"Lots of Love" and "Happy Happy" Blocks

Here the two Splendid Sampler Blocks for this week.  The first one is called "Lots of Love" and the second one is called "Happy Happy".

This is my little Splendid Sampler clothesline.

I love this one and am thinking about making a mug rug in something similar .

These blocks have challenged me so much. I'm trying to stick to it and stay caught up.  Its always exciting to see what the next block will be!  Block 5 will come out tomorrow.

I keep thinking about what all the future blocks might look like.  Just think of all the holidays that will probably be represented:  St. Patrick's Day, Easter, Fourth of July, Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas.  Then there are all four of the seasons.   It will be fun!

The Splendid Sampler

I've been doing a lot of quilt sewing lately! One new project that I'm doing is the Splendid Sampler Mystery Quilt found HERE. There will be 100 blocks released over a period of a year. There are two new blocks a week, one on Sunday and one of Thursday. Here are my first two blocks. They are small, at only 6 1/2 inches.   I may redo the heart block because the lady bugs show through the heart fabric!

"Wings" and "Hears Aflutter"

This one was a real challenge for me. Since the block is so small and there are so many pieces (46!), its extremely hard to make everything match up. But, its great experience in helping me improve my piecing skills.

This one is called "Wings".  I didn't do the embroidered antennae for the butterflies.

I'm also working on a twin size quilt for my grandson, Eli.  He is now in a big boy bed.  Its a log cabin pattern and will be arranged in the field and furrow design.  I'll be showing my progress on that one soon.

Finally a Quilt Finish!

Finally, a finish!  This Sunbonnet Sue Quilt is a very vintage pattern.  I know lots of people only make modern quilts these days, and I really like modern quilts myself.  But, this quilt is for my stepdaughter and I really felt like she would like this quilt.   She is having a baby shower soon, so this will be my gift.

Its so hard to get a good picture of quilt this time of year.  There's not enough light when I leave to go to work or when I get home.  And on top of that its been raining a lot around here.  Isn't my hubby cute and helpful to hold this quilt up for me at 6:00 A.M. on a work morning?

I found this backing fabric in my stash.  Someone must have given it to me and I'm not sure where it came from..  The selvedge said it was Kathy Schmitz "All Through the Night".  Sounds like Christmas, but this fabric isn't Christmasy at all.  I love it and it quilted really well!

I like applique quilts that have the quilting only around the applique pieces.  But, the Sunbonnet Sue's are sort of big and I felt like the quilt would hold up better and probably look better if I just quilted everything, so that's what I did.

I'm so glad to start my list of quilt finishes in 2016!


This post is linked to Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Crazy Mom Quilts.

WIP WEDNESDAY

This post is linked to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.


Saturday, I got an early start on some sewing projects.  By 7:00 A.M., I was almost done pin basting the Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilt I am making.

I am loving having more than one sewing machine set up!  I will start machine quilting the Sun Bonnet Sue quilt later today with my Brother Machine.  Normally having it set up for quilting would keep me from doing any other kind of sewing.  But with my Mama's old machine now in working order after having it serviced, I can sew some other things when I need a break from the free motion quilting.

Here's Mama's machine:

I hope your Saturday is great!  I am well on my way to having my first quilt finish of the year.  I'm not the fastest quilter in the world, but I'll get some quilts done eventually.

WIP Wednesday

Today is WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Here are the first two blocks for the Sun Bonnet Sue baby quilt I am making.

Have a wonderful Wednesday!

A Sunday Nugget

My 2016 Quilting Goals

My 2016 quilting goals are pretty lofty, considering the amount of quilting time I have available!  But here's the list:

1.  Quilt the Christmas Scrappy Trips Quilt top.  This one is from last fall, but I didn't get it quilted in time for Christmas.

2.  Quilt the Road Trip Quilt Top.  This one is an oldie, but a goodie.    HERE is a post showing the quilt top.

3.  Make a Sunbonnet Sue baby quilt for the baby girl my step-daughter is expecting in April.  I have bought some pastel 30s reproduction fabric for this.  I found a pattern in one of my quilt books and my inspiration can be found HERE.

4.  I would like to make twin size quilts for all five of my grandsons.  I do not have to make them all this year, just for the oldest three.  The other two are still babies (18 months), so their's can wait a year or so.

5.  Hand quilt the "Giant Stars" quilt top that my grandmother made.  This one will be for my son.  You may remember that I hand quilted another one of my grandmother's quilt tops, which I gave to my daughter.  You can see it HERE.

5.  Start a leaders and enders quilt of some kind to work on all year.

BUT, before I can work on any of these projects, I am going to organize and clean my sewing room.  Its a disaster!  That's one part of my 2016 New Year's organizing goals.