Tula Blocks #36 to 43

And moving into the triangle section, here are blocks #36 through 43:

Just looking at the book gives me a sense of accomplishment!

 But look what arrived today...

 Tula's Fox Field fabric to join the party!

Happy Wednesday! Linking up with Lorna's Let's Bee Social and Lee's WIP Wednesday parties!
Kathy

Another Star Wars Quilt Top

There are times when you just need to put all that lovely designer quilting cotton aside for something that will please your audience.

A very successful fabric shopping adventure yielded a wide array of Star Wars themed fabrics.

 I started by making 9.5" framed blocks of the characters using white scraps (can you spot the couple of places where Kona Snow was accidentally used instead of Kona White...oh well, my buddy won't notice).  I then cut some 9.5" squares of the larger scale prints, made a few four patch blocks and a few on-point blocks.

This is a busy quilt!  I think he will enjoy searching through all the blocks for characters and scenes from his (and his father's!) favorite movie franchise!

Now, off to order some soft minky for the backing!

Linking up with Lorna's Let's Bee Social and Amanda Jean's finish it up Friday parties!
Kathy

I'm Still Here!

Despite evidence to the contrary, I have not given up sewing.  We had another wonderful Easter with lots of family, food, laughter, egg hunts and wiffle ball!

 The cheese ball for this holiday.  Not my best effort, but it had the right effect!

 We spent several hours on Monday cheering on Boston Marathon runners at the top of Heartbreak Hill.  It was a beautiful day for celebrating the amazing accomplishment of these athletes.

Yesterday, ice-out was declared on the lake and our docks went down.  My kayak is calling me (although I might wait just a little for the water to warm up a tiny bit).

All that to say, I did spend a little time with my sewing machine and I have the Star Wars quilt top to share soon!

I hope your week is going well!
Kathy

Boston Marathon Support

I have started another quilt for one of my buddies:

 Did you know how many Star Wars fabrics are available?  It was not difficult to find a wide range of Star Wars patterns for this project.  (Aside:  While shopping I heard people asking for "Frozen" fabric.  I've seen the movie.  Good but not great.  I don't get it.  What is the mania about this movie?  I love a good Disney movie as much, or more, than anyone but really, the statistics around this movie are amazing.)

But mostly my sewing machine is on a little vacation with not much sewing going on.

Tomorrow is Easter Sunday.  I wish you a day of joy and bunny treats!  I am looking forward to eating chocolate!  No sweets during Lent = six pounds lost!  Now, the challenge will be not to gain it all back tomorrow!


Monday is the Boston Marathon.  We are planning to join the thousands of spectators who will be cheering on the runners from Heartbreak Hill.  But I also have another little tiny role in the marathon.  I am sure you have read about the amazing work done by the Boston Modern Quilt Guild collecting thousands of blocks from quilters around the world and assembling these blocks into hundreds of beautiful quilts that have  been given to survivors, first responders and others impacted by the awful events at last years Marathon.

Although I was not a guild member while these quilts were being made, like many of you, I did contribute a few blocks to the effort.  One of my blocks just happens to be included in one of the 30 quilts that will be hung in the medical tents at the finish of the Marathon and will be hung annually, becoming part of the  legacy of the Marathon.  Please take some time and jump over to the BMQG blog to see these beautiful quilts.  Boston Strong indeed.

Wishing you and yours a wonderful weekend!
Kathy

The Next 10 Tula Blocks

Every now and then I make a block (or two or three) from Tula's City Sampler.  These ten finish the squares and rectangles, on to triangles next.

As you can see, Tula and I are not afraid of color!  Although I'm still undecided about that orange.
Don't you think Fox Field would be a wonderful addition to my sampler?

Count to date:  35 blocks completed, 65 to go!

Hope your week is going well!  Linking up with Lorna's Let's Bee Social and Lee's WIP Wednesday.
Kathy

Preppy Quilt Top Finish

Thank you for your understanding of my sewing machine frustration.  Fortunately, the weekend was approaching and that means driving to the house in the woods where my back up sewing machine lives!

I love the weather in New England, particularly the seasonal changes.  Having said that, this is my least favorite period when everything that is not frozen is muddy and the remnants of snow are dirty.

 Therefore, this is the best time to appreciate bright colored fabrics like this Preppy D9P:

This quilt is going to a special young lady who deserves nothing but happy colors and fun motifs.  My approach to this project was:
1.  Pick a color scheme.  Answer:  preppy pink and greens to match her bedroom (with a little bit of blue thrown in for fun).
2.  Find the fabric.  Answer:  Somehow my (growing) stash did not have enough of these colors so I had to go shopping.  The starting pile of fabric looked like this.
3.  Decide on a scrappy looking pattern.  Answer:  This is my first quilt using the disappearing 9 patch block but after seeing this quilt and this one, I thought this block would be a good systemic approach to a scrappy look.

Once I got to my back-up sewing machine, this came together quite quickly and really brightened up another dreary mud season day!

But fear not, while I was without sewing machine, I did indeed find other quilty ways to fill the time (that I perhaps should have spent cleaning out closets).  Have you seen the dyosampler on Sew Mama Sew?  In addition to the tutorial on how to design your own sampler there are some great block ideas to use in your sampler.  The old accountant in me just couldn't resist sitting down with pencil, paper and calculator to sketch out a first draft of a dyo sampler.

This may be a little ambitious for me, but that is why it is drawn in pencil!  I am so excited about getting started on my sampler.  Right  now I am debating between a low volume/peachy quilt or making a dent in the large collection of aqua/ teal/ green fabrics in my stash.  Or maybe something else...so much fun!

I might as well stay busy sewing as it seems it's going to be a long time before I get my kayak out on this water!

Wishing you a wonderful weekend!  Linking up with Amanda Jean's finish it up Friday party!
Kathy

Sewing Interruption

I had hoped to have a finished quilt top to share with you however my sewing machine had other plans.  Over the weekend I cut the  fabric and made all the blocks for a preppy disappearing nine-patch quilt.

 And this is the only row I was able to complete before the tension in my sewing machine went nuts...for no apparent reason.  Not an amusing April Fool's prank.

My aggravation is heightened by the fact this machine is only a few weeks home from its annual cleaning.  GRRRRRR

This change of plans has forced me to deal with a long list of things around the house that I have been ignoring in favor of my sewing cave.  I will survive a few days without a sewing machine and my house will be benefit.  It's all good.

Happy Wednesday and linking up with Lorna's Let's Bee Social and Lee's WIP Wednesday!
Kathy