Log Cabin Blocks, Small-Large Scale, AHIQ #30 Challenge, Jera Brandvig Designer

These log cabins are built on a foundation, I basted the centers down.

The small blocks at 4" the large blocks at 7 1/2".

Playing with layout possibilities.

Happy Thursday! 

from the Pacific NW where it's still winter and we have rain and cool temperatures.

Happy March, spring is coming. The neighbor's miniature daffodils are up and looking cheerful in yellow.

And it's time for Ad Hoc Improv Quilt challenge. Where Kaja and Ann are hosting the current challenge that has to do with scale. 

I'm working on a small, 28" x 28", log cabin quilt, with large and small blocks so I think that fits into the challenge. 

Thanks Kaja and Ann for hosting. Stop in to share and get inspired!

And Jera Brandvig, author and fabric designer, who blogs at 'Quilting in the Rain' has designed very beautiful fabric reminding me of spring. If you're longing for a spring color fix, visit and see for yourself.

Share a smile!

I'll be by to visit.

Piecing Blocks, Traditional and Liberated, Pink Flamingo and Poodles

Last week I was pressing and trimming.

This week I finished the two lower blocks for my traditional sampler, 10 1/2" blk.s

Logcabin blocks, 4" & 7 1/2", on the left, Pink Poodles and Kona Pink Flamingo, bottom.

Hello from the Pacific NW, where it's cold outside!

'Come on in and sit, while I knit, click click, by the fire.' Anybody ever read that children's story to their kids when they were little? Now I'm reading it to my grandkids.

This week I haven't been knitting but I'm piecing blocks and finishing machine quilting a grid on two baby size quilts.

It just takes time and while I'm plodding away I'm thinking and dreaming of other projects and dreaming of soaking in a hot tub, ahhhhh!

I'm following Angela Walters' YouTube tutorials on machine quilting. They're easy for me to understand and I can watch several times over at my convenience. She's got a great sense of humor.

The little pink poodle fabric caught my eye in the fabric store and I knew it would work with my charm pack of Kona Pink Flamingo. It will make a perfect doll size or twin quilt, I haven't decided yet, for my granddaughter.

I'm linking up with Linda and Julie for Sew Stitch Snap Share#20.
Stop in to share your projects and get inspired!

That's what's happening in the shire, cocoa anyone?

Have a good week and I'll be by to visit.

Baby Quilts, Log Cabin Blocks, HST's and Angela Walters' Tutorials

Sewing logcabin blocks together this week, 4" and 71/2" blocks.

I'm machine quilting 2 baby quilts, don't you love Moda Grunge Dots?

This cute map panel is on the back of both.

I'm also working on HST's for a traditional sampler quilt.


Hello and Happy Monday!!

I hope you're getting inspired and getting lots done on your projects. This week I've been slowly machine quilting two baby size quilts for my two grandsons. I'm quilting them in a grid and I like to go slow and use lots of pins, a little bit gets done everyday, I quit before my neck bothers me.

Then some more HST's got pressed and trimmed to 2 1/2". They're for a traditional sampler quilt I started last summer from Piecing the Past Quilts.

And my log cabin blocks were added to and trimmed. There will be 12 larger squares and 16 smaller squares. I'm using Tonye Belinda Phillips'  pattern 'Welsh-Folded Log Cabin.'
These blocks are pieced on a foundation. I'm adding my own spin for color and strip sizes.

Angela Walters, machine quilter extraordinaire, has some excellent machine quilting tutorials on youTube.
She's good at getting her ideas across, practical with gorgeous results.
Take some time to be amazed!

Have a wonderful week and I'll be by to visit!

Welsh-Folded Log Cabin Pattern, Color Inspiration, Lichen/Moss.

Front yard moss in the morning mist.

Moss growing on bark in the backyard.

Lichen and moss growing on a tree in the back yard.

Welsh-Folded Log Cabin pattern by Tonye Belinda Phillips. 

My chosen fabric inspirations for log cabin blocks.

Happy Monday!!

This morning was misty and grey but I was determined to find color inspiration just outside my door.

And in the grey mist I found moss and lichen growing everywhere. I think I heard fairy voices too but they heard me coming and ducked out of sight.

I found the Welsh-Folded Log Cabin pattern online at the Stitchin' Post Quilt Shop  in Sisters Oregon.

I liked the colors Tonye Belinda used on the cover photo and the different size blocks she used too.

And so I ordered the pattern, which I'll use as a general guideline.

Pattern and color inspiration photos in front of me I found some fabric scraps that are a good start and I'll keep them in front of me during the piecing process.

For the butterfly of the month I suggest you visit my blog friend, Mary Ann  to see her butterfly project, with beautiful embroidery.

That's the news from the shire, where umbrellas get used often.

Have a good week and I'll be by to visit!

Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival, Fabric Shopping, and Quilt Top Finishes

Doll quilt top finished for my 'grand muffin', 5" blocks.

My 'summer improv' top finished with final border, 30" x 38".

Panera Bread, this is where I ate lunch, I like their hazelnut coffee.

Jo Ann Fabric store, I stopped in here, I had some good coupons.

 Big selection inside.

Always great books and magazines at Jo Ann's.

Sharon Boggons' beautiful book.

Happy Tuesday! From the Renton, Washington highlands.

Where we enjoyed a cool sunny day.

My blog friend, Carin, aka Queenie Patch went to the 17th Tokyo International Great Quilt Festival 2018 with friends and has shared her photos here! . What a fabulous quilt show, stop in to see the beautiful quilts!

And to celebrate sunshine after about a week of clouds and rain,

I had to go out and enjoy the sun and do some shopping on the side.

While at Jo Ann Fabrics  I bought enough flannel to use as a design wall.

The floor is very hard on my knees.

This week I pieced together a doll quilt for my grand daughter, her birthday is soon. I was watching an episode of 'Man Sewing'  and saw Rob and his daughter, Ruby, so sweet, doing a tutorial for a doll quilt and it was so cute I had to sew one up.

I also sewed on the final border of my 'summer improv' small quilt top.

I got a few things done this week and some play time in.

Because if I don't get out of the house once in a while everything gets dark and grim.

I hope you're having a productive week and taking time out to play.

Where do you go to play?

I'll be by to visit.

Shibori Dragon, Sashiko Stitching, Kaffe Facett Fabric in Border Units

Beautiful Japanese fabric and Japanese utility garments on display.

Examples of Japanese vintage utility garments collected by the owner.

This is a close up of shashiko stitching on the long jacket.

The Shibori Dragon quilt shop was friendly and well stocked!

The Shibori Dragon Quilt Shop, University Place, WA.

My stitched and pressed units for my improvised border.

Trimming up border units with KF fabric, batik and Tim Holtz fabric.

My butterfly quilt top finished with three borders.

Winter in our neighborhood.

Hello from the Pacific NW, where we are staying with family, helping out and doing a little sightseeing on the side.

Last Saturday we visited  The Shibori Dragon Quilt Shop in University Place, WA west of Tacoma.

I saw their display in a local sewing and craft show last fall and I didn't realize they were so close until I found their web site. The shop is 45 min south/west of Renton, where we are staying. 

There was everything you could want in a quilt shop and a large collection of Asian fabric and Japanese specialty fabric. The owner grew up in Japan, military family, and she had beautiful Japanese dolls and utility garments on display with wonderful shashiko stitching on them in the shop.

I made a pest of myself oohing and aahing and asking questions. If you are ever in the area, you must stop in!

I finished my small butterfly quilt top. As I was finishing piecing the borders I was thinking of working with units as Maria Shell talks about in her book, 'Improv Patchwork Dynamic Quilts Made with Line and Shape'. When I'm improvising, it's easier to get the process under control when I'm focusing on units. She's got good ideas for design.

I'm linking up with Kaja and Ann for AHIQ 29, where sharing of the 'improvising' sort happens.
Stop by for inspiration and to share your projects. Thanks Kaja and Ann for hosting.

That's news from the shire where I'm remembering to share a smile.

Have a good week and I'll be by to visit.

Borders and Sashing, Making Units or 'Bits' for Summer Project

Summer improv project with two borders added of string and saw tooth units.

Getting ready to pin and sew on another border.

Fifth border sewn on with string and saw tooth units.

My butterfly blocks are separated by 3/4" sashing.

They are mini blocks, 4 1/2" sq w/o seam allowances.

Happy Weekend! 

from the Pacific NW, where the temperatures have thawed and we have mist and clouds.

I've been busy sewing on sashing (butterfly blocks) and borders (summer improv).

In reading through 'Improv Patchwork, Dynamic Quilts Made with Line and Shape' by Maria Shell,

I've been reminded to pay attention to basic construction details we all know and practice (most of the time:), simple things like pressing new seams open and pinning before sewing that seam. Those two, time consuming little steps do make a difference. For instance, pinning eliminates 'wavy' borders.

And Maria in her chapter, 'Putting it All Together', talks about 'bit making', in other words, 'making a lot of smaller units' to be arranged into a bigger design. That idea makes the design process accessible and understandable. 

That's the buzz here in the shire, reading good books and making progress.

I hope you enjoy your day and remember to share a smile!

I'll be by to visit.