Thursday Update from Open Sew

Carol has been busy working on her top.  The piano key border was added today. She used the curvy log cabin ruler and a group of fabrics found at the shop.

Didn't she do a great job?

Here's another photo.  I love how these photos show the curves!  Once it is quilted, this top will be finished with a black binding.

Wonderful work, Carol!

Busy Day at the Shop

This is a busy day at the shop today.  "Row by row-ers" are steadily coming in to browse and purchase their kits and license plates.  In between customers I am working on two projects.

This one utilizes a jelly roll and a group of 10" x 10" squares often called layer cakes by some companies, (but called "Bali Crackers" by Hoffman Fabrics), to make "Topiary Tiles", a complimentary design by Amanda Murphy made available by Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

This group of fabrics is called "Lorikeet" and is from my stash, so I really have no idea how long I have had them.  

The blocks are spring and summer like and remind me of sherbet.  I completed ten yesterday and hope to finish piecing the rest today.

The pattern calls for 20 blocks but I am making more by using the entire jelly roll and the complete pack of 10" x 10" squares. I will let you know how this looks when I finish.

And when I get tired of piecing, I am cutting the pieces for a queen sized quilt using the pattern "Hummingbird" by Darlene Zimmerman.   I have a grouping of softer colored fabrics, not really 30's but fabrics that remind me of that genre and theme.  I have had them set aside for awhile but have not cut into them.  The recent sighting of a hummingbird outside my kitchen window prompted me to get into this UFO wannabe.  (Sorry no picture of the hummingbird.  My camera is never close by when I spot it!)

The pattern uses the "Simpli-EZ 30 degree Triangle" ruler by Darlene Zimmerman.  My thought is for this to become a leader and ender project since I need to make 128 star blocks, which need four of these units.

 

 

That means I will be at this for awhile.  I know I won't stay focused enough to piece 512 units one after another! So they will have to be inserted into other piecing projects!  I'll keep you posted on this ongoing sewing project. 

That is my Saturday sewing line up.  I will be at the shop until 5 pm while Sharon is vending at the Maine quilt show.  If you are in the area, either Rhode Island or Maine, why not stop by and see us!

Have a great Saturday!

Louise, who is minding the shop at The Piecing with Poppers Quilting Center in West Greenwich, Rhode Island.

Who's Minding The Store?

I guess I have to say that I am!

Sharon has been visiting family this week and has left the minding of the store to yours truly.

With the 2015 Row by Row Experience going on and Open Sew classes, the days have been busy.

Today's agenda of activities includes....

A binding that is long overdue to be applied,

A table runner that needs to be quilted.  Again a project that is long overdue to be finished.

And, hopefully, more of these blocks to get this top done.  I have been using this as my leader and ender project this week, so some progress has been accomplished.  But I am hoping to finish the blocks either today or tomorrow.  This quilt top needs to be done!

How much I will accomplish will depend on how busy it is and how focused I can be.

I'll let you know later how much I accomplish today at the shop.

Happy Friday! From Louise at Piecing with Poppers Quilting Studio in West Greenwich, Rhode Island

Why not stop in for a visit!

Tuesday Sewing at the Shop

Tuesday 's sewing project at the shop came together quite nicely.  I only had one yard of the scissors fabrics from Timeless Treasures and several fat quarters of "Whisper" from P & B Textiles that went into the making of this quilt top.

The pattern is "Ebb Tide" by Pat Fryer and Villa Rosa designs.

It was fun to do!

I had to modify the corners a bit since I ran out of the scissors fabric.  I placed cornerstones in the bottom two corners.  I couldn't squeeze any more scissors fabric for the corners out of what I had left!

The top looks quite nice if I say so myself!

Another photo..

Happy Tuesday!

Louise at the Studio of Island Creations by Louise at The Piecing with Poppers Quilting Center in West Greenwich RI

Friday Update

My postings have been sparse here in the blog, I know.  I have been involved in a sewing project for P & B Textiles so my personal sewing has taken a bit of a back seat these days.

But I can show you some of what has been going on between the stitching of the commissioned quilt .

Green and grey medallion from a pattern called "Somerset Quilt Block" that I found somewhere awhile ago.

The story behind this is as follows.  

While preparing scrappy green rectangles for a quilt, I cut the wrong size instead of the correct size (which I cannot remember just as I cannot remember which quilt they were being cut for!).  I now had almost two hundred 2" x 3" green rectangles, all the wrong size.

Well those rectangles sat in their cute little basket and were eventually paired with some other fabrics as I searched for a way to use them as cut.  At some point, I toyed with the idea of trimming them down to a two inch square or a 1.5 x 2.5 inch rectangle.  Both sizes are used in other ongoing or potential projects I have in the studio.

But I resisted.

Eventually I found the above named pattern and put the grouping together into a bag for a future sewing occasion.

Recently the occasion arose as I looked for something to put in between the lines of stitching that were taking place on the commissioned quilt.

The colors of both projects called out for similar threads to be used in the piecing (grey)

These are some of the fabrics being used.  They are from the "Bear Essentials II" line from P & B Textiles.  I am loving the teal and lime green fabric colors!

So there you have it.  My recent sewing activities explained.

Now to get back to work.

Louise in the Studio at Island Creations by Louise

Happy Independence Day!

July 4th is always a favorite day.  From good food, good friends and family to remembering why we have a July 4th holiday.

I hope your Independence Day 2015 is all of this and more.

Happy July 4th 2015!