Boo!! Brocante for Halloween

Almost time for the April LePetite parade!  Strangely enough, I used Haunted Mansion and Halloween Night fabrics for my Brocante Schnibble this month. I love mixing those charm packs!  Last summer when these fabrics came out I loved them, but never made the purchase.  I was sure they were gone until I saw them in early April and thought they would be perfect for Brocante!  The squares in the pattern are great for showing off fun charms!

Brocante Schnibbles with Halloween fabrics!

I followed Carrie's pattern exactly, except I couldn't bring myself to clip the seams like she suggested when joining the rows! Yikes!!  I tried part of one seam that way, but I was just so afraid of cutting a hole in the quilt top or getting carried away and clipping the thread that joins the seam! And if you know me, you know its easy for me to get carried away with something! In the end I opted for pressing the seams open when joining the rows, but not clipping. I wanted to try more clipping, but I was just afraid......and it wasn't the scary fabric that made me shiver!  Did you brave clipping the seams?  I'd love it if you left a comment for me and let me know what you did.  If you clipped, do you think it made the seams lay flatter than just pressing them open?  Maybe I'll try harder to clip them next time if it worked well for most of you!

Close up so you can see the fun prints!

One view outside because it was a beautiful day!
Thanks so much to my teenage helper.  

Be sure to view the LePetite Parade on Sherri and Sinta's blogs in the next few days.  I've already seen a few beautiful Brocantes floating around in blogland! Thanks again for leaving comments about clipping seams....to clip or not to clip......that is my question!

My Charming Girls Finishes in Pictures

It's time to show March and April finishes for Charming Girls Quilt Club! When I was looking at my list to do this post, I was surprised at how much I finished.  Making these goals really helped me stay on track and work on what I really wanted to accomplish.  I didn't finish everything, but I think I did pretty well considering how busy my family is in the Spring.  I didn't include anything that wasn't a goal for March and April.  Here we go.....my progress in pictures!

Endless Summer for LePetite

Borders for my State Fair Schnibble

Just One Star Project

Back to Quilting!

Easter Table Runner -yet to be quilted!

Charity Quilts........a few more to go

Layer Cake Blocks
I haven't totally kept up.  Just one or two left though.

......and more Layer Cake blocks

Almost finished with the April Le Petite
I have to will have it done in the next few days, so visit again soon to see my April Halloween project!
Enjoy your Friday!!  

 

Show and Tell....

Measure Up Tote by Cupcakes and Cartwheels

My sister who loves to knit sent me this awesome tote bag made of real measuring tapes because she thought I'd like it!  She was right!  It's so much fun. This could be a great gift for a sewing Mom on your list next month, so I thought I'd share it with you.  It's the Measure Up Tote by Cupcakes and Cartwheels.  Thanks for thinking of me Sis!

The quarter in this picture gives you an idea of the size of this pre-cut. 

I've never seen one of these in person before and I was wondering if any of by blogging buddies could tell me the name of this size precut?   I was suprised to get this tiny pack of Countdown to Christmas from Moda in my mailbox last week.  It is so cute!!   What a nice thank you for participating in the Just One Star Project.  Has anyone made a project with one of these little guys?  It's pretty cool.  A fun sample of Countdown to Christmas!

You can never have too many quilt books!

My parents came to visit from North Carolina over Easter weekend, and on a trip to the bookstore my mom got Jelly Roll Quilts by Pam and Nicky Lintott for me.  Beautiful quilt photos!  I'm looking forward to reading it!  Thanks so much Mom!

Endless Summer Hydrangea.  Didn't I just do a quilt with that name?

Yes! My hydrangea is blooming!  I just got it last year and with the cold winter we had.......laughter from my northern friends.......I wasn't sure it would come back, but here it is. Gardening success.

Thanks for letting me share with you and enjoy your week!  Hopefully I'll be posting again soon with my completed LePetite project and Charming Girls finishes.

Hoppy Easter!!

I hope everyone is enjoying their Easter weekend!  I know we are!  We have family visiting from North Carolina and we are all looking forward to eating out at an Easter brunch buffet. What are your plans?

Here is an Easter project that I made a few years ago that I'd like to share with you.  When I made it I remember thinking that the darker orange fabric really stood out, but now I'm glad I stuck with that fabric because it really provides some good contrast in the carrot.  Isn't it funny when what you were hesitant about when you were making a project, ends up being what you like about it when you are finished?  When was the last time this happened to you?  I'd love to know! Have a Hoppy Easter!! 

Wordless Wednesday

A Little Hocus Pocus on a Friday Night!

I'm back to update my progress after last night's Sew-In!

Charm squares were picked out and organized for April's LePetite project.  I'm going with a Halloween theme, mixing Halloween Night and  Haunted Mansion.  I've got some new Alexander Henry Hocus Pocus fabric for the back.  Because some of the pieces in Brocante are nice sized squares, I thought it would be a great pattern for these Halloween fabrics.    

Binding was made for my Easter table runner.  I know, I'd better get going on that if I want it out for Easter!  I got the backing together too, by sewing some of the larger pieces of fabric leftover from the top.  I also found a scrap of batting that would work for this project.  I just hate to throw batting away.  Scraps work so well for quilting practice and smaller projects.

One more Blessings from the Hollow block finished!  I'm loving that purple!  That's all for the update.....enjoy the weekend! I hope you are making some sewing progress too.

Friday Night Sew-In Tonight!

Yes, I'm back again today!  Didn't I just do a post yesterday?  This must be some kind of a record for me!  In fact I know it is!  Anyway, I just want to let you know about the Friday Night Sew-In tonight!  Get a snack, put on your comfy jammies, get out that project you've been meaning to work on, and spend an evening at home sewing with blog friends from around the world!

It's not too late to sign up if you are interested.  I wasn't really planning on participating, but I saw Tonya's post  yesterday, and today I thought, why not?  That sounds like fun.  Just what I need after a hectic week at my house.  Join us if you can!  Sign up by clicking the button on the side of my blog or click here.  I'm looking forward to it.  I hope you'll be there!

A Beginning to Blessings From the Hollow

This week I managed to squeeze some time in to prepare my fabric and make my first block for the Blessings From The Hollow quilt I'm making from Kim Brackett's book, Scrap Basket Sensations.  The block was pretty quick and fun to make. I'm pleased with the colors. Doing the cutting for one block at a time is the method I'm using for this quilt.  It's way easier on my back than doing all of the cutting at once, and fewer small pieces to keep track of. Hopefully I'll be posting again soon with further progress!

The Layer Cake Quilt Along is wrapping up in the next few weeks! During the quilt along I was lucky enough to win the book Simply Charming Circles by Konda Luckau of Moose on the Porch Quilts.  It's a great book of patterns for quilts with circles made with charm squares.  You can use raw edge or machine applique for the circles, so it's great for someone like me who needs to avoid work on applique.  I love quilts with circles, but haven't made many, so I'm excited about this book!  Thanks Konda!

A Table Runner, Some Project Planning, and a Dog

It's already Thursday!  Where did the week go?  It was a busy one!  I had some time today, while the boys were at soccer practice, to put together this fun table runner that I mentioned in my Charming Girls Goals at the beginning of March.  My friend Kim, who introduced me to quilting, gave my these beautiful Easter fabrics a few years ago, and this year I was determined to use them.  It was just so hard to cut into that cute little stack!  I chose the tablerunner Framed Four Patch from Little Charmers II by Heather Mulder Peterson. It went together quickly and easily.  I'm hoping (or hopping  LOL!!)  to have it quilted and finished by Easter!

Framed Four Patch Table Runner with Easter fabrics

I was also deciding on some fabric combinations to use in a quilt I'm making from Scrap Basket Sensations by Kim Brackett.  Lilac Hill is the fabric line I'm using to make the quilt Blessings from the Hollow. Purple is my favorite color, but I don't get to use it much in quilting, so now is my chance!  I like to lay out the fabrics for a quilt and decide where they are going to go before I get started.  I leave them in the coordinating piles for a few days and take a look once in a while, until I'm sure I like the placement of the fabrics.  Am I the only one that plans out quilts this way?   I don't like being forced into fabric combinations that I don't like at the end of a project.  Let me know what method, if any, you use to decide where your fabrics are going.  I'd love to know!

Scrap Basket Sensations has some amazing quilt patterns!

Lilac Hill fabrics waiting to be sorted.

My piles to be pondered!

In other news, Copper got his Spring cut today and he is a happy camper now! I am too! Less fur to clean up. I was trying to snap a picture of him outside and it looks like he was trying to avoid the paparazzi!

Why is she following me around?  This is annoying!

Finally posing for a picture,  maybe not posing, but it worked out anyway!

What project are you working on this weekend?  Have a great one!