Bookcase Quilt .... selvage style

I saw a quilt like this and had to have one. i spent days cutting up selvages. good thing i have lots of selvages.

It's not large....about 24 x 40.  good size to hang.

Have you looked at selvages lately?

They have the name of the fabric line and the designer name.

Reads just like the title of a book and the author....i love it.

Most are white....but some are different colors.

Some sound like gardening books.

A few even sound like cookbooks

And there are novels and mysteries. all a bookcase needs. hahaha

That was lots of fun.  there is going to be a lot of SID when i quilt this.

Still HSTerical

This week i made small 2" HSTs....black and brights. so far, i have 192 of them. there will be 450 or so before i am finished. 

I made one set of 6 from every color i have. 

Many more to make yet. some colors will have only 6....some 12...and some 18 or more.

And then putting together all of those 450....the quilt will still only be about 40x46".  sad ... too small for all that work. gotta figure out a plan to make it a bit larger.

But, more fabric being used...so all is good.

Public Library Quilt

 Our public library in town...well, the next town, actually..haha....has a small children's section. and i have had these book embroidery designs for several years....bought specifically to make a quilt for the library. that finally came to fruition.   ta da!

My favorite block is the cow...isn't she pretty?

This little dinosaur reminds me of how kids lay down and read books.

And another dinosaur

I'm thinking this is a dragon.

I don't think an elephant can sit like this....can they? 

And a frog on his lily pad ... probably reading about bugs.

The giraffe has to take many books at a time to be able to read them.

Do you think the monkey reads Curious George?

What would the monster read?

The owl probably has a recipe book....how to cook mice.

I'll bet the robot reads sci-fi.

Poor turtle has a precarious pile there.

This is the back...still need to tack down the sleeve.

I just did a simple outline and echo in the blocks, SID the sashing and border and meander in the border.

I hope the kids like it. 

HST week 8?

Are we in week 8?  i am losing track. 

But, some of the blue and white blocks have been made. still a long way to go. if i stay home for a while....something might get done. hahaha

There are lots of blues....i'm trying to stay on the dark side....don't know if i have enough of the darks...might have to throw some lighter blues in there later.

The whites are also different but not so noticeable.

I'm going to go sew more of them now. 

A Whirlwind Week - the good and the bad

I spent the last few days with my sister in Illinois and went to the Duck. 

BAD - Unfortunately, i forgot to pack my camera. i kept thinking i was forgetting something....but it didn't dawn on me what it was until i had been gone for 2 days. sigh!!

GOOD - I left on Friday.....with my truck full of 'stuff'...as always. We went to the annual book sale in Greenville, IL on Friday....always a fun stop. came back with the back of the truck full of books of all kinds. some for me..some for sis....some for the Hobbit Hole. after leaving that sale....we passed by a library in a small town that was having a book sale outside.....tables worth. so, we stopped and bought a few more books. hahaha

GOOD - I got some work done on the Duck. finished putting up the luan on the last wall of the dining room and painted it black. and got 7 barn wood boards put up. that doesn't sound like a lot....but i had to go around an electrical plug and an electric switch plate with 3 switches. it takes a bit of measuring, cutting....re-measuring, re-cutting....till i got those pieces up. and it was pretty warm. 

GOOD - I finally found someone to make me a stained glass window for the transom spot above the back door. it should be ready to pick up in 2-3 weeks. i am excited to see what she does. i sort of gave her artistic license to do whatever....something graphic and colorful were my instructions. she had some pretty things in her shop.

GOOD - I finished the grouting on my hutch. that is always a messy, yucky job. and it is not all that great...but it is done. i might have to cover it up with a table runner or something.

BAD - My contractor dude, Rick, was supposed to show up and install my pocket doors....but that didn't happen. so i didn't get those last 3 pieces of drywall up off the floor. i can't seem to get that project going.

BAD - And there was a storm Monday night that messed up some of my shingles and my roof leaked. I came in on Tuesday morning to water on the floor in the office. i called a roofer and he came out promptly....and it is supposed to be repaired today....i hope so.  i left a couple of buckets where it was leaking so hopefully it will catch any water if the roof doesn't get repaired before it rains. 

BAD - And there is a small tree laying over by the fence. i don't know if that was the result of a storm or what. i was going to either cut it down or push it back up and tie it to the tree next to it....hahhaaha.....but i didn't get that accomplished.

GOOD - My handy hubby built me two shelves so i took those down to the Duck. and went and bought some casters to put on the bottom of them so they could be moved easily. I got 1 set of casters installed....one to go for the next time. 

GOOD - Oh, and i helped my sis take the ceiling down in her sunroom so she could build more book shelves for her ever expanding library. it was a messy, dirty job but we got it basically finished. there is just a bit around one edge that she has to take care of. she will put a tin ceiling up in there....gonna be cool. 

GOOD - So, now i am back home and feel kind of lost. got to get into a different mold and do different things. this morning i staked 6 tomato cages that handy hubby made. and trimmed more dead branches from the apple trees. 

GOOD - I got another big box of selvages from my friend, Leanne, so that was fun to come home to. i have already cut the dots out....just need to trim them up and see how many blocks i can make. i have another friend sending me some selvages, too. i am so excited to have friends share their selvages with me. that is going to be a fun quilt.

BAD - GOOD - My only other job for today is to mow the grass at the studio. it's been a couple of weeks since i cut it and it has rained quite a bit....it is rather tall.  gonna be a lot of nice grass mulch for the garden. 

I shall try and remember the camera for the next trip so i can share pics.

Enchanted Pond .... HSTeria III

Well, the 3rd HSTeria quilt top was supposed to be blue and white.....i have started it. but the enchanted pond layer cake jumped out at me one day and said...use me first.

So, HSTeria III is Enchanted Pond.  it is so pretty.  i had to buy yardage to add sashings and borders. it is 66 x 76".  i pieced 3 columns at a time. looking at the picture....i could have mixed up the blocks a bit more. you just don't see that when it is laying on a table. but it is what it is.

The blocks went together quickly with Thangles. each pinwheel block has an opposite twin....using the same fabrics...but in the opposite area. 

 For every 2 pieces of layer cake....i got 2 pinwheel blocks....no waste at all.

So, NOW the next HSTeria top will be blue and white....hahahhaha

But those brights with black are calling my name, too.  i just cut bright strips today for little thangles.  

Vicki, you created a monster.  I guess that is a good thing....fabric is coming off the studio shelves.

HSTeria week 6

1 package of Thangles + 1 layer cake of Enchanted Pond fabric = this week's HSTeria project.

I love the Enchanted Pond fabrics. the designer is Holly Taylor for Moda. i have about a dozen more pinwheels to make.

Most all of the pinwheels are finished. for each colorway, i made 2 opposite pinwheels. 

Then i just had to go and get more yardage for sashings and borders. i believe this quilt is staying right here with me....i like it. 

Should have it all put together in a few days....hopefully. i will show you the final product when i get it all pieced. 

Selvage Dots blocks update

Last week, my new best friend, Leanne, sent me a box of selvages. i was in selvage heaven.
of course, i don't NEED more selvages.....but i did NEED selvage dots. 

They were stuffed in that box.  look at all those.  for 2 nights i cut out dot sections and trimmed them down.

For 3 nights i made 6" selvage dot blocks.  i got 32 blocks from what Leanne sent me. isn't she the greatest? 

Now i had enough for 6 rows of blocks....so i HAD to put them together.  i only need 9 more rows. haha gotta wait till i get more dots.

I put one row horizontally and the next row vertically.  i like the look that gives.

And i am so happy that designers are now putting something on their selvages besides plain dots. actually, i don't know if it is the designers job to do that....but whoever is doing it.....i want more. see the little acorns?

This one has birds. at first i thought they were leaves....but i think they are birds. you can tell next to the birds that i pieced two pieces together to make that strip. no dots were wasted.

This one has butterflies

I had several with these little flowers

I had never seen these ribbons before. 

And, my personal favorite....spiders. i LOVE those. 

I may have to call this quilt the Leanne quilt.....her dots have made almost half of my blocks so far. thank you again, Leanne....you are a life saver.

Tell it To The Stars - June

This month i got my 2 blocks done on the first day. no procrastination.

Not sure i like the coloring.....but i followed instructions. LOL

Half way through this mystery quilt.