WIP Wednesday!

Doesn't he look evil!

This is Tundra staking his claim to Middleman's "school" satchel.

Keeping it real here with homeschooling stuff out.

Doesn't everyone let their cat hang out on their table?

LOL

Jen gave me a great name for the vintage and modern fabric quilt I just finished.

Ta da!

The Starflower Quilt.

Thanks Jen!  Our family has been enjoying it in our family room while we watch movies!

This week saw me picking out fabric and beginning to put together three more "Useful Baskets".

A mom at co-op asked for two to be made.  One with any colors I liked. 

Yeah. 

I like these!

She wants the other basket to have black, lime green and blue.  I love the black and white dog print.  I seriously need to update our dog's dish's placemat.  Will definitely use the doggies in that!

And a little more traditional fabrics and colors for a lady at church who saw one I had made and asked me to make one for her.  She wanted burgundies and pinks.

Playing with scraps. 

I'm so crushing on this color combination!

Yummy!

Hubsy wubsy and I went thrifting this weekend.  I have this thing for enamel ware.

This was a cute little dish I couldn't pass up.

I'm storing paper hexies for piecing on a project.  I think that's a map of Asia I cut up for a template.  I teach geography in co-op and well, it was handy, and I needed a piece of paper to cut to a certain size...

LOL

Pulled out a project that desperately needs finished.

Super fun!

Kinda looks like owl eye-balls, donchathink?

What do I do with these?  I was experimenting this summer with strings and can you see the stars?

Not sure where this is going, but I wanted to pull it out and start thinking about it.

I managed to sneak in another two full size Swoon blocks.  Purple.  Just a sneak peek 'cause I figure I overloaded all y'all last week.

And green.  Marianne (Hi Marianne, miss you blogging!) asked if it was difficult to downsize the block.  I just took the full size Swoon pattern and cut the measurements in half.  My blocks come out to about 11" sq because I am not a math person.  If I were, then I'd probably have 12 1/4" sq blocks.  lol

It's Wednesday already again and next week is...gulp...Thanksgiving!  Here in Indiana we had a tornado watch last night, a lightening storm to beat all and flooded streets!  I'm hoping for 90 degree weather on Turkey Day so the kids can play outside!  Ha ha ha!

A Hoosierism:  If you don't like our weather here in Indiana, stick around 1/2 hour.  It'll change.

Linking up with Lee again at for WIP Wednesdays.  Ohmygoodnessgollygracious did you see all the eye candy last week?  Wow!  Really inspiring! 

Just a "Swoonful" of Sugar

...helps this week!

As soccer season was winding down, I started a "Baby Swoon" obsession.  With my love of scraps and tote just chock full of them...what could be better than mini Swoon blocks?

I started out with a pink and have added a blue, purple, yellow and orange block.  They measure a square 11" when finished with 81 pieces in each block.  I'm sewing them together using Sun Rays Quilt Block from Twin Fibers.  I just love this way to frame a block!  These babies will somehow be incorporated with this block:

for a scrappy quilt for hubsy dear and I.  This is a full size (24.5" square I think) block with some much loved vintage and other scraps from the tote.  I will do more blocks based on colors like the baby Swoons and somehow make it all work.  At least, that's the plan.

I managed to finish up some of the Moda Buttercup Swoon blocks as well.

Library Gal Quilts commented on having a simplified way of doing the block and I need to contact her to pick her brain!  I have all the measurements (both for the big and baby blocks) memorized and could probably cut and sew one in my sleep!  But I sure do love the way this block looks.

The "Useful Baskets" scholarship campaigns continues. 

Hubsy sweets volunteered two for an auction for a very good cause, scholarships raised for a daycare. 

So here are my two contributions to the auction:

The colors today on the garden bench couldn't have matched more perfectly for this picture.

Three more to make for our own co-op scholarship fund.

Our 2011/2012 ECHS Strikers Soccer Team.  Middleman is far left on the bench.  They placed third in the Silver Division for 2nd Division for Nationals.  What an awesome thing to have hundreds of homeschooling families in one place for a weekend of soccer and fellowship!  World Vision will send soccer balls to a school in an underdeveloped nation for a small donation.  Middleman is writing up a proposal today to ask his fellow teammates to donate just a few dollars to share their passion with boys and girls in another country.

I love that kid!

Head on over to World Vision and see what you can do with just a few dollars to help change the world!

Also in the works this week is the binding of this quilt:

Not really sure I have a name for it yet.  It's made from vintage sheets and pillowcases and new (sometimes designer) fabric.  I decided to use Moda's Birdie for the binding.  Some loving, sweet, compassionate and super duper sister brought some home from Paducah last year for me.

I wasn't sure how to finish this one off because there's so much going on visually.  I had thought a solid, but didn't want to go out and purchase more fabric just for this.  Found the blue Birdie and it was perfect!

Here it is almost finished.  Just one more corner and half of a side and it's ready for the wash.  Just in time for the temps to drop tonight!

I'll be linking up with Lee at for WIP Wednesday.  Even when I don't get to post on Wednesdays, I still love to go through the other ladies' contributions and see what beautiful and creative things they're working on.  They're so inspriring and help take the doldrums away.  Hope you get a chance to go over and take a look!

Here's to the rest of the week treating us kindly!

Swoon and Useful Baskets

Four more "Useful" baskets made up for a sweet, sweet lunch lady at co-op.  I've sold seven besides these four and have another three to make for people.  That's $70 total when the other three are made and delivered.  My goal is $100 to donate to the co-op's Senior Scholarship fund.

I have the pattern memorized and can churn these things out assembly line style now. 

LOL

Something else I started just to please my need to create something new a couple of weeks ago:

I had a pair of grayish pants that I somehow managed to put a huge gash in and couldn't be worn any longer.  I love making braided strips of fabric and just started pulling blues from the scrap tote to pair with strips I cut from the pants.  I have no clue what to do with them, lol, but I like the way they look.

Maybe the back for a quilt in the future?  A table runner?  The front of a quilt?

Shrug.

One of the unfinished Swoon blocks that's waiting for me to go get more fabric.  If you'll recall, I wasn't thinking of what I wanted to use it for when I had a 1/4 of a yard of each Buttercup fabric cut.  The Swoon pattern calls for fat quarters.  A more generous cut of fabric that just a plain 1/4 yard cut.  Middleman needs to take the PSAT next week and I'll have about three hours to myself in a town already closer to the LQS that carries this line than I am at home.  Makes sense to just jot on down there and buy what I need to finish these up and put together in a quilt top.

I really, really like this fabric line from Moda!  It's very traditionally sweet and reminds me of a "cottage by the sea" look.

This quilt still sits on a chair waiting to tell me what kind of binding it needs.  Now that I look at it again, I'm thinking a solid?  What do you think?

Please take a minute to check out these other fun and quilty projects at Lee's weekly WIP.

Enjoy the sunshine!

Baby Swoon Block

They've been all the rage this year.  The Swoon blocks from Camille Roskelley. 

Thimble Blossoms

Flickr is full of them.  Her website has such eye candy as to make one "swoon" from scrumptiousness overload! Quilters have used incredibly beautiful fabrics and color combinations in their blocks and quilts.

When finished, these blocks measure 24.5" x 24.5". Whopping big blocks that can be combined to make all sorts of sized quilts.  Here is a picture of one that is the inspiration for my block:

Erin at Two More Seconds

Mine, however is only 11" x 11".

That's a quarter on the HST, by the way.

LOL

This is what happens when you're moving your sewing stuff inside for the winter.  In the spring, summer and early fall, my sewing things are out on the sunroom where I can take advantage of the natural light and being able to see my flower gardens blooming and kids playing.  When mornings start turning chilly like they have been, everything comes inside.

Now we're set up in the living room.  Lots of light to help me see and two of the sweetest lil' helpers you've ever met!

While sorting through similar colored scraps, I came across the Swoon pattern I had bought this spring.  I've already made four regular sized ones.  Well, sort of.  The pattern calls for fat quarters and not thinking, I had some 1/4" yard cuts from the Buttercup collection laying around, I went ahead and started making the blocks only to find out I need more fabric to finish them.  I've got about 2/3 of the whole block made in four different fabric combinations.  Sheesh.  Guess that means a trip to the LQS!  Darn! 

Buttercup by Moda

Middleman will be taking the PSAT in October and I will have a whole morning to myself to go and get the fabric I need to finish the blocks. 

I wanted to sew a little something quick that I could finish while putting my sewing table back to rights...saw the scraps, saw the pattern and thought this would make a sweet little block half sized.  I just cut the measurement requirements by half and and I'm so glad I did!


I would love to make a mini quilt with this.  It seems everything I make is a largerish sized quilt and those drag on for what seems like forever.  This is a fun way to use scraps us with instant gratification!

Bean has two days off and the cats are wishing he didn't.  LOL
Soccer game tonight and coop tomorrow.

Thank you for the encouragement on the baskets for the Senior Scholarship fund.  I'm only asking $5 because a lot of our coop families are struggling to make ends meet and I thought this would let them get a homemade pretty for very little.

Hope today treats you kindly.

The "Useful" Basket

When I first started reading quilting blogs, I came across the cutest tutorial for a smallish, fabric basket from the Pink Penguin.

I made it for Christmas gifts one year for teachers and "special" friends.  I have three of them being "useful" around our house too.

Each year, our homeschooling coop gives out scholarships to two of our outstanding graduating seniors.  We have a Senior Cake Off, Cupcake Auction, Silent Auction and anything else we can throw in the pot to raise funds for the scholarships.

This year, I'm selling "Useful" baskets.  I have one made up and sitting at our Welcome table on class day.

They're $5 a piece and made entirely of scraps or fabric that's been gifted to me and leftover batting.

No cost, except labor, for me.

Financial benefit for the scholarship fund.

I've sold three already!

It isn't a lot, but every dollar goes to help a senior buy books, meals, necessaries as they go off to college!

Well....................................................................................

It's mid-September.

You know what that means?

Yup.

Tee hee hee!



Drat!

I love computers.

Well.....

not really.  Yes.  No.

It's a love/hate relationship.

I've lost my INBOX twice.

Twice!

I can't sign in to Flickr.

And my comments are being listed as from, "Anonymous".

Sigh.