Welcome to week 12’s block in the Sewcial Bee Sampler Sew-along...lots of 1/2 square triangles.   I haven’t pulled out all the blocks and looked at them together lately and as we progress to the middle of the quilt, I’m feeling like it would be a good time to see if the fabrics are well distributed.  Sounds like a project for this coming week.

Meanwhile, this week’s giveaway is a bundle of Sharon Holland’s new, beautiful fabric called Bountiful. Pop over to Maureen’s website this weekend to enter for the drawing.

You might recognize the box Block 12 is sitting in as it is the mystery project from March 25 finally completed. (That's Jasmine's tail in the upper corner.)  I wanted a place to store the Sewcial Sampler blocks and this is working well.   Many thanks to Yvonne at QuiltingJetgirl.com who sent me a design for the box which was a very effective solution.
The sides are a little too soft and  I was going to attach the lid, however, almost as soon as I set the top cover on the box,

Jasmine came to try it out as a napping spot and was quite satisfied.  The whole idea was to keep them flat and clean – so objective achieved!  Yvonne is one of the hosts of this year's 2017 New Quilt Bloggers group where we get advice and commentary on our blogs.  It has been a great experience and Monday will signal another week of the New Bloggers Blog Hop.  There are prizes and an opportunity to sample new quilting blogs and meet the bloggers.  Start at Yvonne's website on Monday morning!

I read SewCanShe.com everyday and Caroline posted a list of seven things you could easily make for the home.  Several were cute but I really felt I needed a new set of napkins.  I had a partial set of fat quarters from Riley Blake which were just the right colors, so I set out to cutting and pressing.  If you're interested, Find the instructions here .They are really easy and the way she handles the corners is super simple and makes a very crisp finish.  This one is ready to be sewn down either by hand or machine.  I did them on the machine.

The rolling rooster goes with my Pfalzgraff Pistoulet dishes and the new napkins make the perfect tail feathers!

I hope you have a lovely week.  Debbie

Saturday night already?  Very fast moving week and while I didn't get everything done that I wanted to, we still made some progress.  For instance, this is Block 11 of the Sewcial Bee Samper Quilt.  I had fun getting the bunnies in the center. Thanks to Maureen Cracknell and Sharon Holland for their hard work and guidance on this project.

Jasmine's a little fuzzy in this picture but she is all in with this week's block, too.

The next project this week was to continue making cat mats for the Humane Shelter.  I used leftover 5" charms to use for the cat and yarn appliques. The cute cat is a pattern from the book called "Reminiscing: A Whimsicals Collection" by Terri Degenkolb.  I added the yarn ball on my own.  (See below.)

Jasmine was very curious about what these little cats were up to on their mats.

Meanwhile, the tulips are blooming and the grass is growing and tomorrow is Easter.  Hallelujah, He is Risen.

See you next week - and I will finish the mystery project this coming week.  Debbie

Hello, Saturday!  This is Block 10 of the Sewcial Bee Sampler Quilt presented each week by Maureen Cracknell Handmade and Sharon Holland Designs.  I surprised myself when this block turned out.  Quarter Square Triangles sounded just too complex to work, but these are better than most of my Half Square Triangles.

Of course, I did receive Jasmine's two paws of approval this week - so how wrong could it go?

New Project - Kennel Mats!

A new friend from the 2017 New Quilt Bloggers, Sharon at YellowCatQuiltDesigns shared a post about making kennel mats for her local shelter.  We had purchased some items for the local shelter and when we dropped them off I had Lance check if they'd be interested in kennel mats and they gave him a very enthusiastic - YES!  The cats (and dogs) get to take their mats to their new home.  I'm hoping to make many more of these.

I've not done a lot of applique so when the blanket stitch left the pinked edges sticking out like claws it was a total accident.  But I love it and will try to do it on purpose next time.  Also did a little bit of straight line quilting with the walking foot, too.  It occurred to me this might be a good way to practice free motion quilting as well.  The mats are about 12" by 18" and I'm already planning the scraps for my next couple of mats. Thank you, Sharon, this is fun!

Practical Project Bags

Another Short Project

Bought the pattern for this on Craftsy after reading about sewing with vinyl and seeing similar bags online, but I really wanted serious directions rather than trying to figure it out as I went along.  The pattern was simple to understand, though fairly complex.  If you've put in a zipper before the only real challenge is sewing with the vinyl.

I did buy a teflon foot which worked pretty well but I ended up using the backing paper on the vinyl as tissue paper to keep the vinyl off the machine surface.  Anywhere it touches the metal, the vinyl sticks.  So, you're kind of doing a balancing act while trying to sew a straight line.  However, once you get the hang of it, the project moves right along.  This bag used an 18"x 10" piece of vinyl on front and back - so see through - And with a 17" zipper was about 18" square without the handle.  (Sorry for the fuzzy picture.) I used it immediately to store the materials for the Mystery Project which I'll finish up next week. Here's a picture of the empty bag, too.

I tried to get Jasmine to peek through the bag for me but she was taking a serious nap.  Sewing is very tiring for her some days. That's pretty much it for this week.  Join me next week to see how the Mystery Project Box is finished up.  Til then, take care and have a lovely week.  Debbie

This week's Sewcial Bee Sampler is Block #9 The Wedding Ring.  It does not have a border so is a 12.5" square. I think there are 5 blocks like this with one in the center of the quilt.  Right now, this is my choice for center block. The colors in this block, except the very center piece are light and I'm thinking it might look out of place without the wider sashing.  We'll see...
You can see all the blocks on Instagram #SewcialBeeSampler and I'm assured it's not too late if you'd like to sew along.

Though the fabrics are pale, I'm hoping when surrounded by a dark purple thin border, it will pop and be lovely.   

Jasmine, waking from a nap on her quilt, gave her tacit approval as I was sewing the pieces together.

As strange as it might sound to those who know me well, one of my favorite parts of the piecing process is the pressing stage.  (I wore polyester for years to avoid anything to do with ironing.)  But somehow I now get great satisfaction from seeing the fabric turn into flat, crisp little pieces that just fit together.  Sigh...

So, what about that mystery project? There's really good news. A new friend, Yvonne from QuiltingJetGirl.com , commented on my predicament last week and sent me very good potential solution.  I can see it in my mind and think it will work.  In order to use it I need some additional padding material which I have ordered and am just waiting for our post person to deliver.  As soon as it gets here I'll be checking it out.  In the meantime, I removed the bottom of the box and bound it to get it ready to become the top of the box.

For now, I have the Sewcial Bee Sampler blocks sitting on it just to try it out.  Jazz is quite certain this is a good plan and particularly likes that the cat material will be on top instead of facing the bottom.

This week we were pleased to have Callie join us for one of the sewing sessions.  She spent equal time overseeing our work, watching the front yard for those pesky chipmunks, and, you know, napping.  Hope you had a great week, too, and we'll chat again next Caturday, uh, Saturday.  Bye Bye, Debbie