The Fabric Made Me Do It – Again!

Posted on October 15, 2018 by heARTs Creations

Keep Calm Squirrel[1]Remember my rant about reducing my WIPs? Huh – guess I lied! How weak am I when I begin to look through my fabrics. Maybe I can justify this one, though – it’s a leader ender to have on hand at upcoming retreats.  That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! This also puts me as a member in good standing in the Squirrel Club!

I was going through my scrap bin of Kaffe fabrics which was filled to the brim with beautiful, colorful prints. I saw a quilt online recently that’s done with all half square triangles AND I have the perfect gray and white “splotchy” fabric to use as the neutral. Leaders and enders – a good way to double sewing production, so I began to cut triangles on the Big Kick and voila! Another WIP!

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Now, do I really want to wait for retreat in a few weeks? No, I really want to begin it now, so I quickly packed the project away with all the other retreat goodness. I can still hear it calling me, but hopefully it will die down soon!

And here it all is – snuggled in a project box waiting for retreat.

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Do tell, I’m sure I’m not the only one who breaks quilting and sewing promises to oneself!

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Great Batik Hospice Quilt

Posted on October 11, 2018 by heARTs Creations

The community of quilters is just so awesome! Jo Kramer, of Jo’s Country Junction, receives amazing mailings from her readers which include fabric, blocks, patterns and quilt tops. She recently shared some of her bounty with me, knowing these quilts go to a great cause – Hospice. It was a thrill to receive not only this beautiful quilt top, but the backing and prepared binding too! The colors are so rich. We’ve had a lot of rain, so the pic was taken indoors and really does not do the colors justice.

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It was such a quick finish – one of my favorite kinds! I do need to add the label and then it will be added to the stack of Hospice quilt goodness that is piling up in my one guest room. All the Hospice quilts will be dedicated at church soon and then brought to the local Hospice office. They in turn will give them to patients and sometimes to a young person who has lost a parent.

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A Great Big Thank you to the so many who contribute to this cause and again to Jo Kramer for sharing!

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Paper Piecing Fun

Posted on October 7, 2018 by heARTs Creations

An Island Batik Adventure

Needle, Paper, Scissors (Large)Paper Piecing – I have done quite a bit of it, enjoy it, but was not up for a big project for the Island Batik October project.  My answer? A pin cushion! The pattern: Turning Points by Hunter’s Design Studio. I chose to do the mug rug size rather than the actual pin cushion size. That was just a little too teenie for me!

 

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A deep green was chosen for the base and picking out pretty colors for the little flying geese was fun! See them colorfully flying in a circle?!

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I would sew a couple of sections, then take a break and do some handwork. I really love the end result and I am keeping it for myself! Who couldn’t use another pin cushion?!

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And yes, I do already have a few.

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My thanks to Island Batik for the beautiful fabrics and Aurifil thread used for putting this fun project together.

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Falling into Fall

Posted on October 4, 2018 by heARTs Creations

My goal for 2018 has been to reduce my Works in Progress (projects that have been started.)  These do not include Hospice quilts.  I had about 25 in January and now I have exactly 11 in project boxes.  In addition, there are  2 quilt tops that need a border, another that needs stitching around the appliques and one quilt top that I will quilt. One quilt top is on the way to the longarm this week and another that I am hand stitching the binding.

Then there are the projects – yummy fabrics and a pattern or sketch in a box that hasn’t been started. There are 8 of those. I could easily add about a dozen more, but am tying myself down! Chasing less squirrels!!

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Something fairly simple and fun planned for these great prints!

There are labels to be added to several Hospice quilts and bindings on a few that are being quilted by other volunteers. I love looking at the pile of quilts being donated this year. It warms my heart knowing they will be giving comfort to those in need.

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Oh the fabulous colors of Blueberry Park – can’t wait to dive into these!

Three of my WIPs are going to retreat with me in a few weeks. It’s a four day retreat so I’m hoping to get lots done!

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A fun kit waiting patiently for its turn.

All in all, I’m quite pleased with the progress. I’ve committed next year to more finishing. I want to get the WIPs down to four before I begin one of the projects waiting in the wings. (I can hear my quilty besties laughing wildly). I will be opting out of some obligations which will give me the time to enjoy my projects more. The tendency to over commit is crazy and I know I’m not alone! I am also looking forward to more travel, 5 or 6 retreats (2 are my Quilt & Sew-Ins) and day trips with Hubby.

Do you have or make goals in your creative life?

Project listing Sept 2018

I hope you’ll continue to join me on this journey. I really appreciate all my readers and love all the comments – thank you! Your support means so much to me.

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Starstruck

Posted on September 30, 2018 by heARTs Creations

An Island Batik Adventure

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This September the Island Batik Ambassadors were Starstruck! No clue at all what I was going to do for this one. Sometimes the creative ideas run a bit flat. I thought of a Christmas theme or maybe Christmas ornaments. I was leaning towards something small and not too involved.

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Then…I got the call…My great niece was pregnant! Yes, a great, great niece is on the way! The next day I was sent pics of quilts she fancied for her “constellation” themed nursery. Of course I was going to make her a quilt but was going to go in a bit of a different direction. It was okay as I realized her theme fit with the IB September theme. So off to Pinterest I went for starry inspiration. I then dove into my IB stash (that’s a lot of diving). I pulled out blues, gray and even found strips of metallic stars from a Christmas line from years ago. I did of the stars and a big, bright sun.

There was a lot of sewing as all the squares were sewn together individually, not in strips. I tackled a little bit a day so it wouldn’t become tedious. The fun came when I drew the sun on a large piece of lightweight paper I have and placed it in the corner. I pulled a couple of bright yellows from the stash and the sun was born.

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The quilting was kept very simple as I thought the quilt itself was busy enough. Some metallic threads were used to glitz it up a bit. I am just so pleased with the result! The quilt will be on its way to NY soon to be given at a baby shower (no, I’m unable to attend). I’m pretty sure she doesn’t visit my blog so the quilt will be a surprise. I hope the precious little one spends many hours and years cuddling and enjoying her quilt from her Great, Great Aunt!

(Linky Tuesday,  My Quilt Infatuation)

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Scrappy & Grunge – Bohemian Hippie*ish

Posted on September 23, 2018 by heARTs Creations

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Lots of scraps, cut into strips and squares, put together as quarter log cabins and set on point. I put many of the finished blocks on the design wall and quickly determined that they did indeed need to go on point. After playing and playing with them, I also determined that I wanted a sashing to help really bring out all the pretty prints. I tried lots of solids but it was a no-go.

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Then I tried Grunge.  Yes! But what color? I went to my fave quilt shop and layed out about 8 different Grunge bolts on a table with some of my blocks. The quilt shop professionals weighed in on their choices (a very bright lime green) and many of the customers did as well. It was then narrowed to three.  I kept going back to this turquoise and I love the end result.

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The quilt sings “Bohemian” to me – reminds me a little of the hippie times in the 60’s. It will be gifted to a special young lady I’ve known since she was a little girl and I understand she likes this style. I hope it will keep her warm and happy for many years to come. For me it was a total delight to make. Now I only have about ten million more scraps to use!

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Linking up with: Main Crush Monday, Monday Making, Linky Tuesday, My Quilt Infatuation

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Squirrel! Club

Posted on September 16, 2018 by heARTs Creations

Squirrel

It was not difficult at all for me to become an official member of the Squirrel Club for quilters started by Julie at Me and My Quilts. I was not, definitely not starting another project until I’d completed many of my Works in Progress. Well….the other day, anticipating the possibility of Florence taking down our electric, two friends and I sewed all morning to complete the table runner project for a church I told you about here.  I loved the group effort – lots of talking, laughing and we were very industrious and finished the project! Unfortunately, I have no pics – guess I was too focused on the job at hand, but the topper below is my fave.

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For some reason, whenever I complete a sizeable project, I find myself floundering, unable to get into something else.  The cure? Cut out a new project! (Yup – squirrel – not starting a new project!) I’ve loved this pattern by Kathy Dougherty for a very long time. I already collected all my Kaffe fabrics for it and my “neutral.” I even had an acrylic template cut! You guessed it – I’m getting all the cutting done. This will be a perfect project for retreat in November. I classify it as “mindless sewing.”

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Then I saw this on Em’s Scrapbag. I’m eyeing my scrap bins and my Big Kick Pro cutting machine.  So tempting! If not today, I know it will be very, very soon.

 

And then strips to make some rope bowls.  Those won’t take very long, right? I can certainly justify that!

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The good news is that Florence behaved her self when she came through our area.  Light winds and much needed rain is all we’ve experienced. I hope all my readers are safe and my heart and prayers go out to all who experienced the negatives of this hurricane.

How about you – – – do you qualify for the Squirrel club?

 

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