THELMA & LOUISE ADVENTURE

August was another outing for besties and quilty things.

Kathy Guenther, my Louise and I were ready for some fun!

Headed to a quilt retreat always means SHOPPING !

First stop was Heavenly Stitches 

near Lima, OH

A perfect name for a wonderful shop.

Loved all the church arches and feeling in this shop!

We visited  smalltown Elmore, OH

with fun shops in the downtown area

including a quilt shop!

Pink Polkadot!

Small but some fun fabrics inside.

Then off to Maumee OH

for another unique LQS 

The Quilt Foundry!

We found a yarn shop, Chickadee Yarns, which is always

of interest to us.  Kathy is an avid knitter.  I play at it.

Found a very MODERN quilt shop in

Milan, Michigan, TEXTILES.

We loved this modern vibe!

Across the street was

Plum Tree Yarn Shop

and of course we needed to check it out!

This bike was yarn bombed!

We had to head to a fabulous yarn shop

in Ann Arbor named SPUN!

While in that town we visited the

 Ann Arbor Sewing Center!

We hadn't heard of TILDA

but it seemed to fill the shelves here.

How stinkin cute is this quilt!

And the last place is where we stayed for the Quilt Retreat

in Techuseh, Xichigan

The Quilt Patch Shop

was within walking distance from the retreat house.

More on the retreat coming...

but wasn't this a fun road adventure!

WHY CHARITY QUILTS HAPPEN!

There are many reasons WHY Charity quilts happen.

I'm gonna tell you how they happens in MY sewing room.

I begin a project and then loose interest or just don't like how it's coming together.

For instance, I can’t even remember when I began working on this Plaidish 2 quilt!

I thought using up my OSU Buckeyes scraps would be the thing to do.

Add a bit of red, black and gray…TOUCHDOWN!

And I tried I really did!

Draggin it back and forth to several quilt retreats.

 

Then the lightbulb went off!

I just wasn’t feeling it. WTH?

Sew…I donated it to Project Linus 

with instructions on how to finish

the blocks and the top!

Sometimes it's a touchdown, sometimes a bad call.

My point here is...

IF you aren’t feeling the creative juices flow

 when working on any WIP...let it GO...to charity!

The Crushed Pistachio pattern caught my eye

at a LQS and ohhhh....

I loved the LV background and

I knew I have scraps to use!

I made the blocks, but the unfinished size was just a bit off.

I know now it needed a scant 1/4" seam allowance.

Sometimes patterns dont' indicated this and WOW they should.

Guess I should have done a test block.

I kept saying...I can make this work!

I sewed it all together, but it just wasn't working for me.

Maybe the sizing, maybe the colors...

I have several quilts already in this color palate...

therefor the scraps.

Whatever the reason, I was NOT going to send it out to a longarm quilter!

SEW OFF IT WENT to CHARITY!

I will revisit this pattern at another time as I do love it.

Sometimes MY charity quilts happen

because I am a very lucky pattern tester for

Frannie B Quilt Company!

Recently I selected 2 out of 5 patterns to test for Corrine.

I like this pattern and could see behind the symbols 

for a great pattern to use up scraps and FQs

for Stitching Sisters Chairty efforts.

The quilts go to cancer patients going thru chemo treatments

sew the Peace and Love appliques weren't

gonna make the cut!

Corinne Wells, pattern designer, always lets me make these

tops to the specifications I need for my charity efforts.

I love her for that, among other 

HOW COOL IS THAT!

Look how beautiful this turned out!

The second pattern test was for Holding Hearts!

I knew immediately I didn't want to set these hearts on point 

OR use the small hearts.

I was correct...here it is on my design wall

and I'm building it out, with sashing,

to a rectangular size I need for Stitching Sisters Quilts.

Both turned out great!

And I provided my feedback 

as I tested thru the pattern block units.

I usually get Stitching Sisters fabrics from their Sewing Center.

They get sew many donations it seems like the right thing to do.

AND after I am finished with the top, back and binding

I return it to them for a volunteer longarmer to quilt.

WIN-WIN-WIN!

CARD MAKERS GONNA MAKE

It’s been awhile since I posted about cards I made. 

Some friends and I got together for lunch and paper fun..

This is the outcome. 

My designs!

Kinda Kwilty! 

Fussy Flamingo!

Some intricate cuts!

Fancy Folds!

I like to  make 2 of same design 

These are my friend’s designs!

Debbie!

Vikki!

I get so inspired when I am with these talented ladies,

Who, by the way, are also quilters. 

PATTERN TEST - HOLDONG HEARTS

I love to 

Pattern test for Corrine Wells at

Frannie B Quilt Comoany!

I recently tested this pattern…

I needed it to fit the perimeters of my charity quilts

for Stitching Sisters. 

I wasn’t crazy about the small hearts or 

Setting the blocks on point. 

I cut and labeled the pieces I would use for the various blocks.

I am using fabrics I got from the Stitching Sisters stash.

Fabrics sorted and labeled for 3 blocks 

Block A

Block B

Block C

Because there were a lot of pieces that needed diagonal line sewing

I used my handy dandy tape for fast and easy units. 

Lots of chain piecing went very fast. 

Building blocks and taking notes about the test.

Love these colors. 

Sashings for the background were all white. 

Colors are popping!

I even had a pretty backing for this one,

Also from Stitching Sisters Stash.

It’s why the top and backing and binding

will all go back to them!

This is where the pattern design changes.

I did NOT make the tiny hearts.

I did NOT set the blocks on point.

I DID add sashing to build the quilt to size I needed.

I love it!

And so will a cancer patient, going thru treatments.

It’s off to a long arm quilter, now for final finish.