NewFOs in June

I've broken my own rule on the last morning of June by starting a NewFO even though I haven't finished my last one. Bad Deb! After holding firm all month on not starting June's Schnibble "Dulcinea" I just couldn't resist a little fun sewing when I woke up early this morning before I put the covers on my machines and gave them a goodbye pat.

I've had this tutorial pinned for months and I saw a finished one on Threadbias the other day which put it into my MUST MAKE SOON mental list. So this is the start of my rule breaking June NewFO Project - you can find the tutorial for this Fabric Basket at Pink Penguin HERE.

May's Schnibble "Gentle Art" NewFO did make it to flimsy status in June and is hanging in front of my closet ready for quilting when I return. The awesome hangers are from, you guessed it, IKEA!

April's Schnibble "Hat Trick" NewFO made it to the Finish Line last night. Boy I love this one! It will find a home on a wall in the guest room (old quilting room) in July.

I might be in a bit of a grid quilting rut... but it just looks so great on scrappy projects I can't seem to stop.

I've saved the cutest NewFOs around for last... we were just sitting down for dinner last night when I spotted one loon parent and one baby near our dock. I had seen both parents with twins (1st time in years on our our lake) earlier in the week when I was out on my paddle board so I anxiously watched for baby loon #2 to appear. The eagles are baby loon predators so it's a dangerous time when they are this small. By the time I'd grabbed my camera and crept out onto the dock the whole family was there!

Tonight I'll be seeing this - the Vegas strip in all it's glory...

I'm already drooling anticipating tomorrow's breakfast at Mon Ami Gabi in the Paris Casino... cafe au lait in a big sipping bowl for starters... yummy.

After my June In Review and Q2 in Review posts go up later today I'll be on hiatus here until the 2nd week of July. I'm excited to view my fireworks this year at The Roman Tower at Caesar's Palace - I hope you all have a safe and fun 4th of July!

I'm linking up to Barbara's June NewFO Linky Party@Cat Patches.

Last WIP Wednesday in June

Time is just flying by... here is my list from last week to get me started.

What's Hot!:

• Planting annuals DONE
• UFO #1 Scrappy Summertime - assembling top, sandwiching, quilting
• UFO #3 Come Sail Away - sandwiching, quilting
• RSC13 blocks - just about done for Saturday's link-up DONE
• "Gentle Art" Schnibble - assembling top DONE

What's Next:

• Everything else on my June Goal List!
• "And Sew On" Block for June
• Finish "Gentle Art" Schnibble
• Minnesota Hotdish to flimsy stage
• Four Patch & Friends to flimsy stage
• Thimbleberries Jacob's Ladder to flimsy stage
• Sandwich & quilt Kitchen Sink Strings

Here is a picture of "Gentle Art" made from Bonnie & Camille's "Marmalade" line. I'm thinking some simple grid quilting will do the trick!  I can't wait to get this up on my wall in the quilting room.

Sunday night we fly out to Vegas for 8 days... my husband's second job is playing poker so he will be getting his fix while I read a lot, bake by the pool, shop, enjoy some good food and a show or two. LOTS to do before then!

Spools and Crossroads

Once I got settled in yesterday I had a productive day of sewing. I finished up my spools for my "Gentle Art" Schnibbles and played around with some different layouts before I turned off the lights last night. I don't think I've ever made spool blocks before and they are just too cute.

I'm going to order some red stripe for the binding and one of the other prints I didn't use for the inner border. This is also the first time I've used a line by Bonnie & Camille (this is Marmalade) because even though I love their collections they don't really fit my home decor. I'm thrilled to put them to work in my quilting space now. It's crazy how much orange has grown on me in the last 6 months and now I'm totally crushing on red!

I also worked on my Crossroads blocks for RSC13. I'm including a picture of my machine so you can see my Angler 2 that I used to make quick work of the HSTs for the spools. I also like to add a dab of painter's tape on my machine plate just below the foot when I'm making small HSTs as I find it hard to keep them straight on the last half of the stitching. I'll also be using it to make my Birds in the Air blocks this month too now that I've dug it out.

I've got 5 done and plan to make 3 more. Even though Sapphire Blue is the color of the month I decided to add some lights. When I laid out all four colors to take pictures last month I found that the Hot Pink January blocks were my least favorite (much to my surprise!) because they seemed flat next to the other blocks with such a wide range in value. If we have a pastel month I think I'll do a baby quilt instead of these blocks. Just one more of the valuable lessons learned via RSC13!

I'm linking up to ScrapHappy Saturday@soscrappy.

Sewing Schnibbles

Today I'm working on my May Schnibbles "Gentle Art" using charm packs of Bonnie and Camille's Marmalade line. I'm feeling quite distracted so am making my blocks in groups of 5 to keep my attention from wandering off. Some days my mind seems to race with thoughts and I just need to slow it down - breaking a task in smaller tasks allows me to at least get something done in my quilting room. Do you have these kind of days too?

I need to decide which prints to buy some yardage of which is not easy in this pretty line. I just noticed that I have the cabbage rose prints on the top of each pile - can you tell I love big florals? The tangerine is calling my name!

The first batch of 5 are pressed and done. I was having too much trouble trying to pair up these fabrics so settled on one neutral background, I'm sure I'll find a good use for the lighter charms in another project.

Tucker was enjoying the view last night as the sun started to set. He is an inside cat and LOVES having the screen porch to watch the world from. If I can't find him in the house all I have to do is start unlocking the porch door and he suddenly appears.

Love how he is silhouetted by sunshine!

Under the Wire

The last of April sewing is done. Here is my Hat Trick for April Vintage Schnibbles with borders attached.  I'll be binding it with the green floral I used for the inner border. I'm really happy with how this top turned out and can't wait to get it quilted, bound and on the table!  This is also my April NewFO for Barbara's challenge over at Cat Patches.

My last UFO Finish for April is this table runner from the book "True Friends" by Nancy Halvorsen. This is my first heavy duty applique project and I can happily say that I've overcome my fear of machine applique! These fabrics are really hard to photograph... I find these nighttime photos actually show the colors best but they are so much prettier in person.  I'll try a few different places around the house tomorrow and see if I can do better.

Once I finished my first stem I was thinking NEVER again... but by the time I turned my first corner after doing three sets of stems and leaves I had decided it's not so bad and started to relax a bit. My Juki F600 has a beautiful buttonhole stitch and I learned a lot about pivoting on this runner! 

I quilted in the ditch using cream Aurifil thread along both sides of the applique sections and followed the diamonds in the patchwork center. After all of the hours of applique I wanted that to be the star.

This is my April Finish for "A Lovely Year of Finishes" and I'm linking up at the last hour.
                                                      
I'm also linking up to Wednesday UFO Report@Patchwork Times.