Carol Doak's Scrap Scramble - October

Just finished up the blocks for the October trees.  There were 8 of these to make.

Oct Scrap Scramble

I'm still using the same 12 fabrics plus 2 cream colored backgrounds.  I think this quilt will end up looking very nice and somewhat scrappy....which is fine by me!

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Craftsy2013 BOM - October

Well, these are the last blocks for this quilt.  We were to do a bunch of HSTs and some Flying Geese to fill in a few areas.  The original quilt has an outer border of HSTs.  Mine won't as I didn't care for that look on this quilt.

Craftsy2013 BOM-Oct

Hey!  I used my Deb Tucker's Wing Clipper on these flying geese.  WooHoo...finally used it!!  Works great!

Hopefully, you'll see a shot of the top put together soon.  Probably not this month.  I'm off to the Houston Quilt Show later this month and staying with my friend a couple weeks.  Won't be taking this top to work on at her house.  I'll need my quiet time to think about how to put this one together and fill in gaps.

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Another Carol Doak BOM!

Carol has started another BOM on her Yahoo group.  This one is not a mystery quilt.  She has given us the layout of the quilt, but not what each month's blocks will look like.  The layout is one of those uneven, different sized blocks. 
Rather than give us yardage amounts, she has declared this quilt a scrappy one.  EEEEEKK!!!  I don't do scrappy quilts, but how can I not do this BOM???  Hmmmm???  So I start looking through my stash trying to pick out fabrics for the first block and immediately get overwhelmed and confused.  I NEED to match, I NEED to coordinate..I can't do this!!! 
Light Bulb Moment!!!!  I remembered that I had 12 one yard pieces of fabric that I had purchased with the intent of making 2 1/2" strips for a jelly roll quilt.  Perfect!  These 12 sorta coordinate and will still give me the scrappy look.  WooHoo!  I can do a coordinated scrappy quilt!  Also found a couple of cream colored backgrounds that I can use.

Scrap Scramble - September

So here's the first of the Scrap Scramble BOM and 6 of the 12 fabrics that I will use.  Come join in on the fun.  September is the first block.  Click on the Carol Doak Paper Piecing link on the right.

Keep on Stitchin'!

Craftsy 2013 BOM - September block finished

Handwork...YUK!!!  These flower appliques were pulled around a card stock shape to get smooth edges.  The pulling part was first hand basted around each shape.  I sat in my easy chair one night and basted each shape.  Next day I pulled and pressed and then machine appliqued the pieces.  I didn't realize how spoiled I was to machine embroidery applique!!  The manual process on the machine now seems so slow and cumbersome....

Craftsy 2013 Sept

I think the block is rather cute!!

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Craftsy BOM August 2013

Got this block done in a hurry!  It was a truly easy block.

Craftsy Aug 2013

We will use this block for next month's lesson appliquing flowers onto the basket.  The handle has been glued down, but not yet sewn.  It was suggested to wait until next month.  The picture I took was a bit crooked.  The basket is actually straight in the block! LOL

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Craftsy July BOM

Almost forgot about doing this block!  Happened to run across the instructions as I was clearing away some stuff on the cutting table.
I always have problems with angles and numbers.  I must have rotated and turned that blasted ruler 4 times for each of those 60 degree cuts.  By the time I got to the last few cuts, I thought I had it down pat..except that I was cutting the diamonds on the left side of the ruler...and I'm right handed.  So a bit of body twisting to get that cut.  That counts as exercise, right???

Craftsy July 2013

 My block came out larger than it is supposed to be, but I'd lose my points if I trim it down.  I'll just make adjustments when putting the top together.  I can see now that I'm going to have lots of 'fun' putting this top together...a little fudging here...a little fudging there.........

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Carol Doak Mystery Quilt - Top is finished!!

I'm so excited to have this finished.  The colors are way outside my comfort area, but I'm liking this!  The quilt measures about 60 inches square.

Carol Doak Mystery BOM

Now when I get around to quilting it...who knows!!!  I plan to take it to retreat with me and get some ideas from the pros.

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Craftsy BOM - June 2013

Well, as I was getting ready to post June's block, I realized I didn't label the May's block correctly, so no one can see it!  Duh!  Sorry about that!!!  It is below this post now.

And here's June.

Craftsy 2013 - June

Got June's done fast!  We're only 6 days into this month and I'm finished!  Amazing.....  As you can see this one is a LeMoyne Star, the first I've ever done.  It's supposed to measure 19.5 inches.  Mine measures 20 inches. Hmmmm.  Will just have to wait and see what I can do about that as I assemble the top.  Looks like there's a border around this block that I should be able to fudge.  And there's some fullness in the center...but, as they say, I can quit that out!!  We'll see about that, won't we????!!!

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Craftsy 2013 BOM - May Blocks

Another month almost gone and another set of Craftsy BOMs completed.

Craftsy 2013 BOM - May

These were quick and fun.  We were to pick 8 different fabrics and cut into 2.5 in strips.  I made do with 7 different fabrics, as I don't have much of 2 other fabrics.  Pair two strips sewn together lengthwise and another two strips sewn together.  Triangles were cut from the 2 strip sections which were placed right sides together.  So I got 2 pieced triangles with every triangle cut.  Bet that's clear as mud!!  These measure 7.5 inches.

Hope your Memorial Day is a good one.

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Craftsty BOM 2013 - April Block

It's still April and I got the block done!  WooHoo!  This has been a very busy month for me and the projects I have been working on have been for classes or others.  Check out my Stitching With Sue Project Photos link on the right side of the page to see what I've been working on.

Craftsy 2013 BOM - April

This block was supposed to have the corners sewn into the dresden circle.  I opted to applique both circles, first sewing them to a lining, then trimming  away the excess background fabric behind the circles.  This block is 18.5 inches unfinished.

Keep on Stitchin'!

Craftsy BOM 2013 - March

YEA!!!!  Another block done!  This one is large - 17 inches finished.


March 2013

Actually this is what Laura is calling the Economy Block.  It is already created for us.  In the lesson, she tells how to build a block from inside out to achieve a certain finished size.  It involves math, of course, and she says it's actually very easy.....wellllllll....I watched that video at least 3 times and my eyes glazed over and nothing sunk in.  Thank goodness she provided this alternate block for us.  Math and I have never been friends and I'm so thankful for calculators and wonderful quilting programs such as Electric Quilt!!!

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Carol Doak Mystery Quilt - March

I finally got the March block completed.  With about a week left in March, too!


March2013-Last block for the Mystery Quilt

This is the last block of the Mystery Quilt and Carol has already given us the solution and layout. I hope to get the top put together sooner rather than later!

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Craftsy BOM - February

The days are flying by this year!!  I know I'm working hard at something....but have yet to see very much accomplished! Anyway....here's February's blocks.

CraftsyBOM2013-February

We were taught partial seaming with these blocks.  We sewed together a long strip of the five colors and subcut into smaller rectangles.   Four of these rectangles were then sewed around the center square in log cabin like construction.  Easy and fun!

Keep on Stitchin'!

Carol Doak Mystery BOM - February

For February, Carol has us making four sections, but not sewing them together.  Hmmmm....lots of ideas on her Yahoo group as to how this quilt will be going together, but she says no one has hit on the solution yet.  We have one more block to make.

CDoak-Feb2013

I am so far behind on the BOWs!  I have the foundations printed and fabric pieces cut and ready do sew.  Hopefully, I can get myself caught up!!

Keep on Stitchin'!!!

In Color Order - HST Top is Pieced!!

I purchased some fabric from Connecting Threads that they had on sale during the holidays hoping that it would make a good backing fabric and possibly border fabric for this quilt.  Bingo!  The color was spot on and the design 'felt' very good with the fabrics in the blocks.  I love the way the top turned out and love the colors!

In Color Order - HST
Triangular Adventures

The top measures 56 x 71 inches.  I haven't decided how I will quilt this one yet.  I may put it on the frame and do an all over design with a pantogram.  Or I might do as I plan to do with the Craftsy 2012 BOM quilt and follow along with Leah Day in the Craftsy class.  I haven't started quilting on that quilt yet or any quilt for that matter.  But soon...very soon!!

Keep on Stitchin'!!

NEW! Craftsy 2013 BOM - January

Craftsy has a new BOM for 2013.  This time it's not a mystery, so we can see the finished teacher's quilt.  Laura Nownes is our teacher this year and we are off to a great start.  Here is the teacher's quilt:

All dots and circles!!

Here is the fabrics I've chosen:

I'll have a dark background this with quilt.  I've been wanting to do something like this for a long time..now's my chance!! I'd purchase most of this fabric for an unknown quilt...which means I just started with the floral and bought fabrics to go with it and the dark watery blue for background with no particular quilt in mind.

And here's my January blocks:

Craftsy Jan 2013

These are simple log cabin blocks with one side of the fabric logs wider than the other.  These 4 blocks finish at 6 inches each.  See them in the upper left corner surrounding the cube blocks of the teacher's quilt?

Go on over to Craftsy and join us!  It's a free class!!!  Check out the various colorways everyone is using, too.

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Carol Doak Mystery Quilt - January Block

According to Carol, this block will the centerpiece of our mystery quilt.  I think it's a stunning block!  Hmmmm...wonder if it will be combined with those huge flying geese we did in December....

Carol Doak - Jan 2013

I can visualize this block rotated on point with the December geese making it a larger block.  Might that be part of the mystery solved????!!!!  This was a fun block to do!  Lots of pieces - 21 in each quadrant!

Keep on Stitchin'!!

Funky Chicken - December Done!!

WooHoo!  Yippee!!! I have completed all the blocks for the Funky Chicken quilt!  I'm looking forward to doing the quilting on this quilt.  I will be doing it either block by block, or vertical strip by strip.  I'm leaning towards sewing 4 vertical blocks for 3 strips and quilting each of these before putting together. That will leave me with only 2 seams to do after the quilting is done.

Dec Funky Chicken

Dec Chick - Closeup

The quilting that I have decided to do will be free motion done on my Bernina 830.  I'll do pebbles on the lower portion and a larger, more open swirl-something on the top.  I also plan to do a bit of detail quilting in matching thread color on the chickens themselves.

I have enjoyed working on these blocks so much throughout the year.  They were just FUN!!!!  A big shout out and thank you to Fat Cat Patterns for providing these wonderful blocks each month.  Just in case anyone missed it with the first block I posted, the original patterns are for hand/machine applique. I digitized the embroidery stitches on these blocks for my own use and they will not be shared or sold.

Keep On Stitchin'!

In Color Order- December HST Block

Yippeeee!!!!  Another final BOM finished and ready to be assembled into a quilt!  I enjoyed doing these HST blocks throughout the year.  My points have gotten pretty darn good, if I do say so myself! LOL  It helps that these HST are 3 inches, making it easier to match points, but even so, I've gotten a lot of good practice.

In Color Order HST - Dec2012

The suggested finished quilt layout has been posted.  I think I will probably assemble the quilt as suggested.  It has sashings with cornerstones and an added border with a 3x4 block layout.  A quick glance in my closet shows I will need to purchase border fabric.  I have enough of the white for the sashing and enough left over pieces from the 10" square layer cakes I used for the corner blocks.  Oh, and backing...doubt I have enough of anything for that.  I'll put the quilt together, then take it to the store and get help with picking border/binding/backing.  Always fun to get opinions of others!!!!  So I guess I can put this aside until next year!!

Keep on Stitchin'!

Carol Doak Mystery Quilt - December Blocks

Carol gave us easy blocks for this hectic month!  Much appreciated, too!  These are huge flying geese - 4 of them and not sewn together.  Each goose block measures 12.5 x 6.5 inches.  Hmmmm...wonder where these will fit into the quilt??!!

CDoak Mystery - December Blocks

Keep on Stitchin'!!