Friday Finishes

I did it...I finished the second block from the Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery BOM. This one is called Promise of Spring which is kind of funny as we are in the blazing hot of summer right now.

 I have to say, spring or summer, I love this block. The fabrics are so fun to work with, and I'm being challenged.  :) 

Another finished hexie flower.  This is 59 of 140.  There aren't 89 total flowers in the quilt (I misspoke last time, it must have been the sun), there are 140.  So, I only have 81 left to do.  It sounded better when I said there were 89 total flowers. :)  Doesn't matter though, they are enjoyable to sew and it is all about the journey!

I am linking here for my Friday Finish.  There are some fun girls over there so be sure to check it out.  Have a wonderful weekend and stay cool!   Happy Stitching!  --Kristen

Flowery Friday Finish

I had planned to sit down and piece together some blocks for one of the numerous quilts I have going right now, but instead I decided to work on some hexagon flowers.  Handwork was calling my name again, and I would really like to see this quilt completed sometime in the next five months.

I now have 58 of the 89 flowers finished for the Vignette Hexagon Quilt.  I'm thinking tonight might be another flowery night...or maybe some embroidery...I was outside in the heat all day, and it may just be an early night.  Thanks for stopping by!  Happy Stitching!!  --Kristen

Ready, Set, Sew

Yeah, it isn't a race, but I'm so excited to get started sewing tonight.  I thought I should probably post a few finishes before I start sewing as these were finished yesterday.

Pillowcases! :)  My son has traveled to many a quilt shop with me over the years and every once in a while he will find a fabric that he really likes.  Well, he found the tractor fabric and asked if I would make him a pillowcase.  As he was in the third shop in a week, I just couldn't say no.  Besides, they had some really cool samples and a pattern.

He also picked out some football fabric.  The shop had just gotten in it and we got the first cut off the bolt.  Sure hope there is a football season this year, otherwise I will know quite a few men in my life who will be very disappointed.

And last, but not least, I finished my bag and just in time to take it tomorrow and use it!  Hopefully I still like it at the end of the day as much as I do now.  It is very lightweight which is nice.

I hope you are all going to be stitching with me for the FNSI.  I just checked and you can still sign up! I will be linking with Friday Finishes and will be back tomorrow with hopefully some progress tonight. 

Happy Stitching! --Kristen

Sweet Pea

Today I finished my Sweet Pea block from the 2011 Designer Mystery BOM.  I have loved these fabrics since I saw a peek of them way back in March.  This is the first block, the second one is looking a bit more complicated with 60+ pieces.  Gives me something to look forward to.

The news said tonight that the high yesterday with the heat indices was 118, today it is 109.  I only stepped outside for a minute today as last night I couldn't catch my breath out there.  I'm not complaining though...before long we will be wearing great big coats with mittens, hats, and boots. 

I am linking with Fabric Tuesday and BOMS Away.  Don't forget about Friday Night Sew In this Friday night.  I will definitely be sewing Friday as I have no shortage of projects to work on.  Happy Stitching!  --Kristen

Design Wall Monday

Here it is Monday again...we are half way through the summer.  We received the school supply list for the upcoming school year last week, and I suddenly felt the panic of where has half the summer gone?  Then I thought, well, we still have half the summer to go, so we might as well enjoy it. :)

My design wall is in a bit of a state of shock this week.  There is a lot of stuff on it...probably too much.  I'm enjoying it being full, although I am feeling the need to finish something soon.  Good thing I can take pictures of what I have and think about what I want to finish next.

I'm thinking about using these fabrics for the Hexalong, but then again I don't know.  I think they will work really well once I start cutting them up?

I must have seen these fabrics made into something and they were beautiful so I bought the whole fat quarter pack, but at this moment I'm not remembering what was made with them...and I'm not so sure about using them for this quilt.  Hmmm...

Then there are these three quilts.  The Vignette Mystery Quilt, the Vignette Hexagon Quilt, and the Farmer's Wife Quilt that obviously hasn't been cut into yet.  My design wall, floor, and chair are looking pretty full.

This bag just needs some handles..and hopefully that will be finished today or tomorrow.  We'll have to see with this heat wave if I can stand to knit or not.

I started this little project on Thursday.  I think I worked on it too long yesterday because I was starting to not like it, but after letting it sit overnight it is okay again this morning.

I'm not even going to tell you what these are for yet.  Something else needs to be finished before I get going on this one just yet, but aren't they pretty?

I'm linking with Judy today for Design Wall Monday.  Happy Stitching!  --Kristen

More Hexagons...but they aren't started yet

Do you read a lot of blogs?  I do...and I keep finding more and more that are just so intriguing and interesting, even though I already have several projects going.  Yesterday I found this...

Now I don't know about you, but I think this quilt is too good to pass up...and they are doing a quilt along.  I've joined a lot of quilt alongs lately, and I have piles of quilts everywhere in all stages.  I have large stacks of finished blocks, 1/2 sewn blocks, piles of hexagons, boxes of basted hexagons, and then I have stacks of fabric and templates waiting to be cut.  I also have a knit bag that is almost finished and an embroidery that is almost done.  Why sign on for another...because this one looks really fun..and the pattern is in a magazine that is out of print...and I would really like to learn how to make this quilt.  I sometimes get a bit freaked out that I have all these started projects and that I haven't finished as much as I would like to, but I'm enjoying myself and learning a lot.

I also found Stitched Sunday.

Every Sunday there is another pattern with directions for an embroidery stitch.  Yes I'm printing the patterns, and yes every Sunday I anxiously click on the button on my sidebar to see what stitch is next.  Have I started stitching them yet...no, but hopefully one of these days I will. 

We are in a heat advisory from today until Thursday afternoon and it is miserable outside.  I'm thinking it is the perfect time to stay home and hopefully make some progress on all of my quilt along projects.  Happy Stitching!  --Kristen

WiP Wednesday

Where have I been?  Well, with the holiday (4th of July) and just enjoying summer, I guess I spent a little too much time outside enjoying the sunshine and warm weather.  I have still been working on a few things. 

First of all I won a fat quarter, and Lee sent me this perfect fabric for a quilt I have wanted to make for quite a while...Thank you Lee, I love it!

With the holiday, I figured I should use this free pattern you can find here.  It was an easy stitch, although I did change my mind on some colors and had to redo a few parts.

It seems that people are picking up their knitting again, which got me thinking about this jelly bean doll.  I have collected Jean Greenhowe's patterns for quite some time and thought this would be a great place to start.

After knitting Jeff (as my son named him), I thought I should stop in at my local yarn shop as I had a gift certificate that was burning a hole in my pocket...but to my dismay, I realized they are closing forever this week.  They didn't have much yarn left, but I did find a few skeins of Blue Sky worsted cotton and thought it would be perfect for this pattern.

This yarn makes it look so different than the pattern.  I can't wait to finish and use it when I go to the farmer's market.  :)

Last but not least, my son and I took a trip to one of our favorite quilt shops today and found these pretty pinks and browns for my Farmer's Wife quilt.  I have gone back and forth on what fabrics to use for it, and when we found these, we knew they were the ones.  I also had to try out a new Bernina Quilter's Edition with the BSR...which wouldn't we all love one of those?  I "had" to try it out in order to register to win a new sewing machine.  Boy, it sure made me realize how nice it would be to have one of those.  Now I have something to dream about...

I am linking with Lee for WiP Wednesday.  I wonder how many more projects I'll find there today that I will decide I need to make!  Happy Stitching, and thanks so much for stopping by, it means the world to me!  --Kristen

Shoo Fly Saturday

Yesterday I was on a mission to finish these shoo fly blocks, mainly because I had set up my sewing machine on the kitchen table trying to make myself work on them whenever I had a second.  It did work, but after eating all of our meals outside for the last 4 days, my husband said it was time to eat inside again. :)

As I was laying these out on the patio today my husband and son came outside.  Now usually they will look at my quilts and say "oh that's nice, or yes Kristen (or mom)" and away they go...but they both said today they love the bright fabrics.  This is a major stretch for me, but for once I actually got them to notice what I'm working on (and it wasn't because they couldn't dine at the table).

I have finished 63 blocks so far.  At about 8 p.m. last night as I was ironing them all I came across this one...

Now I cannot figure out how in the world I did this.  I had to have looked at it a minimum of four times before having it all sewn together INCLUDING ironing it twice and it was never noticed.  I'm going to use it somewhere, although I cannot decide if it should go in the Vignette quilt or the quilt I use my extra 60 blocks for. 

I think I've had enough piecing for the weekend, so I'm going to find some hand work and enjoy the nice weather.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone and happy stitching!  --Kristen