Spring is here! (4/14/2014)

Hi hi!  I hope all has been well for everyone :o)  I took a very much needed break from the blog during the winter - there was so much going on!  I didn't stop sewing though and I hope to get you all caught up soon :o)

I'll start off with a little mosaic of what I did right before the holidays ramped up - tested blocks for Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 8.  I started testing for them on Volume 7 and had a great time so when they asked for volunteers for 8, I jumped at the chance!  Here's what I tested with my group of testers:

Aren't these blocks fun?!  So many of them evoked different memories when I did them.  The top center, the ukelele and flowers, reminded me of our trip to Hawaii last Christmas and New Years - just me and Josh.  The one next to it, the hive, it reminded me of spending a couple of summers in high school at BYU's Provo campus going to Education Week with my best friend and her family.  The sunflower - my favorite flower.  The block right below it, the up and down arrows, reminds me of a horse blanket and riding a horse named Grouse bare back for hours on end as a little kid in the Northern California foothills.

Too much fun I tell ya!  The Tree of Love, I quilted up and sent off to Karin in Norway as a mug rug for a Valentine's Day mug rug swap over on iPernity and the red and black block was made twice because I think I know everything and refused to use the templates the first time around.  The first block got ripped up and sewn back together into another mug rug for a swap at my guild and is now happily in a black and red kitchen!

I've since tested for Volume 9 and will post those after the magazine comes out - can't wait, there are some great patterns in there!!!  I've got two customer quilts under my belt and two other baby/baby momma quilts finished since my last post, as well as a couple swaps and other fun things.  I'll be posting again!  

But until then, here is what I get to look at every morning.  A little pup love!

woof woof meow!!!

Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 Testing (6/5/2013)

Hi hi!  I wanted to share this with you a month ago, but life happened and pow! time went out the door.  Last fall my friend Martha told me about testing for QM 100 Blocks Volume 7 and I sent off an email to the editor letting her know I was interested.  I got picked up and started getting blocks to test.  What a fun group of blocks!  There were a few that I wouldn't have tried on my own (and won't again) but I had a good time trying the different techniques and what not.  Below is a mosaic of the 12 blocks I tested for Volume 7.

The top three are my personal favorites.  I used the trimmings from the first one for my mug rug here, the second is a Melissa Corry block (and we all know how I feel about Happy Quilting) and Scooter Girl is going to be a gift to a real Scooter Girl.

The house was my least favorite - simply because I don't like needle turn applique and I tried to do it on this one.  I think I would have liked it more if I had just done raw-edge like scooter girl.

The orange and black circles were fun - you use a free motion quilting zig-zag technique on the edges so you get a really neat looking stitch pattern on each circle.

The Penny the Penguin block will be a pillow for my SIL who likes penguins - just need to put some black buttons on the eyes and sew it up!.

Again, I had a blast testing for Volume 7 and as a tester I got my very own copy of Volume 7 for my library.  I also got a second copy which is going in the Travelling Stash box as a bonus giveaway here.

Just wanted to finally get this on the blog and I hope you all have a chance to check out Quiltmaker's 100 Blocks Volume 7 - so much fun!  Here is Martha's post with her blocks.

And some shy Bug love.

woof woof meow!

A Wicked Day! (10/25/2012)

Hello everyone!  Welcome to AnnieOak Designs' day on the Wicked Blog Hop - I am very excited to share what I put together for you.

First, I want to say Thank You to Madam Samm and Wicked Wendy for organizing and hosting this Wicked Blog Hop.  Click here for the whole schedule - all 8 days worth of some wickedness that is scary great! 

I am sharing this Frightful Friday with the following bloggers. 

 In Stitches & Seams

Sew.Darn.Quilt

Quilt Monster In My Closet

Lieselfriends-Di... Handnäher

The Learning Curve Quilts And Such

Qreative Quilts And Quests

Sew Many Yarns

AnnieOak Designs  <---That's MEEEEEEEEEE!

Searching Out Simple

Sheila's Quilt World

Val Spiers Sews

Robin - That Other Blog

Make sure you visit all their freaky-cool sites and leave some bloggy love!

When Madam Samm and Wendy announced this blog I jumped at it.  Thinking I would do some creepy-crawlies and bats on a wall hanging, I set out looking for some ideas and patterns.  But...my mind kept going back to a play I had heard about.  You guessed it, "Wicked: The Untold Story of the Witches of Oz".  Now, I had and still have, only HEARD about it.  Never seen it, never read the book, never even checked it out on the web.

While looking for my creepies and crawlies, I came across this book from That Patchwork Place, Spellbinding Quilts: Wizards, Witches and Magical Characters to Paper Piece.  Uh, can you saw right up my alley????  So, I bought the e-version and flipped through the patterns for some inspiration.  There were a couple of neat little configurations, but nothing really jumped out at me.

Back to the Wicked Musical image searches.  And BAM!  There was a great selection of photos of the background and this dragon. 

www.cheechunfoo.com

And there was this photo of the two witches.

www.glogster.com/sunshineskittles

I had the inspiration and the ideas, so off I went to my graph paper and after drafting a quick sketch of what I "wanted" to do, I headed off to Fabric Depot.  Remember the post where I gave you a sneaky-peaky of the Boo-ty I got there?

Here is what I came up with for the dragon.

And Glinda, the Good Witch of the South.

And Elphaba, the Wicked Witch of the West.

They all went together for a quick quilty snap-shot of the stage and the Wicked name.

I did FMQ on the entire thing and had a blast doing it.  There is echoing,

 some regular meandering and some angular meandering

and scales on the dragon.

The back looks just as cool as the front, don't you think?

Now, what is a blog hop without a giveaway right?  I am going to be giving away 6 fat quarters of orange and black fabrics to one lucky winner to help celebrate the end of the Wicked Blog Hop and Halloween (oh and the fact that the Beavers are 6-0 right now!).

All you have to do is:

1.  Leave a comment on your favorite Oz character (Wicked or Wizard of Oz).

2.  For a second entry, be a follower and let me know!

Please, please, please: No-Reply Bloggers make me sad, sad, sad.  I love all of your comments and when I can't reply back (or send a great giveaway gifty), I get sad.  Booh.  So, leave your email if you are a No-Reply Blogger and actually want a shot at the giveaway.  I'll ship anywhere - all my followers rock!  I'll pick a winner 1 November.

So, remember to visit all the other Frightful Friday bloggers and leave bloggy-love.  And make sure you come back on Nov 1 to see if you won the giveaway!!!

woof woof meow

Leafs Me Happy!!...oh and a Giveaway (10/2/2012)

It is my day on the Leafs Me Happy Blog Hop!!  Yay!  My second one and I am really having a fun time with it :o)

Thanks to Mdm Samm at Sew We Quilt! and Cherry at Cherry Blossoms Quilting Studio for putting this Blog Hop together and hosting the whole she-bang!  Thank you thank you!!!  Here is the whole schedule and here is the schedule for today:

Mrs.Pickles Garden

Gingersnaps Quilts

Petit Design Co

A Passion For Applique

AnnieOak Designs (that's ME!!!!!)

Michelle's Romantic Tangle

CherrysPrairiePrimitives

Krislovesfabric

Scrapbook-ChickADoodle

Make sure you check out the other blogs and give lotsa bloggy love!!!

Now on to my block(s) and project.  Using 5 Fall fabrics

and a paw print blender (not pictured), I put together a tossed 9-patch.  I used the Eleanor Burns pattern and she does a great little video on how the pattern is put together (and how to do her swirling centers!).

I didn't get any photos of the blocks before they got put together, but here is one of the blocks zoomed in:

See the smaller blocks that were the 5" blocks cut into quarters?

 Then I added a small inner border of the paw print to frame the whole thing.  I used the left over 5" squares and cut them in half, mixed them up and sewed them back into the outer border.

Here is a close-up of the quarter block:

 I can't wait to get this on the long arm!

I call the quilt "Disappearing Harvest"

 A couple close-ups of my favorite parts of one of the fabrics I used:

Happy Cornucopia

Gobble Gobble!

Now on to the giveaway :o)

I am going to give away 5 FQ of the fabrics I used (but not the paw print - I am running low and can't bear to part with it)!  To enter the giveaway, all you need to do is leave a comment!  You need to be a reply-blogger, if you aren't, be sure to leave your email address in the comment.  For a second entry, be a follower and leave a comment telling me you are a follower!  I'll draw a winner on Thursday October 11.

Easy-peasy :o)  I hope you enjoyed my blocks and good luck on the giveaway!  Make sure you check out the other bloggers today and throughout the rest of the hop! 

Hop hop hop :O)

Dotty Stars and Giveaway (9/10/2012)

Hello fellow blog hoppers!  Today is the first day of the Dots on Dots Blog Hop hosted by Corrie of Quilt Taffy and Mdm Samm of Sew WE Quilt!.  Both are fantastic blogs and resources and I am excited to be part of this Blog Hop - I've lurked for a while and decided to jump right in, so I hope my first attempt goes well!  I know all the other particpants are awesome, make sure you check all their blogs out and give them some bloggy love too! 

Here's today's schedule:

Cat Patches

Busy Bee Quilts

Stitch by Stitch

Mary on Lake Pulaski

Just Let Me Quilt

[Amy's] Crafty Shenanigans

PolkaDotClassic

AnnieOak Designs (that's me!) 

Blueberry Moon

The full schedule can be found at Quilt Taffy here.

Now on to what I did.  I've been wanting to make a table runner for a while so I thought this would be a great opportunity.  I pulled out my trusty block book and went to work finding a star I liked.  I chose the Fifty-Four Forty or Fight block and sketched out the table runner in my notebook.  Figured out the amount of fabric and off I went.  I needed four colors to make the block work.  I am a JoAnn fan when I need something quick (a trip to a LQS would be an entire day and I am not shy about admitting that), so I wandered over and found these three coordinating dots fabrics and a navy to pull it all together.

Since the table runner called for three 12.5" unfinished blocks and some borders, I cut everything out.  Never used my Tri-Recs rulers before and turns out, they are pretty handy.  Thanks Nancy!

Then off to sewing. 

Fifty-Four Forty or Fight Block

I said I wanted a table runner right?  Well, I also wanted to try my hand at machine quilting with my Juki and I figured this would be the perfect opportunity (plus it seemed like a lot of work to get the thing on Diane's longarm for a lot of little work).  I pin basted it and being the control freak that I am, sketched the block out in my notebook and played around with the quilting designs until I liked what I had on the paper.

On with my machingers and off we went!  I started by stitching in the ditch around the stars and doing a dotty/pebbly motif in the navy areas around the stars.   

Pebbly Navy (sorry - the flash is aweful)

And this is as far as I got. 

Almost all the way!  2 out of 3 blocks done.

Ran out of thread.  This being my first attempt at machine quilting on my Juki I neglected to over-purchase my thread.  So, I am not going to the store tonight, so it lays unfinished, hanging over the bannister staring accusingly at me every time I go up and down the stairs.  I will get it done!  I has been too fun to do and I want to finish it before I start on my next project.

Now to the giveaway.  Since I am a stasher I ALWAYS buy more fabric than I need for a project.  What if I mess up a block?  What if I want to add to the pattern as I go?  Gotta have the wiggle room right?  Right.  So, I am giving away a fat quarter of each of the four fabrics I used for the table runner.

Just leave a little comment in the comments section and I'll pick a random winner at the end of the Dots on Dots Blog Hop, September 21.  For an extra entry, be a follower and leave me another comment telling me you are a follower.

Now, your next assignment is to check out the rest of the lovely blogs on the Dots on Dots Blog Hop!  Don't forget to leave bloggy love!

Tetris #6 - the final block! (8/25/2012)

Just hopping on quick to get this up - I finished it Thursday night, the last Tetris block!!!

Check out Melissa's blog for the other blocks :o)

Tetris Blocks #4 and #5 and 50 Shades of Grey (8/17/2012)

Yeah, Josh was home again and I totally ignored my sewing in favor of him.  Gonna need to get my butt in gear before he comes home next time so I don't miss anymore deadlines!!  Here are my next two Tetris blocks for the Tetris Quilt Along over at Happy Quilting.

Block #4 (late but done!)

 Block #5 (on time :o))

Can't wait for next week - it is the last block, then we get to finish the top!!

And now on to the other part of this post...50 Shades of Grey.  That is Shades of Grey Charm Swap being hosted by Ellie Q over at Color My World.  I bought my yard of fabric and cut it up into the 5" charms:

Prospect Park Leaf Grey by Kitty Yoshida for Benartex

All bundled and ready to send to Ellie when she says to!  Something new to try - a Charm Swap!

9-Patches and Lily & Will II (8/6/2012)

Look what came today!!!

I ordered this Lily & Will II layer cake from Christa Quilts! after I saw this tutorial at Moda Bake Shop: Snuggly Squares II Baby Quilt by Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting.  With Grant and Katie having another baby - a boy this time, this seemed to be a great project, quick and easy.  I'll get to that when I finish a few other projects up - but it will be soon for sure!!!

One of those other projects is my 9-Patches that I am doing for the 9-Patch Summer Quilt-Along with Kristen over at Meadowbrook.  I finished up another 20 blocks, I am almost half-way to my goal for a lap quilt. 

Love the paisley, wish I hadn't opened my mouth and mentioned it to someone who has their heart set on it now.  Oh well, I can always make another one that I like!

WillaMutt Strut, Hexies and Tetris (8/5/2012)

This weekend was a hot one!  We got over 100 at the house on Saturday and that was in the shade on the front porch.  Early Saturday I loaded up the girls and we headed up the Riverside Park in Salem for the WillaMutt Strut 5K, a benefit for the Willamette Humane Society.  I usually try to two or three things a year for an animal shelter with the girls.  An annual must is the Santa Paws photos in December and I wanted to run with the girls at least once this summer, so we added this to our 5K.  No photos - I had my hands full.  I did finish with a sprained ankle (my first experience with trail running probably shouldn't have been with the dogs too), but the three of us met another GSP that spends time in Sweet Home training and another dog from Lebanon.  Off we went home, I propped up the leg on the couch and got to work on my second block for our Row Robin.

I finished one last weekend.

This month's theme is hexagons.  I love paper piecing, however...English Paper Piecing is a little more than I like - hand stitching is ucky.  The theme of the quilt is an asian fabric, so I decided to do a little bit of hexies and fill the rest with some foundation paper pieced paper cranes.

I pieced five of the cranes in coordinating colors and sashed them in the asian fabric.

Then to add some length since I was just a bit off, I added some stripes of the coordinating fabric.

I finished the second hexie block Sunday around noon.  This is what the finished row looks like (the white cloth is wrinkled - been under a cat!).

Then the power went out Sunday afternoon.  Great.  Just sat down to cut the pieces for my tetris blocks #2 and #3 (I missed week 2 with Mom and Josh here and just got 3 done).  The Tetris blocks are part of a quilt along over at Happy Quilting.  I got all the squares cut, then the heat chased me out the door and downstairs.  I crashed on the couch with the girls for an hour, then the power came back on.  Here's week #2 Tetris Block:

 

Here's week #3 Tetris Block:

Week #4 starts Tuesday!  I'll have some 9-patches up tomorrow.

Tetris Block #1 - Done! (7/20/2012)

Hee hee, I have to admit - this was fun!  The Tetris Quilt-A-Long over at Happy Quilting started this week and earlier I showed you my fabric choices.  Here is my block!

I made one change to the colors, instead of white I am using the black animal cut-outs. 

Did I say this was really fun?  I can't wait until next week :o)

9-Patches (7/18/2012)

From my 9-Patch Quilt Along with Meadowbrook:

They're coming along!

I have a date with my strips and machine on August 5!

Scrappers BOM - July (7/17/2012)

This month Ginger picked the Kansas Trouble block for our July BOM.  The theme was red, white and blue.

9-Patch Summer Quilt Along (7/12/2012)

I am participating (and playing catch-up) in Meadowbrook's 9-Patch Summer Quilt Along.  Kristen started mid June and is shooting for us to finish the first week in Spetember.  Since I've got stuff going here and there, I figured out how many days that is and am shooting to get that many blocks done by quittin' time. 

I picked out some bright colors - bright green, pink, blue and some black and white prints.  I love paisley!!!  Each block is made from 2.5" strips and come out to be 6" square finished.  May need to do some serious sashing to make a lap quilt.

Here are the first 5 blocks.

Challenge Quilt 2010 - Part Three (11/6/2010)

Here is the finished quilt! It is hanging in the shop in Brownsville with about 14 other quilts.

And it took first place!

Challenge Quilt 2010 - Part Two (10/31/2010)

I finished the quilt blocks, here they are! They took the rest of the month and I am sure I have been a bear to live with, but I am done and ready to put my quilt in the challenge! Here are the rest of the blocks and their information:

Mama Kass - only one of the five blocks (the largest though!)

Here is the fabric key for her

About two-thirds of the way finished!

A finished Mama Kass that is ready to have her borders put on! I don't really care for the fabric selections that came in the fabic pack, but it works for this quilt and when I do it again (wink wink), I will probably get my own fabric selections.

Zag - one of two zebras, but when all is said and done, I only had time for one!
Fabric selection - I was a little put off by the designer of this pattern. When I ordered the fabric packs, she shorted me on the white fabric (read - totally left it out). I was confused since there were a few conficting requirements on the pattern and instructions so I emailed her. She re-iterated what I knew about what I had but kept insisting that I had all I needed. Turns out, I needed the white just like I thought and I still didn't get a response from her! Grrr. Too bad she does really great patterns or I might be totally turned off.

Zag's pattern was 4 11x17 sheets put together.

Zag's face piece.

Zag finished piece really is BIG.

Giraffe at the Waterhole fabic selection

Giraffe at the Waterhole pattern

For some reason I didn't take a photo of the finished piece, you can see it below with all the other finished blocks and in the next post with the finished quilt.

Beaver fabric selection

Beaver pattern and fabric key

Beaver face - so little!

Finished Beaver piece

All the blocks are done now and ready to have their borders put on and be sized to fit together. This is the arrangement of the six blocks in the quilt.