Happy New Year!

     2018 is a wrap!  I'm hoping for more excitement this year.
     I got a couple of quilty things for Christmas.

This should keep me supplied for a while.
     Rick gave me this for my Accuquilt Go. I've been wanting this die  (2 1/2" strips) for a while. I see slicing and dicing in the near future.

     I tried some new recipes.  This biscotti recipe https://www.kingarthurflour.com/recipes/fudgy-fruitcake-biscotti-recipe from King Arthur Flour was amazing.  For the fruit I used dried cranberries and orange peel I candied myself. In addition to my traditional fruitcake recipe I made a Dundee cake- amazing! I followed the recipe in this cookbook, and again, my home-candied orange peel went into it. Both will be made again next Christmas, if not before. 

   
     I'm starting the new year with a new pattern, Lots of Hugs. A sneak peek is here.

 I was hoping to take cover photos at the beach today, as it was unseasonably warm, but the wind would have carried my quilt to Block Island. So, out came my pipe and drape rack and up went the quilt.
     This is an easy quilt to make, but for some reason it was a bear to write the pattern. For once, unlike my next pattern, the illustrations weren't the problem.
     Pattern number two is a set of seasonal placemats. These can be made with or without my Periwinkle Plus™ Template Set (or my original Periwinkle Template Set, for that matter). I solved the illustration difficulties by doing what I can with Quilt Pro, then scanning and printing, adding the details by hand, then scanning back again. So far, so good. No photos yet.
     Both of these patterns will be available January 16th at Vendor Night at Clamshell Quilt Guild, my first event of the new year..

Holiday Panic- NOT! How to avoid it and a couple easy ideas for those really, really, really last minute gifts.

     This is not a quilting-related post.  This is a rambling, stream-of consciousness post about how I really hate Christmas shopping and what I've learned to do about it.

     Let me start by saying I'm not one of those crazies who puts the tree up Thanksgiving weekend and buys presents all year long. Somewhere around the  second week of December I begin to think about gift giving, and around now, while everyone else is running around like the proverbial chickens with their heads cut off, I'm calmly sipping tea and munching on the gingerbread star whose point broke off and the biscotti that crumbled when I sliced it. I prefer to support locally-owned shops and creative entrepreneurs, but am not above the very occasional foray into the big guys when necessary, and I may even order one or two things online occasionally. I can't tell you the last time I shopped in a mall, but I know it was when we were living in Florida, and we moved back to New England in 2002. You do the math. No, I lied. not about the time, but about the word "shopped". I remember I walked out empty handed. Nothing there for me.

    Let's start with Christmas cards. I "met" an artist on Facebook who does a very limited run of a few of her prints as cards. I buy a package each year to send to a select group of friends and relatives.  These little prints are signed, and perfectly fit a 5"x 7" frame, so they have a little gift that lasts.

     Food gifts are great, but pre-packaged food gifts can be really, really bad and/or really, really expensive. Take those gift baskets that look pretty but contain lots of small boxes of mediocre (at best) munchies, usually stuff you can find in your supermarket. Put together your own baskets. Or skip the basket altogether, wrap each item in tissue paper, and fill a gift bag, or better yet, a tool box, sewing basket, tackle box...something practical the recipient can reuse. I've even bought reusable supermarket bags for that purpose.

    I love to give local foods. One year I gave my bread-baking dad a box filled with bags of every kind of flour milled at a local grist mill.

    Every region has some famous food specialties. Check out the ones in your area. 

    Although I seldom give "potent potables" (tea is my beverage of choice, coffee in the early morning), when I do, I give locally made wine and beer. Another product available just about everywhere is local honey.

    Christmas bazaars and farmers' markets are good places to pick up jams, jellies, sauces, and other condiments. One year I bought amazing seasoning mixes. You just mixed a teaspoon into a brick of softened cream cheese for the most delicious cracker spreads you ever tasted. These are also good venues for handmade goats' milk soaps and lotions and other skin care products, which make great stocking stuffers.

     Check out museum gift shops and local artists cooperatives for more high end handmade items. These are my favorite places to shop; I've purchased  jewelry, pottery, prints, and books of local interest. Each year a local art museum has a Christmas market; this year hickory syrup made its way into a gift bag of condiments.

     I'm a sucker for bookstores, having worked in a couple over the years. A good independent bookstore knows its readers, and a signed first edition is a lovely gift. Years ago I was fortunate enough to work at a shop that hosted a book signing with John Glenn. My father worked for the space program, and, like Glenn, was a Korean War veteran. A signed copy of John Glenn; A Memoir was a no-brainer that year.  The award-winning children's picture book, No, David! by David Shannon, could have been written about my trouble-making youngest brother David as a child. The author signed a copy to my mother, "To David's mom, bless her heart!".
 
   My brother Craig's favorite book is Moby Dick, so of course he also read In the Heart of the Sea. I was browsing in the bookshop at Mystic Seaport last year and came across The Wreck of the Whale Ship Essex: The Complete Illustrated Edition in paperback. I picked it up and was ready to buy it when I saw a single remaining hardcover copy on the sale table for $1 less than the paperback. Snagged it!

   Now for the really, really last minute gifts:

      Last year one of the gifts I received was a DNA test. Discovering relatives I knew and those I did not know was great. I even found out a friend in Canada and I have mutual relatives! But equally great was seeing those old family photos! I saved a few never-seen photos of grandparents and great-grandparents to my computer and ordered one-hour prints through Walmart.com. Because photos are picked up at the photo desk, I was able to just swing by on the way to work, run in and out,  and not have to stand in line.

     Baked goods are yummy, and I do bake fruitcake for my family every year (yes, we're weird that way) and lots of cookies. But they're time-consuming, and you may not have or want to take the time. Muffins are quick and easy, especially this, my go-to muffin recipe for about 20 years. https://www.pillsbury.com/recipes/muffins/36317f43-a17b-4e8e-8023-33f11d2b565a
     As long as you don't overmix, this is the most foolproof muffin recipe I've ever made. (Tip: do not totally incorporate all the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients before adding your fruit or other add-ins; if you do, by the time you've stirred them in, you'll have overmixed the batter) I've at one time or another added all kinds of fruits and nuts, used EggBeaters instead of eggs,  used low-fat or skim milk in place of whole milk, and substituted half whole wheat flour in place of white. They all worked just fine. If I feel like gilding the lily I top with coarse sugar crystals,which I don't expect you to have these at home, and for crying out loud, if you don't have them don't go out and buy them now! Make a simple streusel, drizzle with a confectioner's sugar glaze, `or top with a maraschino cherry
   If you have a pan that makes large muffins, this recipe makes six muffins. I think larger ones are more "special". Wrap them individually in plastic wrap and tie with a narrow ribbon.

   Do you have any evergreen shrubs, trees, or ground cover in your yard? How about boxwood? Anything with red berries? Clip some branches and arrange in a decorative container. This makes a quick, impromptu hostess gift or centerpiece for your own table.  You can dress it up with small ornaments, ribbon, etc.- stuff you have around the house.

     And let's not forget gift cards and gift certificates. No, not store or restaurant cards, but cards for experiences- theatre/concert tickets, zip lining, day spa, sight seeing, things like that. Does your (or your recipient's) Chamber of Commerce offer town wide gift certificates?

   Now excuse me while I have another cookie.

Who loves a mystery?

    I'm excited that C&T Publishing invited me to participate in the blog tour for their new giveaway. They are giving away not one, not two, but the entire set of ten e-books of Carol Dean Jones' Quilting Cozy series. The first six are out now, with four more to come soon. These are fun, light, G-rated mysteries centered around a retirement community. Each volume also contains directions for the cover quilt. 






How to enter? 
     Click on this link, and you're entered. Link will go live at midnight EST. 
http://www.rafflecopter.com/rafl/display/a0c30c411/?

Don't forget to follow the rest of the tour:

Monday 12/3: C&T Publishing  https://www.ctpub.com/blog/quilting-cozy-series-blog-tour-kickoff/

Tuesday 12/4: Bonnie K. Hunter at Quiltville http://quiltville.blogspot.com/2018/12/quilt-cam-and-quilting-cozy-gift-away.html

Wednesday 12/5: Barbara Chojnacki at Six Gables Designs

Thursday 12/6: Bernie Kringel at Needle & Foot https://needleandfoot.com

Friday 12/7: Carol Dean Jones https://caroldeanjones.com/blog-posts/

For more quilting fun, follow this blog,and follow me on Facebook. https://www.facebook.com/SixGablesDesigns/

Where has the time gone?

     I could start by saying it's hard to believe I haven't posted since March, but honestly, it's very easy for me to believe that.   It's been a quieter year than usual - not a lot of quilt shows, and a long uncreative slump.
     Remember those Civil War reproduction churn dash blocks in my last post? They made it into a quilt I finished in September. I rented the longarm at Stitch Chicks in North Franklin, CT. for my first attempt at using a pantograph, and I'm quite pleased with the result.  I had to make a few extra blocks to get my layout symmetrical, and had enough Civil War scraps in my stash to have no repeating fabrics! The background fabric is a greyish purple, which made all the other colors pop! People who think Civil War reproduction fabrics are dull, take note!

     We adopted a new dog! We said a sad goodbye to little Rosie early this summer, and missed having a furkid around the house. Annie came all the way from Tennessee and is loving life in New England. Here she is the day after we got her, seeing the ocean for the first time.

And here she is relaxing.

 We're pretty sure she's part terrier, as she would love to chase squirrels if we'd let her off the leash, and boy, can she jump!  She loves to walk, and we've explored many squirrel-laden side streets in my neighborhood. She's a sweet-natured little girl who warms up to strangers in seconds, just not at HER house, where her watchdog skills come into play! One of these days I'll discover where she's hidden all her chewy toys. I don't even know if she knows!
     I finally finished a new quilt design and am working on writing up the pattern. I did it as a mystery with my Thursday night group, and it was fun to see it worked up in so many diverse fabrics. No pictures yet, but stay tuned.
   
 

I failed.

     So much for the 30 days of blogging challenge in December. Honestly, if I was boring myself to death, I can only imagine what I was doing to you, gentle readers.
 

Equinox quiltlet- Happy Spring!

It's the first day of spring, and another snowstorm will hit us tonight.

     Spring quilt show season is underway, and everything fell into place with only hours to spare.
I have three new patterns.

     This is "Taffy Twist with Gumdrop Border." It's fat-quarter friendly (although it works equally well from linear quarter-yard pieces) and fun! Don't let those tiny gumdrop triangles scare you; they're made from the bonus triangles you have left over from making the blocks. There's plenty of negative space for those of you who like to do lots of quilting. I've already taught this as a class.
    By the way, all the fabrics are "Lola" by QT (Quilting Treasures).














     The next one up is "Linky Dinky".  The quilt shown is a generous lap quilt (48" x 64"), but I also give directions for a full/queen bed size which would make a great modern wedding quilt.

Linky Dinky

     I used "Lola" again for the background; links are Ink & Arrow "Toucan Do It!".

     I don't design a lot of appliqué, but this was inspired by a truly hideous (and completely different) pieced quilt I saw in an old quilt book. The only thing I liked about the original was the use of red for the vases. Instead of lots of small pieced blocks, I adapted it to the mid-19th century appliquéd four block quilt. It has all the drama with none of the tedious hand work. I used a variety of QT tonals from various lines. The vases are QT's "Ombre Scroll", which I thought most gave the illusion of ruby glass.

     Never one to leave well-enough alone, I had been playing around with my Periwinkle Template Set. I asked myself a lot of "what if's", and when it was apparent I would need to re-order in the not-to-distant future, I got serious about what else I wanted to do with it. A minor tweaking would allow quilters to do so much more than just make periwinkle blocks.

Periwinkle Quilt

     Above is the (fussy cut) cover quilt I created from my original Periwinkle Template Set.
I then made one with scrappy bright periwinkles against a two-color pieced background. I love this one!

     At this point I realized a small change would give big results, and I developed "Periwinkle Plus™".  The following quilts are all made from this new set.
     Tumblers are perfect for scrap quilts. I used up lots of small pieces of country colors in this lap quilt.

Tumbler quilt

     This was a fun, easy project. I alternated medium and dark tumblers with lighter "neutrals".

     With the new templates, three periwinkle "points" could be appliquéd onto the corner of a block to make a fan. I had lots of small Oriental fabric scraps, which were perfect. And how about that awesome batik background with the soft green fans which just happened to live in my house?

Fan Quilt

     I quilted straight line fan-like "flowers" across this quilt. I like the effect a lot, and will probably use this again on other quilts.

    Smaller tumblers (short, fat and short, skinny) can be cut from 2 1/2" strips using my template set, and twelve periwinkle point can be sewn together into a Dresden plate. This little "Dresden Sampler" uses all three, and can be made from six leftover 10" squares and a fat quarter. Again, another great class project.

Dresden Sampler

     This past weekend I vended at the Thimble Pleasures Quilt Guild show in Upton, MA. I also demo'ed the template set both days.

My booth

     Next up (April 14th and 15th) I'll be at the Pioneer Valley Quilt Guild show in Springfield, MA. This will be my third time there, and I will be demonstrating Periwinkle Plus™ Template Set on Saturday.
     The following weekend (April 21st and 22nd) I'll be back home in Rhode Island at the Narragansett Bay Quilters Association show in North Kingstown.

     It's been years since I participated in a blog swap, but this one from Barb at
 funwithbarbandmary.blogspot.com was calling my name. YIKES! Sixty-six 6-inch blocks. Yes, I had to make sixty-six blocks for the swap. I had the choice of modern or Civil War reproduction, and as I had quite a bit of retro prints in my stash, I opted to go that route. These are some of the sixty-six lovelies I got back, and I'm looking forward to playing around with them and seeing what I come up
with. I cut my pieces with my new-ish Accuquilt Go cutter. So nice to have all those dog ears trimmed off the HSTs; everything went together perfectly!

Swap blocks

Day # 12: Another day, another party...

  I test drove a new (and out of character for me) outfit- a red, purple and bronze silk Chico's tunic over a red turtleneck, black stirrup leggings, and bronze shoes. The leggings reminded me of the stretch pants I wore in second grade, ca. 1962, amazingly comfortable, as were the shoes I bought over a year ago, but never wore until tonight. I think I need to use that red/purple/bronze/black palette in a quilt.
   Tomorrow is back to work, then my open sew group at night. I have a neat little demo for my groupies- sssshhhhhhh!!!!; it's a surprise.

Day #11- Just a brief post tonight

     Tonight was my quilt guild's holiday party. We have a potluck (apps and goodies) and a silent auction of member's handmade items. I bid on several things, won these two cute star ornaments.

I've never seen ones like these before, and can't quite figure out how they were made. I try to make or buy at least one handmade ornament every year.
     I finished piecing the quilt back. I cut the tan backing in half horizontally, then added rows of four different fabrics in varying widths that (sort of) coordinated with each other. I may not quilt it right now, but I bought a backing yesterday and have everything ready to go.

    

Day # 10- No pictures, but tomorrow is another day...

     Started the day with a simple errand (running out to get a $10 Walmart gift card for my husband to give at a holiday party Yankee Swap), and wound up two hours, three miles, and four stores later with nearly all my Christmas shopping done. Don't you love when that happens? I even bought the dog a new bed.
     Back home, I mixed up a big batch of fruitcake batter, and while those babies were in the oven I finished the beading, quilting, and binding on my wreath wall hanging. I wove in the ends on a crocheted cap. I addressed Christmas cards. I cooked a double batch of chicken and spaghetti squash. I updated the calendar on my web site. I dragged out a batch of half blocks that needed pressing before sewing the halves together. All in all, nothing terribly exciting, but a lot of nagging stuff finished.

Day #9 - Sorry, not THIS year!

     Gwen from Tillalili had the booth next to me, and I couldn't resist these fat quarters. The top two fabrics are "Jingle Birds" from Moda, the one at lower left is "Pixie Noel" from Riley Blake, and I don't know where the navy/white dot fabric is from. I'm itching to design a table runner, but I'm not feeling the love (understatement of the year) for any of the designs I've been doodling. I think I need to step away.

    The crocheted hat is coming along, but the directions have me wondering if anyone actually tested them on humans. Oh, it's easy enough to follow, but I've been crocheting for many years and never had a gauge issue before this. When the directions for "age 7 to 12", come out way too large for my medium to large adult head, something is amiss. So, I tore it out and started making the "age 2-5" version instead, which is likely to fit its 8 year-old recipient. On top of it all, I don't have much yarn left, and it only is supposed to take one ball for any size up to "adult small".  After supper I'm going to finish it- if I can. If I run out, I'll add some cotton yarn from my dish cloth yarn stash.
   

Day #8, Wrapping Things Up

     I finished the Boxy Stars quilt top this morning. I'm thinking of doing a pieced back. I have some leftover 108" wide  fabric in a subtle tan tonal floral and a long strip of a Moda Kansas Troubles print. If I make a few extra boxy star blocks I should be good to go.  Striped border look familiar? It was left over from my nephew's quilt back and borders, and I still have about a 6" strip left, so you just might see it AGAIN in another quilt or two.

     I also did some beading on my wreath. I'll post another picture when it's beaded and quilted, but here it is, sans beads.

    The adorable background fabric is from Ink & Arrow. This was made in a fun workshop with Judy Lancaster last month. I saved just enough of the darker green fabric ("Ombre Scroll" by Quilting Treasures) for binding, but all the rest of both greens was put to use in my poinsettia ornaments.

     Having vintage 3-armed pole lamps all over the house is perfect for hanging ornaments out of the way while the glue dries. I also loop my binding and border strips over them.

Day #7- According to AccuWeather...

...snow will be starting in 38 minutes. Hmmm....we shall see.
    I'm off tomorrow, so until I have to head outside and help with the shoveling, I'll probably be hunkered down with one of several choices:
    I can layer and baste the quilt and start quilting it.
    I can work on my knitting, which, as it's a sweater for me, probably will get pushed aside.
    I can immerse myself in the million-page, tiny-print book on my end table.
What I can't do is:
    Bake fruitcake (I don't have all the ingredients on hand). Yes, I bake fruitcake. Yes, I eat fruitcake. Yes, I like fruitcake. So does my entire family. People have strange responses when you tell them that. My favorite came years ago from a male co-worker, "Good God, woman!"

It's beginning to look a lot like...fruitcake!

     I had to make an unexpected trip to the vet; little Rosie was in a lot of pain. We couldn't pinpoint where she hurt. She'd move like she was hurting, then suddenly be wagging her tail like nothing happened. Every so often she'd shriek in pain. You can't imagine how loud a 4 1/2-pound dog can be. It turned out she somehow injured her neck.
     I cooked a tiny hamburger, smooshed it into a million pieces, and mixed in her pain meds. As much pain as she was in, she couldn't resist the beef. She's now curled up in her bed by the radiator being sad.

Rosie on a happier day

     Today I added the last blocks and sashing to the Boxy Stars quilt. I'd have had the border cut and sewn on by now, but I made this instead.

     It's a fun little tree farm quilt from Other People's Material. I made a much longer version for myself; this one will be donated to my guild's silent auction next week. 
     The cute tree print was from the scrap table at the guild's show. I found twelve rectangles of it. They were the inspiration for the quilts. See the garlands on the trees? I free-motion quilted the same design on my green triangles. And on the print pieces I quilted swirling snowflakes.
      After much procrastinating, I treated myself to an AccuQuilt Go cutter for my birthday. I cut "some" half-square triangles in shades of blue and green with the included die. I think I got a little carried away. I still have enough for at least two more quilts like this. I LOVE not having to trim all those dog ears!

Day #6- Some book notes and more

    Today I made a bit of headway on the scrap quilt. Three of the four rows sashed and joined; I'll finish the top tomorrow.

     
     Nothing at the book sale struck my fancy this morning. Last year I came out with only four books,  two of those were added to my brother's Christmas gifts, but the remaining two were without a doubt  two of the three best books I read all year:

      I was happy to later pass them on to others who enjoyed them as much as I did. Sadly, the one person I would have loved to have given "Team of Rivals" to, my paternal grandfather, passed away 41 years ago.

    I did a little shopping later in the day, and found a lone skein of Keppi yarn at Ocean State Job Lot hidden on the shelf behind boring brown wool yarn. It's going to make a cheery hat for a special little girl- this fun yarn even comes with its own ready-made pom-pom.

    
     
    

Day #5- Winter is just around the corner...

...so this past Saturday, one of the rare days Rick and I were both home, we decided on the spur of the moment to go hiking at Bluff Point. We had a glorious time. It's the perfect hiking place- shoreline, woods, hills, etc. And rocks- lots of rocks. You can still see old stone walls that probably once marked property lines- too rocky for fields or pasture in many places.

     I love the leathery browns shades of oak leaves in autumn. And wouldn't this hollow log with lichen make a great fairy house?

    

In the 17th century this was the homestead of Connecticut's colonial governor John Winthrop the Younger.

     And here we have Rick atop a rock.

     Looking forward to our next outdoor adventure.

     On the quilting front, I'm making progress on my scrap quilt. Pictures of that as well as another completed piece may come as soon as tomorrow or the next day. The 6" blocks are all sewn and trimmed, need to be joined into larger
12" blocks. The sashing and cornerstones are all cut. I think I have enough striped fabric for a border, and if even have an appropriate fabric for backing, although I may change my mind and go scrappy there too.


  

Day #4- Hasn't killed me yet!

     Wow! Four consecutive days!
     I had a few minutes to kill before work today, so I ran into my favorite consignment shop, armed with a $1 off coupon.  Five minutes and $7.83 later, this is what I left with.

Today's haul

     It's rare for me to find one, let alone five quilt books that I don't already have, let alone want, so this was a treat.
     Sometimes it's just a theme, or combination of colors, that gets the imagination working.
     I also managed to get a few minutes at the sewing machine early this morning, and again before dinner, working on the new Boxy Stars I mentioned a couple days ago. After reluctantly settling for my second choice for the sashing (all I had left of the "perfect" fabric was a couple of strips) I decided it would work just fine. I'll probably have pictures in by the end of this week.
    

Day #3- Supernova

     Earlier in 2016 I submitted a design to a major quilt magazine. Like Twisted Star, it was a design I had done a while ago, but it wasn't until I changed my color selection, that I decided to do something with it. The Powers That Be liked it, and wanted to hold onto it for a while. Then, all of a sudden, while I was in the midst of other projects, it was "officially" accepted for publication, not in the magazine to which I had originally sent it, but to another of that publisher's magazines.
     Things moved very quickly from there. The magazine would provide me with fabrics, so I poured over the suggested textile companies' websites. Once my box of fabrics arrived, I got to work.
     Supernova was published in the October/November 2017 issue of McCall's Quick Quilts. It's a large (for me) quilt, so I had it longarm quilted (a special shoutout to Kathie at Stitch Chicks in North Franklin, CT for her lovely cloud quilting).

Supernova

Day #2; Three's Company

Making the scrap quilts I posted about yesterday was a great way for me to get over "Quilt Designer's Block". I discovered after they were done I was ready to tackle some of my own new designs once again.
   Design #1 had been languishing on a sheet of graph paper for a couple of years. Once I ditched my original (very uninspired) color palette and thought about using OPM (Other People's Material), things began to take shape. In my bag of "dead lady's stash" was a huge piece of  teal tonal fabric, and a smaller piece of teal and tan bird print. Two fabrics down, two to go. A beige tonal was a no-brainer, even though I begrudgingly had to purchase that. I was still missing one fabric. VOILA! A customer had actually given me a piece of fabric because she was unable to find a suitable coordinating print in a heavier home-dec fabric, and was tired of shopping around. She hadn't even bought the fabric in the first place- another person had given it to HER. The dark mustardy gold reproduction-looking print was perfect, and Twisted Star was born.

Twisted Star

     Somewhere during the process of making that quilt, I played around with the original design. Keeping the same basic block, and using five fabrics instead of four, I came up with a quilt that looked, 3-D, A Whole New Dimension.  I used two values each of two colors, along with an accent fabric.

A Whole New Dimension

     I'm not a fan of doing straight-line quilting, but this pattern called out for some so I forged ahead. The accent squares each have a quilted flower.

     But wait; there's more! Same block, this time only three fabrics and a more modern look. I love this pattern, and thought "Twist of Fate"was the perfect name.

Twist of Fate

   This was another fun one to quilt,with dense loops and hearts on the nearly-white print, and lots of little curlicues on the grey.

Day #1: Alive and kicking!

     Wow! Almost a year and a half since I last posted. I have no good excuse for this, so I am challenging myself by participating in Cheryl Sleboda's "31 Day Blog Writing Challenge". This is Day #2 of the challenge, but as I only found out about it this morning, it's Day #1 for me. Which means I won't finish the challenge until 2018.
    2016 ended with several fall shows, including a new one I had never done before. I also had the opportunity to take a workshop with Bonnie Hunter, and was inspired to put some of my scraps to use in two of her free scrappy patterns. I hesitate to call them "my" scraps, as truth is, most of them were other quilters' cast-offs.
    I made Bricks and Cobblestones for a nephew. The picture isn't great, but it was cold and damp and I wanted to get back inside to my hot mug of coffee. I LOVED making this quilt. and got rid of some seriously butt ugly scraps in the process.

Bricks and Cobblestones

     Of course that didn't make a discernible dent in my scrap pile, so I made a Boxy Star quilt. I didn't realize until the other day, that a year had passed since I finished the quilt, but I had never taken a picture of it. See the bright green piece with the white scallops in the second row down, middle block? It's OLD! My guess is 1940s. I only had a small piece-enough for just one point of one star.

Boxy Stars

    When I make a scrap quilt I have one of two rules. Either I have to make it entirely from my stash, as I did for Boxy Stars, or I can only purchase fabric for the outer border and/or backing (Bricks and Cobblestones).

      Playing with these colors and fabrics was a great way to keep my creative juices going until I came up with some new designs for 2017.

Where's Barbara?

     I'm here. Wow! Has it really been 8 months since I posted?
     The huge scrappy quilt I referred to in my last post has been quilted, and is available as a laminated pattern, as well as an e-pattern on Craftsy. It's a slightly tweaked reproduction of an antique quilt I own. The original is in ugly browns and reds. I wanted to use ocean colors with some pops of sunshine yellow- so much prettier. It's a great way to use all those little bitty scraps.
     I call the pattern "Wind Farm", but in these colors it's obviously an offshore wind farm!  I completed it in time for spring show season.

Wind Farm

Another pattern that debuted this spring was Five and Fabulous! You can purchase a hard copy or e-pattern. This is my third pattern using five 1-yard pieces of fabric. I had purchased the fabric a while back, and got tired of them taunting me. I really regretted buying them until one day, while searching for something on my computer, I came across a pattern I had worked up in Quilt Pro. I barely remembered creating it, but with only a slight change in border widths, I was able to make it work with five yards of fabric. What's more, the Warm Company provided me with a great batting to test, and with a little cutting and piecing, I was able to use it on this quilt. Viola!

Five and Fabulous!

      When my mother saw the finished quilt she said, "Jody would love this." Jody (my niece) isn't getting it, but she IS getting this:

Pineapple Blossom

     This is Bonnie Hunter's "Pineapple Blossom" pattern. I used the scraps from "Five and Fabulous!" with other pink, green, black and white fabrics in my stash. The borders are the leftover backing strips from "Five and Fabulous!" This was a fun pattern and I love the border of pieced triangles made from the cutaway corners.
     I found this fun fabric for the backing, "Chinoiserie Chic" from Westminster. I have enough left over to make a cute bag or two.

"Chinoiserie Chic"

I had a booth at three quilt shows in March and April. At the first one, I purchased a sweet Moda charm pack, and by the third show had created a new pattern with it. "Rick Rack Charm Pack Bed Runner" uses one charm pack and 2 1/2 yards of background fabric, plus a tiny scrap for the butterfly bodies. Bed runners are great for a pop of color on a white cotton bedspread, or as extra warmth for those of us with cold feet. This will be up on both my web site and Craftsy this weekend.

Rick Rack Charm Pack Bed Runner

     After spring show season was over, I was VERY busy at work for several weeks, and the last thing my brain wanted to do was be creative. So I put my spare time to good use working on UFOs.

     This is a remake of one of my earlier patterns, "Star Light, Star Bright." The original was made from floral prints and was too busy for this bold, graphic design. I loved the pattern, but not the finished quilt.  I had long wanted to do a more "solid" version.
     A couple years ago I was asked to make several long, reversible runners - red tonal print on one side, cream tonal on the other. I was left with long (over four yards long) strips along the fold of the fabrics. I started cutting pieces to remake the quilt, and when I was done cutting, I had enough pieces for 7 1/2 of the 12 blocks! I only had to purchase fabric for half the quilt. And for backing I found this lovely floral stripe from Red Rooster. It's so soft and silky it would make great pajamas!
    I decided a while back that I wanted to hand piece and hand quilt this baby! I only had one border left to go, so I dug it out of the UFO pile and stitched it on. How to quilt it was a dilemma. I didn't want to quilt it as separate blocks, as the pattern has so much movement I thought an allover design would be better. Finally I decided since I love free form, free-motion machine-quilted feathers, I would reproduce the look in hand quilting. I chose thread to match the bits of tan in the backing. I have a LONG way to go, but it's a portable project, as well as something to do with my hands while watching television. Of course if I want to finish it in this lifetime, I need to seriously up my scanty tv watching.

Star Light, Star Bright

allover feather quilting

     Next in the UFO pile was my Judy Niemeyer table runner, "Cactus Blossom." I started this in a workshop with Jackie Kunkel two years ago and finally finished piecing it. I have some amazingly gorgeous variegated thread in my stash to start quilting it, but not enough to finish it, so I need to order another spool, which I will do today.

"Cactus Blossom"

     One of my favorite workshops was the one I took with Anita Grossman Solomon, "Anita's Arrowhead".  I made extra blocks and added a border for a large quilt for my tall husband! This is completely from my stash. Still not sure how I want to quilt it, but no hurry! I've got the backing pieced and batting purchased, but it's too warm to use this time of year. Can you tell I'm procrastinating basting this big boy?

"Anita's Arrowhead"

     I love this pattern, and Anita's amazing techniques, so I signed up for her Craftsy class, "Traditional Blocks Made Simple." I sat and watched almost the whole thing in one sitting. I highly recommend this class, which includes an e-book version of her Rotary Cutting Revolution!  (And with that last sentence, I inadvertently gave a nod to not one, but two companies in which I am an affiliate- Craftsy and C & T Publishing.)