May Challange results

 May was a very busy month and I worked right down to the wire.

Challenges were:

1...Turn a box of blue scraps into scrappy blocks....done.

120 blocks done and sold on eBay. 96 blocks still for sale on eBay.

2...Finish the monthly snowman studio wall hangings for the year....done.

Put the binding on December yesterday but didn't get a pic of it.

3...Piece 80 log cabin blocks with flowers and birds.....done and sold on eBay

I also finished the Bob blocks. Just need to piece them into a quilt top.

Started the animal puzzles for Barb. got the lion finished. These are on hold till I get more of the thick stabilizer.

Signed up for a sew along with Scott Flanagan...one of my favorite designers. It is called Stars and Bars. Last Monday's job was to cut out all the pieces.  Took me 3 days. haha  Will get new instructions each Monday.

Working on the embroidered heart blocks. Got half of them pieced together.

I think that is it for May.

June's challenges are...

1...Embroider cards for Barb.  I have 7 or 8 done so far.

I am fusing fabric to the inside to cover the stitches.

A few more....

2...Turn 2 boxes of brown scraps into scrappy blocks. There will be lots of them. I have started on them.

3...Piecing a framed 9 patch quilt with 1.5" squares. There are a few blocks done, but this is going to take a while.

Also, I still am working on...

..Bona Lisa  ... got 3 more blocks to do.

..Quilted Twins Mystery Challenge. Waiting for the fabric to get here.

..Sweet Pea's House of the month.  These are on hold till I get my embroidery machine back from the shop. I'll be behind for May and June.

It's going to be a busy month this time, too.

Hope you are having fun with all your own projects.

Tamale quilt

 After eating tamales for some time, and saving the bags that they come in, I finally had enough to make a quilt. It was quilt a chore to take the bags apart.

I used the embroidery machine to put the words around the border. I took the words from the tamale bag.

The bags were really a thin muslin type, so I fused an interfacing to them.

I used the green, white and red for sashing to represent the Mexican flag.

I'm glad our grocery stores carry these...all the way from Texas.

The bags are different colors, depending on the type of tamale.

I even used the UPC code that was stitched in the seam of the bag.

The back of the quilt is made from the back of the tamale bags.

I used a panto called Dazzle.

It sat on the frame for entirely too long, so today was a "just get it done" day. haha

It is 60 x 76" and used 30 bags. Glide tan thread for the top and So FIne beige for the bobbin.

Now, the question is.... should I save the bags again?    Perhaps make a jacket or something. hmmmm

Old School

 My sister pieced this top and calls it old school. She says that is the new word instead of vintage.  haha

The squares are from men's shirts that I had. She asked me if I had some plaid shirts, so I gave her all I had and this is what she made.

Since it was "old school", I quilted Xs across the blocks.

 

I could not figure out what I wanted to do in the border, so I just did lines and curves.  We'll call it Picasso meets old school. haha

 

The back is a mottled blue wide back. It is darker than my camera shows.

It is about 62 x 75". 

It went pretty fast. She won't get it for a couple weeks. She says she will have

another one (or two) to take back home with me to quilt for her.

March Challenge report

 March was a busy and productive month.

The 3 challenges were:

1.  Use white scraps and make blocks....done....and sold.

2.  Piecing red, white and black blocks...made 80...done. They are on eBay

3.  Embroidered mushroom, snail and flower blocks...made 42...done and sold.

Other things accomplished in March...

..Quilted a heart quilt for my sis

and a stars quilt for her, too.

I made the Sweet Pea house block for March

And embroidered and quilted the April and May snowman wall hangings for the studio. 

I had these snowman faces half fused....and got the other half fused. They are now on eBay. They are all different. 

The new sweater block for Bona Lisa came out, and I got that appliqued.

I made a quilt from some Dear Jane blocks that my sister made. She rejected them for her quilt, so I rescued them. haha

Another half done project is now complete. It uses 16 patch, 9 patch and rail fence blocks. Now it just needs to be quilted.

I got a few more blocks made for the pantry quilt.

dog bones...

garlic...

tomatoes

April challenges are now started.... they are...

1.  Make blocks with red selvages. These are actually done...and sold.  I started a couple days early. haha  I actually made mostly red, then added pink, orange and yellow blocks. Put them on eBay as warm color selvage blocks. They were sold in hours. Made 120 blocks.

1a.. Since I already finished the red selvage blocks, I pulled the next one for May....blue selvages.  I am working on those now.

2.  Embroidery....to finish all the monthly snowman wall hangings for the studio.  I am done through May, so 7 more to do.

3.  Piecing.  I'm making a tamale bag quilt.  We eat tamales that come in cloth bags. I have been saving the bags and now have 30 of them. It's time to make a quilt. For the past 3 days I have been taking the bags apart. It's a chore. It's a thin muslin, so I have to be careful not to cut the bag when taking the seams apart. But, I have a plan.  I have about 8 more bags to take apart first.  Then fuse a thin interfacing on the back of them. 

That's all I got. Told you it was a busy month.