Sew Sunshine

"So Blue" at Memorial Gardens I am really excited to be included in the Around the World Blog Hop today. I was nominated by Melissa over at SewBitterSweetDesigns . I have been following Melissa each month for A lovely year of Finishes for a long time.  Most recently I tested a pattern for a Flowering Lonestar that is Melissa's design. That was my first time testing so this was really fun. Flowering Lonestar  Okay to start off my post I am just going to mention a little bit about myself. I have been around quilting and quilters all my life it seems. I started out sewing clothing and crafts when I was little. My first outfit, a pink slub double knit outfit, bellbottom elastic waist pants and matching jacket vest was super stylin' if you know what I mean!! Doll clothes followed and some embroidery and crochet projects. My first quilt was drafted from a magazine picture when I was in high school.  Called "Sunshine and Shadow", an Amish trip around...

I had to take a break from my boating adventures to peer under the sea. I saw this adorable shark pencil case by Becky over at PatchworkPosse .  I thought I would adjust it a bit to make it a little more girly and used snaps for the closure instead of the shark teeth zipper she used.  I think it turned out super cute. I used scraps and batting scraps and quilted it up instead of interfacing which is probably why it turned out a bit smaller than I thought. All in all I love it and I think my great niece will love it for her birthday next week. :) Linking up with WIP with Lee at Freshly Pieced and Lorna with Let's Bee Social  

Time for the SuperNova Friendship block swap hosted by Stephanie and Sandra here . My new friend Jen from  Jenniferunderthejunipertree and I met up at the local fabric store and swapped our blocks. This is so funny that each time we tend to do something similar with our blocks. We both put contrasting color for this months block in the same place. So cool.  I think we were meant to be friends and not just because of that! Mine is the yellow/gold/purple and Jens is the  pink an chartreuse. This months topic for the swap is about childhood summer memories.  Jen and I shared some favorite summer time activities that we did when we were kids. Since we both lived in rural areas we have some similarities like making forts in the field or in the hay loft. We liked to play by ourselves or with siblings or cousins. Long lazy summers days stretched out before us with adventures to be had. Hop on over to Jen's blog to find out more about her summer memories. ...

First up today is a bit of work on my boat blocks. I decided to try to make up several quilts with my red, white and blue/aqua scraps. Here is the first one. I went with 6 1/2" blocks which is what I had a lot of. Win win! The boat doesn't really stand out too much but I think some little one will love it anyway.  Now to get it sandwiched and practice fmqing!! I was feeling so behind with the county fair here all last week.  I volunteered several times and tried to work on more charity quilts while there if I was not white gloving the quilts. Here is my little piece that I am proud to say earned a blue ribbon! Here is one of the kits I made up last week for Quilts for Kids (they had a booth at the fair that I worked at a bit during the fair).  This kit I decided to do myself because it had a block that needed piecing and I was trying to use up pieces for the back too.  Lots of stash fabric! It turned out kind of cute. :) Between shifts at the fai...

I made the boat block last month for the SewCanShe classic BOM. The blocks are 24 1/2" and I was going to put them together for one boy quilt OR I have been toying with making 4 quilts and using up a bunch of fq to make the boat block the focal point. Either way I think my goal should be to do something with at least one of these blocks. Next month I am going to try not to post this on the last day of entry. ugh This is fair time here and I am busy with quilts and fair time fun. :) Linking up with here also please help me and my little Zen Moon block win the Singer Circles Challenge. If you look at the upper R hand corner of my blog page you will see the link. Voting is open till the end of the month.  

  My current work in progress is kind of slow going. I started it a few days ago but it is county fair here so I have not had much time to work on it.  I mentioned last week that I was making kits for part of my "purge" progress of my stash. I had one that in this quilt that was not quite enough fabric for the square I needed so I pieced it. I am guessing it is pretty hard to see and even less when I get it quilted. So I didn't give this kit but made it up myself. The kits I am referring to are "Quilts for Kids" kits. They have a booth at the fair where they are sewing quilts and talking about where these quilts go in our area. Most of the quilts go to our local hospitals for sick children.  Such a good cause. Anyway, this is my current top all from stash fabrics and scraps. Linking up with WIP Wed.   here  and Let's Bee Social HERE   And now the Winner of the pdf pattern from my test of the "Flowering Lonestar" pattern by Melissa at...

  I am so excited to share with you the pattern I tested, "Flowering Lonestar" a new pattern by Melissa at SewBitterSweet Designs . I was so excited to be able to test this pattern for her.  This pattern goes together really quickly and is one of two patterns Melissa is launching today!!! Yes there are Y seams and Melissa helps you through. If you need more help in this area I found that the youtube video by Edyta Sitar HERE  will help you with some visuals. I knew I wanted to make a more masculine version of the lonestar. I used some FQ's from my stash and some lovely Basic Gray Grunge (my favorite). I think the colors worked well and for one last touch I made the background blocks on the side another color. I think it looks perfect for a baby boy! I did the quilting with Aurifil 50# weight color 5011 which blended with the prints nicely and highlighted the lighter side.  Spiral quilting with my walking foot to finish it off.  You can...

    First up on my "Purge" progress is I made up some kits (4 complete kits and one partial that I will just sew up myself) for people to make when they visit the "Quilts for Kids" booth at the county fair next week. There will be a table set up with information about this charity.  If sewers are really interested in doing some work for this charity, Quilts for Kids provides patterns and fabric (already cut) and the backing and binding to make up this quilt. They give it to you in good faith to go home and add your own batting, sew it up and return it washed and ready to go to a sick child at our local hospitals.    Recently this charity donated some of their quilts to two towns nearby that were hit by tornados this year.  Which brings me to my next "purge" item: Scrap Happy 3 which is going to my guilds quilt drive.  Omaha Modern Quilt Guild has linked up with  Quilts of Compassion and  Accuquilt to deliver quilts to need...