Happy New Year 2015!

I'm sure this new year will have its ups and downs, as things cannot always be perfect, but I'm very grateful it has started on an up!

Iowa Spring Day baby quilt is finished! I quilted it w/organic wavy lines and I hand-sewed the binding, which is something I haven't done in a long while!

39.75" x 47.5"

Iowa Spring Day Backing

However, I will be hand binding more often...to justify a friend making me this custom hand sewing caddy.  I had seen something similar on Instagram, showed him a pic and this is what I got! Isn't it fantastic?!

Before starting the project I got a tour of his shop. With so many species of trees in the world (some estimate 20,000+) it's no wonder I'd never heard of the majority of wood types in his "stash".  Yes, woodworkers have stashes too!

 Of course, one of my favorites was the Quilted Maple (see pic below) however, the three types of wood used in this little project were much more exotic!  The base is Sirari  (grows in Tropical South America, primarily Bolivia, Brazil, Paraguay); the sides, needle holder, and extra spool/scissors block are made of Leopardwood (grows in South America, Chile, Brazil); and the stoppers on the spool turn are made of Bubinga (grows in Cameroon and Gabon, West Africa).

Watching and helping (yes, I helped a little!) a professional woodworker in action and working w/this gorgeous wood was quite fascinating! It's definitely deepened my appreciation and love of trees! Thank you David! =)

The Quilted Maple I was telling you about.

With Iowa Spring Day finished I really ought to just be quilting Walk Like An Egyptian, but I've been moonlighting w/Through Thick and Thin.  Through Thick and Thin is a log cabin quilt I'm working on for my king size bed.  I'm constructing it w/2 different size logs, 2.5" and 1.25" and am using batik fabrics.  There will be 42 - 15" blocks.  I wanted to do an offset Barn Raising layout, but I'm not sure if it'll work w/so few blocks. Time will tell.  

Several blocks in Fields & Furrows layout

Piles of strings for Log Cabin

And lastly, I've got to make myself start quilting Walk Like An Egyptian this week! I've been putting it off because I'm not sure how to start the spiral quilting I want to do and am afraid to mess it up. If anyone has tips/tricks on how to get started on spiral quilting, please pass 'em my way.

Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless!

A Thread for Life
Am I getting nobler, better, more helpful, more humble, as I get older? Am I exhibiting the life that men take knowledge of as having been with Jesus, or am I getting more self-assertive, more deliberately determined to have my own way? It is a great thing to tell yourself the truth. -Oswald Chambers

Linking up at:
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Needle and Thread Thursday
TGIFF!

Goal Reached and Other Things

I pray everyone had a Merry Christmas. Mine was good. My family came to my  house where we ate, drank and were merry. Afterward we went to Glendale Glitters. It was a really good day.

I actually finished sewing my quilted gifts on Christmas Eve. I wanted to give something quilted AND useful. I settled on these microwave cozies.

Leaning Tower of Cozies

 I made...and gave 37 of them. They were well received. I got the idea from this post and Jenn graciously sent me this tutorial.  Thanks ladies!

I've got my new grandson's quilt top together. It measures 39.75" x 47.5".   I basted it last night and will be quilting it this week. I remember Greta saying, as she was cutting out the triangles w/her Go! Baby Accuquilt Fabric Cutter, how the colors and fabrics reminded her of a "gourmet" Iowa spring day.  So I'm calling this quilt; Iowa Spring Day. Thanks Greta!

 At first I was overwhelmed, not sure how to layout all these colors and fabrics. I finally decided to just alternate dark and light triangles in each row. Eventually I started to run out of lighter colored fabrics but then I remembered a trick I saw somewhere...I think it was Instagram.  By turning a fabric over, to wrong side out, it basically looks like a lighter/muted shade of the same fabric. I did this several times through out the baby quilt.  Thank you whoever thought of this wonderful technique!

Middle fabric used as a dark

Middle fabric turned wrong side out and used as a light

This was my first time sewing triangles together. I found/used this tutorial. Thanks Lorna!  Instead of pressing the seams open, I opted to press to one side or the other, alternating rows.

I've also been working on the pattern test I mentioned in my last post. I've got it basted and ditched. I'm calling it Walk Like An Egyptian. I love how it's turning out. I can't wait for everyone to see it! It's going to be a wall hanging above my bed. I'm not sure how I'm going to hang it as I've never hung a quilt before, so if anyone can point me in the direction of a good How to Hang Quilts tutorial, please point away.

I bought myself a walking foot. One came w/my machine when I bought it a couple of years ago, but every time I used it, it bunched up my fabric and put a black line on it.

Anyway, I used my new one for ditching Walk Like An Egyptian and it worked beautifully. I am going to use it to quilt both of these quilt and I'm sure many others to come.

I haven't shared pics of Ivy in a while. She is now 6 1/2 mos.  Look how big and beautiful she's gotten.

I pray this coming year is a blessed and peaceful one for you all.

Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless!

A Thread for Life
So do not worry or be anxious about tomorrow, for tomorrow will have worries and anxieties of its own. Sufficient for each day is its own trouble. Matt 6:34

Linking up at:
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The Funk Is Dissipating...

First off I'd like to say Thank You for all the prayer, words of encouragement and well wishes in response to my last post. Between these things and quilting, the funk is slowly but surely dissipating.

Back in this post I listed everything I wanted/needed to complete by Christmas.  All I have left are the small quilted gifts for family, friends and coworkers. I'm about a third of the way through and I am confident I can finish all by/before Christmas.  I've got another 4-day weekend coming up this week!  I could have already been finished w/the small gifts if I hadn't allowed myself to be sidetracked w/other projects, but I think you all know how that goes.

I wrote about two of the sidetrack projects in this post. I like to think of them as rewards. 

Back in August a friend asked if I could do something w/two flimsies (approx twin size) her grandmother had started before she passed.  I quilted them while I was Visiting Greta in October.  I finished them last week. They are both backed w/a jungle print fabric and I chose 2 coordinating calico prints for the binding. 

I even got started on a couple of my 2015 projects!

The 1st is a pattern test that I can't show pics of yet, but I've already COMPLETED the 48" x 60" flimsy!  I will be posting pics of the completed quilt sometime in January...so stay tuned.

The 2nd  is a quilt for my grandson who is due on February 18th.  All of the colors and fabrics come from Greta's stash.  Thankfully, while I was Visiting Greta, not only did she pick out/suggest most of the fabrics, she also cut out all the triangles w/her amazing Go! Baby Accuquilt Fabric Cutter! I'm so very grateful for Greta. My daughter loves all of the colors and fabrics! The triangles are up on the design wall.  I've halved the end triangles and plan to start sewing it together today.  Of course I'll be alternating this project w/the small quilted gifts I still need to finish.  

Until next time, Happy Quilting and God Bless!

A Thread for Life

God will give you strength for every battle, wisdom for every decision and peace that surpasses understanding. - findingsalvation_

Linking up at:
Anything Goes Monday at Babco Unlimited

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WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced

A Fast Break and An Upcoming Giveaway

I officially broke my fabric fast Thursday night. What had happened was, I lost my seam ripper on Wednesday night. I couldn't find it anywhere and had given my backup  to my sis a few weeks ago.  I decided it was a good time to finally visit the new local quilt shop, Sew Much for Quilting, that opened up near me in the Goodyear AZ.  I'd previously met Trish the owner, who is also a member  of QA, but I'd never been to the shop.  Well...I couldn't very well  walk into this HUGE shop, with rows and rows of fabrics and other goodies and ONLY buy a seam ripper!!!  

So...I bought a few yards of fabric, which I know most of y'all will find boring.  I didn't have a lot of time to spend in the store and since I don't really need fabric, I chose a couple of solids and one w/print for a friend, 2 seam rippers, and some clips that should work for binding (though I'm not sure they were designed for that).   If you are local or visiting the West Valley of Phoenix/Goodyear area and have time to browse an extensive selection of quality fabric and other goods, stop on by Sew Much for Quilting.  They also have a spacious classroom and offer several quilting classes for all levels of quilters. It is  definitely a 1-stop quilt shop!

I can't remember where/when I first saw this Tessellation Pattern by Alison glass, but it was love at first sight! I absolutely had to have the pattern and ordered it immediately. When I got it and opened it, the excitement faded a little. It's a paper piecing pattern and I've never done paper piecing. It can't be too hard, right? I found this post encouraging and will follow the sew along when I am ready.  I shall make mine scrappy. 

At this month's QA meeting a new friend gave me all these wonderful magazines. I just LOVE free stuff!  I've added at least 10 more quilts to my To Make list. I'm a maniac maniac oh yeah! 

Outlander Update
Outlander is everything I thought it would be and more! I don't have cable, but a dear friend subscribed to Starz so  we could watch It.  I'm very grateful and looking forward to watching episodes 2 and 3 this evening. 

My Quilty Updates

As you will see, I have a few tops done and really need to start quilting. 

Red Chevy Crush is pin basted and ready for quilting. I really like how this turned out. I used a strip/bricks technique seen here. 

Diamonds and Purples quilt top is complete.I won this kit at a QA raffle and a handful of the diamonds were already constructed.  Since I didn't use setting triangles, I'm thinking about just trimming off the sides and leaving the top and bottom points and making it a quilt w/o binding or a flip or whatever you call it. What do you call it?

The Summer Star Mini top is finished.  It's a QITR pattern. 

In other Quilty News

I am the lucky winner of triangles and squares giveaway! Yay me!! Thank you Christine. 

I was planning on visiting my new friend and fellow quilter/blogger Greta of Material Detachment in Iowa this month until I saw the Dream Studio Giveaway.  I read that the AQS Quilt Week is in Des Moines in October, so I'm making plans to visit then.  I'm looking forward to hanging out w/Greta and going to a quilt show in another state! It'll be a grand time!

And lastly, it's almost GIVEAWAY time! I'll be having a giveaway for my blog's 1st birthday on Aug 29th. I am also working on a scrap buster tutorial.

Stay Tuned and Happy Quilting!

A Thread for Life

Get into the habit of dealing with God about everything. Unless you learn to open the door of your life completely and let God in from your first waking moment of each new day, you will be working on the wrong level throughout the day. But if you will swing the door of your life fully open and “pray to your Father who is in the secret place,” every public thing in your life will be marked with the lasting imprint of the presence of God. - Oswald Chambers My Utmost for His Highest

Hello, my name is...

Zenia and I am a Quilter! I've been quilting for 2 yrs and am just recently inspired to blog about it. It's kind of odd because I've never cared for writing much but I am quite passionate about quilting so I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about it!  I've made 20+ quilts over the last 2 years and I plan to post all of my pics on here eventually. Someday I may write up some tutorials but  until then, I'll be posting about projects I'm working on and hopefully pass on some tips and tricks that have helped me a long the way. 

I'm currently working on a kaleidoscope quilt inspired by Maxine Rosenthal's book, One Block Wonders,( I prefer to call them one bolt wonders).  It's my 2nd one using this technique. I am using a fabric called  "koto" by Alexander Henry. 

I fell in love w/ this fabric about a year and a half ago but I couldn't bring myself to buy it at $12.99/yd.  So I put it off and put it off until finally one day I was browsing the Red Tag section at Joann when all red tag was 50 % off and  guess what?!! It was there!!! I ended up paying something ridiculous like $3.50/yd! Needless to say I bought all they had which ended up being about 8 1/4 yds.  

I plan to make 2 quilts for my bed. One for Spring/Summer and another for Fall/Winter. 
This shall be my Spring/Summer quilt  which I hope to have at least the top finished by this December.

The quick short version of this technique is. 

First stack and cut the fabric yardage into 6 pieces with the same design element. (I believe this is also referred to as a "stack & whack")

Cut into strips. I did the suggested 3 3/4 inches.

Cut strips into triangles. 

Stacks on stacks on stacks

Because the fabric is stacked up w/the same design element lined up, you end up w/6 identical triangles. 

You then sew the 6 triangles together to make some awesome hexagons! 

So this is what I have so far. I will be back again w/my progress.