Fresh New Year! Happy 2013!

Cheers! It is out with the old and in with the new!

New?? Notice anything? Why yes, Thank you! I love the fresh, new update to my blog! I hope you do to! I have wanted to put up a picture header forever but never had the time to sit down and do - make that - LEARN how to do it!

It took me most of the day today to update this blog, but I did it! I am so proud of myself, I had actually thought about hiring someone to do a new design but well, with my new sewing machine, and Christmas just past; not alot of $$ floating about and what there is appears to be headed off the "fiscal cliff" ;0  The fact that I am self taught at this blogging and tech stuff, I poured through many different tutorials to come up with one that actually worked and gave me the look I wanted :) And I am so happy with the way it turned out! I have added pages -- no, not alot of content on them yet -- but there will be! I have also updated my sidebar and added buttons for all the new things I am currently involved in or that I will be participating in! Lots of fun stuff going on out there!

Today I am linking up with Lilly's Quilts for Fresh New Sewing Day today and she asked:

 - What was your favorites of 2012?  

       -Favorite quilt?  Favorite block? Favorite quilt related anything?

Well definitely my favorite quilt related thing right now is my blog makeover.

Second is my favorite quilt of 2012, my Retro Flowers quilt. I don't think I will ever get tired of it. It was a challenge and took my sewing to a new level. And it turned out beautifully, one of those projects that translated from vision to reality (with just a few doubts in between). 

 

And as far as quilt blocks - well right now I am crushing on this Ribbon Star block from Lee over at Freshly Pieced. I am currently making them for my star hive of 3x6 Mini Bee. Here is my block in my colors. 

This so seems like a Sunday to me! So glad it is not, as it will be a short work week! Hope yours is too! Best wishes for 2013!

Ginny

Bloggers Quilt Festival

Hi, have you been over to Amy's Creative Side and seen the amazing display of inspiration and talent by all the wonderful quilters/bloggers?

 

If not be sure and stop by-- you will probably need more than one trip -- as there are hundreds of quilts to see. There are many prizes to win, just by leaving a comment or if you enter and win in your category there are great prizes for that too! Readers will be nominating their favorites in each category, so go and have fun! (after you finish reading my post about my entry of course! :)

I am pleased to be able to finally show you my finished Retro Flowers quilt!

I am so happy with how this turned out! There were times when I wondered if I would ever get all the flowers together! For all of you that were following my progress - Thank you! Your encouragement was so important and helpful in motivating me to continue and finish.

This quilt started with the Retro Flowers QAL earlier this year in April. It was my first Quilt A Long. I loved "meeting" other quilters that were particpating through the Flickr group. And I loved seeing everyones fabric picks and progress. There are some fabulous quilts and quilters in that group!

I love this pattern and look with the crisp white sashing and couldn't wait to start. I took a bit of a "modern" approach, even though the name is Retro Flowers. I chose Art Gallery's Modernology line of fabric  which included some small-medium prints but also some very beautiful large prints. I was a bit concerned how the larger prints would work with this pattern as each petal of each flower is made up of 3 curved pieces and one square. So there would not be much of a chance to match those large prints up at the seams. I instead used them to balance out the flower by making sure they were scattered in each petal equally so the eye would move around the whole flower.

 

I also used the Curve Master foot to help with the curves. This special foot helps guide the two pieces of fabric together while sewing the concave and convex curve. This  seems very unnatural when actually sewing them together, but so worth it! Once you get the hang of it, it goes much more quickly and I liked this method as I did not have to pin the seam!

 

For the backing I chose a grey Modernology print that reminded me of  the Retro Flower itself. I love the colors and repetitive simplicity of the pattern.

 

 

The binding I chose is navy blue with an aqua print from the Modernology line. I really like the way the navy contrasts against the white sashing and coordinates with all the navy and aqua in the quilt while contrasting with the corals, pinks, and reds.

The quilt was quilted by Kathy Holman, Fort Wayne, Indiana. She did a wonderful job! I  requested  a "swirling pattern"  and not only did she find it but she was able to enlarge the pattern so that it was proportinate to the quilt/flowers. I love the all over pattern and the way it really shows up on the front. Once washed the quilt sqrunched up so beautifully! You can see this so well in the first and second pic above! This quilt is now ready to be hung in my guest bedroom and is one I will always cherish.

Quilt Stats:

Size 57x58 inches
Special tool: Curve Master foot
Fabric: Art Gallery Modernology and Kona White
Quilted By: Kathy Holman
Best Categories:  Favorite Wall Hanging, Best Professional Quilting, Favorite Throw

I've crossed the Border!!

Oh and it is a lovely place.....

The borders are finally on! Next up backing!

I hope you are having a great Friday! Happy sewing!

Ginny


Linking to Freshly Pieced W.I.P Wednesday

QAL- New and Old

Hello, hope you are doing well, maybe a bit cooler than a few days ago? We were. Only 91 today, only? Saturday was 105 - oh my! Strange weather these days. So with such sun and heat - you can only be outside so much right? Well, guess what I did with the rest of my time? Well beside catch up on my blog reading... SEW! yeah! And see what I finished.....drum roll please.....

Yes, all of my Retro Flowers blocks are completed!! Now after a few minutes hours of arranging and rearranging the layout, I think I am happy with it and ready to sew the top together :) Happy, very Happy!

(well, not happy with that second block from left at top--reading VERY gold when in reality it is the same limey green that is in the second row from top, last block on right....ok its a small thing).

On to sewing them all together and adding the borders. Progress...it's a good feeling ;)

Oh and in my blogland reading I ran across this QAL--anyone interested?  I couldn't help it, I have been wanting to try the "Granny Block" out after seeing such great blocks of color and scrappiness on many blogs so I signed up! (hmmm.....this wasn't on my (formal) list of projects). This is called the "Great Granny" as there is a 4th round of squares -  in the center is baby, next round mama, next granny and finally Great Granny--cute! So if you are interested stop by Jodi at Pleasant Home for some block inspiration and  then over to Lori Holt at A Bee In My Bonnet for a look at her finished 9 block quilt. The block tutorial is on Lori's blog and will have new posts weekly. PLUS GIVEAWAYS! Jodi has a bunch of great links to a flickr group for everyone to join and post pics.

Have a great week!!

Linking up to Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday

Sunday Stat's

Happy Sunday everyone!

I titled this Sunday Stat's because I really needed to get a grip on everything I have going on... I have several projects waiting in the wings and many more in my head but I really, really want to finish what I have before starting something else!  I keep buying fabric for those projects in my head and I really want to use it! I know I can't be the only one with this problem! Does this sound familiar to any of you?

So here is my sewing for the past few days:

These are 10in charms for the 10" Kona and Polka Dot Swap

hosted by Angie of Sew Scrappy Quilts

On the left is Kona Mango and right is Moda Dottie.

Next is my Jelly Roll in Central Park quilt, I really wanted borders so I have added 2!

Inside Border



Outside border complete and ready for backing, and quilting!

Finally here is a pic of a drawstring backpack I made.

This took 1 and 1/2 yd of fabric (makes 2 backpacks as you need the length for the drawstrings but 1/2 the width of the fabric -22in - makes the bag and pocket part) and only a bit of time maybe an hour or two (this was my first one and the first always takes the longest! The instructions were a bit confusing at times but it turned out fine!) It has two outside pockets and is made out of quilting weight cotton. This piece of fabric was donated and was 3 yards - 4 backpaks.

 These backpacks are going to Haiti for the school children. Some friends of a friend are leaving in August and will be moving to Haiti. They are teachers and they will be teaching with the Haitian teachers and being a resource to them, as most have only a 9th-12th grade education and no formal teacher training at all.  If anyone is interested in making and donating a couple, I would be happy to forward on with mine. Just drop me a line at my email above. This is a great way to bust some stash!

 

And finally here are my "Stat's" :

Current Projects:
Retro Flowers
Back Packs for Haiti
Craftsy BOM
Generals Wives BOM

WIP/UFO
Doggie quilt

Ready to Quilt:
Jelly Roll in Central Park
Jacks Jungle Quilt
Florida Sky in Batik

Binding:
Batik Flowers

A few of these are " just" a couple of months years old! ;)  But really it was not as bad (nor as painful) as I had thought making this list would be! Which is a good thing, because I really am looking forward to starting something new!! How about you? What does your list look like?

Ginny

P.S.
I hope all of you are doing well and are safe! I know that on Friday we suffered a tremendous storm that left many trees and electrical lines down, resulting in 100,000 plus homes and businesses without power in 90 degree heat! My oldest son being one of those without power, and a couple of neighbors without power to their businesses, they were told it would be next Wednesday - Friday before they would have power back. So we cleaned out fridges and loaded coolers and brought it to my house, since I was lucky and still have power. I know that same storm moved east and caused the same damage. So I say Happy Sunday, because at least no one here was hurt, food, homes, and cars can be replaced!

Oops! The Fudge Factor

Hi everyone! Hope your week is off to a good start. Warning: Post is picture heavy.

Today I am going to show you an Oops! and the Fudge Factor. Have you ever been working away on a project, getting so much accomplished and then when you next pick it up you realize - Oops! you screwed something up?? you cut it wrong, didn't cut it correctly and are now out of the fabric you need? Marked it wrong, sewed it wrong? Well I have, many times, and then I spend quality time with my seam ripper or my computer searching for that elusive fabric. For me, many times it is from not going to bed when I should and trying to get "just one more" done. This is usally the same time of night when I am typing up blog posts and hit a button where they disappear into cyberspace :)  I am getting better at stopping when I am really tired, knowing that I might just create double the work and have to redo tomorrow because I just had to do one more tonight.

Above is an example of a minor issue: my seam is off. Easy fix, rip the seam out, repin, and resew.

                              

                   .....and wa-lah! Looking good to go, ready for the next one!

                            

                                                 Notice anything wrong with this block?

At first it looks like it is a simple case of sewing the seam wrong. Nope, couldn't be anything that simple. Each part of the petal was sewn and then trimmed so that at the narrowest part of the white background should measure 1/2".  Now do you see the problem with the lower right hand 1/4 petal?

You guessed it!  I cut the lower right white background short at 1/4 in vs 1/2 inch.

Now in this pic you can see it doesn't make a difference on the interior petal seams. Just sew them together and trim the extra 1/4 in of print off the center seam. But you can still see the lower right

is shorter than the rest. How am I going to fix it? I am not sure but I think (hope) it will be with the

      Fudge Factor!

              No, no, no, not THAT Fudge Factor!

                         Although I know it does make it better sometimes! ;)

You know, it's what you do to make it work before you totally give up and redo the block!

Yes, I am hoping that between the give and take of the seams and trimming the blocks down to size that I can make this work vs. having to remake that 1/4 petal!

Is this earth shattering, change your life info - no. Its just sometimes it seems no one ever talks about the little things that go wrong. Or even the big things. Life is not perfect and neither is the process of creating. So I believe that showing and discussing what goes wrong is part of the process. I don't think it is whining, I hope you don't think it is whining..... It doesn't mean you are less than, or not competent! It just means that you are human, and having one of those days that all of us have! 

So on to my progress for the week end! FIVE, more Retro Flower blocks! Belowe are single pics of all the completed flowers so far.

          Love this soft coral, lacy pattern!

     This one turned out better than I thought it was going too!

 This is my Oops! block and has all the colors of the other blocks in it.  It will tie the color scheme together (that's my plan anyway:)

  Bright and bold red!

My first!

   My favorite, so far! Love all the colors!

        A bit wild, or maybe it has an asian feel?

So go ahead, work that Fudge Factor, knowing that you are competent and creative, and everyone else has the same things happen to them. And when it works-- celebrate lifes small successes, sometimes they are the sweetest of all!

Linking up to Freshly Pieced

Happy Father's Day! Weekend Catch Up

Well, how has your weekend been? Happy Father's Day to all the great Dad's out there!
My Dad passed back in 2006, but there are very few days that I don't think of him. My son is a Dad and he spent today with his son, out playing in the yard, having fun! Just as it should be...
Here is a shot from a couple of weeks ago, a little fun while getting the yard watered from the dry conditions.

Remember---the laughs and giggles, the sun so hot, the water so cold! Welcome the lazy, crazy days of summer!

In keeping with the summer theme, here are those sweet little hotpads that I gave you a glimpse at last week. Both the same, just a shot of front and back. They are made from my scrap packs from Hawthorne Threads (all except the binding which is a Moda dot). I just love them! Love the colors! They go with my Fiesta dishes perfectly! The funky little lobster bell is just for kicks - it was a gift from a good freind!

What I don't love is the binding! I tried to apply it by machine (meaning not handstitching the back) and I would say it turned out rather mediocre. I have close ups, but who wants to ruin a Sunday by picking it apart. I think my binding was a bit too wide to begin with. I like it smaller, more tight like it appears on the pad on the left..... But practice makes perfect, LOL! And I seem to get plenty of that, that's why I have two seam rippers ;)

Moving on to other projects:

Looky, looky! Retro Flowers are a'blooming! Yes I worked long and hard on these today. The bottom row is all pieced, the others I laid out to get a feel for the colors and possible positions and to match up any directional patterns. As you can see there are 6 that only have one petal on the wall because my design wall is not big enough to hold all of them!  What do you use for a design wall? This is a piece of styrofoam insulation covered with white flannel. And it works well, but it is just not big enough sometimes and can be a bit bulky to move around.

That's it for today, I hope you have had a great weekend! I did ;0

Feel free to leave me a comment, I love hearing from all of you!