Friday Night Sew-In Part 2

I was able to appliqué the rest of my watermelon blocks.  

I attempted to sew the borders on a quilt top, but, with it being a solid black fabric that looks the same on both sides, I sewed it on inside out.    I didn't want to spend my Friday night ripping out a seam.  

I then decided to sew together the half square triangles needed to make the scrap quilt I am putting together. 

I will be spending my Saturday squaring up half-squares, and ripping out the border.  

I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone else worked on during the Friday Night Sew-In.  

Have a quilty weekend!  

Friday Night Sew-In

Heidi and Bobbie are  hosting another Friday Night Sew-In!

I have several things to work on, such as attaching the binding to a quilt.  I also have watermelon seeds to finish appliqueing on a cute little watermelon wall-hanging I have been sewing on from time to time.
And I will be sewing blocks for the scrap quilt class that I participated in yesterday.

Heidi and Bobbi would love it if you joined all of us,  too!  Sign ups are here.

To coffee is brewing and I'm ready to sew!

Fabric Cutting Frenzy

I have been on a fabric cutting frenzy for the past week.  Last week I showed you how I keep my scraps organized, for the time being.

As I said before, I needed 56 sets (2), 6 1/2" squares of the same fabric, but I didn't have matching sets in my 6 1/2" squares collection.  So, I went through each larger tote,  and I  found dark fabrics that had pieces large enough for me to be able to have (2) 6 1/2" squares.  

For a few days it looked like I had a fabric explosion!  It was fun, though, looking through fabrics from past projects.  It's amazing how fabrics bring back memories of fabric shopping with friends, fabric shopping at quilt shows, and even fabrics from people that are no longer with me, such as my mother.  

This piece of fabric was from a dress my mother made me.  I use a piece of it in every scrap quilt I make. 

This piece was also in mom's fabric stash, and it, too, is in every scrap quilt.  

I bought this piece of fabric in, you guessed it... the year 2000.  Although it is passed the year 2000, I still think it works for any scrap quilt made in this century, or at least while I am around in this century!  

As you can see, I used dark blues, dark reds, dark browns, dark and dark/medium greens, purples, blacks, dark pinks, and a few dark golds.   What I didn't find dark in my scraps, I did have to search through fat quarters.  And I used a couple of dark Civil War prints that I bought to specifically add to my stash just in case I needed some dark fabrics for a project. 

I took the class on Thursday, and I am anxious to show you the blocks I made on Sunday on Scrap Basket Sunday.  

Have a great day!  

Chocolate Chip Cookies

My mother's day weekend has already started.  My kids (ages 28,25,and 19) asked me to bake chocolate chip cookies.  

So, I did.    

I have to do whatever I can to keep up my "best ever mom" status.  

I have baked chocolate chip cookies ever since Steve and I got married 32 years ago.  He loved them; his friends loved them; my friends loved them; both of our  family members loved them. 

 I remember thinking how fun it would be to have children who loved them, too. 

And that is what I have.  

The recipe is the same recipe on the back of the Toll House Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chip package.  I use a round baking stone from pampered chef here:  http://www.pamperedchef.biz/jens.  (My laptop is with the Geek Squad getting a little check-up.  This is the first time I have blogged from my phone, and I'm not sure how to create links.)  I follow the directions that are on the package.  Mine turn out chewy and not hard.  I think it may be the baking stone.  

This was a great way to start the mother's day weekend.  We ate cookies and talked until 1:30 am.  

Have a great weekend!  

Digging Through My Scraps

Once a month, the Quilt Guild, that I belong to, has a workshop where we learn how to make a quilt.  Next week we will be learning how to make a scrap quilt that uses 56 matching sets of 6 1/2" squares.  I thought it  would be a great time to go through my scraps to see what I have. 

I have my scraps organized by color in clear totes.

 Greens, blues, and white/off white backgrounds have their own tote.  However, yellows/browns/oranges are in a tote together,  pinks and purples are together in one tote, and reds and blacks share a tote, as well. 

The guild has a 6 1/2" square exchange where members can exchange 6 1/2" squares with each other.  I haven't participated in a few years because I have lots of 6 1/2" squares. 

I keep these in totes, as well. As you can see they aren't color coordinated, but over the years I have used them in many projects, so they have been tossed around and they  aren't very well organized.  Tonight I started ironing them, and gave up when I realized there were none that would make a matched set.  I can't decide whether or not to organize them by color and/or theme, or if I should add them to the other totes according to color. 

It's something to think about.  I will let you know what I decide.  

My next group of fabrics to search through are my baskets of fat quarters. For some reason,  my picture of them won't upload.  I have them organized by color, as well.  They are in baskets that sit on a shelf.  I don't consider fat quarters to be scraps, however, if I don't find matching sets in my larger scrap totes, I will cut fat quarters before I cut yardage that I have on hand. A scrap quilt in my collection of Civil War fabrics would be pretty, and it would take less time to cut. however, a scrap quilt made from left over fabrics from other projects would be just as pretty.  

Maybe one day I can have a scrap user's system like Bonnie Hunter's system here.

How do you organize your scraps?

Have a great day!

Amanda