Montana state mini - a finish Friday

Another state mini finished!  This one is for the lovely state of Montana (where I very much desire to visit one day) and is supposed to depict Lake McDonald, known for its colorful rocks and pebbles.  I barely did it justice.  Just Google "Lake McDonald, Montana" and see what I mean.

I used tulle for the first time in the making of this mini.  I used it in layers to get the effect of depth of water while preserving a bit of reflection of the mountain.  I admit that tulle does make quilting over fused (or glued in the case of the rocks) bits much easier; however, unpicking any quilting on tulle is very difficult.  It is almost impossible to pick your stitches without getting a few of the tulle fibers cut too.

Only Louisiana and New York left to go.  I will have to tackle them after my Mom-cation.


Thanks for reading today,

Jen


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Red Hexies - Building Blocks Tuesday

My red hexy project is progressing.  I've got them all basted and in rows, now what?  Oh yeah, more handwork to come.  How lucky that I should have an opportunity with the long weekend approaching.

I've actually been counting the hours until school starts tomorrow.  While it has truly been a great summer, jam packed with fun family time (and a 6 state tour), I am ready to return to a more structured schedule.  It is ironic that I will only have one day of that schedule before I jump on a plane and head off to Northern Michigan for a fun and relaxing Mom-cation.  Luckily, that structured schedule (and also the kids) will be waiting on me when I return on Tuesday.  There is hope that whatever sanity I regain during my trip, might linger for a while!

What blocks have you working on?  I would love to see.  Link up your fabulous blocks.  You put a lot of hard work into them - show them off!  This free linky will stay open until the first Monday of next month, but I will repost it every Tuesday until a new month starts.

Rules:

1) Please link up only to the page in your blog showing your wonderful blocks, not just the blog homepage.  Flickr pictures are also OK.
2) Make sure to put your blog name as the description so people know where they are going or the name of your block!
3) Please grab my button and post it in your blog post or sidebar.
4) Visit other linky participants!

Thanks for reading!

Jen

An InLinkz Link-up

Another Tinker Tote - a finish Friday

I've made another Tinker Tote from the Craftsy class,  "Quilt-As-You-Go: Patchwork Bags with Tara Rebman" . It seems these fun little totes are becoming my "go-to" handmade gift this year.  This one is for Arianna, who is visiting from Italy.

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It takes me about 3 days to make one of these bags.  Usually around the time I making the bias binding, I start thinking about how I probably could have made a simple quilt in the same amount of time.

But, since Arianna will likely not have room for an entire quilt in her luggage anyway, I am happy I made her this bag instead.

Her favorite color is blue.  I had to add in some aqua scraps to fill out the bag.  I hope they make it "interesting" and not just "weird".

If you want to make your own Tinker Tote (cough, Patti), I highly recommend  "Quilt-As-You-Go: Patchwork Bags with Tara Rebman" - I reviewed the class HERE.   I also talk about the adjustments I made to the pattern for my 2nd bag  HERE.

Thanks for reading today,

Jen


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