Go'n Sew'n for the Row by Row

A lot of my normal design time has been taken up this month by helping the quilt shop get ready for the Row by Row experience.  This includes writing the pattern for the current year as well as re-writing the 2015 Row so we can continue to sell patterns for that without having them professionally printed.  I got a lot of good practice in on drawing applique shapes in EQ7!

This is the 2015 row Sea Sam and Sue.  Another lady drew the design, and I wrote the pattern.  We had a local printer do full size reversed patterns for it, but we had to have them printed in larger quantities than we liked.  I drew the pattern up in EQ7 so we could print it out ourselves in smaller quantities as needed.

And here is the 2017 row!  We loved the theme and thought a row of ATV's headed for the quilt shop would be great for our row this year.  It was a lot simpler to design, and make.  We fussy cut the stripes from the border print and it made the perfect frame for our row. We aren't including that in the kit, but have some available in the shop.  I love how well this year's fabric worked for our row!

Are you participating in the Row by Row Experience?  Make sure to tell all the shops how much you appreciate their work - believe me, a lot of time and energy goes into creating the free patterns you collect.  It's really fun, and we enjoy it, and it makes it even better when we know how much the customers appreciate it!

 And Thank You for coming into the shops and buying kits, and other goodies!  We love our customers and it's fun to meet new ones.  We all hope to make your Row by Row Experience fun and enjoyable, too.

If you would like this row, it's available at Threads That Bind in Coos Bay, OR.  We'll be offering a kit, and both will be available to order after the Row by Row Experience ends this fall.

Peach Cobbler - Alternate Block for Square in a Square, Quilter's Recipe Box

I can't believe this is the 24th block I've made for this series!  If you are new to the series, check out the Quilter's Recipe Box tab at the top for an overview and a look at all the blocks I've made so far.  This block is from EQ7 and is another in their Dessert titled blocks - Peach Cobbler.

For this block, you will need five 3 1/2 inch squares of a feature fabric, two 3 7/8 inch squares of a coordinating fabric and a background fabric for the star points.  Cut four 2 inch squares of a contrasting fabric, and twelve 2 inch squares of a light fabric to make the square in a square units.

Start out with making your square in a square units.  Each one of these will use one square the contrasting fabric and three squares of the light fabric.  You won't have to worry about where you add the one that is different, so you can sew them in any order you like! Arrange them with the center square like this:

Notice how the contrasting color points toward the center of the block.  Now make the four half square triangle units for the friendship star part of the block.  Arrange them like you see below and sew your units together to make your block.

Isn't this a pretty variation on the Friendship Star block?  I always think that each block I make is my favorite :)  This one is another favorite!

Next week I'll be sending out my monthly newsletter and I think I will have to come up with a block in Red White and Blue since the Fourth of July is on Tuesday!  Wow, I can hardly believe I'm thinking ahead a bit - usually I'm a day late and a dollar short!  Make sure you join me next week - I'm thinking I might have a little giveaway to celebrate Independence Day.

Ahh - Time for the Weekend!

Yesterday was one of those rare gorgeous, warm, no wind days on the coast!  We decided to take a break and get out of the house for a change.  It had been a very busy week of working on dresses for a pageant and two emergency bridesmaid dresses.  I was ready to get out and enjoy a day of relaxing!

After lunch at our favorite Pizza Place we headed for the beach.  It was a little breezy there, but I didn't have to put my sweatshirt on, so you can just about count that as a heat wave!  We stopped for an afternoon Ice Cream Cone at the Tillamook Creamery - what a deal!  You get a huge scoop of ice cream for $2.25!  I bypassed the chocolate and tried Coconut Creme - it was delicious!

After that we headed back home.  Still beautiful, no wind at all!  It was close to dinner time, but I decided to drag out my lounge chair and relax with a book.  I kept hearing a funny click/chirp and spied hummingbirds up in the tree above me!  This is at 6:00 in the evening!  Absolutely clear, warm and no wind (wait till next week, I'll go out there on a regular afternoon and let you see what it's like)

I didn't even get bitten by any mosquitoes, though I watched various birds flitting through the air catching bugs.

I was having a hard time concentrating on my book because I was enjoying being outdoors so much in the perfect weather!

It was so lovely to enjoy an evening in the yard - that rarely happens due to the winds that come up most afternoons.  We live at the top of a hill so we get it full blast most days.

Now I am refreshed and ready to get back to quilting!  I am working on finishing up the Vintage Embroidery quilt:

And getting together a new shop sample for my CityScape Pattern.  I have all the blocks put together now and just need to do the sashing.  This is the third sample I've made for this pattern, we keep running out of the fabrics we use!  Good problem to have in the quilt shop :)

I enjoyed picking out another bunch of fat quarters and I could not resist that lime-y green with the pebbles.  It's going to be perfect for the cornerstones, and the seagulls are an ideal sashing.  They tone down the blocks, but keep with our ocean theme.

Next week I have some mending, pants hemming and two wedding dresses to finish up.  I keep thinking I'll get to the end of the pile, but every time I get close, the phone rings again!  Not that I'm complaining...it helps keep the bills paid, and that's important.

Hope you are having a good weekend!  Get out and enjoy the fresh air - it will do you a world of good!  Then you can go sew :)