E is for . . .

News is that there’s a new baby boy arriving soon joining the other three grands. I’m excited for his arrival in about 11 weeks or so. While waiting for his mom to choose fabric to match his nursery so we can make a baby quilt for him, I made this one for him this week and using it for my entrance into Project Quilting 10.5 which the theme is abecedarius.  The word “abecedarius” means “an alphabet primer.” Literally, the word itself is made up of a+b+c+d! It can refer to a form of poetry where the first letter of each line or verse is the next letter of the alphabet, or it can be a book where each letter is defined (A is for … B is for …). 

This is from a kit I’ve had from my favorite FB quilt shop who has live party sales at least twice a week and last for three hours with everything you can think of that you could want. Find her at SewTrendyMN. This included a panel of the pictures/words and five fabric designs to make the other squares and borders. Instructions are to cut the panel apart into squares, cut the supplied fabrics into small squares to make the matching blocks to the animal blocks. And then cut the borders from the remaining fabrics. The animal blocks have words on the front which of course incorporates the letters of the alphabet. So it meets the quidelines for Project Quilting 10.5.

There was a teensy-tiny bit of fabric left to make the letters for his name on
the back.  The measurements are 48”x57”. E . . . is sure be a cutie playing on and dragging his wild animal quilt around as he grows.

PQ10.4

There is a 12-week challenge with 6 quilt projects over at Kim’s Project Quilting 10.
We’re on PQ10.4 this week and the project is pixel play.  Which is hard. And very time consuming. And something way beyond my thinking, I think. But I did my version of it from start to finish in the 7 days allowed in the rules of the challenge, For some reason I have to do a bed size quilt or at least a large throw size for any quilt I do. I don’t know why. That’s my own challenge I guess. The only subject on my mind for a pixelated project was a penquin. I couldn’t let go of not doing a penguin in some shape or form.

If it looks like a penquin, has the colors of a penquin, and surrounded by snow and a blue sky, then it must be a penquin.

It’s not a highly pixelated resolution, just a bare minimum pixelation. I don’t know if that is even the right jibber-jabber for pixel talk, but that’s how I’m calling it any way. Everything used was from my stash and measures 47”x54”, which is a great size for a baby to play on and kick around with.

Thank you PQ10 for pushing our limits on these challenges.

Gin

             

Show Your Wings Bloghop

Show Your Wings Bloghop

Winner, winner, chicken dinner. No, we're not going to eat these chickens that I created for the Show Your Wings bloghop. We've always had chickens on and off thru the years. We just had family Christmas Day at one of our sons house and he brought out Chicken Ginger to hang out with us. Yes, their chickens are named after family members, thus Chicken Ginger. And they have Dixie, Louise, and Blondie just to name a few. All was fine and well till she pooped on the carport and was taken back to the coop.

I

Some others in the family have ordered baby chicks for the spring and are they just arrived flapping their little wings . Sister says I should make a chicken quilt. Then along comes the Show Your Wings bloghop and I was brainstorming what to do for it. So its chicken wings for Show Your Wings with these whimsical chickens.

I used fabric I had in my stash and was surprised to find a yellow/tan that looks like chicken wire that’s good for the background. There was only enough for eight big blocks, no more. So I made it work.

The backing is a kind of a toille farm scene with chickens and goats and barns that I had from who knows when or where. And I had just enough red to put around the huge blocks. The blocks range from 8x16 to 12x12. The reds weren't measured to any specific size. They were cut to fit between the blocks. It came together without a pattern or plan. I just "winged"  it as it evolved along.

The chickens body parts are cut from a free-handed drawn template. The bodies are from different black fabrics to give them a cohesive look. Then different wings and feathers. The beaks, combs, and feet are all matching. Some do look as if they may be a rooster.

The baby chick blocks are just hatched and still in the cracked egg. 

They are appliqued to the tan/yellow and then surrounded by random size red fabric to offset each in the lineup

It's a finished measurement of 50"x78. I'm thinking it will be a cute throw for a farmhouse sunroom.

Thank you for stopping by to visit the chicken wings in Show Your Wings bloghop.
Leave a comment and let me know you were here and then visit the others participating in the Show Your Wings Bloghop . 

Check out all the amazing bloggers who will be participating:

February 18

What About Rheema?

Hill Valley Quilter

Nutz For Redwork

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Melva Loves Scraps

Creative Blonde

Keepsake Moments

Whims And Fancies

Quilt n Party

Seams To Be Sew

February 19

Patchouli Moon Studio

Vroomans Quilts

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Songbird Designs

Quilts Fabric and Thread Tales

Sew Many Yarns

Kathleen McMusing

Life in the Scrapatch

DesertSky Quilting

Clever Chameleon Quilting

February 20

Creatin' in the Sticks

MooseStashQuilting

The Joyful Quilter

Home Sewn By Us

Selina Quilts

Websterquilt

Beaquilter

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Ms P Designs USA

Bumbleberry Stitches

Mageez Room

February 21

Just Let Me Quilt

Sew Incredibly Crazy

Sew Fresh Quilts

Quilt Fabrication

Words & Stitches

All Thingz Sewn

Kathy’s Quilts

For The Love Of Geese

Two Maker Chicks

madeNcorrea

Gin

Another Win

You can say we have a dirt bike racer pro in the family. Another race this week and he placed 1st in the PeeWee Beginner Division.

It’s not if you win or loose, we know. It’s sportsmanship, competition, fun, and surely a learning experience in every way. But when giving it your all it sure is fun in the reward of 1st place. This is his second race in his lifetime of 6 and 1/2 years. It seems it’ll be a monthly event for sure from now on.

Last month he had a blue bike. This month an orange bike. His  dad is a dirt bike enthusiast since he was a kid, which we instilled in him growing up by buying him his first several dirt bikes as a kid. The dad has several dirt bikes in his collection over the years so he had the next size up to put Cohen on after his first race last month.

Call it a tight race. It was close. I was not at this race. But there in spirit with the pictures I was sent. Another race coming up. It has me on pins and needles wanting win after win after win now. I have to remember it’s fun for all no matter the results.

Gin

Hanging Out

Here is my January quilt projects. The bright sun makes them look twice as nice and the light breeze had them floating in the air. It was kind of a wild theme quilting month. There's a sleepy fox group and a bird gathering.

The only real pattern used was a fox face pattern from online. I made the template, cut the pieces and sewed them together to make the fox faces come to life in a quilt block.  The bird block is just a free handed bird i drew on paper to make my template then cut and appliqued it on strips for the quilt.

First, the  bird gathering. Its made from fabrics I already had except the backing fabric which I bought just for this. I free handed the bird pattern silhouette and appliqued them on. Then just added the border strips and called it done.

It measures 68"x78" and makes for a nice size. It can't get any easier than this. Just cut and sew straight lines. Except the birds were a little time consuming.  I used a spray adhesive (for sewing) to put the birds in place,  then appliqued around each one.  The back is bird themed also.

Race Day

The new season for dirt bike racing has started. Cohen has signed up and is making his debut. Last year he watched and cheered his older cousins on and this year he’s starting in the peewee beginner.
He’ll be racing once a month for the next ten months. Each race counts toward the end of the season for the placing in your division.

He’s not new to riding. He’s been riding at home for several years. So he has the riding basics behind him. He just has to get the competition part down.

He did great the first half keeping his place in second and third as we watched the laps. He had a spill and that put him back and couldn’t get back in the front.

He was sad at the end of the race knowing he didn’t make the top three. For his first race he finished and no injuries is a winner for us. So he took home fifth place for Round 1 and knows the next race is another chance.

We only stayed for the morning races to see Cohen and his older cousin race. The teenagers and adults races were next. As we were leaving, this is the view of the racers lining up. It was a sea of racers waiting their take offs by divisions.

The next one is February and I so plan to go and cheer my favorite racer.

Black and White Bargello

Thank you for stopping by for the Black and White Blog Hop hosted by Creatin' In The Sticks.

With a black and white and gray jelly roll on hand and a plan to make a bargello quilt, this became the project for this bloghop. This is a new to me design. I'm wowed over all the stunning bargello quilts online. Google them and see all the amazing designs for them.

It's all about the flow of the placement of the pieces. I actually did not use a pattern for the design. I did read many online sites about bargello patterns and did watch many Youtube videos on them and then just winged it.

I added a white on white print from my stash to define and enhance the flow of my design. I like it with just the design and no borders, but I had no more 2.5 inch strips so I added the solid black and gray borders.

I call this quilt Enlightening. It was enlightening to me to take on the bargello that I thought I would never accomplish and just love everything about it -- the easy, quick, and beautiful design it became. And it does sort of look like a lightening bolt, don't you think? I will confess this was not the design I envisioned at the start, but I'm super pleased with the result. It seemed to take on its own look.

If you haven't created a bargello quilt yet, make it your next must do project. You will not be disappointed in your creation.

 Check in with Creatin' in the Sticks for more black and white this week.

Hop Schedule

Monday, January 21st

Just Let Me Quilt

Needled Mom

Tu-Na Quilts, Travels, and Eats

Life in Scrapatch

QuiltFabrication

Scrapdash

Bumbleberry Stitches

keepsake moments

Vroomans Quilts

Tuesday, January 22nd

MooseStash Quilting

SewFreshQuilts

Elizabeth Coughlin Designs

Quilts by Joanne

PamelaQuilts

That Fabric Feeling

Songbird Designs

Two Maker Chicks

Wednesday, January 23

Selina Quilts

Beaquilter

Quilt in a not-Shell

Patchwork Breeze

Adventurous Applique and Quilting

Kathleen McMusing

Cynthia's Creating Ark

Everyone Deserves a Quilt

Homespun Hannah's Blog

Thursday, January 24

Quiltscapes

Seams to be Sew

Storied Quilts

Kathy's Kwilts and More

Ms P Designs USA

Den syende himmel

Melva Loves Scraps

Creatin' in the Sticks  

Gin

A Run In The Park

A few weeks back some of the family was over and we went in the woods  to let the guys prepare for hunting season. We did a lot of running.

Riding around, showing some love, working in the field, and just having fun on a pretty day in the woods.

We did some play acting while they worked. It’s cool what technology can do for you today. We put a dinosaur out in the woods and caught us on camera running from it.

We did both work and play. Some were not too happy with the playing part. The dinosaur graphic was just too real for her and she wasn't going to participate. Can't believe how real it seemed. 

Gin

Hope with all your heart

I  joined Project Quilting 10 for six challenges in twelve weeks with a deadline of seven days for each project. Project 10.1 is about hope,  Hope Springs Eternal. After a lot of ideas that wasn't manageable in 7 days I went with "hope with all your heart". Hope and heart go together. When I have hope, I'm hoping with all my heart.

I pulled out coordinating pinks to do the heart and had to buy the background fabric and fell in love with it being mint green crushed ice.

The entire top was easy using 3" wide strips in varying lengths from 4" to 12" from the pinks and the mint. I layed out the pinks in lines to form a heart with staggering edges then extended the lines with the mint to the edge of the quilt.

I played with it day and night for four days to cut and layout and sew together and quilt and bind . And its done! Measuring in at 64"x75".

I'm loving it.

And there's a plus. It also makes the cut for my valentine quilt I wanted to make.

Super, super, super big easy project in four days.

Gin

Christmas Scenes Past

I’m still reminiscing about Christmas with sugar plums dancing in my head and participating in all the Christmas activities before Christmas Day. We went to school programs, Christmas church service and mall shopping with the Christmas carolers performing just to name a few.

Christmas Day was at the new house of our oldest and all the kids and their families and a few others were there for all the Christmas dinner traditions and the gifts exchange and the playing and the surprise reveal of their new baby to be in Early June. Surprise its a boy!! That's what big brother wanted and he's super excited.

Here's a few of the scenes of the day.

Some adults always like to join in the fun for real.

A backyard visitor made it to the activities. Meet Chicken Ginger. Their  group of chickens are  named after family members and there's Louise, Betty, and Dixie to name a few. Everything was fine till she popped on the carport and then sent back to the coop.

The Reason for the Season is everyday not just Christmas Day to  celebrate the birth of the Newborn King.