Happy Go Lucky Sew Along starts this week!

Are you ready?  Do you have your pattern and your fabrics pulled?  If not, it is not too late!
I have been busy sewing up extra blocks for you to add to your quilt...every week, I plan to add one block to the mix in case you would rather try something different.  I want you to make this your sampler!

Here is the original information about the Sew Along.

Just saying....the grand prize will be a $50 gift certificate from the Fat Quarter Shop! 

grace and peace....Sharon

It's Greek to Me!

This month, Island Batik Ambassadors were challenged to make a quilt with a block or blocks that create a secondary design in the quilt.  I decided to play with a favorite block...Churn Dash, also known as Greek Cross.  I pulled out scraps that were leftover from a previous project....can you tell I really would like to be at the beach?  Most of the fabric is from the Island Batik line Abalone.  LOVE the colors!

According to Barbara Brackman's Encyclopedia of Pieced Quilt Patterns, this block, and it's alternative layouts, have TWENTY FIVE different names, all from the same period, including Shoo Fly, Monkey Wrench and Lincoln's Platform. So..I made mine like the Greek Cross version.  It is just a matter of where you place your lights and darks.  This is a 9" finshed block, and I made sixteen blocks.  


Here are the cutting measurements for one block:

Light Fabric
Fabric one            Cut two 4" squares, cut once on the diagonal
                           Cut four 2" x 3.5" rectangles

                           
Cross color           Cut one 3.5" square
Fabric 2                Cut four 2" x 3.5" rectangles

Corners                    Cut two 4" squares, cut once on the diagonal   You can make your corner  Fabric 3               all the same color, or two different colors like I did.  

1. Sew the Fabric one and Fabric 3 triangles together. You will have 4 HST.  Press seams to the dark and trim your square to 3.5 inches.

2. Sew the 2" x 3.5" fabric one and fabric two rectangles together.  Make 4.

3. Sew the block together as shown in the block assembly diagram below.  Make 16 blocks total for a nice size baby quilt.  This is going to go to Project Linus!

It was a fun quilt to make, and I hope you give it a try!

Hope you are having a wonderful weekend!

and don't forget to join my first ever Sew Along starting July 25.....

Summertime Pasta Sauce

One of the first things I make when my roma tomatoes turn ripe is pasta sauce or salsa.....and of course BLTs!

So here is the simple recipe I like to use.   It freezes well, so use up all those tomatoes.

4 medium onions, chopped
1 1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves, minced
12 cups chopped and peeled fresh tomatoes
3 bay leaves
4 tsp salt
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
2 cans (6 oz each) tomato paste
1/3 cup brown sugar

In a large Dutch oven, saute the onions and pepper in olive oil until onions are tender.  Add garlic, tomatoes, bay leaves, salt, oregano and basil.
Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
Add tomato paste and brown sugar, simmer for 1 hour longer.
Remove bay leaves.
Ready to eat! YUM! Browned ground beef or Italian sausage can be added to the cooked sauce if desired.

I try to grow my own herbs, so I did use fresh oregano and basil.  The kitchen smelled amazing after chopping those fresh herbs!  And yes, you should peel those tomatoes....it is worth it!  I have a system where I get water boiling on the stove, have a large bowl of ice water on the counter and an empty large bowl.  Put the tomatoes in the boiling water for about a minute, then transfer to the ice cold water.  The skins should be easy to peel off now.  I leave the peelings in the water bowl and put the peeled tomatoes in the last large bowl. 

I hope you enjoy making this recipe!  I have made it for many years and never get tired of how good it tastes.  Off to pick more tomatoes....this hot weather is good for the tomatoes I guess.

grace and peace.....Sharon

Published in Quiltmaker

It seems that I did not post about a recent publication in a magazine....what???  Traveling a lot will do that to me for sure!

I am sort of on the cover!

Isn't this a fun sampler quilt?  I love the fabric provided by Moda...Sandy Gervais Well Said.  It is such a colorful happy line of fabric now available in stores.

That being said...it would look great using my newest pattern, Happy Go Lucky!  Join my first ever sew along which starts July 25.  You can find out more by reading this post.  Bella and I would love to have you sew with us!

Stay cool!

grace and peace....Sharon

Linking to: Let's Be Social     Freemotion by the River

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