Monday, December 29, 2014

Final 2014 Finish for the Lovely Year of Finishes~


It has been an amazing year,
full of sweet blessings 
and, 

(yay!!),

many finishes!

I finished my December block
the Ribbon Star by Lee Heinrich
in Honeydew, Cardinal Red and Clover


then had the bright idea to take it to the beach,
for a seasonal picture.


The sand moisture was freezing up on the calm, +20 degree day.


The water was moving in it's slow "gelatin" form,
which I think is neat to watch.


So I thought, "Hey, let's put it by the edge here for contrast.  
What is the worst that could happen?"


The answer came on a breeze as the blocks lifted
and one flew into the Bering Sea.
Luckily, it didn't go too far and the slow-moving water
made it easy to pluck.


The extra weight and moisture helped the blocks 
stay in place for more pictures!


The wet one froze and held the dry block 
securely.


Without the splash of color from the blocks,
the seascape was multiple shades 
of white on white.


I hope you have had a year full of good things,
and finished projects!


Thanks so MuCh to Shanna and Melissa
for again hosting the 
Lovely Year of Finishes!



Please check out the other projects here..

Best Wishes in 2015 to you all.....



Sunday, December 7, 2014

Final Finish Up Month and Goal Setting for 2014~


Have you been "elfing" for a while?
Getting everything ready for the holidays?


It is a busy time of the year!
One of my goals is to get the final block finished and 
in the mail for our
Color Adventure.

Here it is half-way done.  
I love it more with every added month.


I hope you get time for yourself
to enjoy
and absorb
this special time of year!

I am linking up
for the final month
with 
at a

Lovely Year of Finishes.

Please stop by and check out the other projects!

Friday, November 7, 2014

This Month's Challenge~


In our family,
I get to make stockings for the holidays.


It seems to take as long as 
a full-sized quilt does, but they bring back a lot of 
memories all hung up.

This month I have a couple to start and finish.
The bigger challenge, though, 
might be connecting online at the end of month
when they are done.

Our big plan is to get the family
all together for Thanksgiving!  
Our kids, families, and a few friends
will come from all directions
to celebrate.



I had better get to sewing before it is time
to start traveling!

Do you have plans?

Please stop by Melissa and Shanna's 
blogs to see what everyone is working on.....


Wednesday, October 29, 2014

Good-bye October, Good-bye~


 I guess, like it or not, 
it is time to kiss October good-bye.



Those rich fall colors have faded into darker tones.



Time to remember days that have past,


in warm, sunny places.



My October block is 
Grand Canyon Suite 
from Judy Martin's Ultimate Book of Quilt Block Patterns.
I used my version of autumn desert colors:
Kona Kumquat,
Corn Yellow,
and Valentine Pink



They were inspired by our trip to 
the Grand Canyon in 
October, 2012.





October is also Tammy's birthday month
so we celebrated it 
with a GrAnd AdvEntuRe.....

I am linking up with 
 at


Hosted by Melissa and Shanna!
Please stop by to check out the other projects.
Maybe you will find the perfect holiday gift inspiration.....


Sunday, October 5, 2014

An October Goal~


I have a pattern picked out,
and three colors chosen
from the Kona cottons in my basket.

Did you notice the frost underneath it? ;-)

It is time to get October's blocks done 
for our 
Color Adventure!!



Since the person who will receive one of the blocks
reads this

(Hello!)

I will have to wait to show the details.
But that set of blocks
is my goal.

Time to get back to stitching.....

October's Goal Setting Party 
can be found here ~



Come check out what everyone is doing
now that summer is over!

Sunday, August 31, 2014

August's Colors~


For us August is a time of 
back to school and birthday happenings.

In honor of our birthday girl,
I used greens and orange.
The Kona Kiwi and Honeydew greens represent
August's birthstone, Peridot.

School Bus is for the orange..
one of the current favs
of someone back at college to finish one more SemEstER!!

I chose a paper-pieced pattern
(yes, I really did) 
from Fresh Lemons,


She did an excellent job with her directions
(thank you..PP makes me
so nervous!)

By time I did both blocks,
I think I was doing better with the process.

Does anyone else feel like they 
are working backwards,
sideways
and upside down
with paper-piecing?
It is a great brain exercise!

Anyway, I was happy with most of the results.
Just need to practice,
practice,
practice...


One block has whirled its way to Oregon,
and 
that leaves just four more monthly blocks 
to go.....

Monday, August 25, 2014

A Little August Finish~


A few short weeks ago
it was the beginning of August...

Where did those days go?



into a make-up bag for traveling.


I drew an oval to use as a pattern for the top and bottom,
then lined it with PUL for water resistance. 

It is tall enough for travel bottles, tooth paste, etc.
and has a pocket in the lid 
that is wide and flat.


The vinyl pockets have bias on the top and bottom
but are only sewn between the pockets.
They are located just above the bottom
so the pockets can be washed out and not get that
dreaded travel build-up!
The "floor" of the bag keeps items in their place.

Dirty running clothes can even go into
 the center so they don't 
touch clean things in her gear bag!


It was all loaded and ready to roll
back for  o n e  m o r e  semester.....

Yeowzer, did summer go fast!

Please stop by and browse these other great finishes 
at Melissa and Shanna's 

Saturday, August 16, 2014

July's Color Adventure From Alaska~


Ever get an idea that you really want to try,
but it challenges your brain..
a lot?


For my July block, I wanted to make something resembling
fireworks.
The way they shoot in the middle,
then radiate out.

After some playing around,
and lots of little blocks,
this is what I came up with.


I made my triangles by stitching around the squares,
and cutting diagonally in both
directions.
It is an easy way to make four identical ones.


I cut, pressed and trimmed all of the sections..


then arranged them for piecing.


 Two Firework blocks for July!

One has been delivered to Oregon 
before this posting.....


Thursday, August 7, 2014

August's LYOF Goal~


My July project is sitting here,
looking at me sadly in its
almost-finished state..

In our busy, busy July
the poor thing just kept getting pushed down the list.
..sigh..

Our warm, glorious, summer days have been such a treat
that it would be a shame to waste them.
Winter and more time to work indoors will be here 
soon enough!

I will get back to July's goal for a finish,
but right now this has jumped to the front of the line.


From this beautiful fabric, 
I will create a gift
for someone very special.

I hope you are all having a wonderful, memory-filled summer!

I am linking up for an August Finish
with Melissa and Shanna.

As always, you will find a 
lot of 
inspiration here.....

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

Six Months of Color Adventure~



This is 
six months 
into our Color Adventure.

Can't wait to add more blocks and colors!

And then ..
a.. 
layout.....

Sunday, July 20, 2014

Our June Colors~


In June we were both inspired by flowers!


Tammy, by her beautiful over-flowing roses..


Her block is Georgetown Circles
with
Bright Pink, Clover, and Chartreuse


And my inspiration were the late tulips
blooming in Idaho.


I decided to make the June block,
Teach,
since Tammy and I both do that!
My colors were:
Tangerine, Leprechaun,
and
Lipstick 







 Flowers among the leaves.....