A New Look!

Do you notice anything different? It's a cleaner, fresher look. I love it. I hope it is easier on your eyes. I have to thank Jennie @ Click.Snap.Swoosh.Laugh. for making this change happen. I told her that I really like the look of the Vintage Modern fabric line and this is the design she came up with. Isn't it great? I have thanked her by email and now I want to thank her by giving her public kudos for her efforts on my behalf. She has another blog that she does with her mother called Clover & Violet. Notice that buttons for both blogs have been added on the left side of my blog. The Clover & Violet blog is quilty. There are lots of tutorials and fun stuff on her blog. The Click.Snap.Swoosh.Laugh blog is techy. I really need to start reading it every day so I can improve my blogging skills. Thank you again, Jennie.

Blogger's BOM #11

I am getting back to the sewing machine after returning from New York. I completed another 16 scrap houses.  Another 80+ to go. I completed the Blogger's BOM #11.

This is a Split Ohio Star designed by Victoria Findlay Wolfe (15 minutes of Play). I really like the look of this block. I am almost out of my gold fabric, though. I only have the smallest bits left. I hope I can put some in block #12.
This is what the whole group looks like.

I have setting blocks going through my mind everytime I work on these. I know that Jackie (Canton Village Quilt Works) will come up with something great.

I haven't done the Christmas colorway yet. I'll get to it, but those scrap houses are my top priority right now.

Thanks for stopping by.

Rabbit, Rabbit!

First day of another month so it is time for a Rabbit, Rabbit post. We are in NYC visiting with DD, SIL, and Mr. Precious.

Since we can't be here for his birthday, we celebrated an 'almost birthday' last night. We gave him his Thomas the Train quilt and needless to say, he loves it.

He immediately flopped down on it and rolled around. This morning it is accompanying him everywhere.

We will return to KY late tonight. I hope to get those scrap houses done before my school year begins. It is coming fast.

Thanks for stopping by.

Bad Blogger!

I have been pretty absent from my blog this month. Bad blogger. Bad. It's not that I don't think of you all every day. I do. I even keep up reading all of your blogs. It's not that I haven't been doing any sewing. I have. It's just that blogging seems like such a chore. I have given up on the every Monday link up in the Get Acquainted Blog Hop. It is such a hassle for me dealing with the photos, etc.  When I have something to blog about it just seems like so much work to do a post. I am not very tech-y and this is  stretch for me. Anyway, I will try to do some catching up here.

We had a trip to Michigan to see Little Missy. Each time I see her I am amazed at how much her vocabulary has grown and how she is getting bigger.

We took her to Dutch Village in Holland. She wasn't too thrilled about up close and personal interactions with the animals. They were fine at a distance. Next year, she will enjoy it more.


While we were in Michigan, Joann's was having their Coupon Commotion. I took some time to go to their great store in Norton Shores. They have a great selection of fabrics...better than what I have found at the Lexington store. Anyway, I felt obligated to use the coupons. It just wouldn't have been polite not to. See what I picked out.

Just look at all the great DS fabrics I scored. I love the colors. I don't remember the names of the patterns or what collections they came from. I love the fresh colors in the group above and I was looking for some reds and found these two along with this great blue with red. I am dreaming of what I will do with these great pieces. Stay tuned.

I also finished Merry, Merry Snowmen block #6.

This one was much simpler than some of the others so far, but it still took longer to finish than I thought it would. The hand sewing on this block took 6 hours. I was amazed that it took so long.

I have also been sewing scrap houses. At last count I had 260 completed. A mere 105 more to go.

Thanks for stopping by.

July FMQ Challenge

I had mixed success with this month's challenge. When I was able to follow the tutorial, I did pretty well. Since my quilt sandwich was a different shape, I had to make up my own tile placements. I kept getting confused as to where I should start or stop. Which way do I go?? Total confusion. I really need to work on this some more.

I can't make straight lines when doing FMQ either. So I completed the challenge, but this one isn't pretty. I am more impressed with professional quilters every time I work on this challenge. On the bright side, though, I have actually machine quilted several quilts with meandering lines. I am pretty happy with those results. I couldn't do that when this challenge began. I am making progress in small steps.

Another Finish

Yeah! I just finished the Thomas the Tank quilt for my grandson.

I meander quilted the center panel with a cream colored thread. I went around each of the trains. I used navy thread and meander quilted in the green and blue borders as well as the outer border. I am very pleased with the final product. The FMQ challenge practice is paying off. I did pretty well with the quilting. Grandson won't mind a few blips.

Big Boy Quilt

I have a quilt top waiting to be quilted. This is grandson's big boy quilt as he is moving from his crib to a bed. I plan for this to be part of his third birthday present.

He is crazy about trains, especially Thomas the Tank and all the other characters that go with that show. I found this on the internet and am very happy with it.

I chose the outer border because of the train labels. I picked out the solids from the details in the center panel. The blue border ties the two together.

I am now thinking about how I will quilt this. I was thinking of using my walking foot and doing straight line quilting, but those plain borders are screaming out for some kind of detail. I am afraid that I am not skilled enough to do that. Any suggestions? What color quilting thread would you use?