Some batt-less quilts

I reluctantly cut into my Lotta Jansdotter fabric - both Echo and Bella.

When you love a fabric so much are you also afraid to cut into it???

Luckily I only used half of each fat quarter, so I still have some left. And like always I have to add something new to a line of fabric. This was interesting because I'm not only looking for coordinating colors, but prints that have the same flavor. What I found is these graphic prints have no shades of color. White + one or two colors. So I added several prints from Modern Meadow with the same characteristic.

I was a little disappointed in the pattern I came up with. I was trying to get the look of the print rectangles sitting atop a band of gray. It took me a few days staring at the quilt to figure out why it didn't work perfectly. At first, I thought maybe the gray spacers were too small. But I really think they are too light. They blend with the prints and I think would have been better a bit darker. Do you agree?

I also finished up this kid quilt, using 3 UFO blocks. I'd like to donate a couple of quilts to the 100 Quilts For Kids event this year. This will be the first.

Also batt-less ~ these 2 blocks for Nancy in our Redbird Bee. Fun and easy!

Next up ~ find some batting and get these babies quilted!  . . . Cindy

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Rainy Day project

Finally, 100% chance of rain predicted today!

The perfect day for a Sunday afternoon sewing project!

tracing...

choosing fabrics...

cutting...

fusing...

A wonderful way to spend an afternoon!

the only thing missing ~ rain

. . . Cindy

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My Back Yard

 no quilt pictures in this post

I considered finding some outdoor activity for the holiday, but ended up staying home because I could easily retreat back to air-conditioning!

it reminded me to appreciate that I have it all in my own back yard

my garden is small ~ much like a city garden ~ but I haven't let size hold me back

I come from a family of gardeners, my paternal grandmother, my dad and my sister, Diane ~ all much more talented than me

but I do love my flowers

Plumbago ~ I've overwintered this in a pot for years and it always blooms profusely

Moonbeam Coreopsis ~ I added the pink this year ~ one of my favs

each year I plant more and more Lantana

it's a surviver no matter what the summer brings

My climbing rose is finally filling the arbor and I'm so thrilled. It had a glorious lush of blooms in Spring, and continues to give

a beautiful combo of Russian Sage and Rudbeckia

we tried to get rid of the sage a few years ago ~ it gets so big ~ my husband took an axe to the root and it still came back

I've learned to embrace it

Hibiscus ~ newly planted this Spring and struggling in the heat ~ with blooms the size of a dinner plate

Zinnias ~ my favorite filler

I have to turn upside down to photograph this lily!

I rarely use dill, but love the flower

the hydrangeas have started to brown, but bright new flowers pop up here and there

Crepe Myrtle starting to bloom ~ after our mild winter it's grown really tall

these little green seeds on the Beauty Berry bush will turn bright purple towards fall

and these white hydrangeas will turn lime green!

it's turning out to be a hot summer here in the midwest

I'm trying to be more like the flowers ~ adapt and grow

. . . Cindy

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Heat Wave Sewing

With temps in the 100's, staying in air-conditioning and sewing seem to be the perfect activities. To keep from getting bored, I'm going with a variety of sewing projects. Some hand-work involving English Paper Piecing...

Some simple machine quilting...

And some easy piecing...

Hope you're staying cool and enjoying some indoor sewing time! . . . Cindy

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Travel Sewing Kit

Yesterday was the monthly get-together of our girls' sewing group. The company and food are the highlights, but we also usually try to engage in a bit of hand sewing. Two hours before it was time to leave, I decided to make a sewing kit to carry my supplies in. My overachieving self though for sure I could finish in time. That didn't happen, and my sewing traveled in a handy but not-cute zip lock bag. But today I put the finishing touches on a Travel Sewing Kit.

I wanted a vintage look, so I used a piece of Vintage Modern for the outside.

The inside is made of some of my favorite "sewing" fabrics ~ Sew Stitchy and Half Moon Modern.

The kit is really cool. The left side has a pocket, a strap for holding thread and a felt needle-book.

There's also a pocket for your scissors and 2 pockets on the right.

So, I've started a little EPP project.

More on that to come!  . . . Cindy

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I really love my stash...

I've had some visitors in my sewing room recently and there are always comments about my stash. So many sewers feel very guilty about having a big fabric stash. I always think of it as a palette, just as a painter would have a palette of colors to work with. When you're working on a project, don't you feel you need just the right fabric immediately? And as long as your family has food on the table ~ it's okay to buy some fabric to stash.

I recently cleaned up, organized, and weeded out some fabrics. Many charitable organizations love donations - I've got a box for our local Quilts of Valor group.

Thought you might like a little tour of the stash ~ while it's in some order. My solids are folded in skinny rectangles and piled by color.

I have several designers' fabrics that I keep together because I'll probably use them together. Bonnie and Camille...

Including lots of these scalloped stripes. Love them for bindings. You can see I may have bought the gray twice - whoops!

Amy Butler...

Anna Maria Horner...

The rest of my fabrics are sorted by color and folded using Jeni's method from In Color Order. Here's one bin of multi-colored prints.

My daughter was looking for some yellows for a project and we found them quickly because they're all folded neatly in one bin.

My goal is to keep the amount limited to the bin space. I'm having a problem with gray lately ~ doesn't seem to fit!

I seldom buy whole collections. New additions are usually favorite prints in my favorite colors. Then it's a game of mixing and matching trying to find the perfect combination!

Yes, I do love my stash  . . . Cindy

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Sweet Sewfull Event

Sew Sweet Quilt Shop in Brunswick, Missouri is sponsoring a wonderful weekend next month filled with classes, lectures and shopping! I'll be teaching 2 classes and doing a lecture on Saturday night. Check out all the details here! 

The first class is the modern Dresden block. The class will include the pattern for the setting from my quilt!

I'm also teaching my Sunburst quilt.

This is such a versatile pattern! I did a little practice class last month and my friend Bonnie made this gorgeous version in one of Kate Spain's lines.

Really, you can't go wrong with this quilt. It looks good in so many ways! I'm working on a larger one in Verona.

And here's the navy and green version from last Spring.

Hope to see some of you there! . . . Cindy

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