some of my projects

 Time to me to catch up blogging....I have photos of some of the things I have been working on since my last blog post.  The first two photos are for the Gypsy Wife quilt....puss in the corner and square in a square bordered.  The last time I worked on this quilt was the beginning of March!

 I receive the Sew Sampler box every month and one month was the BasiX ruler and I did a trial of using it with some fabric.........it is a fun ruler to use and I may try another project with it.

 The Mai Tai quilt project came in another Sew Sampler box.  This is really fun to make.  I started it using the charm packs that came in the box.  The Add-A-Quarter PLUS is a handy tool.

 Here is a photo of the first block I made.  I have others I am working on between other projects.

 I tried out the Triangles on a Roll for the first time.  A very fun way to make HSTs!!

 I have a subscription to Bluprint and watch a lot of different classes on a lot of different topics and I like to try out some of the projects.
The next two photos are mini quilts  from Suzy Williams class  Fabric Play Sewing Mojo Minis.

 I am doing a mixture of machine quilting and hand quilting.  These are improv and such a fun way to make quilts!!!  There are two others in this class that I will probably make too....just for fun! 

There are a lot of other things I have been doing with quilting....journaling....painting...but I don't have photos yet of anything else.  For sure....I am never bored....I have a lot of projects I really...really like to do!!!
Smiles and hugs....Caryl

mug rug finishes and another Gypsy Wife block

 I finished this mug rug a week ago on Valentine's Day.  It is the one I discussed in my previous blog post.  I called it hugs and kisses mug rug.  I used several stamps for the images and colored with Inktense pencils and fabric medium.  The center heart was stamped with Fabrico garnet fabric ink pad.  The left two were stamped with Versa Craft black ink pad.  The bottom right was stamped with Versa color violet.
Such fun....I want to do more projects with images on fabric and coloring!

Photo is the back of the mug rug...Susan Winget old fabric....I still love it!!

 I had some scraps left from previous projects and made a patchwork mug rug.  I quilted the top and batting together and then added 1¼" strips first to the sides and then the top and bottom.

 I like this easy kind of finish by putting the back and front together and stitch, turn and then topstitch around the edge.  I used a 4.0 stitch around the top edge.

 A plate of yummy chocolate Kodiak donuts on a clear glass plate on top of an older placemat I made several years ago.  The recipe for these is in my other blog
https://recipesbycaryl.blogspot.com/2018/12/kodiak-chocolate-donuts.html

Here is another block for the Gypsy Wife quilt.  I got in a hurry and didn't trim one of the HST's properly and I thought I could make it work when I sewed the pieces together...I may do it over.

And here is a photo of what I received in the Sew Sampler box today.  Fun stuff!!

Linking to
https://conniekresin.com/2019/02/linky-tuesday-feb-19-2019.html

https://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/2019/02/oh-scrap-my-garden-growns.html

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

scrappy strips, Gypsy Wife and mug rug

 Projects I am working on this past week.  I did 3 more blocks for the scrappy strips around the cabin and I might make these blocks a little larger.  I am making different size blocks and I will see how it all fits.  Just....deciding as I go.  That is the fun way to make blocks.............

 Another block for the Gypsy Wife quilt along....square in a square.

Hugs and kisses mug rug in progress.  I did some stamping and then added pieces of fabric.  I started coloring the hearts with an Inktense pencil.  AND I want to add glitter.  I added some fabric medium to stickles on a fabric sample and that is what I will add to this.  I should have done the finishing on the stamped areas first BEFORE I added the rest of the pieces....but I was in a hurry to see how it looked.  Now I am practicing on scrap pieces of fabric so I don't ruin this piece!

Linking to
https://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/2019/02/oh-scrap-yellow.html

https://conniekresin.com/2019/02/linky-tuesday-february-12th-2019.html

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/2019/02/moving-right-along-and-ntt.html

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

friendship bag, Gypsy Wife and scrappy strips

 Here is the friendship bag I finished today.  It is part of an ugly fabric challenge...but I don't think the fabric is ugly!  I used the "ugly" fabric in the strips, the bottom and the lining.

 I used the tutorial from psiquilt.  This photo shows when it was ready to quilt.  I used Bosal to make the bag stiffer than batting.

 Right sides clipped together to sew the lining and the bag.

 I took the plastic insert out of my sewing table to make joining the two pieces sooooo much easier.  I have made bags before and have never thought of taking out that plastic piece.  I am mentioning this because there might be others who haven't thought of it.

In this photo I used a flash to get a brighter photo.

 This photo is the hourglass with 2 borders in the Gypsy Wife quilt I am making.  I joined the 2019 Gypsy Wife quiltalong.  It just started this last Saturday.

 This is a simple block to make.....we have great tutorials in this group to help everyone.

 I had to take a photo of the back...."spin" the seam to make the seams lay down so nice.

The last photo I call scrappy strips around the cabin blocks.  I am using up scraps to do log cabin style piecing and the blocks will be different sizes.

Linking to   https://conniekresin.com/2019/02/linky-tuesday-february-5th-2019.html

https://quiltingismorefunthanhousework.blogspot.com/2019/02/oh-scrap-kaffe-quilt-progress.html

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/2019/02/studio-inspiration-and-ntt.html

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Strip Maze finished

 I finished this quilt this week.....first UFO of this year.  I started this quilt in November 2009.

 Strip Maze pattern by Gudrun of GEDesigns and I used Mementos fabrics.

I have been researching my notes and photos about working on this quilt over the years.
I got stopped on this the first time when the Cross Country Christmas blog hop started online in November 2009.  I stopped to make a lot of the projects of this wonderful blog hop.  One of them was Gudrun's Sweet Trimmings wallhanging.  In case you didn't know....I get sidetracked really easy!!!

 I restarted working on it again in the summer of 2017 when Gudrun started the Strip Maze sew along with the FB Gudrun's Quilt Crew.  I did do some blog posts about this in September 2017.  The photo shows me chain sewing the blocks by starting on the top of the left column and keeping the thread between each block.  The right block goes over the left in each row to be able to hold everything together.  The blog post September 15, 2017 shows the top together.

 This got put away again until this last November when I started quilting it.  It was the UFO I chose to work on for the month.  I did put a similar photo on IG of doing this machine quilting.  This is using the walking foot with the #4 stitch and I used 2.5 x 2.5 stitch width and length.  I got the binding on the end of November and started hand stitching the binding to the back at our quilt retreat in December.

I have worked on this at our Tuesday bee quilt meetings and finished it this last Tuesday...I am holding it for the photo.  I posted this photo on IG, WW Connect (#quiltersofww), on FB Quilt Mashup and FB Gudrun's Quilt Crew.  It was a very fun quilt to make.

Linking to
https://conniekresin.com/2019/01/linky-tuesday-january-22.html

http://www.myquiltinfatuation.com/2019/01/rain-rain-go-away.html

http://thecraftyquilter.com/2019/01/january-ufo-wip-link-up/

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Happy New Year 2019

A new year for new goals and planning going on today for plans to accomplish all those goals!!

But first I must listen to the Aztec game....they are not on TV today...boooo!

And I need to turn on my sewing machine and get working on projects!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Gypsy Wife quilt along 2019

Have you heard about this quilt along? 

I found out about this from an online friend and I decided to join in!!

Here is the link to her blog post

 http://madakamom.blogspot.com/2018/12/2019-gypsy-wife-quilt-along.html

and there is a facebook group to join called Gypsy Wife quilt along 2019. 

This group just formed last week and there are already over 1300 members.

It is a pattern by Jen Kingwell and is not a new pattern.  It has been out for several years.  I had never heard of it but couldn't stop thinking about it once I saw it and looked online at all the images and possibilities for colors!

Here is a photo of the quilt that is on the FB group that I have joined.  I am waiting to receive my pattern.




Let me know if you are joining in on this fun project!  It starts Feb 2.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Merry Christmas and happy holidays!

Merry Christmas to those who check out my blog.  We are having a light drizzle here in San Diego and it is 55° right now at 8:30 am.  Wishing everyone a thankful and blessed day!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Memories from quilt retreat

 This was my second retreat and here is the first retreat blog post   https://carylquilts.blogspot.com/2017/12/my-first-quilt-retreat.html

We are a small group that meets every week and have decided to have a retreat at this time every year!  We all enjoy being together and have a lot of laughs and get inspired by the creativity of the group!  There is always someone to help with a project that has challenging directions!  And lots of design walls to help make decisions on block placement! 

I took photos of the room from the corner looking to the left and then to the right.

The food there is so delicious and this is one of the lunches.  Angus slider, broccoli soup and salad bar.  There is a salad bar for every lunch and dinner with lots of choices.

The second day some of us went to one of the local quilt shops and this was my first time going to this shop.  Needle in a Fabric Stash.  They have an excellent selection of fabric with lots of fat quarter bundles.

I was learning how to take a selfie in the car so everyone was in the photo.  I finally figured it out after taking a bunch of photos.  Then I got this shot at a stop light so the driver could be in the photo too! 

Here is what I purchased at the quilt shop.

I finished several projects that I put in my last post.  I was also sewing the binding on Strip Maze.
Here is a placemat I started doing the quilt as you go method.

Improv sewing with a center Santa that was given to me.  Just adding strips and figuring it out as I went sewing along!!  I did some other improv sewing...no photos.
I am doing a retreat journal again this year and took photos of everyone working on their projects and will be adding those to the journal.  I will be stamping and coloring and making it fun!

Here is a photo of all of us.  I am in the middle of the ones standing.

If you ever get a chance to go on a retreat.....be sure to go and take plenty of different projects.  It is more fun if the projects are not too difficult and something you have done before.  The time goes so fast.  We got there on Monday morning and left Wednesday late morning.  Next year we are going to add another day to make it longer. 

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Jelly Roll Jam II finish

I finished this quilt this week that I started on Jelly Roll Day and blogged about it here

The fabric is Attitude Girls by Mary Engelbreit.  I took a photo before I opened up the jelly roll!  Now ....doesn't everyone do that??  

 The pattern is a shortcut free pattern from fatquartershop.com.  A very fun quilt to make!!

 I did the serpentine stitch with light green thread.  My "go to" quilting lately!

 And the backing is also a fabric piece from the same line.  And the binding is the same fabric as the back.  I finished this binding at a quilt retreat this past week.

I brought my Hello Kitty machine to the retreat and finished another little mat.  I also finished two others in different sizes this past month.  I used the blocks from improvisational piecing...crazy piecing like I have blogged about before.  I will be doing another post with more about the retreat.

I am linking to:
   crazy mom quilts finish it up Friday
   Freemotion by the River Linky Tuesday

Smiles and hugs....Caryl