink well, breath the fresh air and take full advantage of the beauty of the region.

I highly encourage you to spend a few minutes enjoying the all the amazing entries in the Festival.

PS  If you want (and I know you do) to see more pictures of my lovely puppy, come back in a few days for something special.

Local Support

This is my little contribution to the wonderful Quilts for Boston project led by the Boston Modern Quilt Guild and supported by so many of you!

And speaking of supporting local organizations, I fell off my fabric diet and did a little shopping at Sew Fresh Fabrics, adding these lovelies to my fabric collection (I say "collection" as I am never sure I will be brave enough to cut (GASP) into it!):

Accounts in flax (perfect for this ex-accountant, right?), Paddle Hatch from Camp Sur (again, for obvious reasons), Captured from Next Stop and Cuppa Joe from Modern Home.

These are my first Essex Linens (natural and putty) and I have to say, I get it.  I understand why these appear in so many of the beautiful projects I see you making.  Gorgeous.  I found Sew Fresh Fabrics on line and loved their selection of modern fabrics.  It was only after I ordered that I noticed they are here in Massachusetts, less than 20 miles away!  Good thing they do not have a brick and mortar store!  (Although I am quite sure I will be able to do enough damage on-line!).

UPDATE:  Just saw on this post that Sew Fresh Fabric is having a sale!

One more thing...as a relative newbie at this quilting thing, I am still so taken aback when something little old me makes is greatly appreciated.  You might remember my version of the Scrappy Trip Around the World that started out as an excuse to work off some of my scraps and turned into one of my favorite quilts?

I knew this quilt needed a special home and so I gave it to a very special young couple as a (belated..oops) wedding gift.   And I loved her reaction!  She was so enthralled by this quilt that she took pictures and send it to her family, friends, co-workers...including the CEO of her company!  Yikes!  It turns out that the CEO's wife runs a quilt store south of Boston, Hearts in Hands (great shop name)!  In my quest to shop at every fabric store (physical and on-line!), I have not been to this one yet but it is on the list!

I am trying something new this Wednesday (I know, living on the edge....), linking up with:


Hope everyone is having a good week.  Thoughts and prayers go out to all those in Oklahoma impacted by the tornado.

Why Not? My Bloggers Quilt Festival Entry

When I started quilting last year one of the first sites I found was Amy's Creative Side and her Blogger's Quilt Festival.  I was mesmerized by the beautiful display of quilts.  And I thought..."some day, some day.."

(With apologies to my regular viewers who have seen far too many pictures of this project already!)

Here is "Sea Glass,"  my new queen size quilt for my master bedroom.

This project started with the remodeling of our bedroom and bathroom (goodbye 1980's mauve and gold!).   The walls are painted gray (as I cannot seem to make a color commitment to wall colors...quilts, yes, but walls are always neutral...weird) and I was looking for a splash of color, yet keeping with a cool, spa like feel.  This beautiful fabric was my inspiration for the quilt colors:

This is St. Thomas Sea Glass home dec fabric by PKaufmann that I used to make pillows for the bed.  

The new bedroom, in progress.  One of these days I will hang things on the walls.

The view into the new bathroom that started all this.

The back looks lovely even when turned down.  To summarize:

Finished size:  88" by 80"
Pattern:  Garden Trellis Modern Quilt by Faith of Fresh Lemon Modern Quilts (I made more squares to size up to a queen).
Fabric:  Lots of beautiful pieces that I collected over months with Kona White and Ash.
Quilting:  Stippling with my Husqvarna Viking

I promise, this is the last time I will post about this quilt...

Vintage Modern Quilt Top Finish and a Question

Happy Friday!  Thanks to my husband's need to recuperate from surgery, I have been able to spend some quality time in my sewing room.  I have another quilt top to add to the queue on the rack waiting to be quilted!  It started with a jelly roll of the lovely Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille and this pattern from Lee at Freshly Pieced that I found at the Moda Bakeshop.

 I decided not to add the borders to simplify the look.  Please note and admire the feet of my stand-in quilt holder!  As my usual assistant for this was not available, I enlisted my very tall oldest son for this important responsibility.

 Azaleas in bloom to accompany this quilt top.

I do love the mix of patterns and colors in this collection!  I did have one on-going issue with this quilt relating to the use of the pre-cut 2.5" strips.  It seems to me that the strips are not exactly 2.5" from edge to edge...see my evidence below (apologize for the blurry close ups):

....just enough off to make a difference.  I have signed up for the Craftsy class with Camille Roskelley on using pre-cuts and hopefully I will figure out what I am doing wrong!  How do you work with pre-cuts to ensure precise piecing?

Today is the first day of the Bloggers Quilt Festival and I am seriously considering entering a quilt...WHAT?!  Stay tuned for more craziness...

In the mean time...it's Friday at crazy mom quilts.  Have a lovely weekend!