Bees Knees, a quilting bee - September

I was invited to join the Bees Knees, a quilting bee.

The button is on the right of my blog if you want to take a look!

September was Melissa Corry's month from Happy Quilting.

She wants to make a quilt for her grandparents to use in their camper so she sent us "Smore Love" by Cosmo Cricket.

Melissa told the quilting bee that we could make whatever block we want to.

I saw this cute fabric and knew right away that I wanted to make an appliqued owl.

I drew my little owl.

Then I numbered each section in the order I would appliqué the fabric onto the white background.

I traced each numbered section or piece, onto the paper side of freezer paper, and numbered each one.

I traced the owl pattern with the branch and leaves, onto tracing paper.

I cut out all the pieces that I traced onto the freezer paper.

I turned the steam off my iron and pressed the paper pieces wax side down unto the fabric.

I traced each piece with a fine point pencil and cut each one out, leaving a l/4" seam allowance.

I placed each appliqué piece on the white background in the number order, and made sure it was centered, using the tracing paper template.

Here's my little appliqued owl!

I love the woodgrain on the brown and aqua, and the fabric on the foot really looks like claws!

I added a patchwork border around my little owl.

He measures 12 l/2" unfinished.

I can hardly wait to see all the blocks Melissa receives and see how she puts them all together in a quilt :)

AYOS and a Little Bit More, September

I am so excited to be joining in on the fun of Another Year of Schnibbles and a Little Bit More!

I have always wanted to make a Schnibbles pattern, so I thought this would be my chance :)

The pattern for September is called "Whit" from the "Little Bites" line from Miss Rosie's Quilt Co.

"Little Bites" are packs of 2 l/2" squares from a line of fabric.

I used a charm pack (5" squares) from Moda called 1974 (the year I graduated from high school) Ha ha!!! by Urban Chicks.

There are three patterns, Whit No. 1, 2 and 3.

The reason I chose Whit No. 3, (Flying Dutchman) is because I had a busy month and the pattern only called for 128 2 l/2" squares as compared to 140 or 160, not including the background squares!!!

Below are 128 squares of background fabric...

Here are all of my 128 background squares cut in a neat little pile.

I neglected to take a photo of my charm square pack, but here is a sampling of what the color scheme is, without the yellows.

Here is my Whit pattern with a portion of my assembled, non trimmed flying geese.

Yay, a finished itsy bitsy 4 l/2" Flying Dutchman square.

Progress, all of my blocks are finished :)

This is everything layed out, ready to sew, and I need to make a larger design board!

I finished sewing all the blocks, posts and sashing, I just need to add the border.

This is a new color scheme for me, usually I sew with bright colors.

This color selection is more muted.

I added the border, but something is missing.  

I think it looks a little dull, and the quilt only measures 22" square.

I'm making this as a table topper for my daughter Rebecca's dining room table which is right next to her living room.

The dining room table sits on top of a jute rug, so that's why I chose Kona "stone" as the background.

The colors in the quilt are matched to the rug in my Rebecca's living room.

 I looked through my fabric stash and found this Michael Miller houndstooth which I think looks great on the quilt!

It adds some brightness or life, to the Kona "stone" which is a little dull.

The quilt or table topper, now measures 28" square.

It will look great on my daughter's dining room table which measures 53" square.  

I know the fabric I chose for the binding will also liven up the colors.

I don't have much in the lines of plum or teal, or berry.....

These are the fat quarters I pulled from my stash which are even remotely similar, but they don't work.

The colors don't blend.

I remembered my little collection of Denyse Schmidt fat quarters.

Yes!!!

Denyse's colors are a little muted, and I love the medallion fat quarter with its greens and blues.

I would have loved a berry or plum but I'm still happy with this choice.

Rebecca has lots of blues in her living area, so this fabric will be great for the binding :)

Here's a hint of what the quilt will look like bound, but the quilting and binding will have to be shared in another post.

So many projects, so little time!  Ha ha!

Here's a photo of Rebecca's new living room rug.

I pulled the colors from it, along with the color from the blue couch and accessories.

If you would like to follow the parade of finished "Whit" quilts tomorrow, October 1st, go to Sherri's blog, A Quilting Life, or Sinta's blog, Pink Pincushion.

Thanks for reading my blog :)

Vintage Sewing Treasures

A favorite past time when my husband and I are together, is browsing through antique shops.

I found this little wooden basket once, and now I fill it with vintage sewing treasures.

I love this needle holder, the women look as excited about fabric as I am!  Ha ha!

Inside is a treasury of nickel plated needles, but some of them are a little rusted :(

I have a thing for old buttons too, although the yellow one is from one of my favorite stores, Anthropologie.

Isn't the quote cute?

Here's my humble collection of vintage trims, they're all waiting for a special project.

A little assortment of needles.

I like to imagine what the previous owners were like...

Someone who wanted to sew but never did?

An older lady who was an avid sewer but passed away and her family sold her belongings at an estate sale?
I want my sewing treasures to be given to my daughters and daughters in law!

My mother was a seamstress and so was my grandmother, and these little bobbles remind me of my grandmother.

I just like to look at them :)

Fabric Happiness

I love fabric, I always have, even as a little girl :)

I love the color, the patterns and the feel of it.

I even have a board on Pinterest called Fabric Happiness!

Recently, I bought these little fat quarters at Westwood Acres.

I have a thing for text prints, and these are fabulous!

Only one of them has a selvage, it's the second one from the top.

It's "Architecture" by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman.

Look at these little lovelies, they remind me of little girl things from the 1950's.

The pinks remind me of cotton candy!

I have four pinks, but they look a little peachy in this photo.

The fabrics are by Lecien and are called Honey Baby.

Little Red Riding Hood is dear to my heart and one of my favorite color combos is red and aqua!!!

I've learned to buy black....even though it's not always my favorite color, it does look great in a quilt for contrast.

Last but not least, an adorable mint green and sweet peach :)

Quilty Humor

The Bees Knees a quilting bee

I was invited to join "The Bees Knees" a quilting bee, and am so honored to be amongst such creative, talented ladies!

I think I'm the only one who isn't published, but that is one of my goals :)

September is Melissa Corry's month, from Happy Quilting.
You can see what she told us about her quilt idea here.

She sent all the bee members a selection of fabric and told us to make any camping or outdoor themed block measuring 12" X 12" or 18" X 21" or whatever!

These are the fabrics she sent me and I've got my idea and am running with it.

I'll be working on it at my mother's house in Montreal and can hardly wait to show it to you at the end of the month!

AYOS and A Little Bit More

I'm joining another online quilting group, I just couldn't resist!

I love Greg's blog @ grey dogwood studio, he always makes the most beautiful quilts and he's extremely talented.

The first time I heard about "Another Year of Schnibbles", was on his blog.

You can read about the rules at Sherri's blog, A Quilting Life.

Our mini quilt for the month of September is a "Little Bites" pattern called "Whit".

A "Little Bites" pattern is made from a mini charm pack, which usually includes 40 - 2 l/2" squares from a complete fabric line.

I cut 128 2 l/2" squares of background fabric, and a few other pieces as well.

My background fabric is Kona Stone.

Here they are, all 128 squares in a stack.

I used a charm pack of Moda 1974 by Urban Chicks for my flying geese, a change from my usual color scheme of bright fabrics.

Here is my pattern, surrounded by some flying geese under construction.

I'm going to make the top pattern, mainly because I'm pressed for time and it has 64 geese, the fewest of the three :)

The mini quilt will finish at 22" X 22".

I'm trimming geese while I visit my mom in Montreal.

I guess they will be authentic Canadian geese!!!