CHRISTMAS PICNIC

NOT everything is a PICNIC

But February 2023 found Kim Hensley and I leading a 

PICNIN QUILT SewAlong over on Instagram.

This pattern by Sew Mama Sew is EPIC!

It's ONE block, built with several units, repeated over and over!

Many sizes and many fabric options.

When I saw this Christmas s version I absolutely LOVED it!

I had lots of big Christmas Scraps that could work for it!

Now Kim, found the fabrics here and bought them.

AND she is making 2 for the SewAlong.

I pulled my Basic Grey  Hustle and Bustle scraps!

And found a couple others to add into the Christmas mix!

Cut and stay organized!

I made two test blocks.

Left side was put together as the pattern suggested.

Right block was more scrappy...my choice.

The only fabric I kept the same

was the green dot.

Lots of chain piecing and this went together very fast.

I laid it all out on the floor.

I am loving this scrappy look!

And the flimsy is complete!

Backing, binding and batting all ready for longarmer...

who happens to be Kim!

Once this is quilted I will show all the finishes!

12 CHARLEY HARPER BIRDS WERE PLELNTY!

Remember the 20 block CH Winter bird top.

Well I decided I wanted to make it a bit smaller.

WHY?  Many reasons 

I am having a solo quilt show later this year

at Inniswood Gardens. and I want to make this a wallhanging.

I can quilt a smaller size a bit easter.

I will probably sell this one.

Sew 12 Blocks of CH Winter Birds seems plenty.

And I was lucky to get this pic with a snow fall.

Ohio did not have too much snow this year, not complaining.

You can see here I set my Bernina 740 to use an enlongated "serpintine" stitch.

I just eyeballed the widths apart.

I like to snap a pic of the machine screen so I don't forget the stitch info.

Length was 3.0 and width 6.4 (B740 has a 9 MM wide option)

The gray thread looks great

It looks great hanging in the guest room.

A perfect wall hanging size.

And here's my sweet hubby posing for his traditional and  "obligatory" pic.

I have taken a pic of him with every finished quilt for

many, many years.

My solo quilt show is the entire month of October, 2023

Meet the Artist event is Sunday afternoon

Oct 15, 2-4 pm

PLAIDISH 2

Being a Scottish Highlander of Clan Gordon

my heart belongs to all things Plaidish.

My heart also belongs to THE Ohio State Buckeyes.

Sew I am combining the two to make

Erica Jackman's Plaidish II

@kitchentablequilting had me crushing so hard

on her first Plaidish, I made two!

A true scrappy version!

A 3 color version using all Christmas prints.

But back to Plaidish II

I pulled all the OSU fabrics I had in my stash,

Most were scraps, which lend themselves to her Plaidish patterns.

There are only 3 blocks and they chain piece quickly.

The cutting is the part that takes a minute or two.

Erica has you sort your scrap selections by Dark, Medium and Light values.

I wanted to use only 3 color values, Black, Red, Gray.

Blacks - Dark Values

Reds - Medium Value

Grey - Low Value

I am working on this in between other projects.

AND its a great "retreat" project as

one doesn't have to pay a lot of attention,

when one likes to sewcialize!

Will I have it finished before BUCKEYE Football season?

I doubt it.

If you want a couple very easy SCRAP patterns to

get you over your fear of scraps...

try these

Head over to Kitchen Table Quilting website

take a look around 

and down load these two for free!.

ON THE FENCE!

Gemma has decided her 2nd quilt

will be a Rail Fence in Rainbow colors.

I cut the fabrics for her.

She figured out the color arrangement!

Laying out the stacks for some chain piecing.

And sewing them together.

She really liked the design wall and figuring out

what goes where...

I love teaching her quilting.

And she seems to enjoy it as well.

School and her horse keep her pretty busy.

I know this summer we can put some serious time on it!

I love her in my tshirt!

Today is her birthday and she's now 12, going on 25!

Happy Birthday Gemma, my Gem!

XYLLIAN HARTZ FINISH

What began as a bunch of leftover pink strips

gifted to me by Kim Hensley...

became a fun project and big surprise for me

at the end.

Sometimes the Heart(s) will surprise you!

I sent this pic to my son, Eric to show him what I was working on. 

He immediately said, if I had not promised this to anyone...

HE WANTED IT!

Eric is very artistic and musically inclined.

He plays guitar, drums, and has a private radio station where

He uploads eclectic music choices

He also loves pinks and purple colors!

His musical entity name is Xyllian Hartz!

I never knew that!

In my stash I found a couple very old

 Amy Butler prints from the "LOVE" line.

I quilted in on my Bernina using straight lines.

I used the text option on my Bernina

and put the label right onto the front of the quilt.

And here's the finished Xyllian Hartz Quilt!

It hung in my hallway as I had imagined.

I took this beauty to Franklin Park Conservatory for 

the perfect photo op with the orchid displays.

Oh the fun conversations I had that day!

But the biggest surprise of these Hearts

is that they will hang in my son's home!

AND I am delivering it to him today....in the beach!

It does a Mother's Heart good!

HOW MANY CHARLEY HARPER BIRDS ARE ENOUGH?

If you know me, you know I love Charley Harper...everything.

CH Winter Birds were no exception.  

and sew another project began.

I decided on Economy Blocks....

CH fussy cuts for centers set with GRUNGE fabrics.

I did the flimsy photo op...

well, wait to see the finish...

cause it is not what it seams!

MY HEART or NOT?

I needed a quilt for February to hang in my hallway.

I though maybe a heart quilt.

My friend Kim had made the Infinite Hearts quilt

and I kinda liked it.

She gave me lots of leftover strips from her quilt.

Then I pulled fabrics from my scraps and stash.

And the sewing began.

Lots of chain piecing...

making one side of the heart at a time.

This was all happening around Christmas

and Santa was watching over me!

He helped me pick the backing and binding.

Two hoarded prints from Amy Butler's LOVE fabric line.

And the hearts filled the design wall.

There were lots of HST left over from the blocks

and I will use them somewhere!

Stay Tuned...cause this take a turn I didn't expect.

And this quilt will hang somewhere I never dreamed!