Miniature Ups and Downs...

 I really love the movement in the Ups and Downs pattern by Sarah Fielke...when I ordered her pattern, the instructions were word only with the only picture on the outside of the pattern.  I am a visual quilter and need a few pictures along the way...so I tested the pattern out in miniature using my 2" squares and leftover browns that were used in backings...to my amazement, it is a split 9 patch block...really fun to sew up...

 I chose this yummy pink minky for the back and it makes for a comfy quilty baby quilt...

 I just randomly sewed the squares up and then laid them out and sewed together the quilt...

For being a tester, I fell in love with it.  Can't wait to do the bed size quilt...The background will be a kiwi solid with 3 1/2" squares all from my scrappy stash..Should be a fun quilt!!!

Floyd Family 2nd Annual Retreat

My friend, Alissa, had a family sewing retreat yesterday...I had the honor of being invited to go and sew at the Girlfriend's Attic...I was having so much fun sewing, shopping and such that I only got these 2 pictures of the actual retreat...Alissa's parents are serving a full time LDS mission in the Phillipines.  There is a lady there who found out she was pregnant at age 42 and is having a hard time.  Alissa's mother felt that if someone would sew her a baby quilt to show that people cared, it would really help this woman.  The floors over there are all concrete, and with cultural preferences to take into consideration, Alissa felt this monkey quilt would be fun...

 The monkey fabric is a vintage brown pin whale corduroy and for the body of the monkey, sashings and borders, she has gone to her stash for this little quilt.  It is fun, quirky and very textural with the corduroy.  It really makes my heart smile and I'm sure the mother will adore this!!

Here is a close up of one of the monkeys...too cute.  If I were a baby, I would love this...

Petal Pop...

 Petal Pop is one of Nancy Halverson's newest designs in her book Curiosities....

 The blocks in this quilt are 18 inches and have a lot of layered applique...

 Her fabrics are beautiful and I "sew" enjoyed working with them...

 This quilt is a twin, but would easily make into a queen size by adding 3 more blocks...

I chose this for the backing and really like it...on a side note, this is a very labor intensive project so just know you cannot crank this out overnight...

Sew Day...

 Today we had sew day...two of my sisters were there, my mom and my nieces and nephew...Rose worked on her pin wale corduroy  jacket...it is full lined and coming together beautifully...

 I am making Lori Holt's spool quilt, so I cut out the blocks while I decide how I want to do the borders...

 There are a lot of spool quilts out there right now...I have not got Camille Roskelley's spool quilt pattern yet, but I will cause I love it...but right now, I am making Lori's spool quilt and loving it...

 My mom brought her embroidered Hocus Pocus blocks to trim up, so I helped her with that.  This is a CrabApple Hill pattern and they suggest using freezer paper and give some tips on how to center your embroidery for a real professional result....love that tip!!!

 My sister, Carolyn worked on cutting out Swoon.  Swoon is one of my most favorite patterns right now...just love those big blocks and the impact...

I laid out all of my postage stamp star blocks...yes the blocks are all made!!!  I made it super duper scrappy and just used what I had on hand.  It has been really fun to put together.  It will have yet another scrappy element with a piano keys border...The pops of color just make my heart sing...

My niece, Kristi, sewed a pair of pillowcases...She tries to really avoid sewing if at all possible, so this was a really great thing and they looked great!!!

Scrappy Postage Stamp Star...

 Awhile back on Em's Scrapbag's blog, I saw this quilt made up and decided it would be a great way to use up my 1 1/2" squares....So about a year ago, I started sewing the postage stamps together...

 It is interesting how the center pulls out the color of the star points...

 You can find her tutorial here

 This is Lady, the last of the puppies.  All the puppies have homes now and we are dog sitting Lady until my son and his wife can pick her up in August...my how she has grown...

My Girlfriend's Attic...

 We are very fortunate to have My Girlfriend's Quilt Shoppe so close by...

 

Not only do they have a fabulous fabric store and fun classes and mystery quilts....

They also have My Girlfriend's Attic...a retreat center complete with just about everything you would ever need from a full service quilt shop to beautiful surroundings, friends and fun times.  If you are going to be in the area, you should maybe look into booking the attic for your fun getaway!!!

Spring Finger Puppets...

 I came across this darling pattern for little finger puppets...I thought this would be great for a Grandma bag when we need quiet moments with the little ones...

 The puppets are made of felt and have hand stitching...the pattern is entirely sewn by hand, but I opted to stitch around the puppets by machine for durability...

 The pattern also had little pink buttons for the cheeks and buttons for embellishments, but I opted to do mine out of felt to avoid choking hazards...

 This weekend, we went camping and I took this project for a craft that my girlfriends and I could work on while enjoying mother nature....

I finished up all my hand sewing at camping and brought them home and stitched around them and made the little cover...If you are a young mommy or a grandma and need something to keep little ones quiet for a few minutes, this pattern has been really fun.  You can find the pattern here

10th Annual Barrett Quilt Retreat...

 This was our group for this year's annual quilt retreat...

 We each helped sew blocks for the Swoon quilt. Rose was the winner of the blocks... We chose solids and 30's reproductions for the blocks...

 Carolyn dutifully sewing on swoon...

 Heather sewing as well...

 Carolyn's twister quilt...

 Carolyn's Butter Up Buttercup...

 Cousin Eileen....

 Rebekah...

 Carolyn's log cabin from sew and share...

Cousin Eileen's pink scrap quilt...delicious..We all enjoyed each other's company and show and share.  The food was fantabulous...We got all 9 blocks completed on Swoon and Rose is one happy camper....Looking forward to next year's quilt retreat!!

Patchwork Friends Quilt Guild...

Here's a little trunk show from last quilt guild.  Alissa made this adorable quilt for her new granddaughter to be  born soon....so cute...I want to make one...

 Lisa made this fun laminated picnic bag...love the colors...

 Lisa also made the 4th of July mystery quilt...

 Carolyn made this fabulous log cabin star...lovely...
Fun quilt...I believe Carrie made this as well as the next one...

Disappearing 9 patch...love the reunion fabric...

Fun quilt top...forgot who made this one...

Afghan made by Lisa H...lovely...there is a ton of work in this...

More Finishes!!!

 Every Heart Beats True...pattern by Kim Diehl...if I were to make this quilt over, I would pick a second  background fabric such that it has more contrast with the overall quilt and less contrast with the other background fabric...we live and learn don't we???

 Close up of the scrappy star and quilting....

 This is my triple four-patch.  I've wanted to do this for a long time and have had it in the works for a few years...It feels so good to have it finished and it really shows off the civil war fabrics well!!!

 Close up of the blocks and quilting...

I have these little pansie type flowers that just grow in the grass, in the other flowers...it always brings a smile to my face when I see them...