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Blessed by everyday blessings

these are a few of my favorite things

~smiling faces~

~hugs and kisses from grandchildren
and hearing the name Nanny from far away places~

~mostly old sometimes new~

~quilts with love stitched through and through

~Babies and butterflys and all things created~

~To know you are loved makes life sweet with grace traces ~























recipes

Tuesday, February 28, 2017

Splendid Sampler... Hearts a Flutter





February....  Zip- boom- bang!  How did you go so fast???   With a little week expedition to Florida by my daughter and husband leaving Grandma to hold down the fort with a one year old....... Yes the extra snuggles were wonderful but left me a little tired from it all.
I don't have a lot to share but will close out the month with a heart for good measure.  I was able to finish up a couple more blocks for My Splendid SNOWMAN Sampler.

 My journey began here the-splendid-sampler-love-unites.html

                           


BLOCK # 1 
"Hearts a Flutter"
The plaids and the stripes are thrifted shirts. 



BLOCK # 10
"Iowa" 
Again the plaid is a little thrifted shirt YUM !

Really!! The designer named this block IOWA as she was
remembering lots of visits to Iowa to see her grandparents.
This block was the clincher as to whether I would participate in this sew along.

How could I not sew a block named after the state I have lived in for all but 2 years of my life?



I have decided to try to add 
something old to every quilt I make.
Can you spot the thrifted shirts? 

BLOCK # 57
"Starting Point"




BLOCK # 8
"Friends Around the Square"




Another glimpse of my Snowman string blocks. 
They are going to be lovely together!




For the remainder of the year, 
the goal is to add a little love to each day. 

Though I wish we had had a little more snow this winter... 

Spring is on the way !  
My tulips are peaking out of the ground!
I'm afraid it is too early but I'm excited.

Janita
XO



/the-splendid-sampler-love-unites.html

Tuesday, February 14, 2017

The Splendid Sampler... Love unites quilters!




It all began one year ago today.... The Splendid Sampler quilt along.  So began the making of 100 / 6 Inch quilt blocks.   There was so much excitement as quilters all over the world united.  It was to be a 6 inch quilt sampler for our generation!  You can find all of the information and the blocks here.   http://www.thesplendidsampler.com/blocks-and-bonus-projects/

Everything will remain available for free until March 1, 2017.  After that you will need to buy the book to access the patterns.

I wanted to jump in with both feet.   I wanted to say I was part of this beautiful group of ladies creating simple beauty bit by bit.  It sounded so doable, 2 six inch blocks a month.  I love little blocks and I wanted to belong to the group.   35,000 women have made at least one block.   WOW... feel the love.

Well here we are one year later.  This sew along  was never meant to be a race to see who could sew the fastest.  It was meant to be a fellowship of quilters creating joy and challenging us to grow as quilters.  Try new things in small measures.  Now days and months have passed,  I  have marveled at others making blocks,  I  downloaded patterns for the future,  I tried to decide on fabric I wanted to use, along the way life happened.  I lost hope that I would ever make this quilt.  Love was growing cold, I just couldn't get started. Though each block was beautiful, some blocks I loved more than others.  I wondered if I could keep on with all 100 realistically if I was not in love with it all.   I know thyself.  I didn't want or need another project stuck in a bag.

And so you wonder have I made any blocks..... YES!
Am I going to make all 100... NO.  For me it is the right choice.

One day in January my heart skipped a beat and I had a revelation.   I was trying to clear out some clutter in my sewing room, along with that process I saw another idea on another blog.  I hopped over the pile of potential fabric for the splendid sampler blocks lying on the floor, opened the blue string drawer and I started making some string blocks.


 Little 6" snowman string blocks.  

I didn't have enough snowmen to make a big quilt so I needed to add another type of block.

HELLO SPLENDID SAMPLER 6 " blocks !!

I loved this idea of making a FEW of the splendid sampler blocks
 and adding them to the snowman string blocks.

So it will still be a Splendid Sampler... just a smaller version. 
Quite a bit smaller.   I am only going to make 18-20 blocks.

 That's my story of Love Renewed......
Hello Splendid Snowman Sampler.

I started with Block # 57  " Starting Point" 
Seemed like the perfect place to jump in. 



I'm just using scraps.  My favorite kind of sewing. 


 I made Snowman string blocks as leader/enders as I was sewing the sampler blocks. 






The second block I made ....

Block #8  " Friends around the square"
I love my sewing friends. 



These little blocks are sweet... I'm sure I would love them all if I made them all because that is usually how I feel about things I make but it is just not going to happen. 


I think they are going to be perfect together. 
I haven't decided on the final layout.  
I'm thinking about turning each block into stars but time will tell. 

And so the sewing LOVE continues
 fast or slow....

It really doesn't matter....
I am reminded to 
Just let it flow !



I'll be spending the week with my favorite little one year old lovey- dovey.
So there is probably not going to be much sewing done this week.

Happy Valentine's Day !!! 

Janita







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