I'm Back...

You haven't heard from me much lately, but I'm still here and I've been busy...

This is my latest finish.

Rockability Swing

 It's another Bonnie Hunter scrapbuster. 

This one is a biggie. It's 108" x 108" and all paper pieced.

I forgot just how much I love paper piecing until I started on this.

There are over 300 blocks in this one and it did make a dent in my scraps,

 but honestly not as much as I thought it would. 

Maybe that's just a sign of how big my scrap pile really is.

LOL!!

My longarm is only 10' wide, so I had to quilt it in 3 pieces. 

The center is one big piece. Then I quilted 2 rows separately and added one to each side, using the quilt as you go method. 

It's big and fits my king size bed perfectly!

It's fun to look at all the different fabrics in scrappy quilts. Hearing the grandies squeal, when they find something like spiders, Santa or princess fabrics makes me laugh. Yes, there is Christmas, Halloween, Princess and everything in between in this.

In May, a friend and I took a road trip...

It was a quilting week for both of us, that started at MSQC.

We rented a house, in front of their warehouse for a few days and enjoyed shopping and quilting.

The little house was "Pipers Place" that was recommended on the MSQC website and was a perfect place for our needs.

We headed south after that and spent the rest of our time at a wonderful AIRBNB in Branson Missouri.

From there we took a day trip down to one of my bucket list places.

I've never been to Arkansas and honestly, I didn't think we would ever find the place.

It was 3 1/2 hours of driving thru dense forests on curvy roads and having no idea where the heck we were. If the GPS had failed us, they would still be looking for us. LOL!!

But WOW...was it worth every minute of drive time.

Rows and rows of fabric...by the bolt, by the yard, by the bundle..

We didn't even see all the the warehouse in the time we were there, it was just soooooo big!

But my credit card said that I had done enough damage and it was time to leave.

HAHAHA

(but seriously, you can not beat their prices)

Lets just say, at least 180 yards of fabric and a roll of batting followed me home. 

My friend did just about as much damage as I did, as well. 

We had rented a full size car for the trip and when we picked it up, we were shocked at how small a full size car was, but we made it work. Who knew you could cram so much into a car that size.

If only I had taken photos of that!

LOL!!

 

Looney for Luna

 

This is Luna the Librarian!

Have you happened to see the scrappy dolls that have been taking over a quilt group on Facebook lately? Well, give me a reason to scrap bust and you know I am in.

These dolls have become so popular, they have their own Facebook group now.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/1210671123757430/

Today started the first "challenge" for the group. It's all voluntary with just a few rules.

The dolls for this challenge needed a safety pin, 5 buttons (one not round), a stripe fabric, a red fabric and lace.

There is no pattern, you just wing it and see what happens. Have I learned a LOT from the process!

I started by piecing scraps into a 12" square and cut it in half.

Then I added the face, shirt and skirt to her.

It is really interesting to see how she manage to take on a life of her own as I worked on it.

One of the members of the group shared how she made glasses with hot glue.

That intrigued me, so I had to play. I drew circles on the back of my cutting mat and covered them with hot glue. Everything is a learning process, but I managed with some trimming and adding more glue in places. When it was cool and dry, it pops right off the mat. I painted it with black chalk paint and added acrylic paint dots just for fun.

Here's the back view.

Live and learn...just use a solid on the front, if it doesn't show anyway.

I have pieced another 12" square using up random quilt blocks and scraps this time...

Wonder what this doll will end up looking like???

I hope your inspired to make a doll or two. I would love to see yours!

 

Unchained is Officially Finished

 It's been a minute...

Or a month, or even half a year. Time flies when you're having fun!

But I am happy to say, that "Unchained" is officially complete.

You all know that I am a huge scrappy quilt lover and Bonnie Hunter is my go to girl for them.

I fell in love with this one with X's and O's on it when I first saw it. It was a great scrap buster and heaven knows, I have scraps. LOL!!

You really have to stand back to see the design emerge. Up close it looks like scrap soup! HEHEHE

I started this one on a quilt retreat in New York last year where I managed to get all the blocks pieced. Once I was home, I put the top together and the blue sashing. Then the holidays seemed to take over and it was pushed back in a corner for way longer than I had planned. The border was so simple to piece, using phone book pages, that I had to wonder just why it took me so long to get back to it.

Anyway she is done and I love it.

Now on to Bonnie's, Hamilton Gardens quilt. It's all cut out and ready to go. 

If playing doesn't get in my way next week.

LOL!!

Summer is right around the corner and I am so looking forward to sitting out by the pond and enjoying the warm weather. Followed no doubt by complaining it's too HOT!

HAHAHAHA

 

Dust Off a Quilt Book Blog Hop

It's my day on Bea's blog hop and I just might be a rule breaker or a cheater...

I dusted off plenty, but for this hop it's not a quilt book.

In fact, I have quit buying books and magazines, because there is just so much online and I don't have the life expectancy to finish all the things I have saved to do already! LOL!!

Here is one of my bookshelves after I took magazines apart and only saved the patterns that I knew I might do someday. Then came along the internet patterns and things began to get out of control.

Bigger binders and folders were bought.

My project is one that's been on my list of to-do's for a very long time...

I have been hording my hand dyes for this one as well, so what better time to get it together and do it.

Here's couple of the blocks I made as a trial, to make sure it was going to be what I envisioned.

After a "LOT" of piecing and arranging and before borders, I was satisfied with the layout.

This one was a tough one to photograph. It's 108" x 108" so I took advantage of the Arctic Blast that came through a few weeks ago to take photos of this one, too. It as only 15 degrees out, but the sun and snow really made the colors pop, so it was worth it.

I am over the moon happy with this finish.

Hopefully it inspires you to dust off something in your stash, and bring it to life!

Thank you Bea for letting me play along and for pushing me to "get 'er" done.

Check out what my fellow bloggers have to share and leave them a little love with a sweet comment.

March 3

Karrin's Crazy World

Textile Ranger

March 4

Alycia Quilts

KathleenMcMusing

March 5

MooseStashQuilting (You're here)

WithStringsAttached

City Mouse Quilter

March 6

Nettie Sews

Beaquilter

 

It's Been Forever

 Oh my goodness, time really does fly. I can't believe it's been almost 3 months since I posted last.

I took some much needed time off to celebrate the holidays, spend time with family, and try to organize my sewing room mess, but that really doesn't look like anything really happened there. Mostly moving stuff from one place to another, then spending hours looking for where I put things. LOL!!

I did get busy on the Bonnie Hunter Mystery quilt this year and actually finished it.

There were lots of pieces, way to many to count...

but I think piecing them was much easier than past mystery quilts.

These were the blocks, but it was the sashing that were the star of the show this year. They really changed up the look of things.

I wasn't the only one who loved the quilt this year. Ole Denali claimed it as his right off the bat, making it almost impossible to bind!

We had an arctic blast come thru town a couple weeks ago, and while it was miserably cold...

It made for a perfect day for photos. The colors really shine in the sunshine.

On the personal side, I don't think I ever shared a picture of my newest grandie.

This is Ms. Kinsley

Needless to say, she is the apple of everyone's eye!

As for the other 2... they are as silly as ever.

💖💖💖

Lastly BeaQuilter is hosting a blog hop in March...

Dust off a Quilt Book Hop.

I will see you on Wednesday March 5th!