Monday, February 24, 2014

Fruit Bounty - Next block in the A Bountiful Life journey

I didn't get a chance to post this yesterday because Blogger was having 'issues'.  But that doesn't mean I wasn't stitching! I worked on the little baskets (sorry, no photos to share) and also on the next block in the A Bountiful Life quilt.
 Fruit Bounty.. or as I prefer to call it, Fruit Salad! 
I had already stitched the stems and pears.  Then I decided yesterday morning that I really did need to add the cherry stems.  I realized without them, the cherries would just be floating out there... which doesn't make sense, right?
These stems are tiny.  Made with bias bars and then placed with a few dots of basting glue to hold them in place.  Too small for pins.  This makes them nice and flat for stitching.
You can see from the pattern, they really needed the stems!
The pears look good enough to eat.
 
Have a good week & Happy Stitching!
 
Deb
 
Linking up this week at:
 


Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Baskets.... Baskets.... Baskets

Anyone who has read or followed my blog knows that I LOVE hand applique.  But every once in a while I take a break to spend some time in front of my sewing machine doing some piecing.  You know.. a change of pace, something different!
I started these little basket blocks (they are only 4" finished) before Christmas last year.  The quilt is from the book Scrappy Firework Quilts by Edyta Sitar.  I work on them when I feel I need some 'machine time'.  Actually, I have seen this particular block also referred to as Cake Stand.  What I am going to show you does make them a 'piece of cake' to complete. LOL
There are a lot of techniques and tools out there to make HST (half square triangles).  But I find this way the easiest, quickest, and most accurate - especially when you need a 1" finished HST! And you need 400 of them! 
Have you ever seen or used these Spinning Star Design template sheets?  
They are really easy... Let's take a look.
So for the 1" finished blocks, you start with two 4" fabric squares (RST) and one template sheet.  A pin in the middle to hold them together and you are good to go!  Using a smaller stitch length, you just sew through the paper on the template, following the direction of the arrowed lines.








When you are done, you just cut on all the solid lines and pull off the paper.  You have eight very precise HSTs all sewn in one step. 
Easy- peasy!

Trim the tails and they are ready to be pieced together!
Before you know it you will have a pile of perfect HSTs.  
I also use the 2" finished templates for the basket base.
Soon you will have a  nice assembly line of basket blocks!

What a wonderful day of sewing!

Happy Stitching!

Friday, February 14, 2014

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentines Day to everyone!  I hope you get to do something special today with the ones you love!
I finished my Twisted Heart quilt and decided to make it into a pillow.  It is a generous size - 20" square
This is my kitchen window sill.  I have several Valentines postcards my good friend Dawn has made and sent to me over the years.  Each are little works of art!














So pretty!  I enjoy them every year!

These are the cards I made for my hubby this year.  It was a good way to spend a snowbound day yesterday.
Enjoy your day.  And don't forget to say "I Love You" to someone special.

Deb

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

The Calm Before the Storm.....

We are expecting another snow storm (will this ever end!!??) tomorrow that should give us 8" - 12" on top of the icy piles of snow already out there.   But right now it is a peaceful, sunny day.  Hard to imagine what 24 hours will bring.  My Birds with Snacks block is now done and my beautiful birds were enjoying a day at the spa.
Don't look too closely.. I think I need to give this another press.  I don't like the way this looks right now.
Once the block was done... it was time for their spa appointment.
Everyone into the bath!
After a good soak, they rested on a soft, fluffy towel.
I made some changes to this block from the pattern in the book.
The branches were made more 'branch-like" rather than straight edges
I added these tiny eyes to the birds.



I scaled down the butterfly and the butterfly body.  Much better now!



... and this leaf was supposed to be a bird.  I like it better as a leaf.

Suzi and Lucy are going to wait out the storm on the couch.
They and their sisters are very lucky kitties!

Be Safe
and
Quilt On!

Deb

Linking up today at Let's Be Social.

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Snow Day!

Another snow day here in the Northeast with an ice and snow mix making traveling very treacherous.  This is on top of the 8 inches of snow that fell on Monday and closed schools and businesses.  And while I love the idea of not having to go out, I still have to work from home.
But it does give me just a little more time to sneak down to my studio and add a few tail feathers to my beautiful birds before I logged onto the computer.
Love this color combination on the tail of the aqua colored bird.  And you can see I got those bird feet done with relative ease! Yay!

Well, back to work.  Linking up today at Let's Be Social!   Enjoy all the blogs!

Happy Stitching and stay safe!

Deb

Sunday, February 2, 2014

Block Done... and One Annoying Groundhog!

Happy February!  Hard to believe isn't it? - whew!  I think time seems to be flying more quickly now as I look at that pile of UFOs... or PhDs. :-)  And although I can't report any progress on them, it doesn't mean I haven't been busy.
This week I finished the Hospitality Table block from the Bountiful Life quilt.  I love this block.. far more than I thought I would when I started it.
So the only thing to do was to move onto the next block - Birds with Snacks.  Hmmm, appropriate for Superbowl Sunday??
 Here is the pattern.  I think these birds are going to be fun!
I have already gotten the leaves done and have moved onto the branches.
Here are my fabric selections for these two beautiful birds.  What do you think?
Oh boy, more bird feet!!! 
Word from Punxsutawny Phil is six more weeks of winter..  :-(

Happy Stitching!

Deb

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