End of the Month

Last day of the month and I did well with my "To Do" list.

1.  I got my Shoo Fly Quilt top finished.
2.  I finished the Plaid Jacob's Ladder quilt top.
3.  I finished one side of the applique for my Lori and Randy QAL and prepped      another side for needle turn applique.

4. I am up to date for all 6 of the BOM's I'm working on.

5.  I got my doll quilt swap quilt sent and received mine.

6.  I made another block for the APQ QAL.

I am really liking how this is looking.

7.  I finished the first four blocks in the Cheri Payne series called "Common          Threads".

8.  I am also up to date with the latest Mystery Monday by "This and That" by      Sherri Falls.

I want to end the month showing you the quilt I made testing a pattern for Cindy at Quilt Doodle Designs.

The pattern is called "Monkey Shines" and is the perfect quilt for one of my granddaughter's who LOVES Monkey.

The instructions were easy to read and the applique patterns were excellent.  I really enjoyed making this quilt.

I am also doing Cindy's BOM.  She is very talented and has some wonderful patterns both for sale and free.  She is also on Craftsy.


I will leave you with one project that is on my May "To Do" list.  More tomorrow.

This is a Disappearing 4 Patch quilt in progress.  It is made from a charm pack I purchased from Connecting.  Their charm packs are so reasonably priced that I usually order 4 packs at a time.  That way I have enough to finish a larger project.

Well that is it for now.  Thanks for stopping by.  Tomorrow I will reveal my entire May "To Do" list.

Hugs, Cathy

A Flimsy, A WIP and a Find

I finished making the last 8 blocks needed for my Plaid Jacob's Ladder.  Then I got all the blocks sewn into rows and had time to sew the top together.

I really like the way this turned out.  It will get quilted next month and is going to be a Christmas present.


Now for my WIP...back in 2013 Lori from Humble Quilts and Randy from Barristers Block had a QAL.  I got it done up to the appliqued border.

I finished the appliqued vine and yesterday I basted the applique pieces to the bottom of the quilt.  I made the date 2014 since this is the year it will be finished.  

Now for my find.

While scrounging around some boxes in the basement I came across these blocks.  Back in 1999 I took a class with Trudie Hughes.  These are the blocks I made.  Unfortunately I can't find any of the fabric I used for the stars and only a little of the fabric from the logs.  So instead of a large quilt I will have a table runner.  I think I want to try a large quilt with different fabrics.


As I told you in a previous post I finally made it up north to visit my son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter.  It was a good visit but....I was sick all the way up, my husband was sick the next day, my granddaughter broke her arm the day we went up and she was sick the day after my husband and the day we left my son was sick.

We did have a day that Terry and I got to go out and do a little sight seeing. When we got up north they had 3 feet of snow.  Luckily the weather was warm and they lost a good majority of it.  Lake Superior had a lot of ice with pockets of open water.  These are pictures taken at a little park by the bay.

These little islands are a favorite spot for NMU college students to swim out too and paint their graduation name on.

Here is the Marquette Light House out on the point.

The sun is shining today and I think we are going to go to Metro Park for a walk.  Sammie too.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.  Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

We Made it Home...

And I had a package waiting.

My quilt was made by Christine at A Simple Quilter.  She said she visited my Pinterest page and copied a quilt I had pinned.  Is that sweet or what.  I really love the quilt and it makes a wonderful addition to my quilts.

Thanks to Lori at Humble Quilts for being hostess to this swap.  It was so much fun.

Thanks for stopping by.  I'm still unpacking from our trip and going through mail so I'll have more for you later.

Hugs, Cathy

In case you are wondering...

I'm alive and well and visiting my son in the Upper Peninsula.  The weather finally cooperated.

Unfortunately while we were coming up on Thursday our granddaughter Ashley was at track practice and fell and broke her wrist.  

We should be home tomorrow.  I hope my doll quilt from the swap will be waiting for me...but I can't pick my mail till Wednesday.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter.  Talk to you soon.

Hugs Cathy

My Happy Place

Is my sewing room.  I've been spending some quality time in sewing room lately.  Crossing off lots of projects from my "To Do" list.

First up is my April Blocks from the Hip Chicks BOM.

The center block is going to be star points for the center medallion block.  I had to make 4 of them.  The flowers were suppose to be fusible applique. But you know me.  I had to needle turn applique them.  I almost gave up a couple of times.  They were a little too little.

Next up...I am a huge fan of Cheri Payne.  I fell in love with her Common Threads series.  Here are the first set of 4 blocks.

I have already shown you the flower pot block.  I finished the other three blocks yesterday.  I can't wait to start on the next set.


I started working on the APQ QAL blocks last month.  My goal is to make an additional 3 blocks this month.  Thereafter I want to make 4 blocks a month. Here are last months block and a block I made yesterday.

I'm so glad I decided to make all my blocks in Red and Blue.  The original quilt has every block a different color.  I was amazed to see that my reds and blues in these two blocks are so similar.  It wasn't planned.


My final project is something that was started 2 years ago.  I just kept putting it aside to work on other projects.  I felt it was time to finish it up.

Sarah Vee from Sew Joy Creations asked if anyone would like to join in a QAL. I decided to join along.  The center blocks was her design.  The rest is mine.  I plan on getting it quilted this month.  Then it will hang on my sewing room door.

Well that is it for now.  It is going to be a rainy day today so a good day for getting some more sewing done and tackle another project on my To Do list.  Mmmm.....I think I will make some more Jacob's Ladder blocks.

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

A Finish and a Win

I finished my doll quilt for the Doll Quilt Swap hosted by Lori at Humble Quilts.  

The quilt is 16" x 24" and was fashioned after an antique doll quilt I saw on pinterest.  It was so much fun making and hand quilting.

I also made my recipient a sewing bag and pin cushion.

I hope she likes it.  It went into the mail today and should arrive at its destination on Saturday


Now for the win.  Last week I was visiting one of my favorite blogs "Geoff's Mom" and she was having a giveaway.  I won a pattern on my choice.

This is the pattern I chose.  It came on Tuesday and yesterday Hubby and I went for a ride and ended up at my favorite quilt shop "Linda's Country Quilts".  I needed some shirting's for the background and some Cheddar.  They are in the wash right now.  I forgot to take a picture.

So for 2 days I haven't gotten much done.  Hoping to make up for it today. The weather here is fantastic.  Suppose to get up to 60 degrees out.  So the windows are open so I can listen to the birds as I sew.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

A Few Projects

I have been busily sewing away.  We were not able to go up north and visit my son and his family...BAD weather.  He got 12" - 15" of snow.  We were afraid we would snowed in.  We will try again in a couple of weeks.

I got the top made for the Shoo Fly Quilt.

 I cut my sashing 1/2" smaller than white sections in the shoo fly blocks.  Same with the corner stones.  I was going to add a red border but I really like the way it looks as is.  I am going to make the binding red.  This is the quilt I am making for Debbie who gave me her grandmother's Featherweight.  I am going to get it sandwiched next week and start machine quilting it.


I finished some more BOM's.  First up is Quilt Doodles.

Some months there is just one block to made and others there is a whole row of blocks.  These are 6" finished friendship starts.  The background fabric is a small blue window pane check.  It reads more gray.

Next up is Pat Sloan's Globetrotting BOM.

It is going to be a very Patriotic looking quilt when done.

The last is Aurifil BOM.

Here are the first 4 blocks.  I am planning on using a polka dot fabric and the gray background in all the blocks.  Not my usual fabric choices...but sometimes you just need to try something different.

When done here I am going to trim up some little doll quilts, add some binding and a label.  One is for me and one is for the Doll Quilt Swap hosted by Lori @ Humble Quilts.

And finally...I showed you my challenge quilt I did with the Bluebird Feed Sack.  Now is time to vote for your favorite.  I have no chance of winning because the quilt I love (Julie's Star Quilt) is so ahead in the lead.  But go check out what we have all made.  You can vote in the upper right corner of Emily's Blog.  This was such a fun challenge.  I tried something I wasn't used too and am happy with my results.

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend.  While sewing I am watching the Tigers play Baltimore....good game.

Thanks for stopping by.

Hugs, Cathy

Time to Reveal....

Today all the participants in the Blue Bird Challenge will be revealing their quilts.  I was at a loss as to what to do.  I wanted to make a wall hanging that I could hang on my Kitchen wall.

This design was out of my norm.  But I did want something round.  It took a while to get the blue and yellow circle.   Both circles are hand appliqued to the background.  The quilting is hard to see but it radiates out.

This was a fun challenge.  Now you get to be involved in it.  

Emily from Ems Scrap bag is having a linky party for all the challengers.  Then you get to vote on your favorite quilt.  

I would love for you to vote for mine.  But if another is your favorite, please vote for it.  No hard feelings.  The quilter with the most votes will receive a fat eighth bundle of 30's fabrics.

I can't wait to see what everyone has done with their Bluebird feed sack.

Have a great weekend.

Hugs, Cathy

Happy April Fools Day

Mother Nature played a trick on us.  It is sunny and warm and it's not snowing.  You may not think that that is a trick but with the weather the way it's been it feels like a trick.

Oh well....On to April's "To Do" List.

1.  Finish the Shoo Fly Quilt Top and if possible get it quilted this month.

2.  Make 8 more Jacobs Ladder blocks.  Then I can finish the quilt in May.

3.  Work on the Medallion Quilt QAL that Lori and Randy hosted last year.  I need to work on the final applique border.

4.  Finish up my Doll Quilt for the Swap Lori hosted.


2014 BOM'S

1.  Sugar Shack  (This one is done photo to follow)
2.  Globetrotting
3.  Hip Chicks
4.  Country Threads (This one is done photo to follow)
5.  Quilt Doodles

I would also like to make a couple more of the APQ QAL


Here is my Sugar Shack April Block.

Here is my Country Threads April Blocks.

And here is a picture of a couple of fabric bags that I made.  Freda got me interested in them and I have plans to make a few more.

The one with the sewing items is going to someone I am making a quilt for  and the other one is going to be mine.  I plan on making a bunch for Christmas presents.

Well thanks for stopping by.  I need to get some things made as I'm going to go up north Thursday to visit my son.  It's been a while.

Enjoy the Spring weather.

Hugs, Cathy