Rainy Friday.....

So what do you do on a rainy Friday?  

Go shopping for flowers....

I haven't planted them yet because it's supposed to get down into the 30's this weekend.  Right now it's 78.  That's Wisconsin for you!

House clean, laundry done. Check and check.

Now I get to work on my newest quilt.

This one is very time consuming.  Lots of points to match but I love it!  You might think I'm crazy but I really like doing this.  Sew a row, open it up to see if everything matches and if points are sharp.  I think I've done about 3/4 sewing and 1/4 unsewing but if it looks likes this I'm happy!  

Just 5 more rows to sew.  

This pattern is on Bonnie Hunters Blog Quiltville.  It's on the free page. Yes I said free!  She has so many tips and she is a scrappy lover...love it!

Off to my sewing.

Enjoy your weekend,

Leanne

Finished....

Finished this quilt wall hanging and in time for summer.

It's hard to see but I finished off the quilt with a blue print binding.

Now back to working on some wool appliqué...

and I think I'll finish another quilt hanging that I made for fall.  

This has wool applique vine and leaves in the borders.

I am so happy I learned how to machine quilt.  I'm loving all the mini quilts that are so popular now. I have my eye on some new ones I would like to make or try to make.

Enjoy your day, 

Leanne 

Working on Something for Summer and a Tip....

I'm pretty much a beginner quilter but that hasn't stopped me from trying to design a wall hanging.  

It all started with this pattern from Buggy Barn.

I just loved the center flower basket.... perfect for wool appliqué.

 I wanted to make something more scrappy for summer in red, white and blue. 

I found some French General fabrics in the colors I wanted. 

I made the center wool appliqué and did the quilt squares. 

One problem..,

I think these squares are too scrappy.  

I love the fabrics.  

I just think I need more solids or smaller prints to make this block work. 

 I just don't like them for this project.  

So with the left over fabric and buying a neutral fabric I made these blocks.

Now these pinwheel blocks look so much better to me. 

I had the piano key stripes cut so I added them to make the wall hanging larger. 

Used the left over red for a border. 

 I like how it all came together.

I have it all pinned and ready for quilting.

 For quilting I want to outline the wool appliqué and stipple the background on the block. 

I'm not sure how I going to quilt the rest.

Now here's my tip....

I take a picture of my quilt to see how the blocks and fabrics are working together. 

I will do this to audition fabrics for my borders too.  

I don't have a design wall and taking pictures works just as well.

Happy sewing,

Leanne

This is not my garden...

but I wish it was.  ha ha

I just thought I would share a few pictures from our trip to Las Vegas.

My favorite places to stop by are the atriums at the Wynn and Belagio.

This is the Wynn.  So much color all made out of flowers.

I just love these flower balls hanging from the trees. 

I wish I could have these in my yard.

This carousel is amazing!

Even the floor is beautiful.

The Belagio smelled wonderful.

This Japanese garden is so pretty and I just love the tulips.

So peaceful.

Love these parasols.

Guess where we stayed?

If you said the Flamingo you are right.

The weather was perfect!

I just had to add one dam picture.

Okay one more dam picture.  This was taken from the bridge you can see in the previous picture.

This is what I am currently working on.  

I want the larger, longer runner to match the small one.

I just love how this is looking!

I'm still working on my hexies.  

I think I want this to be a table runner or two.  

I'll just keep adding fabrics in red, black, caramel and off white 

and make

hexies until I decide.

I finished this little Buttermilk Basin picture on the plane. 

I bought the kit at the Quilt Show in Chicago.

Have a great week

and

Happy stitching,

Leanne

Prep, Stitch, Prep, Stitch

I'm back to hand stitching some wool pieces.  I thought I better get back to getting ready for my craft fairs which are happening in the fall.  I like to cut out a bunch of backgrounds at one time, finish them off and start all over again.  

I know I told you these pieces were for my craft fairs but I just might have to keep this one.  It looks so springy looking and I have the perfect spot for it. 

I'm not finished yet it still needs the backing.

It's hard to tell but this piece is a wine color.  

I just love the color.  I wish I had more of this wool.

I always like having hand stitching projects around. 

I usually do a little stitching every night.  

It's so calming and the perfect thing to do while watching tv.

I think I'm stitching this mat in black. I love scrappy....penny rugs and quilts. 

 If you knew me you would be laughing because I am such a matchy matchy person but I just love scrappy.  It's the perfect way to use up the small pieces of wool. I am so frugal with hand dyed wool. If a piece of wool is 1 inch by 1 inch I save it.  I even save pieces smaller than that for stuffing certain pieces. I hate to see any of the wool go to waste.

I just love the flowers on this runner and the lace edging is the perfect way to finish it off.

I have this runner on Ebay right now.  Click here to see more pictures and more offerings.

I'm off to enjoy this beautiful sunny day.

Happy stitching,

Leanne