This Is My Wish

I know it is being played in a 30 second commercial but the song is quite lovely.  There is a free download for the mp3 file through 12/31/13,  courtesy of Glade at http://www.glade.com/en/this-is-my-wish

Featured in this Holiday Anthem are Jordin Sparks with the Young People's Chorus of New York City.  Glade is making a generous donation to Toys for Tots as well.  Lyrics below, posted courtesy of a you tube commenter.   I want to be able to find this again even if it does make a little teary---I am such a sentimental sap.   After all,  I can't get through "Silent Night" and "How Great Thou Art" without tears running down the cheeks.

This is my wish, my wish for the world,
that peace would find its way to every boy and girl.
This is the time, the time for harmony.
Let love be the song that everybody sings.

Fill the air with joyful noise.
Ring the bells and raise your voice.
Let there be peace on Earth.
Let there be peace on Earth.
Lift your light let it shine... shine, shine, shine.
Let there be peace on Earth.
Let there be peace on Earth.

I hear the sweetest sound,
the sound of hope to come.
Together we can bring good will to everyone.
Let it start with you.
Let it start with me.
Let every nation rise to sing this melody.

Fill the air with joyful noise.
Ring the bells and raise your voice.
Let there be peace on Earth.
Let there be peace on Earth.
Lift your light. let it shine... shine, shine, shine.
Let there be peace on Earth.
Let there be peace on Earth.

Fill the air with joyful noise.
Ring the bells and raise your voice.
Let there be peace on Earth.
Let there be peace on Earth.
Lift your light. let it shine... shine, shine, shine.
Let there be peace on Earth.
Let there be peace... on... Earth....

party time

Yesterday, as I mentioned previously was the Bama Belles Christmas luncheon at the Oxford (AL) Olive Garden.  Good group!  Yes a few faces were missing at the table for various reasons but many of us were there.  Some of us went back to the church afterwards for a little show and tell. We also helped Teresa get her ginormous Carpenter's Star quilt that will be her daughter and son-in-laws Christmas present pinned.  Well maybe it wasn't that huge but compared to the donation quilts, it was!  LOL.  pin and shift up the center section, pin  and shift left and then up, then shift right and then up and pin, pin, pin.

I showed you my challenge top last week using the "On the Boardwalk" pattern.  Here is Lois' version using scrappy nine patches to offset  her Debbie Mumm yardage in the snowballs and binding.

 And this is Valera's.sweet quilt.  She has yardage for another quilt or two down the line as her focus is the lightest print used in the triangle wedges.  I don't know that she gave a name for the quilt but she told me she used a trio of Scrap Crazy rulers.  I believe that THIS LINK , if this is the right set, is from Creative Grids.  She can let me know if I am wrong.

Lois had a few more to turn in so I was getting pictures and logging them into my document before I could help pin.  Some of recognize by name, others not.  LOL if you ask Lois she usually says something like "I had lots of scraps to use up" or "I spotted it in a magazine".  Either way they are wonderfully scrappy and quilted in interesting ways.

Here is Shaded or Split Nine Patch.   people.virginia.edu/~rfk2u/shaded_9patch.doc  is one version I found that they had recreated from the old HGTV "Simply Quilts" website.  Billie Lauder was demonstrating the block and its versatility.  Because of its diagonal properties of half light-half dark, it works like any log cabin block or for that matter, faux log cabin blocks to make Lois' Medallion  or Barn Raising version.  Other options would be Streak of Lighting or Sunshine and Shadows sets.  Look at THIS LINK from Big  Horn Quilts for various log cabin sets and you may see other possible sets for this simple but effective block.

 

This one I just called  Rails with alternating blocks.  It was one of two quilts using similar fabrics.

Lois uses this pattern a good bit, probably a go-to version when she has 2 or 2 1/2 inch strips on hand.  You may recognize it as Bonnie Hunter's Many (or Scrappy) Trips Around the World.  She called it both names in her tutorial.

Here is one that Lois couldn't tell me BUT I think it is a version of Disappearing Nine Patch.  Different setting that you may normally see though.  Anne Weins of Quiltwoman calls her version "Scotch Blocks" but they look considerably larger than these blocks.

This pattern I do know as I have made two pro bono quilts with it.  Atkinson Designs "Bridgecreek Blossom"  .  Lois has an embroidery machine and used it to quilt the setting triangles.  Doesn't it look neat?

 

Lastly there is this mystery block quilt.  Yep, she said she saw it in a magazine but didn't know which one.  I spot a pieced in Friendship Star at center. This one intrigues me! Valera and I were both trying to figure out how it was pieced.  Was there partially seaming involved?  Lois said not but I think you do that 4 corner sections and then add sashing with flipping corners that form that star when joined.  Fun cow print at centers and the same color background for the blocks and the stars tie it together.  I am drafting this one up in EQ.  Perhaps someone can tell me the block source???

And there you have it for show and tell.  As I hoped to do, all but Valera's quilt were delivered to Gene on my way home for his Angel Quilt project.  It was a bit short in length so it will be a better option for the younger kids.  I have about 8 or 9 others that fit that bill at the moment.

What is on tap for today?  Judging from the way things are scattered about in my sewing room, I need to do a bit of picking up, paper sorting and so forth.  I had hoped to start the friendship block project but I am awaiting some confirmation on some details before prepping for it--don't want to not conform with the other participants at least on a few points!  DJ's surgery is eminent so my time will not be my own but I have a book and some embroidery to drag along with me to help pass the time.  Knitting too if I chose.  I don't think binding a queen sized quilt or hand quilting would be as good an option though that is all on my to-do list.

Till next time--------

finished to flimsy #2

After leisurely sewing for the last 4 days I finish the pro bono top and finished up my afternoon by prepping the backing fabric and binding.  Not pressed, nor is the other tops but I'm done.

Pattern source:  Billie Lauder's Uneven Nine Patch from More Quick Quiilt Tricks.  Quick?  Maybe not so much but I started with 5 inch squares, not sections I could strip piece.   I have always wanted to try the "Battlefield" block from the same book which starts with 10,5 inch squares.  Maybe one day, I will. when some fabric comes along that seems suited to it.

 I used Judy's leftover Oriental fabrics and kitted this up with the same background print she had used in her quilt, that Lake colored Fusion from Robert Kaufmann.  She had originally made a baby quilt for a friend's long awaited grandchild .  She really likes the blended looking quilt and combines neutrals beautifully.  The way the pink pops out and makes this prints form their own motifs it looks like I blended too.  Experimenting here.

I have made alternating colored Puss in the Corner blocks before but the background stayed the same and  it was sashed and  had cornerstones.  Seen below from one of our fabric challenge reveals back in Dec 2008. Lois

Lois had done one as well but hers looks totally different than either of the ones I am showing today-----It's all in the fabric itself and the placement in the block, I guess..

Soon I will be off to Olive Garden for our Belle's Christmas lunch and then a reveal of that Mumm fabric.  One of the gals has said she would like to pin her daughter's Christmas quilt.  Normally we would not do this on party day but she needs to get it done and I'll help.  Also I want to get pictures taken of the donation quilts Lois has ready to turn in.  Spare the husband the holding them up and complaints that his shoulder hurts.   If they look suitable for teens 12-17 then they are going to go to Gene's Angel Quilt project.  I just need to get them logged in the quilt document, number assigned and the pics taken.  If he is available, I hope to drop them off on the way home as I would be going right past where he works on the way.

DJ's surgery is coming up on Thursday and I do have some handwork to prep before then so that is next up.  That and a holiday pillowcase for that recent tree skirt and maybe a few quick bags for quilt entries while the serger is out.  Never stops here for long, LOL.

home sew-in

I was supposed to go to the guild "impromptu" sew-in today and tomorrow but elected to stay home and concentrate on sewing here at home.  Minus about 4 hours of driving time, the fee for the sew-in and whatever I spent for lunch/gas.

I had to put my plans for doing "On Parade" on hold as I do no have enough of the background fabric it would require.  I did order something but it will not be here for a few days and I will be busy with something else by then, LOL.  You know I will!  I'll be serging pillowcases  (probably!)  and then quilting those three donation quilts soon enough.

I pulled out something that has been in my storage stack for a long, long time intended for a donation top.  Chances are, I would have been working on something pro bono there.  The friendship block can wait a day or two and requires some hand embellishment.  I will have plenty time to do that at the hospital next week.  This particular quilt kit, a large 4 patch on point with a zigzag setting, was taking up a ton of room since I had the backing and all the extra fabrics stuffed in with it.  I elected to move it along, get it out of there.

In the midst of sewing these ginormous 4 patches I elected to change my mind about the design.  Now I am doing Billie Lauder style Puss in Corner or uneven nine patches alternating the background colors and what fabric will show up in the corners of the blocks.

I think what clinched my decision was a picture of a scrappy one that cycles through on my screen saver but this will be more planned as I had a stack of leftover Oriental fabrics in pinks, aqua, yellow one of the Belles had passed on.

Here is the older quilt from August 2012 but I have made others over the years.  Triple Rails, bowties and Puss in the Corners are often my go-to scrappy quilts.

Well, I have a stack of blocks pinned and ready to feed though the machine so best get back to it!  I can talk about piecing or I can actually DO it.  Hope you have had a good day.  You know where to find me this weekend!

finished to flimsy

On The Boardwalk designed by Anne Wiens, Sweetgrass Creative Designs and published by Quiltwoman dot com.  Most of the sewing was done today and I put the two long side borders on after supper.  The backing is made and the binding seamed.   I did not really follow the designers directions and strip pieced a good bit of this.  It made more "sense" to me to do it that way, but someone else would be fine with the original action plan.  It finished about 45 x 58 inches.

I used just two Debbie Mumm  fabrics in the strips.  and I know this reads as a "tan" print from across our living room.  The green cornerstones and border is also a Debbie Mumm print but some stuff I had leftover from making appliance covers for the kitchen.  The Mumm fabric was donated to my quilt group from an area quilter.  Since there was a good bit of it, I spread it all out at our meeting site and issued the challenge---use it to make a quilt for the kids.

 Here is the stuff up closer.  The yellow, green and pink just sort of blend together in that long shot.

So what to do tomorrow?  I may cut out a version of the other pattern I linked to the other day.  On Parade.  I DO like a combo of fabric that I stumbled upon the other day and think it would be fun to play with.  My pattern shows it with the yellow background version, in the smaller thumbnail.

OR I could do the friendship block (shhhhh) or dig around in the Christmas fabric bin to see what I can find to make a pillow case to put Kristine's tree skirt in.  I did not have time to whip one up before I sent the skirt on earlier this week and told her I "owed" her one.   I am not quite ready to switch out machines again though.  I have 5 machines and do like to rotate using them so this time it was the Kenmore electronic slant- a-matic.  It has a nice stitch even if I do miss a few of the features of the other machines---like being able to change the needle position.  If I am going to make another top, I want to complete it on the same machine.

I'll see how it shakes out in the morning after I read through that pattern, LOL.  For now I will content myself with the fact that I did reach another short term goal and my Belles fabric challenge is completed with a few days to spare.   Can I get a woohoo?  LOL

Finished--temporarily anyway.

This was this morning around 10 with one long edge to go.  Skyler parked and did not really want me to proceed with the rest of  the binding.  You rotate anything and he'll nip at you.  I gave in and headed to the shower, LOL.

I finished the binding about 3:30 and then called Gene to see if he was available to deliver this one and the other 6 that I was donating on behalf of Bama Belles.  I don't live far from his work site so said I would be there in about 10-15 minutes.

However, I needed to get a picture of it for the Wrap Them gallery pages first.   Now I see how truly awful that picture turned out.  Very fuzzy--sorry about that.  DJ was griping at me that his shoulder was hurting from holding it up, especially after the last time when he had to hold up about 15 of them.  This is "oversized" compared to the usual ones too.  I was griping at him to hold it straight at the top when all he wanted me to do is hurry up.  

This is Hopscotch, a Terry Atkinson pattern.  I like it and would make another one but in different fabrics. I was using what I had on hand and busting stash.  I do not think that this pattern is available any longer though I did spot one at The Virginia Quilter but there are some listings in the secondary market as well.  

So what is next?  The Belles Mumm challenge project.  I was emailing back and forth with my lefthanded quilter friend yesterday and mentioned that I needed to get a quick quilt ready with challenge fabric.  She suggested a tesselated friendship star on delaware quilts.  I will not link to it directly as it takes you to a pdf file but you can find it on this page and look for 2008 Mysteries for Relay and then right click on her link.   Great two color quilt, I told my friend, but I had a mix of two maybe three fabrics to use.  Save that tesselated star thing for a two color donation quilt.

Me:
 I am toying with this one---from my pattern fileshttp://www.quiltwoman.com/On-the-Boardwalk-Quilt-Pattern.aspx 

OR this one which might play well with the subtle stripe piecehttp://www.quiltwoman.com/On-Parade-Quilt-Pattern.aspx

LHQ:I like the second one - it looks more complicated - but if you're short on time - pick the easiest one - ;)) 

Me:I'll do that one but think I will use some fabric that I stumbled across (again) in an overflow bin this morning.  Trust me, it will be prettier with that mix of fabric than these Mumm prints---which you haven't seen, come to think of it, LOL.

You all will see if soon enough.  I'll be cutting tomorrow but I already know that I am going to do a strip piecing approach  to the "On The Boardwalk" rather than cutting and then sewing long strips of pieced sashing bits.  Sew it and then cut it makes more sense than the designers direction.  In the end it looks the same.  

I have also found a couple of idea for the door stop or "pincushion on steroids" hop.   Pinterest, etsy and craftsy looking.  Googling.  I've got some time there but it is good to have a plan.   Should be fun.  Formulating my action plan and keeping busy is the name of the game. 

It turns out that DJ will be having a surgical procedure later next week.  There will be time spent at the hospital and a couple nights stay for him.  It needs to be done and I'll work around it.   He apologized to me because I had planned on attending the Friendship Quilters Christmas party.  He didn't have the calendar with him to check if it was okay.   Really he does not ask a whole lot of me so I just let the leaders know that I will not be at this weekend's sew-in or the party.  I need to use my time wisely the next couple of days and running back and forth would waste 4 hours of sewing time.   There will be other sew-in's.   

And sew it goes--------

two down!

In the picture below I had 106 more inches to finish binding-----------

I had this all done by 4 p.m. Saturday afternoon.  Then threw it in the washer along with the Juggle and Reflections quilts I had made for the last two hops I participated in.  Now all three have that crinkled aged look.   I will be mailing it on to my niece as soon as I find a box to put it in.  Folded up it measures 14 x 14 x 4 so good luck with that, huh?

Then I moved on to Harvest and finished it up around 4 this afternoon.  Horrid picture of it though.  I need to borrow Glynda's fence or put a rod on the back of the shed again to get an outside shot.  I pinned the paint chip to the piece so I don't forget to take it with me to guild.  Hooray for a finish even if I won't display it this year.

When I stripped the sheets off the bed to launder them this morning, I switched over to the Christmas Patience Corner.  Then switched out all the wall hangings to the winter/Christmas themes.  Other than getting out the Nativity set and maybe the ceramic Christmas tree that might be it for decorating this year.  DJ and I will have to decide if we trust Skyler enough around the artificial tree.  Lately I have had to tell him he is getting a lump of coal in his kitty stocking, LOL.    Biting and getting on the kitchen counter to get in the sink!  Bad kitty, bad!

I also had  him help me get pictures taken of the donation quilts we had on hand.  I needed to put numbers on the ones most recently turned in and get them logged into the document.  Also I was looking to see if any were large enough to go to teens 12-17.  Looks like I will have 7 to take to Gene for the Angel Quilt Project once that binding is done on the last quilted item.

So donation quilt binding awaits but I decided to give my hands a rest and think ahead to my next projects once I am done.  I DO have friendship block to do for someone special but first, I need to visit that Debbie Mumm challenge fabric to see if I can come up with a fairly quick top idea for Belles.  Needed by Tuesday the 10th.  HMMMMMM

Longer range goals:  quilt the three donation quilts that remain atop my armoire.  They need to be gone and start the year off fresh.  Also I signed up for the "pincushion on steroids" blog hop in late January and need to entertain some ideas for that if I get in, LOL.  Other than that I am still forming some ideas of what I want to focus on in coming months.

Hope you have had a good weekend----