Slow and Easy Wins the Race

When summer rolls around,

there often isn't a lot of sewing time on the docket.

I know, for me, grabbing snippets of sewing time

has to satisfy that innate passion.

Sew a strip together here, pin blocks together there,

press those seams quickly before you head out the door;

and it amazes me how much I can accomplish.

First things first.

I finally finished my green Paper Lanterns quilt.

It was a very windy picture day,

so over the wood pile it went.

It blew off as soon as I snapped this picture,

so I didn't even attempt to photograph the back.

But it's cute!  You'll just have to believe me.

I chose to quilt it with white Aurifil 50 wt. thread

using the Serpentine Stitch and it was the perfect choice.

Thank you, Stephanie, of Loft Creations, for another fun pattern!!

Paperdolls next?

When an elderly quilter in N. Tx went into an assisted care facility,

her fabrics were offered to her quilting guild.

There was so much fabric, it filled one stall of a two stall garage.

While I was visiting, I was invited to "shop"

and here is one result of that booty:

It's from the Falling Triangles tutorial 

by Missouri Star Quilt Co.

 Except, I worked with an assortment of fat quarters,

scaled down the size of the blocks,

and ended up with a 40"x 50" top.

I used my walking foot and multicolored thread for the quilting.

It will be winging its way to Massachusetts on Monday

as a new baby (gender yet unknown) quilt 

for a very special young couple.

I will share one more thing, 

and then I'll save the rest for another post.

I think one of the reasons I'm getting a lot accomplished

even though I'm not marathon sewing,

is because I've made these trays for traveling 

from one station to another.

My sewing machine still lives in the kitchen

but my cutting station and the ironing board are in a different room.

I picked up a couple of plastic trays from the 

not-a-dollar-store-anymore,

and glued a layer of batting to the bottom.

It measures 10" x 14".

I can load them up and go from the cutting table,

to the sewing machine,

back to the ironing board,

and even into the living room

to work off my lap

while I watch a show in the evening!

Plus, they can be stacked on top of each other

even with projects laid out on them,

and tucked away when it's time to tidy up.

Okay, one more thing, since these blocks have shown up.

Here are some on my design wall.

already constructed.

I believe it was Adrienne of Chezzetcook Modern Quilts

that was destashing one summer,

and I was the lucky recipient of all her unwanted fabric.

The other day I was rifling through my fabrics,

which are still packed up for the winter,

and my hand pulled out this fabric that she must have used

to back a quilt.

There was enough leftover for me to construct 20 - 9" blocks.

With a coordinating border or two,

it should work up into a fun crib size quilt!

Quick, easy, cute, AND so far, free!

Had enough?

Okay, I won't tell you about cleaning the oven yesterday.

It was quite the experience.

I think I remember doing it before.

Once.

Hope you're doing well

and having as much quilty fun as me!

~karen