Christmas is in the Air

Christmas Is In the Air

It's been a busy December around here....

Visiting  - with my children  over Thanksgiving....

Decorating the house....

My new Pencil Tree

I love this skinny balsam Pencil tree... (no, I haven't peeked into this beautiful stocking !)


Making gifts.....

A Bow Tucks Tote bag-

A Bow Tucks Tote Bag  ( without the tucks!) 

Bow Tucks Tote Bag pattern   (here )  by Penny Sturges.... this is a very versatile design.

This will hold a lot!!

And a tote bag for a beginning sewer-

Design-   Anita Vacation Tote Bag   by Amy Made That!  (here)

The Anita Vacation tote bag   in Joel Dewberry's  Aviary fabric

This large tote should hold  A LOT of tools , books , and FQ's!

The inside of the Anita Vacation Tote bag

Sewing ...for "me!"-

A  " Kitty Deerest" mini wallhanging-    design by Janeen  Quilt Art Designs
                        in the  Paper Piecing 1/4"  digital magazine  Oct-Dec 2015     (here )

" Don't EVEN ask me to wear a red nose for the picture!"

Shopping-  

Hmmmmmm......Do you think I can convince my husband to wear this Cat  Christmas sweater?

Wishing you and your family
        a very Merry Christmas, and a happy New Year!

I'm off to my sewing room!

Pattern provided by QAD Publishing

Trunk Show

Trunk Full of Quilts Online

Share your Trunk Treasures at Whims and Fancies !

Would you  like to see favorite projects that other quilters want to "pull out of their trunk" and share ? 
If so, then hop on over to Soma's blog,  Whims and Fancies  (Nov 10-18 ) and see what everyone is pulling out to share !!  I just know it will be inspiring and creative and fun!  
And, if you are blogger, you can write up your own post  ( details here  ) and pull out a few things from your own trunk!  Soma has even arranged for sponsors for the blog hop, who are donating some awesome  prizes for participation.

So here is what I pulled out of my Susie's Sunroom trunk!!
(I started out making bags and totes,  and they aren't "stored"  in my trunk.)

I found this on the very  bottom of my trunk.  It's from "way back" in 2009  :  (My roots aren't very deep yet! LOL)

My first official quilt that I made:  The Scruffily Quilt   A Moda Bakeshop Pattern  {here}

My first quilt.... The Scruffily       Susie's Sunroom  

This quick and easy pattern used a Layer Cake, a Jelly Roll and a Charm Pack of fabrics.  I chose Moda's Glace (by 3 Sisters)  fabric, and still LOVE these fabrics.  The smaller squares on top of the 10 inch blocks were just sewed on top, leaving raw edges.  Hence the name "scruffily." 

Uhhmmm... Don't look too closely at where the blocks join up.... (remember it was my first quilt!  I hadn't figured out how to line up  and pin the blocks as you sew them together, yet!)

Oops!   I did get the scruffily part right!!

Well, anyway,  I was happy to see that I made a  quilt label for the back!

Yay for a quilt label!

I still have scraps left from this  quilt.  {Happy Dance !}  Now I can make a pillow to go with my quilt , pull the  quilt out at Thanksgiving time , and USE it this year!  Despite this quilt's imperfections and simplicity, it is still very dear to my heart.

What's next in my trunk?

The Scottie Dog Mug Rug-      2012                  pattern by The Patchsmith

Scottie Dog Mug Rug     Christmastime version by Susie's Sunroom

I fell in love with making small, fun  and heartfelt patterns, using Amanda, The Patchsmith's patterns!!  The Patchwork patterns actually taught me how to use fusible applique technique and create patchwork ! 

I gave this mug rug to my mother.  She pulls it out every Christmas season now.  It is still one of my favorite designs!!  I have since made MANY mug rugs with The Patchsmith patterns!!

Excuse me while I lift my cat out of the trunk.... she 's snoring away on top of  my pile of quilts!

So what is on the top of the trunk?    This  Farm Girl Vintage Sampler Quilt.   I finished it up last week.  You can read about it {here}.   
          Design from book " Farm Girl Vintage"   by Lori Holt

Farm Girl Vintage Sampler Quilt  

 The 48 blocks on the front were sewn with the fun Farm Girl Vintage Sew Along.  What fun I had making the blocks and seeing everyone else's blocks!  

Note:  I  guess I have come a long way from sewing 10 inch squares together.... to making 106 Flying Geese in a border!

I wanted to use more patterns from the book , for  on the back of my quilt.   I made four barns with four animals in the barns.    I also got brave enough to free motion quilt the outer border, to add some texture and crinkles!  (I just noticed  the "scruff" and "crinkle" affinities that I have !)

The back of my Farm Girl Vintage Sampler Quilt  Susie's Sunroom

I used another  adorable  The Patchsmith pattern for this Daisy cow in the barn!  I also used this pink gingham material for the back and binding... it was in my stash since about 2010!  And of course, I made a little label for the quilt.

I invite you to go over to Whims and Fancies blog to see what is in other quilter's trunks!

Look over Soma's blog posts and her pattern shop while you are there! She is so talented and interesting!  I think I  first learned about  Soma by  seeing her  amazing paper pieced patterns.  She was in the line-up of  designers in the  Garden Party  blog hop  , back in 2012.  Before long I was hooked on her blog, and in admiration of all of her  widely varied talents and  interests in the arts and sciences.  It didn't take me long to realize that Soma creates from her heart! 
I made this mini wallhanging, "fREADom"  , designed by Soma in July 2015: { blog here }

fREADom  Bookshelf   Mini      Susie's Sunroom version

See you over at Whims and Fancies!!  And , Thanks for stopping by here!!

I'm off to my sewing room!

PS   Voting  is open from now until Nov 17 ,  at Sew Fresh Quilts,  for your  Dog Gone Cute  post favorites...

My "The Naughty Little Puppy baby quilt " version... 

   

{ go here }  to read the post

Click here to vote for your  3 favorite  posts, at Sew Fresh Quilts. 

    I'd sure appreciate any votes cast my way!!

Vote HERE

Linking up at:          Trunk Full of Quilts  @ Whims and Fancies    and
                                Dog Gone Cute @ Sew Fresh Quilts    and

My Finished Farm Girl Vintage Quilt

Finishing My Farm Girl Vintage Sampler Quilt!

Farm Girl Sampler Quilt   made by Susie's Sunroom

At Bee In My Bonnet Blog

Yippeee!  I finished sewing my  Farm Girl Vintage Sampler Quilt this past week!

What are the ingredients for making this fun quilt ...and having a marvelous time  sewing , learning and improving my techniques ?

The Book:  Farm Girl Vintage   by Lori Holt   at  Bee In My Bonnet blog

                                                     

****   This book is excellent... with exceptional directions and diagrams !        I highly                                      recommend it!****                Thank you, Amy!!

                     My Fabric:    

Fat Quarter bundles of 30's Playtime Favorites  and Aunt Graces's Classics

Kona Cotton   Snow  -  background
Line Dried  Flowery Check in Shamrock for outer border
Back and Binding-  Canopy  Rose  by Timeless Treasures  "the pink/rose checks"Happy Go Lucky    Bonnie and Camille   Moda
Aunt Grace Classics    Judie Rothermel  
Aunt Grace Christmas  Judie Rothermel  
Hannah Bella   by Robyn Pandolph  SSI
DS Quilts Collections    Denyse Schmidt
Lazy Daisy Baskets Small    Darlene Zimmerman  Robert Kaufman
Paula Barnes  Marcus Fabrics
Mirabelle  Fig Tree & Co.    Moda    charm packGinghams  from my stash

   Stash  ***   anything that reminds me of 1930's fabrics, small flowery prints, or  make- me- happy prints!   ( I am not excluding anything that makes me smile!)  And I am "finding" charm packs I have hoarded  lovingly stored away!
Batting-  Warm and Natural

Happy Note:  The binding and backing gingham fabrics are a "SCORE !" for me....
Shortly after I learned to sew bags and totes, I went to a fabric store and found a great deal... I bought a whole bolt of this rose colored Timeless Treasures gingham.  I didn't realize how much fabric 11 yards is!!!!  I have looked at that bolt for years and years ... and finally found a good way to use a lot of it!!


How to do it:

 Read the book,   Sew two blocks a week, and look at everyone's beautiful and creative blocks on  Instagram!  #FarmGirlFridays    Measure carefully,  cut wisely and mix up all the fabrics!!

The Result:

Farm Girl Vintage Sampler Quilt   by  Susie's Sunroom
a 59 " x 73 1/2 " quilt

Quilt Stats:          Size  59 " wide  by 73 1/2 " tall
                          Flying Geese:   102 in the border
                          48 blocks at 6 " square size
                          Thread:  Aurifil # 2026    Cream
                          Quilting:  FMQ in the outer border
      I used a basic leaf and stem design in the wide outer border,  for texture
      I used a large zig zag stitch for quilting in the sashes around all of the blocks and the flying geese borders  ( using my walking foot)

And here is the Back of my quilt:

The Backside of my Farm Girl Vintage Sampler Quilt
These barns are also in the book!!

I decided to make the back "another mini quilt" from more of the Vintage Farm Girl patterns!
I made two each of the larger (14 inch) barn blocks... Silo Barn and Quilty Barn,  and added animals to each barn (6 inch size).    I just love this design!  The 9 patches were so fun to make for the borders.

** Animal block notes:   The Pig is a newer design, not in the book, but avail at the Fat Quarter Shop  {here}
                                   This  patchwork cow is designed by The Patchsmith, and is avail at The Patchsmith Pattern Shop  {here}

How fun to use black gingham in this sashing!!  (on the back)

I also made a British Union Jack block...   and put that on the front of the quilt.  (It is another The Patchsmith design. )
                  

 Union Jack block by The Patchsmith   available {here }

"Hey Mom!  I found a thread here!"  

I got a great tip from my friend, Geta, from Geta's Quilting Studio {here}:
Use washable magic markers to mark the design for your FMQ.  (Test it first!!)
This gave me some more confidence to try to do the free motion quilting in the outer borders.

You can see the FMQ  Leaf and Stems on the border.  And the zig zag stitches
 in the sashings

I am lucky to have the room  to put a few tables, plus my ironing board, together to create a larger surface to keep my quilt level while sewing.  This is how it looked:

After washing the quilt  ...  it left a nice crinkly texture to the border !  I thought this design would fit in nicely with a Farm  themed quilt!

The borders were FMQ with a leaf and stem pattern

I'll close with more photos of the quilt.

                                                 

 Lori Holt has already created a Barn Cat to add to the farm.  You know I'll want to make that!  

" There must be a cat SOMEWHERE in this quilt...." 

I will miss making the weekly blocks from this Sew Along.  And,  I will definitely make more projects from this book! 
That's what I call a successful project!



Linking up at:       Can I Get A Whoop Whoop!  @ Confessions of a Fabric Addict    and

                         And Sew We Craft Together  @ And Sew We Craft      and
                           Fabric Frenzy Friday  @  Fort Worth Fabric Studio    and
                          Sew Darn Crafty  @  Sew Many Ways    and  

I'm off to my sewing room!

The Naughty Little Puppy Baby Quilt

The Naughty Little Puppy Baby Quilt... a Dog Gone Cute Pattern !

"The Naughty Little Puppy Quilt" .... a Dog Gone Cute pattern   

Welcome to the last day of the Dog Gone Cute Blog Hop! It is my turn to share with you what I made from the new  Dog Gone Cute pattern!   I could not resist joining in to make these adorable puppy blocks, even though I have a kitty cat and no dogs.  ("Someone" does not play well with other pets!!)

pattern here

I want to thank the sweet, and super talented, Lorna, for putting together the Dog Gone Cute Quilt Along and this blog hop...  where we can all  show and share our beautiful projects that use her pattern...  Dog Gone Cute!  ( available here )  

Pattern  by Sew Fresh Quilts

I decided to make a baby quilt , using these cute pups with oodles of  personality.
Sew.... let's see what I made for the Blog Hop!

Let me gather the crew together..... Here little guys!! Come on over  here and sit still for a picture for the Blog Hop!

Ok now , you are all here  .....  Sit ! Hold still !!  {Snap!}

Ooops!!  

Dog Gone Cute Quilt pattern.... "The Naughty Little Puppy" baby quilt by Susie's Sunroom

Everybody was co-operating, except for  that one little, naughty puppy! 

The Naughty Little Puppy Baby Quilt

My Quilt:

Dog Gone Cute -   design by Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts   (available here)

Quilt Size:     I modified my quilt size to be:  40 "  high  by 52 " across

Lorna's pattern is for - 30 "   and  60"  square quilts.

The pattern has directions for a set of 8 different pups ,  in both  6" x 9" blocks and 12 " x 18 " blocks.  You can vary/ "mix and match"   the pups as you please.  How fun is that!

Fabrics:   Kona Cotton Lime  for block background
               From my stash:   
                     Striped fabric-  Remix by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman Fabrics
                         Batik  -blue
                    Green-  Marmalade  Sugar Leaf  by Moda
                    Dots Stripe-  Remix Dot Stripe Royal  by Ann Kelle for Robert Kaufman Fabrics
                    Auqua-  Sanctuary    Glass Tiles  by Patty Young  for Michael Miller
                        Border-  Disco Dot  Caribbean  Michael Miller
                     Binding-  Blue Kona cotton

 Quilting:   Aurifil thread  # 3320     50 weight  light green from Color Me Happy Collection
Batting:  Warm and Natural              

Backing:

I used the remaining border fabric for the backing.  It was "stretched out" to fit the width, by adding the center strip with pieces of the leftovers  and the remaining puppy block!
 I also added a little applique' paw print .  I was inspired by  the beautiful quilt by Doris, of Quilting Queen Online blog.  (see here )  It reminded me of a paw mark that has been imprinted into wet cement... a mischievous  puppy does something like that!

The back -     A pieced strip in the middle

The center block is the Mama Dog.  Mama doggy is  12 " by 18 " , the larger block size.

Mamma is in the center.

The small blocks are 6" by 9 ".   After I sewed the top little puppy block on, I realized it was attached upside down.  As I got the seam ripper ready to tear it out, my husband said, "Keep it!  It looks fun!"  So , that little fellow became the naughty one of the litter! 

Three little pups to one side

And three more little pups to the left side

I quilted  with the walking foot, and this light green Aurifil thread #3320  -from the Color Me Happy collection.   I used the wavy stitch, on the largest stitch size, in the sashes and the borders. Each pup shape was outlined with a straight stitch.

I used my curvy stitch (largest size) and  my walking foot for quilting

My husband also noticed the Disco Dots fabric  (  for the border and backing fabrics)... he said it reminded him of  tennis balls that a puppy would play with!

A fun way to use up scraps from the blocks!

A note about this Sew Fresh Quilt pattern:    Lorna's directions are clear and easy to follow!  She has excellent diagrams. I loved making the blocks!

Treat yourself and check out all of today's featured bloggers!

Thursday, October 29

Abigail of Cut & Alter

Magdalena of iloveneutrals

Jenn of A Quarter Inch from the Edge

Anne of Batiks by the Bay

Susie of Susie's Sunroom  ** YOU ARE HERE !  ***

Tracy of Tracy’s Bits N Pieces

And also,  check out Lorna's blog,  Sew Fresh Quilts, on Nov. 3-10 for the  big linky party.   That's where everyone  will be sharing their own Dog Gone Cute projects from the quilt along !!

****I think there will be an opportunity for everyone to vote for favorite quilts... I'd be thrilled for any quilty love that you want to send my way!!    ****

Here is the whole schedule of blogs for the  entire Dog Gone Cute Blog Hop:

You 'll want to see everyone of them !  Their work is amazing and inspiring!  Smiles Alert!!

Tuesday, October 6

Karen of Run Sew Fun

Kris of Kris Loves Fabric

Anja of Anja Quilts

Kelly of Quilting it Out

Tish of Tish’s Adventures in Wonderland

Thursday, October 8

Carol of Just Let Me Quilt

Nina of Inchworming

Doris of The Quilting Queen Online

Brandy of Pampered Pettit

Leena of Creative Instincts

Tuesday, October 13

Ruth of Charly and Ben’s Crafty Corner

Tanya of Tanya Quilts in Colorado

Laurel of Quilts by Laurel

Kathy of Kathy’s Quilting Blog

Deb of New Creative State

Thursday, October 15

Anita of Daydreams of Quilts

Gina of Quilts and Cakes

Beth of Words & Stitches

Rachel of Quiltineering

Julie of Mack and Mable

Tuesday, October 20

Cathy of A Quilting Chick

Selina of Selina Quilts

Shauna of Shauna’s World

Gayle of Pedal Sew Lightly

Kathy of Kayak Quilting

Thursday, October 22

Sandy of Upstairs Hobby Room

Heide of Heide’s Quilty Hugs

Britt-Inger of Hill Valley Quilter

Judy of How ART You?

Louisa of Sewmotion

Tuesday, October 27
Teje of Nero’s Patch and Post

Stephanie of Jak and Will

Valerie of Val’s Quilting Studio

Ellen of Georgia Florida Studio

Cristina of Pretty Little Quilts

Thursday, October 29

Abigail of Cut & Alter

Magdalena of iloveneutrals

Jenn of A Quarter Inch from the Edge

Anne of Batiks by the Bay

Susie of Susie's Sunroom

Tracy of Tracy’s Bits N Pieces

Thanks for stopping by at Susie's Sunroom!

Oh, and in case you were wondering..... this is what my Quilty Helper, Whiskers, thought about a doggy quilt....

No caption needed    ;)    

I'm off to my sewing room!

Linking up at:  Let's Bee Social  @ Sew Fresh Quilts   and LINKY PARTY !!
                      Can I Get a Whoop Whoop! @  Confessions of a Fabric Addict  and
                    Fabric Frenzy Friday @ Fort Worth Fabric Studio   and
                         TGIFF @ Faith and Fabric   and
                   And Sew We Craft Together @ And Sew We Craft