A new recruit

I have this box of mismatched, uneven, and not-quite-square squares that are screaming to be rescued and put into an appropriate quilt. Unfortunately, they are already sewn together. **sad face** So my seam ripper and I have been spending some quality time working over this mess. I have been making steady progress with the help of my latest recruit. Nicholas is always eager to lend a hand and is a great helper. For a while I hesitated to let a six-year-old have the seam ripper, but he was very insistent. I finally caved, and he has proven to be a seam-rippin' fool! Yesterday, I caught him kicked back, seam ripper in hand, working away.

Thanks Nick!

Hopefully with Nick's help, I will soon get this phase of the project finished. Then I can start trimming and designing. I hope I can get what is in my head onto this quilt. I'll keep you updated as I think this will turn into a fun project.

Here's the acorn wreath scoop

I have had several inquiries about where I found the pattern for this little acorn wreath table runner. It is from a book called Pumpkin Patch Threads by Need'l Love. I picked it up at Quilter's Station in Lee's Summit, Missouri where they also had a fabric kit for this table runner featuring Jo Morton fabrics.

This top finishes at 22 inches square with the cute little log cabins finishing at two inches each! I paper pieced these and have a nifty paper piecing graphic I designed to print these out in bulk instead of having to trace each of the 48 blocks. Contact me if you would like more information about this. I hand-appliqued the acorns and leaves using the freezer paper and spray starch method. Along the way, I discovered a sweet method for applique piece placement that can be found here.

Now I need to get serious so I can have this little guy quilted by fall. I am so looking forward to that and the milder weather that comes with it. Bring on the cool breezes and rustling leaves!

Scrappy Fourth of July

In honor of the Fourth of July, I would like to share with you a red, white and blue quilt. Except that would have required months of pre-planning and sewing. And I just don't operate that way. The first time it crossed my mind was on the third of July. Oops!

Instead, I'll share with you a project on my "hope to get to someday" list. I've loved this scrappy quilt since I first saw it. The pattern is called Scrap Jar Stars by Amber at A Little Bit Biased. She has a great tutorial here. It is a great stash buster, and I hope to start it sooner than later.

My boys have been itchin' to blow something up since 7 a.m., and I'm not sure if we can hold them off until dark! I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe Fourth.

Happy Birthday America!