Wednesday, September 20, 2023

It's A Dog's Life

 


Thank you CAROL for hosting this month's Hop "It's a Dog's Life".  This has been a fun and inspirational tribute to one of our 'best friends' in our lives.  If you haven't visited all the hosts, please do and give a little cheerful comment. 

I have no photos of my beloved dog SKIPPER.  What few photos were divided up into my childrens' photo albums that they now have as adults.  He was an Ausie/English Shepard mix - super herding dog!   He traveled to many horse shows as my 'shotgun' rider and stable guard dog.  Herded cattle on the farm (and my kids too) and hunting compainion for my Dad.  He lived a full and bright 19 years with us.


I enjoyed playing with some plaids to make the cute PUPS using the pattern 
'Dog Gone Cute' by Lorna McMahon at Sew Fresh Quilts.

A commissioned memory quilt for a family who raised champion show German Shepards.




POODLES - BLACK & WHITE HOP pattern by  Sally Trude at The Objects of Design


Another Lorna McMahon pattern - DOGGO  I've done a few of these for baby quilts in different color dog faces and accent colors.  Quick and easy!!



My Doxies with Moxie is an Elizabeth Hartman pattern "Dogs in Sweaters".  I used this for our guild's President Challenge for color block of the month.

I've done a few dog blocks (site freebies) over the years to donate for quilts put together for fund raisers for various Animal Shelters. 


Be sure to visit today's other hosts:

Sewingly Yours,

Sharon

Wednesday, September 13, 2023

Just Roll With It

 


I am still rolling along with t-shirt quilts and other commissions.  I really need some ME time sewing and this just fits the bill.  A number of sites are offering free patterns, but  MODA is offering several.   

So find a pattern and a jelly roll.  No JR, scraps work just as well.  It's more about enjoying the journey. 

Sewingly Yours,

Sharon

Monday, August 21, 2023

Call Me Crazy

 


Oh Joan - she was the perfect choice for hosting this HOP.  A fellow 'crazy' who thinks outside the box.  AND she is certainly right in there is some 'crazy' in each quilter.  A project you smack your head and say 'I was crazy' to do this, a pattern or fabric that made you 'crazy' in love with, or a 'crazy' happening in your quilty life.



My guild knows I am just crazy for scraps and hand me off some baggies of the smallest bits.  They are like having a crazy candy addiction!  I've made many styles of OMG quilts with those bits that would be normally tossed.  Guess I'm not normal.  (those are one inch squares by the way)



I'm a bit crazy for learning and teachng about heritage blocks and period fabrics.  I feel even Modern quilters should know the history and Great Grandma's test of time before they change and dissect.  Hey, take those paper templates, cut with scissors, piece by hand, and hand quilt a small project.  You will SO appreciate what we have today.  They weren't crazy - they were Masters!




I do like to play with it all - heritage to modern to off the wall.  There are times I think quilters need to think and work outside the box to keep from getting 'stale'.




I've had a few lines of fabric that have been a love and keepsake, but I was crazy for the Ghastlies!!!  A mix between morbid and cute and made you  think about how to really do that fabric justic in a project.


I made a lot of quilts, wallhangings, pillows, and bags with this line - this was the last quilt I did with it and the backing had all the left over bits and 'yardage' to clear out.  I haven't had a fabric line hit me so 'crazy' as this one - even yet. 

Be sure to visit todays guest hosts:

Karrin’s Crazy World

Scrapdash

Inflorescence

VroomansQuilts (here)

Happy Cottage Quilter




 Sewingly Yours,

Sharon

Wednesday, August 2, 2023

Quilt Detectives

 


I kew this quilting community has some great Quilt Detectives!!  I have a friend who finished this UFO and would like to know the pattern name, source, designer for the label for a show.  Come on all you Sherlock Holmes!!

Thank You

Sharon

Friday, July 28, 2023

Shirts Galore

 


I have several commissions for T-Shirt quilts and the shirts have been coming in these LARGE plastic bags.  Yes, I am making very large quilts which is so not me.  I can't share finishes as they are very personal to the clients.  This bag happens to be sweatshirts - you handle just like T's.  I don't put any batting in them and they are backed with a good quality flannel.

Fuseable is cut and now I have to tackle the shirts.  This client has everthing mapped out when delivered which has made them so easy to put together.

We have been hot, but not those triple digits.  We have been fortunate to get rains mixed in, but sometimes those rains come with terrible storms.  I caught this eerie color and glow as we had a super cell roll thru with tornado warnings again.


I've been enjoying everyone's photos of their beautiful flower gardens, but I haven't got those.  My enjoyment has been watching the various butterflies that have come to 'dine' off the outdoor kitty's dish.  They love the canned cat food - who knew!  I had never seen this one before and looked it up.

It's a sub-species of the purple swallowtail (defined by no tail) and common in the Great Lakes region.  I've had a lot of the yellow swallowtails, so maybe this guy is enjoying their company here on the East side of NY.

Back to my pile of shirts before it storms again,

Sewingly yours,

Sharon



Monday, July 17, 2023

Picnic Party

 



First I would like to thank CAROL for graciously being our host for this Summer Time Hop.  July is really Picnic Time and I have seen a huge useage of our community parks by families for such a venue.


A fun large block quilt using colorful 'food' print fabrics seems to fit the bill for a picnic quilt.  Some I Spy prints would be fun for little ones to do some searching while enjoying lunch.


Yes my quilt is upside down, but I see hearts and not baskets.  The pattern is from this book.  Some great scrap eaters or use up that FQ Bundle - these patterns work up really quickly.


Since it has been SOOOOOOO hot for so many, I thought I would share my NECK COOLER.    I've used this tutorial NECK COOLER
 , but there are a lot of U-Tubes for these so I would search for those.  The water obsorbing poly beads I used are Sodium Polyacrylate Crystals - found at any garden center, but there are other forms.  

I throw a few of these in a cooler and take to events or when I am vending to use for myself and to even share.  Great for gardening or mowing the lawn as well.  AND they are pet safe, so share one with your loveable pooch while walking in this heat. 

Someone asked me how long these will last with re-use and the one on the right I have had for 4 years - starting to not 'puff' as much, but still holds the cold for several hours.  Think it's time to start using the other one and recycle the crystals in the old one into the flower bed.


And what picnic is not complete without ants.    You may have to look closer at these little critters - the size of the head of a pin.  But every morning there is a cluster of thousands (looks like an inflated basket ball) and they travel from one end of the side walk to the other, gobbling up the snails and snail slime (or what ever else is there). 

Be sure to visit today guests:


Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Picnic Time

 


July 17

Just Let Me Quilt

 
July 18
 

July 19
 
 
July 20
 

Thursday, July 13, 2023

A Rocky July

 


I should say "a very wet July" as it has rained almost every day.  I'm sure some of you saw the damage in NYC (why do they never mentioned other parts of NY?) and then parts of Vermont that were hit hard.  It was scary and we had one storm line drop 3 inches of rain in an hour - just a wall of water!

We had a Quilter's Hall of Fame picnic meeting planned for that Monday and of course scrambled to cancel and reach everyone with info.  Now we've scrambled for a reschedule.

Bracing for tonight as we are in a severe storm watch with potential tornado warning.  Yeah!


 Prior to the major storm, I took Momma out with me for some fabric hunting (for commission work) and found a couple of 'had to have' pieces.  I'm not a fan of 'holiday' print fabric, but this steampunk panel just had to come home.  AND yes, I am going to have to do a little fancy steam pressing to get this straightened out.



And this sewing is for the birds panel.  Love the colors and you have to really look this over to spot all the sewing items.  Clever!

Hoping not to be blown down the road,
Sewingly Yours,
Sharon

Monday, July 3, 2023

Happy Fourth

 

Momma and I will be enjoying the day - stitching!  She's finishing up a long hidden and forgotten project and I am prepping T-shirts for a large quilt.  We are in a rainy period that gives a break of sun and then get's really 'sticky' and rains again.  BUT we need the rain!



And July is the month for picnics, so I am going to use our cooler nights to get my picnic quilt done for the next HOP.

I hope you all have a safe and happy 4th of July.

Sewingly yours, 

Sharon

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

When Pigs Fly

 


Thank you JOAN for this very clever HOP.  If you haven't looked at the previous days' posts of those participating, you have to.  Lots of inspiration and advice on working thru those lanquished projects.

I didn't work a project to a finish, but rather I'm showing in honest what I have.  I have a strict 2-year policy - use it in two years or pass it on.  I am not a collector of fabric or projects.


This is my 'work space' in a corner of my living room.  I had taken this apart a several days ago as I needed to use some of these items at our Guild Show.  It gave a good reason to clean - vacumm, dust, and get all those pins up.  The small rolling cart has my thread and the tall cart - large drawers contain specialty fabrics and the small drawers hold pins, zips, special threads, templates, supplies, etc.




I don't keep things in bags as 1.  you tend to stash and forget,  2.  you can't see what is inside, 3.  they do not store easily and 4.  it attracts mice.
I prefer tight sealed containers for each project.  They stack well and are easy to store on a shelf AND visible to what is inside.




6.5" blocks that are replicas of guild members blocks from a president's challenge.  These do need to get into a flimsy before the year's end.




This was a travel project while I was taking the Hall of Fame quilt around for ticket sales.  It is two years old, and you can see I am trying to get this into it's flimsy stage.




This Hexi project just needs it's final border on and then sent off for quilting.  I hate doing borders, but this one is on it's timeline as well.




Another traveling project - yeah, I love to work hexies when you need a little hand project on the road.  All the 'tiles' are made so this needs to become a flimsy this year.

 


This was an on-line block of the month which has it's sashings and borders cut, so it is just a flimsy assembly needed.




This was a project using African Fabrics brought home from a guild member who traveld to Africa.  Again, sashings and borders are cut. 

 


This is a one-block wonder quilt - a technique taught during one of our guild's Saturday sew days.  I have fallen out of love with this and think this one will be a 'pass it along' project.

Some of these projects I plan to have ready for a Spring 2024 Quilt Show, so they will get done.




My main goal this year is to get 'that tote' of tops finally quilted.  Hey, I've gone from three large totes down to one.  I have been doing 3-5 quilts myself and then 'quilting by check' with 1-3  each month.  That tote should be empty at the end of this year.  These three tops I pulled to use as table covers at our quild show with the purpose that they WILL be the next ones quilted - not to go back in that tote!




Now I am ready to get to work.  My Juki has been thru a lot of years piecing and quilting - love this machine.  BUT she is getting a little grouchy (I do most of my own repairs), so I have been researching for a new machine - leaning toward the Baby Lock Jazz II!  Oh, I have 6 other machines used in our class room  - so not to worry.  (and I have a long arm)  Yes, I keep a herd. 

Please by sure to visit today's other guest hosts:

Just Let Me Quilt