KaHolly

Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Creating a Quilted Legacy Blog Hop

The on-line quilting community

said an unexpected good bye

to a very special lady on February 8.

Paula Budinger, blogging as Paula B Quilts,

leaves a a very big hole in our hearts,

and awfully big shoes to fill.

Number one among her many quilty passions

was her desire to make a difference,

habitually constructing community quilts

for organizations that included Project Linus,

Jack's Basket, and Covered in Love.

In honor of Paula and her quilting mission,

Janice of Color, Creating, and Quilting

and Kate from Smiles from Kate

have collaborated on a blog hop

to take place

May 6 through May 8.

(I have only been on the periphery to lend support,

but these ladies have been doing all the hard work.)

Creating a Quilted Legacy

Following in Paula's Footsteps

Please take a moment to visit both Janice and Kate

to learn more wonderful things about Paula B,

and more about how you, too,

can make a difference

by signing on

to help fill Paula's shoes!

Thanks 'sew' much!

~karen

Tuesday, February 18, 2020

Time Out

Last winter, I made and presented my first QOV.

There are no words to describe

how it made me feel when it was presented.

I vowed then and there that I would make one a year

for as long as I am able.

Completing this top was my January OMG.

I didn’t accomplish my goal,

but it was completed on February 1st,

which just happened to be the QOV Sew-in date.
(I am often a day late, but certainly not a dollar short!)
Thank you, Patty, for hosting OMG
and keeping me focused on my project.

Originally intended to be 60 x 78”

I eliminated one top to bottom 6” row

And the top and bottom borders,

For a finish measuring 54 x 68”.

~

I am very excited to be preparing to go to
QuiltCon in Austin, on Thursday and Friday.
I am already loading up my new tote bag
with goodies and necessities.

Sheila, of Sheila's Quilt World, gifted me this tote

just before I left for Texas in November.

Lovingly pieced from selvedge edges,

this is my first tote ever!

I have never made one for myself.

Thank you so much, Sheila!

It has already received so many compliments,

even just today at my LQS.

Since completing my QOV top, I have been
in a little bit of a quilt making slump,
so I decided to take a time out
and just work on small things.

Speaking of time out,
Crafty Daughter and I were walking the dog
at a local city park,
when we came across this oddly placed bench.

I couldn’t resist having a seat,
and I just laughed and laughed.
I have decided that this is a time out bench
for parents to use in a pinch.
Thoughts?

Thanks for popping in to visit.
Wish I had more to share!
See you at QuiltCon?

~karen

Tuesday, January 28, 2020

Think Win-Win

It's time to confess!

I did NOT accomplish my One Monthly Goal!

But, that’s okay.

I have made a lot of progress, and my purpose,

to have it ready by the time I travel to North Texas,

can still be accomplished,

since I’m not going until mid-March.

Why DIDN'T I accomplish my goal?
Wellllllll,
I kind of got sidetracked
by sneaking small projects into my sewing time.

One of them was a lot of small pieces!

I just couldn't resist

piecing this Koala Love quilt block

by Sew Fresh Quilts.

It's not too fancy. I just used Kona Solids scraps,

a leafy tone-on-tone for the background,

and some Texas A&M fabric for the heart,

and the back.

I inserted a hidden zipper

and bound it with a solid maroon.

This will make a lovely, one of a kind gift

for an ATM student or graduate.

The pillow is 18" square.

Speaking of making lovely gifts,

Valentine's Day is quickly approaching!

Picture courtesy of Sugar Free Quilts

This sweet pattern, by SugarFreeQuilts is paper pieced,

finishing up at 20" square.

And there is still time to make it!

I'm always looking for something different

and fun, and this pattern fills the bill.

I haven't decided if mine will be another pillow,

or a mini wall hanging.

I'm tending toward wall hanging,

because it will be easier to store away.

Just one more thing.

Let's talk about donating blood.

As I was reading through the statistics,

I found these numbers staggering.

"Approximately 60% of the population

is eligible to give blood at any one time,

but less than 5% of those who are eligible

actually make a donation."

Aren't we always looking for a way to make a difference?

This act of giving only takes about an hour or less of your time,

every 8 weeks, if you are able,

and it's cost free.

Win-win.

Congratulations to all of you who DID

accomplish their January OMG!

Stay sweet!

Karen

Thursday, January 2, 2020

A Post in a Pinch

This is a test.

I was gifted a new iPad for Christmas!

My old one was a mini, and I couldn’t post with it,

so let’s see if I can, now!

Hmmm, pretty good!

I prefer to use my camera and laptop

for a more refined look,

but now I know I can do a post in a pinch

from my iPad!

Now, let’s give this test more purpose!

I am making a QOV

from scraps and leftovers,

and I would like to have the top completed

by the time I travel to North Texas

to spend two weeks with my old friends.

They both have awesome machines

that I can use for FMQ!

The pattern is Celebration Cake

By Aqua Paisley Studio.

I will be linking up to Elm Street Quilts

One Monthly Goal

because it would be nice to have this top finished

ASAP, since I don’t yet know

when my visit will take place.

You see, I have to schedule things around

QuiltCon!

I’ll be there!

Will you?

Enjoy your week!

Thanks for visiting!

~Karen

Friday, December 27, 2019

2020 Vision

I'm slipping in one more post before year's end.

I hope everyone had a wonderful, funderful holiday.

I managed to finish one final UFO

before migration began.

This pattern, B & W Quilt, is a free pattern download

from Andover Fabrics.

I enjoyed FMQing this one!

Keeping it simple, after stitching in the ditch,

I added one of my favorite motifs,

the Greek Key, in coordinating threads.

And, because I didn't want it to be too dense,

that's all I did!

I love, love, love FMQing the Greek Key.

After several seasons of practicing,

I have my favorite 'fall back' motifs to select from.

These are the designs I most like to stitch.

They are fun, they are fast, and they are very rewarding.

It's funny how fun for one isn't fun for another!

I have a quilty friend who loves to do loop d-loops,

and she's nailed them!

They are not, however, one of my favorites.

After almost 3 weeks of lovely visits

with family and friends along the northeast coast,

I finally landed in Texas the week before Christmas.

The adventures have already begun!

Crafty Daughter made fast friends with this llama.

Here, they are sharing their Christmas Wish Lists with each other.

I wish you all a very happy and healthy 2020!

As the year suggests,

let's all approach the new year

with 2020 vision!

~Karen

Tuesday, November 12, 2019

Stitch It and Gift It Blog Hop

Welcome to my stop on the Stitch It and Gift It Blog Hop!

Thank you, Carla at Creatin' in the Sticks

for hostessing yet another fun blog hop.

Most quilters are compassionate, empathetic, giving people who work hard to create beauty, warmth, and security for others. They are inspired by the cause, the person, the backstory, the fabric, the future. Some quilters, like Louise of My Quilt Odyssey, quilt almost entirely for a variety of community groups, and others, like myself, give when they can, or when they are especially moved. Sew Preeti Quilts is a perfect example of how a Quilter constantly rises to the occasion to make a difference in someone’s life. She stitches it, she gives it, and then, very eloquently, shares the story.

I seldom keep what I make. Among my friends, acquaintances, and family, or within my community, there is always someone in need, or with a special occasion to commemorate. It soothes my soul to reach out by way of my passion to sew. It generates my enthusiasm and inspires me to cross that finish line when I am thinking of someone in particular with every stitch.

Today's gifties honor special occasions, a cherished friendship and the impending birth of a first born. I've been diligently working on them to finish them up before I migrate south for the winter. My time is getting short!

Twenty years ago, my daughter graduated from university. She not only walked away with a degree, but with lasting friendships. I've been blessed to get to know her friends throughout the years, to witness them becoming successful adults, and to share their joy in establishing their families.

A few posts back, I shared the beginnings of this quilt for Adrienne. I was excited to be able to use the bonus half square triangles that resulted from constructing Cluck Cluck Sew's hearts to simultaneously piece these Churn Dash blocks by Blossom Heart Quilts.

They shared space on the design wall, and although it was not my original intention, I liked how they looked together so much, I decided to include both blocks into my quilt for Adrienne.

I was not disappointed with the end result! As a matter of fact, I love it!

And here is a quick glimpse of the backing. Would you believe that this is the first time I have ever rounded the corners of a quilt? Finishing up at 54" x 62", it is the perfect size to fold over the back of the couch, and to pull down to snuggle under on a cold winter's evening. I hope that finally making this quilt means a long overdue trip to Abilene to deliver it in person!

This next quilt only took me a week to put together, but I had already precut the fabrics. It will be gifted to my only nephew and his sweet wife in celebration of expecting their first baby. I will be hand delivering it in a very few short weeks as I begin my migration south by first stopping in Maine.

Simple, straight forward sewing for a girl running out of time, and nice big rectangles to showcase a large print, this pattern screamed for me to use the owl fabric bundle that has been sitting on the shelf for the past 5 or 6 years.

I adapted a pattern called Zoo Dwellers by A Bright Corner. Why, you ask, did I have to adapt such a straight forward design? Well, as much as I hate to admit this, when I was precutting my fabrics, I didn't pay any attention to the one way designs. So, instead of a horizontal placement, I had to make mine vertical. Simple fix.

I added an extra row for the back so I could widen a length of cute fabric that I had on hand.

And I used the serpentine stitch programmed into my Janome to quilt both these quilts to speed up the completion process.

I decided to rename this quilt from Zoo Dwellers to Tree Dwellers, and then got quite a chuckle because my nephew and his blushing bride of 1+ years have just completed building their first home and it's a tree house! Finishing up at 47" x 58", this baby quilt is large enough to see many years of use.

Thank you for visiting my blog post today. I think this is the longest post I've ever written in the 10+ years I've been a blogger. Below is a list of the participating bloggers for the remainder of the hop. Be sure to visit and show some quilty love!