April Finish Complete

There has not been much time to sew this month so I was concerned that I would not be able to complete my April project for A Lovely Year of Finishes 2015.  It is also on my list for the 2015 Finish Along and is mentioned in my post here.

 I went up to my sewing room and focused on completing this project and I am very excited about having it ready to give to a sweet little girl.

I did some simple quilting using my walking foot and made binding from leftover jelly roll strips.   I am getting a little better and machine quilting with each project I try.  I plan to stick to small machine quilting projects for now.

The pattern is Stitching Betsy's Closet and it was great fun to stitch and is even better now that it is a completed project.

I will be linking with the April- A Lovely Year of Finishes Party, take a look at what others have been working on here.  This is one of my goals from 2015 Finish Along at On the Windy Side.

Spring Petals QAL Progress

I spent some time working on my Spring Petals Quilt Along project.  Using fabrics from my stash not purchased specifically for a project is always a challenge for me.  Julie at The Crafty Quilter has a great tutorial here to show you the different options for the applique.

I was having a little trouble deciding on what fabric to use for my corners but I like the yellow with the pink flowers.

I will be linking with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Sewing With Friends

I feel so blessed to have had a day to spend with friends who love to sew and talk and laugh together.  I had the privilege of traveling to Coupeville for a Sit and Sew.  I was there from 9 am until 8:30 pm or so.  It is an hour and a half drive for me to get there but driving north through Skagit Valley and across Deception Pass bridge is a beautiful drive.  I always enjoy spending time with this fun group of sewers and quilters.

This is the project I focused on for most of the day.  I used a couple of Riley Blake Layer Cakes and made the Tumblers Quilt from "More Layer Cake, Jelly Roll and Charm Quilts" by Pam and Nicky Lintott.  I think I might add a little random applique to the plain blocks.  This pattern really showcases this fun fabric.

This is the picture of this quilt that is in the book.

I did a little work on my Daisy Days project while at the Sit and Sew.  My blocks are ready to piece together.

A few of us are doing the Adornit block of the month at the Sit and Sew, I have had some fun with this so far.

Another fun part of the day was visiting Melanie's quilt shop.  She had ordered this fabric for me earlier this year, I am excited about starting work on the Snapshots quilt at the Fat Quarter Shop.  

The weather is beautiful here today and I am going to head outside for a while and do a little weed pulling.  Have a great weekend.

Finish Along 2015 - 2nd Quarter

I have been focusing on finishing projects and decided to join another group called the 2015 Finish Along in hopes to be motivated to complete even more. This Finish-Along is organized by Adrianne at On the Windy Side.   I went through my sewing room and took pictures of several projects waiting to be completed.  This is really just a tiny portion of what I have to finish.

1. Sew Sweet Simplicity, complete backing, give it to the quilter and get the binding on.

2.  Canasta is a fun Schnibbles pattern that I completed at the last Sit N Sew I attended.  It needs backing, quilting  and binding.  I wanted to try quilting this one myself.

3.  I really like this embroidery picture but it is also waiting in a drawer to be completed.

4.  This fun quilt with the cute little girl beside it is waiting for binding.  I don't know why it is taking so long.

5.  Pincushion all stitched, put it together and stuff it to complete this project.

6.  Polar Bear Pillow from Pretty in Patchwork Holidays by John Q Adams.

7.  One of my favorite Schnibbles projects called Lincoln, will need backing, quilting and binding.

8.  2012 Aurifil Designer Block of the Month all stitched and pieced, needs backing , binding and quilting.

9.  This embroidery project is wrinkled and in a drawer,  It needs to be finished into something and be used.

10.  Finish and bind  this for a friends gift.  I have a couple more to embroider to finish this project.

11.  Cross stitch canning jar from the May 2015 Country Living magazine.

12.  One project I really want to finish is my Blogger's Block of the Month quilt.  I can't seem to find a picture of it and I know I have some somewhere.  The quilt is at the quilter's so I want to make sure that I get the binding on it right away.  That will be one of the first projects I focus on once the quilt is in my hands.

13.  Stitching Betsy's Closet, top complete, needs backing. quilting and binding.

Wow, it would be great if I was able to finish all of these things this quarter.  So many more projects waiting to be added to this list.  They will have to wait for another day.

Spring Petals Quilt Along Fun

I am joining The Crafty Quilter in her Spring Petals Quilt Along.  Visit Julie here and see the fun table topper we are making.

I have finished putting my background fabrics together using charm squares left over from past projects.  I am undecided about the corner triangles I will be adding to the background.

The fabrics  below are some that I am playing with for the petals and corner triangles.  I will have to think on this a little more.

I decided on the colors and fabrics so I thought I would come back and edit this post and share them with you.

If you are looking for a fun spring project that is pretty quick to put together check it out and join the fun.  The hardest part of all of this for me seems to be choosing fabric.  I think it is time to go out and enjoy working in my back yard in the sunshine.  (It probably won't last long, I mean the sun won't last long not me enjoying the work.)

April Project for A Year of Lovely Finishes

As I looked around my sewing room I realized that I had so many projects that I could finish I didn't know what to choose for April.  Stitching Betsy's Closet is what I decided on, I would like to give it to one of my granddaughters for her birthday.  Now that the decision is made I will try not to be overwhelmed by all of the other unfinished projects waiting for me.

I will link this post to A Lovely Year of Finishes.

He Is Risen ! Happy Easter

This framed picture is sitting in my kitchen, it reminds me of what we are celebrating.

Matthew 28: 5,6

And the angel answered and said unto the women, Fear not ye:  for I know that ye seek Jesus, which was crucified.  He is not here: for he is risen, as he said.  Come, see the place where the Lord lay.

I found this print here at Jones Design Company.

I am looking forward to church this morning and spending the rest of the afternoon with friends and family.  

I picked a winner for my "Meet and Greet Stitchers" giveaway.  Random Number Generator picked the number 5.  Anita of Quilt in a Not Shell, you are the winner of my pin cushion, I will send you an email right away.

Meet and Greet Giveaway Ends Tomorrow

I have a giveaway at the end of my Meet and Greet post here.  I will be choosing the winner tomorrow morning.  There is still more to come in the Tea for Two blog hop, there are links on this post here, so be sure to come back and see the rest of the projects.

My Akebia is flowering again.  It is time to do a little work in the gardens so that I don't miss the early blooms.

Tea For Two Blog Hop

It is day two of the Tea for Two blog hop and this is my day to share my project with you.  Thank you to Mdm Samm at Sew We Stitch, Cori at Chitter Chatter Designs and Mary, our cheerleader for all of the work it took to make this happen.
This was a fun project to embroider.  I used white crayon to color the spaces in and then colored over the white with the bright colors.  I was not sure how I was going to finish this project as I was doing the embroidery but once it was complete I decided to make a pillow.  I love decorative pillows!

The pictures below give you a little close view of some of the embroidery.

My pillow sits on a wicker love seat in our dining room. You can  see a little bit of it behind the tea cups in the picture below.

This was such a fun project and I even enjoyed putting the back together.

I put the pillow out in the daylight on our bench on the back porch.  I think it might spend a little time there also this spring and summer.

Thank you for visiting a I hope you continue to enjoy Tea For Two.

Be sure to visit all of the participants in this hop, I know you will be amazed by their creativity.

April 1st

Happiness is Cross Stitching

Doris guest posting at Sew We Stitch

Chalk Outlines

MooseStash Quilting

Needled Mom

April 2nd

Creativity Amongst Chaos

Hill Valley Quilter

MaMAccessories

Blessings From Our Nest

April 6th

How ART you?

Stitchin' By The Lake

Bumbleberry Cottage

Sew Incredibly Crazy

It Seams to be Sew

April 7th

Jenny of Elefantz

Sunshine's Blog

I Piece 2 Mary

Just Let Me Quilt

Sew We Stitch