Ta-Da!!!!

I have managed another Rose and Star block!!!

Yay!

Rose and Star is the best for bedside stitching :)

And I ordered a couple of books....

only one has arrived so far.  This is a 'new to me' book.  It is actually in it's second edition and not new at all.  A friend from the shoppe {Stephanie} brought it into the shoppe one day and I knew it was a book I needed for my quilt book collection.

I have a quilt that needs it's binding so hopefully soon I will have a bit more to show :)

Hope you are enjoying a wonderful Spring day in your neck of the woods!

Happy Wednesday!

mary

Help!

I have had a couple of folks ask me, "How will you put your Rose and Star blocks together" or "what color will you use in the spaces between your Rose and Star blocks".

Good question....I have wondered the same thing.

I have considered a printed fabric....would it be too busy?

There is a hexagon in the space surrounded by pentagons {is that right, clare?}

my gift from Clare :)

What if I made the hexagon from a unifying printed fabric and the other pieces a solid?

These are the things that keep me awake at night....sad isn't it?

Any suggestions?  Any thoughts?

Another thing that should keep any sane person awake at night is all the Fugly going on over at Lucy's Fugly Fabric Party



http://charmaboutyou.blogspot.com/2012/02/fugly-fabric-party-woo-hoo.html

It really is enough to make grown women {and men} weep!

In fact, I am linking up with Kris from Duke Says Sew What 

Kris has a plethora of Fugly fabric to giveaway!!!

And while your there you can enjoy her wonderful creations....including her value quilt.

plus you must have a peek {or two} at Duke....so cute.

Two posts in one day!!!  Woot!

mary

Almost Wordless Wednesday.....

Rose and Star - blocks 8 and 9

  

possibly my new favorite :)

the party continues.....

it is never too late to join in the fun....

  

just pop over to Clare's place at Selfsown and check out the Flickr group 

Winter has arrived in my neck of the woods....pretty....

happy wednesday!

mary

An Earnest Attempt.....

I am going to make an earnest attempt to finish the unfinished projects that have been calling to me....

I began this Spiderweb quilt, called Pop Stars by Kathy Doughty , eons ago....

.

I can actually see the end in sight....I love how this quilt is coming together and it is no little wisp of a quilt.  This one will end up about 75+ inches by 80+ inches.  It is a bit smaller that the quilt from Material Obession 2.

   

 My slow progress by no means is a reflection of my attitude towards this quilt....I just get distracted way too easily....

But I am doubling down my efforts and am determined to finish this one soon! 

I have also added block 6 and 7 to my Rose and Star Portfolio....

I like how this project is coming together.  The happy kitchen-y fabrics are fun.

  

I have purchased several of the Michael Miller Kitchen Collection fabrics....they fit well with the flavor of this quilt!  Get it!  Flavor!  hee hee.....I should go on the road, right???

And I am having a great time piecing these....they go together much more quickly than the Grandmothers Flower Garden {my other unfinished project}.....oh well....

Happy Tuesday!

mary

And The Beat Goes On.....

Rose and Star

mary

edit: sorry...I should have mentioned again the block party I am having so much fun with....thanks clare!

http://summerfete.blogspot.com/

Where Does Time Go?

I guess I hadn't realized that I have let so many days slip by. 

Family 'issues' sometimes just drain the energy out of a body....

But I have been stitching....

   

quietly....

stitching....

an explosion of color!

I also have been doing a little reading and dreaming....Sarah Fielke's Quilting From Little Things....

I must say, it is a gorgeous book....it feels good in my hands....the pictures are wonderful....and the content - SUPERB! 

I love quilting books that are truly instructional....not leaving the reader wanting for more information to finish the project at hand. 

This is a keeper!

Happy Monday!

mary 



Wordless Wednesday....

Rose and Star

mary

A New Beginning....

I have decided my middle name must be Distracted....because my mind is always letting me put aside the project at hand to play with another.  Today I had two distractions!

The first - very pleasant - distraction was the Rose and Star!  And so it begins a new English Paper Piecing project to keep my fingers busy.

   

If you recall, Clare and I had a little secret squirrel exchange before Christmas....Clare sent to me the most fantastic English Paper Pieced quilt....the Rose and Star.

It is sensational!!!  And now I have a whole new appreciation for the work her poor little fingers went through to produce this masterpiece.

I made my templates {from freezer paper so I can iron them on to the back of my fabric}.....selected some fabrics and began the basting process...

There are so many pieces!  But I am almost finished basting one flower....

I considered using my inspiration fabric as the background {where Clare has white}....but I am thinking it may be too busy {even for me} and it would need to be pieced as well so it will need some thinking yet...

Another lovely distraction was playing with the block I posted yesterday.  Marit aptly described this as an inverted spiderweb.  And in fact, I used both a kite ruler and my kaleido ruler to work out this block.  I think the official name of this one is Periwinkle - according to Maggie Malone's Quilt Block Designs.  If you notice it has the spiderweb wedges in the white octagon spaces. 

Desert Threads mentioned that she has done a couple of these quilts and she said the block is The Arkansas Snowflake.

This is what makes quilting so much fun!

But I wanted to play with this block a little more.  Some time ago, I had pinned another quilt that, again, reminded me of the spiderweb but was ever so slightly different.

      This one is built on a square....my original spiderweb quilt {that I am still working on} is built on triangles.

 The thing I love most about this square version is the secondary pattern...

 How fun!

Okay....enough playing...time to focus.

Hope you had a wonderful Monday!

mary 



Adding colors and blocks....

A quick post before I head off to my slumber....

It has been another busy weekend, but I did get to work on a few more blocks of this re-vamped vintage quilt {my insipiration quilt}

One of the things I love in the vintage quilt is the green/yellow combination....but I had to add more colors....BTW, the girl in the picture from my previous post is my youngest daughter.  She is a Mary too!!!!

The vintage quilt was most likely hand pieced and I love the solid white sections as well as how small the 'stars' are in the vintage quilt.  Mine are a little larger and machine pieced....

    

But it sews along fairly quickly and I think there are lots of fun options for quilting this one!

In fact, as I work on it I am finding all kinds of fun things to try with this design...

What's one more project?

Tomorrow begins the Rose and Star block party over at My Selfsown Life....I can't wait!

Good night!

mary 



Cleaning, Thinking and a little Pyramid Building....

That about sums it up...my house needed a thorough dusting!  I love when I get in the cleaning mode and tear through a few rooms in one morning.

I cleaned and I hung more plates on my Wall O' Plates!!!

I have been collecting some fun, colorful plates and I am determined to mix these plates with some of my husband's grandfathers paintings {from the early 1900's}and fill my entire wall with plates and paintings.  

   

I have such a difficult time with art.  What I really like I can't afford and the rest I just can't get excited about.  But I love plates on the wall!!!  They are beautiful...the shape....the colors....the design.  And I like the mix of old and new. 

Last summer I bought a chair at a garage sale and before Thanksgiving I painted it and re-covered the seat cushion.  It had to move to the basement while we had the tree up, but the chair is now back and I really love it...especially since it was only $5!!!

  

Hee hee!!!  I know, great picture, right?  I like the color of the chair but I REALLY like the cushion....and of course my sweet Rose and Star is waiting to take her rightful place :)

Which leads me to my thinking today....

Thinking about what fabric to use for the Rose and Star Block Party.

I know my quilt will be built upon this fabric....

  

I LOVE this fabric! 

From Melody Miller....

I must have slept well last night because I still had energy to work on the Pyramid Quilt a bit...

It is growing!!!

We even had a smattering of snow today....it was a good day to stay indoors...

right, Flanders???

Happy Tuesday!

mary