A Little Christmas Magic

I have been busy catching up on the blocks to the Magic of Christmas by Lisa Bongean.  All 25 blocks are now up and I just finished #15 tonight.  It is one of my favorites.  Lisa is showing these done as all red and white (city) or red and cream(country).  Well, I am always changing things up a bit and giving them a bit of my own spin so I have been using several different reds from my stash and throwing in a little bit of gold in each block.  It has really been a fun project.  Now to finish the last 10 blocks.

While Lisa was busy with Quilt Market there was a bit of a gap in posting block patterns and I was all caught up so I began playing with alternate blocks and came up with a version I really like.  I have lots more to make and am running out of that green so I might have to substitute some other fabric and sprinkle it about.  It is a fabric from Ann Sutton’s line and I can’t seem to find more…in fact now I don’t remember what it was called.

We are keeping gift giving very simple this year so I don’t have any rush to get anything finished and that feels nice for a change.  I will have my grandson for 2 weeks so there are lots of craft projects and cooking baking that will be happening then.  He is 6, an age that really loves to get creative. 

Hope everyone reading this is taking time to enjoy the holiday season!

~ ferne

Quilting with Rulers on the Janome 6600

A while back I stumbled upon the blog of Amy Johnson and saw some stunning quilting being done on her Janome.  I had been in practice mode with my FMQ on my Janome and was somewhat frustrated with my lack of perfection, but figured more practice was needed.  Well, Amy was using some rulers (aka templates because they are thicker than rulers).  I just had to give this a try so off I went to my Janome dealer and found the ruler foot I needed to use with the rulers.  I ordered 2 rulers, 1 straight and 1 curved and got started playing around with them.  I loved the results and yes there is still some practice to be done, but they are a huge help.  The thing I love most is that there is very little marking to do.  I marked the square and a few check points on each side and then let the ruler help me with the rest.

These are blocks that will be 6” finished and I am trying a quilt as you go technique.  There will be a different pattern in each block.  Problem is I ran out of fabric and I have fallen in love with this fabric so I need to order some more if I can only remember what it is!  Amy has since opened an online store and started selling her rulers.  She also has a class on Craftsy and lots of videos on her blog…so if you want to learn this technique be sure to check her out!

Splendid Sampler

Okay, I wasn’t going to do any samplers this year.  I really need to quilt the quilts I have finished, but 2 blocks in to the Splendid Sampler and weather that turned from Spring back to Winter sent me running to my machine.  I had been pretty sick the last 3 weeks and did a lot of sleeping so not much sewing, cleaning or gardening got done.  While looking through my blogs I started seeing people posting about Pat and Janes collaboration and decided to check it out.  Once I did I thought how fun to jump in and try one, there are prizes to be won and they are small and not time consuming so I printed out the instructions and got inspired by some of the blocks people were sharing.  A little digging in my scrap bins for some of my all time favorite fabrics and I was off and running.  The heart came from a 3 Sisters fabric I had from years ago.  I think it was the first fat quarter bundle I ever bought so fond memories come with that one.  I doesn’t look quite square partly because it is laying funny, but I did have a little trouble getting back into the groove so this was a good block to start with. 

Thanks to Pat for sharing this one and for setting up such a splendid group!

That was yesterday and today I remembered that block 2 was set to be posted today so I got my coffee and found the post and it was off to the printer.  Well, Jane’s block was also a fun one to pull fabrics together for.  The purple butterflies are from a recent project I finished piecing for my son’s 30th birthday in December…it is on the ‘to be quilted’ pile.  I will be glad to see those butterflies to remind me of that project years from now, but I will hope neither project is still on that pile.  This block was a bit more challenging though.  It looked harmless enough, but those are 1” finished squares including the HST so some of my butterflies my not have sharp points.  My advice to anyone reading this is that when she recommends pressing seems open follow that advice.  I though I could figure out how to press the seams to the side so they would lock like I often to, but half way through the first row I was already in trouble so I switched it all there and I even used pins at most of my seams.  You can see the ones where I got all confident and, well, they may be off a bit, but overall I am very happy with this block.  I am still embroidering my antennea, but here it is…

and the quilt I made for my son in my December…I know, quite the rebel I am, but in my defense I was making something for my son I thought he would enjoy because he loves history and especially American history.  All the talk about not displaying the confederate flag bothers me because it is a part of history and always will be so I designed this quilt completely around it.  My son was not as excited about it as I had hoped, but I sure had a fun time making it.  I even have some good ideas for quilting it and got a good flannel backing for it so after I take all the paper off those piano keys on the side I can get busy on that.

Hopefully, I might have a few readers here who I have inspired to check out the Splendid Sampler project and join me there for fun, prizes, sharing and lots of learning for many talented designers.  And…it is free!

Ferne