HST placemats and easy triangle tool

 These did not start out to be placemats......
to make these I used the easy triangle tool I had purchased and used in 2012 and then forgot about it!!
Several weeks ago I decided to use some charm squares of Pat Sloan's Hometown Girl to make a mat.

 This photo is the second one I finished this past week after I decided these would be placemats.  The size is a little different than my others....16 ½" x 8½".

I blogged about a runner I made with this tool in 2012 and it is http://carylquilts.blogspot.com/2012/12/christmas-hst-runner.html  and there is a link on that blog post to the September 2012 blog post where I show the ruler.  Designed by Wendy Mathson.
This ruler is called fast2mark easy triangle tool   You mark on the lines and SEW on the lines.  AND no need to square up afterwards!

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Next I am going to tell about something I usually don't do..........decide to quit on making a quilt that I have started!!  But I decided to quit making the Regatta quilt that I started in January.  It was with a sew along with Home Sewn by Us.  I have photos I took this week of what I had done so far.  I had half of them in the strip sets with the light strips.  I have them draped on a long table ready to continue but I woke up yesterday and decided I have too many other things I am doing and I will use all of this fabric for other quilts.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Weight Watcher lifestyle~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is some really good peanut butter banana bread I have made serveral times now using a recipe on WW site and IG.....Kodiak cakes and Quest protein powder and it is low points.  There are many versions of this recipe and might be called salted caramel banana bread if you are searching for it.

 The WW lifestyle is all about choices and planning and tracking!  This is not a diet and you can eat any food you choose as long as you track it.............and there are NOT lists of things not to eat like the old WW days!

Linking to crazy mom quilts    finish it up Friday
                Freemotion by the River Linky Tuesday

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Log Cabin Loonies Linky Party Week 4

 Another week of our log cabin loonies quilt along and now I have 27 blocks done.  The photo shows some of them laid out.

 My system of stacking in stages and each one waiting for the next strip to be sewn on and get moved to the next stack!  It is fun to have this system!  In an earlier post I showed the strips in groups waiting to be used.  Now.....this is so fun and I think more people should join in this fun!!

I won a gift from Julie in a drawing and look at those beautiful fabrics and great thread!  Thank you again Julie!!  I have started using some of this fabric in these log cabin blocks.

Linking to juliekquilts and Freemotion by the River

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Log Cabin Loonies Linky Party Week 3

 Oh what fun to make these cute little blocks!  And there are so many different layouts to use.
Such a fun quilt along.........be sure to check juliekquilts to read more about this quilt along.
I have been posting about my system for making these little gems!  See previous posts.

And I am also working on some little HST mats.  Photo of one of my favorite things....walking foot quilting next to seams!  More about these in my next blog post later this week.

Linking to juliekquilts    and    Freemotion by the River

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Log Cabin Loonies Linky Party Week 2

 Time for posting about progress on the Log Cabin blocks!  It is fun to be sewing with others doing this log cabin quilt along!  You can still join in with juliekquilts and did you know there are prizes?

The first photo was taken last Friday of the first blocks I finished and I posted on IG and on FB in my Cinnamon Holiday Workshop Group.

 The second photo is one I took today and it shows my system for doing these sweet little blocks!  The board has blocks finger pressed and ready to add the next strip to each one.  On the top stack on the right are blocks that had a strip sewn on them and waiting their turn on the board!!  And the bottom right is the stack of finished blocks so far.  See my last post for more of my system for doing these blocks.

Yesterday we had a nice walk along the harbor.  It was a good way to get those steps!!

Oh....I won the drawing from the first week of Log Cabin Loonies....thank you Julie!

Linking to juliekquilts   and
Linky Tuesday Freemotion by the River

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Log Cabin Loonies Linky Party week 1

 Tuesday is the day for sharing our progress on our log cabin blocks.  This is such fun and I can't wait to see how everyone else is doing!

The first photo is my test block....for this log cabin quiltalong hosted by JulieKQuilts.

The blocks are 4½".  The strips are 1" strips and the centers are 1½" squares.  And I think it is more fun if the centers are stored in a cute dish!  I got the idea from Julie.

 Second photo was at the sewing machine with the chain piecing of those little blocks.  I am not pressing with an iron until the end like Julie suggested and it is what she does.  Finger pressing goes a lot quicker!!

This is the photo I took last week when I was starting.  Julie has directions on her blog.  Piecing is done counter clockwise. 

I have been making tiny log cabins before....but I go clockwise with my other log cabin blocks.  AND I don't have the lights and darks....they are mostly mediums all scrappy.  Now I am searching for darks and realize I don't have as many darks as I do mediums in my stash!  But I will keep searching....I have my fabrics in various areas of my house!

I hope those reading about this will join in the fun!  Here is the link to the post about directions:
http://juliekquilts.blogspot.com/2018/08/calling-all-log-cabin-loonies.html

Linking to juliekquilts
and Freemotion by the River  Linky Tuesday

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Some small finishes plus more

 Finished crazy improv miniquilt made to fit on top of old cabinet made by my father-in-law many years ago.  It is a cherished piece of furniture in our bedroom and I decided it needed a colorful top.
I blogged about the start of this miniquilt in my July 1 post here

Photos as I was putting it together.  A very fun process of making quilts.  Craftsy class by Jacquie Gering.

Then I decided to make a little potholder with some leftover pieces.

A finish from last month is the little red and aqua mug rug...plain but I love it!

Back of the mug rug....these are fabrics by Pat Sloan.

And I made another Solstice block....I have 9 made and not even half done with them yet!

For those who like to make log cabin blocks...................
Remember the log cabin loonies?   Julie is back with a 14 week sew along making 4" blocks.
The link to her blog post today is here 

More to share....another day....

Link to Freemotion by the River   Linky Tuesday

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Creative Bliss!!

 Fun day of creating from one thing to the next!  My favorite walking foot quilting.  In the photo I am quilting a mug rug.

 I put a wad of old rubber bands together and dipped in acrylic paint and pounce on a piece of old folder and then in my creative journal for a background.  Yesterday I did the deep lilac and let it dry and today true red using same wad of rubber bands.

 Polka dots and little lines with pearlescent paint in my Midori for a background.

 Photo shows making patchwork paper to use in my journals.

 This photo is from what I did several days ago....trying to make a corner block for the mug rug.  I need more practice in machine quilting...(it didn't look as good as the one I did last year).   I turned it into a sample to practice different techniques. I used Dye-na-Flow ink from the bottle with a dot on first then I used a liner brush.  I tried an Inktense pencil with aloe gel and with fabric medium.  The one I like best is with a Copic marker.


And last is a photo from our walk this past week at Lake Miramar.  I like the way the sun was shining on the water and making it sparkle!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Improv piecing of quilts

Craftsy Unlimited is such fun...........sooooo many classes that are so interesting!!!
I watched Jacquie Gering do Improvisational Piecing and I had to go grab some fabric and start making strips using her method.  The photo shows the diagonal cutting of the strips.  I am using fabrics from a fat quarter.  The strips are then cut into diagonal pieces.  She presses the seams open so that is what I am doing on this mini quilt.  (Not my favorite way to do seams!)

I had already started doing some improv piecing with my scraps of fabric where I just match up sizes and sew pieces together.  I press to the side for these and for most of my piecing.  So that will be a different quilt.

Another way to do the improv blocks is on a video by Kelly at My Quilt Infatuation
and the blog link is here
That looks like a fun way to do the blocks too.........

I have been doing other things besides quilting....and watching classes on Craftsy!!
I am interested in documenting memories.  AND have blogged about this before.
Every day has special memories and it is fun to journal and add some creativity!
Here are two photos of pages from my creative journal in May

I have joined some FB groups that are about journaling about your everyday memories creatively.    The groups have so many creative ideas to share. 

The list goes on and on of the new things I want to do.  

I have a FB group and my goal is to post every day some of the creations and projects I am doing.  I have a lot of interests in many different techniques and it is hard to remember how to do something when you don't do it all the time.  So sometimes I post about just simple techniques.  It is easier to use my FB group because I take a photo and post with my phone and write a short post and done!

https://www.facebook.com/groups/248603659018607/

  

Here are some red and aqua pairs I am using to make a mug rug.  I want to add some stamping and painting to this mug rug.  In fact....I have enough of these to do several mug rugs!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Weight Watcher Lifestyle~~~~~~~~~~~~
Here is a crockpot full of chicken chili and it is so delicious. 

And bubble up enchilada is another favorite............

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Summer Goals Challenge

On the WW site today I heard about a challenge starting June 1 for three months.

I am posting here in case there is anyone interested in this challenge.  It doesn't have to be about weight...it could be fitness or anything.  Just a way to get some inspiration and motivation and to add accountability to the mix always helps.

There is a blog about it and here is the article

It is the 90 day Summer Sizzle Challenge at Mindful Sparkles blog

I plan to have some goals...step goals and WW points goals and journaling goals.  I will be posting on WW Connect and in my FB Daily Challenges group.

I might have some quilting goals too....but I don't want to overload myself as I have recently joined several creative journaling groups in addition to my online classes.

Check it out and let me know if you are going to do this.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Friday finish dissappearing jelly roll rails

Today I finished another mini quilt like I made a year ago.  I did a tutorial then of my accidental design.
Link to that tutorial is here 
The following photos show the way I did it this time............

 Start with 9 strips about 17" and sew them together thinking about where each strip will end up if you are making the mini quilt like the photo above.

Cut every other strip down the center.  Cut into blocks.

Lay out the 4" blocks to check the design.

This is the photo I put on instagram of quilting....I really look forward to the straight quilting 1/4" next to the seams.  For some reason...it makes me happy!!  I try to figure the best way so I can quilt in a continuous line as much as possible!

I will link with crazy mom quilts and freemotion by the river.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Background pages.....creative journaling

 Here are the photos of my first time trying out Lindy's magical powders.  They are very fine powders...put them on the page and then spray with water.  On some papers the color goes through to the other side....like the Midori on the right.  It will be okay to journal over.  These were done several weeks ago. 

 Today I put the powders on a piece of tile and used my waterbrush to put the the color on the page. 

 I didn't like this look............

 so I sprayed water with the mini mister for more of a watercolor look....

 Then I used the leftovers on the tile to make a more subdued background page on the right.  I will probably use a white pen to journal over the page on the left.  I really like these colors and will be trying more ways of using them.

This last photo was from last month..........practicing and playing!  Using a stencil brush and acrylic paint to attempt to paint flowers.   On the left is a watercolor background and on the right is black gesso background. 

I enjoy painting almost as much as quilting and will be searching for more ways to combine the two!  I am taking creative journaling classes and I enjoy learning new things and trying out new products. 

I am sharing this to encourage you to try new things and anyone can do this.  I would always welcome new ideas and fun things to learn about painting and quilting together.....so let me know.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Another Christmas mini quilt and a challenge block

 I finally finished this block.  It is from Pat Sloan's Solstice Challenge.  I have pressed some seams to the side and some open.  There are a lot of bulky seams in this and I remember a  trick I learned to flatten the seams is to spray and then they will iron flat.  I am not taking these seams out.....I am practicing to be perfectly imperfect and not rip out any seams unless absolutely necessary!

 Here is another Christmas mini quilt front and back that I finished today.

I really enjoy walking foot quilting......I have probably said that hundreds of times!! 

Linking to finish it up Friday and Linky Tuesday.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl