Paper Pieced Puppy

My youngest son loves his Build-A-Bear critters!  They have their own "closet" full of fancy (expensive) clothes, cute little names and now, one of them even has his own quilt.  Using scraps from the mountain of fabric in the stash, I made a couple of "wonky" log cabin blocks just for fun.  I can't remember if I shared that photo with the blogging world but it doesn't matter.  What does matter is that the morning after I finished that quilt top, my box of paper piecing supplies from Connecting Threads arrived and I just had to try a few of the patterns from the new book. Sure, I've seen paper piecing videos and tutorials but never tried it for myself.  I'm hooked!  These are my first two paper pieces blocks along with two more wonky log cabins.   Ol' Jack the Black Belt puppy has been recreated onto his own quilt block.   :)  My son loves it and I'm sure Jack will, too.  

Happy Stitching! 

Crooked Little Houses

Yesterday was exciting!  Not only did Bullseye go out in the mail to California, but so did Miss Kay's Puppy Dog baby quilt!  It's measured out to be 39" square when it was all done and the pieced binding turned out well.  As always, my photography skills need a lot of work but you get the idea. 

Hand quilting in perle cotton floss is always fun, but this time, I made the stitches a little bigger to match the bigger blocks.  I took a chance on using brown floss instead of the blue I really wanted to use and I'm pleased with the results.  Actually, I was so excited about being done with it that I forgot to wipe away the yellow and white chalk marks before I took the photos.  LOL    There are no labels for this quilt, which is how Kay wanted it.  The family hasn't picked a name for their new little one yet, so I offered to add a patch to the back later on if they decide they want one.

My paper piecing rulers and other supplies will be here tomorrow!  Christmas in August!  Not really.  Our 16th wedding anniversary is coming up and after 16 years, you run out of things to buy for each other.  So, I told Eagle1 that I would rather save the money he would normally spend on a gift for something I could use in the craft room later on and he was cool with that, which is how I didn't get yelled at for buying paper piecing stuff!  ;-) 

 

While scrolling through my FB feed for a quilting group I belong to, I saw a link to a scrappy log cabin quilt that was just stunning.  I've never made a log cabin block before even though I do think they are pretty.  They just seem too "organized" and planned out to me.  I like a bit more chaos in my piecing and if I can use up scraps without cutting or waste, I'm there!  I have a whole WM bag full of strip scraps just begging to be used, so round and round in log cabin fashion, the first of many Crooked Little Houses was born.  I think it would be fun to make a few blocks that don't sit quite square, maybe cant one way or another, or to just truly use the strips as they lay without squaring them up.  Maybe for another quilt.  One bit of chaos at a time. 

Happy Stitching!

Bullseye SOLD and an Autumn Quilt

SOLD!! to a lady in California  :)   The Etsy order came in yesterday morning.  I don't have much in my little shop and this one has been listed at least 3 times.  The fabric for this quilt is from a Connecting Threads collection called "Golden Afternoon".  I really didn't care for the color palette when the order arrived but it has grown on me over time.  I struggled a bit with block placement because I needed to get the right mix of light/dark scattered throughout the top.  All in all, it is still one of my favorite quilts and taking this to the post office will be a bittersweet moment.

Bullseye is 100% cotton with Warm and Natural cotton batting.  It was hand quilted using perle cotton floss in many coordinating colors to match the blocks.  The binding is pieced and matches the blocks, machine stitched to the front and finished by hand on the back.  I did make a label for the back, but I don't think I have a photo of it. 

I finished hand quilting Miss Kay's puppy dog quilt for the baby shower!  Hopefully, today will find me in the sewing room making the binding.  I'm motivated to get it done before my new box of paper piecing goodies arrives in a few days!  No, I don't have a clue how to paper piece, other than what I've seen on YouTube videos, but my baby sister would like a Mariner's Star, so I'm going to learn.  I'm always up for learning a new technique. 

 

On Wednesday, I woke up in a "mood".  You know, the one where you just have to create, create, create and you know you won't sleep another wink until you get it out of your system.  Yep, one of those moods.  So, I set aside the puppy dog quilt, (my back needed the break anyhow) and started pulling colors from the stash.  I had no idea what I wanted to create, but I was motivated by my subconscious yearning for Fall.  It's a little more pink than I normally work with, especially for a Fall palette, but it works (I think!).  I'm not sure yet how to quilt it, so it's going to hang in the sewing room window until I figure it out. 

There are two times of year when I get the urge to start "nesting" for Christmas;  Just after Christmas, in preparation for next year and every single summer.  Maybe I'm reminded to start prepping by all of the Christmas in July sales that keep popping up or maybe it's just my own desire not to enter the holiday season unprepared.  Either way, I'm in that mindset again and searching for new and creative ideas for my nieces and nephews for Christmas.  This year, my goal is to work with only what is already in my stash.  Ha Ha Ha  Yep, we'll see  how that goes. 

 

Happy Stitching to all! 

 

Ribbons! Ribbons! Ribbons! at the County Fair

The little "Simply Woven" quilt took second place at the County Fair this year!  For someone who rarely wins anything, to say that I'm super happy is an understatement.  I really need to come up with a new name for it though, as "Simply Woven" is really the name of the pattern.  No matter what I end up calling it, I really do like how this one turned out so I think I'll keep it to brighten up the sewing room wall. 

I also entered "Ribbon Candy" in the Christmas category, which took second and my oldest son's patriotic bed quilt in the Red, White and Blue category.  His quilt took first place!  We were really happy with that win until we got his quilt home and found two holes in it that weren't there when I turned it in to the fair coordinators.  :-( The damage really stole the happiness away.  I don't have much experience mending quilts, but he loves it so much that not fixing it is really not an option.   

The remodeling of the two largest bedrooms is now complete after 6 weeks of work.  Eagle1 helped me with our son's room but I had to work on the master bedroom alone due to his work schedule.  To be finished with them is such a relief, not only because of the stress of having the house in disarray, but because I really missed having time to work on fun things. 

This week I'm working on a stroller quilt for a baby shower in Illinois.  I think I mentioned in an earlier post that my friend Kay bought a quilt for a pregnant friend a few months ago. 

The new mommy was very happy with her gift and Kay asked me to make another quilt for her other friend who is going to have a baby boy in a few months.  For me, the biggest compliment for my work is when someone offers to buy one of them.  :-)

I can pick fabric for little girls all day long, but when it comes to boys, my brain goes numb.  Trying to balance the need for masculinity while savoring the fun of a new baby is a challenge.  Hopefully, I did okay with the puppy dog fabric and coordinates I chose for this one.  I used the Double Slice Layer Cake Quilt pattern from Missouri Star Quilt Co. for this quilt.  The little blue "star" in the middle of the quilt is just me being quirky.  I'm about halfway done with hand quilting it with brown perle cotton thread in large stitches. 

My friend Beth celebrated a birthday recently.  It just so happened that she invited our family to join hers for their annual trip to the water park in Old Forge this year, right around the same time as her birthday, so I thought it would be fun to make her a big beach bag!  Her Mom told me she really likes all shades of blue, so I used that as a starting point.  The bottom of the bag is upcycled denim from a pair of jeans that my son outgrew after one wearing.  Some of the patches are denim, too.  I tried to find something in my stash that was bright and cheery and found the pretty yellow print in the bottom of a box packed for the move.  From there, it was easy to pick colors to go along and in less than a day, a new bag was born.  I never could find the right lighting for a good picture of this one, (I never take good photos!), but this will have to do. 

That's about it for now.  Until next time...Happy Stitching!

Simply Woven Quilt-Finished

 It's only 24" x 24", but it took almost 3 weeks to get it all done.  It's my Simply Woven quilt that I will be entering into the county fair this year. 

All cotton, machine pieced and hand quilted with Gutermann thread.  Warm and Natural batting (I really love the weight of this batting!). 

Keeping my fingers crossed that it's bright enough to attract attention from the judges. 

Happy Stitching!

Stop by Sugar Tree Stitching Handmade for weekly updates, recipes and free patterns.  

School is out...finally!  This year, we had a really great experience with my youngest son's 3rd grade teacher.  The whole year was just a series of really good days.  As a thank you, we wanted to do something extra special for her, a bit above and beyond the traditional gift card or coffee mug.  After a bit of online reading, I learned that most teachers hate the gifts they receive and just wind up selling them or giving them away.  Candles, coffee mugs, candy, plants, flowers.  Year after year, it's the same old thing.  What they really want is gift cards to spas, liquor stores or coffee shops for those who feel entitled.  Cold, hard cash for school supplies or a little card or letter of thanks from the child, for those who don't.  Seeing as how we already bought $50 worth of Yankee Candle stuff (my son's idea) before we read that candles were a bad idea, we decided to take the more expensive one back and buy school supplies with the money instead.

We printed the school supply list from her website and bought two of each thing.  Into a little plastic tote it all went with the Yankee Candle that we didn't take back.  But it all didn't seem "personal" enough, even with cards of thanks from both of us.  My son wanted to make a little mug rug to put under the candle, but the design morphed into this wall quilt.  The colors are all of his choosing and he helped me to create the pattern, as well. 

My son said she seemed pleased with the entire package, which made him very happy.  It may not be a gift card to the spa, but it came from the heart. 


I'm knee deep into the lattice quilt for Sarah and elbow deep into my entry for the county fair, but sometimes I just have to take a break and do something quick and fun. 

My boys have discovered the fun of having a penpal.  Their penpal is the autistic son of Eagle1's boss at his new job.  Each time Little E gets a letter or postcard from NY, it just makes his day.  His father tells Eagle1 that he reads them over and over again and sometimes takes the cards to bed at night. 

I thought it would be a fun surprise to send him a little present along with the next letter the boys write.  According to his letters and his Dad, he likes the ocean, surfing, fishing, hiking and just about all things outdoors.  His favorite colors are blue and green, in particular the ocean shades of blue and green.  So, a few strips of pretty color and some applique later, we have a 18" sq wall hanging that Little E can hang next to his surfer poster in his room.  Now, we are just waiting for another letter from Little E so that we can "reply" to him.  I wish we could be there to see his smile.  :) 

I'm off to find a pattern for Build-A-Bear boxer shorts so that our new "children" don't get us arrested for indecent exposure.  Happy Stitching to all!

Is it Spring or Summer?  Today, it's really hard to tell.  The calendar says 31 May but the thermometer says 90 degrees.  For Northern NY, this is most definitely unusual weather.  Not quite two weeks ago it was still snowing!  It's pointless to question Mother Nature, but sometimes I just have to wonder about her mood swings. 

So, today, despite the heat, I'm going to pretend it's still Springtime and share a photo of the pretty flowers my boys gave me for Mother's Day. 

                                  The great thing about these is that the boys thought to get them all on their own!  My oldest boy even arranged to have one of his school friends, whose mother makes jewelry, bring in a few of her pieces so that he could pick out a secret present.  Normally, my Eagle1 hauls the boys to the store to pick out a little something, but he isn't here this year and I think the thought that the boys put into their selections means just as much, if not more, to me than the actual gift.

On warm days, like today, it's hard for me to find the motivation to break out the big quilting projects, so I normally dig around in my bin of "take alongs" and find something small to play with.  The other day, while Eagle1 was home on a weekend pass, he picked up a stomach bug that landed him in the ER.  Knowing that our ER is slow as molasses, I made sure to pack a little take along to keep me busy while we waited.  While digging through the Ziploc bags of this and that, mostly cross stitch and embroidery, I found these two little kitchen towels that I finished a while ago.  I don't recall where or when I finished them, but there they were in the baggie, folded so neat. 

The April Bunny iron-on stayed under the iron just a bit too long, leaving a heat mark on the fabric.  I doubt it will wash out, but it's really okay.  These are just for drying the dishes in our own little home so not to worry about making a good impression.  I think I only have 4 more towels to go before all 12 months are complete.  Good thing too, because my old dish towels need to be replaced soon. 

Something that brought a big sunny smile to my face yesterday was an email from my friend Kay from Illinois. She works in the medical field and one of her nursing friends is expecting a baby girl soon.                                                            Kay was looking for a shower gift

and remembered all of the little quilts I make.  She wrote yesterday to say that the quilt she bought for the baby was a hit with all of her nursing friends and that she shared my Facebook page with them to help bring in a little business for me!  What an awesome friend I have!

One last thing to share that reminds me of Spring is the "Simply Woven" quilt I am making for another friend, Sarah in Massachusetts.  I found this pattern at the Moda Bake Shop website, here-  http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/10/simply-woven-quilt.html#more  .  My version is done all in scrappy fashion with plenty of lime green variations (Sarah's favorite color). 

These are the first 12 blocks of 42 total.  They measure out to 12.5" each and I think I've completed 14 or 15 so far.  Still a long ways to go, not just with the piecing, but the quilting too, because this one will be done by hand with perle cotton in all the colors of the rainbow.  I'll have more photos later as progress is made. 

In the meantime, the Stone Soup Charm Quilt project is still alive, although I had to jump start it a time or two the past 6 months to keep it ticking.  I've made it to #184 of the 2" squares being sewn into 4" blocks.  A few more folks contributed to the quilt which gave me a reason to buy a few new charm packs to work with.  (Do we ever really need a reason to buy fabric? An excuse is more like it!)  I don't have any recent pics to share of this project, but maybe soon...

Until then, Happy Stitching everyone! 

P.S.-If you are taking a break between blocks, check out my FB page:  www.facebook.com/sugartreestitching  for the other tidbits that aren't posted here!

Yes, it's been more than a year since I last wrote to this lonesome little blog.  There is a draft entry from May 2012 saved under some cobwebs in the corner but it seems pointless to drag it out now.  I don't know if I can remember so far back to December 2011 or all of the things that have come and gone since then, but I'll dig up what I can and hope for the best.

Eagle1 is home safe and sound from across the pond.  Our plans to retire went "Poof!" when the Obama Admin started cutting jobs in the civilian sector with the sequester.   We're 23 years into the camoflauge life and still holding on. 

The new blog background is a photo of a quilt I finished 1 October 2012.  I replaced an old wedding ring quilt that we had on the couch with bright pretty colors that totally clash with everything else we have in the house.  Do I care?  Not a bit!  A few of my friends suggested names for this quilt because I couldn't think of anything that day.  We settled on "Countrytime".  Very fitting if I do say so myself. 

 Eagle1 did drive me all the way to Binghamton (I think that's the name) to buy a Grace quilting frame from a lady who posted on Craigslist.  She advertised it as being "new", but when we got there, well, we were a bit disappointed.  All in all, it was in very good condition and we drove too far to go back empty handed.  It took us quite a few hours to get it put together.  I put my little Brother machine on it just to get the feel of it all and realized two things immediately.  Number one was that I was going to love quilting on this monster of a frame and number two was that I needed a bigger, more powerful machine to go with the frame.  Now, at the time, I didn't realize that all of these new toys that Eagle1 was buying for me were really his sneaky way of buttering me up for when he dropped the bomb that he wanted to buy a Harley, but hindsight is 20/20.  I had a quilt top setting in a tote made of leftovers from a friends present, so when I got the new machine up and running, on the rollers it went.  If you ever liked to doodle on paper with a pencil when you were a kid, this is right up your alley.  Sure, I could have been more creative with it, but to be really honest, it was just too much fun to "scribble" all over that quilt with needle and thread.  It didn't turn out too bad for being my first one. 

I broke out the jellyroll of pretty pastels I'd been hoarding for a while and made another top to doodle on.  I'm not sure what happened during the quilting part of the deal, but the top stretched or distorted while being rolled on the frame bars, so when it came time to trim the edges, nothing lined up straight. 

Seeing as how I'm a little cockeyed myself, you can bet this one came out very not-square by almost an inch despite my best efforts. 
It was still fun to play with, but I learned a very valuable lesson.  (Don't ask me what it is right now.  I can't remember!)  My notes claim that I completed this one on 23 December 2012.  The last one of the year!




Going back in time just a bit to February 2012, I found the "Lattice Quilt" photo. This one, like most of my projects lately, is very scrappy. I don't know if it's because I love the look of scrappy quilts or that I just can't match fabric to save my soul, but scrappy is where I always find happiness so I'm going to stick with it.

The lattice quilt went to my friend Steve in Colorado.  He's always the first to give such sweet compliments on my work when I share photos with friends.  I like knowing that my work goes to people who really enjoy it.

Well, I'll save the rest for another day.  Happy Stitching to all!