Quilty Circles

A while back Audrey of QuiltyFolk had an idea to sew a circle a day for the next 365 days.  Her vision Quilty365 was to make a circle block each day according to your mood of the day.  I signed up to sew along as well as lots and lots of blogging friends.  Check out the first linkup on December 1, 2015.  The more you make the better it gets.  So much personality in those little circles.  I love how everyone has put their unique ideas to their circles and shapes.

A mood of the day circle didn't inspire me like I thought it would.  I made about six of those mood circles and they left me feeling like where am I going with this? What am I going to with this???  A bit like improv quilting...it's not for me. I have to have some kind of plan if I am going to spend my time on a project.  I like a theme or to sew for a season. I began to toy with a Christmas print a day to end of up with a nice wall hanging.  I like the idea of a scrappy circle Christmas print table topper.  Maybe a nice amount of 25 prints, 5 by 5. Then I got sick and I got behind.  I needed a stress free quiet project and it was too much to pull out the bin of Christmas fabrics.  I still wanted to do some slow and peaceful stitching while I was recovering. Therefore, I decided I would do a Valentine's circle.  I have a small plastic box of Valentine themed fabrics that is easily manageable. 

I had a nice amount of KissKiss by Abi Hall for Moda charm squares left from last year's Valentine mini. They are still available at Missouri Star Quilt Company where I got mine. So this has been one of my recovery projects.  I made this simple snowball table topper last year.  It is finished now.

Here are my circles to date.  I have pulled polka dots and hearts from my valentine box and from my stash in general.  I like to make a project with lots of variety.  Happy! Happy! 

There is variety in this piece.  Trucks and doggie bones from a red and white charm pack.  I am not setting any boundaries.  Just what makes me smile.  Just what I like.

The charm squares are already cut at five inches.  I traced around a random jar top to make a four inch circle.  I think using pinking shears allows for some easier needle turn.  I tuck under about 1/4 inch seam allowance and hand stitch all around.  The idea is to eyeball the circle, nothing precise. Do not over-complicate the process. It doesn't take long while watching TV to make about two, three or four.  I prepped quite a few at one time.  I plan to do a few hearts and I can see some buttons and some lace.  I put in a few dogs and cats because I "heart" them too and they make me happy. I also love prints with tiny birds.  I will add a few of those.  For me it is has become a joyful project during recovery from surgery.    

I hope this may inspire you too.  Thanks for stopping by! 

Sewing Interrupted

I just noticed the date of my last post was the day I wasn't feeling very good.  I told my mom that morning I was feeling a bit sick at my stomach.  By Friday I thought I must have food poisoning.  By Saturday I was at the ER. By Monday I was having surgery. Cholesectomy.  What's that you say?  I had to have my gall bladder removed because of a golf ball sized stone blocking my liver.  My liver was spewing bile in my body and man was I some kind of sick.  

Back to the sewing timeline.  Thursday, I finished the Christmas Cactus top. Friday, I had pulled out the completed Fair Isle blocks and I was making some good progress on putting those blocks together until about noon, and then all sewing ceased as you might imagine.   I am so much better now that two weeks have passed. I spent some time during recovery working toward finishing the Fair Isle Christmas quilt. I had started this quilt in November,2014. It was my first sew along of choice and it is a fun one.  The pattern is by Freshly Pieced found here and there is an Instagram #FairIsleQuilt.

I downsized the pattern just because two of those Reindeer were enough for me. I am making the middle.  It is the best part, like pie filling.  I am making the rest fit accordingly.  Quilts with white backgrounds are a cause for disaster in my household.  One muddy dog print and it will be all over.  This will definitely be a show quilt.  Also I haven't had much luck with that red Kona not bleeding when washed.  But I don't mean to go off on the negative.  It is a fantastic design.  The colors are fresh and cheery.  I do like this quilt.  

Yes these photos are not the greatest.  Yes, it is a wrinkly mess. Yes, the edges need trimming but I just wanted to show you that I have my FairIsle quilt top together and I am really happy to have another project top finished.

Merry Christmas to you all and Thank you for stopping by!

Christmas Cactus is a Flimsy

The borders are on and I am liking it.  I am calling it Christmas Cactus but you may see Poinsettia's and that is what you are supposed to see.  So either way, it is good!

I could fret over the mismatched petals but it isn't worth the fuss.  I think it is lovely!  Very striking and vivid. And that's all that matters. The rose floral is lovely in this border setting.  It is called Hollywood & Vines by 3 Sisters for Moda.  I have been saving it in my stash for just the right quilt.  I have enough to use on the back with some of the dark green. I have the perfect holiday edge to edge pattern for quilting the quilt with my long arm.  I hope to finish this one over the weekend. 

The credits were given here in my last post.  So please go check it out. The pattern is Poinsettia's Allure by Judy Blok.  I hope she likes it too.

Thanks for stopping by!