Half Square Triangle Advice, Pike Place Market, Waterfront

My 12 'liberated' log cabin blocks with 1st border.

Log cabins with 2nd border of HSTs, 1st try on corner blocks.

The corner blocks tilted as Kaja advised, with 3rd and fourth borders added.

We went to the big farmers market, Pike Place Market  in Seattle, WA last week.

The displays of produce are a feast for the eyes.

Some of the finest seafood around.

Washington State ferry, Seattle waterfront.

Seattle Aquarium  on the waterfront.

Happy weekend from Renton, WA!

 Where more sightseeing has happened and more playing with and enjoying the antics of a certain bubbly one year old are going on.

We visited the Pike Place Farmers Market in Seattle, Wa, a huge, busy farmers market.

The displays were beautifully arranged and the producers/providers were ready to answer any and every question. 

Seagulls and the smell of Puget Sound brought back childhood memories.

In my last post, my friend Kaja@sewslowly gave me a tip on the progress of my 'liberated log cabin' small quilt's second border of HSTs. She specifically mentioned the corner HST, the purple and yellow corner block. I got to looking at that and sure enough something needed to be different.

So I picked out that block and another corner block and tilted them both differently and wow, that made a difference! Now the HST border runs smooth.Thanks for the tip, Kaja.

This week I had time to sew on the 3rd and fourth border. The dimensions are now, 31" x 26".

I hope you're taking time to enjoy your summer.

Remember to share a smile and enjoy something beautiful.

I'll be by to visit.

Half Square Triangles, a Bigfoot Sighting and 'Snap Stitch and Shoot.'

Half square triangle border, 3 1/2", added to 'liberated' log cabin blocks.

Bigfoot sighting at the King County Fair in Enumclaw, WA.

Hello from the sunny Pacific NW.

Where we are sight seeing and enjoying visiting our son and daughter in law and one year old grandson. He's just walking and talking, so much fun!

I managed to get some time to sew together my HST border and get that sewn onto my 'liberated' log cabin blocks. There'll be another border sewn around that soon. This is a medallion style quilt, inspired by Gwen Marston, who has online quilt classes at 'iquilt'.

I'm linking up with Julie and Linda @ Koka Quilts and JulieLou . Thanks for hosting Snap Stitch and Share!

Remember to visit your local farmer's market for summer fruit and local honey!

Have a great week, I'll be by to visit.

Log Cabin Blocks, Liberated Triangles, 'Coins in the Sun' Finish

'Artful Log Cabin Quilts' by Katie Pasquini Masopust, great fun ideas in this book.

Binding being sewn down on my 'Coins in the Sun' small quilt.

It's a finish, 'Coins in the Sun', 22" x 18".

'Coins in the Sun' back view.

My 'liberated' log cabin blocks, 22"x17", 1st border added.

My 'liberated' triangle experiment, 12" x 12", with 1st border.

Happy Friday from the sunny Pacific NW!!

When the sun shines here the views are outstanding. The Olympic Mts to the west and the Cascade Mt range to the east are breath taking.

I've made progress on some of my projects and I've been reading and enjoying Katie Pasquini Masopust's book, 'Artful Log cabin Quilts', C&T Publishing. If you enjoy log cabin blocks and color and great ideas this is the book for you. 

My 'Coins in the Sun' is now officially done. It was started with an Ad Hoc Improv Quilts challenge.

AHIQ is hosted by Ann and Kaja , and a big thanks to them for the inspiration that comes from that.

I'm still working through Gwen Marston's classes offered by 'iquilt' . Her two classes there are, Abstract Quilts in Solids and Liberated Quilt Making. I highly recommend both. They are priceless for color use and fearless design.

My 'liberated' triangle experiment, above, is a project of mine from Abstract Quilts in Solids.

I've been spending a lot of time outside so my quilts and sewing are on the slow burner for now.

I hope you're enjoying your summer.

Enjoy your weekend and I'll be by to visit.

Calico Creations Quilt Shop, Mt. Vernon, WA and a Farmer's Market.

Mt. Vernon WA, very popular, healthy food and deli.

Calico Creations Quilt Shop, super interior layout!

Their arrangement of quilts and fabric bolts is done so well.

More sample quilts, gorgeous colors.

Calico Creations store front..

We also stopped at local farmers' markets around Mt. Vernon.

Happy beginning of the week!!

From the Pacific Northwest where we are staying with son and daughter in law and enjoying our grandson, who is now a year old.

The photos are from last weeks road trip north to Mt. Vernon  / La Conner, Washington.

It's rural with farmland, rivers and wildlife, a lot of wild birds live and migrate through that area.

Old town Mt. Vernon has good shopping and restaurants. One of the best quilt shops I've visited,  Calico Creations, is in old town. The lighting and shop layout couldn't be better. They have a super selection of fabric and classes. Maybe I'll move there and take all their classes.

I've had time to work on projects this week and I'll get the photos posted soon to share. I'll be by to

visit and see what you've been doing.

Enjoy your summer and if you get a chance support your local farmer's market!

Fresh berries are delicious.

La Conner Quilt Museum, Butterfly Garden and Volcanoes

We went on a road trip to La Conner, WA, 1 1/2 hr.s north.

Pacific NW Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum  in La Conner.

Butterfly garden across from the museum, part of the La Conner Garden Club.

View of the Swinomish Channel from the Butterfly Garden in La Conner.

Entrance to the La Conner Garden Club Butterfly Garden.

Entering Anacortes, WA, north of La Conner, gateway to the San Juan Islands.

Mt. Baker, looking out east over Fidalgo Bay from Anacortes.

In Stitches Quilt Shop, Anacortes, great little shop.

Mt. Rainier over the neighborhood where we're staying in Renton, WA, this afternoon.

Hello from the Pacific NW!!

Happy weekend and Happy 4th of July!!

Things have been busy around here, I haven't had time to do a new post but I'll squeeze this one in.

I have more great photos to share and hopefully when it slows down around here I'll get photos of projects posted too. This morning we left on a road trip driving north.

We drove to La Conner, WA home of The Pacific NW Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum, formerly known as La Conner Quilt and Fiber Arts Museum. It's a great museum situated in a beautiful town. For Kaleidoscope of Butterflies, hosted by Ann and Cathy I'm sharing the photos of the Butterfly Garden across the street from the Pacific NW Quilt Museum.

From there we drove on north to Anacortes , where I got to visit the In Stitches Quilt Shop. 

This is another scenic town, they call themselves the 'Gateway to the San Juan Islands.'

The weather was fabulous and I had to put up the photo of Mt. Rainier taken in our neighborhood here this afternoon as we drove 'home.'

That's a lot for one day. I'm done here.

Again, have a good weekend and a Happy 4th of July.

I'll be by to visit!

Juki Mini Test Drive, Block Catch-Up, Orange and Green.

Hostas and orange daylilies, in the backyard,  beautiful together.

Add in boxwood and fountain for texture and variety of greens.

A new batch of liberated logcabin blocks with border, 23" x 18".

Juki TL-2200QVP Mini runs like a dream.

What's not to like?

I'm getting caught up with the Rest and Refreshing quilt B.O.W. at Piecing the Past Quilts .

Happy summer!! from the Pacific NW.

Where we are visiting and helping family.

It's now officially summer. The sun comes up early here and the birds with it. 

Inspiring and invigorating. 

This last week I visited a local sewing machine shop and had a great time looking at different sewing machines and comparing. I came away with a Juki TL-2200QVP. At the shop I liked how easy and practical it was to set up. I also liked how when I first 'test drove' it the machine did what I wanted  without a fuss. It's like a friend, ready and able for the next adventure.

I've sewn together most of the #4 'Constellation' block in the Rest and Refreshing quilt B.O.W.

by Piecing the Past Quilts. My 'liberated' logcabin blocks will get more borders soon. I think a sawtooth; HST border will be just the thing. Speaking of great use of HST borders, visit Cathy @ Sane and Crazy Quilting blog and see her fabulous 'Every Rose has Its' Thorns' quilt top.

Have a relaxing weekend. Enjoy the long summer days and share a smile!

I'll be to visit!

P.S. There was a big Monarch butterfly in the backyard this morning, but it wouldn't hold still for a photo. It fluttered all around, very friendly, then it was gone!

My Art Quilt Published, Mr. Cuteness, Around the Neighborhood

Mr. Cuteness himself.

This is the neighborhood where Mr. Cuteness and his mom and dad live.

There are a lot of storm ponds to help with the rain runoff in this area.

Large fir and cedar trees are everywhere. It almost feels like a rain forest.

Beautiful landscape rugosa roses, so fragrant!

Local duck family living in the storm pond.

Wild rose and salal are everywhere.

My art quilt, Santa Clara Rush, 17" x 15" published in Art Quilting Studio.

Hello from Renton, Washington in the Pacific NW!

Where there's been a few days of sun and a few days of rain.

This a beautiful place for walks, lots of wild life and green growing things.

Deer, wild rabbits are abundant and a black bear was sighted last week a 1/4 mile from here.

We keep out of the forest.

My grandson just turned a year old and he chatters baby talk and does all the adorable things a one year old does. So fun to be able to be here and enjoy him.

'Santa Clara Rush' just got published in summer 2017 Art Quilting Studio .

I pieced it with batiks and solids, using colors that reminded me of lovely Santa Clara, CA.

Santa Clara is in Santa Clara Valley which is also called Silicon Valley, alluding to the high-tech industry residing there. The 'Rush' of course is about the traffic and hustle of rush hours.

To make my art quilt;

I pieced 'liberated' log cabin blocks and stacked and 'whacked' them. Then I arranged them randomly and added strips of color where needed, then sewed the blocks together, three in a row by three rows.

I machine quilted it and added some hand quilting for texture. The stack and whack idea can be used in different ways, I like the surprise results of the randomness.

That's what's happening in this neck of the woods. 

I hope you're enjoying the spring birds and I almost forgot, I've seen quite a few Monarch butterflies around here. They do wait for the sun to come out. They must all go to an indoor butterfly shopping mall until the rain stops. 

Have a great weekend! I'll stop by to visit.