The Wayward Girls

 Our monthly sewing group dubbed "'The Wayward Girls" met May 4th and had some fun projects going on. Pam and I are both working on our sampler quilt and making great progress. Pam's are on the right above, and mine are on the left above. That's "Double X" on the top and a "Flower Basket" on the bottom. We are both making our quilts as a "no-buy" which adds to the challenge of a project.

These are Pam's blocks, above. The chain link block in the lower right corner is the alternate block.

Here are my blocks above, with the chain link block connecting everything across the top of the quilt. We've both decided that we will have to mix the sampler blocks up a bit, as the first blocks we did were a little color heavy compared to the latest ones we've done. I have finished the June blocks already...the double star and the 4 friendship stars. The next 2 blocks are contrary wife and contrary husband.

Pam uncovered a quilt book from the 70's in her stash, and although she didn't like the cutting instructions, she liked the look of a particular Log Cabin quilt.

She's not sure who she'll be giving this one to, but she said it's looking very much like a quilt a man would enjoy. I agree! Looks to me like it is mostly Jo Morton fabrics. Another no-buy quilt, too.

My project is from the Kathleen Tracy book "Civil War Sewing Circle." I believe this one is called Scrappy Stars Doll Quilt. I was auditioning the border fabrics above and below.

My finished top--I chose the medium print floral as the wider 3" border. Because I made my corners dark you see the "X" more than you see the "8-pointed star." The star finishes at 4 inches. I added the sashing and lattice to my design. I just didn't want to mess with all those seams coming together if I set the stars up against each other. This is also the first quilt I've made with purple as the main color. It was fun and different for me!

Carol took our Shared 9-patch and is making it in red/white/blue for a relative that is in the service. She has won an award and Carol wants to put a logo design in a center medallion surrounded by the 9-patch blocks and alternate solid red or blue. (By the way, Carol is a frog-lover!)

Once she described it to me, I had to graph this up really quick in EQ. Carol was trying to decide the number of red rows and blue rows. It will make up to about 50 inches--Carol wants this to be wall hanging size.

Carol's print fabric, above, cut into strips to make the 9-patches. Here they are below on my new ironing surface, getting a press job.

Here's what the block looks like. The upper right corner is a 9-patch, the lower left corner is a 4-patch. You have two 2-1/2 inch cut white squares and add a 2-patch to them.

Carol had some Thimbleberries projects to show, but since our meeting is this coming Thursday, I'm going to save the photos for then.

And last but certainly not least, is a picture taken yesterday on Mother's Day of our 3 grandchildren. That's Henry and Hadley, and the baby is our new "Kian" celebrating his first Mother's Day with his cousins. Love love love you little darlings! It was a perfectly beautiful day. Hubby and I were able to spend the day with both sons, both daughter-in-laws, and our 3 grandchildren. The weather was clear and sunny in the upper sixty's and we had brunch at the beautiful old Roanoke Hotel in Roanoke, Virginia. I decided I would need a little time off today to play so am taking a vacation day. I'm headed up to my sewing room....have to get something ready for our Thimbleberries Thursday meeting!

Till next time, keep stitchin!
Mary

January Wayward Girls

I looked through some of my photos and realized I didn't post our January Wayward Girls projects. The first quilt (above) is Carol's project--our first Thimbleberries project for 2013. We are working our way through their book "Pint Sized Projects." This of course, is the Bear Paw.

This is Pam's little Valentine quilt, from the book "Pinwheel Party." She's quilted it since then, I must get a picture of it for you.

Carol's January quilt (above) for our Civil War Sewing Circle. And below, Carol's "sunflower" blocks for our February Thimbleberries quilt.

I was able to complete 3 of my Bear Paw blocks. And below, my first finish of the year, a baby quilt for my new grandson Kian, born January 5, 9 lbs. 2 oz. Mom, Dad, and baby are doing fine! The very light background is a blue and white toile from Bunny Hill. And that peachy/orange color is actually yellow. Sorry about the bad lighting!

And here is our little darling! He is such a good baby. He only cries when he is hungry. I can't wait to see him again! Aren't babies just the most wonderful thing ever!

Till next time, keep stitchin!
Mary

The Wayward Girls

Another fun sewing day for the Wayward Girls! We meet once a month and have a "sit and stitch" at my house. It's always such fun, and having my buddies there encourages me to press on and get something completed!

This little pinwheel project is Pam's project for December. It comes from the book titled "Pinwheel Party."

She finished the pinwheel blocks; they will alternate with a sort of "pinwheel chain" block for a very clever setting.

Carol is our Thimbleberries group leader. She is working on what will we be our January demo and project. We have decided to make quilts from the Thimbleberries book "Pint Sized Projects" this year. This is the little bear paw quilt. The bear paw block measures 7 inches square.

I've made this quilt in the larger lap size, so that should make for a fun show and tell.

The quilt above is the project I worked on. Doesn't look like much does it? This is from the Country Threads book Return to Charm School. This quilt is called "Always RSVP when you receive an invitation." The original quilt is set 4 blocks across by 4 blocks down (each block measures 8 inches square). I was using a bundle of fat eighths called "Cocheco Mills" and then realized I had bought 2 bundles, so I had more fabric I could use! So I just kept sewing more blocks. I have a large hole in the middle because I would like to put an applique block in the center. Some kind of Whig Rose, I think.

I worked half a day today, and did a little Christmas shopping in the afternooon. My son the hiker wants more wool socks. While buying the socks, I found a great boxed kit with maps and information about the Appalachain travel. I think Brian will enjoy that! Can't wait to get my shopping done so I can wrap the presents. That's my favorite part, that and seeing the wrapped gifts under the tree.

And at Barnes and Noble, they had their British TV show DVDs on sale. I found season 1 of Downton Abbey, and with my B&N membership paid less than $16.00. Hubby and I watched 5 episodes tonight! I'm very glad to have found it, because we didn't watch season 1, and it's filling in some of the backstory for me. Don't you love the clothing and the women's hairstyles? It seems so beautiful! Wish I could have a tea time like they do every afternoon.

Till next time, keep stitchin!
Mary

The Wayward Girls

Our Wayward Girls met Saturday and had a really productive day. Pam worked on several projects, including a red/pink/brown pattern called  "Magic Block". The pattern is by Missouri Star Quilt Company.

Then Pam worked on her adorable Halloween quilt, made with Deb Strain's Hall-o-ween charm pack and a few yards of black spidery background fabric. She finished the binding on this darling quilt called "Stack and Wack Turnover". Fabric by Moda. How cute is this!

These red/tan/brown blocks are from the book "Spotlight on Neutrals". The are basically 9-patches that are sewn together and then cut apart, turned, and resewn. The pattern is called "Summer Stitch-In".

Carol worked on making half square triangles and sewing them into Broken Dishes blocks. This will become the Jo Morton Little Women quilt "Pottery Shards".

 

And I am so excited to have prepped 2 quilts for my longarm quilter. The first one was my Mary Mayhem mystery quilt, a Christmas gift for my granddaughter Hadley. She loves pink, and has a pet Conyer Parrot named Kiwi. That's why the wild pink color, and the colorful birds on her quilt.

The second quilt I prepped for the longarm quilter is my summer Thimbleberries quilt called "Little Garden." IIt will look like this (above) when finished. My fall quilt just needs the final borders put on, and it can go to the quilter too!

A few more works in progress. Pam worked on her Pumpkin quilt and that's mine on the design wall with hers. The colorful quilt below it is "Bacon and Eggs" in progress for an upcoming Little Women meeting. Every now and then I like to do something totally out of the box! This quilt uses 1.5 inch squares to make the 9-patches, so I used a Honey Bun strip from Mary Engelbreit called "Basket of Flowers."

We also introduced Carol to Pandora Radio. Check it out if you haven't already! And another great day of sewing was had with the Wayward Girls!

Till next time, Keep Stitchin!
Mary

The Wayward Girls

The Wayward Girls were only two strong on Saturday, August 4, so we had a rather relaxed agenda...heck...we had no agenda...for our sewing day. In the morning, Pam worked on one of her works in progress, as did. I'm still making 8 inch log cabin blocks for my "Underground Railroad" (a Log Cabin quilt-- it's a Jennifer Chiaverini pattern). I already posted a photo of 1/4 of the quilt so I really don't have anything new to show on that project. I'm going to set it 12 x 12, for a total of 144 blocks. I am up to 110 blocks now.

After lunch at the Crazy Greek, which we shared with our husbands, Pam worked on another Mary Mayhem quilt (below). She plans to keep this one (see also: Merry Mayhem quilt)! It's so bright and cheerful, we both really like it. I has a 30s vibe to me, I can picture it on a white enamel topped kitchen table with white painted chairs.

We both fell in love with the little 12 inch square seasonal quilts by the Wooden Bear. I have quite a few summer and fall quilts, but very few Halloween quilts. I thought this little pumpkin guy (above) was a cutie, so I worked on him and had this to show after just a few minutes work.

We're having our "Spool Quilt Challenge" this Saturday at Little Women Club, so we worked on dividing up the prizes into 4 bags. We always have such a good time at Little Women, I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again.

The Wayward Girls

The Wayward Girls met Saturday, July 7, and had a great time as usual. My sewing room is on the 2nd floor, it's been having a very hard time staying cool in the 100-105 degrees days we've been having. So we sewed in the dining room on the 1st floor, which I think worked out very well. 

Pam worked on several projects, and since she couldn't operate her sewing machine (she fell and broke several toes on her right foot this week), she brought along some hand work. First up was to finish the binding on the summer Thimbleberries quilt, Little Garden (above). Pam substituted different fabrics as part of the pinwheel blocks in the center of the quilt.

Then she worked on a baby quilt that will have little smocked dresses on it (sorry, no photo). Pam is teaching herself to smock--I haven't smocked in over 40 years, so I wasn't any help. She is also making a baby quilt with these darling bears, Ben and Emma is it's name; the pattern is from a 2000 Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine. How cute is that!

Carol brought several projects, first off was a table runner using fabrics from a collection called "Downtown." Very New York or Chicago, don't you think!

Her second project was from Jo Morton's Little Women Group 11. It's called Raspberry Swirl, but we named it Licorice and Orange. The block is called "Turkey Tracks" and Carol beautifully paper-pieced them. I can just see this in a Halloween display with a cute pumpkin or black cat, can't you!

My first project was to finish setting the 4 quadrants of Blue Ridge Beauty together. It went together faster than I expected--I was finished with it before the girls even got here! It's 80x80 inches and I think it's done--no borders. This is a Bonnie Hunter pattern, made with mostly scraps.

Here is a photo of Pam's Red Ridge Beauty. After I saw her quilt, I took my blue and white quilt totally apart (it was set differently) and put it together like hers since I liked it so much. Pam is such a sweetie--she's already sent her quilt off to her sister-in-law.

Then I had to get caught up with my Thimbleberries Little Garden. I substituted a different fabric for the light floral backround in the pinwheel blocks, not wanting to use the pink rosebuds fabric.

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I pressed on and finished the top! That's always a good feeling. I really do like the little picket fence border. I'm going to send this to my favorite longarm quilter, Joyce and get it done! (That's me peeking out from behind the quilt.)

I also cut borders for my granddaughter's quilt and will post a photo of that shortly. The borders are a bright pink print with birds and hearts in the design.

It was kind of comical when the girls arrived about 9:15 a.m. The crew was here to powerwash the house and deck and their vehicle and hoses took up the entire driveway. Then because of the 4th of July holiday the garbage collector showed up just as Pam and Carol drove into the circle. There isn't really much parking space on our circle! So we played musical cars and got that issue resolved.

You know how you sit and chat with your best girlfriends and someone says something that just tickles you? We had a dear friend from our quilting group move--quite suddenly--out of state. Houses are selling very slowly around here, but Marla's sold in 3 weeks. The joke was, Marla moved so quickly, you'd think she was in the Witness Protection Program.  I think we've all been watching too many NCIS episodes ;-)

We had lunch at Mexico Restaurant. Last month we had gone to Crazy Greek's. So it's been 2 months since I've eaten at Mexico Restaurant--everthing really tasted so very good. Blackened Tilapia, Chicken Fajitas, Sopapillas, and Fresh Guacamole. Always ask for fresh-made guacamole--it is fabulous! And we order our sopapillas with honey, ice cream and chocolate sauce drizzled on them. So yummy!

Till next time, keep stitchin'!

Mary