RSC15, RSC16, and OPAM

Yes, RSC15 is finally a wrap.  I made a Dresden plate each month, and also embroidered a flower center.  Here is the final result.  In keeping with the scrappy theme, I made a scrappy border as well as a scrappy binding.  I have a tin filled with leftover bindings, and I just started sewing them together!

Continuing with red for September RSC16, I made a doll quilt and two place mats.  I have entirely too many red scraps, and refused to put them all back in the bin.  The place mats are very simple, and I experimented with quilting them.  One is Baptist fans, and one is free motion stars.

The place mats will be going to Meals on Wheels when I get a quantity of them.  And I'm very happy to have found a new outlet for doll quilts.  They're just a fun size to make, and another good way to use scraps.

These are also my OPAM finishes for September.  Already working like crazy on a new project for October.

Be kind, always.........Sunny

RSC16 and more

Hi Friends!  Do you remember this quilt from earlier this month?

Well let me introduce you to the new owner!  My new great niece arrived two weeks ago, while we were on vacation!  I'm not sure when I'll actually get to meet and hold her.    :-(

I'll share some vacation photos in my next post.  We had a wonderful time, but I was too tired each night to post on here.  Many of you have seen pics on Facebook.

Since we got home late Friday night, I've been sewing!!  For RSC16, I made four string blocks, and my unnamed block.  These take longer than you might think, because there's a lot of cutting involved.

There are a couple more red projects in the works, and will be shown here for OPAM by the end of the month.

What's up with all of you?  Hope you're stitching along...... Sunny

OPAM, FNWF, Pin Cushion Parade!

Today is Labor Day, the unofficial last day of summer here.  We've had an exceptionally hot summer, so I'm not sad to see it go.

Do you have any pin cushions that you would like to put on parade?  Our friend, Ida, over at My Sister Made Me Do It  is starting the parade today, and everyone is invited to join in the fun.  Pop on over to link up some of your pin cushions!  And maybe get a few creative ideas for new pin cushions.  You know you can never have too many.  I've also heard that there will be prizes....

Last year, I had my chicken on parade, and shortly after that, two more chickens joined my flock as gifts.  The smaller one travels in my bag to meetings and classes, and the larger one helps out at my quilting machine.

Another gift is a combination pin cushion/thread catcher made especially for me by a friend who hosts me once a week in her sewing room!  It was hard to get a good photos, but it's a nice chunky cushion, and the detachable bag hangs down for threads and small scraps.  I love the colors she chose for me.

For August OPAM, I actually finished four small projects.  Two were from premade blocks that I acquired.  The blocks coordinate, and I'm sure there was a plan for them to be used together, but I couldn't decide on a layout, so chose to make a doll quilt and a baby quilt.  There was even yardage with them, that was plentiful enough for both backings!

My third quilt was a baby quilt for an eagerly awaited addition to our family.  He/she should be arriving in about three weeks.  This was a free pattern from Moda Bake Shop.

I also finished crocheting a little afghan to send along with it, but forgot to take a picture.

FNWF found me quilting away on my RSC15 quilt.  I only have the outer border left to quilt, and then bind it.  It's my UFO project for a small group, and it's due in two weeks, but I'll be on vacation then, so only have a few days to get it finished.  Pictures to follow soon.  This is my largest quilt to date, and I'm loving it!!!!

For our nature outing this week, DH and I have actually made two trips to a nearby sunflower field.  The farmer will harvest the seeds later, but his real purpose for planting the field is just for people to enjoy.  So please enjoy.

 Now, back to stitching...... Sunny

Out and About

Surprise!  Two posts in less than a week.  Our heat wave finally broke, and I've actually been out of the house, so I have something to blog about.

Last Friday, America's 9/11 Ride passed through our little town.  I had witnessed this one other time, and wanted to see it again, as this is probably the last time they'll be holding the event.  What a moving tribute to those first responders who lost their lives on that horrible day.

The official escorts

I read that there were 1200 bikes participating this year.

Most of the bikers waved and honked at the onlookers.

Bringing up the rear.

These pictures were taken through the chain link fence on an overpass, so if you see shadows in the corners, that's why.

On Saturday, I decided I wanted to go out of town to a favorite restaurant, and maybe get some ice cream, too.  We added in a short shopping trip, and an even shorter ferry ride to round out the day.

Notice the markings on the upper part of the building from past floods.

You can see the cable in the foreground, that pulls the ferry across the river.

Today, Monday, was kayaking day!  We hadn't been on the water in about a month!!!  We had the river to ourselves today.  I saw a couple of ducks, and one Great Blue Heron, but couldn't get a picture of any of them.  But you know I took some pictures of the water and clouds.

a HUGE hitchhiker!

paddling in the clouds.

FNSI:  I've even found some time for stitching.  On Friday night, while stitching with friends around the world, I finished the binding on this baby quilt.  These blocks were in a giveaway pile at a friend's house recently, so all I had to do was add some sashing and borders.  She was even giving away yardage for the backing.  One more pretty little quilt for the donation pile.

Not much happening the rest of the week.  DH and I have another short outing planned, and I have a lot of sewing planned.  Stay tuned.....

Be kind, always............Sunny

Mid month Review

As usual, I had every intention of posting last week, but the days just slip away....

Last Monday, 27 guild members piled into several cars, and we took a road trip to 7 quilt shops in Lancaster County, PA.  Several of them were new to me, and I don't think I left any shop empty handed.

Fabrics for a Gail Pan project.

I tried to resist, but I broke down.

A pattern for some of my leftover Kansas Troubles fabrics!

I also found backing fabric on clearance for two small quilts that will be finished soon.  And I picked up a few Row by Row patterns.  I'll probably never make a quilt from them, but you just never know.

This beautiful postcard arrived in the mail from Fiona.  It is the palest of pink, and so beautiful.

If you've never joined one of Sheila's postcard swaps, you should consider it.  They're so much fun to make, and you might even make a new friend.

I continue to make progress on my stitching project for Gifted Gorgeousness.

All of the stitcheries are now finished, so I just need to find time to assemble the quilt.  I'm sewing with a friend on Friday, and this may be the project that I work on.

We've been watching the Olympics each evening, so there has been a lot of hand stitching happening.  I finished this cross stitch that was started a few years ago.  Working to finish those UFO's.

What else?  Scraps and gifted orphan blocks.  But I need to save something for the next post.

Be kind, always.......Sunny

OPAM, RSC, etc.

Another month has passed.  It's been a good month here at QD.  Last time I mentioned that I inherited a stack of homespuns and a bag of scraps.  Last week, I was the recipient of another large stack of unwanted fabrics, as a friend is doing some deep cleaning.  And.....we had our drawing for the UFO challenge and I won!  The prize was all the thread that we used for our buy-in, and if we didn't finish the chosen UFO for a particular time period.

Woo Hoo!  Look at all that thread.  30 spools to be exact.  And a couple of them were large spools of Aurifil.  Most were neutrals, but there were a couple of pretty colors included.  I won't be buying thread for a long time.

After seeing this tutorial on Anthea's blog, I decided I was going to make a cover for my traditional ironing board.  My brother works with wood, so I asked him what I should buy, and he offered to make the wooden cover for me!  It was delivered on Friday night, and DH and I covered it with batting and fabric on Saturday.  I've been working on small projects the past few days, but I can't wait to iron yardage on the beautiful RECTANGULAR board.  No more pointy board!!

Another project I did to make my life easier was to make a couple of mini design boards.  I love them!  I'm working on a couple of projects with small blocks, and these are so handy.  I can put the pieces on the board and move it around rather than picking up small pieces and moving them all around.  Mine are a little smaller than Lori's because I used plain cardboard that I had on hand rather than foam core.  And I covered the back with fabric since it was ugly cardboard.  I grabbed the binding from my basket of leftover bindings.

This was my UFO for the most recent challenge.  I started it several months ago, and then it got put aside for some reason.

This and the brown scrappy quilt from my last post are my projects for OPAM.  I also made two fabric postcards for a swap, but I forgot to take pictures. of them.  They've both been received now, so perhaps pictures will show up in blogland.

Hot/dark pink was the July color for RSC.  I had to beg, borrow and buy fabric this month.  I love pink, but my fabrics are light pink.

I'm getting a nice selection of these blocks, and I'm starting to think how I might put them together at the end of the year.

Until next time.....Be kind.......Sunny