SO many things going on !!!!!!

Well there's never a lull in the action in the quilting world !!  There are SO many activities going on to participate in that it can make your head SPIN !!!!!  One is the 12 months, 12 designers, 12 contests that Moda is hosting.   I missed January, but the February designers were Sweetwater.  Their contest assignment was to make a 6 inch block ( or more than one if you're more organized than I am) ..... and you had to use Sweetwater fabric.  

So, I have a basket of  their "Noteworthy" scraps that I just LOVE and thought would make for some cute Beach Houses !!  

Next on the agenda is this baby quilt .... I'm signing up again for Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal March edition to keep my momentum going and get this baby quilted ..... or half quilted (at least !!!)    

Also ...... have  you seen the fun on Insta Gram that Amy's Creative Side is running !?! It's the #IGQuiltFest 2017 .  Every day she has a little prompt for people to answer and post.  The first day were selfies and introductions.  The second day was a picture of your sewing "partner" (aka sewing machine.).  Today she's asking everyone to post a picture of  "where the magic happens" ( i.e. where you sew and create) ......... ummmmmmm I'm gonna need a little time to clean up the think tank /sewing room first before I can take a picture !!!! 

So those are just a few of the gazillions of activities to try and keep up with in the big wide quilting world !!!  Have FUN !!!!

Be back soon !

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

February GOAL !!!! DONE !!!

Baby quilt basted ....... check !  That's it ..... just one baby quilt basted .  Knowing how I roll, I only set myself up for a simple little goal for the February 

Elm Street Quilts One-Monthly-Goal

......and there it is ..... Ta Daaaaaa !!!!  Now you may not think this is a big deal, but I'm feeling rather proud of myself for ignoring oh so many other things that I really should be doing and spending an hour focusing on accomplishing this teeny tiny goal. And now I'm motivated to start quilting this baby !!! In fact ..... I think I'll make that my goal for March ..... but of course I'm not about to overwhelm myself and say the whole thing will be quilted by the end of the month ....... unless of course my fairy godmother plans on making an appearance to declutter my house and get all my stacks of paperwork for the day job all caught up.  No ..... nope .... lets just go with getting 1/3  -> 1/2 of the quilting finished  .   Yep ..... I think just taking small bites at a time is the way to go !

                                     
                                                        Be back soon !
                                                        Toodles !
                                                        Mary Anne ( aka Mare)

The Very Last Possible Minute Valentine's Day Mug Rug

So..... here is this year's Valentine's project  ..... put together at the very last possible minute ( well not quite ... I guess if it was 11:59 it would be the last possible minute ) .  Anyway , this is a simple, easy mug rug I put together really quickly when I really didn't have the time to step over and shove over piles of work I should be doing instead !)  

First I made 2 different size paper heart patterns.  The smaller heart is about 3/4 inch smaller all around than the larger heart.

I used pinking shears to cut out a red wool felt heart from the larger pattern. 

Next,  using the smaller heart pattern, cut out 2 fabric hearts and 1 heart out of batting. (I just had to use my I Love Lucy fabric !  Perfect for this project !! )

Layer the batting to the wrong side of one of the fabric hearts.

Next layer the fabric/batting combo on top of the other fabric heart , right sides together.

Now with 1/4" seam allowance , stitch all the way around the heart sandwich , through all 3 layers. 

Clip the curves and the point to make smoother turning.  Also, I found it helpful to trim the seam allowances around the curves for smoother turning and less bulk.  Careful not to cut into your seam !

Now pull the layers apart.....

and CAREFULLY cut about a 2 inch slit in the fabric heart .  Now turn the heart out to the right side through this slit.  No need to stitch up the slit since it will be covered by the wool felt heart. 

Smooth out your points and curves and press.

Last step :  layer your fabric heart (slit side down) on the wool felt heart.  Stitch 1/4" around the entire fabric  heart to attach it and quilt it.  You can stop there or  do more quilting on the fabric heart ( maybe more smaller concentric hearts or cross hatch) .

So there it is ..... my quick and easy Valentine Mug Rug !  Perfect with my I Love Lucy mug!!!  Happy sewing and Happy Valentine's Day !!!

Be back soon !!

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

Just under the wire !!! February One Monthly Goal

(SIGH) .......OK ....... so here we are a month later and so much for my big plan to participate in the January "One Monthly Goal" by Elm Street Quilts. I was all"I plan to spend just 10 - 20 minutes a day sewing" blah blah blah .  OK .... so that didn't happen .   Let's just move on to this month's "One Monthly Goal" challenge ...... which I signed up for at the last possible minute ...... well I signed up with just 2 hours left until the deadline ( thus the title of this blog post )

ANYWAY ....... this is my February  goal.  This is a baby quilt I started about 2 years ago for my niece's baby ( who is now 15 months old).

I finished up all the applique ......

and now my goal is to get it basted , quilted, and get the binding on and send this quilt off to my niece and her baby girl before that baby girl is old enough to go to college !!!!!  OK ...... so maybe basting, quilting AND binding is biting off way more than I can chew for a one month goal ........ so lets just go with getting this thing basted  ....... anything else that gets done from now until the end of February will be icing on the cake !!!   I better get moving ...... February is a short month !!!!   Here's the link Elm Street Quilts One Monthly Goal February

Also linking up with Cooking up Quilts for Main Crush Monday ( now that it's Wednesday !)  Here's the link Main Crush Monday

Be back soon!

Toodles,

Mary Anne ( aka Mare)

One Monthly Goal !!!!

Look what I just came across on Facebook !!!  Elm Street Quilts  is trying to give slackers like me some incentive to get our acts together now that we are starting a brand new year .  You link up your goal this month, then post  your completed goal the next - and it doesn't have to be an entire gigantic undertaking - if your goal is to applique 2 flowers on 1 block that's your goal !!! ( or in my case dig out the sewing machine from under the pile of UFO's - my current goal - ugh!) .   So ..... my new mantra is to spend 10   - 20 minutes a day  - just a little snippet of time - working on something - anything sewing or quilting related .   I have to do this for myself ( work schedule has been just too much and totally soul sucking  - - working in health care is not good for your health !!) .  AND, I have to do it to declutter !!!!  We may be downsizing soon and all my stuff will not fit ( uh oh......).  So, anyway , if you need some incentive and a UFO Support Group ..... zip on over to Elm Street Quilts blog page and sign up !!!  ( Oh and there are PRIZES and designers ..... and did I mention PRIZES !!!)

Be back soon!
Toodles,
Mary Anne ( aka Mare)

Happy New Year 2017 !!!!

(meme borrowed from Pineapple Fabrics)

So here we are at the beginning of another brand new year .  Don't know where the last one went and I can't really think of much that I accomplished in my sewing world ( other than adding yet another UFO to the list .......) . So here's to a new beginning and big plans to get things accomplished !!!   We have another big happy event on the horizon with son #2's wedding coming up in November so I really really need to get organized !!!!!!  

Here's wishing you all a happy, healthy, productive/organized New Year  !!!

Be back soon!

Toodles,

Mary Anne (aka Mare)

"A Star a Star ....Dancing in the Night ....."

So here we are just one week away from Christmas !!!!  And what am I doing ?  Well digging out one of many Christmas UFO's  of course and deciding if I should finish it.  Are my pumpkins and other fall decorations put away ...... NOPE!  Is our Christmas tree up and decorated ...... NOPE! (it's still lying on the garage floor ).   Do I have a wreath on the front door yet ..... NOPE!  Did I wrap anything yet ...... NOPE! ( I'm just thrilled that I am almost finished shopping .... all done online at the last possible minute to make it just in the nick of time for Christmas delivery).  So "A Star a Star... Dancing in the Night" Christmas stitchery will more than likely be put on the back burner for yet another year ( darn ..... so close !! )   along with the other long suffering Christmas UFO's !!!  And even though I have plenty to keep me busy ......

.....I still have visions of new pretty fabric dancing in my head !!!!

From my over flowing fabric stash to  yours ...... I wish you a Merry Christmas and a Happy and Healthy New Year !!!

Be back soon !

Toodles,

Mary Anne ( aka Mare)