31 day August challenge

A new month.........time to renew/change/evaluate...

I have decided not to continue with the weekly goals on this blog and not post every Tuesday to the linky party.  I have done 69 weeks of posting goals....and before that I used to try to finish by Friday for the linky party.  It was a great motivator for me for a lot of years.....but now I want to do something different.  

Note for those who read my last post.....Yesterday I did an update on my last blog post and added a photo of the two fabrics I used for the crazy mini quilt.  I am sure most everyone was wondering how did I come up with that quilt!!.  

I really enjoyed posting on IG every day in August for the challenge by Joanne Sharpe  in her online class to make some kind of creative play artwork every day.  I usually made the decision each day what creative project I would do and many days I did several projects and decided which one to take a photo and post to IG.

Yesterday for the last day of August I worked on three projects that I had started earlier in the month.  Two of them were doodle painting and using pens....one using twinkling H2Os. The other project was using the sheet of faux oil cloth and cut it into different size pieces and sew then on painted papers.  These were ideas from Joanne Sharpe classes over the past few years.  Here is the photo from yesterday.  My IG is carylquilts if you want to see all 31 days of projects.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

crazy improv quilt mat finish and other projects

 I made this little mat to sit on top of a cabinet in our bedroom.  The cabinet belonged to my dad.  I used the same fabrics and technique as I did last summer with the other mat I made for our bedroom furniture.

 It is crazy improvisaional and from a Bluprint class.  The next photo shows the back with the crazy matrix quilting.  So fun and so easy!

 There are so many interesting classes online.  Several weeks ago I watched The Quilt Show #2310 with Lynn Carson Harris.  She was using tiny bits of scraps.  Her liberated log cabin caught my eye and I couldn't stop thinking about it and had to start piecing little pieces together.  This is what I have so far.

 Sew Sampler this month had a pressing mat that I really like.

 I enjoy classes by Joanne Sharpe online.  I got the idea from her of cutting out letters out of magazines to use for journals, scrapbooks....and I used some for a card.  Very fun to search for letters larger than a penny.

 The following photo is the two pages of assignments from the class...2019 Artfully Inspired Life with Joanne Sharpe.  The background is acrylic layering.

 I used a practice journal to check out different acrylic paints for class projects and decided to use a white pen and doodle!  The following photos are of two pages I have done.

That's it for now!!   Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Some small finishes for the week

 I started this tickertape extra large placemat (19" x 15") several years ago.  The center is bosal and I trimmed it and did a blanket stitch around the outside.
This week I am working on some old UFOs from past years.  I save all scraps even if they are very small and this is a good way to use them.  It is big enough for a journal and markers and a nice padded surface to work.  The next photo shows the back.

 I made another scrappy rectangle block this week with my Kaffe Fassett jelly roll and black and white fabrics.

 Another small project finish....quilt-as -you-go with scraps of fabric stitched onto bosal.  The orange strip and teal strip are around 3/8" in this.

 Here is the back that shows the quilting.  AND blanket stitch around the outside.

 I have it on the extension table of my sewing cabinet and keep my scissors on it.

 New book by Joanne Sharpe.  I really like her art work and classes.

Yesterday I dug out a QAL I started with Amanda Jean in 2009...one a day 9 patch.  All the rows and sashing were done and just waiting to sew the rows together.  I love that quilt and it needs to be done!!
I like to jump around to different projects.  There are so many UFOs to finish and there are so many new things I want to make!!  AND lots of creative journals to fill and online classes to learn more.  There are a lot of inspirational websites of wonderful creative new things to do.....I did a post in January of creative ideas websites to check...link to the post here


Linking this blog post to crazy mom quilts    finish it up Friday
AND to Freemotion by the River   Linky Tuesday.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Scrappy trips, zendoodle, recycled shirts and Traffic Jam quilt

 This post is about the projects I have been working on this past week............
I started quilting the scrappy trips with #4 stitch on my Bernina...

 This is the largest quilt I have ever quilted....
Roll the extra fabric....adjust the tiny area to sew....sew....readjust....over and over...
I am loving this quilt even more....and am getting used to the routine of machine quilting it...

 Page from my creative journal where I used some distress inks for the background...

 I just got this new book and am really enjoying it so far.....

 Our Tuesday bee group is gathering recycled shirts and making quilts...
These are some of my blocks I have done so far....

Pat Sloan's Traffic Jam pattern....
I am trying out the sashing in this photo....
I had the strips on the table using it for my Brambleberry Friends quilt and thought I would check it for a possibility for this quilt...
The sewing of the recycled shirts blocks and Traffic Jam were sewn previous weeks...
but this week I am cutting out more strips and blocks for them between the quilting scrappy trips.....
Never a dull moment.....I always have fun projects to do!!!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Creative Workshop Bliss

 This afternoon I set aside some time like going to a class....
I have been thinking about this for a week and thinking of a plan....
I had a few rules....I would do something just being creative...
AND not necessarily for the finished product....
And I would call it "Creative Workshop Bliss".............

 I started with no plan......I drew out a tree and snowbanks with an air erasable pen...
then I forgot my first rule to treat it like going to a class....
or meeting with friends to enjoy a time together....
off I went to clean the bathrooms....oops...when I came back the lines were gone!!!...
so I just started sewing and sewing....deciding as I went along...
with some free motion sewing and zendoodling....
wheeee.....what a fun time....
then I took my Paintstix and put some color on the snow hills and tree....
not sure what I will do with this next....
I will plan some more of these sessions to try new things...
and practice my zendoodling....it is so relaxing......

Here is my batik rails that I have been quilting....
I am writing little messages in some of the light strips....
laugh every day.....
today I will choose joy....  etc
Today I also checked out my new My Memories software...
I had a fun day....how about you?
Smiles and hugs....Caryl

more on FMQ zendoodling

I finished this little project several weeks ago... it was from the June FMQ Challenge... I had only done part of it in June...

I think most people would love this type of machine quilting... it is so fun to just let the design evolve... this one I put on top of a TV tray... flipped over with the backing on top!!.......................... I got my machine back from getting a tune up so ready to get at some projects!! Smiles and hugs....Caryl

FYB Makealong finished

Finally finished..... I started this last July with Sarah at Sew Joy Creations... you can read about the makealong here

I started with the saying and then the zendoodle stitching.... and have added beads, buttons and a crocheted heart with purple heart shape under it....

I have enjoyed making this wallhanging.... FYI...QD means every day in medical terminology!! Smiles and hugs....Caryl

progress with projects

I started this project last year with Sarah and her FYB Makealong.... I put it away and have done other things.... Last week I finished the red stitching with my Tuesday night group... I had some leftover KiwiBerry Bali strips from another quilt... No measuring...I just put them on the borders... then I did some machine quilting.... I want to put something in the middle???... like buttons...can't remember what I thought of last year.... Also not sure how to quilt around the words??... any suggestions would be welcomed...

This is the baby quilt ready to quilt... not sure how I am quilting it yet... I know it will have words sewn in.... precious and other sweet words.... Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Happy Valentine's Day

zendoodle fun

I started this project when I signed up for Sarah's FYB Makealong... I tried some new things.... zendoodles around the outside of the saying... I used the BSR on my Bernina....

I used black perle 8 to do the stem stitch around the zendoodle areas... I used red Sulky to start the saying letters... being creative qd (every day) is what I need to do.... it didn't happen much over the past month.... but now I hope to finish up some projects.. and even start some new ones!! Smiles and hugs....Caryl