free-pieced log cabin blocks

 I do really love making log cabin blocks..............

AND I really love improv piecing.........

There is so much inspiration from YouTube videos.  This week I watched MSQC with Misty talking about free-pieced log cabin blocks and I had just watched Pat Sloan talk about piecing crumb blocks.  

I was making improv blocks using Jacquie Gering method...and decided to switch to a different kind of block in the same runner I am making for the top of a file cabinet.  Here is the design board with blocks...

Here is the bottom left log cabin block pieced before cutting wonky and after cutting

I really enjoy making blocks with no rules.....don't worry about being perfect...just create!!!

Misty said in the video they were inspired by the quilters of Gee's Bend.  

Now.....back to March Madness basketball games!!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

quilting log cabin runner

 Here is a photo of about half of the runner quilted.  I changed to a different pattern for the center blocks using the ruler foot.  I was using the walking foot for the quilting on the end blocks.

Yikes....I should have done some practice pieces first!  That is what all FMQ teachers say.....always practice before going to your piece to FMQ.  My thinking when I switched to a different design for the center blocks was that using the ruler foot would  be easier............WRONG..... 

I was constantly turning the runner with the walking foot quilting so using the ruler foot would eliminate all the quilt turning.   BUT........Quilting going forward and backward work better for me than sideways quilting.

I am not going to publish a to-do list for the rest of this month.  March Madness is here!!

This last week I did part of my goals.  1. The runner above half of quilting done.  2. I don't have all of my fabrics for the Spiral Lone Star quilt along.  AND I may change my mind anyway....so no fabric prep.  3. I am about half done with the improv runner for the top of the file cabinet. 

Wondering.....do you do swatches of colors when you get new paints, pens, pencils, crayons?

Here is a photo of my new purchase that I have wanted for a long time.  I have started a swatch page of the colors.  I included some of my other swatch papers in the photo.  

Here is a photo of all the colors

I am slowly working on my kawandi runner....a little bit every day.  I am in no hurry...just enjoying the process of stitching.  

The NCAA BB tournament is so exciting every year!  AND since it was cancelled last year and our team didn't get to play.....it means so much more for out team to be able to go this year.  

Last week for the Mountain West tournament we watched all 10 games Wednesday through Saturday!

Go Aztecs!!  I will be watching as many games as possible for the tournament! 

linking to Free Motion Mavericks

https://quiltinglearningcombo.blogspot.com/2021/03/here-comes-sun-on-free-motion-mavericks.html

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

To-Do Tuesday #54

 This is To-Do Tuesday #54  I will be linking with Chris Knits 

Here is my progress on last week's list:

To-Do Tuesday week of March 2 through March 8:

1. Log Cabin Loonies runner.....decide how to quilt it and start quilting ✅
2. Do more from Jean Wells book✅
3. Watch the first FB Live on Friday of Jan Krentz and the Spiral Lone Star Quilt 
   Along.✅

The first photo shows some of the assignments I have done in Jean Wells book

Intuitive Color & Design:  Adventures in Art Quilting

Last week I showed a photo of my start of this....rulerless cutting and piecing.  

This week I added the narrow insert piecing and detail piecing.

The next photo shows my start of quilting the log cabin runner.  I am using my walking foot and gray thread

In my last  two blog posts I have talked about the quilt along with Jan Krentz and it has started this month.

 Spiral Lone Star quilt along

She has a FB group  Spiral Lone Star Quilt Along with Jan Krentz

 She is on FB Live every Friday for 7 weeks that started last Friday  

Here is a photo of the 8 photos I will use....my latest decision....

I forgot to crop this before downloading....sorry

So my list for this week won't be very much....the basketball tournament is this week on TV

To-Do Tuesday week of March 9 through March 15:

1. Continue walking foot quilting log cabin runner and get at least half done
2. Prep fabrics for Spiral Lone Star quilt along
3. Work on improv Gering style quilt for the top of a file cabinet

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Log Cabin Loonies runner

 This is To-Do Tuesday #53  I will be linking with Chris Knits

I decided to just do 10 blocks of the log cabin blocks and turn it into a runner for our front foyer table.  AND I decided to change every other block and make a different arrangement.

Here are my blocks in the way Julie of JulieKQuilts had her blocks arranged

Today is a rainy day and we don't get those very often.  It has been gorgeous weather for several weeks and here is a photo I took several weeks ago on our patio.

AND here is a surprise I saw on our patio one day looking out from my sewing room

I have been making bread with the recipe from the book Artison Bread in Five Minutes a Day.  It is so good and it is nice to have with an evening meal or to have with homemade vegetable soup for lunch.  I make vegetable soup and freeze part of it so I always have some on hand.  The bread recipe makes 4 loaves...crusty outside and chewy inside.....delicious!!  So now I have bread dough in the refrigerator ready to make several times a week.

In my last blog post I talked about the quilt along coming up with Jan Krentz

Here is a link to that post 

 http://carylquilts.blogspot.com/2021/02/spiral-lone-star-quilt-along-in-march.html

Here is a photo of the pattern pack for the Spiral Lone Star quilt along

She has a FB group and will be doing FB Live every Friday for 7 weeks starting this Friday.  

For those interested in making the quilt........the name of the FB group is

Spiral Lone Star Quilt Along with Jan Krentz

In my last post I showed photos of the start of making fun stuff using Jean Wells method from her book.  Here is the beginning piece I made............very easy and soooo fun!!!

Now to my list of things I want to do this coming week.....

This is the beginning of March Madness and I will be watching basketball games on TV so my list is short and sweet!

To-Do Tuesday week of March 2 through March 8:

1. Log Cabin Loonies runner.....decide how to quilt it and start quilting
2. Do more from Jean Wells book
3. Watch the first FB Live on Friday of Jan Krentz and the Spiral Lone Star Quilt 
   Along.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Spiral Lone Star quilt along in March

 Yikes....I got away from blogging....I had a birthday the 16th and missed that Tuesday to blog!  Then I just stoppped and now it is time to get back to blogging again!!

Jan Krentz is having a Spiral Lone Star quilt along starting in March and I wrote a little about it in my FB cinnamon holiday workshop post on February 6.  The following is from the Amazon site where you can purchase her pattern:

From bestselling author and internationally recognized quilt instructor Jan Krentz, the Spiral Lone Star Quilt, originally published in Lone Star Quilts and Beyond, is now available as a stand-alone pattern pack.

Here are some of my photos of fabric as I try to decide which ones to use. I purchased a fat quarter bundle and now to decide which fabrics to select for the quilt and then purchase more of each one I select. The fabric bundle is Connect the Dots Artisan Batiks by Lunn Studios for Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

This is the photo Jan made that is so striking and I just love it!!! AND it is the photo I posted on my FB cinnamon holiday workshop.

The last two photos show what I am thinking of now...the row of 8 together in each photo.  I will probably change my mind many times.  So I will order some of the extra fabrics on the right side of the last row to go along with the other eight on the left.  I may have some other fabrics to add to these also.

Today I started a practice piece of Jean Wells design from her book Intuitive Color & Design:  Adventures in Art Quilting.  Here is a photo of the start of working on joining four pieces of solid fabrics.  I saw a video by stitches by julia about this and then watched a video by Jean Wells.  And then my February Sew Sampler box had a bunch of solid fabrics that I am now using.  SOOO I just had to start working on practicing this method!!  AND the photos show the start.....

Such fun to do!!!  

AND I am still working on my log cabin loonies small quilt..9 blocks done..

AND I am working on my kawandi table runner

AND now it is getting close to March Madness and we are watching a lot of basketball.  We love to watch our Aztecs and now we are watching a lot of other teams as well.

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

To-Do Tuesday #52

  Today is To-Do Tuesday #52  and I am linking with Roseanne at Home Sewn by Us 

Progress from last week:

To-Do Tuesday week of February 2 through February 8:

1. Grassy Creek Bonnie Hunter quilt...get all the directions I need because the posts with all the directions, tips and photos will be going away on Feb 12✅
2. FMQ 4 times this week✅
3. Log Cabin Loonies...add the next 6½" strips and make more blocks✅
4. Mat for under my mixer using Blueberry Park fabric✅

I finished the mat and then I decided it is too pretty to cover up under my mixer so I will gift it to someone.  AND use some practice FMQ piece for under the mixer!

front and back photos....sorry I didn't crop the photos on my phone before transfer

Here is a journal page from last week.  It has a photo of a FMQ image I did.

A photo of a new project I started using Peltex and some ME honeybun strips doing quilt as you go quilting with the walking foot

To-Do Tuesday week of February 9 through February 15:

1. FMQ x 4 days
2. finish the ME Peltex project
3. do more log cabin blocks

I am linking to Roseanne's  Home Sewn By Us

https://www.homesewnbyus.com/index.php/to-do-tuesday-79-our-last-linky-party/

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

To-Do Tuesday #51 and Log Cabin Loonies

 Today is To-Do Tuesday #51  and I am linking with Roseanne at Home Sewn by Us 

Progress from last week:

To-Do Tuesday week of January 26 through February 1:

1. Keep stitching Kawandi table runner every day✅
2. Grassy Creek quilt blocks✅
3. Log Cabin Loonies blocks✅ 
4. Do some free motion quilting✅

  Here is a photo of some of the log cabin blocks in different stages...checking to see if I want to turn every other block for a different possible layout!

Julie at JulieKQuilts is the leader of all the log cabin lunatics.....join us!

No other photos of my other goal projects. 

I started some new projects....I got the idea to make a mat to put under my mixer to make it easier to move on my counter.  I saw this on another blog.  

AND I started another improv small quilt.

The next photo is from my creative journal/art journal documenting the end of December and first of January.  I am in a fun FB group where everyone shares their decorative journal pages.

AND here is a photo of a beautiful plant that a neighbor gave me last weekend for happy new year!

To-Do Tuesday week of February 2 through February 8:

1. Grassy Creek Bonnie Hunter quilt...get all the directions I need because the posts with all the directions, tips and photos will be going away on Feb 12
2. FMQ 4 times this week
3. Log Cabin Loonies...add the next 6½" strips and make more blocks
4. Mat for under my mixer using Blueberry Park fabric

I am linking to Roseanne's  Home Sewn By Us

https://www.homesewnbyus.com/index.php/to-do-tuesday-78-weekly-update/

AND go check out the others that link to this site

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

To-Do Tuesday #50

 Today is To-Do Tuesday #50   and I am linking with Roseanne at Home Sewn by Us 

Progress from last week:

To-Do Tuesday week of January 19 through January 25:

1. Do hand stitching every day on my Kawandi table runner✅
2. Grassy Creek quilt blocks✅
3. Log Cabin Loonies make more of the first round✅
4. Make some more napkins in a larger size.✅

I have been stitching on my Kawandi every day and I took a photo of some possible fabrics to add with the long colored piece down the center in the middle

And here is a photo of some of the fabric pieces for the log cabin blocks and the Grassy Creek blocks.  Log Cabin Loonies got the next step this last week.....so I am working on adding the second round to the blocks. 

 

JulieKQuilts is the leader of all the log cabin lunatics.....join us!

The photo shows my cardboards stacked by my machine ready to stitch more blocks together.

To-Do Tuesday week of January 26 through February 1:

1. Keep stitching Kawandi table runner every day
2. Grassy Creek quilt blocks
3. Log Cabin Loonies blocks 
4. Do some free motion quilting

  

I am linking to Roseanne's  Home Sewn By Us

http://homesewnbyus.com/to-do-tuesday-77-linky-party/

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

To-Do Tuesday #49 and Log Cabin Loonies

 Today is To-Do Tuesday #49   and I am linking with Roseanne at Home Sewn by Us 

Progress from last week:

To-Do Tuesday week of January 12 through January 18:

1. Kawandi table runner do some hand stitching every day✅
2. Make decision on fabrics for Bonnie Hunter mystery and continue making pieces for blocks✅
3. Log Cabin Loonies....get more strips, etc ready for the next step✅

I also did some other small projects.  I watched Beth on her You Tube channel....my sewing room.  I made a scrappy 10" block using a foundation fabric with the center on point.  I also made a napkin starting with two 12" pieces of fabric stitched together.  These two fabrics are part of a bunch of fabric that was donated to me.  

I did a blog post two days ago with an updated photo of my third Kawandi and also links to the previous posts about the first two.

I made a decision on the Bonnie Hunter mystery to use colors (green, gold and orange) for the sashing mixed in with the gray.  I may use the all gray strips around the outside border of the quilt.

I have been working on the log cabin blocks....Log Cabin Loonies got the next step this last week.  The photo shows some of the first round blocks.  

JulieKQuilts is the leader of all the log cabin lunatics.....join us!

   

To-Do Tuesday week of January 19 through January 25:

1. Do hand stitching every day on my Kawandi table runner
2. Grassy Creek quilt blocks
3. Log Cabin Loonies make more of the first round
4. Make some more napkins in a larger size.

I am linking to Roseanne's  Home Sewn By Us

http://homesewnbyus.com/to-do-76-tuesday-and-weekly-list-update/

Join in on the fun and post your to-do list for the week...........

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Kawandi #3 progress and links to the first two

 I am enjoying having a project to hand stitch a little bit every day!!  Today I am linking to Slow Sunday Stitching.  Here is a photo of progress....

with some pieces to possibly add.....

I had a question in my post last Sunday  about the previous two Kawandi inspired quilts I have made...........

So here are the SOME of the links from when I first heard about them

The first blog post about Kawandi is Sunday Sept 13, 2020

http://carylquilts.blogspot.com/2020/09/slow-sunday-stitching_13.html

(Also mentioned in Sept 20 and Sept 27 posts and Nov 1 post)

The first one I finished was Birds in the Midnight on Sept 29

http://carylquilts.blogspot.com/2020/09/scrap-quilt-finish-and-to-do-tuesday-37.html

Start of the second Kawandi post was Sunday October 4

http://carylquilts.blogspot.com/2020/10/slow-sunday-stitching.html

The blog post with a photo of both of the Kawandi quilts finished and hanging on my dining room wall was Nov 17, 2020

http://carylquilts.blogspot.com/2020/11/to-do-tuesday-40.html

I like these projects because I can do it however I want to do it....

I am making each end of the tablerunner the same and I will be repeating some of the same fabrics in the rest of the table runner...

Not sure how the center will be done..........

I am linking to Kathy's Quilts

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/01/slow-sunday-stitching-my-oldest-ufo.html

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

 

To-Do Tuesday #48

 Today is To-Do Tuesday #48   and I am linking with Roseanne at Home Sewn by Us 

Progress from last week:

To-Do Tuesday week of January 5 through January 11:

1. Bonnie Hunter mystery clue 7✅
2. Kawandi inspired tablerunner✅
3. log cabin blocks with hourglass centers✅

Bonnie surpirsed us with the reveal last week.  

SO....here is a photo of my design board with pieces not all sewn together yet.   Now I need to make decisions on fabrics in the other blocks and the surrounding blocks.  I am using fabrics from my stash and did not purchase any new fabrics for this quilt.  

I did a blog post two days ago with a photo of starting to stitch my third Kawandi-inspired quilt.  Here is a photo taken yesterday of the fabrics pinned and trial placement of fabrics. 

I wrote this paragraph last week:

Who remembers making log cabin blocks and linking to Julie with the other log cabin lunatics?  So here is the website to check her first post of the year with a tutorial for the center hourglass block  

Log Cabin Loonies

This past Friday Julie had the second week post to cut 1½" squares and get some 1½" strips ready for the log cabin blocks.  And that is what I have been doing and making more hourglass blocks.

To-Do Tuesday week of January 12 through January 18:

1. Kawandi table runner do some hand stitching every day
2. Make decision on fabrics for Bonnie Hunter mystery and continue making pieces for blocks
3. Log Cabin Loonies....get more strips, etc ready for the next step

I am linking to Roseanne's  Home Sewn By Us

http://homesewnbyus.com/to-do-75-tuesday-and-weekly-list-update/

Be sure to check what everyone is doing.........

Smiles and hugs....Caryl

Starting Kawandi inspired tablerunner

 I am starting my third Kawandi inspired quilt.  The first two were small wall hangings and they are hanging side by side on my dining room wall.  This one will be a table runner for the top of a cabinet in our dining room.  I have missed the hand sewing and this will give me hand sewing to work on every day.

I have basted the backing folded over to the front over the batting.   I have posted about the first two in previous posts.  I will have different rules for myself for this Kawandi.  The first two I tried NOT to repeat any fabric.  

Now for this Kawandi I WANT to repeat fabrics more than once.  AND it will be more planned.  That is the way it is starting anyway....I may change my mind as I go along!!

  The photo shows the fabrics I will be using to select pieces as I slowly stitch around and around.  The fabrics I am starting with have purple swirls in the corners with blue on each side.  Then there will be more purples, blues, teals and some dark pinks.  I just love those colors!!!

I started stitching these today and it is a actually a little different than the photo shows.  

I am linking to Kathy's Quilts             Slow Sunday Stitching

https://kathysquilts.blogspot.com/2021/01/slow-sunday-link.html

Now I am going to check out what everyone else is stitching today....join me in checking!

Smiles and hugs....Caryl