Tell Me a Story "Raining Cats and Dogs" team 7

This January I joined the Tell Me a Story block swap again.

My group had 9 people. We each made blocks to swap and received 2 blocks from each team member.

I made two extra blocks so I had 20 blocks total.

Below is the final layout.

Each block tells a story.

Here are the stories by row (A, B, C...)

and column (1, 2, 3, 4)

A-1 Happy felines partied the night away, not troubled by the rain outside. 

Each kitty was given a pretty striped umbrella as a party favor.

A-2 Kitty sat in the hard chair because she couldn't decide which pillow was coziest for her nap.

A-3 Fancy Cat is playing with a butterfly before the party. Which crown will she wear?

A-4 In Hawaii some cats play the ukelele.

B-1 The rain poured softly as Willow watched the butterfly dance through the droplets.

B-2 The black cat family is having fun at the beach. Look out for big waves!

B-3 Scottie enjoyed soaring in the sky carried by balloons. The clouds looked like tasty bones.

B-4 Leah loves watching the fishies in the bowl and dreaming of how they would taste...

C-1 Kitty loves to explore and run in the garden. When she was caught in the rain she hid in the flowers.

C-2 In Hawaii some cats dance to ukelele music. 

C-3 Kittie is an outdoor cat who loves chasing squirrels. 

When he escapes the house, his owners post his picture on telephone poles.

C-4 Sammie was tired and hungry. The flowers made him think of yummy canned tuna.

D-1 Charlie turned away for a second and when he turned back a bird was eating his food!

Time to teach that bird a lesson...

D-2 As rain drizzles against the glass, the cat tugs the needle through the fabric, 

sewing tiny flowers with each stitch. Admiring the work, the cat knows 

even the gloomiest days can be brightened with a  little artistry.

D-3 A cloudy sky promised long awaited rain but the next morning kitty saw it had 

not even sprinkled and his carefully planted catnip had not sprouted.

D-4 The big orange cat is chilling at home in the city.

E-1 The little puppy liked playing at the park with his friends 

until the gray sky let him know it was about to rain.

E-2 Sarah's dog was praised every time he did something good. 

Sarah loved when he curled up beside her while she did her homework.

E-3 Bully and his friends played in the dark, hiding in the thick bushes.

E-4 Duke pretended the muddy paw prints all over the carpet were NOT his.

The modern kitties backing fabric was bought at Keaton Quilts in NYC.

The birds and butterflies fabric was some of the last fabric I bought for mom.

She wanted to make a table topper quilt.

The quilt has facings instead of binding and a hanging sleeve.

It was fun to get blocks from sewists in Iowa, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire,

Oregon, Idaho, and California. 

Special thanks to Amy for hosting and setting up the groups.

Happy sewing!

 

SAHRR Round #5

My SAHRR wall hanging is taking shape.

Round #5 is a quarter log cabin block.

Instead of the hearth center I fussy cut a famous Parisian street name.

I made the strips 2.5 inches for a 6.5 inch unfinished block.

The wall hanging will only be 18 inches wide but it can be as long as I want.

I have 8 half-square triangles to play with and one more round to construct.

Linking up with SAHRR 2025.

Happy Sewing!

 

Charity flimsy finish

I read about a quick block over on Quilting Gail's blog.

I took some 5 inch squares and made my version of her block.

I only had 5 squares of each fabric. 

There were some gray on gray squares, too.

I used the gray cut at 1" X  5" between the sliced 5 inch squares.

For the 'plus sign' I cut different gray print squares

 in half and added a 2.5" pink square in the middle.

That only made 5 blocks.

So I dug around in my tub of white scraps for alternative blocks

and made this giant 9 patch.

There was enough white to add a border.

Then I found a soft yellow print with buzzing bees for the outer border.

I have a backing fabric and binding cut, so it's ready to be quilted and bound.

My Color Theory blocks are coming along.

I bought a 3 in 1 Color Tool to add to my collection of reference books.

Compare the two photos above.

I changed the 3 squares in the right bottom.

I think it works better.

Mr. M hung this shelf in my sewing room.

He remembers making the shelf with Uncle Harold's help many years ago.

The messy looking pile on the antique pedal sewing machine

is actually organized chaos.

I put all the parts of a project in these bags so I can see them.

I forget about projects that are put away neatly in tubs.

That's all for today.

Happy Sewing! 

 

This & That

I made another tunic top.

The one on the far right.

It has long sleeves with cuffs and a contrasting collar.

There will be at least one more tunic since I have another lovely piece of Liberty lawn.

I made this little catch-all from 10 inch squares.

Very easy and quick to make.

I am posting the following photos of clothes I made when the kids were small.

Today I donated them to the spring sale at church.

I enjoyed making all these and hope some others will enjoy wearing them.

Mom made some of these.

Some early attempts at smocking.

Mom made the purple coat below.

I bought this sweater in Switzerland for Emily.

These Barbies were donated to the sale, too.

All of the Barbie clothes were so tattered and worn.

I didn't want to send nekkid dolls, so I made some dresses from sock tops.

Working on my Color Theory blocks.

Will share them later.

Happy Sewing!

 

SAHRR #4

Round #4 Slice a square and add a strip.

I cut a 6.5 inch square and sliced a bit off one side.

Then I added two strips.

Sort of fulfilled the prompt. Maybe?

Playing around with possible layouts.

I found a place for the hourglass blocks.

The half square triangles will show up in the finished quilt.

Still playing.

Only two rounds to go.

Linking up with the party.

Happy Sewing!

 

In the sewing room

What's going on in my sewing room?

 I finished the piano runner with some Tell Me a Story blocks.

I made all of these except the one in the upper left.

This will be my April challenge for my quilt guild.

I faced this one. It is so quick to do.

I always make a label.

Do you?

Here are some of my Color Theory blocks.

I changed this one.

It is a winter block.

The block below is my analogous block for experiment #4.

I am drawn to royal blue.

Below are the blocks I have made so far.

I want to make another tunic.

The plaid is the main fabric but I want a contrasting collar and cuffs.

None of these options look right to me.

Maybe cream?

More later.

Happy Sewing!

 

SAHRR #3

Round #3 is STARS.

I played around with some different setting ideas and came up with an off-center design.

For round #3 I made 4 inch 8 point stars.

I tried out a couple of sashing fabrics.

Black with flowers and dots.

White cats on black.

Cats, it is.

There is now a plan for the layout of the blocks to come.

I am limiting this mini quilt to 18 inches wide -

because the backing I want to use is only a half yard and is directional.

Can't wait for the next round.

Happy Sewing!

 

Finished piano runner & closet clean up

Juggling several sewing projects keeps me busy.

I finished this piano runner - Tulip Patch from the book Quilty Fun.

I used mostly batiks.

The quilting is vertical wavy lines.

I used facings instead of bindings to finish the runner.

Trying out fabrics for the border.

I'm sorry I don't have a 'before' photo of my quilting supply closet.

Now I can walk into the closet and find things.

I put an extra shelf unit behind the door.

It holds things I don't often use.

Here is grandson David.

When he got the bag I made him, he dressed up and told his mom,

"I'm ready for work!"

His imagination is always so busy.

I love making things for my grandkids.

 

SAHRR Round 2

This week's  round is anything 'Triangle'.

I used Bonnie Hunter's Essential Triangle ruler to cut triangles from 2.5 inch strips.

Two triangle blocks were possible, depending on how I sewed the triangles together.

I made 8 simple triangle blocks and 4 hourglass blocks.

I could make pinwheels from the simple triangle blocks.

I'm going to wait to sew them into the top I'm making.

The photos show some possibilities.

Linking up with the SAHRR bloggers.

Happy Sewing!

 

SAHRR First Round

I'm loving this SAHRR.

I chose a simple 12" block from those suggested by Kathleen.

I looked on quilterscache.com for a block that started with one of my initials 

but in the end decided I liked the simple King's Crown block.

In this block there is space for a large piece of my focus fabric.

If you look closely you can see crowns on the magenta fabric.

Above are my two blocks.

I haven't decided how to set the blocks and I may make another of today's block.

In other sewing, I made a heart block for a project my quilt guild is making.

Now I have time to start my March piano runner.

Happy Sewing!

 

This week in the sewing room

This week I made another version of the crossbody bag I made for myself.

Grandson David needed a treasure bag for his collection.

He asked for gray and royal blue. I told him about this constellation fabric.

His 3rd grade class is studying Outer Space, so he liked the constellation idea.

The lining fabric has a pirate theme. 

I hope this reminds him of the pirate movies we enjoyed watching together.

Below are the front, back, and flap showing the lining.

The left piece has a long pocket with a place for pencils and a small notebook.

I used magnets instead of hook and loop tape.

I made the strap out of fabric enclosing a stiff fusible interfacing.

I put the suggested front zip pocket and back slip pocket.

Instead of a zipper for the main body, I made a bound opening with an elastic loop and button.

I made the vinyl ID pocket as the original pattern used. 

I think my Made in TN label makes it look smart.

Inside view.

The elastic loop is really a ponytail elastic.

Some old coins from France, Canada, and Mexico 

plus some polished stones were included.

The bag was mailed Thursday with a copy of the Tales of Beadle the Bard.

I am working through The Quilter's Field Guide to Color with some members of Uncommon Threads.

Experiment #1 was to make a 'warm' purple block and a 'cool' purple block.

The blocks could be purple or green. I chose purple.

The warm block is on the left, cool block on the right.

Experiment #2 was to sort color swatches into seasons. 

The colors each of us chose were completely up to us.

Then we were to take one season and use 3-5 of our colors to make a block.

I chose my winter colors and made the block above.

White, royal blue, pineapple, and raspberry.

Experiment #3 was to think of three emotions and find 4 colors for each.

Make a block for one emotion with the colors.

I made 'jubilant' with chartreuse, goldfish, turquoise, and magenta.

I changed the flamingo for magenta and like it better.

Some of the colors do not show correctly in the photos.

Now I'm ready for the first round of the SAHRR tomorrow.

Happy Sewing!