Sunday finishes

I belong to an International Swap Bee with eleven other talented quilters.  We call our group Bee Inspired and this is our second year swapping blocks.  I am so ashamed to say that I am very far behind!  But I spent this weekend catching up!

Jen gave us the challenge to use any block of our choice, so I made the Union Star block for her.  Hope she likes it!  You can see the fabric I pulled for Sue's block peeking out from under it.

She picked out an adorable toadstool block...very fun idea!

And....Please consider joining my first ever sew along!  We will be using my newest pattern, Happy Go Lucky which you can get here on Craftsy and here on Etsy. 

Hope you have had a great weekend!
grace and peace....Sharon

Happy Go Lucky Sew Along

It's hot, hot, hot....almost everywhere in the USA.  So lets do something cool...stay in our sewing room, stitching away on a new quilt.  Put on your favorite music and enjoy your day!  This is a fun little quilt that is perfect for a baby or a child's blankie.  It can be made into a nice throw by adding wider borders.  Happy Go Lucky is a beginner friendly sampler quilt which measures 44" x 50".  I plan to add a few more blocks into the mix for those of you with more experience...you can choose which you would rather use.

First, if you want to participate, you will need the pattern.  Happy Go Lucky is available here and here  will be on sale for $5.00 until Sunday, July 22.  After that it will go up to $9.00.

Second, how much fabric will you need?  The quilt on the cover of the pattern is made with Island Batik Petting Zoo, and is available in stores now.  The quilt I am making now is a variety of 8 or more fat quarters I put together, and 1 3/4 yard background fabric.

Third....prizes every week!  Those who complete the assigned block or blocks will be eligible to have your name put in the drawing.  For those of you who complete the top by September 15th, your name will be added to a drawing for the Grand Prize.

Here is the schedule for the Sew Along:
July 25:  Greek Square blocks
August 1: Shoo Fly blocks
August 8: 9 patch and Cross blocks
August 22: Sawtooth Star blocks
August 29: 4 patch and half-square blocks
September 6:  Set blocks together and add borders.

To join, please send me an email at yellowcatquilts@gmail.com to let me know you are participating.  If you have a blog, please send me a link to it.  If you post to Instagram, please use the hashtag #happygoluckysal

Bella and I hope you will join us....it will be fun!

Linking to:
Midweek Makers
Freemotion by the River
Let's Bee Social
Needle and Thread

Island Batik Modern Quilt Challenge

My June project for Island Batik is finished!  We were traveling quite a bit in June, so I decided to hand piece the blocks for my quilt. I used fabric provided to me by Island Batik, and thread provided by Aurifil to quilt it.  The fabric is City Culture II and the background fabric is Acathus-Sahara from their Victoria and Albert Collection. Both are available in stores now.

This 10" Stacker worked great to create my Drunkards Path blocks.  I'm not a huge fan of curves, so I hand appliqued the curved piece to a 4 1/2" square as we traveled 2000 miles on our trip west.  

As usual, Bella had to give her approval of a new quilt!

This and That

So, what makes up a modern quilt?  I know that a lot of negative space is usually found on a modern quilt, bright colors and sometimes a different take on a traditional block.  I had fun playing with different Drunkards Path blocks and this is what I finally decided on.  

Thanks for stopping by! Hope you all are staying cool.  My yard is burning up and turning brown.  My flowers are still looking good with lots of watering going on! 

grace and peace....Sharon

Linking up to:  Main Crush Mondays

              Monday Making

New pattern, Happy Go Lucky!

Sometimes I meet myself in the middle and get some things done here in my studio....other than making quilts,  I mean.  Writing patterns takes me forever,  I would much rather design and sew.  To make writing more difficult, I dropped my laptop and now the I key sticks!  So on to the fun stuff!

Happy Go Lucky is my newest quilt.  Beginners and seasoned quilters will have fun making the classic quilt blocks in a variety of sizes.  It is 44" x 50", making it perfect for a toddler or a baby quilt.  Make it into a throw by adding a larger border.  The quilt pictured is made with fabric provided by Island Batik aptly named Pet Zoo.  Love the bold, bright colors, and the subtle jungle animals!

Happy Go Lucky

I quilted it on my domestic Janome 7500 with a simple wavy line plaid, a quick and easy to do pattern using the walking foot.  

This pattern will be on sale until the 4th of July on Craftsy for $5.00.  Then it will go up to $9.00.  You know you have to have it!  It will be a fun project for the lazy days of summer!

Stay cool!

Sharon

Linking to: Moving it Forward
                  FreeMotion on the River
                  Lets Bee Social 
                  Midweek Makers

Playful Pillows

This month, Island Batik challenged its Ambassadors to create a fun, playful pillow with some of their fabric which they so kindly send to us.  I'm still loving Spring Blossoms, so I created a pillow to go with the quilt I had made with it.

It looks like I am ready to cuddle up with a good book!  

 English Paper Piecing is a favorite method for me.  Its a great way to relax out on the deck or while binging on Netflix. I can also sit on a heat pad or ice pace for my back pain. (that's another story) This design used 1 inch diamonds.  Once the star was completed, I pressed it and then removed all of the paper pieces so that I could hand applique it to the background piece.  

Big stitch hand quilting is a great way to finish up a little project like this...

once again...its portable! 

The edge of the pillow is finished off with binding.  I like the contrast of a binding, and it's a super easy to finish a pillow. 

I love to make  pillows, so I do have another one started and I hope to share it with you soon. Last summer I made a cat pillow, and I have a couple more started.  They will get finished soon I hope!  These crazy cats are wanting to get on the bed!  

Today, I hope to finish writing at least 2 new patterns if not 3!  Wish me luck!  Have a great week....what are you working on this week?

grace and peace.....Sharon and Bella the Yellow Cat

Hate and Love cannot exist in the same space.

Vintage Quilts Inspiring New Creations

It was hard to pick a block or vintage quilt this project.  I am inspired by every vintage quilt I see!  I wonder what was happening in the quilt-maker's life at the time she made this quilt, what was happening in the world?  If quilts could talk, think of the stories they could tell.  The Variable Star block and the Schoolhouse block were the two blocks I decided to use in my quilt.

From an exhibit at the Smithsonian National Museum of American History, Within These Walls.

Much like our Christmas Crafts Bazaars, Northern women who opposed slavery raised money for the cause through Anti-Slavery Fairs.  This little cradle quilt, made of small Northern Stars is one of the items sold at such a fair. This simple star is one of the oldest patchwork patterns, and has been published by many names....Evening Star, Aunt Liza's Star, and Saw-tooth Star. This is one of my favorite blocks to make in any quilt.

This poem was hand inked in the center star of the quilt.

 “Mother! When around your child

You clasp your arms in love,

And when with grateful joy you raise

Your eyes to God above—

Think of the negro mother,

When her child is torn away—

Sold for a little slave—Oh, then,

For that poor mother pray.”

We know that the early settlers traveled west for a better life, and education was a part of the quest for a better life. The school house and the church were probably one of the first public buildings built in a new settlement. The schoolhouse block was usually a variation of a school house or a church.  According to the International Quilt Study Center in Nebraska, schoolhouse quilts were popular in the late 19th century and continued into the 1920's and 1930's.   "For rural women of the late nineteenth century, teaching was both the most prestigious and the highest paying opportunity available to them. The Schoolhouse pattern, which became popular at the same time, may reflect the lives of the many women who helped support their families through teaching positions, prior to their marriage."

My quilt measures  40" x 46".  The sawtooth blocks are 6" finished and the schoolhouse block is 12" finished.  I paper pieced the schoolhouse block for greater accuracy, as when I put the block into EQ8, I did not like the rotary cutting measurements it gave me.  I don't do 1/16".....at all.  Paper piecing saved the day!

Island Batik provided me with the beautiful line of fabric, Blue Moon.  I'm thinking of adding a crescent moon and calling it "Once in a Blue Moon".....what do you think?  Hobbs Batting provided my favorite batting to use, Heirloom Premium 80/20 Cotton batting.  I love the way it gives my quilt the flatter, traditional look of antique quilts.  Since I use my domestic sewing machine, it is much less bulk to move through the harp of the machine, and easier on my back.  I used my walking foot and created a "hash-tag" quilting. That strip of blue you see on the right hand side is painters tape.  I like to use it to mark my lines.   The blue thread was provided by Aurifil ....looks great on this quilt.  

Do you have a favorite vintage quilt or quilt block? 

A New Technique for me

The challenge for our March Island Batik process was to try a technique that is new to me.  It was hard to find something that I have not attempted to do, but then I remembered that I wanted to learn to use a Quick Curve Ruler by Sew Kind of Wonderful.  I purchased both rulers and decided to use the larger one to make a table runner.

When you purchase the rulers, there is a project sheet included with great directions on how to use this ruler.  It was so easy!  I chose some yummy Island Batik fat-quarters from the Spring Bloom
collection provided to me by Island Batik.




I quickly cut out the pieces as shown above, and laid them out next to my sewing machine.

The blocks were sewn up in no time at all....and without using pins!

Laid the blocks out, sewed them together and had a table runner in no time at all!

It looks great on my table with the daffodils I managed to save from Mother Nature's joke on us.  We just came back from wintering in South Texas....and it is very cold and snowing here!

I have to brag about my sweet little bunny rabbit...my 13 year old grandson loves to make things and he made this adorable bunny for me.  I love it!

Although I love wintering in South Texas, I am so happy to be home.  I missed my grand-kids and my sewing room.  So....its cold outside and I plan to hibernate in my sewing room today!  What are you doing?  Hope you are having some good creative sewing time today.....

grace and peace....Sharon

Oh...and Bella is happy to be home again...her house has stopped moving!

Linking to: MAIN CRUSH MONDAYS