RJ Ward Design

I'm still plugging along on my blocks that I've commited to doing for Quilt Along's. Remember these: here and here . These blocks are the ones I've been doing over at Sew Happy Geek . We're getting to the end of the quilt along,  then the hard part will be what to do with these squares. That's when I need to start practicing some Free Motion Quilting - eek! Onto the blocks since I've had these done since they first came out but I haven't posted about them yet. The block above is called the Churn Dash Redux. Love how those red and black triangles are working. They just POP! The last block I've finished so far is the HST Diamond. That red in the middle reminds of something that I should be staring at and it will change into something. It doesn't but it certainly looks like it could! I can't believe how just scraps of fabric that I've had laying around for years is turning into some beautiful blocks. The last 2 blocks are the...

I was asked by a good friend to go to a Quilt Show sponsored by the Great Lakes Heritage Quilters. I've never been to a quilt show and was so anxious to see all the different designs and quilts by people who are more proficient at this craft than me. When we walked in we were greeted by beautiful quilts drapping the bannisters of the building. Some quilts were so old that they were tattered after being used and loved for so many years. Gloves were given so you could actually touch the quilts to get a better feel for the stitches that were involved. I was in awe of the beauty of these quilts and how different they became by changing out the fabric choices and colors. Below are the ones that stood out that I just loved. These are just a few of my many favorites. In honor of the New York Beauty Quilt Along here are some quilts that caught my eye. Aren't those beautiful! The scrappiness of the quilts is what really draws the eye. I l...

I've been sewing all week and decided it was time for a change. I decided today was a good day to bake some cookies. Those are Milk Chocolate Chocolate Chips in there! Yummy! I wish I could take the credit for these delicious morsels, but I can't. I came across a food blog called Jamie Cooks It Up  and I have to tell you the few things I've tried have been excellent. They even received the highest honor from 3 teenagers and a husband. Jamie calls these Grandmas Chocolate Chip Cookies  and they are the best hands down. I used Nestle's Milk Chocolate Chip Morsels insead of the fancy brand that she uses and for our family they never noticed a thing. We're just not fancy kind of people I guess. Hee Hee. So anyway I also cooked these 10 minutes instead of her recommended 8. Mine were still raw even after I let them stay on the pan like she wanted. I blame alot of the problem on my oven but you work with what you got. One of these days my wish will come true...

I'm sad to say my favorite quilt along has come to an end. I've been busy all month with Faith at Fresh Lemons Quilts  making some really unique blocks. I've learned how to cut, make Half Square Triangles or HST's as the quilters call them, paper piece blocks which is actually sewing on paper and of course the obvious that I'm known to do is Sew.Rip.Repeat to some really great accuracy. First up is the last of the paper pieced blocks. It is called Star of Mystery. This block was so involved and it took alot of thinking and determination to be able to get this to the point where I liked it. You are actually sewing backwards and then flipping the fabric over. You have to really make sure you have plenty of fabric when you do the flip. I tried to use the same fabrics as the Whirling Star Block . I really love this fabric line called "Sunny" from Joann Fabrics which is a local craft store. The yellows, grays, blacks and whites just pop! Now the last b...

Call me crazy, over ambitious, excited or just plain geeked! While catching up on all the latest in blogland a post from  Sew Sweetness and Sara  caught my attention. Sara was blogging about a new Quilt Along that starts in March. While reading she also had posted a picture of a Mini Quilt that Katie from The Blue Chair  had made. I have pinned on Pinterest  a very similar piece a few weeks ago that I just loved. Since indulging in this new found hobby of quilting I've come to really enjoy the art of paper piecing (I've only done 2). Well these BOM are all paper pieced. This must be my month of just going for it because I've joined the Flickr group (the very first member - eek!), downloaded the button on my blog and I'm now blogging about it right here. I'm now committed! So I'm now off to finish start the other blocks that I've been doing so I'm ready for this to start. Have a Great Day!

I've accomplished some more blocks for the Sew Happy Geek Quilt Along. Have I told you how much fun I'm having - I'm having fun! My husband asked me a few days ago what are you going to do with all of these . . . I have no clue is my answer. I'm learning and besides I figure it keeps me busy during the day when I'm not working. First up let me show you the Flying Geese Pinwheel Block. I said I didn't like the white fabric with the blues, red and blacks but I must admit defeat when I say that fabric turned out great in this block. Instead of solid red I found this scrap piece of fabric that I had and used this. Makes my head a little dizzy sometimes looking at it because I literally can see the Pinwheel moving. The black fabric was an after thought and I'm so glad I stuck it in. The next block was the Fireflies Block. The color choices on these blocks amaze me. I'm a very conservative person and using bright reds with black and white is re...

I've been keeping up with Faith and her great tutorials in the Solstice Stars Series . First off I'll show you my first attempt at this block. Talk about being a newbie in the quilting field because I never noticed how the fabric bunches until after I took the pictures and posted them in her flickr group - Duh! So here is my gathered up mess: I was shocked when I looked at this picture and saw all the puckering. It looks like I was trying to ruffle my way up the seam. So in honor of the name of this blog I actually did Sew.Rip.Repeat. This time I made sure that after every seam I sewed I double checked that there wasn't any puckering. I am so in love with these fabric choices. I get a chuckle everytime someone comments on the flickr group on my fabric choice because I actually bought it at a chain fabric store in my city. The collection is called "Sunny" from my fabric store stand-by, Joann's. I see the next scheduled quilt block is suppo...

How can it be Winter in Michigan when I have this growing out of the cracks of my deck? It has been such a mild winter that I'm afraid of what Spring is going to be like. So for now I'll go in the backyard and just savor these moments of winter and hope that we don't get a foot of snow soon! Have a Great Day!

In January I saw an email from Craftsy offering a free online class doing a Block of the Month by Amy Gibson. All my friends know me as always finding great bargains at the grocery store and clearance racks, so to find something to teach me how to quilt that was going to be free was right up my alley. I bought a Layer Cake at Joann's called Sunny with beautiful grays, blacks and my favorite yellow in them. I figured I didn't want to spend a small fortune on nice fabric since I didn't know how well I'd be able to piece this together and how many times I'd be ripping it out. Then I didn't know if I'd end up with a 12.5" square piece of fabric in the end. Well I'm thanking my lucky stars that I didn't spend that small fortune because I had to do each of the blocks twice - Ugh! Here are my two first tries at the Asterisk Block and the Wonky Pound Sign Block. The Asterisk Block consisted of repeatedly cutting the fabric and sewing in strip...