Category: BOM

BOM · charity · friends · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · me

Showing My Cards

renegadequilter7 Comments
i am showing my cards in this post.

my blog sub-title says ‘ from fabric to finish and everything in between’. this is the in between part with a little fabric thrown in. although sewing, fabric & quilting is usually fun & happy stuff truth be told we all have a life. a life in the real world that gets yucky sometimes. i am just like the rest of you. i don’t live in a land of rainbows & cotton candy i live in reality & i don’t want my readers to think otherwise.

this past week has been one of the roughest weeks i have had in a long time. work has been crazy. we have been short handed. customer’s want stuff 2 days ago & somehow their poor planning is our fault. battling suppliers over stuff that shouldn’t be an issue. it seems like it has been a constant struggle all week. in dealing with this stuff my normal work is not getting done which adds to the problem. not to mention that my health has taken a downward turn during this process as well.

my health + stress = bad things

on top of that you throw in some disappointment whether it be in myself or others & you have the makings of a rough week.

its times like these that i have those conversations with myself in my head. you know the ones. “come on you can make it through this” “you are stronger then you think” “its just a bad day tomorrow will be better” “you are never dealt more then you can handle” yep. i have had them all. did they help? who knows. all that i know is that its FRIDAY & this week is about over which i am very grateful for.

when things are not going the right direction for me i do my best to find the silver lining that is always there. yesterday i got an email that brought tears to my eyes & a smile to my face. my SIL sent a pic of my nieces which was priceless. totally made me realize that even though there is crap going on i still have a wonderful family that is full of love. i will share the pic at some point in the future for now i just want to treasure it.

another great silver lining from this week was this.

my friend Sharon gave me this fabric. yes i said gave. her husband dropped it off at my work & it was during a time that i was elbow deep in something & didn’t get to thank him. Sharon was going through some fabric, came across this & realized she didn’t have a need for it anymore. i told her i would be interested because i know someone who likes that sort of thing & i could make them a quilt. so, thank you to Sharon for being a silver lining in my week.

when things get crazy for me & i get off of center i turn to things i know to bring me back. my two of my favorite things are music & sewing. so, yes itunes is playing as i am typing this & DMB is assisting in the re-centering process.

this is some of the sewing that has taken place this past week. block #11 from the Fat Quarter Shop’s Mystery BOM. i also put together a bee block as well. i don’t want to show that until she has gotten it.

another thing i have been working on is organizing my scraps. yes you read that right. crazy as it sounds my scraps have been driving me nuts. they have been residing in this large tote for sometime now. when i go looking for something you can imagine the mess it makes. that is what brought about this organization project. i have began by sorting them into piles of color range. if i come across something that is 5″ or wider & the full WOF then that goes into a separate pile. fat quarters into a separate pile as well. this is my progress so far. i am surprised at my stack of reds. i am planning on getting through it this weekend. i have a couple ideas on storage so check back to see how that goes.

last but not least this morning i received another silver lining. i told you about the challenge that my friend Sarah over at Confessions of A Fabric Addict issued to all of us quilters. Sarah posted this morning that she had 48 people sign up. that means 48 quilts will be made & taken to Romania. me being me signed up to do 2. my 1st partner is local. my friend Barb is joining in the fun & we will be exchanging our fabric on Monday. huge Thank You to Barb for taking on the challenge. my 2nd partner is Larissa from Australia. yep, Sarah went international with this challenge. the response to this challenge puts a HUGE smile on my face.

i hope that you all had a survivable week & that an amazing weekend is ahead for each one of you.

remember “make the best of what’s around”
BOM · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · WIP Wednesday

WIP Wednesday

renegadequilter2 Comments
back to quilting stuff for wip Wednesday.

i finished up block #10 for the Fat Quarter Shop Mystery BOM.

then in yesterday’s mail block #11 showed up so i have the fabric pressed & ready to go.

i have also been working on some bee blocks. like this one.

then i have decided to dig out what i think is my oldest wip.

i got this pattern on my 1st trip to Sister’s which was 6 years ago. then on another trip to Sister’s i got the fat quarters for the pattern. i think that trip was maybe 2 years ago. about a year ago i cut it all out & started sewing. then i hit pause on it until now.

why now???

i have the perfect person to give it to. funny how that works.

so, what are you working on???
BOM · family · friends · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · quilt alongs

The Ups & Downs of Life

renegadequilter3 Comments
the last week or so has been very sad with the passing of some people who had touched our lives & we are left wondering why. anytime someone leaves the face of the earth expectantly i always turn inward and re-examine my life & my purpose for being here. i tend to stop & notice the simpler things more – from the moon on a clear night to the local high school football game going on down the road. i realize just how truly blessed i am to be living the life i have & i thank the Big Man upstairs everyday for that & the people in my life. taking time to pause & be grateful for what we have should be a daily occurrence for each of us.
*******
i was very grateful that this past weekend my BFF Shelly got to come to my house for a weekend of sewing & hanging out. Shelly missed our quilt camp so this was sort of a make up mini camp for us.
i got the above quilt quilted which had been prepped and ready for ummmm 3 months or so. i put the binding on it last night but no pic of that.

i made my bee block for Sue in my Bee Splendid group. these were something that i had never done before & it took me a bit to get it all figured out but once i did i really enjoyed making them.

i hope Sue likes them.

i also got the next block in the Fat Quarter Shop’s Mystery Designer BOM done.

the other HUGE item on my weekend to do list was to finish my Hexi QA quilt that i did from Julie’s website Jaybird Quilts. i had laid it out a couple months ago & cut all of the setting triangles. thank goodness i was smart enough to take a few pictures before i picked up all of the rows and labeled them. i ended up going back & looking at the pics to confirm a couple of the block placements.

so once i got the main center of the quilt together i decided that it needed something extra. the 1st thing i did was add a navy boarder & then i used a honeybun in Neptune to add a 1″ square pieced boarder around that & then finished it off with another navy boarder.

i am pretty much in LOVE with this quilt. if you have been reading my blog for awhile you know that i like to set blocks in darker fabric & this is my 1st quilt that i have done in navy. i loved doing the quilt along that Julie taught. it was easy to follow & yet it challenged me & i learned new things as we went along.

the next big question. how to quilt it???
i will quilt it myself & i have a few ideas but this is one of those quilts that will sit for awhile until i am 100% sure about what to do. i am sure you all have had those quilts & then one day it hits you & you know ‘yep’ that’s how i am suppose to quilt it.
*******
i am challenging myself to sewing every night this week. so i am signing off to head to the sewing cave to maybe start on a new bag for myself.
*******
happy sewing to you all.
PS – we find out Thursday if my SIL is having a boy or a girl. once we know let the sewing begin for the upcoming addition to the family.

BOM · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · projects · quilt alongs · quilt camp · renegades

When It Rains

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why is it when it rains it pours? that has been my life for the past few weeks. a couple quilt camps, an eye infection that required a few trips to the doc out of town, people on vacation from work, just life in general has been busier then normal for me – that’s why i haven’t been here blogging. but, today is your lucky day & i am here with pics from quilt camp this past weekend.
********
there were only 4 of us the aka Renegades & we headed to my aunt & uncle’s place in McCall, ID which is about 2 1/2 hrs from here. this is an annual trip for our group as its one of our members birthday. this week i received a thank you card from her with this on the front of it – a perfect depiction of our little group!
pic of the lake at McCall. its an awesome little resort town in the mountains.

pic of my aunt & uncle’s place that we stayed at.

so, for actual sewing that i got done at this camp…. at the last camp i did some quilting so at this camp i bound what i quilted at that camp & then i decided to quilt some more.

out of the 5 quilts above i quilted 2 of them in McCall the other 3 at the last camp and got the binding done on all of them in McCall. a couple of theses quilts are gifts – 1 for a little person & 1 for a dear friend who is recovering from back surgery.

this quilt i started about 1 1/2 yrs ago & got the top finished about 6 or 8 months ago. i quilted it in McCall with the advice and help of Denise the ‘quilting master’. i love how it turned out – i gave it to my mom for her birthday & she loves it. its her 1st Christmas quilt from me.

i love that the tassels on the hats are felted wool.

Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Designer BOM finally all done.

i pieced this at the last quilt camp & got it all finished in McCall

something i spent 1 1/2 days on but i can’t show it all just yet.

giant pincushions from Julie’s pattern. i actually filled them with crushed walnut shells – that was fun & they turned out way different then filling them with doll beads and stuffing.

did a block for my monthly block swap.
hope you like it Kitty.

got 5 rows of my hexi QA quilt put together – this is very time consuming but i am loving how its coming along.

life is starting to get back to normal for me – whatever normal is. i plan on spending sometime this weekend in the sewing cave maybe finishing up the hexi quilt & moving on to some Christmas gifts.

BOM · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · quilt alongs

Odds & Ends

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i finished up the last block for the Jelly Roll Quilt Along that i have been doing.

here are all of the blocks. i have the finishing instructions but it might not get put together till camp.

i also made the 3rd block in the Fat Quarter Shops Designer Mystery BOM.

as well as another block for the Star Sampler Quilt Along that I am doing. i think this block #9.

i cut some backs for quilts that need to be quilted as well as did some hand work. i started prepping projects for quilt camp…. i think this is gonna take awhile.
i hope you all have a good weekend & a even better week!

BOM · fabric purchases · family · http://schemas.google.com/blogger/2008/kind#post · renegades

Randomness…..

renegadequilter2 Comments
this post is full of randomness….. sort of how my life was this past weekend

but, 1st & foremost this adorable little girl (my niece) is gonna be a big sister in March….. WHOOOOO HOOOOOOO so that means i’m gonna be an aunt again. we are all super excited & already planning a baby shower along with all of the quilty items i can make for the upcoming addition.


yesterday, Sunday, i spent here at the Dahmen Barn in Uniontown, WA helping with a fundraiser. this barn had been in my family for years until my great aunt & uncle donated it to the town of Uniontown 4 or 5 years ago. it is now home to several artists that have studio space there to work & sell their items. there is also a consignment shop in the barn where i sell my bags that i make. it was a lot of work yesterday but well worth it. the money raised will go to improvements on the barn.

i did get some sewing done on Saturday. i got the next 2 blocks made for Amy’s Simple Sampler Quilt Along.


this past week my friend Denise (a fellow Renegade) dropped this fabric off to me. its Christmas outfits to go with the paperdoll quilts that the 4 of us made last fall for the little girls in our families. Denise had seen this Christmas paperdoll fabric on vacation & was kind enough to get some for all of us as an i love you present.

thanks Denise – LOVE YA!

i found the fabric below at the Dahmen Barn on Saturday when we were setting up for the fundraiser. being green i had to have it. the best part was the price. 2 1/2 yds for $3 – amazing i know. people are always donating random items to the barn & this was one of them. lucky me!

mr mailman was kind to me this past week & brought me my siggy blocks. i totally LOVE everyone of them. i even took them to work & showed them off. i have been thinking about the layout for these & more then likely won’t get to put these together till quilt camp next month.

a SUPER HUGE THANK YOU goes out to Julie for all of her hard work in organzing, sorting & remailing the blocks back to all of us. YOU ROCK!!!

mr mailman was my friend a 2nd time last week when he brought me this big box of yumminess. Natalia of Piece N Quilt was selling her scraps & i was the lucky person who hit purchase 1st. this box is loaded with AWESOME stuff from fabric lines i have wanted to completed blocks. i have sorted it out some & i think i have 6 projects planned for her “scraps”.

i also got this block sewed up for my local block swap. i know its simple but that’s what i wanted so i could get it done quickly if need be.

last, but not least i have been trimming HST for Karrie’s Charm Pack QA. there are 150 of them & i think i am half way through trimming. then it will be on to step 2. i hope to get that done before Sunday when she posts step 3.

so a bunch of randomness this past week.

i hope to spend sometime in my sewing cave this week & knock out the final few blocks for a couple quilt alongs as well as start some quilting on another quilt. i need to make a list of quilt camp projects & start prepping those as well. i can’t believe camp will be here in about 5 weeks.

in about 2 weeks i will be heading to Boise to kick off my adventure of 6 DMB shows in 20 days. my younger brother & sil will be going to the Boise show with me & i am pretty sure that they will either disown me or have me committed after attending the show with me. all i ask is for him to wait 20 days to commit me…….

i hope you all have a great week whatever you may be doing!

BOM · quilt alongs · updates

Making Progress

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i finished sewing up block #2 for Fat Quarter Shop’s Mystery Designer BOM. i LOVE how this one turned out – super cute!

i have finally started on the Charm Pack Quilt Along that Karrie is hosting over at Freckled Whimsy. yesterday while the AC repairman was at my house i got the 1st set of 5″ squares cut and the lines on the back. so i am making some progress on this…..

i hope to get these HST sewin tonight so i can move onto step #2.

BOM · projects · updates

Fat Quarter Shop BOM Done!

renegadequilter1 Comment

i finally finished putting together the top from last years Fat Quarter Shop’s Mystery BOM. it took me all week but its finished……..

and since i did the year priors BOM from the Fat Quarter Shop i thought i would share that one as well.

this is the prior year. un-ironed but my AC is out so – sorry – at least you get a pic of it – wrinkles & all.

and here is this past years BOM top all put together. needless to say i LOVE it!


i love how the colors work together in this one & especially the light blue boarder next to the dark brown.

now for the dilemma for both quilts. do i quilt them myself or send them out to be quilted? and, if i send them out to be quilted – do i have all over quilting done on them or do i have them custom quilted? or maybe i quilt 1 myself (i can always use the practice) & send 1 out to be quilted? i need some help here quilting buddies….. please?????

if i knew what i wanted to do i would have already done it with the prior years quilt. see my predicament???

so, its off to work for me know where there is AC and it will be much cooler then it is in my house. i will be back this evening to get caught up on some quilt along blocks/projects & maybe cut some bags cut out & ready to sew.

let me know your thoughts on the quilting of my Fat Quarter Shop BOM quilts & may you all stay cool today……….

oh, i almost forgot. today starts the countdown. countdown to what you ask???

Dave Matthews Band concerts – what else would i have a count down for???

T minus 30 day until my Dave Matthews Band fest begins – 6 shows in 20 days – i will be like a kid waiting to go to Disneyland marking off the days till the 1st show in Boise.

bags · BOM · quilt alongs · Sisters

Blocks and More

renegadequilterLeave a comment
this past weekend i spent getting caught up on quilt along blocks
and
i had several of them to get caught up on
*******
1st out of the gate is this block that i made for the Jelly Roll Quilt Along from
2nd, 3rd & 4th were for the Star Sampler Quilt Along that I am doing from
pickles & bacon

the last 2 blocks are for a new quilt along i found through a member of my quilting bee group
its called Simple Sampler Quilt Along and its from
i have decided to make this out of Hope Valley which i LOVE and
rather then sash it in a light solid fabric i will be sashing is in an orange print from this line

now for the more part
i started work on my bag for the Sister’s trip & i decided to make the largest size 1st out of a charm pack to see if i wanted to pack around that big of a bag. i am so glad i made this 1st becuz its huge (not finished yet) and i will be making a smaller size out of the Brady Bunch fabric i got for the trip. once i get both finished I will share pics.

i also worked on the setting kit for last year’s Fat Quarter Shop’s Mystery Designer BOM. i got the center of the quilt done and now i am working on the 36 sashing pieces.
this week i will be working on my Sister’s bags as well as taking a trip to see my doc again. however, this time he should be giving me a diagnosis as well as a plan for treatment – FINALLY!
i will also be getting things ready for out Sister’s trip. there are 7 of us going together all meeting in the Tri Cities at our 1st quilt shop. i think that we will be hitting about 10 or 11 shops over the 4 days not to mention the amazing outdoor quilt show on Saturday. this is my 5th year going & each year its better & better. we have a few newbies on this trip & that is always fun!
i hope you all have a wonderful week.

bags · BOM · projects · quilt alongs

Variety….

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this past weekend i worked on a variety of projects
i got the backing & batting ready for 2 quilt tops to go to the quilter
the top one is a Halloween quilt for my bff son’s – i pieced the back with leftover blocks & fat quarters – it actually turned out pretty cute
the next one is a jelly roll quilt that i made earlier this year when i was sewing with my bff
so off to the quilter they go & i will show you pics when i get them back & binded
friday evening i made this cute little bag the pattern is ‘the favorite bag’ from V and Co.
i didn’t add the flower but i LOVE this bag & it went together quickly – even better
i also finally sewed together my blocks (that i made in March) for this Buggy Barn quilt
its made from their Iced Mocha line of fabric and i LOVE it as well
i will quilt this one myself at some point in the future
i pinned it over my Pumpkins Gone Wild quilt hence the orange at the bottom of it

i also put together block #2 for the Star Sampler Quilt Along that i am doing with Audrey from {pickles & bacon}

and last but not least,
just tonight i put together Block #1 from the Fat Quarter Shop’s Designer Mystery BOM
i (big surprise) LOVE this block as well as the fabric


i have a busy week & weekend ahead of me filled with appointments & parties
we are celebrating my Grandma’s 90th birthday on Saturday so all of the family will be in town
on Sunday we are celebrating my niece’s 2nd birthday
so, probably not much sewing time
********
i hope you all have a great week!